Secrets: Priestess

Chapter 23 Guess
There were yellowed pages of a book on the table.

There are familiar Chinese characters on the pages.

It is the diary of Emperor Roselle.

The words in the diary were copied and the font is very large.

Claire only glanced at it, reading ten lines at a time. Relying on her photographic memory, she had memorized the entire picture on top.

September 22nd, September 23rd, September 24th...

During these three days, Russell boasted about his invincibility, talked about his search for the "God-forsaken Land", and his "romantic affairs" with some women.

This diary does not contain any valuable information.

Old Neil was proudly discussing his discovery with Klein, and he didn't even bother to greet Claire when she came in.
"I've deciphered several of the symbols and confirmed they represent numbers! Look, what have I found! This is actually a diary!"

"Genius idea, right?"

Old Neil pushed the pages to Klein, finally having time to greet Claire.
"Claire, you're here. Let me introduce you to our newcomer, Klein Moretti."

Then, Old Neil introduced Claire to Klein:
"Klein, this is Claire Meazza."

But Klein, who had three pages of Russell's diary in his hand, didn't hear it. His eyes were fixed on the yellowed pages, flipping through them one by one.

After Claire entered, she stood to the side and could clearly see Klein's expression and gaze at the moment.

The look of excitement on his face was as if he had discovered some shocking secret.

This made Claire take a closer look.

The young man in front of me looks like... someone who can understand the diary?
"Klein?" Old Neil called out again in confusion.

Klein, startled awake, regained his composure and quickly responded with a smile, "I thought I would be the most special one, so I wanted to try to decipher and interpret it."

Old Neil smiled kindly and said, "You are such a young man. I also used to think I was the most special one."

Claire, covering herself by drinking porridge from her cup, carefully observed Klein's behavior and noticed that even when he was communicating with Old Neil, his expression was a little off.

His mind was obviously still on the paper in his hand.

Old Neil introduced again: "Okay, let me introduce you, this is Claire Meazza."

Claire interrupted Old Neil with a smile, "No need for introductions. We've met before, right, Klein?"

Klein smiled lightly, quite gentlemanly. "Yes, Claire's beautiful appearance is unforgettable."

Old Neil asked Claire in surprise, "Isn't Klein a newcomer? And you're out on a mission today... How did you two meet?"

Claire reminded him, "Remember yesterday Leonard specifically asked Mr. Neil to come back and take my place on guard?"

Old Neil suddenly realized, "Oh, last night. The case you followed Dunn to handle was the one involving Klein."

Claire glanced at Klein, who was flipping through the three pages of the book in his hand while she was talking to Old Neil. He seemed to be checking to see if he had missed anything.

Fellow?

A word emerged in Claire's heart.

Since there is already a senior time traveler named Russell, and there is also a time traveler like herself... then it is entirely possible that there are other time travelers.

It's not confirmed yet, but it's highly likely.

Of course, there is another possibility, that Klein is a native who can recognize Chinese characters.

But who could have taught him Chinese characters? Was it Russell, who died in the White Maple Palace over a hundred years ago? Thinking this in her heart, Claire had no intention of recognizing her as a fellow countryman.

Nearby, Klein handed the pages back to Old Neil and asked casually, "Are these all we have?"

"Do you think there will be a lot?" Old Neil stroked the manuscript and sneered, then changed the subject to the fact that there are not many extraordinary and mysterious events every year, and there are few related objects like book pages. Even extraordinary creatures are gradually becoming extinct.

Claire laughed as she listened and revealed Old Neil's past to Klein:

"There were several earlier copies, but they were all burned in the fire during Old Neil's ritual magic. Even these you see are the manuscripts I replenished from the temple in the past two days."

Old Neil murmured, "It was replenished this morning."

"By the way, where is the 'survivor' sheet that was sandwiched between the rest of the documents?" Claire asked Old Neil.

When Claire finished speaking, she saw Klein's eyes light up instantly.

Old Neil muttered, "When the Holy Temple sent someone to deliver it, they also took that one back."

Claire just stared at Old Neil with a smile. "I don't believe you didn't copy it out after the fire incident."

Old Neil was silent for a moment, then reluctantly took out a folded piece of paper from his pocket.

After opening it, it was obvious that the handwriting was newly copied.

Russell's Chinese characters were already written in a sloppy and crooked manner. Old Neil's copying was probably intended to imitate the sloppiness of the characters, but it made the writing even more awkward.

Klein pretended to be calm as he picked it up and looked at it, but he couldn't help but smile.

Old Neil sighed and said, "I didn't expect the people from the temple to come this morning. I was a bit rushed when transcribing, so these symbols may not be drawn so accurately."

After letting Klein read for a while, Old Neil sorted all the pages and stacked them on the table. He then used the key to open the inner door and went to the armory to equip Klein with weapons, equipment, and ammunition.

Claire walked around the table and took out a stack of history books from the database on the other side. She placed them next to the pages. She first glanced at the pages on the table, then began to flip through them, reading carefully and quickly.

Klein had nothing better to do, so he asked curiously, "Claire, what are you doing?"

Claire didn't even raise her head, and said with two minds focused:

"Didn't Old Neil say that? If we decipher the meaning of the numbers, we can compare the events of that day with Emperor Roselle's diary and decipher more symbols."

"Even though I don't really understand these numerical symbols right now, I have a good memory. I'll just memorize some history first. Who knows, I might get lucky and decipher something."

Klein asked doubtfully, "Are you interested in these as well?"

Claire said as a matter of course, "If what Emperor Roselle wrote was a new way of recording, or even a new language... wouldn't it be very interesting if it could be deciphered?"

Klein began to understand.

The woman in front of me is a top student...

He looked at Claire who was reading seriously with her head down, and suddenly felt that she looked familiar. Where had he seen her before?
Klein suddenly remembered the "priestess" sitting alone at the bottom of the mottled bronze table.

The hair color, hairstyle and body shape are somewhat similar.

The sound... isn't quite like the real thing, but it's covered by the gray fog, so the sound might have been disguised.

Or maybe it's just a resemblance.

Or maybe it's just a coincidence?

Klein glanced at Claire again and again, trying to confirm his guess, until Old Neil, who had returned from the armory, interrupted his thoughts.

(End of this chapter)