infodatos Chapter 32 Backlund
Chapter 32 Backlund
Evan reappeared above the seemingly unchanging gray mist, standing in front of his seat.
"What are you praying for this time? Is it to submit another script you wrote without permission?"
The Fool looked at Evan, who was bowing to him, and asked with a half-smile that was hard to read.
Klein preemptively made a move, concealing the fact that he hadn't actually seen through Evan's submission of the "fake script," thus upholding the dignity of the fool.
Upon hearing this, Evan was naturally filled with trepidation and hurriedly said:
"I did not mean to deceive you, nor did I intend to challenge your divine power. I just wanted to use a fabricated script to get my classmates moving and eliminate the hidden dangers around them. I did not intend to deceive you."
Of course, although I did not intend to deceive you, the fact remains that I have done so. Therefore, I am willing to accept your punishment without any complaints!
Klein didn't want to relinquish the authority of "The Fool." If he were to insist that Evan had deceived him without his knowledge, it would damage his prestige. Therefore, he could only downplay the deception and issue a minor punishment as a warning.
"I only passed this script on because you didn't intentionally deceive me. Otherwise, I would have expelled you from the Tarot Club long ago. Don't try to be clever again, and this time I'm going to punish you!"
"I am willing to accept the punishment!"
"Could you please collect ten pages of Russell's diary for me?"
Hearing about the punishment of "Fool" Klein, Evan breathed a sigh of relief. There were still some copies of Roselle's diary circulating in the market, and he could always collect them. Even if he didn't have enough, he could forge some diaries and use them to send some information to Klein.
"Thank you for your mercy, I accept this punishment!"
Evan breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the Fool clear up the matter, and thanked Mr. Fool loudly.
As the "Fool," Klein had to punish Evan no matter what, otherwise he would lose his dignity as an ancient god who had awakened from antiquity.
Evan also hopes that Klein can maintain this persona, because the existence of the Tarot Club, this secretive organization, is actually based on the authority of Mr. Fool. Only if the Fool can still deter the members can this organization continue to exist.
This is why Klein, upon first entering the Gray Fog, acted mysteriously towards Audrey and Alger instead of treating them as equals; for an organization to exist, its members must have a sense of awe.
Similarly, when the Fool feels that his mysterious persona cannot keep the members of the Tarot Club in check, he will feel insecure and will also be unable to keep the Tarot Club, a safe but loose organization, running smoothly.
After giving Evan a minor punishment, Klein let the matter drop and allowed Evan to leave the Gray Mist.
…………
In the afternoon, Klein returned to Tingen and went to Blackthorn Security Company again.
Leonard saw Klein return and approached him discreetly, asking:
"So, old Neil's death wasn't caused by any mysterious forces, was it?"
Klein, recalling Evan's advice to him regarding Leonard, answered directly:
"You could say we intervened, or you could say we didn't. Old Neil's fate was changed because of our interference, preventing him from becoming a pawn of those behind the scenes. But our interference also shattered Old Neil's last hope, leaving him with no will to live."
Leonard raised an eyebrow. Klein's words were tantamount to laying his cards on the table, clearly telling him that he didn't need to pretend anymore, that he wanted to play a game of truth with him, and that they both had secrets.
Although Leonard and Klein had only known each other for a little over a week and weren't very familiar with each other, Leonard highly respected Klein because Klein was willing to expose his secret to save Old Neil. So he stopped hiding anything and approached Klein again, speaking in a deep voice:
"I think what you said before makes sense. Too many things have happened recently, and it seems like they're all targeting our Night Watch team. If you find anything else, you can tell me, and I'll try my best to help you."
Klein was surprised that Leonard responded so positively as soon as he gave him a signal, which made Klein understand why Evan wanted him to team up with Leonard as much as possible.
Leonard must have also realized the existence of the mastermind behind Tingen because of his own secrets, and wanted to join forces with Klein to deal with it.
This delighted Klein, giving him a sliver of confidence to fight against the 'script'.
So he nodded to Leonard again, and the two of them tacitly reached a secret alliance.
Just then, Captain Dunn came in, and Leonard, Frye, and Cohen also stood up. Together with the captain, they put old Neil's body into the coffin and onto the carriage.
According to the teachings of the Night Codex, the dead are usually buried as soon as possible, and they are now taking Old Neil to the cemetery.
…………
Woo! Woo! Woo!
A loud whistle rang out across the platform as a massive steam locomotive pulled up at the Backlund train station.
Dressed in a tailcoat and wearing a top hat, Evan stepped off the train and officially entered Backlund, the largest city in the North and South Continents with a population of five million.
Looking around, Evan saw only a pale yellow mist all around him. The PM2.5 levels in the air were seriously high, making his nose itch and making him want to sneeze.
First-class passengers and second-class passengers faced different platforms after disembarking. When Evan discovered this, his eyes nearly popped out of his head. Even in his previous life, such precise stopping only appeared in the "high-speed rail era." He never expected that a steam train, which didn't seem very advanced, could achieve this.
But when he thought about the existence of the "God of Steam and Machinery" in this world, and that the patent for steam locomotives was in the hands of the Steam Church, Evan felt relieved. The combination of technology and mystery meant that even steam high-pressure machine guns could appear, so small-scale precision parking was nothing special.
Just as Evan was lost in thought, a middle-aged man in his forties, dressed in a smart tailcoat with his hair neatly combed and heavily styled with hair wax, appeared before him with several servants.
"Mr. Robert received a telegram from Butler Buck, knowing that you were taking the train at this time, so he sent me to pick you up. Luckily, I'm not too late."
As the middle-aged man spoke, he also took a small plaque from Evan and handed it to the servant who followed behind him.
Buck's butler had brought too much luggage for Evan, and it was all piled up in the last carriage of the train, which was reserved for first-class passengers' luggage. Naturally, someone had to go and retrieve it.
"Mr. Hope, you could have just sent someone. There's no need for you to come to the station to pick me up. After all, my brother can't do without you." Evan also exchanged pleasantries with Mr. Hope.
Although Evan had never met Mr. Hope in person, the original owner of this body had. He knew that although Hope was nominally Robert's male servant, he was actually Robert's most important assistant and secretary, as well as a comrade-in-arms.
When Robert Horn gave up a promising future in the military to enter politics, many people did not understand. However, Mr. Hope also resolutely retired from the military and followed Robert Horn to Backlund.
Robert Horn's high regard for him was well-known; he was often referred to as "Robert's left hand" in Ruhnn's political circles. Even though Evan was Robert Horn's brother, he dared not neglect Hope.
However, Robert's decision to have Hope pick up Evan also demonstrates his regard for his younger brother, Evan.
After picking up Evan, Hope took him to a nearby subway station, where they would take the subway together to Queens in Backlund.
Evan was unfamiliar with Backlund, so Hope arranged everything. After a half-hour subway ride, Evan finally arrived at his destination – Queens.
Upon exiting the subway station, I saw a large horse-drawn carriage in the distance, which Hope had prepared in advance.
After traveling for another half hour in a tall and magnificent carriage, Evan finally arrived at a villa even larger than the Earl's mansion in Ahova County. Even with Evan's perspective from his previous life, he felt somewhat dazzled. Everywhere there were exquisite murals and sculptures that looked ancient, making the entire villa appear luxurious and sophisticated.
After entering the house, Hope first helped Evan settle into his room, and then said to Evan, "Earl Akhova is unwell and is recuperating in the countryside. He hasn't been back for more than half a year. Mr. Robert is discussing policy with other members of Congress this afternoon and will be home around seven o'clock in the evening. He plans to have dinner with you. Before that, please rest in the guest room."
Evan had no objection and went straight to his room to rest.
Lying on the soft, large bed in the room, Evan thought about his future.
The Hunter path is the War path, which is clearly stated in Lord of Mysteries. Evan has been a pure man in both her past and present lives and is unwilling to change her gender to become a witch, so she will definitely lean towards the Hunter path, or at least be inclined towards the Hunter path.
So Evan's short-term goal is to use Robert Horn's connections to establish ties with the military as soon as possible, in order to prepare for his role and pave the way for it.
Of course, since Evan didn't graduate from a regular military academy, it would be quite difficult for him to directly take command of an army. However, it would be much easier to do so by taking a roundabout route, and that roundabout route is the infamous MI9 in the mysterious world.
MI9 is an agency that is nominally directly under the royal family, but in reality, many other forces are involved in its operations.
The royal family has the greatest influence over MI9, but there are still many other forces involved. For example, part of MI9's funding actually comes from the Parliamentary Military Intelligence Committee, the military often gets involved, and most of the people in the committee have military ranks.
Robert Horn is a member of the Military Intelligence Committee of the Kingdom of Rune and one of the military's spokespeople in Rune politics.
This is the real reason why the Duke of Negan has been unable to retaliate after Robert Horn pushed for the repeal of the Grain Act last year—Robert Horn is not a pushover; he has his own political base and does not rely entirely on the support of the Earl of Akhova.
If he could persuade Robert Horn to place him in MI9 and grant him a rank, his chances of transferring to the military later would greatly increase.
The only problem now is how to persuade Robert.