Chapter 116: Online “Teaching”

Chapter 116: Online “Teaching”

Klein glanced at Leonard and smiled.

“Those targets are not even demigods. It is only because of certain influences that they have ‘lived’ until now. And that is precisely the secret I wish to explore through dreams.”

He deliberately emphasized the word “lived.”

Without waiting for Leonard to respond, Klein continued on his own:

“That Fourth Epoch noble was a member of the Zoroast family. Perhaps by using his dream, you can learn more about Pallez Zoroast.”

The Old Man’s descendant… Leonard’s heart stirred, and he grew even more expectant toward the matter Klein had proposed.

Although he got along rather happily with Pallez Zoroast and gradually trusted this angel to a certain degree, he still maintained the most basic vigilance in his heart. After all, that was an outsider—and one living inside his body.

“Do not mention this to Pallez Zoroast for now,” Klein added at that moment.

In your perception, am I really such an unreliable person? Leonard grumbled inwardly and replied irritably,

“No need to remind me.”

Seeing that Leonard had agreed, Klein smiled and said,

“After you return, get me a few drops of your blood. It is necessary preparation for exploring dreams.”

He did not mention specifically how Leonard should give him the blood. In any case, Leonard knew at least two methods. The first was sacrificing it to Mr. Fool and asking Him to bestow it upon The World. The second was summoning that messenger of mysterious origin, placing the blood in a bottle, and delivering it together with a letter.

“Blood…” Leonard subconsciously repeated the word.

In mysticism, one’s own blood was extremely important and extremely critical. It was best not to casually give it to others. Otherwise, one might not even know how one died—and sometimes death was not the most terrifying outcome.

After a brief hesitation, Leonard nodded.

“When do we begin the exploration?”

Klein answered, already prepared:

“Late Sunday night, near midnight.”

He wanted to leave Miss Justice enough time to restrain her spirituality and master her abilities.

“All right.” Leonard said no more.

Next, Klein seriously explained certain techniques in the art of wording and conversation, making it easier for his poet classmate to go back and deal with the old grandpa.

After returning to the real world, Leonard was still considering how to word things when Pallez Zoroast’s slightly aged voice already sounded inside his mind:

“What did that former colleague of yours ask you for? What was there that could not be made clear in a letter?”

Leonard adjusted his sitting posture and chuckled.

“He was afraid the letter would leak secrets. After all, it might involve that one.”

Of course, Klein is mainly guarding against you. What I see is equivalent to what you see… No sooner had he spoken than Leonard muttered inwardly.

“That one…” Pallez Zoroast seemed to already understand who it referred to.

“Mm.” Leonard picked up the cup on the table, took a sip of malt beer, and said, “He found an ascetic from the Third Epoch and hopes to glimpse the history of that era through dream exploration.”

What Leonard said was all true, but only part of the truth. This was the skill Klein had just emphasized while teaching him.

“An ascetic from the Third Epoch, still alive?” Pallez Zoroast asked in slight astonishment.

Of course, He was not too shocked. After all, at His level, even if He did not possess a hundred ways to make someone live from the Third Epoch to the present, He still had five or six. The easiest was stealing someone else’s time—or rather, life—and giving it to the target.

“He should still be alive, but in a very special state,” Leonard said, sharing the information he understood.

Pallez Zoroast was silent for two seconds, then chuckled.

“I see. Then I can only bless you so you do not see scenes you should not see inside the dream. Of course, that former colleague of yours has the blessing of a hidden existence, so he must have made preparations.”

Leonard did not continue that topic. He suddenly gave a soft “Eh” and said,

“Old Man, you actually are not curious at all? You do not want to know the cause of the Cataclysm, or the true appearances of the orthodox gods during the Third Epoch?”

This was the second conversational technique Klein had taught him. Rather than being questioned, it was better to actively ask questions.

“I can roughly guess the situation.” Pallez Zoroast answered with a sighing tone, then gave a “heh.” “You are taking the initiative to control the rhythm of the conversation today. That is not quite like your previous performance. This means you are hiding a certain secret in your heart. Not bad. Much better than before. At least it can no longer be seen through at a glance.”

“…” Leonard’s expression immediately stiffened slightly.

Pallez then laughed.

“See? I casually tested you, and you were exposed. You still lack training.

“That former colleague of yours really is, tsk…”

Leonard could only laugh dryly in response. Putting down his cup, he leaned forward, picked up a ritual silver dagger, and gestured as he made a cut, squeezing out a few drops of blood.

At the same time, at Earl Hall’s house, Audrey—who was preparing to fulfill her promise of helping free of charge—held a jeweled dagger and brought its tip close to the back of her hand.

“This pain is very slight…

“This pain is very slight…”

As she “hypnotized” herself, she forcefully drew the blade and cut open a wound.

Without using force, she could no longer break through her current skin, even when she had not revealed Dragon Scales.

…

Sunday night, after attending a ball, Klein returned to 160 Böklund Street. Using the excuse that he was somewhat tired, he went to bed early to rest.

Near midnight, he rolled out of bed, arranged a ritual, and summoned himself.

After a round of work, he sat in the seat belonging to The World, Gehrman Sparrow, and confirmed that once the summoning ended, he could forcibly break free from Groselle’s Travels by relying on the level and status of the gray fog.

At that moment, placed before him were three small metal bottles and a silver-white mask.

The former respectively contained his, Leonard’s, and Audrey’s blood. The latter was something Justice Audrey had sacrificed in advance. Because she already knew that this dream exploration would involve Mr. Star, she planned to wear the mask formed from Lie throughout the entire process, concealing her true appearance to avoid exposing her identity.

After inspecting them for a while, Klein made Groselle’s Travels, the hard-covered, deep-brown book, fly out from the miscellaneous pile and land on the bronze long table. At the same time, he accommodated the Unshadowed Cross into his body.

Immediately afterward, he pulled Justice Audrey and Star Leonard above the gray fog.

Two beams of crimson light rose simultaneously and condensed into relatively blurry human figures.

Justice Audrey and Star Leonard looked almost at the same time toward the very bottom of the mottled long table, examining the items placed before Mr. World.

Then their attention was drawn to that ancient-looking book.

Audrey’s eyes moved slightly, and she asked curiously,

“Is this exploration related to this book?”

“Yes. Our targets are inside this book.” Klein smiled in response.

“Inside the book?” Leonard asked back in some surprise.

Even as a Red Glove, and even after reading a large number of extraordinary case files, he had never heard of being able to communicate with characters inside a book.

Klein nodded gently.

“Yes. This is a magical book. ‘Inside’ it is a world that has been imagined into existence. Certain events that occur in that world form the contents of the book.”

“Imagined?” Justice Audrey keenly grasped the key word.

Only a few days earlier, she had learned from Mr. World that Sequence 0 of the Spectator pathway was called Visionary. In addition, she had known from long ago that the Dragon of Imagination, ancient god Ankewelt, had been the King of Dragons.

Klein considered his words.

“My earlier description may not have been accurate enough. Perhaps it is a world imagined into existence, or perhaps it is a real dream. The only thing certain is that it was created by the Second Epoch ancient god, the Dragon of Imagination, Ankewelt. I obtained it from Vice Admiral Iceberg.”

A relic of an ancient god… No wonder it can allow a giant and an elf from the Second Epoch, an ascetic from the Third Epoch, a human noble from the Fourth Epoch, and a Loen soldier from the Fifth Epoch to live until now… Star Leonard came to some realization and could not help examining The World, Gehrman Sparrow again, finding it difficult to imagine just how many things the other party had experienced after leaving Tingen.

At that moment, Klein looked around. While pushing the Lie mask toward Miss Justice, he said,

“Let us enter.”

“All right.” Justice Audrey put the silver-white mask on her face.

Star Leonard glanced left and right, then nodded.

“All right.”

Klein immediately picked up the three small metal bottles, poured out a little of the blood inside each, and smeared it over the cover of Groselle’s Travels.

“So that is what the blood is used for…” No sooner had this thought flashed through Audrey’s mind than a vast expanse of white wind and snow suddenly appeared before her eyes.

Amid goose-feather-sized snowflakes and bone-piercing cold wind, a city whose outer wall exceeded fifteen meters stood not far away. The gatekeeping soldiers in leather armor were hiding in a place that could shelter them from the wind and snow. As long as no merchant caravan appeared, they did not want to come up and stop ordinary passersby at all.

“This—this is the world imagined into existence… It is no different from the real thing.” Star Leonard looked around as he spread out his hand and caught several snowflakes, only to feel them cold and icy before they quickly melted into water.

After confirming the environment, Leonard suddenly discovered something. Klein had maintained the cold and refined appearance of Gehrman Sparrow, while Miss Justice wore a silver-white mask that revealed only the lower half of her face, her green eyes, and her golden hair. It made it impossible to imagine her concrete appearance.

As for himself, he had made no disguise at all…

This was also the habit of official Beyonders. When they carried out missions, they did so openly and did not need disguises.

Mr. Star truly is carefree. His hair is casually combed. Such a pity. Otherwise, with his looks, he could have been on the cover of a magazine… As a noble young lady who had met far too many handsome gentlemen, Audrey politely glanced at Leonard once before withdrawing her gaze, making no further observation.

Klein gave a silent laugh and pointed toward the city in the wind and snow.

“Our first target is Mr. Snowman, the ascetic from the Third Epoch.”

He was the one most likely to involve the Amon brothers!

According to Klein’s plan, after Snowman came Mobet, the Fourth Epoch noble, because in comparison, the giant Groselle and the elf Shatas involved higher levels and were more likely to produce accidents. It would be better to place them later.

After exploring the subconscious of these four through dreams, they would finally enter this world’s collective subconscious sea and search for any possible hidden secrets.