Eldritch Horror Theatre

The prop removed from her hand was probably still bobbing in the blue liquid inside that real jar.

The harrowing ordeal was finally over. Yet, even as she said her goodbyes, a certain imagined scene kept replaying in Claire’s mind.

But she used every ounce of her self-control to keep from showing anything out of the ordinary.

This held true even after the man snapped his fingers and her confusion receded, leaving her feeling as though she had just woken up.

Even the jar had vanished.

Naturally, she hadn’t forgotten to pay him double his fee to maintain her persona.

”Thank you for your generosity.”

Fu Qian gladly accepted it.

”If you do exactly as I said and find it ineffective, you can always come back to me.”

In light of this, he even volunteered a guarantee.’I’d need the chance to come back to you first...’

This was an unusually high level of service for a charlatan. Unfortunately, Claire, who knew the ”truth,” only found it immensely ironic.

”Alright.”

Lacking the mood to say anything more, she gave a slight nod and left the master’s parlor with an ample harvest.

...

’The sin plague...’

After he saw his client out with perfect professional courtesy, the home studio quickly settled back into silence. Fu Qian silently went over his mission objective for this trip.

The reason the metal jar had vanished was simple: it was a creation of the dream, just like that hidden compartment with its heavy flair for stage magic.

It was all just to set the mood.

What truly surprised him was Claire’s behavior in the dream.

Even though he had been bluffing the entire time, some of his key claims hadn’t been utter nonsense.

He was now a genuine Tier 2, yet the Lucid Dream he created couldn’t manipulate her freely.

The simplest conclusion was that Claire’s form of existence had been influenced by an extraordinarily high Rank of power.

If he considered this influence a type of contamination—perhaps even the very sin plague he was searching for—then her husband Rick’s bizarre behavior could reasonably be classified as spreading that contamination.

But there was one problem. If this was the sin plague, what exactly did it change in the people it infected?

Outside the dream state, even he couldn’t spot any difference between Claire and an ordinary person.

And even when he acted as the Dream Dominator, aside from her absurd resistance to entering the dream, she showed no other aspects of the Transcendent Tier.

He had encountered someone similarly inconspicuous but with extremely high dream resistance before—the proprietress of the Dragon Peak Inn.

However, she had relied on a covenant to achieve that, and she had at least been a transcendent.

This situation was truly unique—and dangerous.

Since the mission hadn’t failed yet, it meant his direct contact with Claire hadn’t passed the contamination on to him.

But Fu Qian wasn’t optimistic enough to believe this contamination could only spread through the same method her husband had used.

The Warehouse’s mission objectives were always concise; they rarely issued such solemn warnings.

Since this wasn’t a timed mission, he had the luxury of avoiding trial-and-error at the cost of his SAN Value. Instead, he could try to borrow a knife to kill—or at least borrow a knife to flush out the snake.

For now, he just hoped the local law enforcement would arrive quickly.

After all, Ms. Claire had been incredibly cooperative. She had already started making calls before she even reached the ground floor.

...

”Grimshaw?”

The local authorities proved to be quite responsible.

Less than half an hour after Claire left, there was another knock on Fu Qian’s door.

Although the knocking wasn’t particularly polite, the master evidently didn’t mind. He readily pulled the door open.

”That’s me. Welcome.”

Facing the two uniformed officers outside—one older, one younger—Fu Qian smoothly flashed another business card, confirming his identity with maximum efficiency.

”Just to clarify in advance, even though you two came together, I don’t offer a half-price discount for the second person.”

”Heh...”

The older officer seemed somewhat mild-mannered, but his partner clearly had a fiery temper. The younger man snatched the business card from his hand, taking the opportunity to flash the shiny Handcuffs at his waist.

”We definitely have some questions for you, and your answers will determine whether we give you this as your payment.”

As expected, his visitors had absolutely nothing to do with supernatural powers. They were simply two fully armed police officers.

Thanks to his full cooperation, the situation had finally escalated to a public security incident.

...

”Please, be my guest. I will cooperate to the best of my ability.”

Ignoring the blatant threat, Fu Qian didn’t bother asking to see their badges. Instead, he displayed a highly active and cooperative attitude.

Even before he made the offer, the older officer had already pushed past him into the room, meticulously scrutinizing the surroundings.

The result was glaringly obvious.

”Is this guy really a charlatan?”

The young officer still standing by the door spoke up first, voicing his confusion over the room’s excessively normal decor.

”I’d like to know that myself.”

After a cursory glance, the older officer seemed to lose interest in searching the place. He turned back to look directly at Fu Qian.

”Mister Grimshaw, could you explain why there is no registration information for you over at the Industry Association?”

’The Industry Association?’

The term was a bit unexpected, but it wasn’t hard to understand.

Even within the occult sphere, given the massive scale of the industry here, it wasn’t surprising that there would be some form of business licensing.

The only problem was—when the Warehouse set up this persona for him, it hadn’t bothered to register him?

Here he was, showing off his consummate professionalism, only to discover he had been running an unlicensed business this entire time!

”That’s because I haven’t registered yet. After all, I’ve only been in Loss for a short time.”

Fu Qian’s response was remarkably swift and direct.

”You’re a lot more honest than I expected.”

The older officer finally seemed to take a genuine interest in Fu Qian. A moment later, he walked over and sat down in the exact spot Claire had just vacated.

”I always forget the exact fines for these things, so we’ll discuss the penalty later. I wonder if you could use that same honesty to explain the complaint a certain lady filed with us?”

”Claire Weasley?”

Under the young officer’s scrutinizing gaze, Fu Qian actually sat back down in his own chair. At the name, his expression showed no surprise, only regret.

”It seems I still fail to inspire enough confidence... What exactly did she accuse me of doing?”

”Norvell, do me a favor and take a look around.”

Instead of answering him immediately, the older officer glanced back at his partner and assigned the young man a task just as he was about to speak.

It was obvious he understood his partner’s impulsive and outspoken nature quite well.

”Why don’t you start by telling me what you did to her here?”

Only then did the older officer turn back, gesturing for Fu Qian to speak freely.

”I lied to her.”

Proving he was fully worthy of that trust, Fu Qian answered without the slightest hesitation.