The gray and hazy fog permeated as if it had never changed. The deep red illusory stars hung near or far. Klein sat in the magnificent palace that looked like a giant's residence, quietly looking at everything familiar in front of him.
After a few seconds, he retracted his gaze, allowing a yellow-brown parchment to appear in front of him, and then he picked up a pen and wrote down the summoning ritual with the spell he had modified:
“Light a candle to symbolize yourself;”
“Use spiritual walls to create a holy environment;”
"Drop full moon essential oil, chamomile hydrosol, deep sleep flower powder and other materials into the candle flame (Note: In this step, you don't need to be too particular, because you are summoning yourself);"
"Recite the following mantra:"
"I! (Ancient Hermetic, Giant, Dragon, Elven, must be shouted)"
"I call upon my name (Hermes):"
"The fool who does not belong to this era, the mysterious master above the gray fog, the yellow and black king who controls good luck."
…
After carefully reviewing it three times, Klein wrote the divination statement at the bottom:
"It is dangerous to perform the above rituals in the outside world."
Huh, he exhaled, put away the pen, untied the silver chain from his sleeve, and held it with his left hand.
When the topaz pendant was quietly suspended above the parchment, just about to touch the divination sentence, he gathered his thoughts and entered a state of meditation.
"It is dangerous to perform the above rituals in the outside world."
"It is dangerous to perform the above rituals in the outside world."
…
After reciting it silently seven times, Klein opened his almost black eyes and saw the topaz pendant rotating counterclockwise.
This means negation, which means no danger!
“It’s time to give it a try.” Klein quickly made the object that materialized in front of him disappear. He extended his spirituality to wrap around himself, simulating the feeling of falling rapidly.
After returning to the bedroom, since he had sealed the entire room with the spiritual wall, Klein cleaned up the desk and placed a mint-scented candle in the center.
He placed his right hand on the candle wick and used spiritual friction to ignite it instantly.
In the flickering dim light, Klein dripped corresponding essential oils, hydrosols, and herbal powders into the flame.
A tranquil and leisurely fragrance instantly filled the air, and the room was sometimes bright and sometimes dim.
Taking two steps back, Klein looked at the candle that symbolized himself and whispered in Giant language:
"I!"
Then he switched to Hermetic language:
"I call upon my name:"
"The fool who does not belong to this era, the mysterious master above the gray fog, the yellow and black king who controls good luck."
As soon as he finished speaking, he felt the flickering yellow candlelight and the surrounding tranquil fragrance mixed into a vortex, madly absorbing his own spirituality.
"O dormant flower of the red moon, please pass your power to my spell..." Klein endured the pain of having his spiritual power drained away and finished reciting the rest of the spell.
At this time, he saw that the candle flame stopped shaking, stood there quietly, and turned grayish-white, stretching out to the size of a palm.
“I didn’t summon anything… Yeah, maybe I need to go above the gray fog to respond… It’s really troublesome to summon myself…” Klein pinched his forehead, which was stinging from emptiness, and muttered to himself silently.
He paused for more than ten seconds, then walked four steps backwards and came to the top of the gray fog again. He saw circles of light patterns spreading out from the top of the ancient long table.
This comes from the strange symbol on the back of the high-back chair - a strange symbol composed of the "eye without pupil" that symbolizes secrecy and the "twisted line" that symbolizes change.
Klein just made a gesture of reaching out to touch it, and immediately he heard the sounds of spells such as "I! I summon in my own name," "The fool who does not belong to this era," and "The mysterious master above the gray fog." He also saw the surging spirituality and the spreading light patterns mixed together to form an illusory, unformed door.
The door was shaking and wanted to open. Klein immediately had an inspiration and had a strong desire to push it open.
Almost instantly, the boundless gray fog and the magnificent palace were suddenly pulled in, creating barely visible ripples.
The ripples circled one after another, surging towards the illusory, unformed door.
However, no matter how hard Klein pushed, the door could not be opened, and all the movement eventually returned to silence.
"Because the 'Gate of Summoning' has not been fully formed?" Klein retracted his thoughts and analyzed the cause of the failure with a frown.
——He casually named the illusory door "Gate of Summoning".
“Well, my spirituality is insufficient, and I am unable to construct a complete ‘Gate of Summoning’… When I advance to Sequence 8 and become a ‘Joker’ and get through the dangerous initial stage, I can try again. Perhaps there will be no problem then…” Klein nodded slightly, roughly understanding what was going on.
This experiment gave him great confidence and strong encouragement, because apart from the incident of divination of the Eternal Blazing Sun, this was the first time that he made the mysterious space above the gray fog produce a different reaction!
“One day, I will figure out all the secrets here!” Klein declared excitedly in his heart, and fell into the boundless gray fog wrapped in spirituality.
…………
Returning to the bedroom, Klein quickly extinguished the candles and ended the ceremony. He then tidied up his desk and removed the spiritual wall.
In the sudden breeze, he yawned, fell on the bed, and fell asleep as soon as he was wrapped in the quilt.
In a hazy and fragmented dream, Klein suddenly woke up and found himself sitting in the living room of his home, holding a copy of the Tingen City Honest Man's Newspaper in his hand.
...Is the captain coming again? He was stunned at first, then looked out the oriel window with a mixture of anger and amusement.
The door creaked open, and Dunn, wearing a black knee-length windbreaker and holding a cane and a pipe, walked in slowly.
He still wore a half-high black top hat and still had deep gray eyes.
Dunn came to the living room, sat on the single sofa, and leisurely crossed his right leg over his left leg.
He put his cane away, took off his hat, leaned back slightly, and looked at Klein quietly, as if he was thinking.
Captain, what do you want to do today... Klein was at a loss.
In order not to reveal that he knew it was a dream, he pretended not to be affected and continued reading the newspaper.
One minute, two minutes, five minutes. He looked up at Dunn opposite him and found that the captain was still looking at him quietly, as if thinking.
Five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes. Klein flipped the newspaper over and over again. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Dunn looking at him quietly, as if thinking.
Captain, I feel uncomfortable with you doing this... Klein couldn't sit still any longer. He folded the newspaper and put it aside. He smiled and nodded at Dunn, then went to the kitchen to get a rag and pretended to wipe the dining table and coffee table.
Captain, look, my dream is so simple, so ordinary, so boring, there is nothing worth observing, you should leave! Or you can turn into a ghost, I will pretend to be frightened, and let you complete the achievement of "nightmare"! He prayed silently, but when he looked up, he saw Dunn's deep, thinking gray eyes.
Under this silent, unchanging gaze, Klein wiped the furniture, cleaned the room, and was exhausted in his dream.
What made him most tired was Dunn Smith, who was looking at him quietly as if he was thinking.
After an unknown amount of time of busy work, he finally saw the captain put down his right leg, stand up, pick up his cane, put on his hat, and walk towards the gate.
Klein held his breath and watched Dunn leave his home.
He couldn't help but raise his right hand and gesture goodbye.
Huh… When everything returned to normal, Klein let out a long breath.
What a nightmare that was! He thought to himself with tears in his eyes.
…………
Backlund, West District, Philips Department Store.
This is the most upscale department store in the Kingdom of Loen, open only to nobles and wealthy people with memberships.
There are always luxurious carriages parked outside it, each with different badges on it. In addition to being a shopping mecca, it has also become a well-known social venue due to the strict restrictions on the number of people allowed.
Audrey, along with her maid Anne and her golden retriever Susie, got off the carriage and entered the gate amid the waiter's attentive welcome.
Along the way, she would occasionally see Viscountess, Countess, or girls whose parents had prominent positions.
She maintained an elegant posture, greeted everyone one by one with standard but not stiff etiquette, and had brief exchanges with different nobles through different entry points. For example, when meeting a certain Countess, she had to praise how well her new dress fit her, and when greeting a certain Baroness, she had to say how outstanding her husband's performance was in the House of Lords.
In the past, Audrey always did not do well in this aspect, being too willful and selfish, but now, she can handle it perfectly without even spending much thought.
In the eyes of the "audience", the emotions and thoughts of most aristocratic women seemed to be written on their faces.
Arriving on the second floor, Audrey turned to the shop that sold ready-made clothes.
The waitress in the shop was a short, green girl wearing a black and white dress and with stubborn, shoulder-length blonde hair. She was the "Arbitrator" Hugh Dilcha.
Audrey winked at the big dog Susie without changing her expression. The dog instantly understood what she meant and ran happily to another counter.
The maid Anne had to hurry up and try to pull Susie back.
Well done! Audrey praised secretly and walked to Hugh Dilcher, pretending to look at different styles of dresses.
"...What is it that you asked me to meet here?" Xio asked quietly while introducing loudly.
Her voice is very childish, just like a child's.
"Where is the original waiter?" Audrey asked instead of answering.
Xio observed the surroundings and said, "I convinced her. She was happy to have a morning off."
Audrey looked at the different styles of dresses, took out a folded paper from her lambskin handbag, and handed it to Hugh secretly:
"Vice Admiral Hurricane Qilingos has secretly infiltrated Backlund. This is his portrait. I hope you can help me find him. Um, don't alarm him."
Xio took the paper, quickly unfolded it and took a look, and found that it was a lifelike sketch of a man in his thirties with a distinctive wide chin.
I am often praised by teachers for my painting skills... Audrey glanced at Xio and raised her head slightly.
She added:
"The kingdom's bounty on Qilingos is 10,000 pounds. If we can really catch him, even if it's just providing clues, we will definitely get a reward of at least a few hundred pounds."
As soon as she finished speaking, she saw Hugh's eyes light up as expected. 8)