Chapter 160: Their Respective “Understandings”

Chapter 160: Their Respective “Understandings”

Neither…

The Hermit Cattleya chewed over Mr. Fool’s answer and suddenly found herself unable to understand the true meaning of the question just now.

She had originally believed that Emperor Roselle’s destination of heart and spirit must involve factors on the philosophical or mysticism level. For example, “that island” might refer to the divine kingdom of the god he believed in, while “the depths of the starry sky” might imply the Astral World, symbolizing that Emperor Roselle believed only in his own superego and aimed directly for the divine throne. Yet Mr. Fool’s answer had been neither. This denied almost every possibility and left her unable to think of another answer.

Perhaps the Queen did not mean the content as I understood it, while Mr. Fool’s answer points toward another meaning… Whether I can understand it is not important. I am merely a tool for their communication…

Cattleya sighed inwardly and sincerely saluted.

“Thank you for your answer.”

The other Tarot Club members were even more confused by this question and answer. Although they knew the cause and understood the specific meaning of a destination of heart and spirit, they had no way of connecting it to “island” or “the depths of the starry sky.” Thus, each had their own interpretation, their own guess, yet all felt their answers were surely very far from the correct one.

In the Magician Fors’s subconscious thought, “that island” might be the place where Roselle had deeply buried the woman he loved most, while “the depths of the starry sky” meant that in his later years, the emperor had set his sights upon what he called the “sea of stars.”

Justice Audrey, meanwhile, believed that “that island” was the island of self-consciousness on the level of psychology. The portion above the sea was the conscious mind, while the portion beneath the sea was the subconscious. The starry sky represented the spiritual sky and the Astral World. Thus, the corresponding question became: “Did Emperor Roselle believe in the self, in a god, or in pure nature?”

From that perspective, Mr. Fool’s answer was extremely strange. It seemed to be saying that Emperor Roselle believed in nothing, including himself.

I seem to have misunderstood… But if that is truly the case, then the Emperor Roselle in Mr. Fool’s words appears contradictory on the surface, yet hides some deeper secret… Or perhaps in his later years, he saw through life and began considering the essence of the universe, the world, gods, and humanity, becoming a pessimist or a nihilist?

Audrey thought with considerable interest, as if using the matter to train her own abilities.

The Hanged Man Alger’s thoughts were close to the Hermit Cattleya’s. The Moon Emlyn considered for a while, found no clue, and decisively gave up guessing. The Sun Derrick had no interest in Emperor Roselle at all, but he did not break the silence. Instead, he repeatedly thought about what he was going to discuss later.

At last, the Fool shrouded in gray fog gave a light laugh.

“You may begin.”

The Hanged Man Alger immediately looked toward the World Gehrman Sparrow at the far end of the bronze long table. After weighing his words, he said, “My apologies. That mystical item of yours may need to wait a little longer.”

Before the other party could speak, he quickly gave an explanation:

“That Artisan strangely came down with an illness, and suspicious observers appeared around him. Because of this, time was delayed. I will personally go over and see whether I can resolve his trouble, allow him to recover as soon as possible, and strive to have the mystical item you need completed within these two weeks.”

He spoke very sincerely, expressing his apology and how seriously he took the matter. Yet in his actual description, he quietly pushed all the responsibility onto that Artisan, as if saying to the World: if you are truly dissatisfied, I will help you teach him a lesson; if that is still not enough, I can even give you the specific address so you may visit personally.

That Artisan has run into trouble… Mr. Hanged Man still takes this quite seriously. Mm. Non-official Artisans—or rather, Artisans willing to accept orders of unknown origin—are extremely rare. If this one can be protected, then he should be protected as much as possible…

Klein pondered briefly and made the dummy World respond hoarsely, “I accept this delay, but there will be no next time.”

He spoke very plainly, but it made the Hanged Man Alger feel a sudden chill, as though he had sensed the killing intent hidden within the World Gehrman Sparrow.

“Thank you for your understanding,” he said with outward composure.

The Hermit Cattleya, who had listened to their exchange, looked at the Hanged Man. The corner of her lips curled faintly, and she pushed up her glasses before proactively saying, “If you cannot resolve that trouble, I can help.”

In her view, if the problem was not too great, it might even be done for free. After all, it would mean that she could bypass the Hanged Man and directly establish contact with that Artisan.

How could the Hanged Man Alger not understand the true purpose of this pirate admiral? He felt the powerful aggression she was displaying, and he sensed a certain pressure. After a pause, he replied without revealing his emotions, “Then, on his behalf, I thank you in advance for your kindness.”

On one hand, he demonstrated that his relationship with the Artisan was close. On the other, he did not directly refuse, leaving himself a path of retreat. Compared with being troubled by Gehrman Sparrow, sacrificing a bit of interest was not entirely unacceptable.

The Hermit Cattleya did not keep pursuing this matter. She turned toward the World Gehrman Sparrow and said, “Were you satisfied with the intelligence on West Balam?”

Last Thursday, she had already gathered and sorted out the West Balam intelligence Gehrman Sparrow needed and, through that strange messenger, handed it to him.

—She was filled with fear toward Mr. Fool. Unless there was truly no other method, she was unwilling to disturb that being.

It cost me a full 300 pounds. If it had not been acceptable, I would have returned it on the spot!

Klein muttered inwardly and made the World Gehrman Sparrow give a simple “Mm” as an answer.

Then the dummy’s gaze turned toward Miss Magician.

Fors instantly became uncomfortable, like a mouse stared down by a cat. She could not help thinking whether she had done something wrong again.

Could he have heard my description—no, my slander—of Dawn Dantes when I was talking with Xio? Or is he dissatisfied that I did not return the money?

Fors did not think that the bodyguard mission from before had already passed quite a few days ago. Somewhat frightened, she asked, “Mr. World, is—is there something?”

The World Gehrman Sparrow nodded.

“A commission.

“Obtain information on Calderón City in the spirit world from the Abraham family. The most important thing is the coordinates.”

Calderón City… Why has the World suddenly started searching for this mysterious city of the spirit world? Is it an instruction from Mr. Fool? Is this a new part of His recovery plan?

The Hermit Cattleya knew a certain amount about Calderón City and was rather astonished at that moment.

The other Tarot Club members, including the Magician Fors, did not understand what city the World Gehrman Sparrow wanted to find and could only remain silent. Among them, the Moon Emlyn vaguely felt that he had heard of it somewhere, yet could not recall the specific details.

After three or four seconds, the Magician Fors squeezed out a smile.

“No problem. I will help you ask.”

“How much compensation do you need?” the World Gehrman Sparrow asked in a flat tone.

1,000 pounds! No, 500 pounds—no, I still have to deduct the bodyguard fee…

The Magician Fors’s thoughts raced. In the end, she quoted, “350 pounds.”

Very cheap. Aside from the seven lights of the spirit world, the detailed intelligence on Calderón City is probably held only by the Abraham family… Mm. To Miss Magician, this is only a matter of asking her teacher. It really is simple and convenient. No wonder the price is not high…

Klein was first surprised, then came to a realization. He made the dummy World nod lightly.

“Deal.”

Justice Audrey, who had witnessed this transaction, noticed an interesting point:

Miss Magician seems to be very afraid of Mr. World. Afraid to the point of a conditioned reflex!

She met Dawn Dantes before but did not know he was Gehrman Sparrow, and she discovered something frightening? Hmm, this week I should ask her and Xio to meet at Glaint’s place and see if I can learn anything…

Audrey nodded almost imperceptibly in thought.

At this moment, seeing that the World had nothing else to say, the Moon Emlyn turned his head slightly, looking toward the Sun with obvious eagerness.

“Do you have the Beyonder characteristic of a Sequence 5 artificial vampire yet?”

“I have not saved enough merit points yet,” the Sun Derrick answered. This time, he was not ashamed. Instead, he felt that Mr. Moon was being too impatient. Was it so easy to save up enough merit points for a Sequence 5 Beyonder characteristic?

The Moon Emlyn turned back gloomily. Then, suddenly recalling something, he hurriedly said to Miss Magician, “There is a clue for the cursed object and residual spirituality of an ancient wraith. I am waiting for the specific details.

“This may not mean directly giving you the items. It may provide intelligence telling you which location near Backlund has traces of an ancient wraith.”

At this point, Emlyn thought for a moment and said, “300 pounds.”

In other words, I need to hunt that ancient wraith myself? In all kinds of mysticism rumors, that is quite a powerful monster…

After hearing Mr. Moon’s words, Fors’s first reaction was difficulty. Her second reaction was: why not commission Mr. World to hunt it? He would definitely complete it both quickly and smoothly!

But when she thought that the cost of hiring Mr. World would surely far exceed the ancient wraith’s value, she felt it would be better to try herself.

Once Xio becomes an Interrogator, the two of us together should have a much greater chance… And I also have Leymano’s Travels, which records demigod-level Tornado and Angel’s Embrace, as well as many strange Beyonder powers. Below the high Sequences, it is practically a divine artifact… Uh, my real combat experience is not that much. Most of the time, I just run away. This can count as an opportunity…

The Magician Fors quickly came to a decision and said to the Moon Emlyn, “Deal.”

After confirming a few other matters, the transaction segment came to an end. Klein made the World Gehrman Sparrow speak before Mr. Hanged Man could, looking around once before saying, “I have preliminarily investigated the truth behind Backlund’s Caron suicide case.”