Chapter 44: Inner Fear

Chapter 44: Inner Fear

Almost instinctively, Leonard looked around and discovered that none of the other Tarot Club members showed surprise or astonishment. All of them were listening carefully.

They already knew? Right. This is only my second time attending this gathering. There are still many things I haven’t come into contact with… There are truly quite a few secrets involved here… Leonard withdrew his gaze and returned to his earlier posture.

After pausing briefly, Justice Audrey glanced at Judgement Xio two seats away. Then she turned her gaze toward Mr. Hanged Man and continued:

“He attempted to give me a psychological suggestion, making me interact more frequently with different nobles in everyday life, understand their true attitudes toward different matters, and then relay that information to him. Fortunately, Mr. Fool had an angel provide a blessing, so I was not actually affected. Mm, what should I do next?”

An angel can even provide a “blessing”? Leonard once again looked around in astonishment, only to find that the other members of the gathering still showed no especially obvious emotional reaction.

Of course, he was not surprised at all that there were angels beneath Mr. Fool’s divine throne. After all, he had heard the title Death Consul and the corresponding name an unknown number of times.

He was simply astonished that members of the Tarot Club seemed able to frequently request assistance at this level. As a result, he now regarded this secret organization even more highly.

At the same time, Judgement Xio keenly grasped several keywords:

“Nobles… Psychology Alchemists…”

Combining that with the blond hair and emerald-green eyes faintly displayed within Miss Justice’s hazy figure, she seemed able to think of one friend:

Audrey Hall!

However, she could not be certain, because among Loen’s noble class, blond hair, black hair, green eyes, and blue eyes were all relatively common, only arranged in different combinations. Moreover, no one knew how many members the Psychology Alchemists had developed within that circle. Therefore, based only on the traits summarized just now, Xio believed she could not directly point to Miss Audrey.

Just as she was trying to observe further, The Hanged Man, Alger, had already spoken proactively:

“There is no need to care too much about this matter. The various orthodox Churches have corresponding protective measures for their own believers of relatively important status, preventing them from being assassinated or hypnotized. This is experience accumulated over a thousand years of history. It will not be so easily destroyed. From another angle, if the Psychology Alchemists could really control and hypnotize nobles so simply, then those ruling this country would not be the royal family and the three major Churches. Clearly, reality contradicts that.

“Mm, just as you said, Hvin Rambis merely suggested that you observe the true attitudes of different nobles toward different events. This shows that he was extremely restrained and did not dare go too far, so as to avoid leaving unnecessary traces. In addition, your actual status within noble circles should still be at the margins. You cannot directly participate in all kinds of political events. Therefore, comparatively speaking, the protection you receive and the scrutiny of your condition will not be so strict. That is also the reason Hvin Rambis targeted you.”

Mr. Hanged Man’s analysis is so detailed… Although he often used to teach Little Sun and the others like this, back then it always carried a certain request, hoping to obtain useful information from their feedback. This time, however, no similar details are present at all. Mm, the suggestions he gave for the punishment operation earlier were also like this… Thinking carefully, this transformation seems to have been going on for quite some time. It simply wasn’t as obvious before, and I overlooked it… Justice Audrey’s professional instincts activated, and she quickly performed a psychological analysis of The Hanged Man.

She soon formed a certain guess, suspecting that Mr. Hanged Man was transforming his own self-positioning!

Ever since Madam Hermit joined the Tarot Club and displayed channels and resources at sea, Mr. Hanged Man had unconsciously begun seeking change, attempting to differentiate his role from hers… Before the problem with the Craftsman arose, this change was not obvious. Perhaps even Mr. Hanged Man himself had not clearly recognized or realized it. It was only recently that he seemed to have finally thought it through and understood… Indeed, if one wants to maintain one’s position within the Tarot Club, improving one’s strength is one aspect, while determining what kinds of overall assistance one can provide is another… As Justice Audrey’s thoughts flashed, she gathered her attention back to the topic at hand.

She considered briefly, and her tone subconsciously became solemn.

“Does this also indicate that the orthodox Churches perform a certain degree of monitoring, control, and guidance over nobles of important status?”

This was what she had previously thought of in the Loen Charity Bursary Foundation office.

The image she had unconsciously drawn reflected precisely this worry.

In psychology, elements depicted in such a state often do not point toward specific and concrete things. More often, they are abstract expressions. “Cold eyes” frequently embody fear toward being watched, monitored, and controlled by external powers—along with fear that one’s family may also be subject to the same.

Combining her worries about Hvin Rambis’s psychological suggestions, her fear of those suggestions, and her memory of the Archbishop of Backlund presiding whenever her parents attended Mass at the Church of Evernight, Audrey interpreted the matter as follows: she was not only afraid of the Psychology Alchemists’ hypnosis and suggestions, but had, because of that, also begun fearing the orthodox Churches. She could not confirm that they would not directly use Beyonder powers to instill thoughts into important noble believers and guide them into actions that went against their true ideals.

For Audrey, who had received orthodox education since childhood, this was a kind of blasphemy and rebellion. Thus, her spirit had tightened at the time, and she had hurriedly burned the sheet of paper that held the drawing.

After listening to Miss Justice’s question, The Hanged Man, Alger, gave a derisive laugh.

“Is this not a very normal thing? Living in human society means one must accept a certain degree of monitoring, control, and guidance.

“I understand what you are afraid of. But think about it. What essential difference is there between control and guidance achieved through power, status, money, and firearms, and similar conduct achieved through Beyonder powers?

“The difference is that in one case, a person knows they do not want to do something but has no choice but to do it. In the other, they do not even have the thought that they do not want to do it.”

Audrey immediately nodded.

“Yes. This means even the soul and mind lose their freedom. That is what is most terrifying.”

The Hanged Man, Alger, laughed again.

“Where can there be an absolutely free soul or mind? Once one chooses a faith or chooses an ideal, one will naturally be bound by that faith and that ideal. Mm, speaking only of the Loen Kingdom, the three major Churches stand side by side, and the royal family also exists. In practice, they form checks and balances with one another. If the Church of Storms goes too far with an important believer, that believer can completely switch to the Church of Evernight. Therefore, in the vast majority of situations, the orthodox Churches lean more toward using religious status and shared beliefs to guide important believers, rather than Beyonder powers.”

Checks and balances… Justice Audrey savored the phrase and suddenly gained a new understanding of the kingdom’s upper circles and of the entire world. This was a term she had come into contact with before, but had not previously understood deeply.

At that moment, she felt many of her views abruptly mature.

“Thank you for your answer, Mr. Hanged Man.” Audrey sincerely used an honorific form. “Then how should I deal with Hvin Rambis?”

The Hanged Man, Alger, said evenly,

“His problem is not urgent. You are fully capable of maneuvering with him, providing intelligence that is not too important, keeping core secrets, and looking for chances to obtain the potion formula—or even Beyonder materials.

“After some time passes and corresponding changes occur, then consider changing strategy. Of course, you cannot be careless. Duke Negan is an example of what happens when mistakes are made.”

The moment he finished, The World, Gehrman Sparrow, who sat at the very bottom of the mottled long table, looked at Miss Justice and laughed hoarsely.

“When that time comes, even if Hvin Rambis dies, no one will suspect you.”

Even if Hvin Rambis dies… dies… This is a demigod… Mr. World has thoughts of taking action against Hvin Rambis? Mm, it’s possible. He has always been investigating Karon’s suicide case. Even Hvin Rambis’s true identity was something he told me… Justice Audrey’s eyes widened slightly as waves surged through her heart.

Even at the time when she detested and feared Hvin Rambis the most, she had never thought of killing this Psychology Alchemists Review Council member. She had only considered how to avoid his guidance. On one hand, that was because she did not have such a way of thinking at all. On the other hand, it was because he was a demigod and half-human existence.

That was power at the very top level of the kingdom and the Churches!

“I understand what I should do. Thank you all.” Audrey then inhaled lightly and thanked them politely.

…Klein’s tone is rather grand now. Uh, he even wants to clear out Amon’s avatars in Backlund, so one Hvin Rambis really is not much… Star Leonard looked at The World, Gehrman Sparrow, with rather complicated feelings.

The Hermit Cattleya and the others each fell silent.

After the topic involving the Psychology Alchemists ended, Klein manipulated The World, Gehrman Sparrow, and had him proactively look toward the head of the bronze long table.

“Honorable Mr. Fool, I have something I wish to discuss with Mr. Star alone.”

Klein temporarily did not intend for the other Tarot Club members to learn about clearing out Amon’s avatars. That was not conducive to secrecy and might instead cause them to be targeted by Amon.

“Permitted,” The Fool, Klein, naturally would not refuse his own request.

While Star Leonard sighed inwardly that private communication was also an available operation here, he picked out the key points of old Pallez Zoroast’s response and told Klein, including the issue of Beyonder characteristics draining from Worms of Time.

This made Klein suddenly understand how he could use his own Worms of Spirit to create charms or bullets:

First, he could split off several, kill them, and wait for the characteristics contained within them to return to his main body. The remaining material could then be used just like a Worm of Time!

The only problem is that killing Worms of Spirit will harm me to a certain extent. After all, each Worm of Spirit contains a portion of my spirit body. Mm, I’ll have to control the number each time and only carry out the next attempt after fully recovering… Klein thoughtfully had The World, Gehrman Sparrow, respond:

“I will confirm as soon as possible whether Concealment will provide protection and give you an answer.

“If there are no problems, we will each try to gather a demigod-level Sealed Artifact of the Marauder pathway. Of course, I will also find a way to identify the grafting of fate.”

Klein was currently uncertain whether the “gaze” from above the gray fog could see the truth of fate the way it could detect whether a believer had been parasitized. Therefore, he planned to contact the Snake of Mercury, Will Auceptin, through the paper crane after the meeting and hear a professional’s opinion.

“All right.” Leonard nodded slightly while inwardly grumbling that if demigod-level Sealed Artifacts of the Marauder pathway were so easy to obtain, the Old Man would already have recovered another step.