After briefly confirming their ideas on the "missing children" and "red moon" cases, the "collectors" adjourned the meeting.
Henry took Eli away to check on a few things, and Middendorffi had nothing to do at the moment, but he wasn't allowed to leave either. The Collector felt it would be dangerous to leave Middendorffi alone since he was probably being targeted by the Red Moon, which was perhaps just an outpost device sent out by some... entity group.
It took a little while for Henry to call Middendorffi into his office.
"Mr Jones says he wants to stay with you temporarily until he can find a suitable place to live. That will protect you for a while as well."
Henry first told Eli what he meant, then began to "reverse the hint", "But Red Moon, at the moment, can't necessarily take anyone indoors right away, can it? And after all, your place is a single person's place if a big man lives there for a long period, not to mention whether it's convenient or not; I'm afraid your landlord won't agree to it either, right?"
This is giving a step. As long as Middendorffi nodded his head and said "yes", Henry could follow his words and help him reject Eli's request. But Middendorffi glanced at Eli and returned, "You can come and stay temporarily, but it'll be a couple of days."
"... Huh?" Henry now will not; he can not figure out whether Middendorffi is happy or not happy, only to follow up, "Why after two days?"
Middendorffi said, "I ... have to pack up and make some room."
Eli said, "I don't have anything that needs to take up space."
"Always some new clothes?" Middendorffi once looked him up and down and commented, "You're easily noticed when you're dressed like that, unlike the others."
"I stay out of the dust easily." Before turning the tables, Eli said, "But you're right, this is a bit of an attention grabber; it's time to change into some of the regular clothes around here. It's just that I'm broke right now. Can you lend me some?"
"It's better if I lend it to you first and return it to me afterwards." Henry rushed to answer. Just kidding, Middendorffi's memory is confused, not straightforward, not even a severe job, only "collectors" from time to time to pay some of the labour. Middendorffi once forgot the bank account and the "collector" before helping retrieve them together; Henry is very clear about Middendorffi's savings status. At this rate, Middendorffi's rent and daily life will be stretched to the limit, but he still wants to live and lend to Eli.
But Henry didn't take on the job to be an ingrate. He added to Eli: "But my condition is also ordinary, too expensive food and clothing can not afford to borrow. If Mr Jones can successfully open an account today, I'll directly deposit two thousand first, and you can pay it back after that when you have income. Does Mr Jones think it's feasible?"
With money involved, Henry didn't want to sound too mercenary, or else it would seem like he was putting Eli down. But Eli didn't seem too concerned and replied, "It's fine."
Henry secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He initially thought these legendary "worldly experts" would be demanding to deal with, but he didn't expect that from yesterday's conversation; Eli responded quickly, and the proposed conditions were reasonable and not too challenging. This is not the same as his face looks cold. Henry then, in his heart, Eli is a few points higher.
"Tell you what then, anyway, we're going to go to Commercial Street this afternoon to walk the route Bear took last night, so why don't we just buy Mr Jones's clothes on the way." Henry suggested decisively, "As for Mr Jones' accommodation, we have male colleagues who live alone and have empty bedrooms in their homes. If Mr Jones doesn't mind, he can live there temporarily for a few days, and it's much more spacious than Bear's home, too. As for Bear, why don't you come and sleep at my place for a few days for your safety? My house is a bit of a mess, but at least it's bigger than yours, and the sofa can be pulled right into a bed for you."
Middendorffi said, "... But I don't really like living in other people's homes."
Eli was even more direct: "You don't seem too happy about me staying at Bear's house; you're questioning my heart."
"... "Henry was speechless; he was making steps at both ends, but it turned out that neither end appreciated it. He had no choice but to say, "Alright, alright, then, let's do what you guys say; it's an adult decision anyway. However, Bear said to pack up first ..."
"I won't get in your way." Eli addressed Middendorffi with these words, adding, "I can help you if needed; I'm okay with strength."
Henry thought Eli was being polite; his ability to break the red moon with a single sword was definitely a force to be reckoned with. But then again, Eli was really dedicated to Middendorffi. When Henry and Eli were talking about "eliminating demons", Eli hadn't shown so much willingness to help, was it because the two of them hit it off?
What's even stranger is that Henry had no comment this time, but Middendorffi said: "You want to watch me clean up?"
Eli didn't answer directly but said, "You can't be alone these days."
Middendorffi gave a rare frown, "... I don't want to be seen in that process; it'll... look like I'm a mess."
Eli said, "I can close my eyes and not look."
"... You two take your time discussing this matter alone." Henry thought it was a small thing, and it was funny for the two to argue. But they were never going to roll their eyes over it, so Henry stood up reassuringly and said, "I'll go and enter Mr Jones's details for the ID application. We'll have lunch together at noon, and after a break, we'll go straight to work and clothes shopping."
After saying that, he left the conference room, leaving the two unusual "contract labourers" to look at each other.
Middendorffi tried to think of something to say, but before he could, Eli said, "Henry says you're just an 'observer', not much of an attacker, right?"
Middendorffi: "... Right."
Eli added, "So what you're supposed to do when you're confronted with a vision is to avoid danger, protect yourself, and then seek help from others, right?"
These were the original words that Henry had spoken, and Middendorffi had only to admit again, "Right."
Eli rejoined, "What's obvious is that I have the power to attack, and I am capable of caring for Redmoon."
Middendorffi: "Right."
Eli: "You can't afford to be alone these days, so instead of having someone who hasn't seen Redmoon protect you, I'm going to keep an eye on you, right?"
Middendorffi was utterly unable to find a retort at this point.
"... You're right."
***
In the afternoon, Henry, Middendorffi and Eli went to Commercial Street.
The nearby surveillance had already been transferred away by other colleagues who had come early this morning, and the trio had mainly come to confirm some details on the ground. Once on the street, Eli's appearance, which was not that of a modern ordinary person, more or less caused some people to look sideways. However, this pedestrian street is often frequented by some people wearing hanbok, lolita, cosplay or even all sorts of strange costumes, so Eli's appearance is not too peculiar.
Henry reminded him that someone was not far away to film Eli secretly and asked him whether he wanted to care. Eli is indifferent, saying, "I am not a virtual shadow; I can leave an image."
"Not doubt you this ..." Henry said helplessly, "OK, then you do not care on the line, save one to remind not to let filming."
Saying this, the three had reached the neighbourhood of the events of last night. Middendorffi pointed out, one by one, the places he had stopped at and passed through along the actual track of last night's action. One of them, the bench where he had been sitting for hours, was at an intersection of pedestrian streets. There were many pedestrians here, even in the daytime on a weekday, and the number of advertising screens of all sizes almost spelt out a ring, giving the sensation of a bustling place.
"Is this where you sat for a long time last night?" Henry asked, "So many screens that nothing about the Red Moon was lit up all night?"
"Nope." Middendorffi paused and added, "I could sense something different when the video appeared, so even if I didn't see it at first, I looked over because of my senses. And it was only after I saw the video that I sensed something had appeared in the sky. If I hadn't been looking at the sky, it wouldn't have moved; if I did look up to see it, it would have slowly approached me."
"Why are you talking about this now?!" Henry was startled, "There is a sequence and cause and effect to their appearance?"
"I didn't remember to say it until you guys asked in such detail." Middendorffi said, "I'm not sure if it's cause and effect; I can only speak of my experience."
"Blame me. It didn't occur to me that your 'sensory abilities' are above ours, sensing subtleties that none of us can detect." Henry tapped his head, "So you're saying that even if the video came up, if you don't look at the video or the red moon in the sky, the red moon won't attack you?"
"I can't be sure." Middendorffi said, "I saw the video, and every time it changed from text to the red moon image, the red moon got closer. And when I twisted my head to look at the red moon, that distance was about the same as the video gave me the perception."
"Which means that even if you've been holding back, it's possible that when you finally can't help but look at it, the red moon will already be in front of you?" Henry pondered, "Then this method won't work; one can't help but look at something nearby. Even an ordinary person would sense what is constantly approaching, and a sense of crisis would cause one to look around involuntarily."
He asked again, "Then you said the last time you saw the red moon at the bus stop, it disappeared when the bus came. Did it disappear in your vision or perception?"
"At the same time." Middendorffi thought about the details for a moment, "I turned my head when the bus came, and that's when the red moon disappeared from my perception. The red moon was gone when I looked in the sky again."
Henry thought of a point and twisted his head to ask Eli, "Since Red Moon picks Bear to attack him every time he's alone and disappears immediately when someone else shows up, how did you catch it?"
Eli's answer to Henry was always concise, "Sensed it and caught up."
Henry also thought momentarily before reacting to that statement, "How far away were you? How fast did you get there?"
Eli pointed to a tall building in the distance, "About the same distance as that building to here, a breath away."
"That far?!" Henry even opened his mobile phone to look at the position. "That's almost a kilometre; you can get there in a breath ... that's not seconds?"
This sounds a bit questioning Eli's ability, but Eli didn't reply; Middendorffi did reply, "Red Moon escapes very fast."
The implication was that if Eli wasn't fast, Red Moon would have run away long ago, so how could he have waited for him to slash him raw?
"Well, you're all masters; it's me who's poorly informed ..." Henry sighed, pulling out his mobile phone and looking at it, "Erm, I suddenly have an online meeting, so I guess I'll have to go to the car and connect for a bit. You guys ... shopping for clothes first? I'll transfer some money to Bear first."
With no comment from the two, Henry hurried off, and Middendorffi quickly received the two grand he'd called for.
Middendorffi turned to Eli, "So, go buy you some clothes?"
"I don't quite understand the clothes matching and aesthetics of this world ..." Eli also looked at him, obviously with little expression, but Middendorffi always felt that he could see a hint of a smile in the bottom of his eyes.
"Then I'll trouble you to help me choose."