Middendorffi's statement to Eli was that he was "All Poisons null".
To be precise, he was utterly immune to "spiritual intrusions". There were no details of why or how he resisted, but it was summed up in a single sentence - since he discovered that he could feel visions, he had also gradually found that he could not be affected mentally.
With such a generalised explanation, Eli only nodded once after hearing it and didn't ask questions.
Instead, Middendorffi asked, "There's nothing wrong with you?"
"Not really." Eli returned, "But if I have to ask, there is one."
"What?"
"What are you going to tell the 'Collector' people?" Eli said, "Confess you All Poisons null, or continue to hide it?"
Middendorffi said, "... Keep it under wraps."
Eli said, " Want to tell me why?"
Middendorffi thought momentarily, "I still want ... to be someone less special."
With that, he staggered away and turned to crouch down to continue packing up his bags, saying as he did so, "Originally, I didn't want to reveal that I could sense those things. Henry happened to find out and kept urging me to help out at the 'Collector' and not to waste it. I was thinking that I couldn't work with my memory loss, so I came. But I just wanted to live like a normal human."
"The way you are now, that's a normal human life." Eli looked at him and returned, "Could it be that those people from 'The Collector' who can deal with demons and monsters aren't considered normal humans in your eyes?"
"... I don't know."
"Then do I count?"
At that question, Middendorffi finally looked up at him again, "You count as pretty awesome."
"'Awesome people' ..." Eli laughed silently, "You don't want to be awesome?"
Middendorffi sniffed, confused, "I'm supposed to be awesome? Isn't it better to be a normal person and live a normal, small life?"
"Awesome person or not." Eli also squatted down again, looking at him, "You can be whatever you want to be; no rule says how humans have to live. Look at Creato; he's crazy as hell. Isn't he still a human? According to human regulations, even if there's a second personality and something strange is taking over his body, isn't Creato still Creato?"
Middendorffi listened to him carefully and murmured, "I thought ..."
"There is no need to think or consider what others see and say." Eli said, "Regardless of how you used to be, just think of it as a new life you've been given after a serious injury and memory loss. Be whatever you want to be - how about that?"
Middendorffi is silent for several seconds.
"I'm still not quite sure." He looked at Eli and returned, "But I'll try to figure it out."
"Well, good." Eli said, "But I'll say 'but' too. I'm not forcing you to shift, though. If you don't want the others to know yet, I'll keep your secret; if you want to be 'the eyes', I'll always protect you. You can choose either, understand?"
Middendorffi looks at him and nods, "... Understood."
***
Middendorffi and Eli moved soon after.
They picked a weekend to move, and their co-workers said they were there to help and also to celebrate their joining the "Collector" family and the housewarming and had a party. We ended up sitting down to dinner in the living room with ten people, which visually seemed to fill up the tiny home and was lively.
Most of the dishes were bought finished and semi-finished products, which were easy to process. The crockery and tablecloths were disposable for the simplicity of tidying up afterwards. Henry also carried a bottle of champagne, a bottle of red wine, plus a case of beer. He initially said he would carry away if he could not finish it, but the result was incredibly unexpected.
The one who can drink the most is Middendorffi!
Naturally, people didn't know about it at first. Two people clinked glasses with him and said, "I'm dry, you feel free", and then finished the whole drink, and Middendorffi saw that and finished the glass silently. Although the disposable cups are not too big, Middendorffi's two consecutive times of drying the whole cup without changing her face still shocked colleagues.
As for Eli, each time, it amounted to about a sip. But he had always shown a lack of interest in food and drink, and the Collector, thinking he was not an ordinary man, did not care.
"Bear, don't push it!" Laura warned, "Don't drink too fast now; you'll get strong later and just pass out."
"It's only two drinks, so it's okay." Wong was about to congratulate Middendorffi when he sniffed, "But yeah, Bear, take it easy, or Eli will have to suffer taking care of you when we leave."
With that, he clinked glasses with Middendorffi and Eli and drained one.
Eli gave the usual "fake" shake, then said, "I don't care."
Wong was stunned for a few seconds before realising that he meant that he didn't care that he might have to take care of a drunken Middendorffi afterwards, and Wong was about to joke about it when Middendorffi finished his third glass and followed up with, "I'm not going to get drunk."
"Drink up, and you've got a big mouth." Now the whole table's attention, not to mention Wong's, went to Middendorffi, "Really not showing off, Bear?"
Middendorffi picks up the beer can and looks at it, commenting sharply, "Just a bit of flavoured water."
He looked calm, with three drinks down and no red on his face. Anyone who saw this scene would subconsciously assume he was telling the truth. Besides, Middendorffi's image was honest and well-behaved, so the "Collector's" colleagues eliminated their doubts and sighed.
"I didn't think, I didn't think, Bear, it's not hidden here!" Henry exclaimed, then raised his glass and said, "Well, I don't need to carry this case away tonight, so let's drink openly. Let's celebrate your complete recovery and wish you all the best of luck, peace, and happiness in the future!"
Middendorffi drank with him again, no less.
As it turned out, one case of beer wasn't enough for the evening, and then a takeaway case was ordered. Plus, champagne and red wine all went down the drain. Middendorffi can't be said to have drunk the most, but he is in the top three. And he was true to his words, "Just a bit of flavoured water." out of a group of people who couldn't stop drinking, Middendorffi didn't seem to have a head reaction at all.
As for Eli, he hadn't had much to drink all night, so that didn't count.
Once the group had roughly collected their things and retreated with each other in tow, the new home finally quieted again.
Middendorffi didn't know what to do with himself when the bustle died. He stood there staring at Eli, who looked at him blankly for a moment, then lowered his eyes and laughed: "What, are you drunk?"
"No."
"They say that anyone who says they're not drunk is a drunk."
"You know I'm not drunk."
Eli smiled a little more, obviously now.
"Yes, I know you're not drunk." He stepped closer to Middendorffi. It was strange to say that a drinker would have a not-so-good smell of alcohol coming off of him, but it just wasn't there with Middendorffi. Maybe there was some smell of food, but that was also wrapped around the clothing.
Eli stood before Middendorffi and observed his face, "So you want to try getting drunk?"
Middendorffi asked, "Why would you want to try?"
"Because it's ... a physical experience for humans?" Eli said, "But not everyone has it; it's up to you."
Middendorffi asked again, "Have you ever been drunk too?"
Eli looked slightly wistfully at his rhetorical question, "Drunk ... a long, long time ago."
Middendorffi doesn't answer and looks at him quietly.
Eli asked, " You want to know?"
Middendorffi picked up on something Eli had said, "I'm not going to press the issue; you can tell me if you want to."
"Then later, at a more appropriate time." Eli said, "So you still want to try?"
Middendorffi was noncommittal, saying, "It might not be so easy to get me drunk ..."
"I can think of something." Eli returned, "It wouldn't necessarily get you drunk, but it might be nice if you could experience that floating, exhilarating feeling a little."
Middendorffi wasn't sure why he was being so positive on the matter, but instead of rejecting it immediately, he asked, "Right now?"
"Certainly not now." Eli slightly chuckled, "It's so late, don't you, as with a human, go to bed?"
"... going to." Middendorffi seemed to remember that it was time for her to wash up and rest, "Good night, then."
"Good night."
***
After a regular weekend off, it was only a short time after The Collector got to work on Monday that he received a message from the police.
"Huh? Creato confessed?!"
Henry was shocked, "Does he have any idea what will happen to those eleven lives once he confesses?"
"That's why I told Bear and Eli to hurry up and join us in the online conference room to hear it; the time they went to see Creato the other day was crucial." Lupin said, "The police said that after Bear and the others left, Creato's owner, Ger when he reappeared, began a gradual process of confessing to the drugging and setting off the fire at the villa."
Henry asks: "And it's true that he drugged and then set the fire?"
"The details weren't shared with me, but it did say that the fire was set after the sleeping pills drugged everyone else." Lupin said, "But the police said that he can't get away with it even if he doesn't admit it. The police have already checked the records of the drug purchases and the source of the petrol, and they've lined it up as well."
"To be honest, I'm thoroughly convinced he's crazy." Henry tsked and sighed, "Eleven people, hey! And all the other members said before that these people were on good terms; what on earth is the reason for killing them?"
"The police were rather vague on that point, only saying that according to Creato's statement now, it indicated that he resented the fact that these people from the Underworld Society only wanted to talk to the Second Personality and not to interact with him." Lupin said, "But they vaguely reminded me of what Bear said on the recording."
Henry said, "I was busy over the weekend and didn't get a chance to listen to that recording. What was Bear talking about?"
"It's that the Creator didn't want the second personality to come out and wanted to erase her existence, so she killed the people who remembered her best." Lupin said, "Bear even urged him to turn himself in at the time, saying that if he went to prison, no one would listen to the second personality pussyfooting around; they'd just think he was crazy. Turns out, you see, after saying that Creato turned himself in, and how well that worked."
Henry followed, exclaiming, "That works!"
The two of them looked at Middendorffi as they talked, and Middendorffi didn't know how to answer for a while.
After a while, he slowly threw out two words, "... guessed."