As night gradually fell, Audrey and Earl Hall only had dinner at the Aster Manor and had no intention of staying the night there.
At around eight in the evening, Audrey and Earl Hall boarded a carriage and returned to their suburban estate.
The trip from Aster Manor took about half an hour by carriage.
After seeing Audrey and Earl Hall off, Hastur returned and saw Glaint squatting on the ground, stroking Hogg's dog head and whispering to it.
Hastur had also noticed Hogg and Glaint's performance today.
This really couldn't be blamed on Hogg being unreliable, Glaint's marksmanship was simply too poor. Several times, he aimed for a long time while but still couldn't hit anything.
In the end, that foolish roe deer was caught by Hogg alone.
"Hastur, do you think I should go practice my shooting?"
"If you're interested, I do have a club I can recommend to you."
Hastur then told Glaint about the club Greg had introduced to him last time.
"Alright, I'll go take a look sometime."
Hearing this, Hastur understood that Glaint probably wouldn't go after all.
"Hastur, do you think Hogg is smarter, or is Susie more impressive?"
"Susie," Hastur answered without hesitation.
"I think so too. I really don't know how Audrey trained Susie. I'm clearly the beast tamer, yet Hogg, whom I trained personally, shouldn't be losing to Susie in theory." Glaint sighed in confusion.
Hastur thought for a moment and said, "Maybe you should look for more reasons in yourself."
What he really meant was that Glaint didn't have finances as abundant as Audrey's, so it was very difficult for him to support a Beyonder creature.
Reaching Sequence 8 was probably already the limit, and now Susie was already a Sequence 8 Mind Reader. The gap was not small at all.
There was also another point, Hogg simply didn't look as intelligent as Susie.
"It really is that I haven't done well enough. After I go back, I'll definitely work harder." Glaint regained his fighting spirit and confidence. As for that, Hastur could only wish him good luck.
...
Late at night, in the suburban estate, in a room where opening the window allowed one to admire a large expanse of ginkgo trees.
Audrey was sleeping peacefully on the bed. Susie's little bed was on the right side at the foot of the bed, and at this moment it was also lying on the floor resting.
Fog, formless fog spread throughout the world of dreams.
Audrey felt that she had arrived in a foggy forest. There was only her, all alone. Susie, who was always by her side, was nowhere to be seen.
The surrounding trees were different from what she usually saw. Without the cover of leaves, only bare trunks remained.
All vitality vanished at once, leaving only scenery on the brink of death.
Audrey felt a little panicked, but besides that, she also felt anticipation and eagerness.
Even before stepping into the Beyonder world, she had always longed for such encounters.
Yet aside from the magic mirror incident, where she met Mr. Fool and joined the Tarot Club, her world hadn't changed much.
Daily life was still so ordinary, with nothing new.
Now, a mysterious and unknown journey was unfolding before her eyes. She was tempted, yet when facing the unknown, she inevitably felt fear.
She didn't stay where she was, but instead kept moving forward.
As she went deeper, the fog grew thicker. The trees around her, bare with only branches left, seemed to gradually come alive.
Each branch was like an arm, waving about in disorder, no one knew whether they were cheering Audrey's arrival or joyfully anticipating a feast.
At first, Audrey was a little afraid. She stayed where she was and observed for a long time. Seeing that they had no intention of harming her, she slowly let go of her worries and continued onward.
The main trunks, which originally could not move, also began to twist like human bodies as the dense fog deepened.
They were like tall, twisted giants, joyfully writhing in the mist.
Whenever Audrey came within a certain range, they would return to a motionless state.
Audrey's eyes widened slightly. She truly liked such a scene, it perfectly matched her imagination of the Beyonder world.
Eerie and mysterious.
The mysterious existence dwelling deep within this foggy forest, would it be a vicious, curse-wielding witch, or a magical elf from myth and legend?
Holding onto a trace of expectation, Audrey continued deeper inside, even as she worried about whether she might encounter danger.
But at present, her consciousness was clear, yet she was unable to wake up. It was as if some force had dragged her awareness into the dream, preventing her from breaking free.
"If I really encounter danger, I can seek help from Mr. Fool." With this thought in mind, Audrey cautiously yet faintly expectantly moved deeper into the forest ahead.
Along the way, aside from trees, there were still only trees. She didn't see a single moving creature.
She didn't see a terrifying witch or a magical elf either. Before her eyes was only an eerie forest shrouded in fog.
This foggy world seemed endless, without boundary. No matter which direction Audrey chose to move in, she was never able to encounter anything special.
This made her shift from initial anticipation to disappointment.
The only comforting thing was that this foggy world had no ability to harm her, because this was her dream. It had only changed like this due to the influence of some Beyonder power.
"I can only wait until tomorrow morning to wake up naturally." Audrey sighed, chose another direction, and continued deeper.
...
Dawn arrived, and sunlight had already risen from the windowsill to the rooftop.
Susie was already awake and had even gone outside for a walk and returned, while Audrey was still sleeping soundly.
At first, her personal maid had no suspicions, simply thinking that Audrey was especially sleepy today because she had gone into the forest to hunt yesterday and was both physically and mentally exhausted.
It wasn't until the glow of the setting sun dyed the trees in yellow, and a gentle breeze lightly tapped on the window.
Only then did the personal maid responsible for caring for Audrey notice something abnormal. At first, she merely tried to wake Audrey, after all, sleeping for too long wasn't good for the body.
But she couldn't wake her at all. No matter how loud her calls were, Audrey, lying asleep on the bed, never opened her eyes.
Susie also grew anxious, pacing back and forth around the bed, barking nonstop.
Soon, the matter was reported to Earl Hall.
With his broad knowledge, after thinking for a while, he guessed that the abnormality happening to Audrey was likely related to entering the forest to hunt yesterday.
When he heard that Audrey had encountered fog yesterday and had briefly separated from the others, he was already basically certain that this matter involved the influence of Beyonder factors!
Earl Hall's face turned ashen. On one hand, he sent people to Backlund to seek help; on the other, he sent people to notify Hastur.
Yesterday's hunting activity had been arranged entirely by Hastur. In just one night, Audrey had ended up like this.
Whether Hastur knew about it or not, he bore responsibility for resolving this matter!
By the time Hastur and Glaint arrived at Earl Hall's estate, it was already nearing evening.
"You must give me an explanation for this!" Facing Earl Hall's near-ultimatum words, Hastur felt heavy-hearted.
He observed Audrey's condition. She was sleeping peacefully, with no problems in any aspect of her body. The only possible issue was her spiritual world.
For example, dream-related Beyonder powers that could cause a person's consciousness to fall into eternal sleep.
Yesterday, neither he nor Earl Hall and the others had encountered fog. Only Audrey, who had encountered the fog, had fallen into this state. It was clear that the abnormality on Audrey must be related to yesterday's fog!
"Earl Hall, I need Susie to take me to the place Miss Audrey went to yesterday."
"Alright." With a gloomy expression, Earl Hall allowed Hastur to take Susie away. Glaint also wanted to follow, but Hastur stopped him.
The situation was unclear. He didn't want to bring Glaint along, if something went wrong again, he would rather handle it himself.
Arriving at the entrance of the forest, Hastur set off alone with Susie.
"Susie, take me to the place where you encountered the fog yesterday. I know you're very smart, you should understand what I mean."
"Woof!" Susie began to trot forward, with Hastur following behind. Soon, they arrived at the area where Susie and Audrey had encountered the fog yesterday.
By now, night had completely fallen, and everything around was shrouded in darkness.
Yet the fog did not reappear. This area was no different from any other place.
Hastur and Susie searched the surroundings for a while, but found nothing unusual.
"Woof…" Susie's voice was low, her emotions dejected. She was very worried about Audrey's situation.
"Don't worry. I'll find a way to save her." Hastur squatted down and gently patted Susie's head, signaling for her not to be too sad.
"Woof woof…" Susie lay down on the ground, ears drooping, looking utterly helpless.
She was just a dog.
This kind of situation was beyond what she could handle, she simply didn't know how to help Audrey.
"Susie, help me keep watch around here. If anything happens, notify me immediately." After saying this, Hastur also lay down.
"Woof?" Susie looked at Hastur, who had already closed his eyes, with a face full of confusion. In the end, she chose to trust Mr. Hastur.
She had always had a feeling that this Mr. Hastur was not simple.
Perhaps he really could help Audrey.
Susie straightened herself up again, regained her spirits, and began patrolling the surroundings, making sure nothing disturbed Hastur at this moment.