Because he was sleeping in a strange place, Shad woke up very early the next morning. He touched the pocket watch on the bedside and saw that the time was half past six, so he thought of going downstairs to see if there would be any newspapers delivered. He knew that people in Tobysk generally had the habit of subscribing to newspapers.
The former detective could be considered middle class no matter how you look at it, and the nature of his job required him to read newspapers to learn about the news, so it is indeed possible that the current Shade would inherit the newspaper in the future.
Wearing slippers, I walked down the stairs to the first floor hallway and looked at the sealed-off first floor with some curiosity, thinking that if I had time, I could remove a piece of wood and look inside.
I turned on the gas light in the hallway, but unfortunately, I didn't see the newspaper stuffed in from the mail slot on the doormat.
I shook my head with some regret, thinking about changing clothes and going out for breakfast. But just as my slippers touched the first step, I heard the sound of a bell.
There is a door rope outside the door of this apartment building. When pulled, the rope will drive the gear mechanism inside the door and ring the bell on the inside. It is a simple doorbell.
"The newspaper delivery man is here? No, why would the newspaper delivery man knock on the door... ... Is it time to pay for next month's newspaper subscription?"
Xia De, who had little savings, thought with some fear in his heart, calculating the remaining money he had, and turned to look at the door anxiously. No matter who was outside the door, he couldn't recognize him, so it was unlikely that he was collecting money. It was more likely that he was looking for the owner of the place.
"Maybe a new client?"
Worse case scenario, maybe the landlord has arrived to collect the rent.
There was no peephole or anything like that on the door, so Shade could only come to the door, use the language knowledge he had acquired yesterday to translate and ask:
"Excuse me, who is it?"
I immediately got a response from outside the door. It was a familiar voice:
"Is this the Hamilton Detective Agency? I'm Bill Schneider, remember me? You were my psychiatrist yesterday. We exchanged business cards at the door of the newspaper office across from the Lark Club."
On this morning, which was also shrouded in fog, Shad, one of the few people in this world whose names he knew, came to visit him.
Unexpectedly, the visitor was Dr. Schneider. Shade stood behind the door, not knowing whether to open it. He hesitated for only a moment, and the psychiatrist outside the door knew the detective's precautions:
"Mr. Hamilton, you don't have to think too much. Although it's strange to visit at this time, I have no ill intentions. After all, time is short. Please take a look at this first."
The man outside the door spoke as he passed a piece of paper in through the newspaper delivery slot.
"Remember what I said yesterday? Adult education, correspondence courses. Detective, you have a very special talent."
Xia De bent down to take the paper, then raised his hand to slightly brighten the light of the gas lamp in the hallway. With the help of this light, he saw that it was an enrollment brochure.
"Um?"
He suspected that he was dazzled or had not yet woken up.
The A4-sized paper in his hand had a silver border that outlined the shape of a parchment roll. This was an enrollment promotion document for a higher education institution called "St. Byron's College". Apart from the "chained book" school emblem at the top, there were not many patterns, and the printed text took up most of the paper.
St. Byron's Comprehensive College is not recruiting ordinary students, they are recruiting adult students on "correspondence courses".
In addition to this, the paper also listed the ten departments of the college, tuition fees, enrollment time, academic year, admission conditions and restrictions, and recommendation registration process. At least from these aspects, this is just an ordinary school.
“But why is there no address for the school?”
Xia De asked after a long time, and then was surprised that he did not ask the other party whether he had a mental illness, and actually came to deliver admission documents to a stranger early in the morning.
"You are very observant."
The psychologist outside the door praised, and then asked:
"Well, at least let me in to talk, okay? Maybe I can answer your questions about... the other you in your head."
The voice in his head did not appear when it was mentioned. Shad inside the door opened his mouth and opened the door anyway.
A middle-aged doctor carrying a briefcase, wearing a brown coat, a small silk hat, and a pair of thick black boots, stood on the steps. He still had a well-kempt mustache, and his blue eyes made people feel very good:
"Don't forget your milk."
He pointed to the milk crate on the left side of the door and spoke with a standard accent, probably a local from Tobysk:
"When I came here just now, the milkman had just left."
"Okay, come in."
Xia De nodded hesitantly, looked at the doctor, and tried to put on a friendly expression. He picked up the key from the shoe cabinet to unlock the milk box, and the psychologist followed Xia De into the apartment door after he got the milk bottle.
The doctor was also surprised by the sealed-off part of the first floor, but he didn't say much. Instead, he and the silent Xia De went up the stairs to Room 1 on the second floor.
After asking the doctor to wait for a while, Xia De returned to the bedroom to change his clothes and then boiled some water to entertain the guests. Although there was no food in the kitchen, at least there was black tea for the client of the detective case, otherwise Xia De could only use boiled water to entertain the guests.
After everything was ready, the two sat down to talk.
The fabric sofa set in the living room is quite old-fashioned, I wonder if it is an antique. There are two long and two short sofas surrounding the wooden coffee table on all sides, which is very suitable for discussing business with clients.
The doctor and Shad sat on the sofa facing each other.
"There's no need to introduce myself. First I need you to trust me."
The mustachioed psychiatrist Schneider spoke first. He smiled and thanked Shade for the tea:
"This time, I came here for the college brochure I gave you just now. First, let me describe your current symptoms—"
"Wait, are the symptoms related to school?"
Shade asked, but he already had a guess in his mind. He was not a "local", had seen those crazy fantasies, and was more accustomed to this situation. The "St. Byron's Comprehensive College" mentioned by the other party was probably the same school as Hogwarts.
"Of course. Listen to me. Mr. Shad Hamilton, can you hear that other voice in your head?"
Although Shad tried hard to control his expression, he could see his failure from the smile of Mr. Schneider opposite him.
The doctor added:
"Is that voice saying something incomprehensible? And are some of its words helpful to you? It will whisper in your ear and speak suddenly when you least expect it, but it has no ill intention towards you."
Xia De knew he couldn't hide it, so he nodded.
"And, Detective, your symptoms must have appeared within 72 hours."
"To be exact, 24 hours."
Shad said.
"That's even better. We still have a lot of time. It looks like we're pretty lucky. After all, the talent awakening time is 72 hours. This way, I'll have more time to explain the situation to you."
Dr. Schneider smiled and said:
"The above symptoms are similar to those of schizophrenia, but in my opinion they are not."
He pointed at himself, looked at Shade with his blue eyes, and spoke very slowly:
"For certain people, the existence of 'another self' is a wonderful and dangerous gift. No, it should be said that it is the early manifestation of a gift. If it can be guided, then you can see a more real world, a mysterious and dangerous world. If it is not guided..."
"Return to the ordinary?"
"No, it's worse."
The doctor shook his head:
"I don't want to deceive you, at least not now. To be clear, this is a manifestation of the Ringwitch talent, a very rare talent. You can regard it as a gift from fate, or a curse from fate. As for the Ringwitch, you can regard it as a special profession that can use... ...mystical powers. I hope you understand what I mean."
The doctor was observing Shade's expression. This era was still an era of ignorance, and people who believed in the true God generally did not accept concepts such as "witchcraft". But fortunately, just like the doctor's investigation, the detective on the other side was still a person with a brain problem a few days ago, and only returned to normal because of the awakening of his talent, so his concepts were different from those of normal citizens.
On the other hand, his guess was confirmed, and Xia De nodded hesitantly. He wanted to pretend to be surprised, because any normal person would be surprised, but at the moment he was extremely calm, even a little too calm. He thought this might be because he was under too much pressure yesterday:
"In other words, the strange sounds heard in the ears are actually a manifestation of some kind of... system, a power system? Many people experience this? Just like some people can see farther, and some people can hear more?"
Shad asked.
"Yes, 'I am you and you are me', and this is true for every ring wizard. If you succeed in becoming a ring wizard, then this voice will accompany you throughout your life and help you throughout your life. That voice is another you, but your perspectives are different. It will help you contact this crazy and noisy world in a more real way, and contact the secrets and weirdness. Knowledge, information and even words have dangerous power, and outside the safe world of ordinary people, we cannot use our souls to directly approach those forces that can distort ourselves."
The doctor waited for a moment, giving Shade time to think:
"But the awakening time of the Ring Warlock's talent is very short. From the first appearance of the whisper in the ear to the sound completely disappearing, it usually takes 72 hours. Moreover, not every gifted person can hear the sound frequently and realize that the sound is not their own thoughts. They will only think it is an illusion or that there is something wrong with their ears.
Therefore, Detective Shad Hamilton, whether it is the three major colleges or the church, it is very difficult to recruit and train new personnel. Therefore, I say we are all lucky. "