In an underground basement under a rather exquisite church, Backlund…
"Alright Tom, you have three options in front of you. We have already confirmed your identity, and confirmed your words to be true. However, we cannot just leave an unofficial Beyonder to roam the streets of Backlund. As such, you will have to either be placed in a Beyonder ability suppressive cell here, let us try and remove the Beyonder ability from you and erase your memory, or join the Nighthawks as one of its official members," The middle-aged Nighthawk slapped three filed onto the table, each of the having a thick stack of papers inside.
"I would like to add a word of caution, the second option is insanely unsafe, with a success rate of just around 10%. The best possibility in case of failure is death. Other than that, even the memory extraction can result in things like you going insane or losing all memories."
"…Well, so my option are to either be jailed for merely existing, go through two operations that are most definitely deadly-"
"Or worse!" the man added in, as though trying his best to move Tom away from the second option.
"- or worse… or join the Nighthawks and put my life on the line without any benefit?"
"We do offer a hefty salary, a generous compensation package, and really good fringe-benefits."
"I was given a lot of money to survive in Backlund by Mister."
'Sigh, what kind of twisted b*stard is this Mister? He made such a small child a Beyonder, but then made sure to give them enough knowledge about the Beyonder world, and money to survive on their own. What does he want exactly from Tom?' the middle-aged Nighthawk sighed internally, before adding in.
"From what we understand, you follow the Hunter pathway, correct?"
Tom nodded silently.
"We can offer the recipe for the Sequence 8 of it, as long as you work diligently for us. And even the next sequences can be sourced."
"I already have the formula for Sequence 8, and 7. And no, I will not sell them to anyone so don't worry about it. However, what I could use are Sealed Artifacts. Something to keep me safe."
"Nope. Impossible. Do you even know the paperwork for just lending out an Artefact? Plus, I cannot lend it to you without proper reason."
"… then what about allowing me to become a bodyguard of some important figure after a few cases as a Nighthawk? You know, a safer job. I would still be working for the Nighthawks, but I would be safer after learning what to stay away from and what to look out for as a Nighthawk?"
"…" the middle-aged man frowned for a while, before nodding.
"Alright, we solve the case of the kidnappings in Tingen, I will assign you a long-term bodyguard mission for at least a few years. But you will have to return to us in case they do not like you, or trust you."
"Alright then. I accept being a Nighthawk."
"Good. Then first things first, we will check your close-combat, gun-combat, and Beyonder ability proficiency before assigning you to the kidnapping case."
"Are you talking about the time my friend was kidnapped?"
"Yes. The place in Tingen. If you meet the standards, you will join us in travelling to Tingen as part of the temporary replacement force to handle things in Tingen for a week or so until a proper replacement is set up. There, we will be investigating mainly regarding the missing people."
"Replacement?"
"That is above your pay grade. Anyways, suit up, we are going to test your skills first!" It was now that the young lady barged into the room with a sh*t-eating grin on her face as she cracked her knuckles.
…
Klein took four steps counter-clockwise and arrived above the grey fog. He sat in the high-back chair belonging to The Fool before extending his spirituality and touching the crimson star that symbolized The Sun as if he was responding to a prayer.
'This is one of the few things in my new life that hasn't changed,' he suddenly sighed.
…
In an area outside of the City of Silver, in a greyish-black tower that was half-collapsed. Nine members of a patrol squad were gathered around a blazing bonfire, chatting about their experiences in the past few days.
There were also a few other team members guarding the perimeter, prepared for any possible attacks that might break out from the darkness. Many of the City of Silver's Beyonders had used their blood to teach them a lesson: "At all times, never let your guard down. The monsters in the darkness could very well be right behind you!"
On a night when the frequency of lightning was very low, it was necessary to keep the flames burning and the light shining. Once they were completely enveloped in darkness, it wasn't impossible for them to all disappear—no one could say for sure just what terrible things would happen in total darkness, because reality had broken the limits of their imagination time and time again.
Derrick Berg remained reserved and silent as he quietly listened to his companions reminiscing about the monster they had encountered before. It was a humanoid monster with eyes covering its entire body.
In order to finish off the monster, their patrolling team suffered a heavy price with five injured, and two of them severely injured. Suddenly, Derrick's vision blurred, and he felt himself being enveloped in a thick grey mist.
In an inexplicably faraway place, in the depths of the grey fog, a blurry figure sat on an ancient high-back chair, looking down at him.
"Prepare for the gathering," The Fool's voice echoed in Derrick's ears, but none of his teammates were aware of it.
After withdrawing his gaze and observing the area for more than ten seconds, Derrick moved to the very edge of the fire, leaned against the broken wall, and pretended to be asleep. Ever since he found out that the members of the six-member council and Elder Lovia were unable to discover the existence of Mr. Fool, he gradually believed that as long as he didn't carelessly reveal any clues, he would be able to quietly attend the Tarot Club's gathering above the grey fog even under the gaze of others.
…
Backlund, Empress Borough. Using the excuse that she was tired, Audrey returned to her bedroom. She curbed her excitement and didn't pace back and forth; instead, she sat quietly on the bed, waiting for Mr. Fool's summoning.
Father was busy communicating with the other Members of Parliament about the proposed bill, and the Beyonder guard wasn't tailing me constantly. Thank you Goddess; my life has finally returned to normal!
'Two weeks have passed, Mr. Hanged Man must've prepared the pituitary gland of a mature Rainbow Salamander... I'm about to advance to Sequence 8!' Audrey thought with sparkling eyes.
To her, this was even more exciting and worth looking forward to than the thirty thousand pound bounty and the large plantation worth at least 8,000 pounds!
Finally, she saw the familiar illusory crimson surge towards her like a tidal wave, drowning her.
…
On an ancient-looking sailboat. Alger Wilson locked the door to the captain's cabin and sat behind a sextant and the ship logs. He kept memorizing the contents of the thick stack of sheets in front of him.
After the investigations, he left the bustle of Backlund without any qualms after being rewarded by the upper echelons and returned to the sea, carrying a batch of secretly copied Roselle diary pages.
'After digesting the Seafarer potion, I'll be able to advance normally. My contributions are enough for me to trade for the formula and ingredients. However, this will expose the fact that I know the 'acting method.' There are advantages and disadvantages,' Alger shook his head, suddenly distracted.
At that moment, he felt the summoning of The Fool. His mind suddenly recalled the face of Rear Admiral Hurricane Qilangos whose flesh and blood quickly rotted as pieces of his face peeled off.
Alger instinctively lowered his head, allowing the crimson tide to engulf him.
…
Above the grey fog, inside the palace it looked like a giant's residence. Having activated his Spirit Vision, Klein examined Justice, The Hanged Man, and The Sun to confirm their current states. He then finally turned his gaze to Death and noticed he had a slight smirk on his face.
Klein actively suppressed the urge to question him, and instead silently waited.
Audrey was about to happily greet everyone when she suddenly saw The Hanged Man gesturing to her before rushing to speak before her. "Mr. Fool, I've obtained nineteen pages of Roselle's diary this time. Here, I must thank you for sending your adorer to help me get rid of Qilangos. These diary pages will be the compensation I should pay!"
'19 pages? Not bad,' Klein didn't talk much about the adorer as he smiled faintly.
"That is the principle of equivalent exchange."
'As expected of Mr. Fool. A Pirate Admiral with a mystical item was nothing to Him. From the looks of it, I don't have to mention my claiming of the bounty. I wonder how many High-Sequence Beyonders Mr. Fool has as His adorers,' Audrey had begun to use the word He, Him, or His to refer to The Fool without realizing it.
Upon hearing The Fool's answer, Alger said humbly, "The limit of my current memory is six pages. Please allow me to give them to you over separate occasions."
"No problem."
Klein, who was surrounded by thick grey fog, nodded gently. The Sun Derrick looked at the pages that appeared before The Hanged Man and was very curious about the contents of the diary.
With his previous experiences, he believed that the items that Mr. Fool was interested in definitely contained many mysteries. He looked at Miss Justice and when he saw that she didn't have the impulse to ask, he cautiously maintained his silence.
Soon, the six pages of the diary were complete and came into Klein's hands. Audrey and the others began to wait quietly. They were already used to such things. Klein looked down and read the first page:
[16th December. I managed to contact the pathetic fellow who was trapped in the storm and was lost in the darkness.]
'Finally, there's a follow-up to one of the previous pages of the diary,' Klein was delighted, and he became more focused
[He called himself Mr. Door and tried to teach me a complicated and difficult ritual. He wanted me to help him return to the real world and promised to fulfil three of my requests.]
[Does he think I'm stupid? I've lived for more than sixty years over my two lives. Does he think I can't tell that this is the usual manipulation done by evil gods and devils?]
[But the history of the Fourth Epoch that he described was truly interesting.]