A hazy, gray mist hung in the air as if it had never existed since time immemorial, while deep red, illusory stars hung near and far. Klein sat in the magnificent palace that resembled the dwelling of Giant, quietly gazing at everything familiar before him.
After a few seconds, he looked away, causing a piece of yellowish-brown parchment to appear before him. He then picked up a pen and wrote down the summoning ritual with his modified incantation:
"Light a candle to symbolize yourself;"
"Creating a sacred environment using Wall of Spirituality;"
"Add drops of Full Moon essential oil, chamomile hydrosol, and Deep Sleep flower powder to the candle flame (Note: This step doesn't require too much attention, as it's about invoking oneself);"
Recite the following mantra:
"I! ( In Ancient Hermes, Jotun' Language, Dragonese, Elvish, it must be whispered)"
"I summon in my own name ( Hermes ):"
" The Fool That Doesn't Belong to This Era, Mysterious Ruler Above the Gray Fog, the King of Yellow and Black who wields good fortune."
After carefully reviewing it three times, Klein wrote the Divination statement at the bottom:
"It is dangerous to perform the above rituals outside the home."
He exhaled, put down the pen, unfastened the silver chain from his cuff, and held it in his left hand.
When the citrine pendant hovered quietly above the parchment, just a hair's breadth away from touching the Divination text, he composed himself and entered a Cogitation state.
"It is dangerous to perform the above rituals outside the home."
"It is dangerous to perform the above rituals outside the home."
After silently repeating it seven times, Klein opened his almost completely black eyes and saw the citrine pendant rotating counterclockwise.
This means negation, which means there is no danger!
"We can give it a try now." Klein quickly made the materialized objects in front of him disappear, extended his Spirituality energy to envelop himself, and simulated the feeling of falling rapidly downwards.
Back in his bedroom, having already sealed the entire room with Wall of Spirituality, Klein immediately cleaned the desk and placed a mint-scented candle in the very center.
He placed his right hand lightly on the candle wick, and with a Spirituality friction, he instantly ignited it.
In the flickering, dim light, Klein dripped the corresponding essential oils, hydrosols, and herbal powders into the flames.
A tranquil and pleasant fragrance instantly filled the room, causing it to flicker between light and darkness.
Taking two steps back, Klein gazed at the candle that symbolized him and whispered in Jotun:
"I!"
He then switched to Hermes:
"I summon in my own name:"
" The Fool That Doesn't Belong to This Era, Mysterious Ruler Above the Gray Fog, the King of Yellow and Black who wields good fortune."
As soon as he finished speaking, he felt the flickering, dim candlelight and the surrounding tranquil fragrance merge into a vortex, frantically absorbing his Spirituality.
"O deep-sleeping flower of the red moon, please transfer your power to my incantation..." Klein endured the discomfort of his Spirituality being drained and finished reciting the rest of the incantation.
At that moment, he saw the candlelight stop flickering, stand quietly there, and turn grayish-white, stretching out to the size of a palm.
"Didn't summon anything... Oh right, maybe I need to go above the Gray Fog to respond... Summoning myself is such a hassle..." Klein rubbed his empty, stinging forehead and muttered to himself.
He paused for a dozen seconds, took four steps in reverse, and came back above the Gray Fog, where he saw concentric circles of light spreading out from the very top of the ancient long table.
This comes from the strange symbol behind the high-backed chair, which consists of a " Pupil-less Eye " symbolizing Concealment and a " Line of Distortion " symbolizing change.
Klein merely made a gesture of reaching out to touch it, and immediately heard incantations such as "I! In my name I summon the Mysterious Ruler Above the Gray Fog the Fool That Doesn't Belong to This Era," and saw the surging Spirituality mix with the spreading light patterns, transforming into a phantom, unformed door.
The door swayed precariously, as if trying to open, Klein immediately had Spirit Intuition, giving rise to a strong desire to push it open.
Almost instantly, the boundless Gray Fog and the magnificent palace were suddenly drawn together, creating barely perceptible ripples.
The ripples spread in concentric circles, surging towards that illusory, unformed door.
However, no matter how hard Klein tried, the door could not be opened, and all the commotion eventually subsided.
"Because the ' Door of Summoning ' wasn't fully formed?" Klein withdrew his thoughts, frowning slightly as he analyzed the reasons for the failure.
He casually named that illusory gate " The Door of Summoning ".
"Hmm, it's because my Spirituality is insufficient to construct a complete ' Door of Summoning '... Once I advance to Sequence 8 and become a ' Clown, ' and overcome the initial dangerous phase, I can try again. Perhaps then there won't be any problems..." Klein nodded slightly, roughly understanding what was going on.
This experiment gave him immense confidence and strong encouragement, because it was the first time, outside of the incident of Divination the Eternal Blazing Sun, that he had made the mysterious space above the Gray Fog react differently!
"One day, I will uncover all the secrets of this place!" Klein declared excitedly in his heart, before plunging into the boundless Gray Fog, enveloped in Spirituality.
Back in his bedroom, Klein quickly extinguished the candles, ending the ritual. He then tidied his desk and dispelled the Wall of Spirituality.
A sudden gust of wind made him yawn, and he lay down on the bed. He had barely wrapped himself in the blanket when he fell asleep.
In a hazy, fragmented dream, Klein suddenly awoke to find himself sitting in his living room, holding a copy of the Tingen City Honest Paper.
"... Is the captain coming again?" He was taken aback at first, then looked out the protruding window with a mixture of amusement and exasperation.
With a creak, the door opened, and Dunn, wearing a black overcoat that reached past his knees, walked in slowly, carrying a cane and a pipe.
He still wore his top hat, still had those deep gray eyes.
Dunn entered the living room, sat on the single sofa, and casually crossed his right leg over his left.
He put down his cane, took off his hat, leaned back slightly, and looked at Klein quietly, as if deep in thought.
Captain, what do you want to do today...? Klein was momentarily confused.
To avoid revealing that he knew it was a dream, he pretended to be unaffected and continued reading the newspaper.
One minute, two minutes, five minutes. He looked up at Dunn across from him and found that the captain was still quietly looking at him, as if he were thinking.
Five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes, Klein flipped through the newspaper several times, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Dunn quietly watching him, as if deep in thought.
Captain, you're making me very uncomfortable... Klein couldn't sit still any longer. He folded the newspaper, put it aside, smiled and nodded at Dunn, then went to the kitchen to get a dishcloth and pretended to wipe the dining table and coffee table.
Captain, look, my dream is so simple, so ordinary, so boring, there's nothing worth observing, you should leave! Or you could turn into a ghost, and I'll pretend to be frightened so you can achieve the " Nightmare " achievement! He prayed silently, but when he looked up, he saw Dunn's deep, seemingly thoughtful gray eyes.
Under this silent, unchanging gaze, Klein wiped the furniture clean, tidied the room, and was exhausted in his dream.
What exhausted him most was Dunn Smith, who watched him silently, as if deep in thought.
After what seemed like an eternity of activity, he finally saw the captain lower his right leg, stand up, pick up his cane, put on his hat, and walk toward the gate.
Klein held his breath and watched Dunn leave his house.
He couldn't help but raise his right hand in a farewell gesture.
Whew... Klein let out a long sigh of relief once everything was back to normal.
"That was a nightmare!" he thought, on the verge of tears.
Backlund, West Borough, Philips Department Store.
This is the most upscale department store in the Kingdom of Loen, open only to nobles and wealthy members.
Outside, there are always rows of luxurious carriages, each with a different badge. In addition to being a shopping paradise, it has also become a well-known social venue due to strict restrictions on the number of people allowed in.
Audrey, accompanied by her maid Annie and her golden retriever Susie, stepped down from the carriage and entered the gate amidst the attentive greetings of the waiters.
Along the way, she would occasionally see Viscount, countesses, or young women whose parents held prominent positions.
She maintained an elegant demeanor, greeting each person with proper yet natural etiquette, and engaging in brief exchanges with different nobles through various angles. For example, when speaking to a countess, she would compliment how well her new dress fit her, and when exchanging pleasantries with a Baron, she would mention how outstanding her husband's performance was in the House of Lords.
Audrey used to always fall short in this area, being too willful and self-centered, but now she doesn't even need to put in much effort to handle it perfectly.
In the eyes of the " Spectator," the emotions and thoughts of most aristocratic women were written all over their faces.
Upon reaching the second floor, Audrey turned towards the clothing store.
The waitress in the shop was a petite, inexperienced young woman dressed in a black and white dress with stubborn, shoulder-length blonde hair; she was none other than " Arbiter " Xio Derecha.
Without changing her expression, Audrey winked at the big dog Susie, who instantly understood and happily ran towards another counter.
The maid, Annie, had no choice but to hurry after her, trying to pull Susie back.
"Well done!" Audrey thought to herself, then walked over to Xio Derecha and pretended to be looking at different styles of dresses.
"... What brings you here?" Hugh asked in a low voice while introducing himself loudly.
Her voice was very young, like a child's.
"What about the original waiter?" Audrey asked instead of answering.
Hugh looked around and said, "I convinced her; she's happy to have a morning off."
Audrey gazed at the different styles of dresses, then took a folded piece of paper from her small lambskin handbag and discreetly handed it to Hugh.
"' Admiral Hurricane ' Qilangos has secretly infiltrated Backlund. Here is his portrait. I hope you can help me find him, um, without alerting him."
Hugh took the paper, quickly unfolded it, and glanced at it. He found it to be a lifelike sketch of a man in his thirties with a distinctively wide chin.
I often receive praise from my teachers for my drawing skills... Audrey glanced at Hugh and raised her head slightly.
She added:
"The Kingdom has a bounty of 10,000 pounds on Qilangos. If someone can actually capture him, even just by providing a clue, they will certainly receive a reward of at least several hundred pounds."
As soon as she finished speaking, unsurprisingly, Hugh's eyes lit up.