Materials and the Clown

On Tuesday morning, while pondering how to reveal the Acting Method to Captain Dunn in a relatively natural way, Klein walked into Blackthorn Security Company.

"Good morning, Klein!" Rozanne, the company's receptionist, greeted him with a brilliant smile. Then she blinked her light-brown eyes and whispered mysteriously:

"Did you know? The captain's acting a little strange today."

Klein immediately became alert. Ever since the Witch Trissy incident, the captain's mental state seemed to have returned to how it had been before. He often forgot things, so he was especially sensitive to the "strange" behavior Rozanne mentioned. He immediately lowered his voice and asked seriously, "What happened?"

Rozanne was startled by his attitude and hurriedly waved her hands. "It's not what you think... Actually, I think the captain ran into something good."

"Something good? What exactly happened?" Klein asked in confusion.

"Yeah. When I went to deliver today's newspapers just now, I saw the captain sitting there in a daze. Every now and then, he'd even reveal a smile so gentle it could drown someone... I called him twice before he answered me." Rozanne nodded, her eyes shining.

This can't mean Miss Daly confessed her feelings to the captain again, can it? Could it be that the captain didn't back down this time... Should I still tell him about the Acting Method?

Lost in wild speculation, Klein walked toward the partition and knocked on the captain's office door.

Once, twice, three times...

Only after he had knocked more than ten times did Dunn's rich voice come from inside the partition:

"Come in."

Yet Klein felt even more uneasy now. He first lowered the pendulum of yellow crystal hanging from his cuff and performed a divination to check whether there was any danger. Only then did he push open the door and