Sir Devil's bedroom was bigger than the combined size of Klein's living room and dining room. It comprised a sleeping area, a living area, a dressing area, a washroom, and an area with a bookcase and desk. The furnishings were exquisite, and the details luxurious.
Yet in Klein's senses, the lighting here was dim, and the temperature was at least half as cold as outside.
At the same time, it was as if he heard crying, one after another, and groans like the last desperate struggles of the dying.
Klein felt a slight dizziness, when everything returned to normal: brilliant sunlight streamed through the windows, flooding the entire bedroom; the temperature was neither hot nor cold; the surrounding police, bodyguards, and butler were silent, not speaking.
This... He turned his head to look at the classical and ornate bed, and saw what seemed to be pair after pair of blurry eyes circling in the shadows, like moths unafraid of death around a gas lamp.
He took a few steps closer, but the image he had just seen vanished from Klein's "Spirit Vision."
Not standard vengeful spirits, and certainly not malevolent spirits... What exactly is it? Klein furrowed his brow, recalling the occult knowledge he had mastered recently.
In his view, if today's task were handed to a "Coroner," a "Gravedigger," or a "Spirit Medium," it probably wouldn't pose any difficulty at all, but this was clearly not the field he excelled in most.
Restraining the urge to divine the direction of his investigation, Klein slowly looked around, searching for other traces to confirm the several guesses in his mind.
"This... Inspector," Sir Devil hesitated for a moment. "Have you found anything?"
"If it were that easy to find something, I don't think my colleagues would have waited until now," Klein said as he went through the motions, unconsciously glancing at the great philanthropist.
Just as he was about to look away, he suddenly noticed a faint, pale human figure reflected in the mirror behind Sir Devil.
No, it was faint, pale figures, one upon another, overlapping and twisting!
The figures flashed and disappeared, and Klein seemed to hear faint crying again.
Hoo... He let out a breath of stale air, easing the fear that had almost made him draw his gun a moment ago.
Having heightened his spirituality and activated his Spirit Vision, he was bound to be scared out of his mind sooner or later... Klein eased his own tension by silently mocking himself, then redirected his gaze to Sir Devil.
This time, he saw something different.
With Sir Devil present in this bedroom, faint, pale, twisted shadows would occasionally flicker around him, making the light in that area seem slightly dimmer.
And every flicker was inevitably accompanied by illusory sobbing and groaning that normal people could barely hear.
Hard for normal people to hear under normal circumstances? Because it was daytime? Klein nodded thoughtfully.
He had already formed a preliminary judgment on this case:
What was haunting Sir Devil were strands of resentment, the spiritual remnants of the emotions most difficult to let go of before death!
If these resentments and remnants accumulated for a while longer and grew several times stronger, they would transform into terrifying malevolent spirits.
But Sir Devil was a famous philanthropist. Even someone as discerning as Benson deeply respected him. Why would so many "death resentments" cling to him? Was he two-faced? Was it the work of a malicious Beyonder? Klein speculated on the possibilities with confusion.
He thought for a moment, looked at Devil, and spoke:
"Honorable Sir, I have a few questions."
"Please, go ahead," Sir Devil said, sitting down wearily and weakly.
Klein organized his words and said:
"When you leave this place and go somewhere new, like the countryside or Backlund, do you usually gain at least half a night of brief peace, only for the situation to slowly return and grow worse, until eventually, even when you sleep during the day, you hear the groaning and crying?"
Sir Devil's half-closed eyes snapped open, a gleam of light appearing in his blue eyes:
"Yes, have you found the root of the problem?"
Only now did he realize that due to long-term insomnia and his poor mental state, he had actually forgotten to tell the police such an important clue!
Upon seeing Klein's question receive an affirmative answer, Inspector Toller secretly breathed a sigh of relief, understanding that the Nighthawk had found a lead.
Meanwhile, Sheriff Gate was both surprised and curious, unable to stop himself from scrutinizing the psychology expert Klein several times.
Matched the characteristics of resentments slowly entangling and accumulating bit by bit... Having received the feedback, Klein had largely confirmed the answer.
He now had two methods to help Sir Devil get rid of the trouble. One was to set up an altar directly around him and use ritual magic to completely cleanse the "Death Resentments." The other was to use other mystical means to find the source of the problem and solve it fundamentally.
Considering the rule of "trying not to let ordinary people know about the existence of extraordinary powers," Klein decided to try the second method first. If it didn't work, he would pray to the Goddess.
"Sir, this is a psychological disease, a mental problem," he said, looking at Devil, speaking absolute nonsense with a perfectly straight face.
Sir Devil furrowed his brow and retorted:
"You mean to say I am a mental patient and need to go to the madhouse?"
"No, it's not that serious. Actually, most people have some psychological and mental problems to a greater or lesser degree," Klein casually reassured him. "Please allow me to reintroduce myself. I am a psychology expert from the Ahoava County Police Department."
"Psychology expert?" Sir Devil and his butler both looked at the familiar Inspector Toller.
Toller nodded solemnly, confirming that it was indeed the case.
"Very well, what do I need to do to cooperate with the treatment? And, I don't understand why my butler, my bodyguards, and my servants can all hear the crying and groaning..." Sir Devil grasped his walking cane with both hands, looking utterly confused.
Klein replied with a very professional air:
"I will explain it to you afterwards."
"Please ask your butler, your servants, and your bodyguards to leave. Inspector Toller, Sheriff Gate, please leave as well. I need a quiet environment to conduct the initial treatment."
"Using magic to 'treat'..." Inspector Toller silently added to himself, nodding at Sir Devil.
Sir Devil was silent for over ten seconds, then said:
"Karen, take them to the living room on the second floor to wait."
"Yes, Sir," the butler Karen did not argue, because the request came from a formal police officer, an acting inspector, and a psychology expert.
Watching them leave one by one and close the door, Klein looked at Devil with his dark-golden hair and blue eyes and said:
"Sir, please lie down on the bed, relax, and try to fall asleep."
"...Okay." Sir Devil hung his coat and hat on the hatstand, walked slowly to the bed, and lay down.
Klein then pulled all the curtains shut, plunging the room into darkness.
He took off his pendant, quickly used a "Spirit Pendulum" to make a simple judgment of fortune and misfortune, then sat down in the rocking chair not far from the foot of the bed. He outlined a ball of light, entered a meditative state, and let the spiritual world unfold before his eyes.
Next, he leaned back against the chair, fell into a deep sleep, allowing his own astral spirit to make contact with the outside.
He was using the technique of "Dream Divination," allowing himself, in a dream-like spiritual environment, to "communicate" with the resentments that were entangling Sir Devil.