Klein did not answer whether that was right or wrong. He stopped in his tracks toward the bedroom and said flatly:
"That is a problem."
"Yes, yes, a problem! A groundless and slanderous problem! And I gave a negative answer." Danitz replied happily, emphasizing that he had never admitted it.
Klein nodded slightly:
"I'll clarify with your captain."
Clarify... Danitz was stunned, then opened his mouth, his expression twisted.
Also someone who had seen much of the world, he refrained from arguing and forced a smile:
"Is there anything I can do for you?"
Klein took a quiet breath and used his "Clown" ability to control his facial expression:
"Monitor well."
"Yes, yes!" Danitz readily agreed.
Seeing Gherman Sparrow turn and walk to the bedroom door, he couldn't help blurting out:
"You're not going to clarify with the captain anymore, are you?"
Klein turned the handle and replied without emotion:
"Monitor well."
With that, he pushed the door open and went in, before a grin could spread across his face, he closed the door behind him.
......
The next day after breakfast, Klein changed into wide-legged trousers, a thick coffee-colored jacket, put on a peaked cap, altered his appearance, and went out, leaving Danitz alone in the room to guard the radio telegraph.
Along the way, Klein changed his appearance again, making himself look more like a native.
He found a special shop and bought linen gloves, a shroud, and a body bag. Then, based on the surrounding environment he had seen in the prayer vision, he found the bridge arch and discovered the girl who had died in a corner, lying in the mud.
Since it was still winter, the weather wasn't hot, and the body didn't show obvious signs of decay, but the rotting skin and foul smell still made Klein instinctively nauseous.
— He hadn't come to bury the girl who wanted to live like a human the night before because, due to recent events, Bayam's night control was unusually strict, and the cemetery wouldn't open until dawn.
Taking out a metal bottle, Klein poured some "Crag Oil" onto his hand and rubbed it under his nose.
A choking sensation invaded his mind, mixed with a minty smell like disinfectant, filling his sense of smell. It made him feel as alert as if he had just fallen into an ocean of floating ice, no longer affected by other odors.
Putting the metal bottle away, Klein put on his gloves, stepped forward, and crouched beside the female corpse.
He first spread out the shroud and gradually wrapped her in it, then gently placed the body into the body bag.
Shouldering the bag, he deliberately walked through several of the busiest streets in Bayam, all the way to the outskirts, and along a narrow path impassable by carriage, he climbed halfway up a seaside mountain.
Here, the Storm Church and the Governor's Office had set up a cemetery specifically for the local natives.
The cemetery for outsiders like Loens, Intisians, Feysacians, etc., who came here for business, adventure, or settlement, was on the other side of Bayam, backed by woods, flat and gentle.
Klein climbed step by step, entered the nameless cemetery, and found the gravekeeper dozing off.
"How do you want to bury her?" the gravekeeper asked, pointing at the body bag. "If you want it for free, you'll have to wait a few days until the morgue accumulates enough corpses, then they'll be cremated together and buried in the same pit. Of course, a priest will soothe the deceased's soul in advance. For 5 soli, he'll have his own urn and a niche. For 2 pounds, the urn plus a grave and tombstone. If you don't want cremation and need a coffin, you can choose one over there, different prices for different wood."
Klein thought for a moment, took out a 5-soli note, and handed it over.
"Name?" the gravekeeper counted the money, picked up a dip pen, and asked politely.
He actually couldn't write words, only drew symbols as memory aids.
Klein paused for a second and said:
"Budi."
"Budi..." the gravekeeper repeated softly and drew a symbol.
Without looking up, he continued:
"She can have an epitaph on the niche."
Budi was a typical female name for locals of the Rorsted Archipelago, so the gravekeeper didn't mistake the gender again.
Klein was silent for a few seconds, then said in a low voice:
"She was human."
"She was human? What a strange epitaph..." the gravekeeper muttered quietly. "Do you have a photo? I know you don't."
Before he finished speaking, he saw the other party hand over a "photo."
It was a portrait Klein had produced through a ritual, perfectly recreating the girl's appearance before her illness. To avoid suspicion, he had used the right paper and techniques to make the portrait look like a real photo.
The gravekeeper was a bit surprised but didn't say much, quickly took the materials, and together with Klein, carried the body bag to the priest's cottage.