The Divination Club was on the second floor of 13 Howes Street, North Borough, Tingen City.
Klein once again saw the beautiful lady in charge of reception.
She still wore her long, light brown hair in a bun, looking mature and elegant. It was difficult to judge her exact age from her appearance alone.
"Hello. Mr. Glacis isn't here today. Would you like to choose another diviner?" the beautiful lady asked with a smile.
Hearing this, Klein, who had just put his silk top hat back on after taking it off, was immediately surprised.
"You still remember me?"
That had been five days ago!
The brown-haired lady smiled with pursed lips.
"You were the first customer to ask Mr. Glacis for a divination, and, to this day, the only one. It would be hard not to remember you."
As someone who suffered a big loss trying to save a little money, right? Klein mocked himself, then asked thoughtfully, "When did Mr. Glacis last come to the club?"
The brown-haired lady glanced at him and answered as though thinking it over.
"To be honest, we can't keep track of when our members come in. They have their own free will and all sorts of matters to attend to. Hmm, I remember that since that day, after performing your divination, Mr. Glacis probably hasn't been back to the club."
Good luck to him. May the Goddess bless him... Klein offered a prayer and asked no further questions. Instead, he smiled and said, "I'm not here for a divination this time. I'd like to join the club."
"Really? It would be our honor." The brown-haired lady showed just the right amount of pleasant surprise. "For first-time members, the annual fee is five pounds, and one pound per year after that. I don't need to go over the details again, do I?"
Klein took a newly received five-pound note from his inner pocket and watched the portrait of Henry Augustus I move away from him.
After carefully checking the anti-counterfeiting watermark, the brown-haired lady solemnly put away the banknote, took out a form, and handed it to Klein.
"Please fill in your details. I'll write you a receipt."
Can I get an invoice? Make it out to the Blackthorn Security Company... Amused by his own thoughts, Klein picked up the dip pen on the desk and used the blue-black ink to fill in his name, age, street, company name, and other information.
However, he deliberately left his date of birth blank. To a Seer, those were spiritual numbers connected to his own secrets.
After writing the receipt and registering his membership, the brown-haired lady extended her right hand.
"Welcome to the Tingen City Divination Club. I'm Angelica Barrett, your hardworking attendant. This is your membership cufflink. It bears our unique inscription, which proves your membership."
"Hello, Ms. Angelica." Klein briefly shook her hand and took the dark gold cufflink.
He discovered that the unique inscription used the root of a word in Hermes. That word was "diviner."
Angelica withdrew her left hand and thought for a few seconds before speaking.
"May I ask what kind of divination you specialize in, or what divination methods you'd like to learn at the club? We'll consider inviting well-known diviners in the relevant fields to give lessons, and we'll also introduce you to members with similar specialties so you can enjoy exchanging ideas."
"I know a little of every kind of divination. There's no need to make special arrangements for me," Klein answered with a slight embellishment, then asked, "Can I start performing divinations for people now? I'm not a novice who's only just started learning."
He was here to act as a Seer, not to learn divination methods accessible to ordinary people.
Angelica maintained a polite smile.
"You're free to perform divinations for people at the club at any time. However, until we've confirmed your standard, we won't put in a good word for you when customers ask. How much would you like to charge?"
"Two pence." Klein planned to compete on price while he had little reputation.
"We'll take a fee of a quarter penny, based on one-eighth of the total price..." Angelica first explained the various rules before entering Klein's information into the illustrated catalog of diviners from which customers could choose.
Once everything was done, she smiled and pointed toward the meeting room at the end of the corridor.
"Mr. Hynas Vincent is explaining astrolabe divination. You can quietly find a seat and listen, or raise your hand to ask about anything you don't understand."
"All right." Quite interested, Klein headed toward the meeting room, wanting to hear how Hynas Vincent's explanation differed from Old Neil's.
Just then, Angelica caught up and lowered her voice.
"Mr. Moretti, would you like coffee or tea? We provide Sibe black tea, Southville coffee, and Desi coffee free of charge."
Having read the newspapers often lately, Klein knew that these coffees and tea were all of lower-middle quality, but he also understood that they were certainly better than the inferior varieties at home. After a moment's thought, he said, "A cup of Southville coffee, three spoonfuls of sugar, no milk."
Southville County in the Kingdom of Loen was most famous for its beer and red wine, which quite a few important figures enjoyed. Its coffee, by comparison, had little reputation.
"Certainly. I'll bring it in shortly." Angelica gestured toward the meeting room.
Klein slowly approached the half-open door and heard an explanation delivered in a thick Awwa County accent.
"Astrolabe divination is one of the more complicated forms of divination..."
Only for ordinary people... Klein silently added on the speaker's behalf. He saw five or six long tables arranged in a semicircle around a middle-aged man in a classical black robe: Hynas Vincent.
The gentleman had pronounced dark circles beneath his eyes. His brown hair was thick and stiff, each strand stubbornly sticking upright, as though playing the part of a hedgehog.
Apart from that, there was nothing particularly distinctive about the man explaining astrolabe divination.
Seeing Klein enter, Hynas Vincent gave a slight nod. He did not interrupt the lesson, merely slowing his speech a little.
With one hand in his pocket and his cane in the other, Klein casually found a seat at the edge and leaned back comfortably. In the still-brilliant afternoon sunlight, he looked around and saw six members present, four men and two women.
Some were focused on taking notes, some were quietly discussing something, and others returned Klein's gaze with wry smiles.
Putting down his cane, Klein adjusted his half-height silk top hat, curled his fingers, and tapped twice between his eyebrows.
He turned his gaze toward Hynas and saw his aura, its different colors, brightness, and thickness.
Dark red, a little anxious emotionally... The other parts are all healthy. There's just a slight problem there. I wonder what's going on... Klein silently mused as he listened at leisure.
Then he made a fist with his right hand and pressed it against his mouth to keep his laughter from escaping, because he suddenly felt like an unlicensed old practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine.
He was now quite satisfied with Spirit Vision. Although it could only tell him the general situation and could not distinguish specific details, it was enough to provide plenty of useful information.
After looking around again, he tapped twice between his eyebrows once more, as though pondering what Hynas had just said.
Astrolabe divination was a form of astrology, but ordinary people could also attempt to interpret it. For instance, the most basic "natal chart" involved marking the symbols of the Sun, the Moon, the Blue Star, the Red Star, and so on in their correct places on the chart according to their respective positions in the sky at the inquirer's birth, then adding the corresponding conditions of the various constellations, and finally interpreting the person's fate from this.
This required diviners to know how to calculate backward to determine the conditions of the planets and constellations, which was quite complicated. Of course, some people published reference books for others to consult, while others simply simplified the process, using only constellations and the like to make the vaguest interpretations.
Klein listened quietly without interrupting or asking questions, occasionally rubbing the citrine pendant inside his cuff and occasionally sipping the Southville coffee Angelica had brought in.
After a long while, Hynas rubbed the space between his eyebrows and said, "Perhaps you should try drawing your own astrolabes. If you have any questions, you can come find me. I'll be in the White Crystal Room."
After watching him leave, a young man in a white shirt and black waistcoat rose with a smile and walked over to Klein.
"Hello, I'm Edward Steve."
"Hello, Klein Moretti." Klein rose to return the greeting.
"Astrolabes are far too complicated. Every time I hear about them, I can't help wanting to start dreaming," Edward Steve said self-deprecatingly.
Klein smiled.
"That's because Mr. Vincent can never resist teaching us everything he knows. It's like serving us a whole table of Intis cuisine at once. It's terrible for digestion."
"If it were me, I could finish a whole table of Intis cuisine. They always serve a tiny bit of food on a huge plate." Edward chuckled, sat down, and asked curiously, "You're a new member, aren't you? I haven't seen you in the past two years."
"I just joined the club today," Klein answered frankly.
"What do you specialize in? I'm best at tarot and playing-card divination," Edward asked casually.
"I know a little of everything, but only a little." Klein used his former description of himself here.
He was not being modest. There truly was still far too much mystical knowledge in the field of divination that he had yet to master.
Just as the other members were about to come over to discuss astrolabe divination, Angelica entered the meeting room.
"Mr. Steve, someone's here for a divination with you."
"All right." Edward Steve rose with a smile.
"It seems you're an excellent diviner," Klein said, looking at him.
"No, it's just that my price is the most suitable." Edward chuckled softly. "Ordinary people coming for divination would never immediately choose the most expensive ones, and unless they'd been kicked in the head by a donkey, they certainly wouldn't trust the cheapest few either. Those with prices in the middle get the most opportunities."
I'm exactly the person you described as having been kicked in the head by a donkey... Watching him leave, Klein suddenly shook his head with a wry smile.
There seemed to be a problem with his pricing...
He stood, picked up his cane, left the meeting room, and found Angelica again.
"I'd like to change my divination price. Hmm, eight pence."
Angelica gave him a long look before saying, "We'll accommodate your request, but we'll also tell customers that you've only just joined our club."
"No problem." Klein nodded, unbothered.
Sometimes, mystery was also an important element in a Seer's appeal to customers.
After changing his information, Klein turned and headed back toward the meeting room.
Just then, he saw Hynas Vincent emerge from the White Crystal Room with a silver-plated mirror in his hand.
The well-known diviner addressed the five members in the meeting room, three men and two women.
"I recently mastered a new form of divination: magic mirror divination. Would you like to learn it?"
Magic mirror divination? That's hardly a safe method of divination... Dressed in a black formal suit, Klein stopped outside the meeting room and frowned.
P.S. 4/7, first update. Please send recommendation votes~