New Gods of North America

!!!

Late at night, Ophelia Fisk suddenly woke up from a dream.

There was no scream, no shriek,

Like a drowning person finally bursting out of the water, opening their eyes only to gulp in fresh air,

Her chest heaved rapidly, her heartbeat seeming to penetrate her chest and reach her ears directly, while cold sweat belatedly began to seep out.

As her breathing gradually calmed, Ophelia sat up in bed, knees drawn to her chest.

Using the faint light filtering through the crack in the door, she reached for the thick silver goblet on her bedside table,

Taking small sips, she drank nearly half the glass of water before she felt herself gradually recovering, though her slender fingers clasped around the silver goblet still trembled slightly.

How strange...

She hadn't dreamt of anything particularly frightening tonight, yet the fear and danger she felt were a hundred times stronger than any nightmare before.

Since being kidnapped, Ophelia had lost count of how many nightmares she'd had.

The previous dreams were fairly consistent—a dim environment filled with what seemed like black mist, familiar or imagined scenes, and a black shadow that would attack from an unknown direction, seeming to want to devour her completely.

Initially, Ophelia was completely unable to resist.

In her dreams, she could only wait like a small animal swallowed whole by a giant beast, awaiting eventual suffocation and awakening, even rest becoming an ordeal.

After starting to take the potion Miss Inessa gave her, things gradually improved, and the black shadow became more like an ordinary 'person'.

From needing to find usable 'weapons' in the dream to fight it to a mutual standstill, to being able to defeat the shadow with a little preparation, to simply 'snapping' her fingers and resolving the shadow,

The dream gradually changed from 'desperate helplessness' to 'thrilling,' and then slowly became uneventful.

Although the shadow appeared more and more frequently, it thankfully became easier and easier to deal with.

Miss Inessa said that this might be a sign that she was about to 'awaken'.

But tonight's dream was completely different.

It was bright and clear, as if every detail in the dream could be clearly reflected in her eyes.

Ophelia dreamt of what had actually happened yesterday,

Or at least, she thought so...? She felt like she wasn't entirely sure.

In the dream, she was in Miss Linna's office, receiving Miss Inessa's routine check-up.

On one side of the room was a large cabinet with a corner, and in the corner was a hidden space with a secret door leading to a safe.

Ophelia wasn't sure how she had noticed it,

And then she felt as if an invisible gaze was looking back at her from that direction.

Then Ophelia suddenly woke up,

As if she had just faced an unusually dangerous and terrifying existence in her dream, and the mere contact of their gazes had almost torn her thoughts and consciousness into powder, annihilating them into nothingness.

Even in her most helpless moments in nightmares before, the shadow had never made her feel so terrified and regretful.

She pressed her forehead against the goblet weakly, closed her eyes, and recalled the dream slightly.

The gaze didn't seem to have any malice, but rather carried a hint of expectation and calling, vaguely encouraging her to continue approaching.

Her throat was still a little dry, and Ophelia was about to continue drinking when she realized the goblet was empty.

She thought for a moment, then leaned over and opened the small drawer on her bedside table, taking out a test tube from inside.

This was one of the potions Miss Inessa had given her.

Initially, she only needed to take a small sip after each nightmare to calm down quickly.

Ophelia poured the potion from the test tube into the goblet, felt it wasn't enough, and then grabbed another spare test tube,

Pouring it into a full glass, then 'glug glug glug' she drank it all in one gulp.

As for the safe... Mother had said that a lady should learn to keep her distance from dangerous things, so it seemed she should stay further away from it next time.

...

The next morning,

Wayne, after finishing his classes, thought that being proactive was better than being passive, so he took the initiative to find Professor Eber Meisel during his lunch break, wanting to persuade him to abandon the idea of a home visit.

I have no parents or family in Georgeberg, what are you going to find out from a home visit?

Unfortunately, Professor Meisel was just like he was during his classes, not caring whether you accepted it or not, and his logic was complete and self-consistent:

"The purpose of a home visit is to understand the living conditions of students, to discover and try to solve some problems that are not conducive to their studies. Given the mathematical talent you have shown, Wayne, I think you deserve more attention from the college.

"You don't need to feel surprised or embarrassed about this. Believe me, I've seen all kinds of different families, and it won't affect your life on campus afterwards.

"If you already have some life arrangements outside of your studies these days, then don't worry about the reception of the home visit. The college has the address of the residence registered by the students when they enrolled, and I can go there myself."

Hmm...

Professor Meisel was stubborn, but after all, he meant well,

So Wayne simply invited him to the detective agency for dinner tonight, striving for a short pain rather than a long one.

After class in the afternoon,

Wayne was still trying to explain to Professor Meisel in the carriage, saying some reasons such as "my recent two weeks of leave was just an accident, and I should be more focused on my studies in the future\

,"Professor Meisel's attitude could only be regarded as listening for the time being, and he still intended to see it for himself.

Before the start of the school year, Professor Meisel had seen Wayne at a ball, but he didn't consider Wayne as a "rich man" because of it.

However, after seeing the carriage and coachman who came to greet him, Professor Meisel no longer worried about Wayne's expenses in tuition and living,

—Some ordinary people may be able to appear at wealthy family balls through various means, and they can also look equally decent, but it is difficult not to show their timidity in daily life.

When they arrived at the detective agency, the small yard was really a bit deserted at this time,

Wayne led Professor Meisel in the direction of the big warehouse, taking him on a tour first.

At first, it was fairly smooth,

Professor Meisel saw that the detective agency had a relatively spacious living environment and two or three available servants, and it seemed that he had really started a small "business\

,"As if he had initially regarded Wayne as a young man who was more enthusiastic about accumulating wealth than knowledge.

Then Miss Ophelia showed her face in the detective agency, and she and Inessa walked out of the partner's office deep in the warehouse, looking like they were in their own home, and politely greeted the professor.

Professor Meisel was suddenly shocked, and then Wayne felt that he couldn't explain it clearly.

"Marriage is of course very important for the development of an individual's life, but in order to marry a young lady from the Fisk family with the premise of obtaining family recognition, one's own conditions and resume are also very important..."

Professor Meisel obviously no longer doubted the reason for Wayne's delay in his studies, and instead began to persuade Wayne not to be deceived by temporary illusions.

"Winning the heart of the young lady may not be difficult for outstanding young people like Wayne, but marriage is a completely different matter.

"From a well-intentioned point of view, to gain the approval of the Fisk family, I don't think Wayne you may be favored by them in terms of wealth accumulation, but in academic terms, you may still have a chance—accomplished scholars are at least in reputation no lower than those wealthy people."

In Professor Meisel's view, whether the detective agency was the result of Wayne's own operation, or he had secretly obtained the support of Miss Ophelia,

Its current scale is obviously not enough to compete with those old wealthy families, and it is even difficult to stand out among marriage competitors of the same age.

Alas...

After several unsuccessful explanations, Wayne finally gave up struggling,

So he chose to fight poison with poison:

"Speaking of education... Professor, the reason I have been frequently absent recently is because I am troubled by education issues. In order to solve this problem, I have to spend extra time after class to assist the work of the church."

"Oh?"

Professor Meisel had already felt that Wayne's situation would be difficult to handle, but after listening, he immediately became interested again.

"That's right."

Wayne nodded seriously, "Professor, let me introduce you to Emma, a true genius girl."