Chapter 22: “Composure”

Chapter 22: “Composure”

Klein stared at the parchment before him for a very long time without moving.

After quite a while, he lightly tapped the edge of the mottled long table with his palm, making all manifested items vanish.

He summoned the gold-cased pocket watch, clicked it open, and glanced at it. Then he “pinched” a piece of information to Little Sun, telling him to prepare to attend the Tarot Gathering.

Roughly one thousand heartbeats later, rays of deep crimson light rose on both sides of the bronze long table and condensed into different figures on different high-backed chairs.

Without the slightest pause, every member of the Tarot Club turned their gazes at once toward the figure seated at the very top, shrouded by grayish-white fog.

Seeing that Mr. Fool was not wearing a monocle, The Star Leonard gave a long sigh of relief in his heart. He then turned his body and looked toward the very bottom of the mottled long table, confirming the condition of The World Klein Moretti.

Similar to him, after seeing Mr. Fool, The Hermit Cattleya, Justice Audrey, and Magician Forsi all instinctively shifted their attention to The World Gehrman Sparrow.

One knew that The World had fallen into a dangerous situation and could only seek Mr. Fool’s protection; one had received no feedback for two days and suspected that Gehrman Sparrow had truly been drawn into George III’s matter and encountered some problem; one understood that George III’s matter contained great risks and was somewhat worried that Mr. World had suffered serious injuries.

Seeing that The World Gehrman Sparrow was intact and showed no abnormalities, Justice Audrey withdrew her gaze, lightly lifted the hem of her dress, and curtsied toward the head of the bronze long table.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Fool~”

After the world’s situation had become even more chaotic, the Tarot Club still maintaining its original form gave her some comfort. Even her mood improved quite a bit.

After the members of the Tarot Club followed Miss Justice in greeting, The Fool Klein gave a slight nod, signaling everyone to sit.

Then he slowly looked around and said with a faint laugh, “All of you seem quite concerned about whether this Tarot Gathering would be held as usual.”

Hearing this sentence, The Hanged Man Alger’s heartbeat abruptly quickened. Beside his ears, he seemed to directly hear thump after thump.

He believed without doubt that Mr. Fool was hinting at him, giving him a relatively gentle warning.

In other words, he had been given a chance to repent.

Alger lowered his head and made his voice tremble slightly as he spoke:

“We were not devout enough and thought too much.”

Uh… Why is Mr. Hanged Man apologizing on my behalf… Magician Forsi, who had urged Judgment Xio to ask Mr. Fool whether the Tarot Gathering would be convened as scheduled, froze for a moment. Then she gave up thinking, turned toward the head of the bronze long table, lowered her head, and repeated:

“We were not devout enough and thought too much.”

So I wasn’t the only one who prayed to Mr. Fool these past few days… Mr. Hanged Man said he thought too much because the Tarot Gathering might have been canceled, leading him to make some unnecessary guesses? But Forsi shouldn’t have thought of that… Justice Audrey looked across the table, then at those beside her, gaining some understanding in her heart.

The Fool Klein nodded. Once again, he looked around and said, “Such concern is still normal.”

Then he gave a smiling sigh.

“During this period, I used The World’s body to play a game with Amon in the Forsaken Land of the Gods. Fortunately, I did not miss this Tarot Gathering.”

Every sentence he said was true, but the information others interpreted from it would certainly be very, very far from the actual situation.

In this way, even if Amon spread the information that The World Gehrman Sparrow equaled The Fool, the members of the Tarot Club would only laugh inwardly at Amon trying to deceive them again. During that period, The World equaled The Fool did not mean The World had always equaled The Fool. A partial truth was, in fact, equivalent to a lie.

Played a game with Amon… The old man guessed exactly right. Mr. Fool deliberately used Klein as bait to lure the Blasphemer Amon… Judging from the current situation, He obtained a rather satisfactory result and made Amon suffer a great loss… The Star Leonard, who had already had such a guess, felt this completely matched his expectations. He had not the slightest doubt about Mr. Fool’s words.

Mr. Fool took fifteen minutes to respond because He happened to be at the critical point of His struggle against Amon? Has He recovered to such an extent? Justice Audrey was both shocked and delighted. For some reason, a strong sense of honor arose within her.

The Hanged Man Alger similarly tasted from Mr. Fool’s words the hidden meaning that this great existence had recovered further and could actually hold the advantage in direct confrontation with a King of Angels.

This made him regret even more deeply why he had let doubt arise and had made a test.

Mr. Fool hinted in advance that the Tarot Gathering might be canceled because He had long foreseen the coming conflict with Amon? Perhaps, perhaps He was the one who actively provoked it, digging a trap for Amon? Alger instantly associated many things and felt that his little thoughts could not be hidden at all before such a high-level existence.

Once again, he warned himself: he must never do such a thing again!

So Mr. World gave no feedback because Mr. Fool was using his body to oppose Amon… That King of Angels Amon really is powerful, actually requiring Mr. Fool to personally act… Magician Forsi and Judgment Xio exchanged a glance, no longer having the slightest doubt about the previous issue.

The Hermit Cattleya roughly understood why The World Gehrman Sparrow had disappeared and guessed that even a messenger with a contractual link probably could not enter the Forsaken Land of the Gods.

At the same time, she was secretly shocked that a King of Angels had taken the stage in the current era, feeling that this was one of the signs of the apocalypse in prophecy.

The Moon Emlyn did not know what exactly had happened during this period. He looked at everyone in a somewhat dazed way, inexplicably feeling as though he might not have been imprisoned behind Chanis Gate for merely a week or two, but perhaps one or two months, to the point that he had become disconnected from the current situation.

Mr. World came to the Forsaken Land of the Gods… Mr. Fool used his body to fight that terrifying Amon? The Sun Derrick was first startled, then felt intense joy.

This meant that the City of Silver’s next exploration operation would receive powerful assistance!

He immediately looked toward the head of the bronze long table and blurted out, “Honorable Mr. Fool, the Chief wishes to receive Your blessing in the ritual. Do You agree?”

Klein had already learned about this matter from the prayers. He nodded slightly.

“Yes.”

Receiving the promise, The Sun Derrick could not suppress the smile that appeared on his face. For a moment, he did not know how to express his gratitude.

After two seconds, he lowered his head and said very loudly, “Faith belongs only to Mr. Fool!”

The Fool Klein nodded. He then looked toward Madam Hermit and spoke warmly.

“What question do you have this time?”

Uh, the Queen’s letter didn’t mention one… The Hermit Cattleya froze for a moment and decided to first ask something she herself wanted to know. There were still quite a few remaining questions anyway.

After considering for two seconds, she asked, “Great Mr. Fool, what truth is hidden behind George III’s death?”

No sooner had The Hermit finished than Justice Audrey and the others were immediately energized. They focused their attention.

This was precisely what they wished to understand.

Among them, The Star Leonard already knew a certain amount and cared more about the deeper reason this event had happened.

Among the seated Tarot Club members, the only comparatively dazed one was The Moon Emlyn. His mind was full of thoughts like “What?” and “What happened?”

He had not even had newspapers to read recently, and still did not know that King George III had already been “assassinated” and killed.

As for The Sun Derrick, although he likewise did not know how George III had suddenly died, he did not care at all.

The Fool Klein smiled and said in a calm tone, “George III wished to become the Black Emperor. To that end, He excavated Tudor ruins, trafficked people, created Backlund’s Great Smog, and actively started the war so that Feysac airships could bomb Backlund. Unfortunately, He failed during the final ritual. The secret mausoleums He required were destroyed.”

In the plainest tone, he briefly described the causes and consequences of the matter, not mentioning even a little of what he himself had done.

It would have been too degrading for Mr. Fool to take the initiative to describe his own deeds.

Backlund’s Great Smog… The airship attack… These were all done by George III to become a god? Justice Audrey’s eyes widened slightly. In an instant, she recalled the two events she had personally experienced.

Suddenly, she somewhat understood why The World Gehrman Sparrow had wanted to stop George III from becoming a god.

She knew that he was a gentleman who was gentle and full of love deep inside. He would certainly not let the mastermind behind those two massacres go.

If it were me, I would also want to do that. But I would hesitate. I would be stopped by the possibility of unfavorable developments… Mr. World, on the other hand, was firm and decisive… This involved the level of gods. Mm, Mr. Fool’s will should also be included here… Audrey glanced at The World Gehrman Sparrow, seated silently at the very bottom of the mottled long table, and nodded faintly, expressing her approval.

Black Emperor… George III wanted to become a god? This… Mm, Mr. Fool has a Blasphemy Card that is the Black Emperor. Gehrman Sparrow was also previously investigating the Great Smog and human trafficking… As expected, all these clues connect. There was actually such a secret hidden behind everything… From the looks of it, Mr. Fool achieved His objective. His plan succeeded… Therefore, He has further revived and can directly confront a King of Angels… The Hanged Man Alger grew more fearful the more he thought about it, yet also more energized. Even though he had known some clues in advance, he still felt that he could not see through Mr. Fool’s arrangements at all.

The Star Leonard, Magician Forsi, and the other members of the Tarot Club were shocked. As for The Hermit Cattleya, who had already had a certain premonition about this matter, she restrained the waves in her heart and decided to use another question.

“Honorable Mr. Fool, what attitude did the seven gods have toward this?”