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Although he couldn't recall where the paper crane had been placed for a while, now that he remembered such a thing existed, everything naturally became much simpler.
At the urging of Lin Ruo, the decisive Seer, the group quickly arrived at the hospital where Dr. Aaron worked—according to Dr. Aaron's recollection, although he couldn't remember where he had put the paper crane, he definitely hadn't taken it home, so it could only be in his hospital office.
In fact, upon arriving at Dr. Aaron's office, the three of them found a well-made paper crane in the drawer of Dr. Aaron's desk with hardly any searching.
"It's this!" Dr. Aaron was clearly a bit excited. He picked up the paper crane, and then seemingly recalled more things. "Will Auceptin gave me this paper crane on the day he was discharged from the hospital. He also said this paper crane would bring me good luck."
"It seems that child truly bears you no ill will. While your misfortune was caused by him, I guess it was merely an accident beyond his control," Lin Ruo interjected at the appropriate moment, clearing the Little Snake's name in front of Dr. Aaron.
After all, if the Little Snake didn't plan to go back on his word, this person would be his father after this restart.
Speaking of which, the Little Snake seemed to have restarted quite a few times. Hiss... he probably has at least a football team's worth of dads, doesn't he?
Lin Ruo mentally mused about a certain snake, his mood growing a few shades more cheerful, when he heard Dr. Aaron say with a slight urgency:
"Then what should I do now? Is it alright just to have this paper crane? Can I... can I get rid of this matter? Or do I still need to do something else?"
Clearly, as an ordinary person who basically believed he was involved in some mysterious event but possessed no mystical powers himself, Dr. Aaron was not like many curious people who harbored too much curiosity about mystical powers, even to the point of seeking death. He just wanted to resolve this matter now.
"Don't be too nervous, Allen. Since it's been confirmed that Will Auceptin has no ill will, this matter isn't that dangerous. You'll be safe and sound," Lin Ruo first used his usual calming tone to soothe Dr. Aaron, and incidentally, tested the effect of the Arbiter's charm he had just acquired.
After Dr. Aaron relaxed considerably due to his soothing words and demeanor, Lin Ruo then said: "As for what you should do next, it's very simple. I will first use a magical ritual to neutralize your bad luck, ensuring that even if this paper crane doesn't work, you can temporarily escape misfortune."
"Secondly, take this paper crane with you to sleep tonight, and pay attention to your dreams. Will Auceptin is highly likely to convey the information he wants to tell you through dreams, and perhaps then this matter can come to a complete end."
"Sleeping with this paper crane..." Dr. Aaron was clearly a bit hesitant. In the original story, he dared to put this thing directly in his wallet, mainly because at that time, he hadn't truly linked Will Auceptin with misfortune or something terrifying.
After being misled by Lin Ruo, Dr. Aaron, who had already implicitly accepted that Will Auceptin had died and become some kind of Wraith, some kind of monster, still felt a tiny bit apprehensive, even though he knew the other party might not have ill will towards him and that this paper crane might be a gift of goodwill from the other party.
This was normal. Aside from those exceptionally bold and death-seeking individuals, ordinary people generally reacted this way when encountering such things, especially since Dr. Aaron had already endured misfortune for a long time because of it.
"Don't worry, if you're really scared, you can sleep under our watch tonight. If any accident occurs, I can save you in time and resolve it promptly," Lin Ruo said with a smile, offering advice, and then winked, adding: "Of course, this requires remuneration, which can be seen as a follow-up to the previous commission—by the way, I'm not just a doctor, but also Sherlock's assistant."
"Huh, assistant?" Dr. Aaron looked at Lin Ruo in surprise, then nodded in sudden understanding, "No wonder..."
Then, Dr. Aaron said seriously: "I will give you proper remuneration."
He naturally wasn't depressed by Lin Ruo's proactive request for remuneration; on the contrary, he breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, Loen had proverbs similar to "no good deed goes unpunished" or "nothing for nothing." Dr. Aaron was not a child; as an adult, although he considered himself a friend of Sherlock, he didn't think that his friend's friends would be so enthusiastic towards him for that reason.
If Lin Ruo truly helped so enthusiastically without charging, Dr. Aaron would instead worry if they had some ulterior motive—what if they didn't want his money, but wanted to sacrifice his life to set up strange rituals?
Novels often depict this, don't they!
Even though he knew it was wrong to suspect others with such conjectures, Dr. Aaron still maintained his vigilance.
But if William was Sherlock's assistant and proactively requested a fee, this was easily explained—detectives, besides staying at home and waiting for commissions to come to them, often wouldn't let go of potential clients when they encountered them, as they relied on this for a living.
In this situation, it was very normal for Mr. William and Sherlock to be enthusiastic.
They were earning money!
Having understood this point, Dr. Aaron then discussed it further with Klein, and finally, Dr. Aaron decided to pay an additional 5 pounds as the basic fee for the night's accompaniment.
Although the previous five-pound commission was mostly uneventful, Lin Ruo did provide Dr. Aaron with a lot of useful information and also planned to neutralize his luck. Coupled with Lin Ruo's mystical powers, which inherently brought Dr. Aaron immense security, Dr. Aaron remained generous with his payment.
At the same time, it was still the old rule: if any accidents occurred, Dr. Aaron would increase the remuneration according to the situation.
However, probably worried that any real accident would implicate his wife, Dr. Aaron did not plan to take the paper crane home to sleep. Instead, after explaining the situation to his wife, he rented a room at a nearby hotel, intending to make do for the night.
So, that night, three grown men squeezed into a double room at the hotel.
"I say, why don't we talk about something? I can't quite fall asleep," Dr. Aaron, the only one lying on the bed, opened his eyes somewhat awkwardly and nervously after about ten minutes of silence in the room, saying apologetically.
Having already experienced the ritual to neutralize bad luck, and clearly feeling his luck improve that afternoon, Dr. Aaron, while having even deeper faith in Lin Ruo's abilities, truly couldn't fall asleep in this small room, because of the paper crane under his pillow, and because of the fact that he might soon see Will Auceptin's Wraith.
Don't ask; the answer is he's really nervous.
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