After Dunn Smith's warning, Klein awoke from his slumber.
In his line of sight, a man was rummaging through his desk—an intruder had entered his room without permission, which was clearly impolite.
Just as in the original story, he retrieved his revolver and confronted the unwelcome trespasser.
However, in Aleric's eyes, something about this situation felt off.
"Wait... shouldn't this guy have a spiritual pendant on him?"
At the moment, Aleric was crouched by the window, observing Klein's residence several blocks away through the scope of his sniper rifle—a scope he had designed himself and brought to life with Margaret's help.
The original story hadn't detailed the exact battle between Dunn Smith and the member of the Secret Order who was investigating the Antigonus notebook—since the perspective had always been on Klein, it had only ended with Dunn Smith reporting the outcome.
But now, it seemed that minor character from the original story wasn't someone to be overlooked... or perhaps Aleric's actions had caused some changes to the original plot?
Aleric disliked the feeling of things slipping out of his control. So, he disengaged the safety, checked the ammunition and scope magnification, then attached a suppressor.
If necessary, he would fire—this had been part of his plan all along.
"It's starting."
The Secret Order member failed to find the Antigonus family notebook but was intercepted outside by Nightwatcher Dunn Smith...
Soon, gunfire erupted—though in truth, it was just Dunn Smith overwhelming his opponent. A Sequence 7 Nightmare dealing with an ordinary person was practically effortless.
Wait, what was that guy doing?
Aleric's expression darkened. Through his scope, he saw the Secret Order member remove his pendant and begin rapidly chanting something.
Opposite him, Dunn Smith's expression suddenly changed. He froze, his movements halting as his gaze turned vacant, as if his soul had been snatched away.
"No, this isn't how the story was supposed to go." Aleric adjusted the scope's magnification, zooming in further to scrutinize the pendant in the man's hand—on it was a sinister, lifelike symbol of a monstrous creature, identical to the one on his silver-plated belt—Margaret's handiwork!
"...Margaret!" Aleric roared inwardly, quickly readjusting the scope to the proper magnification.
There was no doubt—a talisman bearing this symbol had to be something Margaret had forged using her Artificer abilities. She must have even infused it with the dual powers of a Hypnotist and a Demagogue—something capable of restraining a Nightmare couldn't rely solely on the power of dreams and darkness.
And now, Dunn Smith was completely immobilized by this force, while the Secret Order member pulled out a pistol from his coat and aimed it at Dunn Smith's head.
Bang!
Aleric pulled the trigger. The bullet tore through the air with tremendous force toward its target, leaving behind the acrid scent of gunpowder at the muzzle.
Several blocks away, outside Klein's apartment, the man holding the pistol suddenly had his right arm explode in a shower of blood and flesh, the weapon clattering to the ground.
He fell to his knees, howling in agony, but Aleric, far away, couldn't hear it—and even if he had, it wouldn't have stirred any emotion in him.
The destructive power of the killing spree was greater than he had imagined, but that was a good thing.
Without the supply of spirituality, the amulet fell to the ground, while Mr. Dunn abruptly snapped out of his daze. With his wealth of experience, he immediately assessed the situation and without hesitation dragged the opponent into a deeper dream. Once he had complete control over the other's mind, the battle was effectively over.
Thus, the remaining events unfolded just as they had in the original story.
However... there was still Aleric's unfinished business to take care of.
...
Dunn Smith stared blankly at the severed arm of the Secret Order member on the ground.
If not for that inexplicably powerful attack, he would likely have died the moment the other had pulled the trigger of the short gun.
So, who had helped him?
He crouched down and picked up the bullet embedded in the floor—a .577 metal-cased cartridge. Then, raising his head, he followed the trajectory of the shot. The Nightmare stood up, his deep gaze piercing through several streets to the only high point in the vicinity—the five-story building.
There, a man dressed in strange military attire emerged from the darkness. Standing on the windowsill, bathed in the pale crimson moonlight, he gave a slight nod in Dunn's direction.
Then, the man abruptly vanished on the spot—and so did the .577 metal-cased cartridge in Dunn's hand.
"What... just happened?" Dunn was on high alert and immediately pulled out a small notebook—after Daly had complained about him always forgetting important things, he had finally decided to carry one with him.
In the notebook, he quickly jotted down the appearance of the man he had just seen. Though the distance had made the details somewhat blurry, it didn't matter. He could always ask Daly to try tracking him through a séance later.
After noting down the physical characteristics, his pen shifted focus.
"Possibly a friendly, unofficial Beyonder."
Then, he turned to Leonard, who had rushed over upon hearing the commotion.
"It's fine now. The problem's been resolved. Someone helped us."
But Leonard's expression stiffened slightly as he turned his head to look at the rooftop of the five-story building in the distance.
He tilted his head slightly, as if listening to something.
...
After disinfecting the bullet in the Black Coffin with a couple of tosses, Aleric tossed it into a roadside trash bin.
Without any traces leading to the spirit world, trying to find him using just a bullet was nothing short of a pipe dream.
This time, entering the "Nonexistent" state had been rushed. As he left, Aleric distinctly felt that the fluctuations from the spirit world were much stronger than before. The impact of forcibly severing the connection between Dunn and himself was far greater than he had anticipated.
Still, his goal had been achieved—he had successfully made an appearance before the Nighthawks and completed the final step in digesting the Veteran potion.
Under the cover of "Nonexistent" he only dispelled the state after arriving at his doorstep and began searching for his keys. But just then, an unexpected incident occurred.
"..." Aleric seemed to hear some commotion behind the door, like the sound of fabric rubbing quickly and fluttering through the air.
"What's going on?" A wave of caution rose in his heart as he rested his hand on his revolver. With his left hand, he inserted the key into the lock and turned it.
"Ah... Master, you... you're back."
Behind the door, Margaret was changing clothes... Seeing Aleric, she froze mid-motion, standing stiffly in place.
"I didn't hear your footsteps."
Margaret was currently wearing a pristine and beautiful maid outfit, but the precisely tailored constraints and cut sections gave it a style that seemed out of place in this era.
The stockings made of finely spun black wool resembled sheer black silk, complementing her perfectly proportioned long legs flawlessly. The white high-waisted corset with silver studs accentuated her curves to the fullest.
The delicate lace trims and those intricate silver-plated belt designs...
...Clearly, this wasn't a design that belonged to this era. Without a doubt, she had drawn inspiration from the military uniform Aleric wore.
"...It looks good. Suits you well." Aleric met her eyes and nodded.
"Thank you." She offered a perfect smile and gave a slight bow.
"...How much did this outfit cost you?"
"8 pounds. Finely spun wool is really expensive."
"Oh... Wait! How much?!"
Aleric nearly choked. 8 gold pounds! As a sergeant, his monthly allowance was only 10 gold pounds!
And this was already preferential treatment among junior officers, thanks to his valiant service in the Southern Continent colonial wars.
Yet this single outfit had cost so much.
"...Master, did I do something wrong?" Seeing Aleric's terrible expression, Margaret's previously settled heart began to worry again.
"...It's fine. The outfit is well made—just don't make another one next time." Aleric's heart ached. At this moment, he shared the same feeling as the God of Poverty above the gray fog.
"Did I not do it well enough...?"
"It's fine... It's just that we're broke."
He gritted his teeth as he spoke... Already considering whether he should contact Mr. Moon ahead of schedule and dump this troublemaker onto him for care.
At least that naive, foolish vampire was genuinely wealthy.