"Exactly!" Mr. Devil snapped his fingers.
"The process of mastering a potion is a process of your own spirit clashing with the mental residue of the potion. This process is extremely dangerous, equivalent to two people fighting a life-and-death battle. If a Beyonder weakens the mental residue to a certain extent, they can gain the upper hand."
"Similarly, if the mental residue weakens the Beyonder to a certain degree, the Beyonder's spirit will collapse, leading to madness or even losing control. But regardless of who wins or loses, the mental residue cannot be 'recovered' from the Beyonder."
"So that's how it is!" Klein felt the mysteries at the bottom of his heart suddenly unravel, but Audrey asked with some concern:
"Then by using the Acting Method, aren't we..."
"No need to worry--at least, you don't need to worry, Miss Justice. Because there is currently no true god for the Spectator pathway." Mr. Devil chuckled as he explained. Feeling he had established his persona sufficiently, he changed the subject and turned to Little Sun.
"For reasons that are inconvenient to explain, I have some guesses about your location. To avoid bringing unnecessary trouble to you, I'll just ask: are you still performing sacrifices to the object of your faith?"
'Sacrificial rituals?' Klein had originally been shocked by the mystical knowledge Snow was revealing, but upon hearing those two words, his attention snapped back. Compared to mystical knowledge that was fascinating but lacked practical value for him, sacrificial rituals were a power he currently needed.
"Yes. After every harvest of black-faced grass, we perform a sacrifice to the Lord. But since the day we were abandoned, we have never received a response."
"Oh, tell us about your sacrificial process." Klein finally found a suitable opportunity to interject, speaking in a leisurely tone.
'Abandoned by the Lord? The Forsaken Land of the Gods? Mr. Fool is interested in this too? Does he want to find out if the so-called Lord who created everything still "exists"?' Alger, The Hanged Man, immediately straightened up. That feeling of hearing about such deep secrets made him feel as if his entire being had been elevated.
And as Audrey watched everyone present becoming excited, she realized they were discussing secrets even more startling than the earlier talk about the Acting Method. However, with her limited experience, she had no idea exactly why this mention of "sacrifice" was so shocking.
'Once the commission for Qilangos is over, I'll pay the price to trade with Mr. Hanged Man for what he realized today... Mmm, I just hope he won't refuse. But Mr. Devil shared so much for free; he should agree, right?'
Miss Justice thought with anticipation as she listened to Little Sun slowly describe the City of Silver's sacrificial process. Once Klein had grasped the general flow of the ritual, Mr. Devil spoke again, "Based on your words, I am certain the City of Silver is indeed the place I know of. However, I'm sorry to say there is some information I cannot tell you directly. Not because I'm unwilling, but because this knowledge is 'poisonous'. Even just knowing it could bring disaster upon you and your city-state."
"Is that so?" Little Sun's tone was clearly a bit dejected, but he didn't doubt Mr. Devil. After all, the City of Silver's general studies classes had taught that certain knowledge involving high-level existences carried immense risk.
Though he really wanted to spoil more for Little Sun, considering there was an Amon who could steal thoughts over there, Snow ultimately didn't say more. Instead, he turned and apologized to Mr. Fool, "Apologies, Mr. Fool, for taking up your reading time."
"It matters not," Klein responded with a high-profile air, then remembered he still had a page of the Pandrax Diary in his hand. He immediately picked it up and began to read quietly. With this action, the members of the Tarot Club also fell silent.
...
"March 3rd. Killed someone. It didn't feel as exaggerated as the novels in my previous life described. Am I naturally indifferent? Or did advancing to 'Clown' passively increase my emotional management? While disposing of the body, I found a gem-like substance on him. Through divination, I found this thing can apparently be used as a potion material... Is this why the churches aren't worried about the extinction of species corresponding to Beyonder materials?"
'Now that he mentions it, back when I divined the 'Clown' potion, that Clown's corpse did appear, and I remember something strange appearing on it... and Ray Bielber's corpse...' Seeing this, Klein immediately cross-referenced it with his own experiences. However, considering the timing of the Tarot Club, he didn't dwell on it and continued reading--
"March 5th. Is it a coincidence? The Roselle Diary I obtained from a Beyonder gathering happened to have content about the Law of Beyonder Characteristic Indestructibility. Mmm, and Beyonder Characteristic Convergence... Could this coincidence also be a manifestation of convergence? But the diary doesn't have any Beyonder characteristics; can mere knowledge satisfy the potential requirement for convergence? If so, then knowledge is probably not just knowledge."
'Characteristic Indestructibility and Convergence? What are those?! "Knowledge is not just knowledge"--what does that mean? Is it related to the "poisonous knowledge" Mr. Devil mentioned earlier? Mr. Pandrax, since you wrote a diary, write it more clearly! Didn't you write it for successors to read?'
Klein grumbled inwardly but finally cast his gaze to the last line--
"How can there be such a disgusting pathway as 'Spectator' in this world? Beware of Spectators! Beware of Spectators! Beware of Spectators! Once I make it big, I must create a Beyonder item that completely counters Spectators!"
'Mmm, it seems you really did make one.' Klein thought of Mr. Devil's exceptionally high-level Beyonder item and waved his hand, dispersing the goatskin parchment.
"You may exchange freely."
Hearing Mr. Fool's words, The Hanged Man immediately wanted to bring up Qilangos. But before he could arrange his words, he heard Miss Justice speak to Mr. Devil:
"Mr. Devil, thank you for the protection you provided. However, if possible, I hope you can discuss it with me first."
'Oh--expressing gratitude while using a naive and playful tone to hint at dissatisfaction. Mmm, is this the subtle reservation unique to Loen? Love it.' Snow listened to Miss Justice's sweet voice of thanks and acted as if he didn't understand her deeper meaning, "After all, I was the one who recommended you contact the Psychology Alchemists. Naturally, I couldn't let anything happen to you."
"..." Audrey felt the urge to pout when she heard Mr. Devil's reply. She was certain this gentleman understood her meaning. While she grumbled that he wasn't being enough of a gentleman, she also understood it was for her own good. She didn't press the matter further, instead asking:
"Then, Mr. Devil, how long can your protection last? And will it be noticed by someone of a higher sequence?"
"You can rest assured on that. As long as it isn't an angel on earth, they won't notice anything unusual about you. As for the duration, don't worry. As long as you attend social balls and salons as usual, I will help you replenish it."
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika Kagura]
---
A/N: Regarding the "Acting Method" secrecy: The theory here is that the "Mastering" method is safer for the gods because it "grinds down" the original creator's mental residue, whereas "Acting" preserves it, potentially leading to the "reawakening" of the original creator.
T/N: "Spectator" (观众) - Pathway 22 of the original 22 pathways.
T/N: "Pandrax Diary" - Snow's ancestor's logs, used as a narrative device to explain deep-lore concepts like Beyonder Characteristics and Convergence.
T/N: "Angel on Earth" (地上天使) - Referring to Sequence 2 and above Beyonders.
T/N: "Blessed of the Fool" (愚者的眷者) - The identity Klein often uses to interact with Snow on equal footing.