Hearing Klein's question, the pretty lady with her long brownish-yellow hair elegantly pinned up showed no impatience at all. She maintained a polite smile and said:
"Our members are free to perform divinations for people at the club and set their own prices. We only take a very small percentage as a fee. If you would like a divination, you can look through this album. It contains introductions and prices for the members willing to perform divinations."
"However, it's Monday afternoon. Most of our members are at work and busy. Fewer than five have come by..."
As she spoke, she invited Klein to sit on a sofa by the window in the reception hall. Then she opened the album from across from him and pointed out the members currently at the club:
"Hynas Vincent, a famous diviner in Tingen and a resident instructor at the club. He specializes in various methods of divination and charges 4 soli per session."
So expensive... That would buy two lavish dinners for Benson, Melissa, and me... Klein inwardly clicked his tongue but said nothing.
Seeing this, the lady with the brownish-yellow bun continued turning the pages, introducing them one by one:
"...The last is Glacis, a member who only joined the club this year. He has mastered tarot divination and charges 2 pence per session."
"Sir, whom would you like to choose?"
Klein answered without any hesitation:
"Mr. Glacis."
"..." The pretty receptionist fell silent for two seconds before saying, "Sir, I must remind you beforehand that Mr. Glacis can only be considered a beginner."
"I understand. I'll take responsibility for my own decision." Klein smiled and nodded.
"...Then please follow me." The pretty lady rose and led Klein through the door beside the reception hall.
There was a corridor that was not particularly long, with an open conference room at its end. It was filled with sunlight, furnished with tables and chairs, and stocked with newspapers, magazines, playing cards, and other things. A faint aroma of coffee drifted out.
When they were still two rooms away from the conference room, the pretty receptionist motioned for Klein to stop. She quickened her steps, entered the room at the end, and called gently:
"Mr. Glacis, someone would like a divination from you."
"Me?" A voice full of surprise and confusion immediately rang out, accompanied by the sound of a chair moving.
"Yes. Which divination room would you like to use?" the pretty lady answered without much emotion.
"The citrine room. I like citrine." Glacis appeared at the conference room doorway and looked curiously at Klein, who was waiting a short distance away.
He was a man in his thirties with a relatively dark complexion, dark green eyes, and soft, pale yellow hair. He wore a white shirt and black waistcoat, with a monocle hanging at his chest, and had quite a distinguished air.
Without saying anything more, the pretty receptionist opened the "citrine" room right beside the conference room.
Inside, the curtains were tightly drawn and the light was dim, as though only this could bring revelations from gods and spirits and yield accurate divination results.
"Hello, I'm Glacis. I never expected you to choose me to perform your divination." Glacis greeted him like a gentleman, strode into the room, and sat behind the long table. "To be frank, I'm only trying my hand at divination for others and don't have much experience yet. For now, I'm not a good diviner. You still have a chance to change your mind."
After returning his greeting, Klein followed him inside and closed the door behind him.
By the light filtering through the curtains, he said with a smile:
"You're a very honest gentleman, but I'm someone who firmly sticks to his choices."
"Please sit." Glacis pointed to the seat opposite him and thought for a few seconds before saying, "Divination is only a hobby of mine. Heh, people often receive guidance from the gods throughout their lives, but ordinary people cannot accurately interpret the Lord's meaning. That is why divination exists, and why I joined this club. I don't have enough confidence in myself in this regard yet, so let's treat the coming divination as an exchange-a free exchange. What do you think of that suggestion? I'll cover the club's fee myself. It's only a quarter of a penny."
Klein neither agreed nor shook his head. Instead, he said with a smile:
"I can tell you have a good, respectable job."
As he spoke, he leaned slightly forward, pressed his clenched right hand against his forehead, and tapped twice.
"But that doesn't improve the accuracy of my divination," Glacis replied humorously. After a moment of thought, he asked, "Do you have a headache? Would you like a divination about your health?"
"A little. What I'd like to divine is the whereabouts of an item." Klein had already prepared his answer and slowly leaned back.
In his eyes, the aura of Glacis's body was clearly visible. The orange-red color at his lungs was dim and thin, and it was affecting the brightness of the other areas.
This isn't a sign of fatigue... Klein nodded almost imperceptibly.
"Finding a lost item?" Glacis thought for a few seconds. "Then let's make a simple determination first."
He pushed the neatly stacked deck of tarot cards on the black tabletop toward Klein.
"Calm yourself, recall the item in your mind, and silently repeat the question, 'Can it still be found?' Meanwhile, shuffle and cut the deck."
"All right." In truth, Klein did not remember what the ancient notebook looked like, so he could only expand the question he needed to repeat: Can that notebook belonging to the Antigonus Family still be found?
As he repeated it, he deftly finished shuffling and cutting the deck.
Glacis picked up the top card and pushed it horizontally in front of Klein:
"Turn it clockwise until it's vertical, then flip it over. If it's reversed, meaning the picture on the card is upside down to you, that means the item cannot be recovered. If it's upright, we'll continue the divination to find its precise whereabouts."
Following his instructions, Klein rotated the horizontal card clockwise until it was vertical.
He pinched the edge of the tarot card and flipped it over.
It was a reversed card, its picture upside down.
"What a pity." Glacis sighed.
Klein did not respond, because all his attention was on the tarot card before him.
The picture on the reversed card was "The Fool," dressed in magnificent clothes and wearing a splendid headdress!
"The Fool" again? Surely it can't be such a coincidence... According to The Hanged Man and Old Neil, divination is the result of one's spirituality communicating with the Spirit World and a higher-level "self." Tarot cards are merely tools that make "symbolic revelations" easier to interpret. In theory, it doesn't matter what objects are used for divination. They won't affect the result... Klein frowned slightly and considered for a while before saying:
"Can I divine whether someone else has already obtained the item?"
"Absolutely. Just do it again in the same way as before." Glacis nodded with great interest.
Klein shuffled and cut the deck again, silently contemplating the question.
Drawing the card, laying it horizontally, and turning it clockwise until it was vertical, he completed the preparations with a serious expression.
Taking a breath, Klein reached out and flipped over the tarot card.
Please don't be "The Fool" again...
Amid his prayers, he suddenly relaxed, because the card showed "The Star," reversed!
"It seems no one else has picked up the item yet." Glacis smiled as he interpreted it.
Klein nodded, raised his right hand, and lightly tapped between his eyebrows twice as if in thought. Then he took two pennies with a dark brass sheen from his trouser pocket and pushed them toward Glacis.
"Didn't I say it was free?" Glacis asked with a frown.
Klein smiled and stood up:
"This is out of respect for divination."
"All right. Thank you for your generosity." Glacis rose and extended his hand.
After shaking hands, Klein took two steps back, turned around, walked to the door, and turned the handle.
Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly looked back and said with a hum:
"Mr. Glacis, I suggest you see a doctor as soon as possible. Mainly about your lungs."
"Why?" Glacis asked in astonishment.
Is he cursing me because he's unhappy with the divination results?
Klein thought for a moment and said:
"These are symptoms visible in your complexion. You, um, the area between your eyebrows is dark."
"The area between my eyebrows is dark..." It was the first time Glacis had heard such a description.
Klein did not explain further. He smiled and left the room, closing the wooden door behind him.
"Is he an unlicensed doctor or a country apothecary?" Glacis shook his head in amusement and casually picked up a silver mirror used for divination.
Looking closely, he discovered that the area between his eyebrows was indeed dark.
However, that was due to the surroundings. In the dim light filtering through the curtains, it was not just the area between his eyebrows that was dark-his entire face was dark!
"A rather unlikable joke," Glacis murmured.
Not quite reassured, he performed a divination about his own health and confirmed that nothing was wrong.
By the time he left the Divination Club, Klein had added another plan for his future.
That was to save up money as soon as possible, pay the annual fee, and become a club member, thereby beginning to act as a so-called "Seer."
The reason he would not strike out on his own was that he currently lacked resources and connections. Nor could he possibly set up a stall on the street. After all, he was a respectable man, more or less, and had his dignity.
A few minutes later, he caught a public carriage and spent 2 pence to reach Zouteland Street, which was not very far away.
Pushing open the door to the Blackthorn Security Company, he did not see the familiar brown-haired girl. He only found Leonard Mitchell, the black-haired, green-eyed man with a poet's air, seated behind the reception desk.
"Good afternoon. Where's Rozanne?" Klein asked after taking off his hat in greeting.
Leonard smiled and pointed at the partition door:
"She's on duty at the armory tonight."
Before Klein could ask anything else, Leonard spoke as though pondering a question:
"Klein, there's something that's been puzzling me."
"What is it?" Klein looked bewildered.
Leonard stood up and said with a smile, his tone unhurried:
"Why did Welch and Naya commit suicide on the spot, while you went home?"
"Probably because that unknown entity wanted me to take away the Antigonus Family's notebook and hide it," Klein said, giving the generally accepted conjecture.
Leonard paced a few steps, then suddenly turned and looked straight into Klein's eyes:
"If making you commit suicide was meant to silence you and erase the clues, why didn't it simply have you destroy that notebook on the spot?"