Tende walked into a office building on Canaca Street with the unfamiliar man following closely behind. His office was located on the 5th floor of the building. Why did he choose the 5th floor? Because it was cheaper. The building had 20 floors, and the middle ones were relatively more expensive. After pushing open the door, Tende instinctively covered his mouth and nose. He hadn't been back for a long time, so the air in the office had been stagnant. As soon as the door opened, a smell rushed out. It was the smell of wood that had been stored in a damp cabinet for a long time. It wasn't that Tende was unhygienic, but the environment was just too humid. The interior of this "unique" office was quite simple. There were a few high-end wooden chairs that had been bought for appearances, a few mahogany desks that had seen numerous hands, and a few wilting potted plants placed in the corners. On the desk were ordinary tools, nothing special. The first thing Tende did when he entered was pull back the curtains. With a swoosh, the curtains were drawn, and the noon sun shone into Tende's office. In the light that entered the office, one could vaguely see dust floating up and down. Tende picked up a cloth and diligently wiped the chairs and tables. It had been a while since he last came back, so these pieces of furniture were covered in dust. Well, not really that long, just a few days. The dust in Layton City really accumulated quickly. "Please have a seat." After finishing everything, Tende finally invited the unfamiliar man. "Thank you." The man didn't take off his tricorn hat but still nodded in appreciation. The man looked around and then chose a chair that seemed fine and sat down. "There's nothing fancy to offer here, so is red tea alright?" Tende said without waiting for the man to respond, and he started brewing the tea. He wasn't worried that the man could pick up on this reference, so he remained calm. "Ah... it's fine." The man looked at Tende with a subtle expression and awkwardly replied. After a moment, Tende placed the red tea on the table and sat down, with his back facing the light. "What should I call you?" Tende asked in a nonchalant tone. Tende's demeanor was so calm that it seemed like he didn't care whether the stranger was related to what happened last night. "Sigmund, Sigmund Perkins." The man called Sigmund smiled as he introduced himself. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Sigmund. You can call me Tende." Tende nodded politely. It's so difficult, this guy's name is so long. Although it's much shorter compared to those names with more than ten characters, it's still long. Maybe he should learn from him, he only has a two-character name. "I know your name," Sigmund said. Tende shrugged, showing no surprise. "I figured." The typical riddle person knows everything but refuses to tell others. "The youngest Chief of Police Tende," Sigmund paused, "I guess that's not wrong." "You've got the wrong person," Tende glanced at Sigmund and casually replied. He didn't want to be too rude, but it didn't feel good to have his background exposed like this. And it sounds awkward, like this person is awkwardly boasting about himself. After knocking on the table a few times, Tende locked eyes with Sigmund and said, "I heard from the guy in my dream that all of my questions would be answered." "Is that true?" "Yes, it is," Sigmund nodded. Tende scrutinized Sigmund and said, "Then I'll ask my questions one by one." "Who are you all?" This is a classic question. "The Vigilant." Alright, that sounds quite grand. Unfortunately, he had no idea what that was. Although Tende was curious about what The Vigilant was, it wasn't necessary to ask about it at the moment. "What exactly happened last night?" "A dream." Dream... Tende also knew it was a dream. That was a given."A dream classified as an Image phenomenon."

Tende picked up the pen from the pen holder and began making some notes on the paper.

Not sure what this is all about, but it doesn't hurt to record it for now.

"The Vigilant, to some extent, cooperates with the law enforcement, though not many people are aware of this. By the way, I hope you can burn what you have written afterwards."

Tende instinctively glanced at the paper filled with words.

He took a deep breath and promptly picked up a lighter, setting the paper on fire.

No need to do it later; better to do it on the spot.

But why didn't he know about The Vigilant's cooperation with the law enforcement? Maybe he used to be a fake sheriff.

"Do I have anything special?" Tende threw the ashes of the burned paper into the ashtray.

Although Tende only drank and didn't smoke, the agency still had an ashtray, as clients sometimes needed it.

But the ashtray also came in handy occasionally for disposing of trash.

"Yes, that's also the reason why we, The Vigilant, found you," Sigmund squinted his eyes and said.

"Generally speaking, you shouldn't appear in last night's dream."

"Of course, there could be innocent people who got involved and contaminated by the Image phenomenon."

"But your situation is different."

Tende was in a completely clear state, even able to respond fluently to the tranquility of The Vigilant.

"May I ask if you have strong faith?"

"I'm an atheist," Tende spread his hands, expressionless.

"That's also something we find strange," Sigmund's tone sounded somewhat helpless, but at the same time seemed to contain a hint of anticipation.

"Even if I may be strange, you should observe and monitor me more closely," Tende wanted to know what these people who called themselves The Vigilant wanted from him.

"Why approach me proactively?"

As a private detective, he felt that in this situation, surveillance would be better.

Proactively approaching would only give away his position.

Sigmund made a pyramid gesture and placed his hand in front of him.

"You performed exceptionally well in the battles against those monsters."

Yes, "exceptionally" well.

"We would like to invite you to become one of The Vigilant."

"..." Tende didn't respond to the invitation.

Joining an unknown organization would require careful consideration; it wouldn't be fun if he accidentally joined a pyramid scheme.

There wouldn't be anything funny about it.

"I know, Mr. Tende, that you have concerns, but you don't need to worry."

Sigmund handed a business card to Tende, "When you go to this place, present the card, and we will welcome you."

"At that time, you will have a glimpse of a different world, and I believe our hospitality will be even better than what you have here."

Tende raised an eyebrow and couldn't help but look at his own agency.

Was his agency really that embarrassing? He worked hard to build it up with his savings and was quite proud of it.

"But The Vigilant has a small request for you, Mr. Tende."

"You are someone who does not belong to 'that world,' yet you know so much,"

"So we kindly ask you to keep these things confidential to avoid unnecessary panic and disorder," Sigmund said softly.

"Whether or not you intend to engage with this world, we hope you will do so."

"I don't think anyone would believe me if I told them about these things, so don't worry," Tende took the business card and glanced at it.

Who would believe that he had encountered such bizarre things?

"Well then, looking forward to our next meeting," Sigmund finished, and then left Tende's agency.

He left in a rather simple manner, walking out, as if he would teleport.