Hearing Miss Justice's greeting, Mr. Fool gently tapped the edge of the Bronze Long Table three times with his fingers and said with a smile:
"Congratulations, Miss Justice. You are a Beyonder now."
At those words, Audrey, Justice, froze for a moment before replying in a delighted voice:
"Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Fool, and thank you, Mr. Hanged Man and Mr. Tower."
Mr. Fool nodded lightly, then swept his gaze over the symbols formed from brilliant, glowing stars on the chair backs behind the three people present.
Behind Miss Justice was a symbol shaped like a dragon, while behind the Hanged Man was an image of lightning and storms.
Klein understood that these all pointed to their respective Beyonder Pathways.
But when he looked at the back of the chair behind Julian, the Tower, he paused in surprise.
What appeared there was a vast, boundless starry sky composed of dazzling starlight.
The stars formed no particular pattern and seemed entirely random.
Among them, he could vaguely make out the neon hues of a nebula, but the colors vanished almost as soon as they appeared, making Klein, the Fool, wonder whether his eyes had played tricks on him.
Steadying himself, he finally asked:
"Ladies and gentlemen, have you found any pages of Roselle's Diary?"
In response to Mr. Fool's question, Mr. Hanged Man and Miss Justice said in turn that they had found two pages and one page. Julian, the Tower, also said that he had one page of Emperor Roselle's Diary.
In truth, he had nothing of the sort. But as a transmigrator from China who could write Chinese characters, he could fabricate as many pages of "Roselle's Diary" as he wished at any time.
"Very good."
After offering that brief praise, Mr. Fool had the three of them use their extraordinary memories as Beyonders to manifest the contents of the diary in turn.
The first page mentioned Emperor Roselle taking his servants to explore the Fog Sea, where they encountered some unusual supernatural species.
Meanwhile, his servant Green had contracted some unknown infection and begun behaving rather strangely.
The information made the corners of Mr. Fool's mouth twitch, and he could not help silently mocking his fellow transmigrator's lack of decency.
The third diary page recorded how Emperor Roselle had become a Savant and how he had come to understand the effects of the Acting Method Zaratul had mentioned.
Steadying himself, Klein turned that page over and moved on to the fourth page, submitted by Julian, the Tower.
"March 7. I learned some unbelievable things today.
"Hermes told me that if someone on his Pathway advanced to a sufficiently high Sequence, they would gain a certain ability to 'script' reality.
"To borrow a popular internet expression from before my transmigration, it is a power akin to 'making one's words become reality.' For example, if I wished for a beautiful noble lady to throw herself into my arms tomorrow, it would definitely happen the next day-in an entirely reasonable manner.
"To be honest, learning this frightened me a little. I couldn't help wondering whether everything I am experiencing now, along with all those supposedly free choices I have made, has been arranged by someone else.
"When I continued asking Hermes who possessed this ability, he merely smiled and told me, 'There is only one at present, but it isn't me.' He also mentioned that the Church of the Evernight Goddess could accomplish the same thing by paying certain specific prices.
"That description was rather ambiguous, but I suspect the former refers to some powerful Angel, while the latter might refer to a Sealed Artifact formed from the corresponding Beyonder Characteristic?"
The ability to make one's words become reality?
Such a power existed in this world? And it was even connected to the Church of Evernight?
Mr. Fool's mind filled with confusion and astonishment.
He also noticed the term "Beyonder Characteristic."
At this point, Klein still lacked sufficient knowledge of the Law of Conservation of Beyonder Characteristics, so he did not quite understand what the term meant.
Julian, the Tower, quietly watched Klein's reaction, displaying nothing unusual beyond curiosity throughout.
His main purpose in forging this diary page was to tell Klein two things.
The first was that the Church of Evernight possessed a Sealed Artifact that could, in a sense, "make its words become reality."
Unless something unexpected happened, 0-08 would still very likely take the initiative to arrange for Mr. Azik to warn Klein that something unusual had happened to his fate, just as in the original story.
Since Klein already knew that Ince Zangwill, an Archbishop of the Church of Evernight, had stolen a high-level Sealed Artifact, he might become wary of Ince and take precautions, beginning to consider whether his fate had been arranged.
With Sefirah Castle aiding Klein, this would help reduce the causal variables introduced by 0-08, since he would try to warn those around him, invisibly placing greater pressure on Ince Zangwill.
Meanwhile, the concept of Beyonder Characteristics concerned Dunn Smith's safety, another key factor that could affect the situation.
Since Julian already intended to offer the Law of Conservation of Beyonder Characteristics as a bargaining chip in a trade, this was something he could accomplish along the way.
"...Sorry, I became absorbed in reading."
Coming back to his senses, Mr. Fool raised his head to look at everyone and spoke with a smile.
"I understand, and I look forward to someday being able to trade with you for the contents of Emperor Roselle's Diary."
Miss Justice spoke as she struggled to suppress her envy.
"That will require paying a price."
Mr. Fool nodded lightly, then added:
"You may converse freely now."
"Mr. Tower, I am very grateful for the warning you sent me through Mr. Fool last time."
Miss Justice was referring to the matter of someone following her. She added:
"Although I still don't quite understand what happened, I have stayed home all this time as you advised. I also told my elder brother, in a relatively discreet way, that someone meant me harm.
"He took the matter very seriously and has already arranged for people to investigate."
"Don't mention
"it."
Julian, the Tower, let out a small sigh of relief as he spoke.
"There is also something else I would like to ask you."
Miss Justice continued:
"I have received the potion ingredient you had someone deliver to me... It looks like a beautiful object resembling a heart.
"But judging from my earlier experience brewing the Spectator potion, a potion should require two main ingredients...? Or does this involve some principle I don't understand?"
As expected... Audrey has begun noticing the nature of Beyonder Characteristics.
As the thought passed through his mind, Julian, the Tower, nodded lightly.
"Yes. This concerns the knowledge I did not finish explaining last time-namely, why the Churches of the orthodox deities need to control the spread of the Acting Method.
"I have decided what I want... I am also curious whether the two of you are ready to complete this trade."