"I'm fine."
Klein nodded as he answered, taking the opportunity to look around. He saw no sign of Angel's "Mirror Person" and realized that the "switch" between the two was similar to switching between a marionette and one's real body, except that one was in the Mirror World and the other in reality.
Angel had clearly dealt with Zarathus's Historical Void Image in the sealed Mirror World, then switched places with the Mirror Person in reality. That explained the abrupt change in her attitude and movements.
"Your 'Mirror Person' stayed here the whole time, um, protecting me. She really is as kind and gentle as you said."
Turning his gaze back to Angel, Klein carefully added those words.
He had no idea how the Mirror Person knew about the connection between him and the Fool, or why she had kept it from Angel and even helped him conceal it. But since Angel had yet to guess that relationship, he could only keep hiding it...
It wasn't that he deliberately deceived Angel for profit or any other reason. Rather, at this point, he simply couldn't bring himself to say that he was the Fool.
Whenever he remembered how he had confidently spoken of "an experiment" before he was even a Beyonder, acted as a middleman among the Tarot Club members, impersonated a god using knowledge from Roselle's Diary, and "posed for photos" with angels such as Mr. Azik and Will Auceptin, Klein wished he could find a hole to crawl into.
Of course, he couldn't crawl too deep, or he might encounter the terrifying corruption underground...
Fortunately, Angel merely nodded slightly at his words. She even smiled when he called the Mirror Person "gentle," without asking about the details of their conversation while she had been fighting.
Before them, Zarathus's charred