Chapter 1328 — The Preparations Needed

The initial preparations for building a marionette town were rather boring and tedious. At the very least, Klein believed so.

In the ancient palace, Klein sat on the high-back chair belonging to The Fool, holding a fountain pen. There were ordinary pieces of paper with the name, age, and the fate of every marionette. As he made the Worms of Spirit emerge from his body, they formed avatars beside him.

Some Kleins sat on the ground, while others occupied the twenty-one seats other than The Fool’s. Some conjured beds and lay on them...

Then, they summoned different books from the junk pile and started reading them seriously.

The books included but were not limited to:

“How to Brew Wine”

“Train Dispatching”

“Desert Making Compendium”

“A Clergyman Prepares”

“Gas Wall Lamps, Gas Meters, and All Kinds of Family Machinery Repair”

“DESI-licacy”

“Harbor Management”

“Foundations of Law”

“Ladies Aesthetic” magazines...

These were specialist knowledge that different marionettes needed to grasp. Only by doing so would they be able to act their roles well, allowing him to be realistic in every aspect. Even if they were to engage in a deep conversation with outsiders, they wouldn’t expose any problems.

It wouldn’t be difficult for Klein if he just needed to simply memorize the knowledge, but he had to truly grasp and apply it. Furthermore, he couldn’t confuse his characters. He couldn’t let a burly and strong switchman with a low income be talking about the wonders of a particular particular skincare product, or which silk cloth was flawed.

If such a situation were to happen in novels, plays, and operas, it might create a strange attraction, but putting it in the real world was clearly uncanny and not beneficial to the advancement of the ritual.

To avoid such a problem, Klein could only work harder in the early stages. He hoped that every character in a marionette town would be real, whole, and appropriate.

Fortunately, there weren’t many people in a city who needed to deeply understand the corresponding specialist knowledge. Most of the residents were half-illiterate, or really illiterate. They relied on experience to live their lives that they repeated via motions. For these characters, the knowledge that Klein needed to grasp was relatively little, just like workers who had gone through simple training—or even without any training—to be sent to the assembly line.

After an unknown period of time, Klein put down his fountain pen and rubbed his temples, letting out a long sigh of relief.

He had finally written down the information about nearly five thousand residents in the marionette town, and his corresponding knowledge preparation was almost complete.

This is like a super large-scale movie directed by a director, and with me being the scriptwriter. Same for the lighting engineer, the makeup artist, and all the actors... For this ritual, I’m really on the verge of losing control. If I’m not careful, my personality will dissociate and I’ll fall into the abyss of madness... Luckily, I have a professional psychologist...

Yes, I have to pay attention to a problem in the town’s operations. Although I’m a gentleman with manners, most of the residents in town have low socioeconomic status. Be it speaking or acting, they’re more inclined towards being vulgar... I can’t make a mistake during the acting and become set back by my psychological barriers... Klein sighed silently as the avatars around him disintegrated into Worms of Spirit before he got them to burrow into his body.

Of course, this wasn’t all. There was also one “Klein,” who maintained his previous state, preparing to be on Sefirah Castle duty.

In the next second, Klein returned to the real world and took out Creeping Hunger from the Historical Void.

Then, he “Teleported” to an island that was located in the Berserk Sea but one that clearly deviated from the safe sea route.

This was the “stage” he had chosen before.

This place was isolated from the storms all year round. There were no signs of human activity, only a large forest and animals that lived off the forest.

Klein looked around and chose an open area. He pressed his right hand to his left chest and prayed sincerely, “I wish that there’s a city suitable for five thousand people here.”

Just as he said that, Klein raised his right hand and snapped his fingers.

Suddenly, this open area became extremely flat. The surrounding forest also “receded” greatly, providing large amounts of wood, stones, and soil.

Almost at the same time, buildings rose up from the ground. They took form with stone and wood. The highest wasn’t more than four stories high. The style was closer to the Loen Kingdom’s Desi Bay.

In just the blink of an eye, residential buildings, a library, a police station, a telegraph office, a city hall, a small hospital, a candy factory, a water plant, a gas company, a steam locomotive station, parallel train tracks, and plantations outside the city took form. The streets were also paved with cement or stone bricks.

Towards the end, on the square in the middle of the town, a pointed-tip cathedral emerged from the ground and stood proudly.

This was a cathedral belonging to the Evernight Goddess, as it was in line with the background setting of the city.

“I hope this island has a deep-sea harbor.” Klein didn’t stop as he made a second wish.

Pa!

He snapped his fingers again, fulfilling his wish.

About three kilometers away from the town, a small-scale harbor quickly took shape. There were two docks, five warehouses, a port hotel, a simple restaurant, a police station branch, a bar, a lighthouse, and a naval base...

“I wish for the harbor and town to have convenient transportation.” Klein made a third wish.

He raised his right hand and snapped his fingers.

A concrete road and a cargo rail instantly appeared between the town and the harbor.

According to Klein’s plan, a portion of the harbor was prepared for visitors by sea. The town was mainly for outsiders from the Northern and Southern Continent.

As he looked at the empty city with admiration, Klein pressed his top hat and “Teleported” to the municipal square. He walked step by step into the cathedral named Saint Arianna Cathedral.

The cathedral’s door was open, and it was dark inside.

After an unknown period of time, three figures appeared at the door. They were a 30-year-old gentleman in a formal suit with a tie, an ordinary-looking and gentle-looking woman, and a child who was dressed like an adult.

The woman took a few steps with difficulty before stretching her neck. Then, she smiled and reached out her hands to hold the gentleman’s arm.

The gentleman had a faint smile on his face. As he allowed the lady to lean on him, he reached out his right hand and held the boy.

The little boy was skipping about, appearing very lively.

Their actions were a little rough at first, but the more they walked, the smoother they became as they walked through the square.

After they left, more and more people walked out of Saint Arianna Cathedral. They consisted of the police, repair workers, gas company employees, restaurant chefs, white-haired old men, and simply-dressed farmers...

In the next hour, people constantly came out of the Evernight cathedral. They either turned to different streets and went to different places, entering different houses, stopping at the square, or enjoying the pigeon-less scenery.

During this process, the number of people that came out had exceeded the limits of the cathedral’s capacity, but there seemed to be no end to the people, as though the interior was connected to another city.

After another fifteen minutes, the entrance of Saint Arianna Cathedral finally fell silent. However, there were rats, cockroaches, moths, ants, flies, and mosquitoes creeping outwards.

Finally, a colorful window at the top of the cathedral opened. White pigeons flew out and landed in the middle of the square.

The people who had stayed there came to life completely. Some teased the pigeons, others looked for hawkers, while some played a seven-string guitar, and others smiled as they conversed with their friends.

A man wearing a top hat and a trench coat and carrying a cane left the municipal square. He came to the other side of the town and stopped in front of a wooden board.

He took out his tools and wrote the name of the town on the wooden board:

“Yharnam.”

After some thought, the man “wiped” away “Yharnam” and wrote another name:

“Utopia.”

...

Backlund, inside the Hall family’s luxurious villa.

“Alfred has already boarded the cruise ship back to the Northern Continent?” Audrey didn’t hide her surprise.

It was September 1352.

In the past half a year, Audrey didn’t spend too much effort to make her father give up the thought of returning to East Chester County for the first half of the year. This was because there was a pressing need to rebuild Backlund and Constant City. The kingdom’s political scene also needed a new balance. Earl Hall had too many things to handle and wasn’t in the mood for a vacation.

Therefore, whenever Earl Hall was put in a difficult spot, she just needed to take the initiative to say that she was willing to remain in Backlund and return to East Chester County in the next six months to have things develop as she wanted and receive praise for.

As for the Psychology Alchemists, they didn’t rush her either. Up to now, the Psychology Alchemists’ council meeting had been held three times. It was mainly to communicate their research results and the various information of the areas under their jurisdiction. Only Ma’am Greed had asked about the clues to the mind dragon twice.

To be frank, if Mr. Fool hadn’t reminded Audrey to take note of the rabbit, Wrath, and the easily forgettable president, she would definitely find the conference interesting. Mr. Rabbit had plenty of ideas, but she remained as vigilant as ever.

“Yes, the liner has already left the harbor.” Earl Hall smiled and nodded. “When Alfred arrives in Backlund and completes the necessary social intercourse, we will return to East Chester County for fox-hunting.”

Autumn was the best time to hunt foxes.

Audrey tersely acknowledged.

“Alright.”

...

As a major general in the army, Alfred didn’t follow the naval fleet to Desi Bay. Instead, he led his adjutants and squires and boarded a steam-powered sailboat hybrid for Pritz Harbor.

After traveling for nearly two days, they encountered a storm in the Berserk Sea.

As the ship shook violently, the sailors on the observatory saw some light through their telescopes.

It came from a lighthouse.

Author’s Note: I wrote in detail three plans in the previous chapter because I felt that the third plan was most impactful, but it’s impossible for Klein to undertake it with his character, so I had to unfortunately give it up. I specially wrote it out for all of you to have a sense of what’s the most bizarre and mysterious method.