Chapter 64: Consultation Fee

Chapter 64: Consultation Fee

Rubbing his forehead, Klein was just about to try splitting off another Worm of Spirit when he suddenly saw Reinette Tinekerr, dressed in a gloomy, complicated long dress, walk out of the void and stand beside the desk.

In the mouth of one of this Miss Messenger’s heads was a neatly folded letter.

“Whose is it?” Klein asked casually.

Reinette Tinekerr’s other three heads answered in succession:

“Mushroom…” “King’s…” “Superior…”

Mushroom King? Klein froze for a full two seconds before realizing that this probably referred to Frank Lee.

And Frank Lee’s superior was Star Admiral Cattleya.

“By Mushroom King, do you mean Frank Lee?” Klein asked for confirmation as he reached out and accepted the letter.

The four bright, beautiful blond-haired, red-eyed heads moved up and down by their held hair, as if nodding.

Miss Messenger even gives people nicknames… Wait. Frank is not only good at mushrooms. His “domain” includes cattle, wheat, fish, and Rose Bishops… Has there been a breakthrough in Frank’s mushroom experiment, and Miss Messenger saw mushrooms all over the ship when she went there? Klein could not help inhaling. He quickly unfolded the letter.

He was worried this might be a distress letter from Madam Hermit.

Of course, he was not that anxious, because if things truly reached the final moment, Star Admiral, as an experienced pirate, would definitely choose to pray to Mr. Fool.

This letter was indeed from the captain of the Future, Cattleya. It said concisely:

“…The Queen has determined the time and place. Wednesday at eleven at night, the old place.

“…I do not know exactly what you said to Frank Lee, but it is clear that he has been very excited recently. He has been dragging that Craftsman through many experiments, saying that in another three to six months, there will be staged results. He also expressed that if he could obtain the Druid potion formula, perhaps he could omit all intermediate products and directly produce the final result. All I can say is: good luck.

“…May everything end before the Craftsman completely collapses. He has already begun repenting his faith in the Primordial Moon…”

Should I be happy that the City of Silver’s food security problem may make progress, or should I worry that some kind of accident might happen? Klein rubbed the corner of his forehead again and decided not to think about this matter for now. In any case, Madam Hermit, who was about to become a demigod, was still watching over things. If any unimaginable change truly occurred, she would definitely ask for help.

Whew… He finally breathed a sigh of relief now that the meeting with the Mystery Queen had been arranged. With a snap of his wrist, scarlet flames rose from the letter paper.

After watching Miss Messenger leave, he was just about to continue splitting Worms of Spirit when his brows suddenly furrowed. He felt that the ashes of letter paper on the desk and inside the trash can were unusually glaring.

Almost subconsciously, Klein drew out a tissue and wiped the surface of the desk, then covered the trash can with its lid.

After finishing this, he looked at his slightly dirtied hands, stood, entered the bathroom, and turned on the faucet.

As the water splashed and washed, the corner of his eye caught sight of the nearby toilet, and his brows gradually furrowed again.

“Today’s cleaning wasn’t thorough enough…” Klein murmured softly before abruptly sensing something wrong with himself.

As thoughts flashed, his powerful spiritual intuition quickly clarified the reason:

This was the aftereffect brought by using the Death Knell revolver!

Because he had already become a demigod, and his spirit body had undergone a qualitative transformation and possessed divinity, the corresponding negative effect had weakened by more than ninety percent. This time, it should originally have produced the terrifying weakness of “fear of dirt,” but instead it had become the “attribute” of mysophobia.

Similarly, the duration of the “weakness” had dropped from six hours to within one hour. And Death Knell’s usual problem of making people thirsty was no longer that obvious either.

“Thankfully…” Klein breathed out, skillfully taking out the toilet brush nearby.

…

At eleven that night, above the gray fog, because of Emlyn White’s request, Justice, Star, Judgement, Magician, and The Hanged Man—who had participated in the punishment operation—appeared inside the ancient and majestic palace.

“These are all the spoils.” The Moon, Emlyn, threw the three thousand pounds in cash that he had just sacrificed onto the center of the table and explained, “One mystical item was called Oath of the Rose. It is a pair of rings. It allows the wearers to share senses and transmit thoughts within the range of an ordinary city, regardless of the distance between them. It is very valuable, but this time, we only obtained one of the rings. No matter who receives it, it would be very dangerous. Therefore, I handed it to the Sanguine higher-ups and received a reward of three thousand pounds in cash.”

He had originally wanted to take the three thousand pounds directly as his own spoil, but after thinking for a while, he had still sacrificed it above the gray fog as one of the choices.

After a pause, Emlyn introduced the other items, explaining their positive effects and negative influences one by one, while also expounding on their origins and extensions. This knowledge partly originated from his interest in Sanguine history and partly came from Ernest Boyar’s account under Father Utravsky’s gaze.

There is a bit of showing off in this… Otherwise, with Mr. Moon’s personality, he would not say so much in one breath… Mm, there is also the fact that Mr. Fool is not present, so he is comparatively relaxed… Justice Audrey was like an observer, not proactively opening her mouth to choose any spoils.

The Hanged Man, Alger, glanced at the spoils, then turned to The Moon, Emlyn.

“You met the Sanguine higher-ups? Has the matter of hunting an important member of the Rose School of Thought been confirmed?”

“It has been preliminarily settled. I have also made contact with that member of the Temperance faction. However, he hopes this operation can be pushed back until after September.” The Moon, Emlyn, did not conceal anything, fully trusting that Mr. Hanged Man would provide useful views.

As expected, The Hanged Man, Alger, nodded.

“It must be after September?

“That means they are waiting for something that will have an extremely significant effect on them…”

Klein, who was waiting for the small gathering to end on the other side of the ancient palace, felt his heart stir when he heard this. He suspected this was related to Miss Sharron’s advancement.

According to what Miss Sharron said, she should be able to attempt the demigod ritual in July… Could it be that this ritual lasts at least one month before it can be considered complete? If that is true, it is quite different from other pathways… Klein formed a guess, but did not dare confirm it.

“That is possible.” The Moon, Emlyn, thought for a moment and agreed with Mr. Hanged Man’s words.

Then he looked around and said with a smile,

“You may begin choosing.”

Justice Audrey had Mr. World’s promised Luck Stealer charm, while Star Leonard had already received a corresponding reward from the Old Man Pallez. Toward the spoils “given” by the Sanguine viscount, both of them appeared very calm and clear-headed. No one spoke first, politely waiting for the others to choose.

In addition, one of them had personally experienced a battle at the angelic level, while the other had witnessed the terror of Amon’s avatars. Both had confirmed that the Tarot Club concealed powerful forces. At this moment, they were inevitably somewhat spiritually exhausted.

Judgement Xio looked to her right, then across the table. Seeing that everyone was modest, she took the initiative to break the silence.

“My part was very simple. I did not need to take too much risk. Also, Mr. Moon already paid me sixty pounds in advance. I will take the cash inside this wallet.”

As she spoke, she picked up the handmade wallet, drew out the banknotes inside, quickly counted them, and said,

“Three hundred and thirty-five pounds.”

The Moon, Emlyn, looked around. Seeing that no one objected, he nodded.

“All right.”

As for the handmade wallet, Judgement Xio tossed it back to the center of the table, returning it to Mr. Moon to deal with himself.

With Xio taking the lead, Magician Fors said,

“I only lent out Leymano’s Travels and did not take on any risk. I’ll take that Moon Paper Figurine…”

Compared to mystical items, one-time extraordinary objects like this were relatively less valuable.

However, for Magician herself, even if she had the qualifications to choose a mystical item, she would not do so. After all, if she truly needed some ability from those mystical items, she could spend money to ask the corresponding member to help “record” it. But a one-time item like the Moon Paper Figurine, capable of taking a fatal injury or spirit-piercing strike in her place, could not be “recorded.” For someone timid and afraid of death, this was absolutely the first choice.

After speaking, she waited for a while. Only when no one objected did she take the Moon Paper Figurine before her.

Emlyn then cast his gaze toward Miss Justice. Star Leonard also stretched out a hand slightly and said with a smile,

“Ladies first.”

Justice Audrey did not decline. She swept her gaze over the items on the table and pointed at the diamond tie pin, smiling faintly.

“I choose this.”

She had heard Mr. Moon mention earlier that it was called Alcohol’s Nemesis. It allowed the wearer to maintain abundant energy and clear thinking, while effectively resisting mental influences.

It is fortunate that, for the sake of safety, we first used Bribe—Charm, and that Ernest had just woken from the dream and was still half-unconscious. Otherwise, I might not have been able to hypnotize him… This item is useful for me as well. At the very least, when facing higher-level members of the Psychology Alchemists, I will have another layer of protection… I can avoid wearing it normally and not worry about the negative effects… Audrey felt slightly glad and quite satisfied as she withdrew her gaze from the diamond tie pin.

After she finished choosing, The Moon, Emlyn, gave Star Leonard no opportunity to speak and directly said,

“This Moonlight Ribbon belongs to you.”

In his view, the Moonlight Ribbon was worth more than five thousand pounds. It was definitely better than three thousand pounds in cash.

Actually, I kind of want the three thousand pounds in cash… I have to buy the Sea’s Word cane next. Klein’s discounted price is ten thousand pounds… After spending that, I will only have six hundred and fifty pounds left in savings… Leonard ultimately did not refuse and nodded.

“All right.”

After distributing the spoils, The Moon, Emlyn, picked up the remaining three thousand pounds in cash, separated out a stack, and pushed it to the side.

“Mr. Hanged Man, this is your remuneration. One thousand pounds.”

“It should be called a consultation fee,” Magician Fors said, much more relaxed with Mr. Fool absent.

The Hanged Man, Alger, did not stand on ceremony. He nodded lightly and pressed his palm over that stack of banknotes.

“I will also pay the compensation to the driver,” The Moon, Emlyn, added as he looked around, his mood quite good.

…

Wednesday at eleven at night, at the south-bank entrance of Backlund Bridge.

A figure rapidly outlined itself within the deep night. One hand pressed on his top hat, and the other rested between the buttons of his formal attire.

He had black hair and brown eyes, with sharply defined features and a cold expression. It was the strongest adventurer, Gehrman Sparrow.