The subtle trembling deep in her spirituality awakened Angel from her sleep.
"Here we go again... Didn't I already hint to the captain that he could go find trouble with Klein next door..."
Having been harassed by the "Nightmare" in dreams during this period, Angel was already experienced. She threw off the covers, got up from bed, preparing to go to the basement to hide first.
...Wait, it seems I haven't fallen into the usual "fear of firelight" negative state? Holding "Thirst for Blood" in one hand and the "Magic Pocket Watch" in the other, wearing pajamas as she walked out of the bedroom, she suddenly realized something.
Carefully turning on the gas lamp in the hallway, warm firelight spilled on the ground and on her face.
That familiar trembling sensation didn't appear.
"Heh, the captain can be forgetful even in dreams... Looks like this time I'm not completely defenseless?"
Angel's lips curved into a slight smile.
Anyway, this was in a dream, no need to worry about negative effects affecting reality—
She directly pressed the "Magic Pocket Watch" in her hand, gaining three Magician extraordinary abilities including "Flame Jump", while her spiritual instinct sensed open flames suitable for jumping appeared downstairs.
"Snap—"
A flash of bright yellow flame passed, and Angel's figure disappeared from the second-floor hallway.
The next second, she stepped out from flames rising in the center of the first-floor living room, holding a revolver, hair flowing, wearing a smile, ready to give the forgetful "Nightmare" a big surprise.
Eh, wait...
The two gas lamps on the living room walls had been lit, but the originally yellow flames from burning gas had now turned an eerie blue-green, flickering and dyeing the entire living room a ghastly green.
A cold wind blew, and the curtains covering the street-facing windows swayed, occasionally spilling traces of crimson moonlight onto the ground.
This should be the captain's new trick, right? I should still be in a dream, right...
Angel felt her whole body stiffen. Even if Lady Sharon crawled out of the ground and sat on the living room sofa waiting for her to wake up, it wouldn't surprise her as much as this current situation.
Gritting her back teeth, she opened her spirit vision, slowly backing toward the door while raising "Thirst for Blood", alert for any strange things that might appear.
If the situation turned bad, she would immediately "jump" to the street, even jumping along the street lamps all the way, getting as far from here as possible.
Under her spirit vision, various objects without spirituality in the living room appeared gray-white, while the flames tainted with blue-green showed a trace of pale yellow, as if drawn by some force, concentrating on the living room ceiling.
Following this trace of yellow toward the ceiling, she saw a semi-transparent face with only a mouth and no other features penetrating from above, slowly descending into the first-floor living room.
Angel's finger tightened, spirituality flowing into "Thirst for Blood", about to pull the trigger.
"Wait, don't shoot."
The face stopped floating about one meter from the ground, facing Angel directly. The semi-transparent mouth opened and closed, and a familiar voice came out.
"Are you... Daly, Ms. Daly?"
"It's me. Hehe, very sorry the sudden visit frightened you."
The semi-transparent face showed not a trace of apologetic expression, and besides, with only a mouth, it couldn't make any expression other than smiling.
"How do you prove this isn't another prank by the captain?"
Angel still didn't lower her gun. Her eyes looked around, trying to find the "Nightmare" hiding in corners.
"Sigh, it seems Dunn has tormented you all quite badly. His carriage is parked at the intersection of Iron Cross Street and Daffodil Street. I just passed Klein's house - his spirituality is somewhat unstable. Tonight Dunn should be too busy to bother you."
It didn't sound like lying, and this situation was indeed different from previous "nightmares"...
Angel felt somewhat relieved. She loosened her finger on the trigger and put away the revolver.
"Ms. Daly, I heard you've been transferred to Backlund. Why would you come to Tingen City in the dead of night?"
Since she was already awake and had an old acquaintance visiting, Angel no longer rushed back upstairs but sat directly on the single sofa by the window, asking about Daly's purpose.
The semi-transparent face floated over, coming to the sofa area with Angel, lips moving up and down: "At the end of July, Dunn wrote me a letter asking about potion mastery techniques, about your little hint to him."
The face swayed in mid-air. Although it had no eyes, Angel still felt a gaze watching her.
"At that time I didn't pay much attention, just thought he had some surprising insights while thinking about how to master potion power, and I couldn't provide further guidance for certain reasons."
"But last week his another letter mentioned that Klein Moretti, through imitating the Seer's maxims and comprehending the potion name 'Seer', had summarized methods for mastering potions, even mentioning special applications."
"After reading the letter, I knew you two must have figured out the 'Acting Method'."
Indeed, Ms. Daly also knows about the "Acting Method"...
Angel understood in her heart and silently nodded.
"Indeed so. This makes our communication much more convenient. I once swore an oath before the Goddess's holy relic, not allowed to reveal the 'Acting Method' to those who don't know it. This is also why I felt helpless about Dunn's advancement. Fortunately, there's you and Klein - you told Dunn before being discovered by the church and taking the oath."
"His acting really harmed me..."
Angel grumbled.
The only organ on the semi-transparent face - that mouth - had its corners curve upward. Angel seemed to see through it Daly's face with eyeshadow and blush constantly twitching.
"I'll suggest he not always find the same victim... Ahem, my purpose for coming today is to have you and Klein find an opportunity to directly explain the significance of the Acting Method to him. Um, you can also reveal it to other team members in the Tingen squad. This will greatly help their future advancement."
"Then very soon, you'll be noticed by the church - this is almost inevitable after Klein submits his special application - and be required to take an oath, like me, not allowed to reveal the 'Acting Method' to those who don't know. Believe me, you don't want to know the consequences of breaking the oath."
The last person who said they took a similar oath was Cowie from "Mechanical Heart". She seemed fine...
Angel thought secretly but still nodded obediently, indicating understanding.
The semi-transparent face, seeing Angel agree, swayed happily in the air several times before continuing: "This is the first thing I came to find you about."
"As repayment for you revealing the Acting Method to Dunn, I'll tell you the second thing," the face's lips paused for a moment, then slowly said, "The Church of the Evernight Goddess internally does not possess the Sequence 8 'Instigator' potion formula from the 'Assassin' pathway."
This is telling me not to submit a special application because the church doesn't have the potion internally either?
Angel chewed on Daly's words.
No, that shouldn't be what she means... Could it be that Daly already knows or guessed that I've advanced to Sequence 8, but lacks opportunity to reveal it to the church, yet worries that after submitting a special application, I'd be required to take the "Instigator" potion on the spot?
And the church not having the "Instigator" potion formula internally means I can safely submit the application without worrying about losing control from taking the potion again...
Thinking of this, Angel couldn't contain her inner joy.
She was about to thank Daly when she saw the face continue moving its lips.
"There's also a third thing..."