Chapter 93: New Diary Page

Five minutes before three in the afternoon.

Above a blurry, boundless, grayish-white, silent gray fog stood a lofty palace. An ancient mottled bronze table sat there quietly.

On the seat of honor at the long table sat a man already engulfed by the thick gray fog.

Klein leaned against the back of the chair and contemplated. He suddenly extended his hand and tapped on the crimson stars that represented Justice and The Hanged Man.

...

Backlund, Empress Borough.

Audrey lifted her dress as she quickly walked towards her bedroom.

Suddenly, she felt something and looked sideways at the shadow sitting on the balcony. As expected, she saw her golden retriever, Susie, who was sitting there in silence.

Audrey sighed and drew a crimson moon on her chest. She then got closer and looked down at her golden retriever from a commanding position. "Susie, that's not right. This is peeping. A Spectator has to observe in an open manner."

The golden retriever lifted its head to look at its owner and shook its tail.

After nagging her dog, Audrey didn't delay any further and continued walking towards her bedroom again.

In the few seconds of opening and closing the door, she suddenly had a weird idea. "I wonder if Mr. Fool would allow Susie to enter that mysterious space. Then, there would be four members in the Tarot Gathering! And all of them would be Beyonders!

No way, Susie can't talk. If they were to let her express her opinion and share her thoughts, what would she do? Woof woof woof? Howl howl? Eww, why am I mimicking a dog's bark here?"

Just imagining such a scene feels really strange. A mysterious and solemn gathering with the sudden barking of a dog... Mr. Fool would definitely kick us out of the Tarot Gathering directly."

Audrey locked the door and sat by the side of her bed. She took out a piece of old yellowish-brown paper from underneath her pillow and read it repeatedly, entering her Spectator state.

...

In a particular area of the Sonia Sea, an old sailboat that was in pursuit of the Listener had already left the Rorsted Archipelago.

Seafarer Alger Wilson was worried that the wall clock's machinery would malfunction and entered the captain's cabin about half an hour earlier in case he had misjudged the time, which would cause his subordinates to notice the abnormality.

In front of him was a glass of nearly transparent liquor. The rich aroma swirled strand after strand into his nostrils.

He thought of the impending Gathering, the vast fog that presented itself in front of him in the hotel's corridor, and the mysterious Fool who sat in the middle of the gray fog. He lifted his glass and took a gulp, using the burning sensation in his throat to ease the emotions that had stirred within him. Very soon, he restored his calm.

…

Above the gray fog, gigantic stone columns held up a majestic divine hall. Two dark red blobs extended out into faint human figures by the side of the ancient mottled bronze table.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Fool." Augmented with a blurry effect, Audrey greeted him with a bow. "It is unfortunate that there is no wine here; otherwise, we could have toast to your successful trial."

She was referring to the ritualistic magic.

"You are more powerful than we imagined," Alger Wilson praised as well.

Klein was surrounded by the thick fog as usual. He pressed down with his right arm and spoke with his normal tone, replying as though it were natural. "Great, this means that we are on the path of excellence. If you have any matters to tend to that leave you unable to attend the gathering on Mondays, conduct the ritual and inform me. All you have to do is change the line in the incantation 'I pray for a good dream' with the reason."

"Alright," Audrey quickly agreed. "Mr. Fool, I obtained another page of Emperor Roselle's diary. I believe I still owe you one page."

"I was away from land this week and haven't found any new pages." Alger placed his right hand near his chest and bowed in apology.

"No matter. I expected my request to take a long time." Klein leaned back into his chair and tapped the armrest with his index finger as he looked at Miss Justice. "You can express the contents of the diary."

Audrey bowed slightly. "As you wish."

A pen appeared before her. She recalled the symbols that she had memorized and tried her best to transcribe them. In seconds, she saw that the goatskin was already filled with content—the strange symbols neatly covered the entire page.

After checking the contents, she put down the fountain pen and said, "It's done."

Klein raised his hand, and the goatskin parchment appeared in his palm. Shifting his gaze down, he began reading.

"July 9th. I suddenly thought of an interesting question. Since the Sequence pathways are also called the 'Blessings of The Divinities' or 'Pathways of The Divinities', then why would the stone slate that records the completed twenty-two Sequence pathways be called the 'Blasphemy Slate'? Blasphemy, what an interesting term... Just who is the one blasphemed? And who created the Blasphemy Slate? How could that person hold all of the Sequence pathways? Just what other information was on the stone? I really want to see it.

"July 12th. I've realized another fact today. The Sealed Artifacts are an important component of a church's overall strength, even though some of the sealed items are very, very dangerous. Among the seven churches, the God of Craftsmanship wields the least number of Sealed artifacts, which are also relatively less dangerous... Did I join an organization without a future? No, I should think of it this way; only a blank piece of paper can produce a good painting. A weak organization is the best place for me to display my abilities!"

"July 14th. I saw that mysterious Mr. Zaratul again. I never expected him to be the leader of an ancient organization, the Secret Order!"

Klein's pupils constricted when he read this. The Zaratul family only had a certain connection with the Secret Order in the notes of the Church of the Evernight Goddess. But now he learned from Emperor Roselle that the mysterious Mr. Zaratul was rumored to be the leader of the Secret Order.

From the looks of it, it is an unquestionable fact that the Secret Order holds the Seer Sequence pathway.

While Klein was reading the diary, Audrey looked over and began observing him out of habit. However, her field of vision was completely obscured by the thick fog.

Audrey stuck out her tongue secretly and pretended to admire the scenery. She was just short of humming a lively tune.

Alger sat silently, as if he were in the presence of a true god.

Klein scanned the last portion of the diary.

"After learning that I had become a Savant, Mr. Zaratul mentioned that I had chosen a difficult yet relatively safe path. I asked him why that was the case, but all he did was smile before telling me that the Sequence pathway contains many secrets. I asked him which Sequence pathway he selected. He told me that his Sequence 9 was Seer.

I intentionally mocked him and asked if every Seer only disclosed half-truths, never explaining things more clearly. Furthermore, he was clearly a powerful High-Sequence Beyonder. There was no need for him to continue acting as a Seer!

Mr. Zaratul told me that it was a habit he adopted from back when he was a seer and that this was a method that could pique my curiosity and make me cooperate with him. He hoped that I could help him steal a dangerous sealed item from the Church of the God of Craftsmanship, a relic of the Antigonus family.

Clearly, this must wait until I become a core member of the Church of the God of Craftsmanship. I asked Mr. Zaratul how long it would take to digest the potion if I used the acting method and what standards I should use to determine if I had digested it completely.

He told me that for the lower Sequences, it would only take half a year to digest the potion as long as one strictly used the acting method. And the standard measure for progress was simple; every Beyonder would sense it immediately once the potion was completely digested. It is what it is.

I asked him for more details, but he merely smiled at me. To hell with his smiles, I'll beat up every Seer I see when I become a High-Sequence Beyonder!"

Klein read the diary carefully before looking at Justice and The Hanged Man again. "Sorry for the wait. You can proceed."

Audrey looked at The Hanged Man and organized her words. "Where can I find the Psychology Alchemists?"

Alger shook his head. "Miss Justice, firstly, I don't have a clue. Secondly, I don't think there's any rush in seeking out the Psychology Alchemists. What you should focus on now is completely digesting the Spectator potion."

Audrey nodded in disappointment. "All I want is to have plenty of time to prepare so that I can approach them more naturally.

Alright, then when can I digest the Spectator potion and stop acting? Is there a standard that indicates when I can? I'm almost at the point where I no longer feel frustrated, nor do I hear the constant murmuring anymore."

Alger spoke, "If you don't use the acting method, the typical rule of thumb is to wait three years and confirm that you no longer feel restless or receive any auditory or visual illusions. There is one simple test to determine when you can. That method is to exhaust your body to its limit. If you still don't hear any maniacal murmurings or see any strange things at that point, that would mean that you're ready to advance.

With regards to the acting method, I have also just come into contact with it. It feels good, so I don't think it'll take three years."

Three years, that's too long. Audrey criticized inwardly.

Klein interjected in his usual calm tone, "For Low-Sequence Beyonders, as long as you diligently adhere to the acting method, you should be able to digest the potion within six months."

"As for the signs of digestion," he added, "you'll know it when it happens. It's not something that needs to be taught."

"Six months... amazing! Thank you, Mr. Fool!" Audrey exclaimed.

Miss Justice, don't be so quick to think you're special. The key is that six months is still quite a stretch...

"Half a year..." Alger murmured thoughtfully.

Audrey noticed the doubt in his voice. What is he questioning?

In truth, Alger had employed a sort of "acting" technique himself while traversing the seas and posing as a pirate. He found it difficult to believe that a potion's digestion time could be shortened to one fifth of the usual.

Audrey thought as she asked, "Mr. Fool, have you considered adding more members?"

Klein leaned back casually. "This started as a trial, so I didn't spend much time thinking about extending our meetings.

But now, as a regular gathering, we must choose our members carefully. Security is our motto."

Audrey nodded gently. "That is to say that we have to follow a process of observation, recommendation, and testing. Yes, a process."

"You can interpret it that way," Klein affirmed.

In his mind, he was thinking about how he could inquire about the Secret Order and the Clown potion.

Realizing that Justice temporarily had nothing else to say, Alger took the initiative to speak, "I've heard that a Listener from the Aurora Order is searching for traces of the True Creator, which is the holy residence they advocate."

"True Creator?" Audrey asked, puzzled.

"It is an ancient entity worshiped by numerous secret organizations and cults. They believe that the Creator hasn't completely perished. The Core he left behind is the True Creator." Alger gave a rough explanation. "Since the Fifth Epoch, the True Creator has appeared in many forms, such as The Hanged Giant or the Eye behind the Shadow Curtains. Heh heh, many people believe that Emperor Roselle referenced the imagery of the True Creator when he was creating the tarot cards; hence, there exists the card of The Hanged Man."

At this point, he looked at Klein. "Mr. Fool, there's nothing with what I said, right?"

Klein thought about the bloody man on the cross that the Captain saw in Hanass Vincent's dream. He chuckled and said, "I am more inclined to call him the Fallen Creator."