"Tell me, how did a double-agent like me end up becoming a Blessed of the True Creator?" Snow looked at his reflection in the mirror, a self-deprecating smile on his face.
For someone with secrets, becoming the Blessed of a True God was incredibly inconvenient. It meant the deity could potentially be watching you at any moment.
However, this wasn't an insurmountable problem for Snow. The presence of "White Horse is Not a Horse" allowed him to sense the deity's gaze in advance. Afterward, he only needed to proactively act in a way that befitted his status as a Blessed.
It was like knowing the homeroom teacher was standing outside the window. Playing on your phone during self-study was terrifying normally, but if you were notified every time the teacher was about to appear, the threat level became negligible.
Moreover, this True God was currently sealed in the Forsaken Land of the Gods by the Seven Orthodox Gods and couldn't observe the world as easily as they could.
In truth, rather than being concerned about the True Creator's improved state,which was a branch in his original plan,Snow was more amused by the fact that the True Creator had ordered the entire Aurora Order to learn "Katyusha"...
The members of the Aurora Order obviously didn't understand Russian. Their process for learning "Katyusha" basically involved a ritual, a prayer, and then asking the True Creator to bestow the lyrics and melody upon them.
Snow could almost imagine how the Aurora Order members in different regions, lacking any knowledge of Russian, would sing "Katyusha" based purely on phonetic imitation. The results would be a chorus of Ru-style Russian, Fur-style Russian, Intis-style Russian, Loen-style Russian...
In the future, there might even be "The Unbreakable Union," "Soviet March," and "Cyka Blyat."
Snow even suspected that if it weren't for the coming apocalypse, the [Listeners] might be renamed "The Audience" in a few hundred years.
He could imagine the current mood of the Aurora Order members. From this moment on, every member would know that a certain Lord Blessed had received the deity's gaze by extracting a Holy Hymn from the gospel.
'I really should learn to play the piano properly now...' Snow sighed. If it were discovered that the "Holy Singer" or "God's Movement" couldn't even play the piano well, things would get messy. Fanatics weren't exactly a united bunch, and their capacity for jealousy was immense.
After ordering the fanatical butler and attendants to keep a close eye on the now-dazed Lanevus, Snow returned home.
Although he wasn't sure if the True Creator's consciousness in Lanevus could detect the traces of Sefirah Castle, he chose to enter the Tarot Club from a safer environment just to be safe.
Of course, given that he had "performed" a duet with his Lord that morning, feeling mentally exhausted and wanting to return home to rest was a perfectly reasonable request. Even the True Creator himself wouldn't suspect a thing.
...
A crimson glow spread like a tide. After a brief haze, Snow once again arrived above the grey fog, inside the palace that resembled a giant's residence.
With Spirit Vision activated, Klein appraised the members of the Tarot Club, quickly confirming their states. Just as Mr. Hanged Man was about to interrupt Miss Justice's greeting, the latter suddenly stood and bowed apologetically toward Mr. Devil.
"Mr. Devil, I apologize for my recklessness. I hope you didn't suffer too much of a loss because of my mistake."
Listening to Audrey's sweet voice, Snow didn't immediately recall what she was apologizing for. Then, a thought occurred to him, and he remembered his prank-like warning from half a month ago.
However, since he had started the bit, he couldn't just let it slide. He struck a serious pose and said solemnly, "Miss Justice, you may not understand what the symbols of a deity mean. They are an extension of Their perception. Anything that happens before a deity's symbol can potentially be watched by them. You were lucky this time, but no one can stay lucky forever. I hope you won't be so reckless again."
"I understand," Audrey replied. After receiving Mr. Devil's message through The Fool, she had realized how foolish she had been. She wanted to offer a sum of money as compensation but worried it would leave Mr. Devil with the impression that she solved everything with money. She could only respond obediently and, as her etiquette teacher had taught her, assumed the standard "I know I was wrong" posture.
'What on earth did Justice do?' Alger was curious when he saw Miss Justice's unusually serious apology. But then, a terrifying possibility occurred to him,
'Wait! The scene Mr. Fool showed me was her praying in a small prayer room... Heavenly Father, was she praying to Mr. Fool inside a prayer room dedicated to the Lord of Storms? How did she even dare?!'
Alger was shocked by Audrey's near-suicidal behavior as a mysticism novice. Little Sun had a different thought. While he didn't know who this "Lord of Storms" was, he realized from the conversation that this deity could respond to believers and deliver divine punishment to blasphemers.
A brief silence fell over the bronze table. Soon, Snow ended the atmosphere by turning to The Fool. "Mr. Fool, I have recorded another page of Roselle's diary."
Hearing Snow's words, Alger remembered his own task and immediately followed:
"Mr. Fool, I have a total of nineteen pages of Roselle's diary this time."
"I must also thank your Blessed for helping me take out Qilangos. These diary pages are the payment I owe!"
"However, I can only remember six pages at a time. Please allow me to give them to you in batches."
"No problem," The Fool said calmly. He waited for both of them to manifest the pages. During this process, Audrey confirmed her own conclusion:
'Another page! And the handwriting and word count are almost the same as before! Mr. Devil truly has many of Roselle's diary pages. It's just a pity his memory isn't very good.'
At the thought, Audrey chuckled inwardly. Then, remembering the trouble she had caused Mr. Devil, she resolved to compensate him if he ever needed help in the future!
The Fool read Snow's page first. Upon the first glance, his expression turned slightly strange, 'The potions in this world are truly interesting. They can turn a man into a woman, and a woman into a man...'
'What?! There are such trap-potions?' Klein's eyes widened. He immediately imagined the awkward scene of a male Beyonder drinking a potion and suddenly turning into a woman.
But... why was the first person he thought of Leonard?
Thinking of his poet-like teammate who couldn't write poetry to save his life, Klein's lips curved upward. He continued reading:
'Come to think of it, Roselle seemed to have sampled the taste of a Witch once. Does he know that the person in his bed might have been a man?'
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]
T/N: "Blessed" (眷者) - Someone who has received the special favor and protection of a deity.
T/N: "Witch" (女巫) - Sequence 7 of the Demoness pathway, which changes the user's gender to female.