Chapter 21 - New Discoveries

Over the next few days, Middendorffi and Eli could only deal with Suzanne.

But several things did happen. Firstly, the Collector brought a colleague who specialised in dealing with "ghosts and spirits" to see Creato again, who had already been detained and had never spoken to anyone, and Suzanne had not come out. The colleague tossed some means, and even Deng Wenwen's eight characters are pinched, and finally, he can only give a judgement - if he were to conclude this case, he would say that there is no evil spirit.

As a result, not long after the "collector" left, Creato began to have problems. Firstly, he talked himself into the void, and then he started to go crazy and hit the wall, shouting about brain pain and brain disorders. After a lot of trouble, Creato was bailed out of the hospital. The doctor said that there may be signs of bipolar disorder, but the specifics will have to be observed and judged. The Addams family should also apply for a prosecution appraisal. If it identifies a mental illness, then at least it will be no problem for Creato to have his sentence reduced.

Speaking of sentence reductions, Creato's chances of being charged by the prosecution should be nine out of ten.

The fire department has given a preliminary report on the fire, and there are obvious signs of arson. The Criminal Investigation Department has also received news that sleeping pills were found in the body of the deceased in the villa. Although these two ends say that they have not concluded, the two sides are together; so many people have died under the artificial coma and fire, and just one Creato is still alive. Is not it still not put him to death to investigate?

And in the case of Deng Wenwen, it's said that there's already a lot of evidence that people were killed by the last girl she saw. But the matter of dumping the body is still being investigated; after all, it's hard for a girl alone to take the body of an adult female successfully. This insane attribute of the Meditation and Revelation Society has led the police to highly suspect that the body-dumping accomplice is in this church as well, so the church, including the university with the most members of the church, is being heavily investigated.

While these two cases continue progressing, Middendorffi finally sees a psychiatrist.

This doctor was not the first time he had seen Middendorffi. After a quick chat, the doctor indicated that there was no problem. Although Middendorffi has no signs of memory recovery, he can live an everyday life and has no problem with thinking and communication, so there is no need to pursue retrieving memories forcefully. Middendorffi's minor issue is that he has slight emotional fluctuation, is not easy to empathise with, and is relatively slow in responding to more complicated words and questions. However, these are likely after-effects and will probably recover slowly as they rebuild their socialisation skills, and even if they don't, it won't have much of an impact.

With this conclusion, Middendorffi finally didn't have to go back to the doctor. He informed Lupin and Henry of this, then looked somewhat "relieved" with a frown, making Eli chuckle.

"Seeing that so-called psychiatrist makes you so nervous?" Eli said, "Humans come in all shapes and sizes. Even if you don't match the 'you' you were before you lost your memory, it doesn't matter what kind of person you are as long as the person you are now doesn't kill or set fire to people."

"Hmm." Middendorffi thought for a moment, then extended, "It's just that they kept repeatedly asking me to come to see a psychiatrist before, and I thought they still thought there was something very abnormal about me."

"There's nothing abnormal." Eli said, "They're just concerned about you."

With no one else in the house anyway, Middendorffi went straight to the point, "Sometimes I feel like their kindness comes inexplicably. The doctor said I have a low level of empathy. Is that why I don't understand?"

"It's normal for them to care about you, and it's normal for them not to care about you. They're kind, and the fact that you're now their friend and colleague and that you had complete amnesia is why they care about you in particular." Eli replied patiently, "It doesn't matter if you don't quite understand; many other people don't understand or act that way either; that's just how humans are ... in a thousand different ways. You don't have to think much about it. If someone does treat you well, accept their kindness and live well, even as a way of repaying them."

"I see." Middendorffi blinked, "No one ever told me that, thank you."

"No thanks." Eli asked, "But does my kindness also confuse and bother you?"

"It doesn't bother." Middendorffi returned decisively, "But I don't quite understand. Are you such a helpful person?"

"No." Eli was decisive, too, "I just think you're very congenial; do you see me being like that with others?"

"It's because you don't seem so enthusiastic ... about others," Middendorffi paused and turned, "that I find you pitching in as well."

He responded, causing Eli to smile slightly, "So we should be sharing a room as well; it's meant to be."

Middendorffi doesn't quite understand the true meaning of the words, but the surface meaning is still understood, so he nods, "Right."

***

Middendorffi and Eli's lease on the house was signed within a few days. Because it was acquaintance to acquaintance, the lack of a deposit to pay one was very friendly to the two, who were in a tight financial situation.

Middendorffi watched videos on moving and packing techniques in advance and followed them to the letter, buying boxes, packing and labelling them. Eli watched in amusement and with no intention of helping and watching Middendorffi hamster move the boxes. Eli watched in play, not wanting to help but watching Middendorffi's hamster move around, putting things into boxes individually. Only when Middendorffi didn't know how to place some items would he come forward to give a few reminders.

Middendorffi crouched by the crate and placed the items, first thanking her, then adding, "You seem to know how to do everything."

"It's just very simple lining up." Eli stood beside him, eyes downcast, and asked, "Do I look like I'm not much of a tidier?"

Middendorffi thought momentarily, "You showed up with nothing but a sword."

"Because I'm not like normal people." Eli suddenly crouched on one knee and held his hand out to Middendorffi's palm, "I'll show you a secret."

"What?"

Eli didn't answer directly, only signalling him to look at his hand. The next second, a stone appeared out of thin air on the empty palm!

Middendorffi blinked slowly.

Eli looked at his reaction and said, "You don't seem too surprised?"

"My ... doctor said I have a bit of a problem with mood swings, not too much. I'm surprised." Middendorffi said, "Where did that come from?"

"Earlier, I said I just did some martial arts, but it comes close to what they call cultivation. I've read some of the imaginary works of people in this world, and it should be closer to 'sword cultivation'." Eli said, "I can change things because I have a storage space I can't see or touch. Some of my necessary items are in there. Including a few pieces of clothing, but it's not quite the same style as this world, so it's useless to take them out."

"I see." Middendorffi nodded, "Then your sword can be put away in there; you don't have to leave it at home every day."

"Every time I go out, I walk behind it and have put it away. It's my original weapon, and I can manoeuvre it from a distance across the room." Eli grabbed Middendorffi's hand and shoved the stone in his hand, "Here you go to play with it."

"... Hmm?"

"It's more for smithing things, but I'm not short of that." Eli said, "Use it for whatever you want; throw it as a doorstop."

The stone was so black and puffy that the average person wouldn't think it could be helpful, even if it seemed to glitter at certain angles. But Middendorffi carefully examined the stone and put it into the box, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Eli didn't seem surprised that he was happy to take this and was about to say something else when Middendorffi's mobile phone rang.

Middendorffi got up to get the phone, glanced at the screen and picked it up, "Lupin?"

"Bear, I've got a message from the police about the Underworld Society!" Lupin said, "They searched the dormitories of Creato and some of the members of the Underworld Revelation Society and found a manual about the activities of the Underworld Revelation Society. I suspect one of the core activities has to do with the birth of that thing on Creato. Do you have time to come to the office to discuss it?"

Middendorffi glanced at Eli, who had also risen, and asked, "What?"

Middendorffi said, "Going to the 'Collector' now."

Eli didn't even ask for a reason, summoning his sword and smoothly collecting it without a trace, "Let's go then."

Middendorffi watched him do the magical sequence of events fluidly, not asking a single question, only nodding, "Hmm."

***

"An electronic version of the manual file is projected on a large TV in the Collector's conference room. In attendance, in addition to Lupin, Henry, Middendorffi, and Eli, were the two men who had also been to see the police and Creato earlier, as well as Laura, who was often in charge of analysing the material.

"This thing, all the other sections don't do much; they're a mishmash of copying from other churches' or organisations' administration manuals. There's only this section, and it's pretty amazing."

Laura manipulated the file on her laptop, displaying its table of contents, "The chapter title says 'Meditation', but I've roughly scanned through it, and it's a step-by-step guide to fantasy. "

"Fantasy and a guide?" Henry hadn't had a chance to read the document yet, so he came straight to the meeting, "This Meditation Demonstration Society of people, pooled together just to dream together?"

"'Meddlesome Revelation' means 'meditating on revelation', their most important core activity." Laura scrolled the mouse, finally stopping at a specific page, "And what they fantasise about is not some future, some good thing that befalls them, but rather - a person."

"A person?" Henry quickly scanned the lines on the screen, "Choose the TA's gender, age, height and size, and a name ... Isn't that what kids do when they play dress-up, fantasise about a friend?"

He snorted a little as he said it, but Laura said, "It's just a simple translation and packaging of the process they've done, like a mishmash of other chapters. It's a model that I think is very similar to the foreign tulpa."

"'Tulpa'?" Middendorffi parroted the question, "What's that?"

Laura looked at him, "We have a translation in our native land called - 'phantom man'."