Chapter 16: Being Known

Chapter 16: Being Known

Almost instantly, Hanged Man Alger realized that Mr. Fool seemed rather different from before.

In the past, Mr. Fool had possessed both loftiness and profundity, making Him impossible to fathom and giving Him the feeling of looking down upon everything from high above. But that was the extent of it. He had never been like this. Now, even without doing anything, He seemed to have merged with the entire space, while clearly occupying the highest position, presenting Himself directly as the master of this place.

With a sweep of his gaze, Alger saw the third Card of Blasphemy, and his conjecture became even firmer:

As expected, Mr. Fool cooperated with the Angel of Imagination, Adam, and plotted the matter of Ince Zangwill. One of Them obtained 0-08 and moved a step closer to godhood, while the other seized many benefits—including a Card of Blasphemy—and recovered most of His strength!

The era has changed because of this! In that moment, Hanged Man Alger gained a far deeper understanding of the sentence Mr. Fool had just spoken.

The other members of the Tarot Club had undoubtedly noticed him turn his head and direct his gaze toward Mr. Fool.

After a brief moment of astonishment, sooner or later, they each gained a certain realization:

The Angel of Imagination, Adam, had plotted against Ince Zangwill, and Mr. Fool had known from the very beginning. He had sent His favored one to cooperate, and may even have directly provided a measure of assistance!

Otherwise, how could an incident involving a King of Angels and a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact allow a newly advanced demigod to participate?

Otherwise, even if The World, Gehrman Sparrow, had been swept into it by all sorts of coincidences, there was no way he could know the matter so clearly!

The acquisition of a Card of Blasphemy, Mr. World’s advancement and Ince Zangwill’s death, the achievement of the Angel of Imagination Adam’s goal—they all happened within the same week… This means the connections between them are inseparable… My intuition before was correct. The harvest of a new Card of Blasphemy and the abnormalities in Mr. World’s mental state were two different results of the same event… Justice Audrey nodded very slightly, confirming her guess.

Star Leonard increasingly felt that the matter of Ince Zangwill was far more complicated than he had imagined. He believed that, in addition to the King of Angels, Adam, there should have been another great figure of the same level present at the time. Otherwise, the brother of Amon and the child of the ancient sun god would not have needed to seek Mr. Fool’s assistance. After all, however powerful and terrifying 0-08 was, it could not compare to the Blasphemer described by Old Man Pallez Zoroast. And Adam and Amon should not differ greatly in level.

“The evil spirit Klein sent into the Underworld seems to be far from simple. It definitely can’t be summed up merely as being from the Hunter pathway… Mm, Klein’s involvement in the Ince Zangwill matter wasn’t solely for revenge. It also involved an order from Mr. Fool…” Leonard sighed inwardly, but this did not give him any bad feelings. Instead, he secretly felt relieved.

In his view, this was perfectly normal. Mr. Fool had agreed to convene such a gathering, establish a corresponding organization, and personally preside over it with the dignity of a god. It could not possibly be because He simply wanted the place to become livelier, nor purely because He was kind. He inevitably had His own aims and needs, and hoped to accomplish them through favored ones like Klein and members like Leonard himself.

Therefore, taking revenge on Ince Zangwill and accepting Mr. Fool’s mission did not conflict. The latter would not diminish the former.

As for why he felt relieved, it was because Leonard believed that Mr. Fool had clearly revealed His purpose. That was better than everything remaining chaotic and unknown, forcing them to guess and wait while filled with fear.

The reason he had initially remained so strongly wary of Pallez Zoroast was precisely that he could not determine the other party’s true purpose.

At this moment, The Fool, Klein, did not speak. He neither confirmed nor denied the guesses and judgments in the members’ hearts. He manipulated The World, Gehrman Sparrow, and had him continue:

“Adam very likely established an extremely secretive organization that secretly guides the development of the era.

“Many great figures you cannot imagine are members of this organization. They have plotted one matter after another.

“Also, after leaving here, do not speak or write Adam’s name, including His title. Try not to think too much about related matters either, because He possesses, in this regard, the trait of ‘whatever is spoken of will be known.’ The more you know about Him, the more likely He is to know of you. This is similar to 0-08.”

After listening to Mr. World’s description, Justice Audrey immediately remembered the mysterious organization she had once learned of from Mr. Fool:

The Twilight Hermit Order!

This swiftly led her to a corresponding guess:

The King of Angels, Adam, was the leader of the Twilight Hermit Order!

The Angel of Imagination belongs to the Spectator pathway, and 0-08 likely does as well. Therefore, “whatever is spoken of will be known” is a high-level Beyonder ability of this pathway. “The more one is known by others, the more likely they are to know the other party” is also one!

How incredible… But wouldn’t that be too noisy… For a time, Audrey felt envy and longing, while also feeling worry and doubt.

“Whatever is spoken of will be known”… So the organization behind the assassination of Duke Negan, the one standing behind Qilangos, was established by the King of Angels, Adam… Hanged Man Alger first felt enlightened, then his expression sank slightly.

He began suspecting that the primitive island he had previously explored was connected to this secret organization, because Qilangos had once gone deep inside and discovered many things. Moreover, the island’s disappearance at the end closely resembled the ability of the Dragon of Imagination described by The Sun.

With both points combined, Alger could not help forming this suspicion. He even further believed that the cooperation between Mr. Fool and the Angel of Imagination, Adam, had begun when he and Gehrman Sparrow entered that primitive island!

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that this was the truth. After all, when the existence inside the island ruins had been “awakened,” it had merely let out a sigh and had not stopped him and Gehrman Sparrow from escaping.

So that’s how it is… The arrangements of great figures are truly hidden. I didn’t notice anything at all back then… The games of gods are really complicated. Perhaps only Sequence 1s, or even Kings of Angels, are qualified to participate… Hanged Man Alger sighed inwardly and inexplicably felt a faint longing.

Magician Fors had already forgotten the mysterious organization Mr. Fool once mentioned. Only when the phrase “whatever is spoken of will be known” entered her ears did she remember that this was related to Duke Negan’s assassination.

However, that was not what she cared about. What mattered to her was something else:

When she had previously told Xio certain things about the Tarot Club and most general knowledge, she had mentioned Adam’s name!

Adam also possesses the trait of “whatever is spoken of will be known”? This… Have Xio and I already been known by Him? Fors felt a wave of terror. Unable to stop herself, she turned her head and looked toward Judgement Xio, who sat one person away.

“I… I mentioned Adam in the real world. I mentioned Adam.” Magician Fors spoke on her own initiative, somewhat stammering. Xio’s spirit tensed as well, as if a venomous snake had crawled into her clothes and was slithering upward along her back.

The Hermit Cattleya gave a soft “mm.”

“There is no need to worry. Although those who know Adam and Amon in the real world are not numerous, there are not very few either. I have mentioned His name on many occasions. As long as the words you spoke before and after did not involve secrets, I believe He would at most glance at you, then move His gaze away.”

When she said this, she sounded relatively certain. In the Moses Ascetic Order, which was pursued by knowledge, Adam’s existence did not count as a secret, and people occasionally mentioned His name.

At this moment, her mind was filled with another matter—the secret, ancient organization Emperor Roselle had joined. Could it be the very organization created by the King of Angels, Adam?

Magician Fors hurriedly recalled the situation and said uneasily,

“The words before and after involved knowledge about the Forsaken Land of the Gods, the Giant King’s Court, Amon, Kings of Angels, and so on. Would that be a problem?”

What she felt most fortunate about now was that she had not mentioned the name Tarot Club at the time, nor had she described the other members. At most, she had said that the gloomiest one was Gehrman Sparrow.

The Hermit Cattleya thought for a moment.

“With your Sequence, discussing knowledge of that level is indeed rather strange. However, as long as Adam investigates more deeply, He will discover that you are connected to the Abraham family. It would be normal for you to possess such knowledge.

“What you need to pay attention to is that, in the future, when major matters involving the Abraham family arise, you must guard against Adam.”

How could I possibly guard against Him… Fors squeezed out a helpless smile. She glanced toward the head of the bronze long table, then looked back at The Hermit.

“Thank you for your analysis.”

Since Mr. Fool had said nothing, she decided to believe Madam Hermit’s words.

At this moment, however, The Fool, Klein, was silently sighing inwardly.

When The Hermit Cattleya had mentioned Adam at the Tarot Gathering before, he still had not known that Adam’s name could not be spoken aloud. Nor had he known that Adam was connected to the Twilight Hermit Order. It was only after entering Groselle’s Travels and learning from the ascetic Snowman that Adam was the Angel of Imagination that he gained a suspicion.

Only after seeing Mr. Door’s warning in Emperor Roselle’s diary did he preliminarily confirm it. But after that, there had never been a chance to remind the members. In addition, the Archbishop of the Church of Steam had casually mentioned Adam’s name, leading him to believe that quite a few people in the real world knew of Adam, and that there was no need to avoid it excessively. Moreover, Adam might not be His full name. Therefore, during the gathering, he had not hurriedly guided the topic in that direction and had simply waited for an opportunity.

“Whatever is spoken of will be known”? The organization founded by Adam is truly powerful… Is this the stage target our Tarot Club is aiming for? Moon Emlyn inwardly sighed while gaining a clearer understanding of the Tarot Club.

He had always been trying to define the Tarot Club’s position, discovering that it resembled neither an orthodox Church nor other secret organizations. Aside from the point of being an alliance of saviors, it had too many special qualities and was difficult to see clearly.

Today, he finally confirmed that the early development of the Tarot Club could be benchmarked against Adam’s organization!

Star Leonard, who already knew 0-08’s characteristics, was not surprised that Adam had similar traits. What he cared more about was the organization with many great figures participating, as well as the Abraham family mentioned by Madam Hermit.

He had once heard Pallez Zoroast say:

In the Fourth Epoch, this family held an extremely high status!