Chapter 14: The Psychic

Chapter 14: Medium

A true medium... Klein repeated this description to himself, not saying another word as he followed Dunn Smith off the carriage.

Welch’s residence in Tingen was a detached house with a garden. Outside the hollowed-out iron gate was a road wide enough for four carriages to travel side-by-side. Every fifty meters along the road stood a streetlamp. Unlike the ones Klein had seen in his previous life, these were gas lamps, with posts roughly the height of an adult man, making them convenient for lighting.

Black metal clung to the glass, forming a grid that cast the lamps into the shape of classical "art pieces" resembling lanterns. Cold and warmth danced together; shadow and light coexisted.

Treading on the road covered in dim, yellow light, Klein and Dunn Smith passed through the half-open iron gate and entered the place Welch had rented.

Directly facing the main gate was a driveway paved with cement, wide enough for two carriages, leading straight to the two-story house.

To its left was a garden, and to its right was a lawn. The faint fragrance of flowers and the crisp, fresh scent intertwined, making one feel relaxed and happy.

The moment he stepped inside, Klein’s hair suddenly stood on end, and he looked left and right.

He felt that in the garden, in the shadows of the lawn, on the top floor of the house, behind the swing, and in every dim corner, there were pairs of eyes watching him!

Even though the place was empty and devoid of people, Klein felt as if he were standing on a bustling street.

This eerie contrast and strange sensation made his body tense up, with a chill creeping up his spine.

"There's a problem!" he couldn't help but warn Dunn.

Dunn walked on his side, his expression unchanged, and replied calmly

"Don't pay it any mind."

Seeing that the "Nighthawk" had said as much, Klein endured the creepy sensation of being followed, spied upon, and scrutinized without being able to find the target, and walked step by step to the front door of the detached house.

If I stay like this for too long, I'll become neurotic... As Dunn reached out to knock on the door, Klein quickly looked back one more time. The flowers swayed in the wind, but there was no sign of anyone.

"Come in, gentlemen." A slightly ethereal voice drifted from inside the house.

Dunn turned the handle, pushed the door open, and entered, saying to the woman sitting on the sofa

"Daly, are there any results?"

The chandelier in the living room was not lit. A set of leather sofas—one main and two side—surrounded a marble coffee table.

A candle burned on the coffee table, but its flame glowed a vibrant blue, casting a flickering, eerie hue over the semi-open layout of the living room, dining room, and kitchen.

Sitting in the center of the long sofa was a lady. She wore a hooded black robe, had blue eyeshadow and blush applied to her face, and silver chains with white crystal pendants were wrapped around her exposed wrists.

At the very first glance, Klein had an inexplicable feeling: She is dressed like a true medium...

Is she roleplaying herself?

Daly, the "Medium" with an eerie beauty, swept her shimmering emerald eyes over Klein and looked at Dunn Smith, saying

"The original spirits have all disappeared, including Welch’s and Naya’s. The little ones here now don't know anything."

Spirits? Medium... Were those unseen observers from earlier spirits? There were that many spirits? Klein took off his hat, placed it against his chest, and bowed slightly

"Good evening, Madam."

Dunn Smith sighed and said

"This is truly troublesome..."

"Daly, this is Klein Moretti. Try to see if you can discover anything from him."

The "Medium" Daly’s gaze immediately shifted to Klein. She pointed to the single sofa on the side and said

"Please, sit."

"Thank you." Klein nodded, walked over in a few steps, and sat down honestly, his heart rising involuntarily.

Whether I live or die, whether I get through this smoothly or my secrets are exposed, it all depends on what happens next!

And what made him feel most helpless was that he lacked anything to rely on; he could only pin his hopes on the extraordinary...

This is truly a terrible feeling... Klein thought bitterly.

As Dunn sat on the double sofa opposite him, the "Medium" Daly took two thumb-sized glass bottles from a hidden pocket at her waist.

She looked at Klein with a smile in her emerald eyes and said

"I need a little assistance. After all, you aren't an enemy, so I can't treat you so directly and roughly. That would make you uncomfortable, cause pain, and might even leave serious sequelae. I will give you some fragrance, enough gentleness and lubrication, to let you open yourself up bit by bit and truly immerse yourself in that feeling."

Why does that sound so wrong... Klein gasped, his eyes filled with surprise.

Dunn, sitting opposite, smiled and said

"Don't be surprised. Unlike those fellows in the Church of the Lord of Storms, in our circle, ladies can verbally tease men. You should be able to understand this; your mother was a devout believer of the Goddess, and you and your brother have also attended the Church's Sunday school."

"I understand, I just didn't expect it to be so, so..." Klein gestured, unable to find the right adjective, almost blurting out the equivalent translation for "old driver."

The corners of Dunn’s mouth curled up

"Rest assured, Daly rarely does this. She just wants to use this method to make you calm and relaxed. She likes corpses even more than men."

"You make me sound like a pervert." The "Medium" Daly interjected with a smile.

She opened one of the small bottles and sprinkled a few drops into the vibrant blue candle flame

"A pure dew distilled and extracted from a mixture of night-scented grass, deep-sleep flowers, and chamomile. I call it 'Amanda'—it means tranquility in Hermes. It smells very good."

As she spoke, the candlelight flickered a few times, and the drops of pure dew evaporated rapidly, permeating the room.

A clear, enchanting fragrance entered Klein’s nose. His emotions were no longer tense, and his mind quickly became peaceful, as if he were looking down into the darkness in the dead of night.

"This bottle is called 'Spirit Eye.' It’s made by sun-drying the bark and leaves of dragon-pattern trees and poplars for seven days, boiling them three times, and soaking them in Lancy wine. Of course, there are a few incantations involved in the process..." As the "Medium" Daly described it, the amber liquid dripped onto the vibrant blue candle flame.

Klein smelled the wine—an ethereal, drifting scent of wine. He saw the candlelight flickering violently, saw Daly’s blue eyeshadow and blush shimmering with an eerie luster, and even saw double images.

"It is a great helper for mediumship, and also a sufficiently charming flower essence..."

As Daly spoke softly, Klein felt her voice coming from all directions.

Looking around in confusion, Klein found that everything was swaying and blurring, as if shrouded in layers of thick fog. Even his own body was swaying, blurring, floating, and losing its weight.

Reds became redder, blues bluer, and blacks blacker. The colors mixed like an impressionist oil painting, hazy and dreamlike, while the fine, overlapping whispers from all around came in waves, as if countless invisible people were discussing him.

"This is similar to the feeling I had when I performed the 'Luck Enhancement Ritual,' but it doesn't have that flavor that makes people go crazy or want to explode..." Klein watched all this, thinking in confusion.

Just then, his gaze was drawn to a pair of eyes as crystalline as emeralds. Daly, in her black robe, sat on the blurred "sofa," her gaze eerily focused on the top of Klein’s head, and she smiled with a gentle voice

"Let’s formally introduce ourselves. I am the 'Medium,' Daly."

This... I can still think calmly and rationally... just like during the 'Luck Enhancement Ritual' and the 'Gathering'... Klein’s heart stirred, and he deliberately acted in a dazed state: "Hello..."

"Human thought is vast, hiding many secrets. Look, that ocean—what we can understand ourselves is only the island exposed above the sea, but in reality, beneath the surface, the island has a much larger part. But actually, besides the island, there is the entire ocean, and the boundless sky that symbolizes the spirit world..."

"You are the spirit of the body. You not only know the island exposed above the sea, but you also know the part of the island hidden beneath the sea, and you know the entire ocean..."

"Everything that exists leaves a trace. The memories on the surface of the island can be erased, but the part beneath the sea and the entire ocean must have their residual corresponding projections..."

Daly induced him over and over again, and the blurred wind and shadows around them changed into similar shapes, as if Klein’s sea of consciousness was completely exposed here, waiting for him to find and discover it himself.

Klein watched calmly, "churning" the ocean from time to time, and finally replied in an ethereal tone

"Nothing... I can't remember... I've forgotten..."

He displayed just the right amount of pain.

Daly tried to induce him one more time, but the clear-headed Klein was unaffected.

"Alright, that’s it for now. Go back."

"Go back."

"Go back..."

As the ethereal voice lingered, Daly disappeared, the wind and shadows began to subside, and the clear, enchanting scent and the faint aroma of wine became distinct once more.

All colors returned to normal, the blurred and confused feeling vanished, and Klein’s body trembled as he regained his weight.

He opened his eyes, which he didn't realize he had closed, and found the vibrant blue candle still in front of him, Dunn Smith still sitting comfortably, and the "Medium" Daly still wearing her hooded black robe.

"Why did you use the theories of those evil lunatics from the Psychology Alchemists?" Dunn frowned slightly, looking at Daly.

Daly replied calmly while putting away the two small bottles

"I think they are quite correct, at least they align with some things I have seen and come into contact with..."

Before Dunn could speak again, she spread her hands

"He’s a tricky one. He didn't leave any traces behind."

Hearing this, Klein, who was beside her, let out a long sigh of relief and asked with feigned ignorance

"Is it over? What happened just now? I feel like I took a nap..."

That should count as passing, right?

Thank goodness for the "rehearsal" of the "Luck Enhancement Ritual"!

"Just think of it that way." Dunn interrupted him and looked at the "Medium" Daly. "Have you checked Welch and Naya’s bodies?"

"The bodies can tell us more than you imagine. Unfortunately, Welch and Naya did indeed commit suicide. I can only say that the power that influenced them is terrifying; it didn't leave a single trace." Daly stood up and reached for the candle. "I need to rest."

The vibrant blue light vanished, and the room was instantly flooded with a hazy crimson.

…………

"Congratulations, you can go home. But you must remember, you cannot tell your family or friends about this matter. You must promise." Dunn led Klein all the way to the gate.

Klein asked in surprise: "Don't we need to check for traces of curses or evil spirits?"

"If Daly didn't say so, then there aren't any." Dunn replied briefly.

Klein felt relieved. Thinking of his previous worries, he hurriedly asked

"How can I be sure there won't be any trouble later?"

"Don't worry too much." Dunn twitched the corner of his mouth. "According to statistics, in similar situations, eighty percent of the living parties involved don't encounter any terrible aftermath. Well, that figure is just based on my impression—roughly, more or less."

"Then there’s the other twenty percent of unlucky bastards..." Klein didn't dare to gamble on his "luck."

"Then you can consider joining us as a civilian staff member. That way, if there are any omens, we can discover them in time." Dunn said casually as he approached the carriage. "Or you could become a Beyonder directly. After all, we aren't your babysitters; we can't watch over you night after night, not even watching what you do with women."

"Can I?" Klein asked, following the thread of that sentence.

Of course, he held almost no hope. After all, how could it be so easy to join the Nighthawks and obtain extraordinary powers!

Those were extraordinary powers!

Dunn paused and turned his head to look at him

"…It’s not impossible. It depends on the situation..."

What? This turn of events shocked Klein. He stood stunned by the carriage for a moment before saying

"Really?"

Are you kidding me? Can one become a Beyonder so easily?

Dunn chuckled, his gray eyes obscured by the shadow of the carriage

"Don't believe it? Actually, by becoming a Nighthawk, you will lose a lot—for example, freedom."

"Even without mentioning that, there are other problems. First, you aren't a meritorious member of the clergy or a devout believer; you can't pick and choose, and you can't select the safest pathway."

"Second..." Dunn grabbed the handrail and stepped into the carriage. "In the incidents handled every year by us, the Mandated Punishers, the Heart of Machinery, and other similar judicial bodies, one-fourth involve Beyonders losing control."

One-fourth... Beyonders losing control... Klein froze.

At this moment, Dunn turned his body halfway, his gray eyes deep and unsmiling as he said

"And among that one-fourth, a large portion are our own teammates."

(End of chapter)