Chapter 99: Dreamwalker

Chapter 99: Dreamwalker

Above the boundless gray fog, inside the ancient and magnificent palace.

Klein held the Unshadowed Cross in one hand and the Sea God Scepter in the other, watching the real world through the crimson star that represented Judgement.

In his spiritual vision, inside that gloomy alley, other than the short Miss Xio and the MI9 officer wearing a golden mask, there was another person hiding there.

This was a man in his thirties. His appearance had no distinguishing features and belonged to the rather typical central-northern Loen type. Not only had he blended into the shadows, he also carried a trait that caused others to overlook him. If Klein had not been above the gray fog and possessed true vision, he suspected that even if he had personally been present, he would not have been able to immediately discover this man. Only after the other party made a certain movement would he be able to rely on his spiritual intuition to outline the corresponding image in his mind.

“Shadow hiding plus psychological invisibility? Half relying on an item, half relying on Sequence… Combining this with everything else, this is not a demigod…

“That makes sense. In the king’s faction’s eyes, Miss Xio is merely a Sequence 7 without any mystical items. If Viscount Stratford’s matter truly has something to do with her, then there must be a supporter—or even a force—behind her. In the present situation, with undercurrents surging everywhere, directly having a demigod who knows too much investigate could very likely mean falling into a trap. And if a demigod who does not understand the full story is sent forward, that information will very likely leak to the three Churches and cause the investigation to be taken over by them…

“In that case, a Sequence 5 or Sequence 6 who possesses enough strength, is trustworthy, and is unable to know too many secrets because of their level would be a very good candidate…” Klein muttered soundlessly, giving up on the idea of “teleporting” over as Gehrman Sparrow and capturing the person.

For the moment, that would not yield any useful intelligence!

He decided to wait patiently and wait for changes to appear.

Of course, Klein could not remain above the gray fog and monitor the situation constantly. If he did that, his body in the real world would remain unprotected for a long time and would be unable to withstand even the slightest accident. Because of that, he had made a batch of charms and given them to Tarot Club members such as Judgement and Magician. The moment they discovered that something was wrong, they could immediately activate a charm and receive The World’s assistance.

This would be faster and simpler than directly reciting The Fool’s honorific name and having Him relay the message!

Klein had gained inspiration from the Night Crest provided by Arianna, the leader of the ascetics of the Church of Evernight. It was equivalent to a fixed ritual pointing toward oneself. From a mysticism standpoint, the principle was not complicated. The difficulty in execution lay only in the fact that the one being pointed to had to be able to remotely receive information and respond. In other words, if it was limited to a certain region, a Sequence 3 Saint could do it. Without a limit, one had to be at the angelic level.

Gehrman Sparrow, as a newly advanced demigod, could make the charms effective because, when making them, Klein had used the honorific name and symbol corresponding to the Sea God, Kalvetua. And the Sea God, with the aid of the gray fog, could respond anywhere in the world.

This sounded somewhat complicated. To put it simply: Klein had borrowed the status of one of his other identities.

As for the materials for that batch of charms, they were mainly tin—very easy to obtain and very cheap.

…

In the Backlund Bridge area, Xio walked casually along the street with both hands tucked into the pockets of her brown jacket.

Under the illumination of the widely spaced gas streetlamps on both sides, her expression was comparatively calm, but her mind was exceptionally tense.

One of the hands in her pockets, through a tear, touched the hilt of the Icy Blade; the other gripped a white tin charm with slight force.

That was the Summoning Charm provided by The World, Gehrman Sparrow.

Walking all the way forward and circling past several streets, Xio still did not encounter an attack. The night was so tranquil.

At first, she had worried that the king’s faction would directly use MI9 or other official organizations to arrest her openly and take her back for investigation. In that case, summoning Mr. World would only put him in an extremely awkward and dangerous situation, equivalent to making an enemy of all of Backlund’s official forces. But she later figured out that this would not happen, because it would expose her existence to the three Churches. At that point, the investigation would inevitably no longer be led by the king’s faction within MI9.

The investigation will definitely be covert, and the people who appear may not even be from the military… Mm, they are still observing, afraid that I am bait? Mr. World said that if I can solve something myself, I should not trouble him… Xio looked left and right. She did not dare relax, nor did she continue wandering outside. She returned all the way to the edge of the East Borough and entered the apartment building they had rented.

To be honest, she was actually unwilling to involve Fors in this risky attempt. However, the two of them had followed Viscount Stratford together. That meant Fors had also been placed on the investigation list.

Although as long as Fors hid in the East Borough and did not go out often, MI9 people might not necessarily find her, that would cause the scope of the investigation to expand. Past experiences, relatives, friends, and correspondents would certainly all be investigated, easily affecting others. Moreover, if the two of them hid separately instead of living together, the scent of bait would become far too obvious, making it hard to lure the target onto the hook.

After obtaining Fors’s consent, Xio finally chose to face the subsequent developments together with her friend.

Opening the door and entering the apartment, Xio had just taken off the flat cap on her head when she saw Fors put down a magazine, stand up, brush back her hair, and ask with a smile,

“You weren’t followed, were you?”

This was a code the two had agreed on in advance. On the surface, it asked whether she had been followed; in truth, it asked whether she had encountered an investigation.

“No,” Xio seriously shook her head.

Fors did not continue the topic. She instead began rambling about how difficult it was to buy decent tea leaves and alcoholic drinks in the nearby area; one had to walk a long way before finding any.

This warm and peaceful atmosphere continued late into the night. The two entered the bedroom and lay down on the bunk bed.

After the candle flame was extinguished, just as Xio was about to say something, a holy and pure light suddenly appeared before her eyes.

That light instantly condensed into a human figure, with twelve pairs of wings made of scarlet flames spreading out behind him.

The figure abruptly descended. Layer upon layer of wings folded inward, wrapping Xio within.

Mr. Fool’s angelic blessing… Xio instantly understood.

This was also one of the things she had solemnly prayed to Mr. Fool about when contacting The World, Gehrman Sparrow. She already knew that, apart from the Demoness Sect, the king’s faction was also cooperating with the Psychology Alchemists. Beyonders of the Spectator pathway could not only hypnotize, but could also walk through dreams. She had to guard against investigations carried out through those two abilities.

If she made no preparations, Xio suspected that, even if she were investigated, she might not necessarily notice, much less inform Mr. World.

Everything quickly calmed down. Xio opened her mouth and said to Fors on the lower bunk,

“Good night.”

“…Good night.” Fors’s reaction was not especially timely, as though she was already about to fall asleep.

This made Xio understand that Fors had also received an angel’s blessing.

Time passed second by second, and the two successively fell asleep.

After an unknown length of time, the dazed Xio suddenly became lucid—lucidly aware that she was dreaming.

Immediately afterward, she sensed shadow-like things wandering through the gray sky, while all kinds of thoughts from deep within her heart surged out and formed the dream.

Among those thoughts, the most vivid were things that had left the deepest impression on her recently, including the process of barging into the warehouse that night and attacking Viscount Stratford.

At first, Xio was somewhat frightened and wanted to wake from the dream. But no matter how hard she tried, she could not break free of that state. It was as though, even after opening her eyes, what she saw would still be the dream.

She quickly calmed down and tried to control those thoughts, only to discover that it was not difficult.

Thus, the memories of directly attacking Viscount Stratford were concealed. However, after some consideration, Xio deliberately did not make things too clean, leaving behind certain traces.

Inside the dream, she and Fors discovered abnormalities inside the warehouse, but it was not the tornado tearing off the roof that she had previously described to MI9. Also, they had not immediately fled at the time.

Xio believed this would make the one who had invaded the dream detect a problem, yet be unable to resolve it. Afterward, the investigators would be able to confirm that a certain demigod or force was hidden behind the two of them, while also believing that it was not excessively difficult to deal with because the level of secret concealment was not too high.

In that case, they would very likely send a demigod to handle the follow-up. And that was exactly the development Xio hoped for. After all, every demigod occupied an important position and had a significant chance of knowing the king’s secret.

At that moment, Xio’s dream began to scatter, as though it had escaped some kind of guidance.

She knew clearly that this was the sign that the infiltrator had left.

For the rest of the night, neither she nor Fors encountered anything abnormal again.

…

The sky brightened, and dawn spread with thin fog.

After breakfast, Audrey brought the golden retriever Susie, her personal maid Annie, and her guards as usual into her family’s carriage, heading toward the Loen Charity Bursary Foundation at 22 Pessfield Street in the North Borough.

Jingling sounds rang outside the window from time to time, carrying a special vitality. Audrey could not help turning her head to look out at the street, enjoying the flow of people and carriages.

This made her mood peaceful, yet also gave it a touch of vigor. She felt that the whole world was full of life.

At that moment, from the corner of her eye, Audrey saw an additional figure inside the carriage.

That figure wore a black three-piece suit, a dark red bow tie, and held a top hat in his hand. His hair was already entirely white yet remained thick, while his pale-blue eyes seemed to contain endless wisdom.

This was Hvin Rambis, a councillor of the Psychology Alchemists’ Psychology Review Committee—a demigod of the Spectator pathway!

All of a sudden, Audrey’s mind became dazed. It was as though she had lost all vigilance and defense, while the eyes of Susie, Annie, and the others in the carriage became blank, as if they had entered a half-dazed state lacking focus toward all surrounding matters.

Hvin Rambis’s gentle voice then sounded:

“Two things.

“First, you know Fors and Xio, do you not? Arrange to meet them. Hypnotize them…”