The question Daly wrote on the paper was: "How was Dunn Smith resurrected?"
She had cleverly avoided asking, "Has Dunn already been resurrected?"—after all, she hadn't found Dunn's body, so she couldn't be completely certain he was really alive again.
But ever since she saw the eyes of "Iron Man," she instinctively felt he was her Dunn, so she was quite confident.
And according to Stuart, as long as the premise was reasonably reliable, "2-111" usually wouldn't be too strict about it.
Very soon, the mirror placed on the altar began to display a series of images, showing a man with a long, narrow face digging up Dunn's corpse, placing it in a burlap sack, taking it to a villa, and then reviving him with the help of a "stone."
"It was Doctor Strange! It really was Doctor Strange!
"And more importantly, Dunn… he really has been resurrected!
"He is Iron Man!"
Daly couldn't contain her excitement. Her face was clearly lit up with a radiant smile, but tears streamed uncontrollably down her cheeks.
But... why didn't he come to find me after he came back?
He should know I would never report him...
Was it the organization that revived him that wouldn't allow it?
Or... was he afraid of dragging down my 'promising future,' and didn't dare to appear before me again?
Heh, maybe I guessed right… that really does sound like something Dunn would do...
Her thoughts spun quickly. Daly turned her gaze to the mirror on the altar again, curious about what kind of question it would ask in return.
When Stuart had taught her this secret ritual, he'd mentioned that although the surface rules of the ritual let one bypass some of "2-111's" restrictions—like not having to answer in front of others, and even though you still had to speak the answer out loud, you could do it somewhere private or soundproof—
In reality, whether this trick would work all depended on "2-111's" mood. If it was in a good mood, it would follow the ritual's rules. But if it was in a bad mood, or just wanted to mess with you, it could even "hypnotize" you into fulfilling its demands.
And those "demands" weren't limited to just saying the answer out loud… According to Stuart, Kuhn, the former captain of the Backlund Mandated Punisher squad, had once publicly shown off his bodybuilder physique in front of the whole team…
That sealed artifact just seems to enjoy watching people make fools of themselves… But I'm not afraid of being embarrassed...
Besides, since I came to investigate that free school anyway, I specifically rented this place in East Borough for the time being. There's no one familiar around here...
Thinking this to herself, Daly calmly looked at the mirror, which had stopped showing images and began revealing words.
But after just one glance, her expression twisted.
"What desires did 'Iron Man' uncontrollably experience while cohabiting with Miss 'Sloth'?
Please say the answer out loud.
Failure to answer or giving a wrong answer will result in punishment."
...
In a village near Port Pritz, Dunn Smith looked calmly at the beautiful woman subdued by the spirits he had released and raised his revolver.
The woman sobbed pitifully, her tears like raindrops on flowers, and even deliberately loosened the buttons on her shirt, revealing pale skin beneath as she pleaded for her life.
But Dunn was unmoved. Without the slightest hesitation, he pulled the trigger.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
After five shots, the woman's headless body swayed and collapsed backward onto the ground.
Because of the spiritual restraints, she hadn't been able to use a body-double technique to escape.
She was a "witch" from the Demoness Cult. Dunn had stumbled upon her during preparations for a ritual, during which she had killed many of the village's residents.
And to cover it up and avoid attracting the Church's attention, she had even spread a plague in the village… which had caused the deaths of even more innocents.
So, even though he was no longer "Iron Man," Dunn still took action and killed her.
"This ritual is different from the one Triss and Madam Sharon performed back in Tingen. It doesn't seem to be directed toward the 'Primordial Demoness'...
"Are there still witches in the coven who worship other hidden existences?"
While noting down the design of the symbolic sigil, Dunn took out a lady's fan with lace trim and fanned the headless corpse.
This was a magical item in Dunn's possession. It could accelerate the precipitation of Beyonder characteristics—but after using it, it would also randomly "indulge" a certain desire. If one couldn't use willpower to "restrain" it, they were likely to be overwhelmed by that desire and do something they'd regret...
The effect only lasted for two hours… Generally speaking, as long as the indulged "desire" wasn't too outrageous, Dunn would choose to tough it out.
After waiting a dozen or so seconds and collecting the witch's characteristic, an uncontrollable image surged into Dunn's mind—it was Daly.
Daly, who always teased him with words;Daly, with whom he shared such deep mutual understanding;Confident, charismatic, and radiant Daly;
And… Daly entangled with him in the office...
In short, at this moment, he desperately wanted to see Daly—more than ever before!The desire that had been "indulged" was to see Daly!
Dunn barely managed to calm his mind using his own Soul Assurer abilities, forcing himself to not be consumed by the desire.
After that, he quickly dealt with the witch's corpse, then ran straight to the steam tram station in Port Pritz and bought a ticket for the next morning's train to Backlund.
—In this era, trains don't run at night. It's far too dangerous.
Two hours later, Dunn looked at the ticket in his hand and let out a bitter chuckle, muttering to himself:
"Even without that side effect... I'd still be thinking about her...
"Maybe I shouldn't refund the ticket...
"I'll go to Backlund to see her!
"Just one glance from afar...
"Mhm… just one glance!"
...
In a house in Backlund's East Borough, Daly—who had just been punished—was glaring grimly at the mirror on the altar that had served as the vessel for the "secret ritual."
Even though she knew that what she had just experienced had been just a dream and not real, the scene had been too humiliating!
"How could I possibly do that in front of Dunn?
"But at the start of that punishment dream, I didn't even realize it was fake… just a dream...
"Mhm, maybe it was a reflection of my inner fears? Am I most afraid of Dunn seeing the disgraceful version of myself from the past?"
With that thought, Daly hesitated for a moment, but still took out her pen and paper again and wrote a new question:
"Is 'Doctor Strange' a subordinate of the 'Fool'?"
She then burned the parchment with spiritual flame and began waiting for the mirror's reply.
But strangely, this time… it remained silent for a long while.
...
Meanwhile, Klein, who had just fallen asleep, suddenly saw a silver mirror in his dream.
The mirror's surface rippled like water, and soon a line of white text appeared:
"Great Lord of the Spirit World, your loyal servant Arrodes reports that someone is inquiring about matters related to you. Would you like to know who she is?"
(End of chapter)