Chapter 24 : Madness really makes you speak too much
« Say, Medici, did you know me before ? You seemed a bit too hostile to someone who freed you from the underground ruins… »
Since you made me and Klein separate after that.
Medici sneered.
« I don't like you. »
Sorry, that seemed obvious.
I turned my head to Him.
« Why ? »
What's more, you didn't answer my question. Were you hostile to me just because you didn't like me ?
Medici gave me a deep look.
« I don't like your smile. »
I'm not smiling though ?
Do you enjoy speaking like a Seer ?
Do Seers and Hunters have something in common ? Hunters act like Seers and Seers act like Hunters. The Demoness pathway is also an adjacent pathway to the Hunter pathway and Klein has an affinity with Demonesses. I'm sure there's something there.
Or is it just because Seers are naturally annoying so they're a good example to follow ? But what about Demonesses ? Because Seers are annoying and attractive (?).
« Medici, if you, Sauron and Einhorn want to become females once again, it's not too late to switch to the Demoness pathway. »
What would happen if a Sequence 1 Hunter characteristic and a Sequence 1 Demoness characteristic are in the same body ?
« Ah. No, it's too late. »
Since the Primordial Demoness has the three Sequence 1 characteristics.
The carriage stopped. We had arrived.
I went out and opened the door for Medici.
« After you, princess. » I said.
Medici seemed annoyed.
I continued :
« Now, let's bring you to angels who are under the command of the Orthodox Churches. »
I dragged Him with me.
(Medici : Are you sure this isn't an ambush to kill me ?
Xin Jian : You narcissist, I have other things to do.)
I arrived at the place that the priest told me with Medici behind me.
I am technically a Sequence 1 angel under the command of the Evernight goddess, let's put on an unfathomable and mysterious image…
There were some official Beyonders (archbishops of the Leodoro's Church) explaining the situation to a group of angels. Unfortunately, I didn't see Arianna.
Hey, is finding the Red Priest Uniqueness that serious that we need so many angels to do it ?
With a calm expression, I bowed and introduced myself.
« Hello, I am the person sent by the Evernight Church, Xin Jian. I brought Medici, an angel of the Hunter pathway, to accelerate the investigation. »
Next to me, a beautiful woman who looked very similar to Lilith also introduced herself.
« My name is Maria, I am from the Church of the Mother Earth. »
Lilith's secret child !
I'm sure, she must be Lilith secret child !
In the past, I asked Lilith how She would name Her secret child if she ever had one and She said She'd call them Maria !
(Author : Why do you even ask such questions ?!)
Angels of Lilith's pathway are always girls anyway (because men would also change genders), that's why I renamed Marylin in advance at the Tarot Club.
(Emlyn : …)
Wait, so was Lilith a man at the beginning or not ?
(Lilith : …)
I stopped acting mysteriously and asked :
« Are you Lilith's secret child ? »
(Mr. Fool : Pfft-
Lilith watching from above : …
Amanises : *turns to Lilith with an inquiring look*
Maria : What did I do ? Why are you asking me this ?)
Medici put His hand on my shoulder.
« Xin Jian, your unfathomable image is ruined now. »
My mind became blank.
Right, I forgot…
(Wait, how did you know that I was trying to act unfathomable ?)
« Ahem. So, what is the situation ? »
Maria acted as if nothing happened and answered :
« In this town, everyone suddenly began to kill each other until nobody was left. We suspect that it was caused by Uniqueness of the Hunter pathway. »
Was everyone also wearing monocles ?
« But the strange thing was that everyone died with the same strange smile and a monocle on their right eye. »
Pfft-
Medici took a step back.
Hahaha, it must have been funn-… I mean, like a horror movie.
As expected, Amon still has the Uniqueness, maybe He was trying to mislead us by making the officials think that He was near here. Now, we're back to square one.
Sorry, I think I already solved your investigation…
I pointed out :
« The last time, the key suspect was also found dead in a warehouse with a monocle on his right eye. Monocles are the trademark of the Amon family, maybe the townspeople were just all parasitized ? »
Maria was thoughtful.
Seriously, were you opposing Amon without knowing that it was Amon ? Did the gods not say anything ?
« The Amon family is extremely secretive. It will be hard to find the find responsible for this massacre. »
So that was it.
No, what Amon family ?! It's just the same person !
I explained :
« The Amon family refers to Amon and all the parasitized by Amon. In truth, there is only one person. Our opponent is a cunning Sequence 1 king of angels, this massacre was surely to mislead us. »
The others understood the situation.
Maria nodded.
« You seem well-informed. We will continue to investigate, but if what you say is true then we're back to square one. »
I pointed to Medici.
« Don't worry, I know how to find Amon. We can also use Medici and the law of aggregation of Beyonder characteristics to find the Red Priest Uniqueness. And since Medici is weakened, at worst we only have to kill Him when He will be parasitized by Amon. »
Maria muttered :
« We don't have to go that far… »
Shut up, I'm trying to maintain Medici's fear of Amon. How else am I supposed to prank Him if He is not scared of Amon anymore ? I must also be careful that they don't make an alliance…
I bade farewell to Lilith's secret child and the other angels and left them Medici.
While walking aimlessly (searching for the apartment where I left Trissy, or just a carriage), I was lost in my thoughts.
Mr. Fool is quite silent these days.
Is your resolve to not help me if I don't ask you to so strong ? No, there should be another reason.
Let's see… In most case, Mr. Fool is silent when He sees something sad…
I stopped thinking and lowered my gaze.
No, let's just ask Him.
(Bonus : Why did the Lord of Storms ask for the help of angels from other churches even though Amon's trick was obvious ? -> It was just an excuse to see Xin Jian.
That's also why Amanises sent Xin Jian instead of Arianna. However, Xin Jian did not go talk to Him so that didn't work.
Xin Jian : I tell you, Leodoro is a tsundere !
Author : So Mr. Bonus was also a member of the control room ?
Mr. Fool : Apparently.
Xin Jian : We learn new things everyday… Mr. Bonus, why did I not meet you until now ?
Bonus : I work part-time.
Author : *turns to Xin Jian* Why do you use Mr., Miss or Mrs. for everyone but not me ?
Xin Jian : I don't want to.
Author : …)
I went above the gray fog and sat at the end of the long mottled table.
« Here's Miss Devil for you~. Hehe. » I joked.
(Mr. Fool : Miss ? Aren't you too old for that ?
Xin Jian : Appearance-wise, no. Hey, you're so rude !
Mr. Fool : Speak for yourself.)
While saying this, I searched for what to say.
So, Mr. Fool, I am lost again… Could you act as a GPS-
No, let's not say that.
Then, Mr. Fool, I think I will spend the day here… (or more)
Wait, no, I have to feed Trissy.
(Tris(sy) : Unexpectedly, I became a pet.)
Mr. Fool spoke up first.
« What you are the most afraid of is to be alone. »
I looked at Him.
« The only times when your face is not emotionless are when you are nervous, lying or when you are acting. »
I silently listened to Him.
He was saying the truth.
He continued :
« But you've been smiling more and more recently. »
He paused.
« Since you parted ways with Klein, you've been making more and more expressions. You've also been a lot more playful than usual. Usually, you would spend your days lying on your bed, too lazy to go out if there wasn't anything interesting. It's as if you're searching for things to occupy yourself with until you don't have any time left to think about your problems. »
So that's why Mr. Fool was so silent recently.
Was He pitying me ?
Did He find my behavior sad ?
He looked into my eyes.
« You are searching for an excuse to smile by doing fun things, to convince yourself that you are not acting but that you are genuinely happy. However, acting is lying, you know ? And you can't change it. »
Mr. Fool put His head on His hand.
« It may have not been what Medici meant, but He was right. I don't like your smile either, since you're just putting on a facade. »
The sadder I was, the more playful I was, is that it ?
There was a moment of silence.
I smiled.
« Madness really makes you speak too much. »
—————— I am the dividing line~
Since I finished the construction work above the gray fog and built a nice little town, I brought our second inhabitant of that town into Sefirah Castle, in other words Trissy. I even brought food specially for her.
Well, the first one was the secret puppet Mr. A so the food is only for Trissy, since Mr. A doesn't need to eat (and for me, since I like eat…).
The food can also be used for tea parties above the gray fog, like what we are doing right now…
« Xin Jian, why are you sitting like this ? » Mr. Fool asked.
I snapped out of my thoughts.
« I'm imitating Medici's sitting posture. »
Mr. Fool made a face that meant : why ???
Question marks.jpg
I developed :
« Since I want to be a (fake) Hunter, I'm imitating Medici. »
I turned to the third member of our tea party and explained why I made Her come here.
« Lilith, let's deepen our friendship. »
Lilith didn't understand. What I said was apparently too out of the blue.
I continued :
« You know, I'm always hanging out with Amanises (and now Amanises isn't available anymore), and it's not good to have favoritism in friendships. »
At that moment, I heard Mr. Fool's thoughts.
"It's not good to have favoritism ? Then why do you ignore me when Amanises is there ?"
You ? Of course you don't count.
I ignored His thoughts (which were also wrong, of course I always remember Him when we need a TV to play video games. Historical projections are useful !).
Lilith answered :
« Okay, but what do we do ? »
I thought.
« I don't know. Uh… What do you think of never have I ever ? And the loser will have to juggle with one additional ball each time. Since Mr. Fool has experienced a lot of things, I want to know how much balls He can juggle with. He also has a lot of tentacles~. »
Mr. Fool was worried (for Himself).
« Isn't that game supposed to use alcohol ? Why are we doing it with balls ? »
I retorted :
« Can gods even get drunk ? It's not fun to do it with alcohol… »
Lilith interrupted.
« As a god, I also experienced a lot of things. If we do it like that, we'll have to juggle too at one moment or another, and Mr. Fool will surely target you when it's His turn. Let's just do it with alcohol. »
Hu-hu. That makes sense.
« Alright. »
Mr. Fool shook His head.
« No alcohol for you, you're too young. Just take orange juice. »
I took a glass of orange juice from the fridge under the table (don't ask why there's a fridge under the table, at least it's useful) but complained.
« Why am I too young ? I'm hundreds of years old ! (Physically, I should be an adult too !) »
It's not like I intended to drink alcohol even if you proposed anyway. I am mentally 5 five years and a child should act like a child !
Mr. Fool was firm.
« And I'm thousands of years old. No alcohol for you. »
I mumbled.
« Okay, okay… You grandpa. »
Mr. Fool choked.
I began.
« I've never resurrected from the dead. »
Ah, that's sad. I wanted to, though.
Sentimental.jpg
Mr. Fool was forced to drink a glass at the beginning of the game.
(Mr. Fool : Sigh. Why are you sentimental ? That was a bad time. Headache.jpg)
Okay, next I will say : "I never assumed the identity of the 5000 inhabitants of an entire city."
(Mr. Fool : …Did I do something wrong ?
Xin Jian : Yes.)
That's how I spent the day with Lilith to "deepen our friendship".
(Amanises : Why are you having fun while I'm busy accommodating the Uniqueness of the Death Pathway ?)
—————— I am the dividing line~
Even if I had planned to give only a secret puppet to George III, I decided to wait until the date of Talim Dumont's death passed before making a deal with the king.
After all, I don't really remember it but I think that Trissy was the cause of Talim Dumont's death, even if she was surely ordered to do so.
However, I don't know whether the person(s) behind his death before won't just use another mean to kill him, so let's say that this is just a bet.
While Trissy was kidnapped, at the beginning, the royal family of the kingdom of Loen remained quiet. Maybe they were waiting for a ransom or something. Then, they started putting wanted posters of Trissy all over Backlund.
Sorry, Trissy is above the gray fog~. You can't find her like that~.
It's been around one month now, I think the date of Talim Dumont's death has passed. Anyway, even if it wasn't the case it would be already too late for the ones who want him dead to send Trissy after him now. I don't even know why he was originally killed, maybe it's just because he liked Trissy ?
Well, I don't know if Talim Dumont is alive or not now but at least the culprit couldn't have been Trissy since I kidnapped her.
And it's not like I'd do any more to save someone I don't even know. I just wanted him to stay alive to preserve Klein's mental health.
So, I was saying, it's time to make a deal with the king~.
During this month, I did not do completely nothing. With Mr. Fool's help, I found a Demoness with the same Sequence as Trissy and controlled her spiritual lines. Then, I used the ability of a Bizarro Sorcerer to make her have Trissy's appearance. The secret puppet is ready~!
With Secret Puppet-chan, no, with fake Trissy, I arrived at the palace.
« GPS nowadays, we can really go anywhere. »
(Mr. Fool : I am the GPS, though ?)
I arrived at the throne's room, where George III was.
(William I : I feel like she is familiar…)
« Hello, Mister King~! I found your Trissy, can I have a reward ? »
(William I : Impossible, it must be another person.)
Wait, I feel like that's not what I should have said right now. Hmm…
Well, it's too late anyway.
George III was speechless. It was a natural reaction since an stranger just barged and spouted after all.
The person talking to the king become I came here became angry and began to yell at me.
Ah, so there was someone else here ? Sorry, I didn't know…
Xin Jian, don't yawn, don't yawn, that's rude, restrain yourself… Oh, I don't care…
I yawned.
That should the worst first impression I've until now, no ?
I controlled fake Trissy to make her take a step forward and pointed to her.
« I've found the person the person you were searching for, could we talk alone ? »
George III thought for a while then turned to the others.
« Leave. »
Um, that's true that Trissy's matter should a secret, I don't think he'd want that to spread.
The person yelling at me until now (for an unknown reason) stopped yelling and retorted.
« But Your Majesty, you can't just do what that unknown woman wants- »
The king cut him off.
« Are you ignoring your king's orders ? I won't repeat myself, leave. »
But you already repeated yourself then ?
Ah, this is intimidation and abuse of power I tell you, I already don't like him.
When everyone left, I put on a polite smile and bowed.
« I sincerely apologize for my rudeness from earlier. Please allow to me to introduce myself. My name is Xin Jian and I have brought you this person here as a sign of goodwill. »
Bullshit.
The king glanced at (fake) Trissy.
« Very well, but you certainly didn't do it for free, didn't you ? »
Okay, it's been a while since I last talked politely like this. Let's do my best…
« It's a bit presumptuous of me to say this but I would like to become one of your angels, Your Majesty. Of course, I may be a bit inexperienced but still I hope that my angelic powers could satisfy you. »
While talking, I made fake Trissy go to him. You didn't think I would really give you Trissy, did you ?
I am the dragon who kidnapped the pretty princess (?) and I will keep her (Trissy) in my castle forever ! Humph !
(Trissy the princess (?) : Why ?! What did I do ?)
« What pathway are you from ? »
The Hunter pathway, Sir.
No, I'm joking.
« This humble self is an angel of the Apprentice pathway, Your Majesty. »
Since the Seer pathway would be the same pathway as Zaratul and the Thief pathway has the risk of being targeted by Amon (or the risk of being Amon), the only thing with the Apprentice pathway would be to be suspected of being from the Abraham family. But the Abraham family hasn't produced any angels for a while anyway.
« Wasn't the Apprentice pathway under the curse of Mr. Door ? »
Who knows, maybe I am Mr. Door ?
I answered :
« I found a way to escape by isolating myself when there is a full moon. I fortunately came across a sealed artifact who could create secret spaces when I was at a low Sequence. »
George III nodded.
« Alright, it is reasonable. I allow you to be an angel under the Augustus royal family. How can I contact you if I need you ? »
What, you agreed just like that ?
Alright, then it is reasonable that you give me a unit of the MI9 too. Mr. Fool, do as we agreed.
(Above the gray fog :
008's historical projection : It is reasonable that…
Mr. Fool : Seriously, why am I doing this ?)
« To contact me, you just need to recite my honorific name since I don't have any fixed address for now. If you don't trust me enough, just ask someone else to recite instead. » I said.
What should I choose as an honorific name…
(Author : But in the end, Xin Jian was too lazy to create one on the spot.)
Okay, let's do this.
« My honorific name is :
The Fool who doesn't belong to this era ;
The mysterious ruler above the gray fog ;
The king of yellow and black who wields good luck. »
Mr. Fool, I let you handle everything !
(Mr. Fool : So you knew my honorific name since the beginning !
Xin Jian : No, I just wrote it on my hand !)
The king, who saw me read what was written on my hand, was confused.
« Uh, okay, but why do you need to write your own honorific name on your hand ? »
I don't know, Sir. I don't know…
I just smiled politely, and George III gave me a unit of the MI9 under the influence of 008's historical projection.
At least I am an angel under the king now… That's useless, but I can still stop his ascension ceremony more easily in the future…
Then, I left.
Goodbye, Secret Puppet-chan ! Your sacrifice wasn't for nothing !