"Wei Ge, what kind of stories do you like to hear?"
After Shade sat back down, he asked. Wei Ge, lying on her side and looking at him, answered softly:
"Any kind is fine. Even traditional Fairy Tales—I like listening to those."
She slipped her right hand out from beneath the blanket again, wanting to take Shade's hand, but he refused:
"Keep the blanket over yourself. Don't stick your hand out. I'm sure you've heard plenty of Fairy Tales, so I'll tell you a Detective story."
"A Detective story like the ones in the Detective Hamilton Story Collection?"
"Yes. Which volume have you read up to?"
"The fourth volume."
"Then I'll tell you the story from the fifth."
As he spoke, he pulled a book from the Star Sea bookshelf that appeared beside him and spread the dreamlike star blue volume across his knees.
Dorothy sometimes used the Saturday Night Lesson to have Shade read the books she had written, making sure he was satisfied with the stories she had Written. Therefore, Shade knew the complete contents of every story Dorothy had published so far:
"Then I'll begin, Wei Ge—That morning, I still remember that the weather was terrible. I—the Detective's assistant, Dorothy's counterpart in the story—was summoned early to Tobesk Train Station by Detective Hamilton. Before he left to deal with the Hound incident elsewhere, he had some things to tell me."
Wei Ge kept watching Shade as he told the story, but after he had read only two pages, she had already closed her eyes and begun breathing evenly.
"Asleep? Is my voice really that hypnotic?"
Shade thought to himself. He read another page, and only after confirming that Wei Ge was truly asleep did he lower his voice slightly, until he stopped altogether.
He looked at the