At 3 PM, Fors sat alone in her bedroom when her vision suddenly blurred. A surge of grayish-white mist engulfed her, and in the blink of an eye, she found herself standing amidst that mysterious, enigmatic gray fog.
She was inside the grand, majestic palace, facing the ancient and weathered bronze long table. Around her were shadowy, mist-shrouded figures, indistinct and hard to discern.
Figures? Figures?! These must be the other members Mr. Fool mentioned!
Fors cautiously observed her surroundings, her guard up. She couldn't shake the feeling that anyone participating in such a secretive gathering must be an immensely powerful Beyonder.
Except for me... she thought nervously, her mind racing.
While she was caught up in her apprehensions, Miss Justice had already taken the lead, greeting Mr. Fool on behalf of the Tarot Club members:
"Good afternoon, Mr. Fool~"
Fors scrambled to her feet to follow suit, but she was half a beat too late. Her tardiness only made her stand out more.
At this point, Justice Audrey noticed the addition of a new participant to the gathering.
A woman... Is it Xio or Fors? Did they pass the trial? Or is it someone else entirely? Audrey turned her head, carefully scrutinizing the newcomer's features: Judging by the figure, it's not Xio. Brown hair, slightly curly... This must be Fors. Yes, the subtle details of her aura and emotional color match as well.
Having arrived at a conclusion, Audrey directed her gaze towards the seat of honor and smiled as she asked Mr. Fool:
"Who is this?"
"This is Miss Magician, the newest member of our gathering." Klein sat leisurely in the seat belonging to the Fool, his gaze sweeping over the table as he introduced Fors to the other members:
"This is Miss Justice. This is Mr. Hanged Man. This is Mr. Tower…"
As Fors listened, she hastily matched the codenames to the figures and nodded in greeting, all while observing the participants:
"Miss Justice" and "Miss Judgment" both have golden hair, exuding the demeanor of noble ladies. Justice seems more gentle, while Judgment appears slightly haughty.
"Mr. Hanged Man" has deep blue, seaweed-like hair and a less-than-robust build. His gaze carries an unsettling quality, making one feel uneasy. He must be a leader of some faction.
*"Mr. Tower"… Although he hasn't spoken a word to me, I can't shake the feeling that under his gaze, I have no secrets, as if I were stark naked… No, that's too crude. Using Emperor Roselle's phrasing, it's as though I'm a blazing flame, seen through and through.
And though I can't see his expression, I just know there's a smile on his face! He must be a cunning man. Fors, be careful around him.
"Mr. Sun" is silent and restrained. Other than being quite tall—so tall he seems much taller than Xio even while seated—there's not much else to note. But no matter how tall he is, he can't hide the fact that he's just a boy… Perhaps he's as weak as I am?
Hmm, if I, a Sequence 9, can join this gathering, maybe the others aren't necessarily that powerful either. This gathering clearly doesn't select members based on strength but rather their connection to Mr. Fool…
Lastly, there's "Mr. World" at the lowest seat. His gaze is icy and deeply sinister. He's clearly not someone to mess with. He might be the strongest in this gathering, second only to Mr. Fool.
The bestselling author in Fors couldn't help but assign "character profiles" to the participants as she secretly heaved a sigh of relief. At least everyone appeared human—and relatively normal at that. It suggested Mr. Fool's alignment leaned towards humanity.
She had feared that she'd find herself in a gathering full of grotesque creatures debating whether to fry or grill her...
While Fors was distracted by her wandering thoughts, the other members were also observing her.
Justice Audrey, having suspected Magician's identity from the start, simply lacked conclusive evidence.
Sun, on the other hand, dismissed Fors after a few glances at her attire, determining she couldn't possibly hail from the forsaken land like he did.
Judgment, sitting beside Fors, maintained her haughty noblewoman demeanor while secretly celebrating: Fors didn't recognize me!
Across the table, Ebner's lips curved into the smile Fors had anticipated. He found the dynamics between Audrey and Fors—enshrouded by the mist yet under scrutiny—quite amusing. He couldn't help but wonder how many entertaining developments might stem from this scenario. His reaction fully justified Fors labeling him as "cunning."
"World," or rather Klein, shared Ebner's sentiment. He decided to delay any revelations and even considered subtly helping to maintain their anonymity.
Alger, meanwhile, refrained from overthinking this time. His only question was whether Magician was personally chosen by Mr. Fool or recommended by Justice. Either way, she couldn't be simple!
Nevertheless, Alger's attention remained mostly on Tower. Ever since discovering that Tower might be the enigmatic Doctor Strange, he had been diligently gathering related information, including details of the "Iron Man" incident in Backlund.
*Iron Man and Doctor Strange both wield the "Storm of Light." They're likely members of the same organization inspired by heroes from Roselle's novels!
*Given that Iron Man's debut involved a mission personally arranged by Mr. Fool to thwart the descent of the True Creator… It's plausible that this organization is another force under Mr. Fool's command. Perhaps Tower joined it after earning Mr. Fool's favor through his earlier actions?
Roselle's "Heroes" series only explicitly names three protagonists, but it mentions many others. Who else might belong to this organization? Captain America? Hawkeye?
As Alger's speculations grew increasingly far-fetched, Ebner broke the silence:
"Mr. Fool, I've brought three pages of Roselle's diary this time, and I'd like to accumulate the contributions again.
"If there are questions like the one from last Tuesday, I'd like to exchange these for answers."
Diary? Roselle's diary? Fors snapped out of her wandering thoughts and perked up, listening attentively.
It's just asking me to use divination. Tower's discoveries haven't exceeded the Eternal Blazing Sun or True Creator so far, so this should be manageable…
Thinking this, Klein smiled and replied, "Agreed."
Meanwhile, Fors gleaned an important piece of information:
You can use these so-called Roselle diaries to get answers from Mr. Fool—or even exchange them for items!
*Roselle's diary? The ones written in indecipherable symbols that nobody understands? Are they truly diaries? Tower's tone is so certain, and Mr. Fool didn't refute him…
I've come across plenty before but never bothered to buy any because I wasn't interested. Oh, wait, Miss Audrey has a lot! She's a fanatic about this sort of thing!
Overjoyed by this sudden realization, Fors resolved to seek out Audrey's dog after the gathering.
But that dog hasn't been visiting the grove in the Empress Borough where Xio and I often meet… Instead, there's been this chubby fellow wandering around as if searching for something.
Maybe I should just approach Viscount Glaint... Although I still haven't gotten the Apothecary formula and feel awkward about facing him.
As Fors lost herself in her thoughts, Justice Audrey contemplated how to plausibly explain the disappearance of her own Roselle diaries. After all, since Mr. Fool had already read them, giving them to Fors would be deceitful—practically sacrilegious.
Meanwhile, Ebner summoned three pages of Roselle's diary obtained from Fanny's grandfather, Mr. Surrey.
This time, he included two pages with actual value and one that repeated content Klein had seen before. Even so, since Klein hadn't acquired it yet, it retained significant value.
The two valuable pages detailed a coherent event, which was why Ebner didn't deliberately separate them.
Soon, the three yellowed parchment pages were in Klein's hands.
Feigning casual interest, Klein lowered his gaze and began reading unhurriedly:
"April 22nd: We're preparing to venture there, to explore the Abyss."
"April 23rd: We followed the pitch-black sea, piercing the liquid-like fog, and reached a mountain resembling a monster. Beyond it lay boundless black mist, as though veiling an entire continent…"
"April 24th: We descended along the mountain, attempting to delve deeper…
"It's eerily silent. We found nothing."
"April 25th: We encountered demons, but they were only decaying corpses…
"It was as if they all met the same fate at the exact same moment."
"April 26th: Corpses or silence, the path ahead seemed endless.
"The items from the Black Throne began showing signs of corrosion.
"I've rarely felt fear in recent years, but here, the unknown terror clutches my heart like an invisible hand.
"We must leave! We must return! We can't stay any longer!"
Reading this, Klein nearly lost his composure, struggling to maintain the Fool's calm demeanor. Did Roselle actually organize his knights and sailors to explore the Abyss's fringes after seeing it?!
Wasn't he afraid of dying? The Abyss is rumored to corrupt all, driving every living thing to fall! At this stage, Roselle certainly wasn't Sequence 4—probably Sequence 5 at most, if not lower… If it were me, I'd turn my ship around and report it to the Church immediately.
No wonder that vampire, Mr. Cullen, refused to follow him on his expeditions. He probably foresaw this.
At that moment, Klein deeply realized just how starkly different he was from Roselle.
But what happened afterward? Did Emperor Roselle escape the Abyss unharmed, or did something else occur? What's the significance of the anomalies there? Was there a fierce battle?
With these unanswered questions swirling in his mind, Klein flipped to the second page, only to find it likely jumped forward several years, leaving a gap.
He wasn't disappointed, though, as the latter two pages also referenced the Abyss expedition:
"November 11th: A day that feels lonely, and my hand aches.
"Early this morning, Edwards reported that the 'egg-like thing' we brought back from the Abyss years ago was about to hatch.
"Curious, I set aside my work and went to see. Out came a demon that looked like a baby.
"Yes, as an Arcane Scholar, I could tell at a glance he wasn't human… Okay, that's a joke only fellow transmigrators would get… Anyway, the infant-like Sequence 6 'Demon' crawled to my feet excitedly the moment he saw me, hugging my boots affectionately, gazing up as if I were his father… if not for his cold, emotionless eyes.
"Damn it, I don't recall having any intimate encounters with succubi or other female demons in the Abyss…
"Though this might harm my reputation, I didn't dispose of the hatchling. I even gave him a name…
"Adabao."
(End of Chapter)