Chapter 75: Z and J

Both men stared at each other, and neither said anything for several seconds. The pressure of discomfort filled the room.

Klein suppressed the desire to squirm in his seat.

With the spirituality he gained from advancing to Magician, keeping the Tarot Club running was no longer as much of a burden as when he was a Clown. He was sure he could now cope with another two new members before his spirituality would again be stretched to the limit.

With his promotion, Klein's control over this space increased considerably. He finally felt confident that he was ready to face his fellow member from another world.

He thought long and hard about how he would organize such a meeting.

Would he just let all the members leave except them, and still in their places, would he say, "I am like you"?

Or would it be better to prepare a modern scenario that could be easily explained as the meeting point of two blessed ones if he made a mistake?

In the end, he had opted for the second.

Recreating the living room of his home on Earth, Klein made sure not to forget any detail. The television broadcasting the morning program, his console under it, some games, and a view of the city in the distance.

This was extremely familiar, something he had seen every day of his life as an earthling, so recreating this scene in the space above the gray fog was extremely simple.

Furthermore, he had also taken the trouble to include a language as easily recognizable as Chinese to ensure everything was clear and without misunderstandings.

This should have been enough of a 'signal' to convey what he wanted to say; it couldn't have been more obvious!

So why...

'Why aren't you saying anything and just standing there staring at me? Speak! Shit!' Klein felt his heart tighten, his mind shuffling through all the possibilities of what this could mean.

The worst of all became stronger with each passing second.

'Could it be. . . could it be that I was wrong about him? Surely he's not a transmigrator, and everything that's happened was merely a multiversal coincidence . . . Wait.'

At the same time as that possibility was screaming from the rooftops, he understood the situation immediately.

His face went flat, and he looked at the man with clear frustration. The emotion in his eyes conveyed much better than his words could.

'Are you seriously messing with me at a moment as important as this, Chariot?'

Not wanting to play along, Klein finally broke the silence, speaking in Lenburg.

"Well?"

Seeing that he had gotten what he wanted, Adryan smiled in victory, his scarlet eyes shining.

Winking mischievously, the redhead glanced sideways at the TV and chuckled.

Frowning slightly, Klein was already considering whether Divine Retribution was something he could do here when the man's sudden voice took him off guard.

"You know, it's a bit racist to think I'm Chinese, don't you think?"

Astonished and not thinking that anyone would talk to him in his language, the Magician couldn't help but tremble with excitement.

Chariot had spoken in Chinese!

Completely ignoring the previous comment, he also replied in his native language, "I didn't expect you to be able to speak it. Were you a fan of Chinese dramas?"

Chinese was not exactly a language that people learned as a hobby unless they would travel or live there. Maybe Chariot had spent some time in China or planned to live there.

There had to be a reason: you don't learn one of the most challenging languages in the world just because.

"More the books than anything else. So that I can have a physical copy I can read. So, how is it?

"I never had the chance to speak it with a native. How do I sound? I'm not saying anything stupid, am I?"

"No, it's pretty good. There's a bit of an accent, but you don't sound bad at all." Klein admitted with a slight nod.

'Even his accent has a certain charm. Maybe this guy is a symbol of sexiness or something?' Complaining to himself with a grimace, the fool could only sigh.

The redhead's eyes sparkled with amusement, "Oh? You mean my voice sounds sexy? Gee, I didn't take you for such a smooth talker, Mr World~"

"I didn't say that." Quickly cutting the subject before he could continue, Klein could only ignore the blush on his cheeks.

Stretching a little and having had enough of playing with the man, the redhead walked over to the sofa, "Hey, make some room. I don't want to be standing all the time."

"Oh, yeah, sorry." Re-arranging himself at the other end of the sofa, Klein watched as Adryan rested his arm against the armrest and sank.

'Luckily I made the sofa a bit bigger, otherwise there was no way he was going to fit in it, he's so big...' Klein patted himself on the back.

"Well. What would you like to talk about?"

The man's sudden voice brought Klein back from his award ceremony. He looked at the man, slightly confused.

"Sorry?"

"You went to the trouble of having Mr Fool modify this place to resemble what I assume is your home." Adryan looked around with genuine interest.

Seeing the Fool's home was something he didn't think he would ever be able to do.

Sighing a little, he turned his attention back to Klein, "In a way, the Fool and the Scarlet Monarch are alike in that they like to pamper their blessed from time to time."

The redhead nodded appreciatively and took a closer look at the games he had and recognized some of them. The Fool had good taste.

"I have to say. Not bad. You could use a God of War, but all in all, fine."

Pressing his lips together at the comment, the Magician nodded slightly in agreement. 'It seems that Chariot still suspects nothing of The Fool sitting beside him right now...'

Although he was greatly relieved at this information, Klein also noticed the way the man had spoken.

It was as if he, too, knew what this mysterious space was!

Not wanting to miss the opportunity to get more information about what he suspected was the reason for his transmigration, he quickly got to the point.

"It seems that you are familiar with this place, Mr. Chariot. Is there something special about it?

"I never paid it too much attention. I just thought it was Mr Fool's resting place."

"Special is an understatement," Adryan answered honestly, sighing slightly, looking gravely at Klein.

"I'll make it short: don't investigate, don't try to discover the meaning, or even try to divine it.

"This is the ultimate definition of knowing more will infect you; knowing just the name is safe, but don't even try to investigate any further.

"Are we clear?"

'I already regret opening my mouth.' Klein pressed his lips together uneasily; he hadn't expected this place to be so dangerous.

So many times, it had saved him, and he sometimes forgot that this place had withstood the attack of a True God! Nothing safe could ever achieve that!

Although he wanted to refuse to agree to listen to the name, he would trust Chariot's words.

'As long as I only know the name, it will be safe... Don't investigate, don't divine...'

After that flood of thoughts, Klein nodded somewhat tensely.

"I understand. What is the name of this place?"

Adryan smiled calmly. He looked around, and after 7 seconds of silence, he spoke.

"It's called the Sefira Castle."

Klein repeated the name in a murmur, his brow deeply furrowed.

'Sefira Castle... This place is supposed to be a castle? Where is the castle?!' In all his exploration of the place, he found nothing remotely similar to that word.

But, although it confused him, he would listen to the man next to him and not inquire or investigate further.

'If Chariot is willing to warn me so many times, it's because this knowledge is really dangerous...'

While Klein was brainstorming, Adryan calmly observed him, taking this opportunity to get a much better look at the 'protagonist.'

'Big eyes like a black cat, just as expressive... His posture, although somewhat withdrawn, is also somewhat relaxed, which is the discomfort of meeting someone new... His body is shrunk and withdrawn but it doesn't seem to bother him, not unlike a sitting cat.'

After his brief analysis, the redhead couldn't help but smile.

'How cute~'

Finally coming out of his trance, whether he knew it or not, Klein turned his attention back to Chariot.

"The Scarlet Monarch's place is very similar to this one. Are they of the same kind? What's it called?"

"What did I say about asking questions? Do you really want to dance with death?" Reproaching the man without meaning, Adryan sighed, "It's the same kind.

"Its name is the City of Calamities."

"… That's a heavy name," Klein murmured in a low voice.

If something usually had Calamity or disaster in the novels he read, it was never a good thing.

Without replying, Adryan nodded mysteriously.

"It is. Now, enough of that subject. You have already inquired too much, and I don't want to risk dirtying you with my impurity."

"How can you know all this without anything happening to you? Is it because you're a demigod that it's safe to know?" Klein asked, genuinely curious about the subject.

"Can only a demigod bear what this knowledge brings?"

"You're a bit pushy, don't you think?" Adryan looked with one eye closed at the man, who laughed uneasily.

Shaking his head, Adryan looked at the boring newscast.

"And to answer your question, not even a demigod could hold all the knowledge I have in my head."

Raising a hand and pointing to his tunic, he continued. "Do you think I wear this just because it looks good? No, although I don't deny that it looks good, this tunic protects me from the consequences of my knowledge and keeps my soul together.

"Without it, I would undoubtedly be the most corrupt being on the entire planet. An aberrant monster that could only be purified by casting the same sun upon me."

'So the robe is the high-level sealed artifact he uses...' Finally finding an answer to one of his questions, Klein wasn't very happy about it.

Concernedly, he looked at the man, "To keep your soul together?"

"Let's just say that the way I got here wasn't as clean as I would have liked." Adryan lowered his hand and sighed wearily.

The cracks in his skin were now so familiar that, at this point, he just ignored them.

"My soul was horribly fragmented. Into such small and tiny pieces that if it weren't for my robe acting as glue, I'd be dead right now."

"I don't know what to say..." Klein was lost, "Does it hurt?"

"Not really. The robe helps with that. The only thing is that I am much weaker against attacks that target the soul than a normal Beyonder.

"For example, taking a full-on Shriek from a Wraith without protection could knock me out for a while or kill me if they take me by surprise."

"Wraith?"

"It's sequence 5 of the Prisoner's Pathway. The path controlled by the Rose School of Thought." As soon as he finished saying that, Adryan couldn't help but laugh genuinely.

"You know, this is not at all how I imagined our first meeting was going to be."

"In what sense, Mr. Chariot?" So far Klein could tell that he was enjoying it very much, he didn't see much of a problem.

"In the sense that this is more like a class than a gathering of earthly relatives." Placing a hand on his chest and looking painfully at the detective, who froze, Adryan murmured pathetically.

"Is that all I am to you? A mere teacher you can consult and then throw away? Ah! What pain!"

The cheeks of the more petite man exploded in shame, but knowing the man as he did, he controlled his embarrassment.

Nodding slightly in his direction, Klein couldn't help but let some of his embarrassment escape.

"I'm sorry, Mr Chariot. I got carried away by the desire to know a little more about this world. I hope you'll forgive me."

"Why are you so respectful? We're from the same place; you don't have to keep that up here." Coming out of his depression as if by some switch, Adryan complained a little.

The corners of Klein's mouth rose a little, and he smiled amusedly.

"It doesn't bother me so much to be a gentleman. It has a certain grace."

"Meh, I've always found those things annoying." Rolling his shoulders indifferently, the redhead smiled at the dark-haired man.

"Since you call yourself a gentleman, why don't we start over?"

Getting up from the sofa, Adryan extended his right hand towards Klein with a gentle expression.

"In this world, I am Adryan Kenway. A citizen of the Feysac Empire born on September 21, 1327.

"But in my previous life, my name was Joa Nahuel. A Paraguayan who failed as a fighter and tried to study architecture before coming here, born on December 1.

"It's a pleasure to meet you."

Although the man's words stunned him a bit. Being a gentleman and not wanting to leave his fellow man on the ground, Klein quickly got up.

Placing a hand on his chest and bowing slightly, he smiled, too.

"In this world, I am Klein Moretti. A student of history born in the Loen Kingdom on March 4, 1327..."

Since the guy had been aware of what had happened in Tingen, Klein saw it as a complete waste of time to try to lie.

Usually, saying his dead name to a stranger would repulse him, and he would do anything to avoid it, but in this case, he didn't care at all.

'This is the trust between transmigrators...' Thinking those words in his heart, he quickly added.

"But in my previous life, my name was Zhou Mingrui, a laborer in Southeast China, born on the same day."

Pulling his hand away from his chest and squeezing the man's large hand in front of him, Klein's smile grew even wider, bordering on the ridiculous.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Joa."

Adryan's gaze softened. It had been a long time since anyone had called him that...

It brought back good memories.

"The same to you, Zhou."