The true medium... Klein murmured this description to himself and remained silent, following Dunn Smith down from the carriage. Welch's residence in Tingen was a single-story house with a garden. The iron gate was latticed, and the road outside could accommodate four carriages at the same time. There was a street lamp every meter on both sides of the road. They were gas lamps, about the height of an adult man, making it convenient to light them. Black metal was tightly attached to the glass, forming a grid and casting a classical "artwork" like a lantern. Cold and warmth danced together, and shadows and light coexisted. Stepping on the dimly lit road, Klein and Dunn Smith entered Welch's rented place through the half-open iron gate. Directly in front of the gate was a path wide enough for two carriages, paved with cement, leading straight to a two-story house. To the left was a garden, and to the right was a lawn. The faint fragrance of flowers and the refreshing scent intertwined, making one feel at ease. As soon as he stepped in, Klein's hair stood on end, and he looked around. He felt that in the garden, in the shadows of the lawn, on the top floor of the house, behind the swing, in every dark corner, there were pairs of eyes watching him! Although there was no one around, Klein felt as if he were on a busy street. This strange contrast and this odd feeling made his body tense, and a chill ran up his spine. "There's a problem!" He couldn't help but remind Dunn. Dunn walked on the side without changing his expression and replied calmly: "Don't worry about it." Seeing that the "Night Watcher" said so, Klein endured the creepy feeling of being followed, spied on, and sized up but not being able to spot the target, and stepped by step towards the main entrance of the single-story house. If I stay like this for too long, I'll go crazy... As Dunn reached out to knock on the door, Klein quickly turned around and looked again. The flowers swayed in the wind, but there was no one in sight. "Come in, gentlemen." A slightly ethereal voice came from inside the house. Dunn turned the handle and pushed the door open, then said to the woman sitting on the sofa: "Dale, have you got any results?" The chandelier in the living room was not lit. The leather sofa in a main and two side arrangement surrounded a marble coffee table. On the coffee table, a candle was burning, but the flame was a bright blue, casting a flickering and eerie color over the semi-open living room, dining room, and kitchen. In the middle of the long sofa sat a lady. She wore a black hooded robe, with blue eyeshadow and blush on her face. A silver chain with a white crystal pendant was wrapped around her exposed wrist. At the first sight of her, Klein had an inexplicable feeling: She dressed like a true medium... Is she playing the role of herself? The "medium" Dale glanced at Klein with her flashing green eyes and looked at Dunn Smith, saying: "The original spirits have all disappeared, including those of Welch and Naya. The little ones here know nothing." Spirits? Mediums... Those invisible watchers were spirits? There were so many spirits? Klein took off his hat, placed it on his chest, and bowed slightly, saying: "Good evening, madam." Dunn Smith, on the other hand, sighed and said: "Really a headache..." "Dale, this is Klein Moretti. See if you can find anything from him." Dale's gaze immediately turned to Klein. She pointed to the single sofa on the side and said: "Please sit down." "Thank you." Klein nodded, walked over, and sat down obediently, his heart rising involuntarily. It all depends on what happens next... whether it's life or death, a smooth passage, or the secret being exposed... What makes me most powerless is that I lack something to rely on and can only hope for the special... This is really a very bad feeling... Klein thought bitterly. As Dunn sat down on the double sofa opposite, "Medium" Daly took out two thumb-sized glass bottles from a hidden pocket at her waist. Her emerald green eyes smiled at Klein and said, "I need a little assistance. After all, you're not an enemy, so I can't be so direct and rough with you. That would make you uncomfortable, cause you pain, and even leave serious aftereffects. I'll give you some fragrance, enough tenderness and lubrication to let you gradually relax and truly immerse yourself in that feeling." This sounded a bit off... Klein was taken aback, his eyes wide with surprise. Dunn smiled and said, "Don't be surprised. Unlike those guys in the Church of the Storm Lord, here, ladies can verbally flirt with men. You should understand this. Your mother is a devout believer of the Goddess, and you and your brother have attended the Sunday school of the Church." "I understand, I just didn't expect it to be so... so..." Klein gestured, unable to find the right word and almost blurted out the equivalent of "experienced driver". Dunn's lips curled up and said, "Don't worry. Daly doesn't do this often. She just wants to use this method to calm and relax you. She prefers corpses to men." "You make me sound like a pervert." "Medium" Daly smiled and interjected. She opened one of the small bottles and sprinkled a few drops into the bright blue flame of the candle. "Night-scented grass, deep sleep flower, and chamomile mixed and distilled to extract pure essence. I call it 'Amanda', which means tranquility in Hermes. It smells very nice." As she spoke, the candle flame flickered a few times, and the few drops of pure essence quickly evaporated, filling the room. A delicate and enchanting fragrance wafted into Klein's nose. His mood relaxed, and his mind quickly became peaceful, as if he were looking down at the darkness in the dead of night. "This bottle is called 'Spirit's Eye'. It's made by sun-drying the bark and leaves of dragon-patterned trees and white poplars for seven days, boiling them three times, and soaking them in Ranci wine. Of course, there are a few incantations involved..." The amber liquid dripped onto the bright blue flame as "Medium" Daly described it. Klein smelled the wine aroma, an ethereal and elusive wine aroma. He saw the candle flame flickering violently, saw Daly's blue eyeshadow and blush shimmering with an eerie glow, and even saw double images. "It's a great helper for mediumship and a very charming flower essence..." As Daly spoke, Klein felt her voice coming from all directions. Confused, he looked around and found that everything was shaking and blurring, as if shrouded in layer upon layer of thick fog. Even his own body was shaking, blurring, floating, and losing weight. Red was redder, blue was bluer, black was blacker. The colors were mixed like an impressionist painting, hazy and dreamlike. And the fragmented and overlapping whispers came in waves, as if countless invisible people were discussing. "This feels similar to when I did the 'Fortune-Turning Ritual' before, but without that crazy, explosive feeling..." Klein looked at all this and wondered. Just then, his gaze was drawn to a pair of eyes as clear as green gemstones. Daly, dressed in a black robe, sat on the blurry "sofa", her gaze strangely focused on the top of Klein's head. Her voice was gentle as she said, "Let's formally meet. I'm 'Medium' Daly." This... I can still think calmly and rationally... Just like during the 'Fortune-Turning Ritual' and the 'Party'... Klein thought and deliberately acted dazed: "Hello..." The human mind is vast, concealing many secrets. Look at that sea; what we can understand is only the islands above the water. But in fact, beneath the surface, the islands have much larger parts. And in reality, apart from the islands, there is the entire sea, and the boundless sky symbolizing the spiritual realm... You are the spirit of the body. You not only know the islands above the water but also the parts hidden beneath, and the entire sea... Everything that exists leaves a trace. The memories on the surface of the islands can be erased, but the parts beneath the water and the entire sea must have their corresponding projections... Dalei kept inducing, and the blurry wind and shadows around her shifted into similar shapes, as if Klein's inner sea was completely exposed here, waiting for him to search and discover. Klein watched calmly, occasionally "churning" the sea, and finally replied in a distant tone: "No... I can't remember... I've forgotten..." He displayed his pain just right. Dalei tried to induce again, but the alert Klein wasn't affected. "Alright, that's it. Let's go back." "Let's go back." "Let's go back..." As the ethereal voice lingered, Dalei vanished, and the wind and shadows began to calm. The faint fragrance and the light wine aroma became distinct again. All colors returned to normal, and the blurry and confused feeling disappeared. Klein's body trembled slightly, and he regained his weight. He opened his eyes, which he didn't know when he had closed, and found that in front of him was still the blue-flame candle, still the comfortably sitting Dunn Smith, and still the "medium" Dalei in the black hooded robe. "Why did you use the theories of those evil lunatics from the Psychological Alchemists?" Dunn frowned slightly and looked at Dalei. Dalei put away the two small bottles while calmly replying: "I think it's quite correct. At least it fits some of the things I've seen and touched..." Before Dunn could speak again, she spread her hands and said: "He's a tricky guy. There's no trace left at all." Hearing this, Klein beside her let out a long breath of relief and pretended to be confused, asking: "Is it over? What happened just now? I felt like I took a nap..." So this is passed? Thank goodness for the "Change of Fortune" ritual "rehearsal"! "Just think so," Dunn interrupted him and looked at the "medium" Dalei, "Have you checked the bodies of Welch and Naya?" "The bodies can tell us more than you think. Unfortunately, Welch and Naya did commit suicide. We can only say that the force that influenced them is terrifying. There's no trace left at all." Dalei stood up and reached for the candle, "I'm going to rest." The blue light vanished, and the room was instantly filled with a hazy red glow. ... "Congratulations, you can go home now, but remember, you mustn't tell your family or friends about this. You must guarantee it." Dunn led Klein all the way to the gate. Klein was surprised and asked in return, "Don't we need to check for curse or evil spirit traces?" "Daley didn't mention it, so there aren't any," Dunn replied briefly. Klein felt relieved. Thinking of his previous worries, he hurriedly asked again, "How can I be sure there won't be any trouble later?" "Don't worry too much," Dunn said with a slight movement of his mouth. "According to statistics, in similar situations, 80% of the living parties involved didn't encounter any terrifying aftermath. Well, this data is based on my impression, roughly, approximately." "What about the other 20% of the unlucky ones..." Klein didn't dare to take the risk. "Then you can consider joining us as a civilian staff. That way, if there are any signs, we can detect them in time," Dunn said casually as he approached the carriage. "Or you can directly become a supernatural being. After all, we're not your nannies and can't watch over you all night long, even when you're with a woman." "Can I?" Klein asked along with this. Of course, he didn't have much hope. After all, how could it be so easy to join the Night Watch and obtain supernatural powers! That was supernatural power! Dunn stopped and turned his head to look at him. "... "Not impossible, it depends on the situation..." What? This sudden change surprised Klein. He stood beside the carriage for a moment before saying, "Really?" " Are you kidding me? It's that easy to become an extraordinary being? Dunn chuckled, his grey eyes hidden by the shadow of the carriage: "Don't believe it? In fact, becoming a Night Watcher, you'll lose a lot, like your freedom." "Even if we don't talk about that for now, there are other problems. First, you're not a clergyman who has performed meritorious deeds or a devout believer, so you can't be picky and can't choose the safest path." "Secondly..." Dunn grabbed the handrail and stepped onto the carriage path, "Among the cases we, the Penitents, the Mechanical Heart, and other similar judicial organs handle each year, a quarter involve the loss of control of extraordinary beings." A quarter... Loss of control of extraordinary beings... Klein was stunned for a moment. At this moment, Dunn half-turned his body, his grey eyes deep, and his lips moved without a smile: "And among this quarter, a large part are our teammates."
