Chapter 42: The Long-Awaited Tarot CLUB Meeting
"What's wrong?" Klein looked puzzled at Alice, who had suddenly stopped.
"Ummm..." Alice hesitated to speak.
"?" Klein's gaze was perplexed.
"Anyway, I'll draw comics," Alice decided not to show Klein those things for now, at least until she figured out who the other main character in the drawings was.
"If you're not worried about identity issues, you could try submitting to a magazine?" Klein seriously offered suggestions. "But what exactly are you drawing?"
"...Can we change the subject?" Alice felt a tinge of faint despair. "Really, let's not talk about my drawings anymore. Let's discuss something else, anything."
"...Okay," Klein was very puzzled by this, but it was the first time he had seen Alice so resistant to a topic. Thinking it wasn't that important and he could ask about it another time, he suppressed his curiosity for now. "Next, let me introduce you to the pros and cons of different areas in Backlund..."
Under Klein's introduction, Alice gradually understood the differences between the various areas of Backlund.
First, Alice ruled out the safest and most strictly monitored Queen's Borough and West Borough, as these areas belonged to the nobility and wealthy merchants, definitely not places Alice could consider.
Next, Alice eliminated several factory districts, dock areas, and the Backlund Bridge area—these didn't sound like residential areas.
Apart from that, after learning about the slums of this era, Alice also excluded the impoverished East Borough where the poor gathered.
As for the remaining few areas... aside from Hills Street, the economic, commercial, and financial center of Roen, and Jowood Borough with its many small companies and residences, Klein also suggested Alice exclude the North Borough, for no other reason than the Church of St. Samuel being located there.
After guiding Alice, Klein also heard from her the details of how she obtained her identity papers, and the unknown angel cast a layer of... well, there were already enough shadows, so what's one more?
At the end of the conversation, Alice suddenly made a request she had never made before: "Next time you collect Roselle's diary, could you let me take a look too?"
"Of course, no problem, but why are you suddenly interested in Roselle's diary?" Klein didn't refuse but still asked curiously.
"Because before, I only wanted to regain my memories," Alice's voice was so soft it was almost inaudible, "but now I realize that perhaps I need strength."
...
Unlike Alice, who decided to lie down for a while before making an effort, the diligent Mr. Fool had to start convening a meeting after recovering his spirituality—ah, this might be the pain of being a cult leader.
Above the gray fog, Audrey was about to happily begin greeting everyone when Alger spoke first: "Mr. Fool, this time I have obtained 19 pages of Roselle's diary. Here, I must thank you for sending a follower to help me get rid of Zillinger. These diaries are the reward I should pay!"
A follower? Where did he get a follower from? And one capable of getting rid of Zillinger? Alice looked at Klein in astonishment, even forgetting that such an obvious action would draw the attention of the other three.
Seated at the head, Klein hid in the gray mist, his gaze seemingly unintentionally falling on Alice. Alice suddenly realized her lapse and lowered her head, reining in her emotions.
"This is the principle of equivalent exchange," Mr. Fool's calm voice came through.
"My current memory limit is six pages. Please allow me to give them to you in several installments," Alger replied humbly, despite some confusion about Alice's attitude.
"No problem," Klein, shrouded in thick gray mist, nodded slightly.
After reading the diary, Klein let out a low, even chuckle. "Roselle mentioned some hidden history in his diary, as well as some simple common knowledge, the latter of which reminds me that I seem to have never told you all."
Huh? Alice raised her eyebrows in surprise and sat up a little straighter. She glanced at the others and found that even the Hanged Man's posture was more serious than hers, so she sat up even straighter.
—Of course, this obvious abnormality did not escape the others' notice.
But even Audrey would not question it. Instead, she excitedly looked towards Klein: "Mr. Fool, what common knowledge did Emperor Roselle put forth? I can pay a reward in exchange for this information."
Klein chuckled lightly. "No need. These are all simple common knowledge. Seeing this part of the diary, as the convener of the Tarot Club, I believe it is necessary to let you all know, though I am well aware that some of you already possess this knowledge."
He wouldn't use my information to gain favors, would he? Alice suddenly had a premonition of something amiss.
"Thank you so much! Mr. Fool, you are too generous!" Audrey responded joyfully.
Klein stopped tapping his fingers and described in a calm tone: "The first common knowledge is the Indestructibility Law of Extraordinary Characteristics. Extraordinary characteristics cannot be destroyed or reduced; they can only be transferred from one thing to another."
While Audrey pondered this law, she glanced at the others. "Mr. Sun" and "Mr. Hanged Man" showed no unusual expressions, seeming to already know this law. "Miss Fate"... "Miss Fate" was giving Mr. Fool a questioning look?!
Noticing Audrey's gaze, Alice turned her head. She curved her lips and brows in a seemingly amused expression, glanced at the gray mist where Klein was, and supplemented what Klein had not said:
"When an extraordinary person dies, their extraordinary characteristics are extracted from the corpse. If it's a normal death, the extraordinary characteristics can be used as the main ingredient for potions. If it's the remains of an out-of-control extraordinary person, the spiritual pollution needs to be removed first—of course, you could also consider making it into a magical item."
Alice's words dropped like a bombshell in Audrey's heart. She finally understood why Alice and Alger had previously been unwilling to reveal what the substitute material was—how was this different from cannibalism?
They were extraordinary people, walking sources of extraordinary characteristics that could be hunted... Audrey looked at Klein with a last shred of hope, but the Klein in the gray mist showed no anger at Alice's attitude, nor did he deny her words.
Realizing for the first time what the extraordinary world was like, unlike Alice who had been bewildered when she initially learned about all this, Audrey was clearly greatly shaken. However, she soon calmed down through self-consolation.
After everything settled, Klein threw out the second law: "The second common knowledge is the Conservation Law of Extraordinary Characteristics within Similar Sequences."
(Chapter ends)