Chapter 041 — The Tarot Club
What the—
What on earth just happened?
I distinctly reached out through that red star — the one that represented Mr. Lovers — and pulled him up here. So why did a woman come through instead?
Did I drink too much, or did above the Gray Fog drink too much?
"Good afternoon, Mr. Fool."
Bernadette's greeting left Klein thoroughly at a loss. It bewildered him. Silenced him.
For a moment he didn't know what to say, and simply stared at "The Lovers" in quiet stillness.
"My apologies, Mr. Fool."
Bernadette offered an explanation. "I am, in fact, a different person from the one who visited your Divine Kingdom last time."
"..."
Right. There was no way I couldn't tell a man from a woman.
Klein inwardly let out a breath of relief — yet the confusion in his heart only deepened. She's not "The Lovers." So why does she clearly seem to know me, and to know she would be pulled up above the Gray Fog today?
He propped his chin on his hand, settling into the posture of a man ready to hear a story. "Oh?"
As a being of mystery, one had to maintain composure no matter what — even when faced with something as jarring as a person changing in age, height, and sex. One had to project the air of someone who had seen it all.
"It's like this," Bernadette began, presenting the cover story that Vincent had prepared in advance. "I'm sure you remember — the one who came last time mentioned that he… or rather, that our souls were experiencing a certain problem. He and I fell under the curse of a high-Sequence Beyonder, which fused our bodies together, forcing two souls to share a single vessel. Every three days, one of us falls asleep while the other takes control — back and forth, in a cycle."
"The last time you saw him, he was the one in control. This time, it happens to be my turn. And the reason he joined the Tarot Club in the first place was to seek a way to break this curse."
So that's it. Klein thought. Was the unexpected situation just now connected to this "curse" somehow?
Something clicked into place for him, and his understanding of the dangers lurking in this world sharpened considerably. A curse that crammed two souls into one body — that was a particularly vicious piece of work.
But — as long as nothing had gone wrong above the Gray Fog, all was well!
"Understood."
Klein let two words fall, flat and unhurried, and said nothing more. There wasn't much to say — he could hardly admit outright that he had no idea what was going on.
Say less, err less. Say more, err more. That was a lesson he'd learned just this past week.
"Let us prepare. The gathering is about to begin."
"Of course."
Several minutes later.
When Bernadette arrived above the Gray Fog once more, two new silhouettes had joined the long bronze table.
"Good afternoon~, Mr. Fool!"
A bright, cheerful young woman's voice rang out. "Good afternoon, Mr. Hanged Man, good after—ah…"
The Fool's calm, unhurried voice followed.
"This is a new member. Her title is 'The Lovers.'"
Klein continued his introductions:
"This is Miss 'Justice,' and this is Mr. 'Hanged Man.'"
A new member?
Audrey's eyes went wide for a moment before lighting up with delight. She shifted into full observation mode, studying this new arrival with quiet curiosity. The woman looked distant and composed — the sort who kept her words close and her expressions closer.
Alger's brow furrowed slightly. He felt vaguely unsettled, like an outsider had just wandered uninvited into his territory. But he caught himself almost immediately — this wasn't his territory. This was Mr. Magician's domain. A being of this calibre wouldn't spare a thought for what the rest of them thought.
While the two of them were sizing up Bernadette, she was doing the same to them. The girl with the title "Justice" and the man called "The Hanged Man."
Both were shrouded behind the Gray Fog, but it was easy enough to read. One clearly carried herself like a young noblewoman; the other had the unmistakeable bearing of a pirate — a bearing Bernadette knew all too well from her own world. What they had in common was simpler still: both were low-Sequence Beyonders.
This gathering is nothing like what I imagined, Bernadette thought, unease threading through her mind. And it occurred to her that the man — Vincent — had been an ordinary person when he was brought here. Is the Fool doing this deliberately?
An evil god gathering a handful of low-Sequence Beyonders — and even an ordinary person — for a meeting? What purpose could that possibly serve?
Just then, Klein tapped the edge of the long table three times with his fingertips. He began by offering Miss Justice his congratulations on her becoming a Beyonder, then lightly pressed two fingers to his brow and spoke with a faint smile:
"Now then, ladies and gentlemen — have you made any progress in locating Roselle's diary?"
Bernadette's heart gave a small jump. This "Fool" didn't seem merely interested in her father's diary — it felt more like he was specifically collecting them.
Could he truly recognise the script Father invented?
She had just gotten her hands on the "Wishing Compass" — the one rumoured to point toward the heart's deepest desire — and here she was, face to face with a Fool who was actively collecting and apparently reading Roselle's diary. That was far too deliberate to be a coincidence.
Could it be that Mr. Fool was…
Sensing the surprise radiating from "The Lovers," the thoughtful Miss Justice, Audrey, gently explained: "Miss Lovers, Mr. Fool is able to read the writing that Emperor Roselle created, and he takes a keen interest in the diary His Majesty left behind. If you're ever able to collect any pages, you may bring them to Mr. Fool in exchange for what you desire."
She turned to Klein with a bright tone. "Mr. Fool, last week I managed to collect one page."
Alger inclined his head. "I located two pages of Emperor Roselle's diary and have committed their contents to memory."
Klein kept his voice carefully free of any emotion. "Very good."
"Shall we 'express' them now?"
"Go ahead."
Before Audrey and Alger, sheets of tan-brown parchment and dark-red quill pens materialised in an instant. Each took up a writing instrument, and as they strained to recall, line after line of text filled the tawny pages.
With a thought from Klein, all three sheets of parchment flickered into his hand.
He didn't rush to read them. Instead, his gaze settled on Bernadette — she was the real draw here. The other two still had to go out and hunt for the diary pages, but "The Lovers" reportedly had a considerable number already.
"Miss Lovers — have you brought any of Roselle's diary with you?"
"Yes, Mr. Fool."
Bernadette surfaced from her thoughts and said quietly, "I have one page as well."
Since this was her first gathering, her first time providing the diary to this Fool, she had chosen carefully — a single page from her father's early writings, one she judged to be of little consequence.
Only one?
You told him last time you had quite a few. Surely you haven't forgotten them?
That's what Klein was thinking — but he kept it to himself, giving a composed nod. "Very well."
He lowered his gaze to the diary in his hand and swept his eyes across it. The jumbled Chinese characters imprinted themselves rapidly into his mind:
"April 8th. I stood at the prow of the Black King's Throne, spread my arms wide, and said to Grimm and Edwards: 'You want my treasure? Then seek it at the ends of the Fog Sea — I've left everything I have there…'"
The three pages were brief. One recounted Roselle's voyages and adventures at sea. Another touched on his plans for marriage. The third was a record of his reflections on choosing his Pathway.
Klein then turned to The Lovers' page:
"August 26th. My little angel turns one hundred days old tomorrow — and as a person from China, that calls for a celebration: the Zhuazhou ritual! Of course, since we're in a world with extraordinary abilities now, the old ways won't quite cut it!"
"Hehe. I'm going to arrange all twenty-two items representing the twenty-two Pathways in a circle around Bernadette and see which one she picks! Matilda objected. Hmph! What does she know?"
To be continued…