Mr. Fool

"His emotions were turbulent—excitement, worry, wild joy, and a trace of wariness..." Klein quietly activated Spirit Vision, judging the young man's mental state through his aura. Sno, standing across the Bronze Long Table, quickly came to his senses and said in the humble tone he had learned from the Aurora Society:

"Praise be to You, great and benevolent existence. Sno von Pandax pays his respects."

"Sno? He's the suspect from earlier today!" Klein finally remembered where he had heard the surname Pandax before. However, he kept his surprise well concealed and said in a relaxed, casual tone:

"No need to be so restrained. You may call me... Fool."

Yet the moment the words left his mouth, Klein noticed that the young man's expression had become even humbler. He bent deeply at the waist and lowered his head.

"Why did he react like that? He had sounded humble before, but that had merely been the polite respect of the weak toward the strong. Now he has completely placed himself beneath me... Could the title Fool carry some special meaning?" For a moment, Klein even forgot why he had truly summoned the other man. But he quickly suppressed his doubts.

Compared to the matter of his honorific name, Tingen's safety was clearly more important now!

He carefully considered his wording before saying in a somewhat amused tone:

"Relax. I'm rather interested in your earlier prayer. Tell me about it."

"Please forgive my impropriety. I actually spoke nonsense during my prayer..." Sno placed one hand over his chest and bowed before raising his head.

"Respected Mr. Fool, I come from a secretive and ancient family. Though my family has declined, it left behind quite a number of precious books and secret accounts. While pursuing the glory of my ancestors, I accidentally encountered the Aurora Society. To save my life, I had no choice but to join this organization.

"They forced me to drink the Secret Speaker Potion—the lunatics do not care about the loyalty of their members at all, because anyone who wishes to digest the Secret Speaker Potion must pray to a mysterious existence. But surely You know that the True Creator has long fallen into madness. Once someone prays to Him, their mind will inevitably be twisted.

"Although I used an Extraordinary Item passed down through my family to fabricate the appearance of devout prayer, according to the Aurora Society's customs, anyone who fails to digest the Secret Speaker Potion within two months is deemed disloyal to the True Creator and executed. Therefore, I hope to secretly pray to You in order to digest the Secret Speaker Potion."

"The Aurora Society? That organization that appeared only a century or two ago and worships the True Creator?

"Right! Heinason Farsent's incantation had indeed pointed to the True Creator. But... the True Creator has fallen into madness? This Sno—or rather, the Perrdax family he comes from—seems to know a great deal of Hidden Knowledge!

"He risked using a ritual passed down through his family to pray to a secret existence because he wanted to act as a Secrets Suppliant and digest the potion?

"And that Extraordinary Item he mentioned—could it be the white horse I saw earlier?"

Klein silently pondered before asking in the casual tone one might use to discuss street gossip:

"You seemed to mention earlier that an evil god would descend?"

"Yes, respected Mr. Fool." Sno nodded and spoke respectfully, with a trace of concern in his voice.

"The Aurora Society's members are all lunatics. They are constantly plotting the descent of the True Creator. Half a month ago, I was sent to Tingen City. Soon afterward, I learned from a Secrets Suppliant about their plan to bring about the descent of an evil god.

"I killed the two Secrets Suppliants overseeing the plan in a surprise attack, then reported that they had drawn the attention of the official Beyonders as an excuse. However, according to those two, they had already planted a seed in Tingen. Even if I killed them, it would only delay matters for a time. If that seed cannot be found, when it erupts, the entire city... even the whole Loen Kingdom will be utterly destroyed."

"This!" After hearing Sno's words, Klein felt his hair stand on end. At the same time, he began considering how to respond.

Report Sno to the Church?

The thought was dismissed the moment it arose. Leaving aside the fact that he had no reason to report someone whom the captain had already judged innocent, even if Sno were arrested, they would only learn that Tingen was facing a crisis.

On the contrary, if Sno were allowed to continue infiltrating the Aurora Society, he might be able to uncover more intelligence.

Moreover, the man seemed to know plenty of Hidden Knowledge. If he joined The Tarot Club, Klein should be able to draw quite a lot out of him.

Most importantly, this person had principles.

But how should he put it?

Should he directly tell Sno to investigate related information?

Would that not conflict with the Fool's image?

Or should he simply say that he permitted his prayers?

But what excuse should he use?

Or should he directly invite him into The Tarot Club?

Seeing Mr. Fool at the head of the long table casually stroking the edge of the Bronze Long Table, Sno knew that this gentleman must be troubled over how to phrase things. Just as he wondered whether he should offer Mr. Fool a way out, Mr. Fool suddenly chuckled.

"I am a Fool who likes Equivalent Exchange. If you want to obtain something, you must pay a corresponding price. And what can you offer?"

"Everything I have! My soul! My flesh and blood! As long as You desire it, I can offer it all to You!" Sno answered with almost no hesitation, but Mr. Fool merely chuckled and shook his head.

"I have no interest in the flesh and souls of mortals."

At that, Klein glanced at the emotions sliding toward despair and said leisurely:

"But I can give you an opportunity!"

"You may use everything you can obtain to acquire what you desire from me, and from others similar to you. Remember, the value must be equivalent..."

"Oh, and I am also interested in your intelligence regarding the descent of the evil god. As payment, I permit you to pray to me to digest your potion. In addition, the gathering is held every Monday at three in the afternoon. Remember to make sure you are alone. Of course, before that, you need to choose a codename."

While hinting that Sno could continue exchanging information about the evil god's descent for benefits, Mr. Fool took out a deck of Tarot Cards and spread them across the Bronze Long Table.

"The gathering's members use Tarot Card names as their codenames. However, Justice and Hanged Man already have owners, so you cannot choose them..."

"Devil." Sno calmly looked at Mr. Fool. With almost no hesitation, he named the codename he had decided on before coming here by rolling a twenty-sided die.

"For now, I am merely a prisoner bound in chains. But I hope that one day, I can become reversed and break free of those restraints."

"Remember your choice. Do not yield to temptation."

P.S. The Devil card represents temptation. Upright, it represents being bound, fallen, subdued, a prisoner of desire; reversed, it represents breaking free from restraints, lifting troubles, resisting temptation, and bidding farewell to the past. Incidentally, the original plan was to have the protagonist choose The Lovers card. After all, it would have been amusing for Audrey to call him 'Mr. Lovers' every time they met. But in the end, Devil suited his character better. Besides, other pathways have Tarot Club-related characters even if they have not joined The Tarot Club, whereas for the Abyss pathway, perhaps not a single person from that pathway could join The Tarot Club, right?