Chapter 36: Mr. Fool’s Commission

Chapter 36: Mr. Fool’s Commission

“Good afternoon, Mr. Fool.”

The other members of the Tarot Club all appeared exceptionally grave. Following Miss Justice, they completed the customary greeting.

After they sat down again, The Fool Klein looked around and said slowly, “I will enter slumber.”

Upon hearing those words, The Hanged Man Alger, Justice Audrey, Judgment Xio, and The Magician Fors all felt as though the second boot had finally dropped. The Star Leonard, The Moon Emlyn, The Sun Derrick, and the other Tarot Club members felt their hearts sink, growing more panicked and confused.

Of course, they were not especially surprised. The abnormal temporary gathering and the abnormal absence of The World both seemed to indicate that something important would happen today.

Maintaining his final sliver of lucidity, Klein continued in the same tone, “This involves a war beyond the Sequences and is related to the severity of the apocalypse.”

As expected… The Hanged Man Alger keenly caught the phrase “beyond the Sequences.”

He had long suspected that a rank existed above Sequence 0: the rank once occupied by the ancient Sun God, who had eight Kings of Angels.

Now, Mr. Fool had finally confirmed his conjecture, resolving many of his doubts.

The Hermit Cattleya and the others also noticed the information hidden in Mr. Fool’s words. Some, like The Hanged Man, had already made similar guesses, and now felt more of an “as expected” sensation. Others had never considered this direction before; upon hearing it, they were inevitably astonished and confused. Yet very quickly, after connecting it to all the things they knew from the past, they came to a sudden realization.

The Fool Klein continued, “Only after you become angels will you be qualified to know the specific circumstances. Otherwise, merely understanding it will itself bring contamination.”

This caused the members of the Tarot Club to think of “underground” and “the starry sky.” For a moment, their thoughts surged and were difficult to restrain.

Klein glanced toward the lowest end of the mottled long table.

“My Blessed, The World, has already entered slumber ahead of me. No one knows when he will awaken.”

Then what should we do? The Star Leonard nearly blurted the question out, but he could clearly sense that Mr. Fool had not finished speaking. Thus, he forcefully restrained the impulse.

The Fool Klein’s gaze swept past him.

“Next, there is a long-term commission issued to all members.

“Spread my name more widely, but do not come into conflict with the orthodox Churches. When necessary, you may choose to preach in secret.

“This will help me awaken.

“Also, spread The World’s various deeds as my Blessed. Record them in the Church’s scriptures. Of course, do not involve his privacy.

“Remember one sentence: When The World awakens, The Fool returns.”

By doing this, Klein intended to increase the number of his anchors. That might prove quite useful in his dream confrontation with the Lord of the Mysteries.

At the same time, he wanted to shape The World into a saint of the Church of The Fool, an angel beside the divine throne, allowing that image to share a large number of believers and obtain anchors belonging to himself.

Simply put, Klein intended to make one believer contribute two anchors. After all, to him, whether The Fool or The World, both were merely identities. Moreover, the images shaped by anchors would not be unified; they would differ from one another and thus would not affect him directly.

—At the level of The Fool, what the Church propagated was the deity’s honorific name, The Fool’s holy emblem, and various doctrines. There was no specific image. As for The World, he had many identities, such as Gehrman Sparrow, Dwayne Dantès, and Merlin Hermes. No single definitive image would appear.

“The payment is the conveniences you have enjoyed in the past, the responses you have received, and the corresponding aid you may pray for in the future,” The Fool…