Lord of the Mysteries

After another round of conversations, Derrick suddenly asked a question, “Honorable Mr. Fool, what kind of hand gesture should we use when we would like to thank you usually?”

Hand gesture? Klein was momentarily stumped by Little Sun’s question.

It had never occurred to him to imitate the gesture of drawing a clockwise circle from the Church of the Goddess, nor the Church of Storms’s prayer gesture of striking the left of one’s chest with their right fist.

This is probably the last bottom line of a fake god… He lampooned inwardly.

Seeing Mr. Fool smile without a word as though he was waiting for her and others to make suggestions, Audrey suddenly had a lot of inspiration and came up with a new question.

Her eyes sparkled as she looked around and said, “Everyone, should we design a secret gesture to indicate our identity? Our Tarot Club doesn’t have many members at present, so there’s no need to worry about us appearing at the same spot and ending up opposing each other due to various reasons. But in the future, it might be very difficult to avoid that. We need a set of unique ‘signals,’ so as to identify friend from foe.”

I have an idea for that… Klein suddenly remembered the secret hand gestures he knew from his previous life, such as the hand-in-waistcoat.

Just as he was about to manipulate The World to make a suggestion, The Hanged Man opened his mouth.

“No, Miss Justice, I don’t think it’s a good idea.

“Compared to other secret organizations, our Tarot Club’s most striking characteristic is that the members do not know each other. Even if… Uh—Let me raise an extreme example. Even if one of our members are captured and interrogated, they wouldn’t be able to affect the others unless there’s someone who can resist Mr. Fool and enter this place directly. And that is clearly impossible.

“Once we have a full set of signals and passcodes, traitors can allow the opposing faction to use these means to fish us out one by one.

“Are you that eager to flaunt your identities as Tarot Club members?”

“…” Audrey temporarily failed to provide a rejoinder as she stammered, “But…”

“It’s reasonable to worry about the situation you mentioned, but this can be avoided through our fixed interaction every week and creating a temporary gesture ahead of time, as well as praying to Mr. Fool.” In consideration that she would be providing him large amounts of gold, Alger’s tone gradually turned pleasant.

Audrey replied with some understanding, “The simplest example is that at the Tarot Gathering on Monday, we’ll first understand if there’s a possibility of us bumping into another member, to the point of entering a conflict. Hence, we’ll design a set of temporary gestures to identify ourselves. After the matter is over, we would immediately abandon that gesture. Uh, if there’s any sudden situation and we’re unable to communicate in time, or if there’s some suspicion, we can seek an opportunity to pray to Mr. Fool to confirm if another member is participating in the same event?”

“Something like that.” Alger let out a silent breath.

At that moment, Derrick suddenly said in enlightenment, “Sorry, I asked a foolish question. Mr. Fool never mentioned any gestures to thank ‘Him’ because he was worried about us exposing ourselves.”

He immediately looked to the end of the long bronze table.

“Your wish steers our path.”

I just thought of a special hand gesture… Klein chuckled and replied, “That’s right.”

He cast his gaze towards the other members and said in a composed manner, “Let us end today’s gathering here.”

“By your will!” All the members apart from The Moon stood up at the same time.

Emlyn froze for a second before standing up in a flurry, mimicking the bows of the other members.

A deep red light immediately appeared in front of his eyes, and he felt his body plummet slightly.

Soon after, his vision returned to normal and he saw dolls of various sizes in his room.

Phew… Only until this moment did Emlyn White completely calm down as he recalled his first Tarot Gathering.

Apart from Mr. Fool, the other members don’t seem too powerful. Could they be like me, chosen for various reasons? I have the Ancestor backing me, so who’s backing them?

What a joke. I originally imagined The Sun to be a demigod who just escaped the pursuit of an angel. It turned out that he’s only a Sequence 8 and seeking to advance to Sequence 7!

A child who doesn’t know manners definitely isn’t an adult yet! However, the City of Silver that he mentioned and the experiences that he had undergone are very strange. I have to find an opportunity to ask Lord Nibbs, no—I have to first ask Cosmi, as well as my parents. I’ll see if they know anything about the City of Silver. Humph, how dare the history books of the City of Silver tamper with the feats of us Sanguine!

Miss Justice is from Backlund. She’s very, very rich. Is she the daughter of some rich banker or the daughter of some noble? Perhaps she’s a banker or noble herself…

Miss Magician looked at me very strangely. She must admire the lofty Sanguine. She doesn’t speak much and didn’t divulge much about herself. Yes, she’s a quiet girl.

Mr. Hanged Man is a mature gentleman. He knows a lot and has a sublime character. He’s willing to answer questions from new members and is willing to provide the corresponding help and information. It can be said that he’s very popular. The Sun and The World are both willing to ask him questions and seek his help.

The World is quite an unlikeable person. When he speaks, it’s like there’s phlegm in his throat that he can’t spit out. I would disdain even drinking such a person’s blood. It has a dirty taste… He’s very introverted and is good at hiding his emotions. Furthermore, he easily produced a Sequence 6 Beyonder characteristic and promised to provide a Psychiatrist Beyonder characteristic in two months… Very impressive!

As the details flashed through his mind, Emlyn discovered that the Tarot Club was simple, but also not very simple. Furthermore, Mr. Fool didn’t interfere much with the development of the gathering.

“He” seems to only be interested in the so-called Roselle’s diary… But “He” is willing to offer convenient services on the level of miracles to his members. At this thought, Emlyn couldn’t help but feel a little proud of his identity as The Moon.

Surveying the room of dolls, he recalled his own problem.

A relic worth 4,000 to 5,000 pounds. A chance to become a baron in a short period of time. This is really putting me in a difficult position…

At this moment, although Emlyn hadn’t made his final decision yet, he felt the room grow darker, as though he were shouldering a heavy debt.

…

In the ancient palace above the fog.

Klein pressed his thumb and middle finger of his right hand to one temple and gently rubbed it.

He quickly sat up in the silent environment, allowing a small badge to fly out from the pile of junk and land on the long bronze table in front of him. The badge was only the size of an eyeball. On the surface, there were symbols that symbolized “fate” and “concealment.” It was the item that Klein had found on Lanevus’s body.

On its back, it was inscribed with the words “You can join if you have this item” in ancient Hermes. It also provided the corresponding information for the gathering: “January 4th, 1350, 8 p.m. in Babur Valley.”

The question Klein needed to consider now was whether he should take the badge to the Babur Valley tomorrow night to try his luck.

Frankly speaking, he was inclined to not delving deeper. Even though he had already advanced to Faceless and was able to put on a perfect disguise, he didn’t want to take the risk, because he didn’t know anything about the gathering.

A Magician never performs unprepared… He muttered softly, took out a gold coin, and held it between his fingers.

He picked up the badge with his other hand and muttered to himself, “It’s risky to attend the gathering in Babur Valley.”

After repeating this a few times, he finally flicked the gold coin.

The gold coin tumbled down and stood upright in the palm of his hand.

This meant that the divination had failed.

“As expected…” Klein wasn’t surprised.

This isn’t a problem of insufficient information, but rather the complete absence of it.

He sat there in silence, letting the gold coin weave between his fingers.

In the end, Klein overcame his curiosity and adventurous spirit and decided not to go.

But that doesn’t mean that I can’t get involved. Tomorrow at 8 p.m., hmm… He smiled faintly and returned to the real world.

…

4th January, 10:35 a.m.

Klein stood in front of a mahogany table and picked up a stack of bills.

There were five ten-pound notes and ten five-pound for a total of one hundred pounds. This was the payment which The Hanged Man had just paid via a sacrifice.

The fifteen notes made Klein’s wallet much fuller, and he was finally able to buy his ticket in peace.

Putting his wallet away, he picked up a thin human-skinned glove on the table and put it on his left hand.

One of the main features of “Creeping Hunger” was that it had a camouflage effect when it wasn’t in use and couldn’t be detected by most Beyonder means; therefore, Klein was able to switch between its original appearance, gloves of various colors, and camouflaging it as skin. This time, he chose black gloves.

To that end, Klein had specially prepared an individual black glove for his right hand.

Soon after, he placed the brown Biological Poison Bottle into a metal box, sealed it with a wall of spirituality, and stuffed it into the inside pocket of his clothes.

As for the Sun Brooch, as long as he wore it and carried it with him, it would create a hot summer feeling. Klein had no choice but to put it in his iron cigarette case and hide it at the bottom of his suitcase.

9 purifying bullets, 15 demon-hunting bullets, 3 exorcism bullets… Klein took out his revolver and a cartridge box, silently counting as he loaded them.

Pa!

He closed the cylinder, inserted the revolver into his underarm holster, put on his black tweed coat and half top hat, picked up his cane and suitcase, and walked out of the hotel room.

Apart from the All-Black Eye and the other items that he couldn’t use still being above the gray fog, he was fully armed.

Taking a carriage, Klein arrived at the Pritz Harbor Ticket Company located in White Rose Borough.

This company was located in a rather old three-story building. There was a wooden notice board on the door.

Klein walked over and stopped there. He casually glanced at the board which said:

“Things to take note:

“1. Maintain order. Lines are strictly enforced;

“2. Do not urinate or defecate, as well as spitting;

“3. Find the guard in the lobby if there is a dispute;

“4. Do not open canned wolf-fish in any of the rooms!”

Canned wolf-fish? What’s that? Klein raised his eyebrows.