Above the Gray Fog, the majestic palace stood silently.
Klein tapped rhythmically on the edge of the bronze table, concentrating on what countermeasures he should take against the threats posed by the Aurora Order and Mr. A.
Unable to ascertain the other party's true intentions, he instinctively had an idea:
Report Mr. A! Report illegal assembly!
Klein could easily find out the location of Mr. A's gathering from Miss " The Magician," and then discreetly report it to the Nighthawks, the Mandated Punishers, or the Machinery Hivemind.
A divine messenger from the Aurora Order would definitely attract considerable attention!
At that point, Mr. A might not even be able to protect himself, let alone track down the followers of " The Fool ".
The problem is that this will inevitably implicate a group of innocent Beyonder, and Klein suspects that this is the reason Mr. A directly offered a bounty on the followers of " The Fool ".
He may have already planned his escape route, so that if someone reports him, he can clearly confirm that there was a " The Fool " at the previous gathering.
As for who it is specifically, that doesn't matter. Mr. A and the Lunatic of the Aurora Order are absolutely capable of making sure no one is wrongly accused!
Once Beyonder fall into their hands, most can no longer hide their secrets. The Aurora Order, or rather the " Shepherd " path represented by the " True Creator," excels at corrupting others.
When Beyonder's worldview is completely Distortion and they begin to genuinely believe in a " True Creator," what can remain a secret?
There are other ways, but it's best not to report it... Klein leaned back in his chair, gathering his chaotic thoughts and sorting out the whole matter again.
As he pondered, he suddenly realized a problem:
There are no believers or Blessed of " the Fool " in this world!
Even the Tarot Club has only a handful of members, and none of them have revealed any information about it to the outside world.
In other words, the Aurora Order can't find any relevant clues... There's nothing to worry about... The only bad outcome is that " The Fool " is now on the " True Creator's " list. Being constantly on the mind of an evil god isn't a pleasant feeling, but it won't affect other aspects much... Klein nodded thoughtfully.
He had thought it through very clearly. The only flaw in the whole thing was that he had used the title " The Fool " written in Ancient Hermes as the password for an anonymous account. However, with the sacrificial and bestowal rituals proving to work, this account had been abandoned for a long time and had long been forgotten.
This can be inferred from the fact that in the past month and a half, no one has been noticed by Klein for copying codes.
In this way, bank employees who had access to the code but clearly lacked knowledge of the occult would no longer be able to reveal this information to anyone, and those Beyonder could at most inquire using Loen language. Even if they found the right person, that person would not be able to connect the Loen language script description with the Ancient Hermes code.
If anyone copies it down, I'll know immediately and be able to respond effectively... Besides, even if someone discovers the password problem, it'll be difficult to trace back to Sherlock Moriarty. I always use certain methods... Miss Justice is also quite careful when depositing money... With a light tapping sound, Klein relaxed and chuckled:
Do you think that the ' The Fool ' has many Blessed and believers, therefore there must be many indelible clues?
"Wrong, terribly wrong! There is only one follower and Blessed of the ' The Fool '! That is myself!"
At this point, he couldn't help but chuckle self-deprecatingly:
"This doesn't seem like something to be proud of..."
I need to be more careful lately, and not use the " The Fool's" name... Klein reminded himself, then responded to Miss " Magician's" request.
He adjusted his posture and said in a low, gentle voice:
Don't worry about it.
Don't worry about it... Fors received an answer that both surprised and felt perfectly reasonable:
In Mr. The Fool's eyes, the Aurora Order nothing more than a swarm of ants!
Fors murmured the honored name again, then asked curiously:
"Respected ' The Fool,' Mr. Aurora, to which being Aurora Order worship?"
Immediately, she saw Mr. The Fool sitting in a high-backed chair in the center of the Gray Fog, speaking leisurely:
" The True Creator."
The True Creator ... Fors's eyes widened suddenly, and she instantly understood why Mr. A had suddenly sought out the " The Fool "'s followers:
With the help of the Tarot Club, the " The Sun " boy from City of Silver successfully exposed the anomaly of the exploration team and thwarted the plot of the " True Creator "!
Behind this matter lies the confrontation and struggle between Mr. The Fool and the " True Creator "... Fors didn't dare to ask any more questions and quickly gave a brief account of his encounter with the Abraham Family members today, mentioning Lawrence's will, the peculiar notebook, and the Beyonder Characteristic left behind by the other party.
"Dear ' The Fool ' sir, what should I do?" she asked hesitantly.
"How do you do it?" Miss Magician is quite lucky... Why have I never had such good fortune...? Klein chuckled in response.
"Do what you truly believe in."
He wasn't worried at all that Dorian Gray of the Pritz Harbor Fishermen's Association would harm Miss " The Magician," because he knew that her bracelet still had two stones and could perform two more Spirit World Teleportation.
"What are my truest thoughts?" Fors lowered his head thoughtfully and said:
"I understand, thank you, Mr. ' The Fool '."
She decided to buy a ticket for the Steam train tomorrow—a journey from Backlund to Pritz Harbor that would take just over an hour, or perhaps even less.
After reporting everything, Fors requested a sacrifice and bestowal ceremony, which was granted. She then exchanged £600 in cash for the Beyonder Characteristic of " Sheriff ".
Picking up the child's fist-shaped object composed of iron black, dark red, and silver white, and gazing at its beautiful, Spirituality radiance, Fors felt both joy and awe.
Hugh has already gathered all the necessary materials; she'll soon be advancing to Sequence 8... while I still don't know when I'll become a " Trickmaster "... I hope Mr. " The Hanged Man " and the others can help me find the corresponding extraordinary materials as soon as possible...
Hugh has been unconsciously Acting of " Arbiter," so there's no need to worry about her digestion of Sequence 9 Potion. But what about after becoming a " Sheriff "? Should she apply to Mr. The Fool for instruction in " Acting Method " in exchange for a certain price... or should she be directly advised to infiltrate the police force?
At the head of the long, weathered table, Klein looked at the thick wad of cash in front of him and counted it carefully several times.
"Now I have 1230 pounds, and I'm about 300 pounds short of the money needed for a Sequence 6 Extraordinary material. Of course, 1500 pounds is just the bare minimum; the actual price is often much higher..."
Where else can I get money these days?
"As soon as the bicycle patent is granted, you sell a portion of your shares?"
"Oh right, I almost forgot about the special nature of the Tarot Club. The Beyonder Characteristic of the ' Werewolf ' can't be sold in Backlund for the time being, lest it be discovered by the High-Sequence powerhouses of the Rose School of Thought. But we can sell it elsewhere! At the next gathering, let 'The World' step in and entrust Mr. ' The Hanged Man ' to sell this item on the Sonia Sea, with a corresponding commission as payment."
"After deducting all expenses, the ' Werewolf ' Beyonder Characteristic will bring me at least 1,000 pounds, which is more than enough for a Sequence 6 extraordinary material."
Klein quickly came up with an idea and felt relieved.
What he found regrettable was that Miss Hugh didn't seem to have much money. Even if she could quickly digest the Potion after becoming a " Sheriff," it would take her a long time to afford the Beyonder Characteristic corresponding to the " Interrogator." And if the " Magician " was chosen by the Abraham Family, his subsequent " Astrologer " Potion formula would not be able to be sold.
This is truly regrettable... Klein sighed and returned to the real world.
Wednesday morning.
Klein didn't suffer from insomnia due to the " True Creator's" concern or the Aurora Order's pursuit. He slept soundly until dawn, and happily went out to buy a Desi pie for breakfast.
And Desi's pie is definitely meant to be served with sweet iced tea.
While enjoying his meal and flipping through the newspaper, he noticed an advertisement for Ernst Firm, learning that there would be a gathering of Beyonder convened by the " Eye of Wisdom " the following night.
"This time I can try to purchase the corresponding extraordinary materials... but they probably don't have them there, or if they do, they'll only have auxiliary materials like ' Deep-sea Naga Hair'..." Klein seriously considered which channels he could use to collect materials.
He spread out his left hand, counting silently on his fingers:
"Within the Tarot Club are Little ' The Sun,' Mr. ' The Hanged Man,' and Miss ' Justice' —each with their own channels; the gatherings of Old Man ' Eye of Wisdom '; Miss Bodyguard and Maric, but try to avoid contacting them recently; and, and, right, Emlyn White the Vampire —didn't he say we could write to some powerful Sanguine for advice? That's the power of connections!"
With that in mind, Klein immediately decided to stake out Emlyn White at Harvest Church today.
Although the Aurora Order little chance of tracking him down, it still gave him a sense of urgency, making him want to quickly gather the extraordinary materials so that he could rapidly advance to Sequence 6 once he had digested the Potion.
10:00 AM, Bridge South Borough, Rose Street.
Wearing a double-breasted long suit, Klein removed his top hat and slowly walked into the rather small Harvest Church.
At first glance, he saw Father Utravsky, who looked like a Giant, and Emlyn White, who was wearing a brown priest's robe.
The latter was wiping the candlesticks, looking numb and heartbroken.
What a coincidence... Wait, does he stay here all day? And only go home at night? Klein casually found a seat, while there were no more than five believers in the entire church.
Emlyn White saw him too, put down the rag, walked over, and sat down next to him.
The Vampire's expression suddenly became lively; he raised his chin slightly and chuckled.
"You've come here all of a sudden, is it because you need my help with something?"