Monday, Tarot Meeting.
As usual, Klein first arrived above the gray fog before pulling in Miss Justice, Mr. Hanged Man, and Little Sun.
When the three illusory figures appeared above the gray fog, Klein habitually observed their states as Miss Justice greeted him.
Little Sun hadn't changed much, still full of nervousness and reverence.
Miss Justice and Mr. Hanged Man, however, carried a bit more awe and curiosity in their emotions.
'Did I do something recently?'
Klein thought back over recent events. Aside from the matter with Qilangos, there seemed to be nothing. But he hadn't personally intervened in that incident at all.
"Mr. Fool, these are the Roselle diaries I've collected recently." Alger manifested the Roselle diary pages he had memorized onto paper and respectfully handed them to Klein, who sat at the head.
"Mr. Fool, I still owe two pages from last time. Here they are." Audrey also finished writing down the two Roselle diary pages she had yet to hand over.
Derrick looked on enviously. In Silver City, there were no Roselle diaries at all, nor had such a figure ever appeared.
"May 11th, I once again encountered members of that mysterious organization. It's unimaginable, those people, all belonging to that group. Terrifying. Many of them had already disappeared from recorded history."
"May 29th, In the nation under my rule, a progeny of an evil god actually descended! Because of it, an entire small city was wiped out, and the surrounding area became contaminated. We destroyed the evil god's spawn, but as for the evil god itself… we couldn't defeat it. From this, I clearly understood how such spawn descend: fanatical believers, abnormal pregnancies, and sufficient nourishment, these are among the omens of an evil god's progeny."
"June 5th, After finishing a day's governance, I finally prepared to host a ball and rest a little. But Countess Philber never gives me such chances, she's always far too passionate and greedy."
"June 9th, My daughter is truly adorable, my little sweetheart. I'm thinking of giving her a nickname."
…
Klein silently read through today's Roselle diaries. Aside from some occult knowledge, what truly caught his interest was the mysterious organization and the evil god's progeny.
A group so mysterious that even Emperor Roselle dared not mention its name, this alone stirred immense curiosity.
Judging by Roselle's past behavior, his refusal to call the organization by name must have been out of reverence, or fear.
The evil god's progeny involved fanatical believers. This reminded Klein of the fraudster he had been hunting, Lanevus.
His behavior indeed fit that of a mad believer.
Abnormal pregnancy… that Lanevus had deceived a girl and even left her pregnant.
What was her name again? Megose?
'Wait a minute, fanatical believer, abnormal pregnancy… doesn't this perfectly match what's recorded in Roselle's diary?'
Klein felt a sudden chill, a vague bad premonition arising.
If everything corresponded, then the child in Megose's womb… could it be an evil god's progeny?Was that possible?
Klein couldn't judge. He had never encountered such a being before and knew nothing about its manifestations.
'Hmm, I could write a letter to Mr. Azik. He should know what an evil god's progeny is.'
After pressing the diary down, Klein glanced at Miss Justice.
If he remembered correctly, recently all the Roselle diaries that carried important and reliable content had come from her.
Of course, this was likely a coincidence. After all, Miss Justice couldn't read the pages. With no idea what Roselle's diaries recorded, she couldn't have deliberately chosen useful ones.
It had to be a coincidence. Miss Justice was, after all, a kindhearted and wealthy noble lady.
"You may begin your exchange."
With Klein breaking the silence, Alger glanced at him, then at Audrey, and said: "The matter with Qilangos has been resolved. Since you provided crucial clues, I'll pay you a generous reward."
"I want the potion formula for Sequence 7 of the Spectator pathway," Audrey said, revealing what she had long desired.
She already had the formula for Sequence 8, Telepathist, and had gathered all the required ingredients. She planned to attempt promotion soon.
Thus, the Sequence 7 formula was of utmost importance. The sooner she obtained it, the sooner she could begin collecting ingredients.
This time, she wanted to surpass Glaint and reach Sequence 7 before him.
Alger replied, "I don't know the Sequence 7 Audience formula. At most, I can help you look for it, but the chances are low."
"Is the Sequence 7 formula that hard to get?" Audrey asked, puzzled.
"It certainly has its difficulties." Alger had originally intended to say "very difficult," but for the sake of his image, he softened his words.
"The Audience pathway, especially formulas from Sequence 7 upward, are extremely hard to obtain outside. You might consider joining the Psychology Alchemists. They should have the full set of formulas, not limited to Sequence 7."
Audrey thought for a moment, then smiled. "I'm not in a rush right now. I'll wait a while before deciding. As for the reward, you can hold off for now."
"Alright." Alger let out a quiet breath of relief. Thankfully, Miss Justice hadn't insisted. Otherwise, he would have had to risk attending Beyonder gatherings at the level of pirate generals.
After concluding his exchange with Miss Justice, Alger turned to Klein at the head of the table and respectfully said: "This time, thanks to Mr. Fool's follower, Qilangos was dealt with, sparing me immense trouble. As repayment, I'm willing to collect ten Roselle diary pages free of charge."
Audrey also turned her gaze to Klein, rose, and said respectfully: "Thanks to Mr. Fool's follower, I too wish to offer ten Roselle diary pages as repayment."
After all, she had gained great rewards from this incident. Since the mysterious person who killed Qilangos hadn't appeared, Earl Hall had decided to give the bounty to her instead.
Combined, the bounties from several nations exceeded ten thousand gold pounds.
Seeing Miss Justice and Mr. Hanged Man both stand, Little Sun Derrick hurriedly stood up as well, though he didn't understand what was going on.
"???" Klein's face held a smile, but inwardly he was completely bewildered.
What's going on?
Mr. Fool's follower killed Qilangos?
Other than me, does Mr. Fool really have other followers?
The only one capable of handling Qilangos was Mr. Azik, but he hadn't gone to Backlund, he was still in Tingen.
So who killed Qilangos? Klein thought hard. Among those he knew, besides Mr. Azik, only Ince Zangwill had the strength. But clearly, Ince wouldn't travel all the way to Backlund just to kill someone.
Yet if he denied it outright, wouldn't that damage Mr. Fool's image?
And this was twenty Roselle diary pages, that was a huge fortune to him.
After thinking it over, Klein smiled and said: "I haven't paid much attention to this matter."
The implied meaning was: I neither admit nor deny it. Even if they later discovered the mysterious person wasn't my follower, I'd still have a reasonable explanation.
"Thank you for your help, Mr. Fool!" Alger had already fully convinced himself that the mysterious spirit was indeed Mr. Fool's follower.
Seeing him so certain, Audrey also chose to believe it. She had already suspected as much.
With twenty diary pages owed to him free of charge, Klein was in high spirits, though he acted indifferent, as if it were a trivial matter.
Back in his seat, Alger too felt quite pleased. He swept his gaze across the others and said casually: "Recently, the Seven Churches have all been searching for the Followers of the Stars. Anyone who finds one will be richly rewarded by the churches."
Followers of the Stars?
Klein's heart stirred. His captain had also mentioned this recently, telling everyone to keep an eye out. If they found something, great; if not, it didn't matter.
It was more of a long-term task, not an urgent one.
Audrey curiously asked, "What are the Followers of the Stars?"
Alger shook his head. "No idea. The churches only mentioned their existence, but provided no information about them."
"How can you search for something you don't know anything about?" Audrey grew even more curious.
"Then it can only depend on fate. If you encounter them, you do. If not, then you don't."
Leaning back slightly, Alger spoke in a relaxed tone.
He was just sharing some interesting intelligence. Whether anyone actually found the Followers of the Stars, he didn't care.
After all, he'd soon be returning to the sea.
"The Followers of the Stars… I wonder if I'll ever come across them?"
Audrey found the idea fascinating, it sounded so mysterious.
Especially Alger's words, "all depends on fate," stirred her imagination even further.
"Let's end today's gathering here."
Klein brought the meeting to a close. Alone in the gray fog, he pondered whether he should divine the identity of his inexplicable and unknown "follower."
But in the end, he gave up. The person probably didn't even know who Mr. Fool was, it was likely just Alger's one-sided assumption.
Lanevus, Megose… this feels dangerous!
Descending from the gray fog, Klein returned to his room, locked the doors and windows, then took out pen, paper, and the bronze whistle.