Audrey had been curious for a while now, because the person Mr. World was looking for was clearly Miss Natasha — but when she'd asked her about it last week, Natasha had refused to say anything at all. So frustrating!
Klein said, "With the help of Mr. Lovers and Miss Lovers, I managed to find that person, and confronted them face to face."
Audrey's eyes went wide. "Really?!"
Miss Lovers was a demigod-level powerhouse. So was Miss Natasha. If the two of them ran into each other, surely a terrifying battle must have broken out?
Could that "gas explosion" at the docks mentioned in last week's newspaper have actually been the result of their clash?
She quickly asked, "And then?"
"And then, we cleared up the misunderstanding. It turned out the reason they'd been secretly watching me was just that they'd mistaken me for someone else — there was no ill intent."
Huh, resolved that easily?
Audrey hesitated, then asked, "So there was no conflict at all between you two?"
Klein smiled. "With Miss Lovers stepping in, that person was subdued in an instant. Hardly what you'd call a conflict."
"???"
Audrey was even more confused. Even if Miss Natasha was weaker than Miss Lovers, there's no way she'd get subdued instantly... What exactly was going on here?
Klein caught Audrey's brief flicker of unease right away, and something occurred to him: Miss Justice's reaction doesn't look like she's just enjoying some gossip. As a Beyonder of the Visionary Pathway, she should actually be better at hiding her thoughts than most — so why show such obvious surprise?
Thinking it over — she seemed to react that way right when I mentioned Miss Lovers subduing "Charles" in an instant. So this outcome must have gone against what she expected.
If that's true, then there's only one explanation: Miss Justice likely knows something about "Charles" — and she believes he shouldn't have been so easily subdued by Miss Lovers?
This...
The thought sent a jolt through Klein's mind, and all kinds of schemes and conspiracies immediately started spinning through his head.
While Klein got lost in his suspicions, the rest of the Tarot Club moved on into their trading.
After her brief moment of confusion, Audrey quickly composed herself and went back to asking about Visionary Pathway formulas and intel on the Psychic Alchemy Society — with no luck, as usual.
Alger, meanwhile, started preparing for his advancement to Wind Favored.
Derrick, having already learned that Vincent had formulas and materials for the next stage of the Sun Pathway, said nothing — just quietly waited for a chance to share the intel about the Angel of Time that he'd seen in the half-ruined temple.
Fors, eager to get her hands on the next set of formulas, thought it over and said, "I'd like the 'Apothecary' and 'Trickmaster' formulas, paid in cash."
She'd deliberately thrown in the "Apothecary" formula on top of her real target, hoping to throw the others off — if anyone actually had it, she'd buy it as a matter of course and later resell it at a markup to Viscount Grelint, who'd been after it for ages. Either way, she wouldn't lose out, and might even make a tidy profit.
Fors's voice snapped Klein out of his thoughts. He took a breath to steady himself, then, operating "the World," said in a low voice, "I have the 'Apothecary' formula — 230 pounds. As for 'Trickmaster,' I'll do my best to find it for you, but I can't guarantee success."
"..."
Fors was a little stunned. All that careful "insurance" and all she'd gotten was the Apothecary formula, while the Trickmaster formula she actually wanted came with a "no guarantees."
"Well, guess I'll have to make it up with Viscount Grelint."
She said with forced lightness, "All right, so how do we handle the transaction, Mr. World?"
Klein said, low, "Once you're home, offer the cash up as a sacrifice to Mr. Fool. That completes the trade. As for the exact sacrifice procedure..."
Sacrifice?
Mr. Fool accepts sacrifices too?
That settled it completely — he really was some unknown god! Which meant, no question, introducing him to her Lord of Chaos was absolutely the right call.
Realizing she'd now personally met two gods, Fors didn't know whether to be happy or sad. Happy, because ninety-nine percent of people in this world never got to meet a god even once in their lives. Sad, because she had no idea what these two would end up taking from her.
Ah well, forget it — I'm just a lazy fish drifting along, do whatever you want with me.
As she thought this, Fors spread out the formula "the World" had manifested and started memorizing it carefully.
Just then, Audrey — unable to bear watching her new friend suffer through it — offered a tip. "You can ask Mr. Fool to help you recall it during the sacrifice, you don't have to memorize it specifically. If you run into trouble, you can also pray to him by chanting his name."
Fors said, a little dazed, "Thanks for the tip — your reputation matches your character."
Audrey felt a small twinge of guilt at that. Then a new thought struck her, and she quickly asked, "Miss Magician, do you know the Acting Method?"
Fors nodded. "I do, why?"
Her answer immediately cut off whatever Audrey had been about to say next. A little awkwardly, she said, "Ah, nothing. Good that you know it, good that you know it."
She hadn't expected Fors to already know the Acting Method... hmm, could Miss Natasha have told her about it?
Ugh, now I'm even more curious — what exactly happened between Miss Natasha and Miss Lovers? Once the gathering's over, I'm definitely going to ask her about it!
Though... she'll probably just answer with "guess" again, won't she?
Once everyone's trading had wound down, Little Sun Derrick spoke up quickly. "Mr. Lovers, last week, in that half-ruined temple, I saw more murals about that 'Angel of Time.'"
Vincent looked over, a little surprised. "Didn't you all leave in a hurry back then?"
"Elder Lovia specifically took me deeper into the temple. After I received the bracelet Mr. Fool gave me, she showed me the murals on the walls."
"Oh? Find anything new?"
Derrick nodded firmly. "I did!"
"Deeper in, on the murals, I saw a picture of another 'Angel of Time.'"
Vincent froze, a little confused. "Another Angel of Time — you mean...?"
"I mean — it's an Angel of Time that looks completely different from the one I saw on the murals before. Different face, different clothes, different feel altogether."
To be continued…
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