Chapter 193: A Fortunate Yet Deeply Helpless Fact

Chapter 193: A Fortunate Yet Deeply Helpless Fact

Above the gray fog, the towering palace stood in silence.

Klein rhythmically tapped the edge of the long bronze table with his fingers, thinking intently about what countermeasures he should take against the threat posed by the Aurora Order and Mr. A.

When he could not determine the other party’s true intentions, an instinctive thought immediately came to him:

Report Mr. A! Report an illegal gathering!

It would be very easy for Klein to learn the location of the gathering convened by Mr. A from Miss Magician, then covertly report it to the Nighthawks, the Mandated Punishers, or the Machinery Hivemind.

An Oracle of the Aurora Order would absolutely attract sufficient attention!

By then, Mr. A might not even be able to protect himself, much less continue investigating the Fool’s believers.

The problem was that this would inevitably implicate a number of innocent Beyonders, and Klein suspected this might be precisely the reason Mr. A had directly placed a bounty on the Fool’s believers.

Perhaps he had already arranged an escape route. Once someone reported him, he could confirm without the slightest doubt that someone from the Fool’s side had been present at the previous gathering.

As for exactly who it was, that was not important. Mr. A and the lunatics of the Aurora Order were absolutely capable of doing something like “better to catch the wrong person than miss anyone.”

And once Beyonders fell into their hands, most of them would have no way to keep their secrets. The Aurora Order—or, to be precise, the Shepherd pathway represented by the True Creator—was best at corrupting others.

When a Beyonder’s worldview was completely twisted and they came to believe in the True Creator from the bottom of their heart, what secret could possibly remain hidden?

It isn’t as though there are no other methods. It’s better not to report him… Klein leaned back in his chair, restrained his chaotic thoughts, and began sorting through the entire matter again.

As he thought, he suddenly discovered a problem:

In this world, the Fool did not actually have any believers or Blessed at all!

Even the Tarot Club had only a handful of members, and none of them had ever revealed the corresponding information to outsiders.

In other words, the Aurora Order couldn’t find any relevant clues at all… There’s nothing to worry about… The only bad result is that the Fool has now been noted by the True Creator. Being constantly remembered by an evil god doesn’t feel particularly pleasant, but it basically won’t affect anything else… Klein nodded thoughtfully.

He considered the situation very clearly. The only flaw in the whole matter was that he had once used the title “the Fool,” written in ancient Hermes, as the password for his anonymous account. But ever since the sacrificial and bestowment rituals had been proven usable, that account had been abandoned for a long time and had long since been forgotten.

This could be inferred from the fact that, for the past month and a half, no one had attracted Klein’s attention by copying down the password.

As a result, the bank clerks who had come into contact with the password but clearly did not understand mysticism would not be able to mention the matter to anyone. And even if Beyonders were to ask them in Loenese, and even if they found the right person, the clerks would still have no way to connect the content described in Loenese with the ancient Hermes password.

If anyone copies it down, I’ll know immediately and be able to take effective measures… Besides, even if someone discovered the issue with the password, it would still be difficult to trace it back to Sherlock Moriarty. I used certain methods every time… Miss Justice was also careful enough when depositing the money… Amid the soft tapping sounds, Klein relaxed and laughed quietly.

“You think the Fool has many Blessed and many believers, and therefore must have left behind many clues that are hard to erase?

“Wrong. Completely wrong. The Fool has only one believer and Blessed! That is me!”

At this point, he could not help giving a self-mocking smile.

“That doesn’t seem like anything worth being proud of…”

I should be more cautious recently and avoid acting under the Fool’s banner… Klein reminded himself, then turned to respond to Miss Magician’s prayer.

He adjusted his posture and said in a low, gentle voice, “There is no need to concern yourself with it.”

…

No need to concern myself with it… Fors received an answer that both astonished her and somehow felt completely natural.

In Mr. Fool’s eyes, the Aurora Order is nothing but a swarm of ants!

Fors recited the honorific name once more and, driven by curiosity, asked, “Honorable Mr. Fool, what existence does the Aurora Order believe in?”

Right afterward, she saw Mr. Fool seated in the high-backed chair at the center of the gray fog. With a leisurely posture, He said, “The True Creator.”

The True Creator… Fors’s eyes abruptly widened. In an instant, she understood why Mr. A had suddenly started searching for the Fool’s believers.

With the help of the Tarot Club, that young Sun from the City of Silver had successfully exposed the abnormalities in the exploration team and foiled the True Creator’s scheme!

Behind this matter lies the confrontation and struggle between Mr. Fool and the True Creator… Fors did not dare ask further. She hurriedly gave a simple account of her encounter with a member of the Abraham family that day, mentioning Lawrence’s will, the strange notebook, and the Beyonder characteristic he had left behind.

“Honorable Mr. Fool, what should I do?” she asked for guidance, not especially confident.

What should you do? Miss Magician’s luck is rather good… Why have I never encountered such fortunate things… Klein chuckled softly and answered,

“Follow the truest thoughts in your heart.”

He was not at all worried that Dorian Gray of the Fishermen’s Association in Pritz Harbor would endanger Miss Magician, because he knew her bracelet still had two stones left and could perform two more spirit world traversals.

The truest thoughts in my heart? Fors lowered her head thoughtfully and said, “I understand. Thank you, Mr. Fool.”

She decided to buy a steam train ticket the very next day. By that means of transport, it would take only a little over an hour to travel from Backlund to Pritz Harbor—perhaps even less than that.

After finishing her report of everything that had happened, Fors requested to perform the sacrificial and bestowment rituals. She received an affirmative reply. Thus, she exchanged 600 pounds in cash for the Sheriff Beyonder characteristic.

Picking up the child-fist-sized object made of iron-black, dark red, and silver-white, and looking at the beautiful spiritual radiance it gave off, Fors felt both delighted and emotional.

Xio has already gathered the supplementary ingredients. She’ll be able to advance to Sequence 8 very soon… And I still don’t know when I’ll become a Trickmaster… I hope Mr. Hanged Man and the others can help me find the corresponding Beyonder materials as soon as possible…

Xio has always been unconsciously acting as an Arbiter, so I don’t need to worry about her digesting her Sequence 9 potion. But after she becomes a Sheriff, what should she do? Apply to Mr. Fool and pay a certain price to receive instruction in the acting method… Or simply suggest that she infiltrate the police?

…

At the head of the mottled long table, Klein looked at the thick stack of cash before him and carefully counted it several times.

“With this, I have 1,230 pounds. I’m still about 300 pounds short of the money needed for one Sequence 6 Beyonder material. Of course, 1,500 pounds is only the absolute baseline price. Actual transactions are usually quite a bit more expensive than that…

“Where else can I get money recently?

“Once the bicycle patent is approved, I can sell off part of my shares?

“Right. I nearly forgot what’s special about the Tarot Club. The Werewolf Beyonder characteristic can’t be sold in Backlund for now, in case a high-sequence powerhouse from the Rose School of Thought discovers it. But it can be sold elsewhere! At the next gathering, I’ll have the World step forward and entrust Mr. Hanged Man to sell the item on the Sonia Sea, with a corresponding commission as payment.

“After deducting all expenses, the Werewolf Beyonder characteristic should bring me at least 1,000 pounds. That would fully cover the cost of one Sequence 6 Beyonder material.”

Klein swiftly developed a plan, and his heart immediately settled.

What he found rather regrettable was that Miss Xio did not seem to have much money either. After she became a Sheriff, even if she could rapidly digest the potion, it would take her a long time to afford the Beyonder characteristic corresponding to Interrogator. As for Miss Magician, if the Abraham family took an interest in her, he would not be able to sell her the subsequent Astrologer potion formula.

That truly is regrettable… Klein sighed and returned to the real world.

…

Wednesday morning.

Klein had not lost sleep over being remembered by the True Creator or investigated by the Aurora Order. He slept until daybreak, then cheerfully went out and bought a Desi pie for breakfast.

And Desi pie, of course, had to be paired with sweet iced tea.

While enjoying the delicious food and flipping through the newspapers, he discovered an advertisement from the Ernst Firm and learned that the Beyonder gathering convened by the old gentleman Eye of Wisdom would take place the following evening.

“This time, I can put out a request for the corresponding Beyonder materials… Though there probably won’t be any there. At most, there may be supplementary ingredients like Deep-sea Naga’s hair…” Klein seriously considered what channels he could use to gather the materials.

He spread his left hand and counted on his fingers.

“Inside the Tarot Club, there are Little Sun, Mr. Hanged Man, Miss Justice, and their respective channels; the gathering of the old gentleman Eye of Wisdom; Miss Bodyguard and Maric, though I should avoid contacting them recently; and also… also… right, the vampire Emlyn White. Didn’t he say he could write letters to consult some powerful Sanguine? That’s a network resource!”

At that thought, Klein immediately decided to stake out the Harvest Church and wait for Emlyn White that day.

Although it was not very likely that the Aurora Order would trace anything back to him, the matter still gave him a certain sense of urgency. He wanted to gather the Beyonder materials as soon as possible, so that once the potion was digested, he could rapidly advance to Sequence 6.

At ten in the morning, in the South Borough of the Bridge area, on Rose Street.

Dressed in a double-breasted frock coat, Klein removed his half top hat and slowly entered the rather small Harvest Church.

With a single glance, he saw the giant-like Father Utravsky and Emlyn White, who wore a brown cleric’s robe.

The latter was wiping a candleholder, his expression numb, as though his heart had already died.

What a coincidence… Wait. He isn’t staying here all day, is he? Only going home at night? Klein casually found a seat. There were fewer than five believers in the whole church.

Emlyn White also saw him. The vampire directly put down the rag, walked over, and sat beside him.

His expression immediately became lively. Lifting his chin slightly, he gave a “heh” and said,

“You suddenly came here because there’s something you want my help with, isn’t there?”