Chapter 61: A Reasonable Name for Sequence 4
"I was wondering if you could make life-sized body pillows or standees..." Alice candidly shared her train of thought.
"Can we please discuss the important matters?" Klein wearily requested.
Obediently, Alice abandoned her idea of exploring the world further and sat down in a chair. "Oh, alright. What did you want to talk about? Oh right, why didn't you respond to my messages earlier?"
"Did you see the news about Ambassador Bakerland's assassination?" Klein asked.
Alice nodded.
"Well, I recently hired a bodyguard..." Klein recounted the entire assassination attempt, starting with Maric and ending with Rosago's death.
"Wow, I can't believe such a Sequence exists!" Alice exclaimed.
"I had a similar reaction when I first encountered it," Klein remarked.
"So what happened next?" Alice lightly tapped the table twice, waiting for Klein to continue.
"After Rosago's death, I divined the potion formulas up to Sequence 5..." Klein said with a frown.
"Hmm? What's your Sequence 7 called? What abilities does it have?" Alice grew concerned, realizing her friend might be leaving behind his "combat useless" phase.
"Sequence 7 is Magician. From what I've seen, the main abilities include shooting bullets by snapping fingers, turning paper into soldiers, and flame leaping," Klein recalled.
"I have a question," Alice looked at Klein seriously. "Are you sure there isn't a Sequence called Ringmaster in your pathway?"
"Enough," Klein glared at Alice, despite having made similar jokes himself. "I said let's discuss serious matters!"
"Alright," Alice became obedient again. "I'll be more serious... Look, according to Ms. Daly's theory, some Sequences might provide one ability at each stage, combining at Sequence 4. Sequence 9 Diviner, Sequence 8 Clown, Sequence 7 Magician - following this pattern, if you add a few more circus-related professions, wouldn't it make sense for Sequence 4 to be called Ringmaster?"
"Shen Yinghuan!" Klein exclaimed angrily.
"You don't have to shout, I can hear you..." Alice rubbed her ears.
"My Sequence 6 is called Faceless Man, and Sequence 5 is marionettes. Neither of them are in the circus!" Klein emphasized.
"A marionettes could be in a circus," Alice insisted.
Klein fell silent, glaring at Alice.
"Okay, I'll stop," Alice observed Klein's expression and decided to cease teasing him. "So what were you going to say originally?"
"I just feel like things have been going too smoothly..." Klein rubbed his brow wearily. After reminding himself several times to "stay calm, don't get angry with a child," he hesitantly explained, "Although I had divined that my advancement hopes lay in Backlund, it feels like everything has been... arranged."
"I think you're better off than me in that regard," Alice responded seriously.
"What do you mean?" Klein was momentarily confused by Alice's statement.
"I've already seen the main ingredient for my Sequence 1 potion," Alice replied with a straight face. "And for all I know, it might just fall from the sky into my mouth one day."
Klein fell silent for a moment, realizing what Alice was referring to. Then he suddenly remembered his discovery, "Oh right, I recently met someone who said his luck has been terrible lately."
"Just having bad luck doesn't necessarily mean anything, does it?" Alice blinked in confusion.
"You're right," Klein agreed. "But because of your situation, I'm more sensitive to luck-related issues. So I asked a few more questions and found out that he's really... incredibly unlucky!"
"Like getting a toothache from drinking cold water?" Alice's attitude became slightly more serious.
"Not quite that extreme, but definitely abnormal, and it's been going on for several days," Klein shook his head.
"Hmm..." Alice carefully asked, "Is there any way you could arrange for me to meet him?"
"Can you tell if it's influenced bad luck?" Klein asked curiously.
"I might be able to sense it... By the way, did 'Black Snake' die in the sewers?" Alice, who had missed a Brave Bar gathering, raised an eyebrow.
"How did you know?" Klein looked at Alice in surprise.
"Tsk," Alice shook her head. "That guy wasn't far from death after agreeing to the apothecary's request."
"But I don't have his address..." Klein pondered seriously. "Oh right, he's a member of the Kharaghh Club!"
After a pause, Klein added, "The membership fee is 50 pounds..."
Alice decided this person wasn't worth spending that much money on.
Klein judged from Alice's expression that she was refusing, so after thinking for a moment, he said, "Maybe you could wait for him outside the club?"
"But how would I know when he goes to the club and when he leaves?" Alice countered.
"Well, maybe I could tell you? If I see him at the club, I'll notify you?" Klein suggested.
"We'll see. Let me know, and if I don't have any conflicts, I'll go take a look..." Alice nodded, agreeing to this arrangement. "By the way, you still haven't told me how you created this guy!"
"I made him using the non-ordinary characteristics left by Rosago," Klein finally remembered his original intent.
"The marionettes?" Alice asked curiously.
"Yes, it seems to be related to the marionettes's non-ordinary abilities," Klein explained.
"That's fascinating," Alice looked at him with interest. "It sounds like this pathway was made for 'Diviners'..."
Klein's smile faded.
.
...
At three o'clock in the afternoon, beams of light rose within the palace-like dwelling of giants. Figures appeared on the five seats of "Justice," "Hanged Man," "Wheel of Fortune," "Sun," and "World."
"Good afternoon, Mr. Fool~ Good afternoon..." Audrey was about to greet each member of the Tarot Club when her gaze suddenly swept to the figure sitting at the far end.
It was a stranger wearing a black robe with a hood, equally ethereal and hazy—yes, this was Mr. "World," who had been handled by Alice earlier.
"Who is this?" Audrey looked at Klein with some confusion, while also finally remembering her two forgotten friends—Fors and Xio.
"This is our new member, Mr. 'World,'" Klein said, leaning back in his chair.
The little snake looks increasingly pitiful (sigh).
In the future, when Klein becomes a Bizarro Sorcerer and uses paper figures of mice to scare Alice, Alice will say:
"Oh my, it's a stand-up card!"