Monday, 3 PM
In the grand and majestic temple above the gray fog, the ancient and weathered bronze long table quietly rested. The members appeared in their fixed positions. However, this time, the ceremony of the Tarot Club did not commence as usual—
Miss Justice had not greeted anyone.
This instantly drew everyone's attention to Miss Justice's unusual behavior, and they all turned their gaze towards Audrey. Yet, despite being a Spectator, Miss Justice seemed unaware, her body tense as if lost in thought.
After a long moment, Audrey suddenly straightened her back, hesitantly and slowly speaking:
"Honorable Mr. Fool, Mr. Hanged Man, and Mr. Lover, I have a question. Can a pet with Beyonder powers help its owner? In simple terms, what can it do?"
As soon as she finished speaking, the Tarot Club fell into silence, and the atmosphere became extraordinarily strange.
"It depends on what kind of extraordinary abilities the pet has," the Hanged Man said after a long pause, seeing that no one else intended to speak. His tone was rather peculiar. "For example, if it is a Spectator, it can replace you in certain situations to observe and listen. You know, people are wary of their kind but are less likely to suspect a pet of eavesdropping, even if it is right at their feet."
Audrey's eyes lit up, feeling that this made a lot of sense. But then her expression changed. Why did Mr. Hanged Man use a 'Spectator' as an example? What are you implying?
"Mr. Fool, I have found another page of Emperor Roselle's diary," Audrey quickly changed the topic, and Mr. Fool subconsciously glanced at Ashes.
When he noticed that Ashes did not ask for the diary, the Fool couldn't help but feel relieved. It seemed that his previous strategy had some effect.
Thus, through this diary, Klein obtained some important information—
For instance, this world has no petroleum, and there is an organization secretly influencing global affairs.
After pondering for a while, Klein collected his thoughts, made the diary disappear, and said:
"You may communicate now."
Audrey breathed a sigh of relief. The time Mr. Fool took to read the diary was enough to cover up the earlier incident.
"Miss Justice," Ashes slowly said, "I have obtained the Telepathist formula."
As he spoke, Ashes looked at the 'Fool' at the head of the table.
"What use is there in looking at me?" Klein muttered, but he honestly conjured paper and pen in front of Ashes.
"So soon?" The Hanged Man was somewhat surprised as he looked at Ashes, his expression growing more suspicious.
A mere 'Apprentice' couldn't possibly obtain a potion formula, even with money! What kind of connections did he leverage to acquire the Sequence 8 potion formula so quickly? Soon, after Ashes finished writing, he pushed the parchment towards Miss Justice across from him. Audrey, clearly very excited, but maintaining her poise, elegantly took the parchment and glanced at it.
"Main ingredients: the complete pituitary gland of an adult rainbow-scaled lizard, 10 milliliters of Falsman rabbit spinal fluid.
Auxiliary ingredients: 5 grams of chestnut buds, 8 grams of dragon tooth grass powder, 3 petals of pure white elf flower, 100 milliliters of pure water."
"Thank you very much, Mr. Lover," Audrey said sweetly, suppressing the joy bubbling inside her.
Ashes nodded slightly, without further response.
However, both Klein and the Hanged Man noticed something unusual.
Because—
"Miss Justice didn't mention payment?!"
This was definitely abnormal! It was known that Miss Justice wasn't short on money and always discussed payment upfront. But this time, after receiving the Telepathist formula, she didn't mention payment at all! Not only did she not mention payment, but she also didn't discuss how to pay.
It couldn't be that Miss Justice forgot, right? This was clearly impossible. Or did she already pay in advance? Could it be that they met in reality and Miss Justice had already given the payment?
This was the only explanation!
The only question was, how did they meet? If they were from completely different social circles, even living in the same city, they might never meet each other. This means Miss Justice and Mr. Lover have a significant overlap in their social circles?
Known as a great noble of Backlund, Miss Justice and the Lover, who has ties to the Church of the Night, could possibly be a NightHawk.
But if it were just that, their chances of meeting would still be slim. Miss Justice wouldn't actively seek out Mr. Lover; she neither has the reason nor the possibility.
So, did the 'Lover' actively seek out Miss Justice?
Or, have they known each other in reality for a long time, and the 'Lover' is also a descendant of some great noble?
So they recognized each other at the Tarot Club? In just a moment, countless speculations flashed through the minds of Klein and the Hanged Man.
But no matter the case, the fact that they knew each other in reality was established.
"I have a commission," the Hanged Man said, his eyes flickering as he spoke slowly, "I want to know if the King intends to retaliate against the Feysac Empire within this year or before next June, by launching a new war on the East Balam coast. Miss Justice, Mr. Lover, can either of you accept this commission?"
"Um~" Miss Justice instinctively glanced at Ashes, seeing that he had no intention of accepting the commission, then nodded, "I accept this commission, but it will take some time to confirm. Besides that, Mr. Hanged Man, I hope you can help me find a complete pituitary gland of a rainbow-scaled lizard."
"I can wait," the Hanged Man Alger nodded lightly, "As for the complete pituitary gland of the rainbow-scaled lizard, this sub-dragon species is nearly extinct. However, traces of them still exist on some primitive islands at sea. I can try to get it for you, but it will take some time."
Meanwhile, Alger already had a guess in his mind.
Is it that Mr. Lover is not interested, or does he not have the channels to obtain such information? It shouldn't be the latter. Miss Justice's instinctive look at 'Lover' implies that in her mind, Ashes should be capable of finding out these things. But not necessarily, the information is still not enough to make an accurate judgment.
"I also have a commission," Ashes slowly said, "This commission is long-term and always valid. Anyone with any related clues can inform me anytime, and I will reward you according to the value of the clues."
"What kind of commission?" the Hanged Man asked with a flicker of his eyes.
"Black Emperor," Ashes said slowly, "This is the only clue I know. If you know more clues, I can reward you."
"Black Emperor?" Miss Justice was puzzled, while the Hanged Man slowly said, "I suppose you don't mean the historical Black Emperor of the Solomon Empire?"
"I don't know about the Solomon Empire, I think you can tell me about it," Ashes shook his head calmly.
The Hanged Man was silent for two seconds, as if organizing his thoughts, then said, "The Solomon Empire was a powerful empire in a certain period of the Fourth Epoch. Every one of their rulers was called the 'Black Emperor.'"
(End of the chapter)
50 Power stones = Extra chapter