Chapter 106: 15-2
104 A New Week
"Not necessarily." Amon stretched out his hand and turned his monocle. "But, you know, I do have a grudge against Ouroboros."
A dark vortex swirled in the monocle. Amon put down his hand nonchalantly and said with a smile:
"Besides... excluding Ouroboros who has been eliminated, isn't it reasonable for the two of you to stand on the side of The Fool and the other on my side?"
...What a reasonable hell!
Alice, who happened to see this scene, opened her eyes wide. Amon turned his head with a smile and his eyes fell on Alice from a distance, as if telling her clearly that the words just now were directed at her.
But Alice couldn't figure out what the point of telling her this was. She could guess that this was probably related to the final deification ceremony, but there was the problem - she didn't know what the specific relationship was.
But there was no doubt that Amon would not tell her the answer. After trying again and again and failing to come up with the answer, Alice chose to give up.
Anyway, if the goal cannot be achieved, He will try again.
Alice turned her attention to recent events. Time went round and round and it was Sunday, the end of the week. Several days had passed since she handed the painting to Ian. Alice thought that perhaps she should pay some attention to the place in the prophecy.
Don't let the prophecy come true by then and she still doesn't know where it happened.
Thinking of this, Alice tried to find the exact location of the incident through divination. This was the easiest way she could think of, but the divination failed unexpectedly, and she fell directly out of a gray dream.
This made Alice, who had no clue about this, frown, because she had lost the most reliable condition to confirm whether the prophecy would come true.
...Should I predict whether the prophecy will be successful?
A strange idea flashed through Alice's mind, and she decided to give it a try.
She silently said "the prophecy has failed" and tossed the coin. The coin showed tails. Alice looked at the coin in her hand in surprise and realized that the divination had really been answered this time.
She decided to flip a coin every day for this purpose.
…
"Boom, boom, boom."
There was a knock on the door, startling Selwyn who was leaning on the sofa with her eyes half closed. She struggled to open her bloodshot eyes and said in a hoarse voice:
"Come in."
No one opened the door, but the door was not soundproof, and Selwyn heard cheers outside the door:
"Great! The witch in the newspaper is here!"
Then, Selwyn heard the sound of the doorknob turning. She squinted her eyes and looked in the direction of the door. Four or five children in their teens opened the door and rushed in, saying happily:
"Oh my god, are you the magical witch that can grant wishes mentioned here?"
Selwyn looked at the piece of paper where the leading child was born and recognized it as the advertisement he had scribbled, so he nodded and admitted,
"That's right."
——After discussing with "Cassandra", she thought that proactively going to people's homes to fulfill wishes was ultimately inferior, and she wanted people to come to her on their own.
This kind of graffiti advertisement aimed at children is Selwyn's experiment. So far, it seems that she has succeeded. The leading child has a very authentic message:
"Great! Can I make a wish then?"
"Of course," Selwyn laughed, "What wish do you want to make? Let me remind you first, there is a price to pay for making a wish here. Think about whether you can accept the price first."
So the leading child asked, "What is the price?"
Following Cassandra's instructions, Selwyn replied: "I'm afraid you won't know until your wish comes true - don't worry, the price won't be too heavy."
But the kid didn't appreciate it. He put away the advertisement and said to Selwyn:
"Then I won't allow it."
Having said that, the child turned and was about to leave.
Selwyn suddenly became unhappy. She regarded the children as her prey. How could she let them leave this time? She said sinisterly:
"Leave?"
The children paused for a moment, as if they sensed some kind of dangerous aura. The leading child turned around and said to Selwyn:
"Yes, it's getting late. We should go home for dinner."
Selwyn understood this as a threat, something like, there are people waiting for me at home, and if I don't go back, you will be in big trouble.
He didn't like threats, especially now. Selwyn's tolerance for threats was not high, almost zero. After hearing this, she suddenly became angry.
Hard spider silk, black flames and frost appeared all at once, and the children were frightened in place, but Selwyn, who had already taken action, ignored this scene. He continued to attack, leaving only the child holding the flyer.
Caressing the four children lying beside him, Seven also smiled slightly, and looking at her bloodshot eyes, he looked like a ghost.
This successfully frightened the captured child of the opposite sex, who shook his head in panic and said:
"I have no other wishes, no more!"
Losing interest, Selwyn dealt with the child without hesitation.
…
Several families who did not wait for their children who were out playing to return realized that something had happened on the same day. They called the police without hesitation. The police on duty only released the files after the family of the last child had left.
"Five people..." He looked through his notes, "They knew each other, went out together and never came back..."
The policeman quickly defined the matter in his mind. He thought it was a missing person commission. After recalling the family information and attitudes of the five children, the policeman shook his head and thought that this matter was not profitable.
Just look for it randomly... With this thought in mind, he put the file down again.
…
It was 3 o'clock on Monday afternoon. Above the gray fog, after answering another question from the Hermit Cattleya, Klein nodded and said,
"You guys get started."
"The Hanged Man" Alger immediately looked at the "world" Gehrman Sparrow at the bottom of the bronze table and said carefully,
"Sorry, you may have to wait a while for your magical item."
Without waiting for the other party to speak, he quickly gave an explanation:
"That 'craftsman' has contracted a strange disease, and there are suspicious snoopers around, so he has been delayed. I will go there in person to see if I can solve his problem and get him back to normal as soon as possible. I will try to make the magical item you need within two weeks."
He spoke very sincerely, and expressed his apology and concern, but Alice read a hint of fear in his words. After two seconds of silence, she sincerely reminded Alger, the Hanged Man:
"You know what, Mr. Hanged Man?
Generally speaking, if there is an intermediary, and the other party fails to deliver the goods on time, we hold the intermediary accountable, not the party to the transaction."
The Hanged Man Alger looked stiffly at the World.
Klein twitched the corner of his mouth in the gray fog and quickly let the "world" speak:
"I agree to postpone this time, but there won't be a next time."
What he said was very calm, but when Alger, the "Hanged Man", thought of what Alice had just said, he felt that there was a lot of murderous intent hidden in it, and he was terrified.
"Thank you for your understanding." He said calmly.
Seeing this, Cattleya, the "Hermit" who was listening to their conversation, looked at the "Hanged Man", raised her lips slightly, pushed up her glasses, and took the initiative to speak:
"If you can't solve that trouble, I can help."
In her opinion, if the problem was not serious, it could even be free. After all, it meant that she bypassed the "Hanged Man" and established direct contact with the "craftsman".
How could the Hanged Man Alger not understand the Hermit Cattleya's true intention? He only felt that the other party had shown a strong aggressiveness, which made him feel a certain degree of pressure. He paused and responded calmly:
"Then I'll take his place. Thank you in advance for your kindness."
On the one hand, he showed his close relationship with the "craftsman", and on the other hand, he did not directly reject it, leaving himself a way out - compared to being in trouble with Gehrman Sparrow, sacrificing some interests was not unacceptable.
But after letting go, more troubles arose. Alice said to the "Hanged Man" Alger kindly:
"I can help, too!"
The Hanged Man, Alger, was silent for a moment, and responded in the same way:
"I would also like to thank you for your kindness on his behalf, Miss Destiny."
Klein found it amusing and manipulated the "world" to join the conversation:
"I can help, too."
This was a complete shocker. Alger, the Hanged Man, saw this as a warning that the World was impatient. He quickly promised,
"If you need me, I will tell you."
The World nodded, and Cattleya took the opportunity to ask, "Are you satisfied with the West Balam intelligence?"
She had already collected and sorted out the West Balam intelligence that Gehrman Sparrow needed last Thursday and delivered it to him via a messenger.
After all, treating Mr. Fool as a messenger is something that most people find difficult to accept.
It cost me a full 300 pounds. If it doesn't meet the standards, I will return it on the spot! Klein muttered, causing World Gehrman Sparrow to say "hmm" as a response.
Then, the dummy's eyes turned to Miss Magician.
Fors immediately felt uncomfortable, like a mouse being stared at by a cat. She couldn't help but wonder if she had done something wrong again. She asked with a little trepidation,
"Mr. World, is there anything wrong?"
The World Gehrman Sparrow nodded and said:
"A commission.
"Get the information about Calderon City in the spiritual world from the Abraham family. The most important thing is the location."
This question made Alice unable to help but look over. She frowned and asked Klein:
"Why didn't you ask me?"
The doubts of "Hermit" Cattleya rose and fell, and she realized that it was not that Miss Fate could not do it, but that the "world" did not ask.
——You will rarely find an angel who cannot move freely in the spirit world, it is just a difference in the degree of freedom.
Of course, as a path that focuses more on spiritual power, the relationship between the "destiny" path and the spiritual world is beyond doubt.
Of course Klein knew about this. She turned to Alice and asked bluntly,
"Have you been there?"
Alice answered honestly, "I didn't."
Klein controlled the World to focus its attention back on Magician Fors. Hermit Cattleya and other members began to consider the purpose of the World's visit to this city, while Magician Fors forced a smile:
"No problem, I'll ask for you."
"How much is the reward?" asked the "World" Gehrman Sparrow in a calm tone.
The "magician" Fors' mind raced, and out of fear of the "world", he reluctantly offered the price:
"350 pounds."
Alice looked at the "magician" Fors in surprise and blurted out:
"Huh, is this actually information that is easy to obtain?"
The smile on Magician Fors' face became even uglier. She turned stiffly to Alice and replied politely,
"I think this may have something to do with someone. For certain people, this is indeed very easy information to obtain."
Alice nodded thoughtfully, and the World also nodded and said,
"Deal."
Seeing that there was nothing else going on in the "world", Emlyn the "moon" turned his head and looked at the "sun" anxiously:
"Have you got the extraordinary characteristics of the sequence 5 artificial vampire?"
"I haven't accumulated enough merits yet." "Sun" Derrick was not ashamed this time. Instead, he felt that Mr. "Moon" was too anxious. How could it be so easy to accumulate the merits required for Sequence 5 Beyonder characteristics?
"Moon" Emlyn quickly turned his head back, suddenly remembered something, and hurriedly said to "Magician" Fors:
"There are clues about the cursed objects and residual spirituality of the ancient vengeful spirit. I am waiting for the specific contents.
"This may not be giving you the item directly, but providing you with intelligence, telling you where the ancient ghost is haunting near Backlund."
At this point, Emlyn thought for a moment and said:
"300 pounds."
In other words, do I need to hunt down that ancient vengeful spirit myself? In various mystical rumors, this is a very powerful monster... After hearing what Mr. "Moon" said, Fors's first reaction was embarrassment. Her second reaction was, why not entrust the hunting task to Mr. "World", who would definitely be able to complete it quickly and smoothly!
But thinking that the cost of hiring Mr. "World" would definitely far exceed the value of the ancient vengeful spirit, she thought it would be better to try it herself.
...Or, should I buy some fortune charms from Miss Fortune?
Thinking of Alice's last offer, Magician Fors hesitated for a moment, thinking that the offer was more likely a prank, so she tentatively asked Alice:
"Miss Destiny, do you still have any thoughts on selling the Fortune Charm?"
Alice turned to look at the "magician" Fors and asked her sympathetically:
"Although I sympathize with you, the reason I wanted to sell the fortune charm was because I was in a similar financial situation as you.
"As for now... well, actually, compared to rich people like Miss Justice, I probably still don't have much money, but money doesn't seem to be of much use to me." (End of this chapter)
105 Looking for someone
After hearing this, Magician Fors had to give up his previous idea. Then the Tarot Club members confirmed some things with each other, and then The World proposed another commission:
"I want to find someone."
After attracting everyone's attention, The World pretended to ask the Fool for help, manifested the appearance of Ince Zangwill, and then said:
"His name is Ince Zangwill. He was once the Archbishop of the Church of Evernight. He was originally a Gatekeeper of Sequence 5 of the Death Path. After failing to be promoted, he defected and stole the remains of a saint of the Church of Evernight in an attempt to be promoted.
"He is currently a demigod of the 'Night' path, holding a '0' level seal.
"Provide the specific location, 1,000 pounds, and the reward will depend on the effectiveness of the clue."
It is not that there has never been a precedent of missing person commissions in the Tarot Club. Alice has let go of similar commissions more than once. In addition, "The Hanged Man" Alger has also left a missing person commission, but there has been no response to the "Hanged Man" commission so far. Alice has run into the objects of her commissions herself.
However, the commission from the "world" still attracted the attention of the Tarot Club members, and the "magician" Fors even blurted out:
"Mr. 'World', is he your next target?"
Regarding this speculation, "Hermit" Cattleya and "Hanged Man" Alger, who knew more about the gap between Sequence 5 and demigod beings, objected. But to be honest, this was indeed their first reaction.
——Is "The World" finally going to take action against the demigods?
"Yes," Alice answered for the World, "he chose it after careful selection."
The Magician Fors took a deep breath. On the other side, the Hermit Cattleya and the Hanged Man Alger began to look at the World with horror, trying to see something from him.
Even "Justice" Audrey couldn't control her abnormality and couldn't help but observe the "world".
...Miss Destiny must be talking nonsense again? !
As for Emlyn the Moon... his mood was similar to that of Fors the Magician. He was both respectful and fearful of The World. In the entire Tarot Club, only Derrick the Sun was in a normal mood. He looked at The World with admiration.
You are worthy of being Mr. World... I have to work hard too!
Amid the admiring, suspicious, and awed looks of the crowd, The World nodded calmly and said,
"That's right."
No... right?
Cattleya the Hermit and Alger the Hanged Man remained silent. Audrey the Justice swallowed her saliva and felt that she understood the fear of Fors the Magician. Emlyn the Moon began to think about how he had offended the World. Derrick the Sun continued to look at the World with admiration.
Alice looked at them and asked in confusion:
"Why aren't you talking?"
Hearing her voice, Alger the Hanged Man turned around. He recalled the rumors about the World and Miss Fate at sea, and the fact that the bishop of the Church of Evernight possessed a Level 0 Sealed Artifact. He calmly confirmed with Alice:
"Miss Destiny, will you help?"
After being stunned for a moment, Cattleya and the others also looked at Alice. After all, in their opinion, it was normal if Miss Fate intervened.
But Alice denied this:
"No.
"That's his own business."
This was a rare moment of indifference from Alice towards Klein. After all, in their past impressions, Miss Fate did not seem to intend to let the "world" encounter any enemies beyond its scope. A demigod was obviously one of them. At one point, Alger, the "Hanged Man", even suspected that she had fallen out with the "world".
But Miss Destiny's attitude towards the "world" remained the same as usual, and Alger, the "Hanged Man", was unable to infer more from it. After hesitating for two seconds, he suddenly had a guess.
He already knew that starting from Sequence 5, the advancement of Beyonders not only required taking potions, but also undergoing rituals. The World had clearly been collecting potion materials for demigods, so he couldn't help but speculate on the possibility that this was a ritual for the demigods of The World.
...No, this is too difficult.
The Hanged Man Alger frowned. Even though this was the most likely guess at the moment, he did not dare to believe it. He could not imagine which path of advancement required hunting down a demigod. No one would be willing to take such a path.
...Or are all demigod rituals of this difficulty?
The Hanged Man Alger looked at Cattleya, the Hermit. It was no secret that the pirate general had been in Sequence 5 for many years. He should have reached the stage of preparing for the ceremony. If we refer to the difficulty standard of hunting demigods...
Alger, the "Hanged Man," remembered the drop of blood from the mythical creature.
Obviously, this was not a simple request either. Alger, the "Hanged Man", frowned and began to worry about his own demigod ritual.
If I could become a demigod...
He closed his eyes, then opened them again, and his expression returned to calm.
The Hermit Cattleya withdrew her gaze from him. She made a similar guess, but she thought in her heart that the description of the ritual was definitely not as direct as hunting down a demigod. There might be other contents that could reduce the difficulty.
However, that is also very difficult...
The Hermit Cattleya exhaled and asked the World,
"Mr. World, you said that Ince Zangwill possesses a Level 0 Sealed Artifact. Can you tell me about the ability of that Sealed Artifact?"
The World didn't say anything. He looked at Alice. After receiving his gaze, Alice answered for him:
"At your level, not knowing the information about those sealed objects is the best protection for you.
"If I must say anything, you only need to pay attention to one thing - when a large number of coincidences appear in your life, please pray to Mr. Fool immediately and find a way to leave the city you are in.
"Beyond that, don't listen, don't ask, don't think, don't understand.
"That seal... once caused the death of an angel."
The last sentence was what Alice saw in the church documents. Alice didn't know which angel it was or how he died, as she hadn't read more detailed information.
Of course, as a warning, this was enough. Most of the Tarot Club members became more vigilant because of this. "Justice" Audrey also thought of the secret organization and the Son of God Adam from Alice's description.
She looked at Alice and wanted to ask something, but then she remembered what Alice said about knowing nothing being the best protection, so she gave up asking.
——As she gradually got deeper into the extraordinary world, she had learned to restrain her curiosity.
Looking back at the "world", "Justice" Audrey promised:
"If I find anything, I will inform you immediately."
Others followed suit and expressed their opinions. The World nodded. The transaction ended here. When it came to the free exchange session, the first person to speak was the World again:
"I have made a preliminary investigation into the suicide case of Caron in Backlund."
Alice looked over in confusion. She had read about this incident in the newspaper, but the newspaper did not mention those strange aspects. Alice herself was not interested in it. She just glanced at it. Just now, she realized that there was another hidden story behind all this.
The first person to ask was Magician Fors. She asked a second or two after the World finished speaking:
"What is the truth?"
Klein had already rehearsed how to describe it in his mind, and without any hesitation, he let the dummy "world" say:
"The manipulator behind the scenes is most likely the royal advisor, Hvin Rambis. He most likely has another identity, a member of the Psychological Alchemist Association's Council."
Alice tried to recall the name in her mind, but she found that she had no impression of it at all. So she looked at the only noble lady present, Miss Justice, and asked her:
"Ms. Justice, have you ever heard of this man? Or do you know him?"
Audrey opened her mouth, closed it, and opened it again, repeating it several times before answering dryly, "
Mr. Herwin Rambis was born into an aristocratic family and graduated from the University of Perth. He has extensive knowledge and outstanding insights. He has served as a royal advisor for more than ten years. He is a recognized scholar, a good man, and a gentleman..."
After hearing this, everyone in the Tarot Club fell silent. Compared to "Justice" Audrey, who was still lamenting the darkness of politics, "Hermit" Cattleya and "Hanged Man" Alger keenly smelled Backlund's gunpowder and had a premonition that something big was going to happen.
The Hanged Man Alger was shaking with excitement. This was his lifelong dream. If Mr. Fool could win this fight, he might be able to dream of the throne of angels.
It was difficult for Magician Fors to have much understanding of this. She did not know Mr. Hvin Rambis. She just lamented the horror of the high-sequence Audience pathway while quickly conceiving the outline of a novel in her mind.
...For my next book, I'm going to write a story about a sick female protagonist who falls in love with a gentleman and uses hypnosis to make him fall in love with her too, but at the end she finds out that the gentleman is actually a master hypnotist!
Alice touched her chin, feeling that adults were too complicated. She shook her head and asked Justice Audrey:
"The royal advisor is a member of the Psychological Alchemist Association's review panel... So is the current situation in Loen, or the laws and regulations in the past ten years, all at the behest of the Psychological Alchemist Association?"
"I don't know." Audrey "Justice" said dejectedly.
Alice frowned and whispered, "Psychological Alchemy Society...audience...Adam..."
As the high-sequence who influences the low-sequence ones, Ellie has no doubt about the connection between Adam and the Psychological Alchemy Society. The only difference is whether the members of the Psychological Alchemy Society know about it.
She guessed that Adam's goal was to cause a world war, and the appearance of Hvin Rambis proved this to a certain extent. She realized that the king of Loen seemed to be just a puppet, a tool to start a world war.
Alice's expression was strange for a moment. Some people looked at her because of what she said, but the World did not give them a chance to ask. Instead, it said,
"One more thing. Please keep an eye on Qiunas Kilger. He is the deputy director of the military intelligence department. On the surface, he is only Sequence 5, but in fact he is a demigod of the Black Emperor path. He has a very strong sense of inspiration and is very sensitive to the gazes of others."
Everyone's attention was about to be attracted by this name. They recalled the information about this name in their minds and realized that the information they knew was not enough to answer the question of "the world". They decided to pay attention to it the next time they saw it.
Seeing that no one else spoke up, "Sun" Derrick took the initiative to talk about his own experience:
"I made a new friend."
He paused for a moment before getting to the point:
"The area he patrolled included the mausoleum of the former chief. He told me that the 'Six-member Council' had not yet opened the gate to the underground. However, in the cracks of the stone on the outer layer of the mausoleum, dense and strange plants grew, which looked a lot like human hair."
"Can I eat it?" Alice asked subconsciously.
The Sun Derrick paused for a moment. Alger, who was about to ask, decided to keep quiet for the time being. After considering his words, Derrick replied:
"…We still have some dry food with us, so we haven't made any such attempts yet."
The corner of the World's mouth twitched, and it gave Alice a suggestion:
"Miss Fate, maybe you can try it yourself."
Alice nodded seriously, then shook her head and said,
"No, I just...
"You know, his description reminds me of someone..."
In the gray fog, Klein paused for a moment. He realized that Alice was probably referring to Frank Lee. After a moment of silence, he controlled the "world" to look at the "hermit" Cattleya.
The Hermit Cattleya also fell silent. She quickly realized who they were thinking of and could only remain silent.
The Hanged Man Alger did not quite understand this secret exchange. He looked around suspiciously and finally asked Derrick the Sun:
"Apart from these, are there any other unusual situations?
"Is it the 'shepherd' elder Luo Weiya who is responsible for opening the mausoleum?"
"Not only her, the Chief is here too, as are the other two elders." Derrick the Sun answered seriously, "There's nothing unusual about the others for now."
Alger nodded!
"Very good. Maintain the current status, establish connections with more people, and pay close attention to the changes in the mausoleum."
Derrick nodded quickly after receiving the praise.
Alice glanced at Derrick, then at Alger, and seriously considered whether she could add the stories of these two people to the holy books of the Church of Fools in the future.
After discussing some other things, the members of the Tarot Club began to learn from each other. When they saw that the time was almost up, Klein said,
"Let's stop here." (End of this chapter)