Chapter 131: A Transaction

Chapter One Hundred Thirty-One
A Transaction

Mr. A? That feels more like a criminal code name than the title of a mysterious powerhouse… It cannot compare with the Fool at all… No. Those who can be compared with Mr. Fool should be gods or great figures only slightly beneath gods…

With that thought, Audrey was suddenly filled with a sense of superiority.

She calmly looked at Mr. A, then lowered her voice and asked Fors and Xio Derecha, “Does this gentleman have any notable deeds?”

Viscount Glaint, who similarly wore a hooded robe, was very curious about the matter as well.

Xio Derecha answered with a solemn expression, “There have been several instances where Sequence 8, and even Sequence 7 Beyonders, targeted Mr. A and tried to deal with him. In the end, all of them vanished without a sound.”

“He truly is a powerful Beyonder,” Glaint praised, repeating the earlier introduction.

While they spoke, the four entered the house, and the doorkeeper immediately shut the main door.

After adapting slightly to the gaslight, Audrey saw two blackboards standing at the very front. Line after line of words had been written upon them.

At that moment, Fors, holding an unlit cigarette, whispered, “Those are the needs of the gathering members. You should understand: many people do not want others to know what they possess, in case they are targeted by the greedy. Therefore, they anonymously write on the blackboards what they wish to obtain, or what they hope to sell, as well as approximate prices and item requirements.”

Audrey nodded lightly. For the moment, she had no time to observe the gathering’s members. She directly browsed several entries on the left blackboard.

“Need one pair of adult Manhal fish eyes.”

“Powder left behind by a wraith, 165 pounds.”

“Emperor Roselle’s notes, three pages, 20 pounds.”

Upon seeing this, Audrey could no longer maintain her Spectator state. Shock and excitement struck her together.

These prices… these prices are so, so cheap!

She thought, both excited and delighted.

As she walked, her gaze shifted, and she saw more entries.

“Baby’s Cry flower, 200 pounds.”

“Mummy powder, 10 grams, 5 pounds.”

“Fishman slime, 30 milliliters, 29 pounds.”

“Sequence 8 Sheriff potion formula, 450 pounds.”

…

So, so cheap! None of the extraordinary materials exceed 300 pounds!

Audrey’s eyes shone as she followed her companions to their seats.

At that moment, Xio Derecha leaned close to her ear and quietly asked, “What do you want?”

Audrey’s breathing grew heavier. A famous declaration from Emperor Roselle flashed instantly through her mind:

“I want them all!”

She had two elder brothers, so she would not inherit the title or the main estate. But as a young lady deeply loved by her parents and brothers, under her name were houses, lands, ranches, mines, jewelry, stocks, shares, and bonds worth three hundred thousand pounds.

That counted as her portion of the family property. However, before her father, Earl Hall, passed away—or before she herself married—it belonged to her only in name. Each year, she received the corresponding annuity.

Even so, her annual income was between fifteen thousand and twenty-five thousand pounds. Among the female nobility of the entire Loen Kingdom, that was enough to rank near the top.

Of course, as a noble, many necessary expenses could not be avoided, especially now that she received annuity income and could no longer ask her parents for everything.

Controlling herself, she answered with reserved grace, “For now, I have only taken an interest in Emperor Roselle’s notes. I am his admirer. I believe that the special symbols—or rather, language—that he created possess mysterious power. We simply have not yet found the proper way to combine them.”

Audrey, you are becoming more and more hypocritical…

She silently added in her heart.

The moment she finished speaking, a young man in a white shirt and black waistcoat sitting nearby immediately echoed with excitement.

“Yes! Exactly! I have finally met someone who holds the same view as I do!”

“I am the owner of those three pages of notes. I can sell them to you right now!”

…

Audrey was first at a loss. Then she answered with a smiling voice, “Then please allow me to express my thanks.”

She took out two ten-pound notes and passed them to the other party, obtaining three pages of Emperor Roselle’s diary. Of course, no one here knew they were diary pages; they simply referred to them generally as notes.

After receiving them, Audrey flipped through them once and confirmed that the characters resembled the pages she had previously obtained.

Putting away the diary pages, she asked Xio and Fors in a low voice, “If the notes are false, whom should I find? Mr. A?”

“Yes. Mr. A does not permit fraud at gatherings he organizes. Mm, I can also privately arbitrate for you,” Xio Derecha answered eagerly.

“I understand.”

Audrey entered the Spectator state and began examining the Beyonders and prospective Beyonders present.

Because of the young man’s excitement just now, many people had begun paying attention to this side, examining Audrey and Glaint either openly or covertly. But none of their gazes could penetrate her hood.

The sofas, chairs, and tea tables are scattered loosely, all facing the blackboards… The materials are rather ordinary. This means the convener, Mr. A, is not a noble and is very casual in such matters… Mm, with the confidence he displays, he would not deliberately put on such a disguise…

Audrey’s eyes moved as she observed calmly.

Mr. A has looked over every lady and woman present, and his gaze often lingers on the prettier ones… He is lustful… Why does he keep looking at me? Can he see through the hood’s concealment?

Reaching that inference, Audrey’s heart jolted, and she felt nauseated, as though she had eaten a fly.

Very soon, however, she relaxed again, because she discovered that Mr. A did not look into her or the other women’s bodies.

This means his eyes cannot directly see through cloth… His eyesight is exceptionally good, as though he were examining me from close range. Under those circumstances, the hood’s effect is very limited…

Audrey quietly watched the others conduct transactions, grasping part of the gathering members’ circumstances.

At that moment, Mr. A’s attendant came over and said quietly to the four of them, “You may write your needs on paper and give it to me. During the later rest period, you may also go to the small room and write the items you wish to sell on the blackboard.”

Fors sniffed her cigarette and vigilantly looked around.

“Have you decided which Sequence 9 formula you want?”

During this period, she had fulfilled her promise, telling Audrey and Viscount Glaint about all the Sequence pathways she knew.

Audrey pretended to think for a moment before saying, “Spectator. I want to become a Spectator. Mm, and I want Spectator’s subsequent formula: Telepathist.”

She considered that since she would often come into contact with Fors and Xio Derecha in the future, sooner or later, they would discover that she was already a Beyonder and that she was a Spectator. Therefore, she might as well take this opportunity to put things into the open and completely conceal the existence of the Tarot Club.

Although this means wasting a sum of money, it is worth it…

Audrey quietly praised herself.

At the same time, she noticed that Xio Derecha kept looking toward the blackboard from time to time. Her gaze held both desire and dejection.

Xio told me that Sequence 8 corresponding to Arbiter is Sheriff… Is she looking at the formula worth 450 pounds? Mm, I can see she longs for the Sheriff formula very much…

She has been an Arbiter for over a year and has always been unconsciously acting the role of an Arbiter. She should have already digested the potion…

All the above details indicate one thing: Xio is short of money!

While Audrey made that judgment, Viscount Glaint stated his own choice.

“Apothecary. I need the formula for Sequence 9 Apothecary!”

Sensing Audrey, Fors, and Xio looking over, he chuckled and explained, “To me, possessing good health and not fearing most diseases or injuries is the most important thing!”

“A rational choice. My dream once was to become an Apothecary too,” Fors sighed with a smile.

She carried a lazy and somewhat decadent temperament.

After deciding, Audrey and the others wrote their requests on slips of paper and handed them to the attendant. They watched as he circled the room, asking one person after another, collecting many more slips.

That attendant mixed the slips together and gave them to the companion responsible for the blackboard, who registered the information.

“Need formulas for Spectator and Telepathist potions. Price to be discussed in person…”

Each time an entry was written, the attendant read it aloud three times. If anyone was interested, they would apply for a room in secret and complete the transaction with the attendant’s assistance.

After waiting for some time, Audrey and Glaint still did not receive any request for a transaction. Both of them felt somewhat disappointed.

Just then, another attendant came over. Approaching Audrey, he gave her a folded slip of paper.

“From Mr. A,” the attendant said in a lowered voice.

Audrey unfolded the note and glanced at it. Written upon it was one sentence:

“Are you interested in other Sequence 9 formulas?”

Audrey disdainfully curled the corners of her mouth and wrote in the blank space:

“I am only interested in Spectator.”

She folded the note again, returned it to the attendant, and watched him hand it to Mr. A.

Mr. A opened it and took a glance. He said nothing, still silently and quietly watching the gathering members.

But Audrey keenly noticed that the note burned up in secret, turning into ash that fell to the ground.

Another fifteen minutes passed before Mr. A spoke.

“We now enter the rest phase. You may communicate freely.”

At that moment, the young man who had sold Roselle’s diary pages approached Audrey and said excitedly, “I have already deciphered part of Emperor Roselle’s special symbols and tattooed them onto my body, obtaining rather good abilities.”

“Are you interested?”

Audrey immediately remembered that she had once asked Mr. Fool whether the special characters in Emperor Roselle’s diary possessed wondrous power. Mr. Fool’s answer had been: unless some deity suddenly took an interest.

She looked at the young man before her and thought for a moment before probing, “What sort of good abilities did you obtain?”

The young man answered excitedly, “I became stronger and healthier!”

Audrey looked at him with pity.

“I am sorry. I trust my own research more.”

During the rest of the time, she continued observing the gathering. However, she did not gain much useful information, only roughly judging that some members had ordinary professions such as doctors or lawyers.

Another half hour later, Audrey and the others left the house and returned to Viscount Glaint’s villa, staying there until the ball ended.

At around ten at night, Audrey returned home. Just as she was about to have her maid prepare hot water, she suddenly saw the big dog Susie give her a look.

She gave me a look…

Audrey’s feelings abruptly became complicated.