When The Magician Fors heard The World's words, she belatedly realized that the private debt transfer between her and The World had not received The Fool's approval...
Thank goodness Mr. World is a Blessed and, to a certain extent, can represent Mr. Fool's attitude... I must be more cautious when conducting trades with other Tarot Club members in the future, Fors reflected inwardly.
Although the others were curious about the transaction between The Magician and The World, they didn't overthink it. Only Judgment Xio gave Fors beside her a glance, thinking that this was a situation she hadn't been aware of.
At that moment, The Fool nodded slightly and responded in a calm tone to The World's earlier "debt transfer" request: "Granted."
Seeing the topic shift to the Roselle's Diary, Temperance turned her small head toward the seat at the top and said:
"There is one page of the diary this time, credited to The World."
As she spoke, she looked over at The World. Though she said nothing, Klein still understood her meaning: she had submitted a total of ten diary pages, which should have fully repaid the cost of cleansing the pollution.
The World also didn't speak—under Klein's control, he simply nodded slightly.
On the other side, Justice Audrey said apologetically:
"I'm sorry, due to the Three Major Churches and the military conducting a cleanup in Backlund, I haven't been able to acquire additional Roselle diary pages. Please allow me one more week."
"That's fine," Klein replied once more, calmly and without any emotional fluctuations.
Hearing the others speak, The Magician Fors snapped out of her self-reflection and quickly looked to the top of the bronze table, saying:
"Honorable Mr. Fool, I also have three pages of Roselle's diary to offer."
Not long after she agreed to The World's deal—exchanging a teleportation stone for her debt—she received a letter from her teacher, which included those three pages.
Fors didn't regret her trade with The World. After all, it was likely her teacher only had those three pages, and it wasn't nearly enough to cover the debt she owed for seeking angelic protection.
Still, if I had held those three pages back then, I might've been able to ask for more compensation from Mr. World... like gold pounds...
Mr. World looks like someone with money—he surely wouldn't mind spending some worldly goods.
Fors secretly speculated.
Completely unaware of what she was thinking, The Fool Klein nodded in satisfaction, thinking:
Not bad. The more members there are, the more channels there are. A lot of things will snowball and grow rapidly...
He transferred the four materialized diary pages to his side, then discreetly looked toward The Tower.
Although the diary pages the latter provided always contained some unserious content, there were occasionally high-quality entries.
Ebner, however, gave no response. He still held two pages of Roselle's diary provided by The Lion Leon, but after letting The Fool read rather indecent "short essays" three weeks in a row, it didn't seem appropriate to do so again. It was better to wait a bit longer and mix them with more proper diary entries before submitting them.
As for writing his own... Ever since learning there were other transmigrators in this world, Ebner rarely did that anymore.
Under the butterfly effect, much of the information he "knew" might no longer be accurate.
In order not to mislead The Fool, even if he were to make something up, he'd only fabricate some of Roselle's gossip...
But those aren't much different from the diaries provided by "Lion" Leon—so why bother making them up?
Seeing that "The Tower" didn't respond, Klein wasn't disappointed. He turned to Fors and said, "Very well... you may state your request."
Since Fors's debt had already been transferred to "The World," the three pages she now submitted should earn her compensation.
Miss "Magician" thought for a moment. She felt that not only was she still far from advancing, but she had also gotten clues to both her formula and materials. As for Xio and Ebner, they didn't need her worrying...
There didn't seem to be much worth asking for... Fors instinctively glanced around and then suddenly froze as her eyes locked onto something—there was an extra card beside Mr. Fool!
At first, the other Tarot Club members didn't notice this change due to the impact of the Great Smog incident, except for "The Moon." But now, following "Magician's" gaze, everyone looked over in surprise at the additional card—even Ebner was no exception.
Klein got one more card than in the original story? Looks like I wasn't the only one who gained something from the Great Smog incident—Mr. Fool profited as well, Ebner thought, adjusting his sitting posture thoughtfully.
Mr. Fool gained a Blasphemy Card after the Great Smog... That definitely isn't a coincidence! My guess must be right—an event that caught Mr. Fool's attention to that extent must involve secrets on the level of gods! Hmm, when it's time to share information later, I'll ask Miss "Justice" about it... Although, she may not know much. Her position likely limits her access to real details. Still, she's very curious. She'll definitely try to get answers from Mr. Fool, from "The Tower," from "Judgment." Hopefully, I can eavesdrop... Many thoughts rapidly crossed the mind of "The Hanged Man" Alger.
At this moment, Fors withdrew her gaze. With no pressing needs, she naturally chose to satisfy her curiosity first:
"Respected Mr. Fool, I would like to know—does the new card by your hand belong to the Blasphemy Cards? Which one is it?"
I thought Miss "Justice" would be the one to ask this. After all, her curiosity is always the strongest... But Miss "Magician" asking works just as well. Either way, I get to breeze through another question without effort... Klein chuckled to himself and casually flipped over the new Blasphemy Card, displaying it for "Magician" to see.
"Demoness."
The "Demoness" card? How did it fall into Klein's hands? And honestly, Old Huang's image is quite seductive... How did he manage to make it so clearly recognizable as himself, and yet obviously female? Ebner silently commented to himself before looking away.
Demoness... The main culprit behind the Great Smog was a Demoness... So it really is connected. Another piece of proof formed in Alger's mind.
Having already learned the Blasphemy Cards' function, "Sun" Derrick felt somewhat disappointed—after all, there were no Beyonders in Silver City on the "Demoness" pathway.
"The Moon" Emlyn, however, was intrigued as he stared at the "Demoness" card for a few moments, thinking: So this is one of Roselle's Blasphemy Cards... But who's the person drawn on the card? Quite beautiful... Is she Roselle's wife, his mistress, or his daughter?
I still don't understand in what ways these "Blasphemy Cards" are considered blasphemous... Hmm, that priest and the Iron-armed lady both have a bunch of Roselle's manuscripts... Well, now they should be called diaries. Next time, I'll bring them to exchange for answers.
Unaware that he was about to receive a batch of "low-quality" diaries, Klein flipped the "Demoness" card face-down again, then turned his gaze to the page of parchment Sharon had materialized.
This should be something Sharon had just received today—he hadn't read it in advance.
"June 6th. What happened today was simply a disaster!
"I swear this in writing:
"If I ever bring the 'Calamity Seal' to a ball again, I'll eat the shit that 'Three-Light' poops out!"
(End of Chapter)