No, my poet friend, I am not the reason he survived!
And with just one word, "also," you revealed everything about yourself!
Should I say it's no wonder you're one of the three fools of the Tarot Club in the future!
Lin Ruo thought to himself. After Leonard finished talking to Klein, Lin Ruo caught up with Klein. He didn't speak, just floated behind Klein as they headed to the underground area of the Blackthorn Security Company. Once they reached the surface, Lin Ruo used his badge to turn invisible.
After all, there was still a member of the Secret Order tracking Klein. Although their sequence seemed low, they were likely from the Seer pathway. With the Seer's intuition, they could see spirits if they activated their spiritual vision.
It wouldn't be good to scare them away.
In his invisible state, Lin Ruo followed Klein through the underground area back to the church.
Once outside the church, Klein felt the gaze of the tracker again and pretended to take a leisurely stroll.
At the same time, Lin Ruo sensed someone watching Klein from a distance.
He quickly located the target.
The tracker wasn't far away, quite close actually—this wasn't surprising. Even with the support of the Gray Fog, Klein was still an ordinary person at this time, at best half a Seer. Since Klein could clearly sense the tracker, they couldn't be too far away.
After all, the tracker wouldn't expect Klein to be a cheat.
Lin Ruo smiled, glanced at Klein, and silently floated behind the Secret Order member.
"I'm not a Sequence 6 of the Night pathway; this is a fallacy."
After giving himself a boost, Lin Ruo exited his invisible state but didn't immediately drag the person into a dream. Instead, he whispered in their ear, "You are a devout follower of the Night. You will go to the church and confess your identity and plans."
[Fallacy] Mental Distortion!
This was an experiment. Lin Ruo wanted to see if mental distortion worked on the Beyonders of this world and how much energy it consumed.
After speaking, Lin Ruo saw the Secret Order member, who had been staring intently at Klein, suddenly go blank for a second. Then they looked towards the church with fervent and devout eyes, filled with deep shame.
They immediately ran towards the church, and Lin Ruo didn't stop them. He just deactivated his Spectator ability and felt the energy consumption of using mental distortion.
It wasn't much, but not insignificant either—about five times the energy needed to distort an ordinary person's mind. This was likely because the Seer's intuition increased their resistance.
Overall, it was still useful, especially when combined with the badge's abilities.
Lin Ruo squeezed the badge in his hand and smiled.
But the smile didn't reach his eyes.
Not far away, Klein naturally couldn't see what had happened. He only saw a thin man suddenly rush out from a corner.
The man ran past him and hurried into the church, and the sense of being watched disappeared a few seconds before the man appeared.
So this is the person who was following me?
Klein realized, and then he heard a familiar voice in his ear: "The little mouse has been dealt with. He will go to the church and confess."
"What did you do to him?" Klein couldn't help but ask. It was too quick; it hadn't even been half a minute since he felt the gaze again.
"I just hypnotized him with my extraordinary ability," Lin Ruo smiled, then said leisurely, "By the way, Klein, I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier that I'm a favored one of the Goddess. I hope you're not angry."
Klein was stunned and pursed his lips. He wasn't actually angry, as he understood that Lin Ruo had no obligation to tell him he was a favored one of the Goddess. But he did feel a bit uncomfortable.
After all, although they hadn't known each other for long, Klein had already considered Lin Ruo a friend because of their shared hometown, Lin Ruo's familiar face, and his selfless guidance in mysticism. Because they were friends, he cared about Lin Ruo's lie.
But I don't seem to have the right to complain, since I haven't told him that I'm the Fool... Klein thought, feeling a bit deflated. He asked gloomily, "Why are we bound together?"
After what had just happened, Klein naturally doubted Lin Ruo's previous explanation of "I don't know," but it wasn't convenient to ask earlier.
"I really don't know..." Lin Ruo shook his head. Although he knew Klein couldn't see him, he floated in front of Klein and said, "And I didn't lie to you. I can only be considered half an official Beyonder."
"Huh..." Klein was taken aback, "But you're a favored one of the Goddess."
"Being a favored one of the Goddess doesn't mean I'm an official Beyonder," Lin Ruo said confidently. "In fact, I can't even be considered a believer of the Night. I'm an atheist. I became a favored one of the Goddess for some special reasons..." Just like you, you know you're also a favored one of the Goddess now, right?
It took all his willpower for Lin Ruo to swallow the last sentence.
He explained so directly mainly because he didn't want Klein to think he was sent by the Goddess to monitor him when he found out later that he was also a favored one of the Night and had always been under the Goddess's watch.
Lin Ruo didn't want to take the blame for that.
Even with Klein's strong heart, he was shocked by Lin Ruo's words and instinctively looked at the sky, worried that lightning might strike.
But Klein believed Lin Ruo. After all, not even a devout believer of the Goddess, let alone a shallow believer, would say such things.
But... a favored one of the Goddess who doesn't believe in the Goddess, is that even possible?
It's a good thing the captain isn't here, or his worldview might shatter.
"By the way, do you want to go to the church and see which side the little mouse following you belongs to?" Lin Ruo suddenly asked.
"Ah, sure!" Klein nodded immediately. He was also curious about the person following him.
The two of them returned to the church and saw Dunn, who had just come through the underground passage. He was slightly surprised to see Klein and Lin Ruo.
"Captain!" Klein called out.
Dunn nodded at him and looked at Lin Ruo, seemingly inquiring.
Lin Ruo immediately pointed to the Secret Order member waiting in line for confession and said, "He's the one who was following Klein. He's definitely a Beyonder. I used my Spectator pathway ability to hypnotize him, making him a devout follower of the Goddess temporarily, so he came here to confess. Since you're here, take him away and interrogate him!"
His voice was low, ensuring that only the few of them could hear.