Dream Interpretation

"Mm, the first dream should be interpreted like this: I'll fall into danger, and Melvin will save me from it... It's a relatively clear Dream Divination, but I can't trust it blindly. I'll conduct a second divination above the Gray Fog tomorrow. If it's still the same result..." Thinking of this, Klein suddenly laughed at himself.

He suddenly recalled that Dream Divination was one of the few divination methods that could not be used on the same matter twice. If repeated, the variables introduced by the previous Dream Divination might produce an entirely different and less accurate result.

Old Neil had taught him that...

Rubbing his cheek, Klein began interpreting the second dream, the one he understood the least. "After leaving that black ocean, I arrived in another strange space. Unfortunately, it was too dark in the dream to make out my surroundings..."

"A woman was tied to a stone pillar... and burning firewood lay beneath her... The surface meaning of this dream should come from my knowledge of medieval witch hunts before I transmigrated. It doesn't necessarily mean anything... I don't know that girl tied to the pillar. I should never have seen her before..." At that thought, Klein furrowed his brow slightly.

A Seer could not suffer from face blindness. If he had truly seen that girl before and later forgotten her, his spirituality would naturally have warned him.

Setting that question aside for the moment, Klein continued interpreting the dream. "The girl I saw had no clothes to protect her. She was wounded and bound, which means she was the weaker party. The burning firewood beneath her represented the danger she faced... But what were those wings covered in white feathers behind her? I've never seen a person with wings before. Or was she an angel? Then again, angels in this world seem not to have wings..."

"Mm, apart from that, there doesn't seem to be anything else to interpret... Who exactly was this girl? Why did she appear in my dream divination about Melvin? Since she has no connection with me, she can only be someone Melvin knows... No, perhaps such a girl doesn't exist in reality. She might merely be the embodiment of the weaker party in my dream... And she had one silver eye. Melvin happens to have silver eyes too!"

Klein perked up, feeling that he had found the correct interpretation of the Dream Divination. "If I'm not mistaken, that weak, pitiful, helpless girl in the dream symbolized Melvin. Her weakness and the firewood beneath her symbolized the immense danger he faced... In other words, if I'm willing to trust him, then when I fall into danger in the future, he'll save me. Likewise, when he gets hurt and loses his strength for some reason, I'll be capable of helping him... But the dream contained nothing about me helping him, which means I can choose whether to help him or not..."

Klein felt he had more or less interpreted the dream, but one thing still puzzled him: why did the girl symbolizing Melvin have one bronze-colored eye?

"Forget it. Precognitive dreams always contain imagery that's hard to interpret... Maybe I'll only understand what those images represent once things actually happen." Unable to think of an answer, Klein decisively gave up on interpreting it further. Without enough information, he could only reach the wrong conclusion.

"I'm going out for some air. I'll be back in a bit," Leonard said to Klein as he stretched.

The carefree poet with green eyes quickly left the duty room, leaving Klein alone to drink coffee.

The sound of leather shoes striking the stairs echoed through the silent Blackthorn Security Company. Leonard pushed open the company's front door and stepped outside. Gazing at the Crimson Moon overhead, he contentedly drew a deep breath of the cool night air, then muttered softly, "What is he thinking?"

"Is Old Neil really beyond saving..."

"Perhaps Melvin is someone worth watching." Leonard's voice was low, and it did not carry through the dark night.

"By the way, you owe me one for this, right?"

Swain usually woke up late. One reason he had risen so early today was the lunatic pounding on the Evil Dragon Bar's door first thing in the morning.

Staring at the smiling bastard before him, Swain snorted. "You'd better not try making any requests you shouldn't."

Without question, Swain truly regarded Old Neil as a friend. If Aster had not reported Old Neil in advance and nipped the danger in the bud, Swain could only have attended Old Neil's funeral.

Therefore, regardless of Aster's motives or what he intended to do, Swain would turn a blind eye—unless he tried to harm innocent people.

"So distant, Mr. Swain. I thought we could already be considered friends." Aster set down his empty beer glass and let out a pretentious sigh.

Before transmigrating, Aster had already maxed out Swain's favorability. He had thought it would not be difficult to do it again after transmigrating, but reality proved otherwise. Perhaps because his appearance was too mysterious and his actions made it difficult for others to feel secure, Swain still remained highly wary of him.

NPCs really were different from real people... Aster sighed inwardly.

"If you keep talking shit, I won't mind throwing you out with my fists." Swain took another gulp of liquor.

Drinking such strong liquor so early in the morning... Aster could not approve of Swain's eating and drinking habits. He swiftly skipped all pleasantries and greetings and stated his request directly. "Three identity documents."

"Such a simple request?" Swain took the paper Aster handed over, opened it, and studied it for a while before asking with a frown, "What grade do you want?"

He also did business making fake identity documents and purchasing them—after all, such things could not be stopped, so he might as well keep the business in his own hands. Every identity document purchased through Swain would have a simple backup record in the Mandated Punishers' team archives in Tingen City, but Aster did not mind. As long as he did not cause too much trouble using the fake identities, that restraint was equivalent to nothing... Besides, Swain did not know Aster's true identity anyway. Even if anyone investigated, they could only trace it back to him.

"Something more legitimate. Not the sort that gets exposed the moment a Sheriff looks into it," Aster said, taking a top hat from a nearby table and putting it on. "Leave the photo section blank... When can they be ready?"

"If you need them urgently, I can get the files sorted out by this afternoon, but it'll cost extra." Swain folded the paper containing the details for the three identity documents and stuffed it carelessly into the pocket of his naval jacket. "For something more legitimate, it'll take two days. You'll come pick them up when they're done?"

"Send the three completed identity documents to the Rose Hotel at 4 Olsna Street this afternoon. Just leave them at the front desk, and I'll pick them up." Aster stood, preparing to leave. "How much do you want?"

"No charge this time. You owe me one." Swain replied in a muffled voice, "If I hadn't told the Nighthawks that you were my informant, you'd already have been thrown into their Charles Gate!"

"That counts as a favor too... Also, their door is called Chanis Gate." Curling his lip, Aster quickly walked out of the Evil Dragon Bar.

He should buy some necessities first. After all, he needed a new disguise... He checked his pocket watch. It was still early. Aster had already bought a ticket for tomorrow morning.

Glancing at the quest panel, he saw that his level had risen to Level 25. Aster nodded in satisfaction. His strength should be enough now.

He made a rather bold and aggressive decision: instead of remaining in Tingen City and waiting leisurely, he would head straight to Sivellas County and ambush Lanevus!

It was not only because of the chaos Lanevus would cause by returning to Tingen in the game's storyline, but also because Aster had a strange intuition: Lanevus absolutely could not be allowed to return to Tingen City alive, or the consequences would be unimaginable.

Aster had never believed Klein could placate Gracis. Or rather, he firmly believed in the possibility that "Lanevus has already learned that someone in Tingen is looking for him." That was the worst-case scenario.

Without question, this identity of his had already drawn attention from multiple parties. It was time to discard it.

That was also one reason Aster had used his Beyonder Ability so freely before: he would never use Melvin, this temporary alias, again anyway. Since that was the case, he might as well make full use of it.

He wondered whether Roselle had ever taught them that the more distinctive a person's features were, the easier it was to disguise oneself... The smile faded from Aster's face as he strode toward a nearby tailor's shop.

"Gentlemen, of course you should be worried about this." A young man wearing gold-rimmed glasses stood in the meeting room, delivering an impassioned speech. "Loen's future will inevitably belong to merchants and bankers, and Sivellas Mining will inevitably claim a place in the tide of the new era... Let those decayed old nobles cling to their meager lands and dream! The only thing you need to worry about is being unable to claim a share of gold from this enticing project! And now, the key to wealth has been placed before you!"

The surrounding men and women were stirred by his words, each rushing to demand an investment opportunity.

After the meeting ended, the man hurried back to his residence, wiped away his disguise, and took a letter from the mailbox.

He opened the letter as he walked into the house, and his expression soon turned solemn. "Someone is investigating me?"

"The recipient is listed as Mr. Antigonus... It was sent by Aripis." The man was Lanevus. He knew well that Mr. Antigonus was the alias he and Sirius Aripis, a member of the Aurora Order, had agreed upon for contact. "Hainas Vincent sent word that a black-haired man with silver eyes asked about my whereabouts at the Divination Club..."