The Medium's Candle

Hope finally took a sip of the black tea in her hand; it wasn't so scalding hot anymore, and it felt warm.

He was used to drinking green tea and knew almost nothing about black tea, but he still felt it was a very good tea.

"A six-pointed star-shaped herb that grows at the source of a stream and may have translation abilities..." Professor Rice thought for a moment:

"I think I know now. It's the ' Spirit Herb ' revered by the remnants of the fallen people, but the name is too strange, so we renamed it ' Hex-Star '."

"I don't know much about this. I only remember that the so-called 'translation function' should just enhance a person's observation skills, allowing them to better understand the body language of the person they are talking to, not true translation... Dr. Morgan seems to have written a paper on this topic; I can find it for you."

Not a real translation... Hope shook her head in disappointment, indicating that she didn't need it.

"What's wrong?" Professor Rice asked curiously.

Hope hesitated for a moment. "I have a piece of paper... that someone left me, but I can't understand what's written on it."

"So you want a potion that can translate text?"

"Yes."

"Hmm... As far as I know, there might not be any usable ones. But you can bring some for me to see. I'm a professor of ancient languages, and Professor Armitage can read almost every language in the world."

No, you wouldn't understand, Hope thought.

After all, no matter how learned you are, you can't possibly understand the language of another world.

He took the paper from Professor Rice and wrote down half of Number Four Hope's message—after copying it many times, he was able to memorize part of it, but he couldn't guarantee accuracy.

Professor Armitage shook his head. "This is not any script I recognize."

Professor Rice remained silent.

Hope guessed he might feel a little embarrassed, after all, they had just said that the two of them could understand almost all languages.

"I admit I exaggerated a bit just now," Professor Rice said.

"But even if we don't use it, we should have seen most common languages before. Are you sure your friend wrote it that way?"

"... shouldn't be too different."

"Is it possible that he was just joking, and it's just like..."

It looked like it was written haphazardly. Hope could understand him; after all, such messy handwriting was indeed rare.

"... highly unlikely."

"Perhaps it's some kind of code," Professor Armitage said, "But I can't find a way to decipher it right now..."

It's not a password...

Hope thought with disappointment.

He had indeed heard of linguists who could decipher a language from scratch, but that required a large amount of text as a reference, and all he had were a few lines... and they were very messy.

Professor Rice patted Hope on the shoulder. "Don't make that face, okay?"

Hope looked at him.

Professor Rice shrugged. "There are so many professors at Miskatonic University; just because we don't know them doesn't mean others don't."

Hope ignored him and sipped her black tea.

"He doesn't seem to trust us much," Professor Rice said to Professor Armitage. "But I really don't know of any potion that can translate unknown languages."

Armitage stared at the note for a long time. "Your friend..."

"He's gone," Hope said.

Hope's tone was negative, and although it wasn't because of the previously unseen Number Four Hope, it still gave the two professors some reason to speculate, and neither of them asked their friend any further questions.

Elizabeth, who was sitting some distance away, suddenly walked over.

She asked when the note was written.

Hope, unsure why she was asking, honestly replied, "June 5th, around that day."

The day I first met you?

Yes, around that day.

Where is my pocket watch?

Hope handed her the small silver pocket watch.

Both professors, including Hope, were watching her, curious about what she wanted to do.

"Is the original still there?" Elizabeth continued to ask.

"What?"

"Is the piece of paper with that original sentence still there?"

"Yes, it's still there," Hope replied.

Elizabeth turned the button on top of the pocket watch.

The button was a rectangle, a rarity on other pocket watches, Hope knew that turning it clockwise would wind the watch.

Hope didn't understand mechanical watches. When the pocket watch was in his hand, he was always afraid that it would suddenly stop, leaving him without a timekeeping tool. So every morning he would wind it to its full extent.

But Elizabeth didn't seem to be winding up; Hope was certain the pocket watch couldn't spin that many times.

"Clatter!"

The watch cover popped open.

But it wasn't the front cover, it was the back cover, revealing the rattling mechanical parts inside.

She put the pocket watch back into Hope's hand, said nothing, and left again with her book in her arms.

Hope sensed that Elizabeth seemed a little unhappy, but he didn't know why.

Hope couldn't understand the mechanical parts behind the pocket watch, but something else caught Hope attention.

It was a small, translucent substance attached to the silver back cover, emitting a peculiar fragrance. Hope touched it and it felt like wax.

Professor Rice took the pocket watch from his hand.

Professor Rice hesitated for a moment, then took out rubber gloves and a small glass bottle from his pocket.

He put his gloves on backwards and carefully removed the translucent waxy substance from the pocket watch, placing it in a small glass bottle.

Professor Rice asked Elizabeth why such a thing existed.

Elizabeth did not answer, and Professor Armitage blocked Professor Rice from asking further questions.

Professor Armitage is a true gentleman who values the privacy of everyone around him.

"Tell us what this is first," Professor Armitage said to Professor Rice. "You're an expert in this."

Professor Rice shrugged. "A candle used for mediumship."

"Are there really mediums?" Hope asked. He had heard of people who claimed to be able to Communication with the dead.

"Most of them are fake," Professor Rice replied. "The vast majority of mediums are actors who perform magic tricks to make money, but this is a real psychic candle, albeit a very small one."

"Miskatonic University once had a whole one, but unfortunately they used it all up in their experiments and never managed to make a replica. With this, you can understand what that sentence means."

"Can it help me translate?"

"No, but it can communicate with spirits."

"Doesn't the soul dissipate very quickly?"

"The mediums believe that everything in the world leaves a trace. This means that even after a soul has passed away, they can still read what the soul was thinking in life."

What is the soul thinking before it dies...?

"Thank you, Elizabeth!" Hope said, turning to Elizabeth.

He then looked at Professor Rice: "What should I do?"

"Light that piece of paper and the candle together, and you'll know what your friend is thinking. When a person writes down a sentence, they're always thinking about its meaning; at that time, there are no limitations of language."

Professor Rice handed the glass bottle to Hope.

Someone knocked on the door.

This time, the door opened by itself without waiting for Professor Armitage's response.

Blonde hair... Hope guessed it was that girl named Nancy.

"Ah, Love is here too!" Nancy said happily. "Professor Armitage, Wilbur is here to see you."