'Klein in his Tingen phase really is a lot 'greener' than he was during the Backlund period.'
Returning to reality, Snow immediately deactivated the 'Equivocation' effect used to link with Sefirah Castle. He closed his eyes and began to pray silently:
"The Fool that does not belong to this era, You are the mysterious ruler above the grey fog, You are the King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck. I pray for Your help, I pray for Your favor, I pray that You allow me to smoothly digest my potion..."
The prayer incantation was perfectly standard. However, if any observer were present, all they would see was Snow constantly drawing an inverted cross--longer at the top and shorter at the bottom--upon his chest while reciting: "The Lord who created everything, the Ruler behind the curtain of shadows; the fallen nature of all living beings."
The reason for this discrepancy was another passive entry Snow had imprinted into 'A White Horse is Not a Horse', alongside the one used to block knowledge corruption and the gaze of gods:
"The True Creator is a hidden existence, and the object of my prayer is also a hidden existence. Therefore, in the eyes of others, when I pray to a hidden existence, I am pointing toward the True Creator."
The main purpose of imprinting this sentence was to hide his 'lack of devotion'. After all, living within a cult where one had to pray to the 'Lord' every morning, noon, and night, a failure to pray was equivalent to shouting that one was a heretic. But actually praying would lead to an irreversible slide into the abyss. Thus, Snow had added this layer of camouflage. As long as he prayed to himself whenever prayer was required, the Aurora Order members would see his 'devoted' side.
In truth, he had originally wanted an effect where "anyone who sees him praying would believe he is praying to the god they themselves worship," but he found that his spirituality was insufficient to pay for the activation cost of such an ability.
The activation of 'A White Horse is Not a Horse' was somewhat like using an electrical appliance. First, one had to pay a high 'starting voltage' to complete the activation, after which a steady 'low voltage' was outputted to maintain the effect. If he couldn't even meet the minimum starting voltage, he couldn't add a new entry, even with the perpetual motion power of 'A Foot-long Stick'. This also meant that, while Snow could theoretically borrow any ability from his pathway through the sefirot, in practice, he could only activate abilities from Sequence 6 and below. (Another factor was that at his current level, he could only access information about abilities up to Sequence 6).
Furthermore, the 'starting voltage' for an entry was not tied to the difficulty of the entry itself, but rather to the status level of the ability. The simple 'Equivocation' he used was a Sequence 6 ability. Even when he used it to block cosmic corruption and the gaze of True Gods, the starting cost did not exceed his spiritual limit as a Sequence 9.
Of course, without 'A Foot-long Stick', even maintaining that effect for five seconds would drain the spirituality of a Sequence 7 Beyonder.
Based on this, Snow judged that the entry "making an observer believe one is praying to the god they worship" likely involved high-sequence abilities beyond simple Equivocation. Even though Snow didn't know exactly what those abilities were yet, he knew that at his current low sequence, he absolutely could not afford the cost.
...
Snow's prayer lasted until evening. During this process, he could clearly feel that with every word of Hermes spoken, another 'crack' appeared in the sturdy 'shell' of the potion.
'Praying to Mr. Fool really is incredibly effective!' Snow suppressed his excitement. Seeing the sky turning yellow and grey, he rang the bell by the door to order dinner.
If he could maintain this progress, digesting the Secret Supplicant potion within a month would no longer be impossible.
Having resolved his most pressing crisis, Snow finally breathed a sigh of relief and began to consider a certain question--
Why was it that toward himself--despite possessing a sefirot and a Uniqueness--prayers yielded almost no feedback, yet prayers to Klein produced a response no less powerful than that of the True Creator?
Was it because of his mindset?
Likely not.
If knowing he wasn't a 'big shot' meant he couldn't get feedback, then Klein--who was currently also just a Sequence 9--shouldn't have been able to provide feedback either.
After long consideration, and even finishing his dinner without noticing, Snow finally reached what seemed like a reasonable deduction--
Because when one prayed to The Fool, they weren't just pointing at Klein. They were also pointing at the mark belonging to the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth hidden within Sefirah Castle and his body. It was this mark that provided sufficient feedback for the Secret Supplicant potion.
Conversely, did this mean that there were no lingering marks of hidden existences within 'A White Horse is Not a Horse'?
If this guess was true, it was undoubtedly fantastic news. Ever since transmigrating and realizing his cheat was a sefirot, Snow had worried he was a contingency plan for some 'big shot's' resurrection. But now...
'No, I can't be sure yet. Perhaps this is just a trap deliberately laid by that Being. I must be cautious and maintain my humanity. I must remember that I am only acting!'
Snow slapped his own face--which was handsome enough for the Aurora Order to recruit him on sight--allowing the sting to pull him out of the slight relaxation he had just felt.
He was currently in a world that was only nineteen years away from the Apocalypse. Every day that passed meant the end was one day closer. To avoid being helpless when the end came, he didn't need to reach the heights of the protagonist--Sequence 0 in three years and Great Old One in five--but he at least needed to reach Sequence 4 within nineteen years. Only by becoming a demigod would he have a chance to protect himself during the Apocalypse.
Although the members of the Tarot Club would eventually be Sequence 4 on average, with some reaching Sequence 3, that was no reason for Snow to relax.
Relying on the protection of 'A White Horse is Not a Horse', he recalled the plot of the original work one more time and began to formulate his next step...
...
"Give me a list of your available Beyonder materials."
In a hidden room of the Evil Dragon Bar's underground market, a beautiful girl with a round face looked at the old man in the black soft hat before her. Although most of her face was covered by a veil, her beauty still couldn't be hidden, and her soul-stirring, sweet voice made the old man's heart tremble.
Despite the woman's allure and her tone of a veteran, the old man did not violate the rules. The burly man pulled a notebook from beneath the counter and flipped to the latest pages. He gave it a perfunctory glance before speaking:
"Water Ghost brain tissue, 3 to 15 pounds depending on completeness. Star Crystal, 150 pounds per 50 grams. Queen Bee Grass, 200 pounds per stalk. Adult..."
"I'll take the Queen Bee Grass." The girl ordered the material she needed casually, showing no intention of haggling.
The old man wasn't surprised by her generosity. He took the loose change she handed over and quickly counted it. Confirming the amount was correct, he rang a bell, calling for someone to retrieve the material from the safe.
Moving to the tin box containing the material, the girl confirmed the contents and immediately turned to leave the bar.
'No Black Abyss Anglerfish eyeballs. I'll check another gathering. If they don't have it, I'll have to go to those guys...'
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika Kagura]