Captain Dunn using her as a target for "Nightmare" acting was indeed infuriating, but Angel currently had more important things to do.
Besides, if it could help Dunn digest his potion quickly and gain hope for advancement, what did losing a few nights of sleep matter to her?
After subtly expressing her displeasure and pointing out that the "Nightmare" should change targets, she let her captain off the hook.
As three o'clock in the afternoon approached, Angel greeted Rozanne who was slacking off at the reception desk and came to the third floor of Blackthorn Security Company.
Unlike the second floor which was only equipped with sofas as a "rest room," this was where the Nighthawks truly rested. Along the street side were five single rooms with single beds, desks, chairs, and washrooms. When Nighthawks didn't need to guard the Chanis Gate but needed to stay at headquarters for some reason, they could sleep here.
Angel first checked each room to confirm the entire third floor was empty, then selected the room in the farthest corner, entered and locked the door.
After closing the windows, drawing the curtains, and sealing the entire room with a wall of spirituality, Angel finally breathed a sigh of relief.
She sat at the desk and took out her pocket watch—the normal one—and looked at it, finding less than five minutes remained until three o'clock in the afternoon.
In past instances, after entering the gray fog space and participating in Tarot Club meetings, Angel would find herself maintaining her original posture when returning to the real world, whether sitting or standing.
This might be the power possessed by the ritual that pulled her into the gray fog, otherwise her unconscious body would definitely fall headfirst in an embarrassing manner.
But for comfort's sake, she still tried to wait until three o'clock in a sitting position before entering the gray fog.
This time, due to shift scheduling, she couldn't make it home before three o'clock and could only use the rest room on the third floor of Blackthorn Security Company, building a space isolated by walls of spirituality to prepare for the meeting.
Fortunately, only Rozanne and Mrs. Orianna were on the second floor, Siga was dozing in the recreation room on the second floor, Klein had already gone home to rest, and the remaining Nighthawks all had their own business and weren't staying at the company, giving her time and space to "slack off."
Withdrawing her thoughts, Angel watched the minute hand on her pocket watch move toward the hour, watching familiar deep red waves surge from her right palm and surround her.
———————
The deep red faded, gray mist appeared, the soft cushion beneath Angel became a hard bronze high-backed chair, and her vision gradually cleared, showing the same Hanged Man sitting across from her as always.
Eh, why is there another person beside him?
A brand new figure appeared to the right of the Hanged Man, also sitting in a bronze high-backed chair. Though shrouded in gray mist and his features unclear, his height obviously exceeded that of the Hanged Man who was about the same as Angel, with broad shoulders and a sturdy build that nearly covered the entire chair back.
If the gray mist only concealed faces without changing physique, he would become the tallest member of the Tarot Club... well, not including the mysterious "Fool."
Angel looked left and right. To her left, Miss Justice still sat properly in her original position, and farther to her right was the head position of the long table, where the "Fool" surrounded by gray mist had one hand hanging low and the other pressed against the table edge.
Justice also noticed the abnormality in the meeting place. Having become an "Audience," she struggled to suppress the body movements caused by surprise, but her suddenly halted breathing still revealed her inner shock.
The Hanged Man was even worse off. Noticing that the two ladies across from him were staring at his right side, he immediately turned his head and discovered the "new member" beside him, startling him so much that his body shook as if he wanted to jump from his seat. But after leaning to one side, he forcibly stopped his movement, creating a bizarre posture of trying to distance himself from the other person while not daring to leave his seat.
"This gentleman is a new member of the Tarot Club, with the title 'Sun.'"
The Fool's low, steady voice came.
"This is Miss 'Queen,' Miss 'Justice,' and here is Mr. 'Hanged Man.'"
He then introduced the other veteran members to "Sun" in turn.
As expected, a new member. Was he introduced to join by Justice or the Hanged Man? But they seem equally surprised, not like they knew the situation beforehand.
Could it be a member "developed" personally by the Fool?
Angel looked at "Sun" who had a sturdy build but seemed somewhat nervous and awkward beside the Hanged Man, secretly speculating.
Still the lively and hospitable Miss Justice was first to speak, greeting other members as well as the newly joined Mr. Sun, then turned to the Fool with a hint of pride:
"Mr. Fool, I've collected two more pages of Emperor Roselle's diary."
She submitted one page last week and has two more this week... Angel immediately felt a strong sense of crisis. Except for submitting two pages of diary at the very beginning, she had made no contributions since, though she still had two pages on hand, she had been keeping them to exchange for important intelligence.
Seeing Justice produce new diary again, Angel decided she must find time this week to go to the underground market of "Evil Dragon Bar" to purchase a few pages of diary, then submit the diary she had on hand to avoid being considered by the Fool as slacking off.
Thinking of this, she secretly glanced toward Mr. Fool, finding the other party's head happened to be turned this way, his gaze seemingly shooting directly at her.
He must be looking at Miss Justice, not at me...
Angel withdrew her gaze and lowered her head.
"The 'Mind Reader' formula that precedes 'Psycho Analyst'?"
The Tarot Club's newcomer, "Sun," suddenly asked.
Justice, who was trying to trade with the Fool, looked at him puzzledly: "Yes, do you have the formula?"
"This is a pathway originating from the 'Dragon' clan, mortal enemies with the Giant King's Court and our City of Silver, so I have ways to obtain the Sequence 8 and Sequence 7 formulas of this pathway in the City of Silver."
Mr. Sun answered, his voice very young, somewhat inconsistent with his tall stature.
Dragon clan, Giant King's Court, City of Silver... and his mention of "Psycho Analyst," which seems to be an ancient term for "Psychiatrist"...
This new member's joining brought much new knowledge to the Tarot Club. Angel was too busy memorizing these new terms in her mind to worry about Emperor Roselle's diary.
"City of Silver" - I haven't seen it even in the church's internal map collections...
She looked toward the Hanged Man across from her, finding that the knowledgeable party also showed a thoughtful expression, even his original posture of trying to distance himself from "Sun" had returned to normal.
Mr. Sun seemed not to notice the other members' actions and continued his trade with Miss Justice, trying to exchange "the promise of obtaining the Mind Reader formula" for the "Singer" formula, which was Sequence 9 of the "Sun" pathway.
Mm, very fitting for his code name...
Unfortunately, Miss Justice didn't have this potion formula on hand. Her attempt to trade directly with gold pounds was also rejected by Sun.
"I can give Sun a 'Singer' formula, Sun gives the 'Mind Reader' formula to Justice, and Justice gives me the Roselle diary."
Just as the trade reached an impasse, Mr. Fool spoke up with a three-way trade suggestion.
Since the Sequence 8 formula was more valuable than Sequence 9, this trade would disadvantage Mr. Sun. The Fool promised to give him some compensation on behalf of Miss Justice, while Miss Justice needed to compensate this portion of the difference to His devotee through money.
"He happens to be handling some business in the Loen Kingdom recently and needs some activity funds, and Mr. Sun may not necessarily receive Miss Justice's compensation."
The Fool explained calmly.
A being as powerful as a god, His devotee must be at least high-sequence, what pathway could he be...
Angel speculated while watching the three parties reach an agreement. A scroll of parchment appeared before Mr. Sun, while the two pages of diary materialized by Miss Justice also appeared before the Fool.
"You may converse freely without waiting for me."
After saying this, the Fool fell silent and stopped moving.
All four members, including newcomer Mr. Sun, dared not speak and waited quietly.