Roselle Gustav's secret diary?
Emperor Roselle?
As expected, only something like this would warrant the attention of someone as powerful as Mr. Fool... Audrey was startled at first, then realized she did not feel surprised at all.
Emperor Roselle was said to have seen the Blasphemy Slate, and the secret cards he made were said to contain the twenty-two Divine Pathways. This was something every high-Sequence powerhouse would certainly care about!
"A diary? That was a diary?" Alger frowned slightly, keenly noticing a detail.
Mr. Fool had referred to Roselle Gustav's legacy as a diary with certainty!
How did he know?
How had he confirmed it?
Could he have mastered a way to decipher Roselle's Secret Script?
Having achieved the intended effect, Klein leaned back against his chair at The Hanged Man's question, clasped his hands, and answered casually:
"Let us regard it as a diary for now."
He neither denied nor confirmed it.
"They say Emperor Roselle's, um, diary was written in secret characters-or rather, symbols-of his own invention?" Audrey had heard other young nobles mention this, but had never actually seen it. Quite curious, she asked.
"Yes," Alger answered simply. "Some believe it is a unique set of mystical symbols, while others believe it is a pictographic script. But to this day, no one has found the correct way to decipher it. At least, not to my knowledge."
As he finished, he turned to look at Klein, seemingly seeking some sort of confirmation, yet also seeming to suspect something.
Those characters had evolved over many generations and had long since ceased to be their original pictographs. With your approach, how could you possibly decipher them... Feeling calm, Klein snickered inwardly.
As for treating them as mystical symbols, that instantly brought some absurd, amusing scenes to mind:
An evil mage in a black hooded robe rolled up his sleeve, revealing symbols tattooed on his arm, supposedly inherited from Emperor Roselle and possessing mystical power. They were two enormous blue-green simplified Chinese characters:
"Dumbass!"
The corners of Klein's mouth slowly curled upward, and his mood improved further.
After hearing The Hanged Man's description, Audrey said with some difficulty:
"Symbols or characters we cannot read... then how are we to relay them to you here, Mr. Fool? Or should we mail them somewhere?"
That is an important question... I don't yet have a channel for receiving things secretly... Klein did not hurry to answer. His thumbs separated and touched, then touched and separated again above his clasped hands.
Soon, he found an approach:
Since I can create a temple, tables, and chairs here according to my own thoughts, could I let others directly reproduce what appears in their minds?
Let's try...
At that moment, Audrey and Alger saw Mr. Fool, shrouded in thick gray fog, slowly sit upright and say:
"Miss Justice, let us try something. Imagine a passage of text and give it an urgent desire to be written down. Yes, pick up the fountain pen beside you and write on the paper."
Before Klein finished speaking, Audrey saw a sheet of yellowish-brown parchment and a dark red fountain pen appear before her.
Puzzled and curious, she picked up the pen and followed his instructions, imagining a line of poetry Emperor Roselle had once written:
"If winter comes, can spring be far behind?" (Note 1)
After examining the passage, she picked up the pen, willing all of it to appear.
Klein sensed this "emotion," and used the "fountain pen" as a medium to guide it.
The moment Audrey set the pen down, she saw a line of words appear on the parchment:
"If winter comes, can spring be far behind?"
"Goddess, this is incredible!" Audrey exclaimed in astonishment, full of wonder.
Then she looked toward Klein with some fear:
"Mr. Fool, can you read my thoughts?"
"No, I merely act as a guide, simplifying the process of writing the words and turning it into a form of reproduction. If you yourself do not wish or want to 'express' anything, no trace will appear." Klein reassured her in a deep voice.
"I see... then we only need to remember what those symbols or secret characters look like, and we can make them appear directly according to our wishes?" Audrey asked in realization, breathing a sigh of relief.
"Yes," Klein answered briefly.
"This is an excellent method. Miss Justice, do not doubt your memory. After becoming a Spectator, you will receive a considerable improvement in that regard." Having watched the experiment, Alger felt that The Fool was even more mysterious and powerful than he had imagined.
As for his own memory, he believed it would improve sufficiently with his subsequent advancement.
At this, Audrey nodded delightedly.
"That is a truly welcome tip. Mr. Hanged Man, what else can you teach me about being a Spectator?"
At this point, she turned toward the head of the table:
"Mr. Fool, I will work hard to complete your task and collect as many of Emperor Roselle's secret diary entries as possible."
"As I said, I am someone who favors equivalent exchange. The payment I advanced just now amounts to only two pages of diary entries from each of you. If you have more, I will provide additional payment," Klein said calmly, in a tone that suggested he would not take advantage of children.
As for where the additional payment would come from, it would naturally be new secret diary entries from Emperor Roselle. This would form a good cycle.
"You are truly a generous gentleman." Alger fell silent for a few seconds, then placed a hand over his chest and bowed slightly.
After bowing, he turned toward Justice and said:
"Let me emphasize this again: a Spectator must always remain a spectator."
"I know that many spectators like to imagine themselves as the protagonist or another character, investing so much emotion that they cry, laugh, grow angry, and feel sorrow along with the drama. But that is not what you, as a Spectator, should do."
"When faced with the 'dramas' of worldly society, with people who consciously or unconsciously play certain roles, you must maintain an absolutely detached attitude. Only then can you examine them calmly and objectively, discover their habitual movements, notice their verbal tics when lying, smell their nervousness, and grasp their true thoughts from all those tiny clues."
"Believe me, everyone naturally secretes different 'substances' and gives off different smells depending on their emotions, but only a true Spectator can smell them."
"Once you become emotionally invested, your observations will be affected, and your perception of others' emotions will become skewed."
Audrey listened attentively, her eyes growing brighter:
"That sounds very, very, very interesting!"
At the head of the table, something stirred in Klein's mind as he listened:
The requirements of the Spectator potion seemed to boil down to 'being an absolutely neutral spectator.'
That amounted to acting, to some extent...
Acting?
Could this be what Emperor Roselle meant by 'acting'?
Then did I need to act as a Seer to digest the potion little by little?
While Klein was lost in thought, Alger finished explaining the requirements for a Spectator that he knew of. After a moment's consideration, he said:
"There doesn't seem to be anything else?"
"Perhaps we could chat casually and talk about things happening around us. News that seems ordinary to one person might be a very important clue to someone else."
"Certainly." Klein came back to himself and nodded slightly.
He had already decided to try acting as a Seer. In any case, it did not seem likely to have any harmful effects.
"Then shall we begin with you, Mr. Hanged Man?" Audrey agreed with considerable interest.
Alger thought for a moment and said:
"The great pirate who calls himself Admiral Ludwell has once again set sail to explore the easternmost reaches of the Sonia Sea."
"Hmm, the owner of the Black Tulip?" Audrey asked thoughtfully.
"Yes." Alger nodded in reply.
I don't even know who that is... Klein listened without speaking, considering what news he should share-news that would not expose him, yet would yield information in return.
Soon, he made his decision. Maintaining The Fool's unfathomable image, he rubbed his fingers along the edge of the long bronze table and said:
"As far as I know, the Secret Order has lost an Antigonus Family Notebook."
This information was not known only to the Nighthawks of Tingen City. The Secret Order and the Beyonders closely associated with them knew it as well.
"An Antigonus Family Notebook?" Alger repeated, shaking his head with a low chuckle. "I am truly curious how the Church of the Evernight Goddess will react when they learn of this."
Why mention only the Church of the Evernight Goddess? Klein keenly noticed the issue, but could not readily ask.
That would ruin The Fool's mysterious, unfathomable image.
At that moment, Audrey asked in puzzlement:
"Why are you curious about that? Would the Goddess's Church have any particular reaction?"
Alger smiled and said:
"It was the Church of the Evernight Goddess that destroyed the Antigonus Family."
"I am not quite sure whether it was at the end of the Fourth Epoch or the beginning of the current epoch."
This... Klein's pupils contracted, and a sudden chill surged through him:
From the looks of it, the Nighthawks attached far more importance to that Antigonus Family Notebook than I had imagined!
Their reasons for proposing that I become a Beyonder-'having made some contributions' and 'guarding against danger'-were probably only a very small part of it. What they hoped was that I would improve my spiritual intuition, which would help them find the notebook.
The captain had not concealed this. He had mentioned it, but I hadn't paid attention at the time...
After hearing The Hanged Man's explanation, Audrey said with great interest:
"I never imagined anything like that had happened..."
"All right, it is my turn. Let me think about what to say."
She tilted her head slightly, rested a hand against her forehead, and said with a soft laugh:
"Yesterday, my etiquette teacher was teaching me how to faint, how to faint elegantly without being impolite. It is a practical skill for escaping embarrassing situations and nasty people at social occasions... heh, I was just organizing my thoughts. What I really wanted to say is that ever since the defeat in the war on the East Coast of Balam, the king, the prime minister, and all the gentlemen have felt tremendous pressure and have an urgent desire for change."
Note 1: Shelley, "Ode to the West Wind."