Chapter 41: “Clearance Sale”

Chapter 41: “Clearance Sale”

After the salutation ended and everyone took their seats, Justice Audrey’s gaze swept over the three Cards of Blasphemy placed to Mr. Fool’s right. She suddenly realized that she had forgotten to ask the Psychology Alchemists for Roselle diary pages this week.

I’ve been too troubled over Hvin Rambis’s matter… Audrey, who had already more or less adjusted her state of mind, immediately sank into gloom again.

At that moment, The Hermit Cattleya lowered her head toward the highest seat of the mottled long table and said,

“Honorable Mr. Fool, I still have not received any Roselle diary pages this week.”

The Mystery Queen hasn’t provided the Emperor’s diary for two weeks in a row. Did something happen? The Fool, Klein, who sat leisurely in the high-backed chair, felt a little puzzled and could not help forming a bad guess.

But he quickly denied the possibility, because Madam Hermit did not appear anxious or worried at all.

Given Star Admiral’s fledgling-like attachment displayed in the dream at night among the ruins of the battle of gods, if the Mystery Queen had truly failed to answer for two consecutive weeks, she absolutely would not be this calm. She might already be preparing to pray to The Fool for help… In other words, she has received replies from Bernadette over these two weeks. It is only that they did not contain Roselle diary pages… The Fool, Klein, nodded gently and replied to The Hermit Cattleya in a calm tone:

“There is no need to be anxious.”

After saying this, thoughts flashed rapidly through his mind as he analyzed the Mystery Queen Bernadette’s purpose in doing so.

First, Klein ruled out the possibility that she no longer had Roselle diary pages. Based on how frequently the Emperor had recorded things in the early and later periods, Klein inferred that all the diary pages combined definitely exceeded ten notebooks. Even if Bernadette did not possess one third of them, surely she could still gather one or two notebooks’ worth. The pages she had previously provided could only count as a small portion of that total, though they were a relatively crucial portion.

Second, Klein did not believe that the Mystery Queen had already clarified every truth from the answers he had given.

Third, he was similarly certain that she could not have grasped how to read Simplified Chinese from those limited pieces of feedback, because he had never provided a detailed translation. He had only vaguely given one or two sentences of answer.

Combining those three points, he suspected that the diary pages Bernadette was going to provide next might be even more important, even more crucial—pointing directly at certain secrets, or being extremely special, to the point that one would not know whether to seek an answer. That was why this Mystery Queen was hesitating!

That should be it… I wonder what the Emperor wrote, and from what place or angle Bernadette is judging the value… I need to remember to ask Madam Hermit later to pass on my request for a meeting… While The Fool, Klein, was deep in thought, The Hanged Man, Alger, turned his head toward Star Leonard.

“I’m sorry. I still do not have any news of a mystical item matching your requirements.”

“That is very normal. Mystical items corresponding to, uh, Sequence 6 and Sequence 5 do not circulate often in the first place.” Leonard nodded in understanding.

He had originally sat very upright, but after discovering that Moon, Magician, and the others were not especially restrained, he quietly eased the pressure on his waist and back.

Seeing this, Klein controlled The World, Gehrman Sparrow, and had him speak hoarsely:

“I have a mystical item whose abilities in every aspect match your requirements rather well. It only has many negative effects, and they are difficult to avoid. Would you consider it?”

He was referring to the Sea’s Word cane.

Klein had previously never intended to sell this item—which practically required sealing—to Leonard, because he felt his poet classmate would not be able to endure Sea’s Word’s negative effects. Things like singing loudly without distinguishing friend from foe, the tendency to trip and whip its wielder, and the weakness of easily attracting lightning were not easy to avoid. Only he, who could properly “educate” Sea’s Word above the gray fog and mainly have Winner Enuni use it, could avoid being affected too much—or even turn the disadvantages into help.

However, thinking of how a Sequence 1 angel of the Marauder pathway was parasitizing Leonard, Klein felt the other party might not necessarily be without a method to resolve those problems. Therefore, he ultimately decided to ask.

“Mm. Tell me about it.” Leonard trusted that Klein would not harm him and expressed his willingness to hear the details.

The World, Gehrman Sparrow, glanced at The Hanged Man before slowly saying,

“It can release lightning at the target it is aimed at…”

He roughly described Sea’s Word’s Beyonder abilities and negative effects. Leonard listened with both interest and a furrowed brow.

It can even be used like a wand and carry me through the air… Even if I reach Sequence 5 Spirit Warlock, I would still need to search for a suitable spirit before I could possibly fly… And its offensive power really is not weak. Its traits are not one-dimensional either… It is just that those three negative effects are simply terrifying… I’ll ask the Old Man when I go back and see whether He has any way to reduce the bad effects… Leonard pondered for several seconds before saying,

“I would like to consider it for a while. I’ll give you an answer next week. How does that sound?”

“No problem,” The World, Gehrman Sparrow, replied without surprise.

As for the other members, even if some had been a little interested at first, after hearing Sea’s Word’s negative effects, they all gave up on asking a price.

At this moment, The Fool, Klein’s thoughts shifted in another direction—namely, whether he should take this opportunity to hold a “clearance sale.”

After advancing to Sequence 4 and becoming a demigod and half-human existence, many of his original items and characteristics were no longer useful.

Creeping Hunger has to stay. Even for the sake of Traveling, it has to stay. Besides, it can graze a Sequence 4 Saint, giving it potential for growth, and the combination of its various Beyonder abilities is quite good… Death Knell revolver’s value is no longer especially high, but after activating “Fatal Attack” mode, its strike against a fixed target position is still stronger than an air cannon. At least at Sequence 4, it can still be used for a while. Mm, it also has room to improve… The first two items to surface in Klein’s mind were those he most commonly used.

In his view, as long as he could obtain more powerful bullets, Death Knell could absolutely unleash terrifying effects. The only problem was that such bullets would be equivalent to high-level charms. They were not easy to collect. Even if he searched for materials and made them himself, he would still have to consider whether praying to a high-level existence could succeed, and whether there would be backlash.

In this regard, Klein preliminarily had several plans: pray to the Goddess; ask the Snake of Mercury, Will Auceptin, for help; contact Pallez Zoroast through Leonard; borrow the power of the mysterious space above the gray fog; and have Leonard find a mission to return to Tingen, then steal more power of Eternal Blazing Sun’s divine blood from the Mutated Sun Sacred Emblem—that is, 3-0782.

Solar Flame bullets would absolutely be the nemesis of evil-spirit-type creatures… As for what material could borrow the power of the mysterious space above the gray fog, I also have a preliminary idea. Amon’s Worm of Time can be used to make a Luck Stealer charm, so my Worm of Spirit should also be usable to make extraordinary bullets. But for the specific operation, I still need to ask Pallez Zoroast… Klein’s anticipation for his later conversation with Leonard increased by several points.

“Worm of Spirit” was the name he had given those transparent worms.

Immediately afterward, he considered other items and characteristics.

The Sun Brooch? I’m currently lacking abilities and items in this area… Although I can completely deal with evil spirits by manipulating Spirit Body Threads, I can also keep it and give the Paper Figurine Angel another kind of variation. Besides, sometimes I need to lend it to Danitz.

The Blood Flower ring? This cannot be sold. There are no Aurora Order members at the Tarot Gathering. I might as well continue letting a marionette use it. One more life might mean one more shred of hope.

The Green Essence ring? This can be sold. I can already transfer diseases myself, and Creeping Hunger is also grazing a Doctor.

The Murloc Cufflink? This is not very useful anymore either. For short-term needs, I can transform into a large fish myself. For long-term needs, I can completely go above the gray fog and use the Sea God Scepter to add effects.

The broken finger? I don’t know whether anyone would want it. Also, why that rat demigod was sealed still has not been investigated clearly. This might be useful.

Purifying bullets, demon-hunting bullets, and exorcism bullets—one, six, and two remain respectively. They will disappear after casual use, so there is no need to sell them.

Biotoxin Bottle? Sigh. It still has not been sold.

The Babbler’s aura? This can be used to make charms or bullets, so I will not sell it for now. But the problem is, am I supposed to pray to the Dark Side of the Universe? Better not. I’ll see whether there are substitute plans in the future.

One Interrogator Beyonder characteristic, one Madman Beyonder characteristic, fifteen milliliters of Thousand-faced Hunter blood, forty grams of Spirit World Plunderer dust, the eyeball of a six-winged gargoyle… There is no demand for these at the Tarot Gathering. Perhaps they can be used in the future to reward believers of the Sea God or the resistance army of the Rorsted Archipelago… One thought after another flashed through Klein’s mind, and he quickly made a decision.

As for items at least at demigod level, such as the Sea God Scepter, Groselle’s Travels, and the Giant King’s Court key, he did not consider selling them at all.

Then he had The World, Gehrman Sparrow, say,

“I have two mystical items for sale. Both are of relatively low rank.”

The Hermit Cattleya immediately responded:

“Low rank does not mean useless. Many low-sequence abilities can even turn the tide in a Sequence 5 battle. I am very interested in learning the details of those two mystical items.”

Klein nodded lightly and described the effects and drawbacks of the Murloc Cufflink and the Green Essence ring. Finally, he said,

“The Murloc Cufflink is five hundred pounds. The Green Essence ring is one thousand pounds.”

The moment he finished, Justice Audrey raised her hand slightly.

“I would like to buy the Murloc Cufflink.”

What she truly wanted to say was, “Can I take both?” After all, the negative effects of both mystical items were very minor. But considering that others might also need them, Audrey eventually decided to take only the Murloc Cufflink.

It would provide her with another layer of illusory scales for protection, making her harder to grab. Most importantly, she originally did not know how to swim. This would effectively make up for that weakness. As for growing tired easily in hot and dry conditions, she was not worried. Whether in East Chester County or Backlund, weather rarely exceeded thirty degrees Celsius, and the humidity was also relatively high.

Seeing that Miss Justice had taken an interest in the Murloc Cufflink, the other members rationally gave up. No one raised the price, and the deal was quickly reached.

Immediately afterward, The Hanged Man, Alger, bought the Green Essence ring. To him, although the water domain had certain healing spells, none were as specialized as this item. As a Beyonder who often had to fight in close combat, that was extremely important.

As for attracting mosquitoes and insects, Alger did not care in the slightest, because he had illusory scales beneath his skin and was not afraid of bites.

After the transaction segment ended, Moon Emlyn cleared his throat and spoke first.