Above the endless gray-white mist, inside an ancient palace that seemed to be the abode of the gods.
Deep red rays of light shot upwards from both sides of the bronze table, solidifying into blurry figures.
" Justice " Audrey immediately rose, lifted her skirt slightly, and bowed towards the top:
Good afternoon, Mr. The Fool.
She wasn't exactly down, but all the recent events had made it impossible for her to speak with the same light, cheerful tone as before.
After the members finished bowing and took their seats, Audrey's eyes swept over them, already habitually observing them.
Almost instantly, she realized that the " The Hermit " woman's mental state and body language indicated that she was worried about something.
Is it related to the " Mystery Queen "? Or is it something else? Or perhaps both? " Justice " Audrey pondered the possible reasons with a mixture of surprise and curiosity.
After numerous Tarot Gathering, she had already drawn a "psychological portrait" of the " The Hermit," believing her to be a rather contradictory and Beyonder —experienced, knowledgeable, calm, and capable, yet also bold and reckless in some aspects, like a girl who had not yet reached adulthood.
Based on the relationship the other party showed with the " Mystery Queen," Audrey interpreted it as follows: although the " The Hermit " lady had experienced a lot, she had often been able to resolve problems smoothly under the queen's protection and arrangement. Deep down, there was still a little girl living inside her who longed for love and care.
It is precisely because of this latent state that Audrey boldly speculates that when the " The Hermit " encounters people who have been "abandoned" but have not committed any serious Error, she will unconsciously pity, sympathize with, and help them.
Meanwhile, based on information such as being a woman, active at sea, possessing Sequence 5 strength, having many magical items, rich experience and knowledge, liking to wear thick glasses, and having connections with Gehrman Sparrow, Audrey believed that she could easily identify the " The Hermit " by simply flipping through wanted posters and newspapers related to pirates. However, she did not specifically do this, only having a general guess.
No, the " The Hermit " should already be Sequence 4 Demigod, there can't be too many things that could make her so worried... It certainly isn't because of the outbreak of war, a great pirate wouldn't be too troubled by this... In the blink of an eye, due to insufficient knowledge, " Justice " Audrey had no other ideas but to guess in the direction of the " Mystery Queen ".
At this moment, two things echoed in the mind of the " The Hermit " Cattleya:
"Why did the Queen send so many diaries all at once? If I hadn't become a ' Mystic ' and mastered certain secret arts, I wouldn't have been able to memorize them all in such a short time... What happened? Is the Queen facing some kind of predicament?"
" Frank, that guy, actually didn't want to go through the ritual and just wanted to take the Potion to advance. Luckily, I stopped him. However, the ' Druid ' ritual is no challenge for him at all. Mastering the living habits and physical structures of multiple common animals and three extraordinary creatures is homework that this crazy ' Biologist ' who's already been doing hybridization of plants and animals has already done in advance. Next week, no, in the next couple of days, he'll become a ' Druid.' All he needs to do is write down his accumulated knowledge and experiences as part of the ritual..."
Amidst her flurry of thoughts, Cattleya suppressed her worries, turned to the head of the long bronze table, bowed her head, and respectfully said:
"Great ' The Fool,' I've finally collected an entire volume of Roselle's Diary."
Upon hearing the words of the " The Hermit," the members, including " The Hanged Man " Alger, were visibly stunned; this was beyond their comprehension.
In the past, I would submit two or three pages, or even just one or two pages, but this time it was an entire book!
What happened? Even Derrick, the " The Sun " who was least interested in such matters and the most oblivious, sensed something was amiss.
They all knew that the " Mystery Queen " Bernadette was the eldest daughter of Emperor Roselle, so it was normal for her to provide an entire diary. What was abnormal was the act of giving away an entire diary at once!
The " The Hermit " Cattleya, oblivious to everyone's stares, continued:
"These diaries are not consecutive, but they all originate from the later years of Emperor Roselle."
"Very good, the Fool." Klein nodded slightly, indicating that the " The Hermit " could begin to materialize.
One slightly yellowed page after another of the diary entries took shape, and soon they were stacked together into a book.
After receiving it, Klein casually flipped through it, without actually reading it, and put the diary down, looking at the " The Hermit " Cattleya and saying:
You can ask your questions now.
"Including the ones I accumulated last time, there are ten in total."
He didn't read the diary carefully because there were simply too many pages this time, at least thirty pages. Reading it all at once would make the Tarot Club members wait too long, which would affect Mr. The Fool's image. So he planned to read it slowly after the gathering.
Ten... " The Hermit " Cattleya suddenly felt a headache coming on, because " The Mystery Queen " Bernadette only allowed her to ask two questions this time.
She considered it for a moment and said:
"Dear Mr. ' The Fool,' may I ask you in batches?"
"Okay." Klein nodded with a smile.
This was exactly what he was thinking; answering ten questions in one go was also a difficult task for Mr. The Fool.
" The Hermit " Cattleya secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said:
There are two questions this time.
"First, why should we be 'careful of the Spectator '?"
"Beware of the ' Spectator '?" Audrey, the " Justice " one, looked bewildered, momentarily unable to find a direction for her guess, and even examined herself.
Beware of the " Spectator "? Members of the Tarot Club, including " The Moon " Emlyn and " The Star " Leonard, all turned their attention to Miss " Justice ".
" The Fool " Klein chuckled softly and said in a leisurely tone:
"The ' Spectator ' always likes to Manipulation things from the shadows, making them difficult to detect and guard against."
"Of particular concern is Adam, the ' Angel of Imagination,' whose ascension ritual involved consuming Potion within the very fabricated trends of his own time."
"The anticipated trends of the times... to make the development of the times conform to one's own expectations? Justice?" Audrey couldn't help but ask Mr. " The Fool " for advice.
Klein nodded slightly and said:
"Right.
"A war that engulfs the entire world is exactly what Adam wants."
This... The members of the Tarot Club, including " The Hanged Man " Alger and " The Hermit " Cattleya, were so bombarded with information revealed in Mr. The Fool's words that they were momentarily unable to think straight.
Whether it's the ritual of becoming a god or the trends of the times, they all involve extremely high levels, so high that they can only look up to them!
Suddenly, they vaguely understood why the Psychology Alchemists was so deeply involved in the royal conspiracy, and they also learned that some members of the " Hermits of Fate " had grasped the essence of maintaining the trend of the times.
Only beings of Mr. The Fool's caliber could understand these Concealment and participate in the corresponding games... Alger the Hanged Man quickly regained his composure, sighed inwardly, and felt an even greater urgency to become Demigod.
He believes this war will bring many opportunities, but he doesn't know if he can seize them.
The Tarot Club members fell silent, their thoughts swirling. " The Fool " Klein sighed inexplicably, for this was a war he was powerless to stop. If he could make George III's " Black Emperor " ritual fail, he might have a tiny chance of succeeding by jumping and reaching out. But this war, which had become the "trend of the times," was something even Angel, Sequence 1 Angel, could not truly influence. Forcing his way in would only result in being crushed to dust by the rolling wheels of history.
Even the Angel King, aside from beings like Adam who spent a thousand or two thousand years arranging the "plot," can at most change local situations and find it difficult to fight against the overall trend. Only true gods of Sequence 0 can truly participate in the game... No wonder the Emperor said that only by becoming a god can one protect oneself and those one wants to protect... All I can do right now is to have the resistance forces on the Rorsted Archipelago make more preparations, hoping they will have a chance to break free from colonial rule... Klein pulled himself out of his thoughts and kept the smile on his face.
He was not blindly opposed to all wars; his education in his previous life and his experiences at sea and in West Balam instilled in him an encouraging attitude towards the struggle to overthrow colonial rule.
Simply put, what he dislikes and abhors is "unjust war."
Sensing the gaze of " The Fool," " The Hermit " Cattleya controlled her chaotic and surging thoughts and spoke again:
"Secondly, where might the undiscovered secret tomb of Emperor Roselle be located?"
A secret mausoleum? One yet to be discovered? " The Magician " Fors became increasingly focused, feeling that this was a best-selling subject with all the elements of a popular trend.
" Justice " Audrey and " The Hanged Man " Alger astutely discerned something from this issue:
Roselle's eldest daughter may not yet be able to accept her father's death and is still searching for the traces he left behind, hoping to find clues to resurrect the emperor.
Of course, it cannot be ruled out that there are other important things in that secret mausoleum, which may be the " Mystery Queen's" real target.
Roselle also left behind a secret mausoleum? Who knows what's inside...? This is what " The Star " Leonard and " Judgement " Hugh, among other members, are more concerned about.
" The Fool " Klein was already prepared for this, and smiled as he said:
"Perhaps in the Sonia Sea, within the Concealment, primeval islands that Roselle once discovered, or in the Abyss."
The Abyss... " The Moon " Emlyn suddenly felt a slight twitch in his eyelids.
The history of the Sanguine contains numerous records of the rampage caused by Devil in the Second Age. Even after thousands of years, he felt that he became restless and entangled in chaos for a period of time while reading it.
" The Sun " Derrick felt similarly, but he didn't care too much. It was common knowledge in City of Silver that reading certain documents would overexert one's mind and unconsciously affect one's mental state. Therefore, one must first receive general education and listen to the teacher's explanation.
The Abyss... " Justice " Audrey, " Judgement " Hugh, and others unconsciously repeated that word in their minds.
In their daily lives, " Abyss " is more of an abstract term, a synonym for danger, pain, Depravity, and filth.
Unexpectedly, it really exists, somewhere in the Sonia Sea!
P. S.: Both chapters for today have been delivered. Please vote for me in November!