"Uh... Of course, if you want to become my father, it's not unacceptable..."

Claire sneaked a glance at the giant round bed behind the bedroom curtains, looking for suspicious outlines or disarray.

"The attic."

"What?"

Soon, by following Lu Li to the attic, Claire realized that Lu Li's "temporary stay" was merely staying in their house, not moving into her mother's bedroom.

"No wonder my mother let me take the mission in Midnight City and come back to check on things."

Claire approached the windowsill, admiring the thumb-length green sprouts in the flower pot, then curiously squatted down to observe the buds growing from the wooden boards around the bed.

The flower bud she pinched soon withered; after using alchemy to heal and cultivate it, it turned into a polluted plant, losing its original purity.

"As long as you're around, plants will grow?"

"It seems so."

To a certain extent, it even blurs the boundary of death—even the wood that makes up the floor will sprout again.

"Is the lord of the Land of Light an embodiment of light itself... That's really nice."

Claire quickly snapped out of her sentimental mood and asked Lu Li, "Have you been staying here all these days without going out?"

"I go to the restaurant to buy food."

"It seems you haven't gone out." Claire stood up, supporting her knees. "I took on the Inner City event, want to join me? Don't worry, I'll protect you, 'Father'."

Ignoring Claire's teasing, Lu Li nodded slightly after a brief contemplation.

He indeed needed a "break."

The adverse effects of consuming knowledge for too long and too much were beginning to show, such as the faint auditory hallucinations emerging during quiet times.

Sometimes it was a coughing sound from behind the walls, sometimes talking voices on an empty chair, sometimes screams from the fireplace, and other times a gurgling sound of wet mud.

The most troubling were the footsteps.

No matter when and where, whether awake or asleep, Lu Li would be drawn to the window by the sound of footsteps, staring at the nearest entrance.

Because of the "door" curse.

He had been staying in Midnight City for two months, and the "door" could arrive at any moment—

This was also the reason Lu Li needed to stay in the attic, with a west-facing window: Ailen Peninsula was to the west, and the stairs would warn and delay the "door's" approach.

Putting on a cloak and opening the perfumed potion that made Claire wrinkle her nose, Lu Li and she left the house.

[Midnight City - Inner City - Old Tulip District]

[The somewhat famous lawyer Kenniwa began experiencing frequent delirium and hallucinations four days ago, visible only to himself. Checks found no contamination. A psychologist thinks it's caused by excessive stress and unrelated to any strangeness. However, Kenniwa disagrees.]

[Task: Investigate the source causing Kenniwa's hallucinations]

[Advanced: Completely resolve this task]

[Tip: Kenniwa experienced hallucinations the day before participating as a lawyer in a courtroom trial.]

[Basic Reward: 5 credits or 5 team points]

Reading the slip of paper with information about the incident, Claire's voice sounded beside him.

"You've let them off too easy. Being sacrificed to the divinity they worship might be an honor for those cultists."

"Death is liberation, also punishment, and usually represents the latter." Lu Li said calmly.

For example, Professor Hagrid's family, Spiter Hagg did not want to vanish just like that, nor did he want to be sacrificed to the so-called "master."

"Maybe you're right."

The badges of their academy and the foul smell they emitted made people subconsciously steer clear as they smoothly arrived at the Old Tulip District.

Knock, knock, knock—

As the door opened, they saw the victim Kenniwa.

He had a well-balanced build, but weariness and fear almost oozed from his face.

"I can see them, Rhine, they're here to help your students." His wife softly comforted her husband.

"Students? Just students? I need the Knights Order! I need the Midnight Church! I need an Exorcist! It stinks... Damn, it stinks! Did Mad Pete defecate at our door again!"

Kenniwa's wife hurriedly calmed him, supporting her mentally disturbed husband back to the living room.

Claire took the Revealing Potion handed to her by Lu Li, declined the Guardian Potion, then scanned the room as she followed them inside.

"I'm sorry... He's been scared into a weak mental state, unable to remain rational."

Supporting her husband, who had just taken the sedative, to sit on the sofa, his wife apologized.

"Tell me about his situation, start from the beginning." Claire raised her chin.

"Okay... Rhine began experiencing hallucinations four days ago..."

That day she was cooking in the kitchen, and Kenniwa was in his upstairs study preparing for the trial the next day. While washing the cooking pot, Kenniwa suddenly screamed and ran downstairs, claiming there was something strange in the study. The frightened couple ran out of their home to find the City Guard, and the nearby knights arrived shortly after. An inspection found no trace of the watery figure Kenniwa described, nor any contamination remnant.

Kenniwa had to deceive himself into thinking it was an illusion. Not long after, during lunch, he saw a head growing out of his wife's shoulder. His terrified wife quickly turned her head, and the head disappeared.

The subsequent horrifying scenes appeared frequently. Words came alive, snapping at him viciously, countless hands appearing on the ceiling, and swollen heads on the pillow as he turned over at night.

Troubled by delirium, Kenniwa had to miss the trial the next day and go to a psychologist's clinic for treatment—because only Kenniwa could see the hallucinations.

Coincidentally, the two medications recommended by the psychologist were both effective for Kenniwa.

The sedative prevented Kenniwa from turning from mentally weak to insane, and the sleeping pills allowed him to have a good dream.

Despite this, his condition continued to deteriorate endlessly. If not resolved, Kenniwa would be left with an indelible shadow even if he escapes delirium.

"Sounds like a Malicious Spirit."

Claire tilted her head to look at Lu Li, the nodding hood confirming her suspicion.

A Malicious Spirit, one of the Spirits and Monsters, feeds on emotions of fear and terror. It doesn't harm the victim, but the person being haunted by it usually goes mad or commits suicide due to mental collapse.

A Malicious Spirit is fickle, constantly seeking new sources of fear until the victim no longer outputs emotions, then will look for the next person—

Lu Li was evidently the perfect bait to lure it out.

"Take us to the bedroom."

Kenniwa's wife led Lu Li and Claire up the stairs. As they reached the hallway on the second floor, a residual shadow swiftly dashed across under the Revealing Potion's effect—

A booming sound suddenly exploded in the hallway, and a puff of gray mist burst open in front of Claire's loosely gripped palm, dispersing with the strong wind.

"...It's too fast, I couldn't control it."

Claire apologetically withdrew her hand, shaking off the broken bandage, and told the woman startled by the sound: "It's already resolved."

With the grateful thanks from Kenniwa's wife, Lu Li suddenly said calmly: "A Malicious Spirit rarely enters the Inner City when roaming the Outer City."

Kenniwa had not left the Inner City.

"Do you think someone harmed him?"

Claire guessed the implication of Lu Li's words, recalling Kenniwa being forced to miss the trial.

"Let the Police Station arrest them for interrogation and you'll find out."

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