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 Klein said without changing his tone. “After I enter slumber, I can still respond to prayers within a certain range, but I will not respond every time. If there is truly an extremely important matter for which you need help, pray several more times.”

From the fact that Antigonus, after entering eternal slumber, had allowed dreams to manifest outwardly, Klein knew that as long as the correct method was used, a slumbering deity could respond to prayers through dreams within certain limits.

None of the Tarot Club members present found this difficult to accept.

On one hand, most of them were already spreading The Fool’s faith, more or less, openly or secretly. On the other hand, praying to a deity and failing to receive a response was an extremely common occurrence. Mr. Fool had previously responded every single time, and that was what was exceptionally rare—a situation they had hardly heard of elsewhere.

Being able to receive a response through repeated prayers for important matters already surpassed the overwhelming majority of clergymen in orthodox Churches!

“Yes, Mr. Fool.” The Tarot Club members accepted this long-term commission without the slightest hesitation.

Among them, The Star Leonard was the one who accepted it most sincerely and most urgently.

To him, spreading Mr. Fool’s faith and scripture was equivalent to awakening Klein.

This immediately gave him motivation to act outside his daily work.

At that moment, The Fool Klein nodded gently and turned his gaze toward The Hermit Cattleya.

“The previous commission—to collect information on all aspects of the Hidden Sage’s sudden coming to life—remains valid.

“If you are willing to bear the risk, then take one step further and investigate the Hidden Sage’s current state.

“This will be very dangerous. You may refuse. The payment is one wish.”

The Hermit Cattleya thought for a moment and said, “Honorable Mr. Fool, is there a certain relationship between this and awakening You? Does it involve how to survive the apocalypse?”

“Perhaps there is, perhaps there is not. I cannot give you a definite answer now. I merely saw certain scenes.” This time, Klein no longer deliberately shaped The Fool’s lofty status, because he was already the true Fool. “In addition, watch over all Beyonders under you who belong to the Earth and Moon pathways.”

Cattleya was silent for a while. Then she slowly said, “I accept this commission.”

The Fool Klein then turned his gaze to the other side, toward The Sun Derrick.

“Your mission is to protect New City of Silver and New Moon City, and to protect the Rorsted Archipelago. The more believers I have, the safer I will be, and the greater the possibility of my awakening.

“On this foundation, you may consider how to expand the Church and spread the faith.

“Your payment is to become my Blessed.”

The Sun Derrick’s eyes suddenly burned with emotion. He once again remembered the encouraging look the Chief had given him when he pushed open the final door of the Giant King’s Court.

He quietly inhaled, then said forcefully, “Yes, Mr. Fool!”

Klein nodded and looked toward The Magician Fors.

“You need to protect the Abraham family and prevent them from suffering temptation from the starry sky.

“In addition, collect more information on the Fourth Epoch. Clarify Mr. Door’s state at that time, and clarify certain hidden problems within the Abraham family.”

“These are things I myself wish to do.” The Magician Fors hesitated for a moment, but still indicated that she would do these things even without a commission.

The Fool Klein neither approved nor objected. He instead said, “If you are willing, you may help write biographies and stories for The World’s different identities, then publish them under different pen names.

“The payment for the above commissions is this: when you have hope of becoming a Planeswalker and must go to the starry sky, you will obtain my protection.”

Although Klein knew he could rely on dreams to respond to a certain degree while in slumber, he could not be certain whether it would be he himself or that Lord of the Mysteries who held the advantage by then. Therefore, he hoped to fix the more important matters in place by issuing commissions and promising payment, forming oral contracts. When the time came, even if he was at a disadvantage, he could use such invisible agreements to subtly complete a response.

Planeswalker? The Magician Fors was stunned.

To be honest, she had never considered this question at all. Her current worries lay with digesting the Secrets Sorcerer potion and the ritual of Wanderer.

Very quickly, she collected her thoughts.

“Yes, Mr. Fool.”

Klein then turned his gaze toward The Moon Emlyn.

“The encirclement and purge of the Rose School of Thought involves preparations for the apocalypse. It is quite dangerous. Even with angels participating, you must pay attention to your own safety.

“Your commission is to gather, as much as possible, the blessings, auras, and items bestowed by the Primordial Moon from believers of the Primordial Moon within the Rose School of Thought. These may be more dangerous than Grade 1 Sealed Artifacts.”

At this moment, although Klein still maintained The Fool’s tone, his words already carried a trace of advice toward a friend.

This allowed Audrey, whose emotions had preliminarily stabilized, to sense the difference.

Thinking of what Mr. Fool had said to the other members, she sighed inwardly.

When Mr. Fool is about to enter slumber, His humanity seems to have grown stronger…

While The Moon Emlyn felt somewhat surprised and doubtful, Klein continued, “Aside from participating in the mission to encircle and purge the Rose School of Thought, I hope you will establish a pharmaceutical company and study how to mass-produce potions with miraculous effects.”

“As long as they’re mass-produced, it’s impossible for them to possess effects that are too miraculous.” The Moon Emlyn instinctively answered.

The Fool Klein nodded.

“Seek a compromise.

“Your main goal is to use this pharmaceutical company to spread my name.

“The payment is also one wish.”

This isn’t a question of whether it’s dangerous, but whether it can be done… The simplest method would be for me to have a thousand Apothecary potions. Then I could create an Apothecary factory and achieve mass production… The Moon Emlyn muttered a few sentences inwardly, then replied solemnly, “Yes, Mr. Fool.”

Klein looked to the other side, toward Judgment Xio.

“The apocalypse is drawing near. Whether Red Priest or Demoness, they will both become active. Your mission is to rely on official forces to investigate the whereabouts of the Red Priest pathway’s three Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristics and corresponding Uniqueness. If there is an opportunity, search for clues to confirm the Primordial Demoness’s current state. This is extremely dangerous.”

Klein did not mention payment because he had already paid in advance.

Xio had fulfilled her wish, carried out the ritual, and become a Sequence 4 Law Mage.

As for the three Sequence 1 Conqueror Beyonder characteristics of the Red Priest pathway, what Klein had previously known was this: one was in the hands of the former Intis royal family, the Sauron family; one was in the hands of the Feysac royal family, the Einhorn family; and one had fallen to the Loen royal family, the Augustus family, before later being given to the Demoness Sect as payment.

Of course, this was only a preliminary answer. The corresponding situation might very likely have changed.

The Sauron family had already declined during Roselle’s era and might not still possess that Conqueror Beyonder characteristic or corresponding Sealed Artifact. Klein even suspected that it might have already been obtained by the Iron and Blood Cross Order.

The defeat in the previous war had inflicted significant damage on the Einhorn family. Klein could not rule out the possibility that a high-ranking angel had fallen or that a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact had been lost.

The Conqueror Beyonder characteristic that the Augustus family had given to the Demoness Sect was currently the one with the clearest whereabouts. However, Klein knew that the Red Angel evil spirit, Sauron Einhorn Medici, had been eyeing it all along. Perhaps He had already succeeded, or perhaps He was in the process of carrying out His plan.

As for the corresponding Red Priest Uniqueness, there were currently no clues at all. The last time it had been known to the mysticism world was at the end of the Fourth Epoch, during the Pale Disaster.