Aaron was relieved by Klein's explanation and reassurance, and he prepared to observe for a few more days to see if there were any more nightmares such as this.
After sending the famous surgeon out of the door with a smile, Klein's expression suddenly became solemn, as if he was thinking about something.
There was no problem with his interpretation of the dream. The pitch-black steeple, the walls and doors that blocked his path, and the giant silver snake, they all symbolized that Will Auceptin was in a situation where he was threatened by something that symbolized the child's fear and helplessness, as well as his attempts to hide behind layers of protection.
But the problem was that this was unlikely to be a revelation Dr. Aaron's spirituality had received on its own. Otherwise, he wouldn't have had such a dream only until last night, or when he found the paper crane. A similar development should've taken place long before Will Auceptin was discharged, back when his spirituality unconsciously became aware of the particularly strange developments, allowing him to have similar experiences as he had now.
Therefore, Klein suspected that the medium which instilled the dream into Dr. Aaron was the paper crane!
Klein activated his Spirit Vision to carefully observe this handicraft, but he didn't find any spiritual brilliance. However, his spiritual perception and intuition told him that there was something strange about this piece of origami. Certain magical aspects that might involve the most illusory, most difficult to comprehend, and most worthy of fear and reverence—fate.
That child called Will Auceptin isn't simple... It seems like the most amazing thing wasn't the tarot card, but rather he himself... The giant silver snake is a symbol of danger, and this matter is related to bad luck, good luck, and other elements. Could it be that it represents the Snake of Mercury, Sequence 1 of the Monster pathway?Klein's thoughts wandered, but he couldn't be certain of anything.
He turned to question the problem of how the dream was instilled.
With Klein's accomplishments in mysticism, this wasn't something that was too complicated or difficult to understand. He quickly came up with an idea.
The first thing to do was to rule out the influence of specters and wraiths, which would've stained Dr. Aaron's aura with a blackish-green color of varying degrees, and I didn't see any sign of that just now.
There are two main ways of instilling information without causing the owner of the dream to appear abnormal. One of them is using the Beyonder powers of a Nightmare like Captain. An objective is met through guidance, and it wouldn't involve the culprit; otherwise, traces would similarly be left behind. The second method would be even more ingenious and advanced.
The principle of a dreamland is that of Astral Projections traveling through the spirit world, and the details that one would normally unwittingly notice, under external stimulation, would turn into a symbolic revelation. Or, they can obtain some enlightenment directly related to themselves from external sources. Then, their Spirit Bodies and psyche would be informed of this, and because the owner of the body was in a state of sleep, this will appear in the form of a dream.
So the second way is to instill it into the spirit world!
First, use some magical method to create the revelation that one will need, and then naturally let the target's Astral Projection obtain and feedback the information while roaming the spirit world. That way, the target will be able to dream of the scene that others would want them to dream of, and there will be no superficial traces.
This is something that I'm currently unable to do, even if it's a Spirit Body that's able to partially wield some of the power above the gray fog.
Klein paused for a moment and then added another possibility.
A seed was planted in Dr. Aaron's subconscious through the paper crane, and once he found it, he would have the corresponding dream.
That's easy to confirm. As long as I use mediumship on Dr. Aaron, I should be able to find traces of it... However, would it be unfriendly to use mediumship on him? Or should I borrow the Mental Terror Candle from Father Utravsky? No, the one who recognized me was that vampire, the zealous figurine lover, Emlyn White, not the muscular, giant-like Father Utravsky... Klein reined in his thoughts and considered his subsequent actions.
He decided that he would wait until he went above the gray fog to divine the level of danger. If it was an acceptable level, he would sneak into Dr. Aaron's house tonight, use the Dream Charm and other methods to secretly observe him, and see if the source of the dreamland was a result of direct guidance or an indirect fabrication.
However, with Klein's strength and level, it would be difficult to find traces of the latter. Even he himself didn't have much confidence.
This didn't mean that his Astral Projection could travel the same spirit world as Dr. Aaron's Astral Projection by sitting next to him and entering Cogitation. This required a sufficient amount of locking on to do so.
According to the descriptions in the Book of Secrets, the existence of the spirit world was quite magical. It completely overlapped with the real world, so everyone could obtain revelations from the spirit world at any time. However, the spirit world didn't distinguish between directions, and the past, present, or future could even intersect there. It was like infinite knowledge, information, and illusions were spiritually gathered and compressed into a strange sea. It was different from the "world" as one would imagine according to usual concepts or logic.
As a result of this, the revelations that one received from the spirit world could only be a variety of symbols, not direct answers. And precisely because of this, every Astral Projection's experience of traveling in the spirit world was not only related to their physical location and time, but it was also dependent on the current state of their body and the mind. Without locking on to the corresponding location, it made it impossible to lock onto and find a person's Astral Projection in the spirit world, even if one was physically next to them.
This was also the reason why the Astral Projection's movement in the spirit world was limited and one doesn't dare to venture too deep. Once it got lost and was unable to return to its body, its owner would become a retard and, even more seriously, a vegetable.
It was even more difficult to use the spirit world as a springboard for transference. If one wasn't careful, then they would lose their way and never be able to return to the real world until they rot to death.
Phew... Klein exhaled, temporarily throwing the question to the back of his mind.
He took out his pocket watch and looked at the time. He realized that he had been thinking too long, that his breakfast had already turned completely cold, and that the fact that Reporter Mike hadn't arrived yet meant that the commission was likely to be delayed by a day.
In the spirit of not wasting anything, Klein finished the rest of his meal and then went above the gray fog to make a divination. He was surprised to find that there were no revelations indicating danger at all.
After doing all of this, the appointed time had passed. Without any hesitation, he changed into a heavy jacket, put on his cap, grabbed the vocabulary book, and left 15 Minsk Street.
His initial plan was to accompany Mike Joseph to East Borough for an interview and find an opportunity to hint at Old Kohler to not mention his promise of helping Liv find her daughter.
As for Liv's family, he let Old Kohler do the reminding.
And now, after Mike had pushed back the interview by a day, Klein was even more at ease, no longer worried about any mishaps or mistakes.
...
With the address mentioned by Old Kohler, and according to the revelation from divination, Klein entered the depths of East Borough, and under the watchful, wary, numb, or greedy gaze of the crowds, he found the room on the third floor.
There were two bunk beds here, and there were also some old and worn bedding on the floor. Every empty space was filled with sundries.
Klein looked directly at the bottom bunk of the innermost bunk and called out, "Old Kohler."
With a swoosh, Old Kohler sat up and leaned towards the door in pleasant surprise, "You really came. After sending you that letter yesterday, I already guessed that you would come looking for me today, so I didn't go to the dock. I've been waiting at home all this time."
Well, I don't have to think about how to fabricate the lie about why I came straight here to find you... Klein looked around and said, "Old Kohler, with your current income, you can definitely rent a better room and move to a better place. Why did you only change your bed from the floor to a bunk bed?"
"Most of the money is for gathering information for you." Old Kohler laughed. "And I'm no longer young. I need to save some money for the future when my future health wanes."
Klein was silent for two seconds before saying, "You can consider buying some insurance, such as a Single Elder Aid Policy. They can give you the money that can at least fill your stomach and a room for you to sleep in every week when you're really old.
The insurance industry of this world had sprouted in the Fourth Epoch. After being promoted by Emperor Roselle, it had matured quite a bit. There were various kinds of insurance such as the various insurances for maritime trade, fire insurance, injury insurance, long-term care insurance in different names, and so on. They were mostly targeted at the rich and the middle-class.
"I know. When I was a worker, I paid a premium of three pence a week, but after I lost my income..." Old Kohler sighed.
His biggest problem now was that his income was unstable, and he wondered when the money he received from the detective would be cut off.
Klein couldn't promise anything either. He pointed outside and said, "Let's go to Liv's house and return the vocabulary book to the girl."
After leaving the room, Klein casually mentioned, "What a joke. I was talking about doing volunteer work the day before yesterday and volunteered to help find Daisy, but she ended up being sent back by the police yesterday. Please don't mention it again, I don't want to be laughed at."
"Alright." Old Kohler agreed first, then he said, "No one will laugh at your kindness."
After walking through the dirty streets, they arrived at Liv's house. Klein saw that the girl who had just been rescued had started ironing again, and he saw that the clothes here were hanging down and dripping with water. It was just as it was before. He was momentarily at a loss as to what to say.
"Daisy." After a while, he said, "Your vocabulary book."
Daisy's eyes lit up, but she was too busy to leave. After busying herself for quite a while, she stopped working and went to the door, thanking him profusely.
After Liv and Freja had also put down their work and come over to express their gratitude, Klein repeated what he had just said to Old Kohler.
After receiving positive responses, he took out the two pounds worth of change that he had prepared and handed it to Liv.
"There will be a reporter coming to interview Daisy tomorrow. This is the advance of the payment he's giving, but don't mention it in front of him; otherwise, things will become complicated. Heh heh, maybe he will give more tomorrow, but not that much."
"This, no—I'm willing to expose that bad guy's evil deeds. I don't want money!" Daisy shook her head.
Klein let out a soft chuckle.
"This is a rule. You can't break rules, understand?"
He looked at Liv and said, "Take it.
"Your belief is right. It's only if Daisy and Freja learn more words and learn more things will you all escape from this situation."
He was going to suggest that Liv's family should move to the edge of East Borough. Customers who could afford to hire others to do their laundry wouldn't live in East Borough, but in the end, he didn't mention it.
He had intended to provide them with more help, but he restrained himself.
There were thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of people like Liv and her family in East Borough. Even if one was a wealthy banker who wanted to help them, they wouldn't be able to make a splash. Besides, this was just East Borough. There was still the entire Backlund and the Loen Kingdom.
"... Thank you, and help me thank the reporter for me." Liv was silent for a moment, then she took the money.
Klein didn't stay for long. He quickly left as if there was a ghost that would devour his soul.
After walking outside with Old Kohler, he turned around and suddenly sighed. He said in a low voice, "There has never been a savior..."
