Caught by Miss Angelica, Klein sighed inwardly. At this point, trying to leave would be far too suspicious.
Slightly adjusting his mood, he stepped forward with a peaceful smile:
"Good afternoon, Miss Angelica. And how should I address this gentleman?"
"Hello, Mr. Moretti. My name is Snow von Pandrax. I came here hoping for a divination, and Miss Angelica recommended you." Snow removed his silk hat and gave a polite bow with a hand over his chest. Klein immediately returned the gesture, though his heart was anything but calm.
'It's actually Mr. Devil! Has my identity as The Fool been exposed? No, I only came to the Divination Club on a whim. If he were really looking for me, he should have gone to Daffodil Street instead.'
'But his cat actually gives me a sense of danger? Is it possible that it's a pet that has taken a potion? So, besides Miss Justice, there's someone else who would do something so extravagant. No wonder Mr. Devil didn't look surprised when Miss Justice asked her question earlier.'
With these thoughts in mind, Klein turned to Miss Angelica:
"Is the Topaz room available?"
"You may use it as you wish." Miss Angelica smiled slightly, and Klein led Snow into the divination room.
As the door closed, Klein silently activated Spirit Vision. What appeared in his vision was a very healthy aura.
'The colors are uniform, without any dimness or cloudiness. However, the color around the head is somewhat deep; he must be in deep thought...' Klein made his judgment without pausing, moving fluidly to the table. He glanced down at the various divination tools and asked amiably:
"Mr. Snow, do you have a preferred method of divination? Perhaps an astrolabe, Tarot cards, or something else?"
This was originally just an opening line to start the conversation, but Klein was horrified to discover--through his still-active Spirit Vision--that the man's ether body was beginning to warp and expand outward in a distorted way. Though it was the first time he had seen such a thing, a word instinctively popped into Klein's mind:
Losing control!
'Why is he suddenly losing control? I haven't done anything...' Klein was frantically thinking of a strategy, his hand already moving toward the Slumber Charm in his pocket. But in the next moment, he saw the man in front of him tremble slightly as he pulled a one-penny coin from his breast pocket and tossed it into the air. As the coin landed in his palm, the maddened, twisting ether body slowly calmed down.
"My apologies. I have severe Analysis Paralysis [Choice Difficulty]. Without using a coin or a die, I find it almost impossible to make any decision. Hmm, according to the coin's revelation, let's go with an astrolabe reading."
'That's more than just "severe" [Analysis Paralysis]...' Klein grumbled inwardly, but he felt a sense of relief. Although theoretically, Mr. Devil was only a Sequence 9, he at least possessed a high-level Sealed Artifact [A White Horse is Not a Horse], and his cat was a suspected Beyonder. If they really fought, Klein--whose marksmanship was up to fate and whose melee skills were a disaster--would likely be flattened within a few exchanges.
With a couple of dry laughs to ease the awkwardness, Klein pointed to the dip pen and paper on the table:
"And what exactly do you wish to divine?"
"My upcoming fortune." Snow spread his hands and performed a shrug that was technically a bit coarse, yet appeared quite handsome thanks to his looks. "I've been involved in some trouble lately and wanted to have a reading."
"Very well. Please write down your name, birthday, and address. It would be even better if you have a specific time of birth."
As Klein spoke, he suddenly felt a trace of nervousness. But to his surprise, this Secret Supplicant Beyonder didn't seem to care about the potential risks of leaking his birthday at all and quickly wrote down the details.
'So Mr. Devil is only twenty-one this year?' Klein noted the text on the paper, while simultaneously feeling curious: why would a 'Secret Supplicant'--who should also possess divination abilities--come to a place like a Divination Club to find someone for a reading?
Quickly calculating the other's Birthday Spirit Number and Yearly Spirit Number, Klein assumed a gentle expression:
"I'll need to draw the astrolabe now. This requires a certain amount of time and absolute quiet. Please wait outside for a moment."
Snow showed no surprise. He turned and left the room. After locking the door, Klein began drawing the astrolabe while considering his next move.
In truth, the best course of action would be to complete the divination normally. However, the information Snow had revealed during the Tarot gathering regarding 'Spectators' had left him with a deep, gnawing sense of unease.
The coincidences in his life, the owner of the red-chimney house who had never been found, and the potential disaster facing Tingen--all of it made him desperately desire more intelligence from Snow.
'What should I do? Contact him as a 'favored' of Mr. Fool? No, that's too obvious. And if I were a favored, I could just ask Mr. Fool directly; a believer wouldn't necessarily have a reason to get another believer's information.'
'So... use the divination to fish for information? That might work, but he is a Beyonder himself, one with a family legacy and a wealth of mystical knowledge. The difficulty would be incredibly high!'
No, perhaps... a different angle?
Another option suddenly came to Klein's mind.
It was risky, but based on the personality Mr. Devil had displayed, it was worth a gamble.
With this in mind, Klein glanced at the completed astrolabe on the table, then quickly took the four steps to enter the grey fog. Sitting at the head of the long bronze table, he manifested paper and pen and wrote down a line for divination:
"It is dangerous to lay my cards on the table with Snow von Pandrax. It is dangerous to lay my cards on the table with Snow von Pandrax..."
After repeating this seven times, the spirit pendulum began to rotate slowly in a counter-clockwise direction. Klein's heart eased.
"No danger!"
He wasn't entirely clear on the secrets above the grey fog, but he understood at least one thing: not even the owner of the red-chimney house--the suspected high-sequence Spectator--could interfere with divination above the grey fog.
In other words, this result was trustworthy.
Feeling much more at ease, Klein was about to leave when he remembered Snow's divination. Since he was already here, he decided to write a new line:
"Snow von Pandrax's upcoming fortune."
Repeating the phrase and recalling the information from the astrolabe, after seven repetitions, Klein leaned back against the chair and entered a state of deep meditation...
However, unlike previous divinations, this time, his Dream Divination didn't work. Although he successfully entered the dream, nothing manifested before him. It was as if a wall of white fog had completely obscured his vision.
"This..." Klein jolted awake from the dream. Looking at the mottled, ancient bronze table, his shock couldn't be hidden even by the grey fog.
This was the first time he had ever encountered something that could interfere with divination above the grey fog.
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika Kagura]
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T/N: Analysis Paralysis [Choice Difficulty] / Dilemmist
The sequence name "Dilemmist" refers to a philosophical paradox of a donkey placed exactly between two identical stacks of hay. Being unable to choose between them rationally, the donkey starves to death. The "Choice Difficulty" (Analysis Paralysis) is the literal curse/debuff of this sequence, requiring a coin toss to bypass.