Hearing The Hanged Man's question, Odis spread his hands and said, "Whether Amon has all three Sequence 1 characteristics depends on whether the head of the Zoroast family is still alive or not."
Although Odis knew that the old man was alive inside Klein's poet friend, this was another question he shouldn't be able to answer with certainty.
Behind the gray fog, Klein thought to himself: 'Connecting this with the contents of the Black Emperor card, even if one gathers all the Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristics, a complex ritual is still required before ascending. Perhaps he hasn't become a god yet. But the thoughts and actions of beings at this level are truly hard to guess...'
Immediately after, he thought of another question, so manipulated The World to ask, "If both Amon and Jacob were Sequence 1 at the time, how did Amon manage to replace Jacob without attracting anyone's attention?"
If two individuals are evenly matched, one couldn't just quietly eliminate the other.
Klein had some guesses regarding this, but he wasn't certain.
Odis smiled and said, "I can look into this matter further for you, but it will require some form of payment. So this question requires a transaction."
"I'll consider it." The World said in a gloomy voice.
With the conclusion of this transaction, the Tarot Club fell silent. Everyone felt they needed time to digest the high-level intelligence they had just received.
After a short while, The World spoke again in a hoarse voice, "Do any of you have news about the mutated pituitary gland of a Thousand-Faced Hunter, or the Human-skinned Shadow's characteristic, or some strands of hair from a Deep-Sea Naga?"
Derrick immediately replied, "Mr. World, I have already located the Human-skinned Shadow, but I may not be able to find someone to hunt it for you for the time being."
He had previously agreed with The World that the price for borrowing the All-Black Eye would be hunting the Human-skinned Shadow for him.
"That's fine. I can wait a while longer," The World said in a deep voice.
Alger joined in, "I heard someone is selling a Deep-Sea Naga's hair, but the island where the seller is located is rather remote. I'll need until next week to confirm it for you."
The World replied in a somber tone, "Some news is better than no news."
After waiting for several seconds and seeing no one else speak, it became clear this round of trading had come to an end for now.
At the head of the mottled bronze table, Klein sighed inwardly: 'Now the only Thousand-Faced Hunter remains without any leads...'
At this moment, Miss Magician initiated a new transaction, "I would like to know which organizations hold the potion formulas for the Apprentice Pathway. Mm, the payment I can offer is 'Sights in the Spirit World', a travelogue written long ago by a powerful Beyonder documenting his journeys in the Spirit World."
'Sights in the Spirit World?' Klein was intrigued.
He manipulated The World and immediately said, "I can answer that question and throw in some additional information for free."
Klein knew that Mr. Hermit and Mr. Hanged Man could also answer this question.
He couldn't help but lampoon inwardly: 'Competition is really troublesome. Now I have to include freebies...'
"Alright." Fors smiled happily.
Then The World asked in a hoarse voice, "Do you want to hear this privately, or with everyone?"
Fors thought for a moment before saying, "Just say it openly."
It wasn't that she felt inspired by Miss Justice's example, thinking the answer might help others. Rather, she felt it didn't matter if the other members heard the answer to this question.
Plus, if The World missed something, the others could fill in the gaps. If a transaction was needed, she could continue offering Sights in the Spirit World as payment...
The World started, "During the Fourth Epoch, the Apprentice Pathway was controlled by the Abraham family. Later, it flowed into the Tamara family, which had intermarried with them for generations. In the Fifth Epoch, that is, the current era, the Theosophy Order also possesses potion formulas for Apprentice and Trickmaster. The organization is believed to be connected to the Abraham and Tamara families. Of course, some suspect that the Theosophy Order is actually the Demoness Sect in disguise."
Then Klein manipulated The World to start sharing the 'bonus' information: "It is said that the Abraham family has long suffered from a bloodline curse, forcing them to live in scattered locations to avoid danger."
'Bloodline curse?' Fors thought of her own experience: 'Before Mrs. Aulisa passed away, she had said that as long as one wasn't from their family, they wouldn't be cursed. But I had used the bracelet obtained from her belongings, and only afterward did I begin to suffer the blood moon ravings!'
Alger and Audrey were hearing about the Abraham family's bloodline curse for the first time, each making their own connections.
After a few seconds, Fors recovered from her regret, "Thank you, Mr. World. You've cleared up my doubts. I will copy the first chapter of Sights in the Spirit World and sacrifice it to Mr. Fool after the gathering ends. Mr. Fool, is that acceptable?"
The Fool nodded slowly, "Yes."
Alger marveled inwardly: 'The Tarot Club members are indeed extraordinary. Who would have thought that the usually low-key Miss Magician seems to have ties to an ancient Beyonder family like the Abrahams?'
Then Odis spoke up, "I can add some supplementary information to Mr. World's answer. In exchange, I'll ask you a few questions."
Fors was initially pleased that an open Q&A session yielded additional insights, but then she became a bit puzzled: "Ask me a few questions? I... I don't think I can–"
Odis reassured, "This is something you can definitely answer, or at least have relevant channels to find out."
"Alright," Fors nodded, "I'll do my best."
She was indeed somewhat lacking in confidence, because although Mr. Hermit had just joined the Tarot Club, he seemed very knowledgeable. She couldn't imagine what questions she could answer for him.
Odis said, "Regarding the Apprentice Pathway potion formulas in the Theosophy Order, there have always been two rumors... The first rumor is that in the Fourth Epoch, the Abraham family declined in a very short time, and the Demoness Sect somehow got the opportunity to take advantage of the situation, plundering a batch of Beyonder characteristics and Sealed Artifacts from this family, including some potion formulas, and used them to establish the Theosophy Order."
After a short pause, he continued, "The second rumor is that during the Fourth Epoch, some members of the Abraham family sought help from the Demoness Sect, hoping to escape the curse. So they established the Theosophy Order as an affiliate organization of the Demoness Sect. Of course, it's also possible that both rumors together form a more complete picture: Some members of the Abraham family sought help from the Demoness Sect in order to escape the curse, but the Demoness Sect exploited them, using them to locate the hiding places of other Abraham family members and successfully plundered a batch of Beyonder characteristics and Sealed Artifacts from them."
'Although Mr. Hermit clearly stated these were rumors, they still contain a wealth of information...' Klein seemed to see the decline of a Beyonder family in the Fourth Epoch and the opportunistic predation of evil Beyonder organizations.
Alger summarized internally: 'In other words, in Mr. Hermit's view, the Theosophy Order is definitely connected to the Demoness Sect...'
Fors first marveled at the high caliber of the Tarot Club, where many difficult questions could be answered from various angles.
Then she voiced her doubt, "Why did the Abraham family suddenly decline?"
Odis said, "It seems related to the Abraham family's ancestor and their curse."
This made Klein think of Mr. Door mentioned in Roselle's diary: 'Could it be because the powerful Mr. Door was banished, the family declined?'
However, he immediately dismissed the thought: 'That might only be part of the reason. A family of that size wouldn't typically have only one Angel. Even without one powerful existence, the decline would not have been so rapid...'
Although Fors still had questions, she knew that pursuing further would require The Hermit to use his channels to investigate, which would be a transaction requiring other costs.
Then she looked at Mr. Hermit and prompted, "What do you wish to ask me?"
Odis first addressed the head of the bronze table, "Mr. Fool, I request a private conversation with Miss Magician."
"Very well." Klein replied calmly. Whether they spoke privately or not made little difference to him. He could still listen in on the exchange.
After The Fool isolated the senses of the other members, Odis said to Fors, "In a previous gathering, I recall you inadvertently mentioned that you are a writer?"
Fors was slightly stunned: 'Did I say that before?'
Odis had prepared for this. He pretended to be uncertain, "When Little Sun was recounting his experiences, didn't you once say, 'from a writer's perspective'? I assumed you were a writer."
"I... I suppose I did say that." Fors couldn't quite remember.
While listening to Little Sun's story, she had indeed thought several times about how she would write it using her writing techniques. And when analyzing problems, she often used her creative writing thought processes. It was very likely she had let it slip, inadvertently exposing that information.
Even Klein who was eavesdropping hadn't noticed whether Miss Magician had actually said that. Maybe because he already knew she made a living through writing, he hadn't really paid attention.
He thought to himself: 'It's certainly possible that Miss Magician accidentally revealed such information. She is very cautious in many areas, but in others, she has no guard at all. Case in point, when Miss Justice was trading with Mr. Hermit a bit earlier, Miss Magician blurted out her surprised thoughts and then quickly covered her own mouth...'
Odis's words had been carefully crafted. He had also considered contacting Fors as Mr. Leader through Xio, but that would be strange too, since Xio had never mentioned Fors in front of Mr. Leader.
Just hearing it would sound ill-intentioned...
Moreover, it might expose the connection between Leader and Lelouch. So he decided to use The Hermit to ask Miss Magician. He knew Fors wouldn't notice this.
Odis said, "I have some questions about publishing."
"Ah?" Fors thought she had misheard: 'Mr. Hermit wants to publish a book? A study on mystical symbols, perhaps?'