1328 The Preparations Needed (1/2)
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.