Tap!
Klein could not help taking a step back, unsure for a moment whether he was awake or still dreaming.
The figure took off his black top hat, gave a slight bow, and said with a smile in a low voice:
"Let me introduce myself again. Nighthawk, Dunn Smith."
Nighthawks? The code name for the Church of the Evernight Goddess's Beyonder team that Justice and The Hanged Man mentioned? Understanding dawned on Klein. Connecting this with what had happened earlier, he blurted out:
"You manipulate dreams? You made me have that dream just now?"
Dunn Smith the Nighthawk put his black top hat back on, concealing his slightly receding hairline. A hint of amusement lay in his deep gray eyes as he said:
"No, I merely entered your dream and provided the necessary guidance."
His rich, gentle voice echoed through the dim corridor as though taking care not to disturb anyone else's dreams:
"In dreams, ordinarily repressed emotions and all sorts of dark thoughts are magnified, making everything seem chaotic, absurd, and mad. But the truth still exists, still lies hidden within. To an old hand like me, it is all obvious and easy to see. Compared with you awake, I trust you more in your dreams."
This... what normal person can control their dreams? If I dreamed about something from Earth, wouldn't Dunn Smith discover it? Klein was startled, filled with lingering fear over his experience in the dream.
But he soon noticed something strange, because he remembered being lucid and rational in the dream, knowing what he should and should not say.
Simply put, it had not felt like dreaming at all!
So Dunn Smith only "saw" what I wanted him to see?
Klein's thoughts raced, and a vague understanding began to form.
Was this a benefit that came with transmigration, such as something special about my spirit, or an additional effect of that "luck enhancement ritual"?
"So, Mr. Smith, are you certain I really have lost my memory?" Klein collected his words and asked in return.
Dunn Smith did not answer directly. Instead, he gave him a penetrating look.
"You actually aren't surprised by this sort of thing?"
"The people involved in previous cases refused to believe in supernatural powers even just after dreaming. They preferred to think they hadn't truly woken up yet."
Klein murmured in acknowledgment and said:
"Perhaps it's because I've been praying for and hoping for such a power to help me."
"A very interesting line of reasoning... perhaps luck wasn't the only reason you survived." Dunn nodded without much of a smile. "I can now confirm that you really did lose some of your memories because of this incident, especially those concerning the incident itself."
"Then can I go back?" Klein inwardly let out a long sigh of relief and asked tentatively.
With one hand in his pocket, Dunn walked slowly toward him. The surrounding darkness grew quiet and gentle.
"No, you still have to come with me to see the 'expert.'" The corners of his mouth lifted politely.
"Why?" Klein blurted out, then hastily added, "Don't you trust your own guidance of dreams?"
Are you kidding? If that "expert" is good at hypnosis or mind reading, wouldn't my greatest secret be exposed?
The consequences would be unimaginable!
"I have always been humble, but I do have some confidence when it comes to dreams," Dunn replied calmly and composedly. "However, with crucial, important matters, there is no harm in confirming things once more. Besides, her expertise is very different from mine. Perhaps she can help you recover some memories."
Before Klein could say anything else, his voice deepened:
"After all, you are connected to the whereabouts of that Antigonus Family Notebook."
"What?" Klein froze for a moment.
Dunn stopped in front of him, his gray eyes fixed on Klein's.
"That notebook left over from the Fourth Epoch wasn't at the scene. It wasn't anywhere in the house. Welch is dead, Naya is dead, and you are our only lead."
"...All right." After a moment's silence, Klein let out a breath.
The notebook is missing... this really is strange!
I hadn't even thought about the whereabouts of that Fourth Epoch notebook!
Dunn nodded almost imperceptibly and spoke as he walked past Klein:
"Lock your door and come with me to Welch's residence now. The 'expert' is waiting for us there."
Drawing a silent breath, Klein felt his heart pounding with apprehension.
He wanted to refuse, even to run away, but he believed that after what had happened in the dream, Dunn Smith would certainly be more vigilant. Given the difference in strength between an ordinary person and a Beyonder, forcing the issue would have little chance of success.
He must also have a handgun on him... and he's probably practiced shooting many times...
Various thoughts clashed fiercely in his mind. In the end, Klein chose to face reality.
"All right."
Sigh, I can only take things one step at a time. Perhaps that special quality I had in the dream will work again...
"Then let's go." There was not the slightest fluctuation in Dunn's tone.
Klein turned and followed for two steps, then suddenly stopped.
"Mr. Smith, I... I'd like to use the washroom first."
I came out to use the toilet in the first place...
Dunn did not stop him. Instead, he gave him a deep look and said:
"No problem. Klein, trust me. In the darkness, I am far stronger than you imagine."
In the darkness... Klein silently repeated those words.
He made no reckless attempt, obediently relieved the pressure in his lower abdomen, then washed his face with cold water, calming himself down completely.
After changing his clothes, putting on his hat, and closing his front door, Klein followed Dunn down the stairs with soft footsteps, heading toward the apartment building's entrance.
Amid that quiet, Dunn Smith suddenly spoke:
"Why did you want to run away at the end of the dream? What were you afraid of?"
Klein's thoughts flashed like lightning. He answered as he thought:
"I don't remember what I did at Welch's house, nor do I remember whether I directly caused his and Naya's deaths. I was afraid it would turn out to really be me. I didn't dare gamble on that. Better to run away and start a new life on the Southern Continent."
"I would have done the same." Dunn pushed open the apartment building's door, letting the cool night breeze disperse the stuffiness inside.
Unafraid that Klein might flee, he boarded the carriage first. It was the one Klein had seen in his dream: four wheels, one horse, a coachman, and the police emblem of "crossed swords flanking a crown" engraved on the side of the carriage.
Klein followed him inside and found thick carpeting underfoot and the soothing scent of incense in the air.
Sitting down casually, he found a topic of conversation, trying to learn more about the situation:
"Mr. Smith, if-and I mean if-the 'expert' confirms that I really have forgotten that part of my memories, and there is no other evidence proving I was a perpetrator rather than a victim, would that be the end of it?"
"In theory, yes. We would look for that notebook through other channels. As long as it still exists, it can be found. Of course, before that, we would confirm that you bear no curse, have no lingering traces of evil spirits, and have no related psychological problems, so you can face your future life safely and healthily." Dunn Smith revealed a smile, a somewhat strange smile.
Klein keenly caught this. Before he could feel relieved, he hurriedly asked:
"In theory?"
"Yes, only in theory. This field is always full of twisted, unreasonable, unbelievable things." Dunn looked into Klein's eyes. "Sometimes, their continuation and their end are not things we can foresee or control."
"For example?" For a moment, Klein actually felt a little afraid.
The carriage sped along the nearly deserted streets. Dunn took out his pipe and sniffed it.
"When we think a matter is over and everything has returned to normal, it descends again in a terrifying, horrifying way."
"A few years ago, we handled a cult case. They organized believers to perform living sacrifices through suicide to please an evil god. After one believer was selected, his instinct to survive overcame his stupidity, his heretical faith, and the hallucinogens. He secretly went to the police station to report it."
"The matter was handed over to us. It was a very minor assignment, because the cult had no Beyonders, and the god they worshipped was something their leader had simply made up. For money and pleasure, he had abandoned his humanity."
"With just two team members and the cooperation of the police, we successfully dealt with the cult. Not one of them escaped. We also confirmed that the man who reported it had no lingering traces of evil spirits, no curses clinging to him, no psychological disorders, no personality problems, and no other strange signs."
"Afterward, his career developed quite well. He married a very good wife and had a boy and a girl. All the shadows seemed to have left him behind, and the terror and bloodshed of the past seemed to have completely faded."
At this point, Dunn Smith smiled and said:
"But this March, despite being financially secure, deeply in love with his wife, and having clever, adorable children, he died. He strangled himself in his office."
Crimson moonlight shone through the carriage window, spilling over Dunn Smith.
At that moment, his seemingly self-mocking smile struck Klein as creepy-indescribably creepy.
"Strangled himself..." Klein silently drew in a cold breath, as though seeing his own miserable end.
Even if I survived one calamity, would it only be a temporary escape?
Was there any way to resolve this completely?
Become a Beyonder myself to fight it?
Silence returned to the carriage. Countless thoughts surged through Klein's mind, then subsided one after another.
In that indescribable silence, the carriage traveled for a long time, moving very fast.
Just as Klein made up his mind to swallow his embarrassment and ask Dunn Smith for advice on a possible solution, the carriage stopped.
"Mr. Smith, we've arrived at Welch's residence." The coachman's voice reached their ears.
"Let's get out." Dunn straightened his knee-length black trench coat. "Heh, let me introduce her beforehand. The 'expert's' public cover is Awwa County's most famous spirit medium."
Klein set aside his other thoughts and asked curiously:
"Then what is her actual identity?"
Dunn turned halfway around and looked back, his gray eyes deep.
"A true 'Spirit Medium.'"