"We are guardians, and also a group of pitiful creatures constantly fighting against danger and madness."
Opening the room door, returning to the home isolated from the noisy streets and alleys, Angel's ears still echoed with this sentence Dunn Smith had said at the funeral.
She didn't change out of the black dress worn to attend the funeral, but directly collapsed onto the single-person sofa by the living room bay window, her posture more lazy and tired than usual.
It was now Monday noon, exactly two days had passed since "Goddess's Sword" Crested Cesima came to Tingen to examine two Nighthawks.
But the scene of Old Neil lying covered in blood on the alchemy room's cold floor, Dunn's pained gaze looking at herself, the expressions of Tingen team members either exclaiming in disbelief or silently gritting their teeth were still deeply imprinted in her mind.
And also Rozanne's tearful questioning, the slumber flowers before the grave, the epitaph on the tombstone...
"If I cannot save her, then I will go accompany her."
This was the newest sentence in Old Neil's diary that the Nighthawks found at Old Neil's home after his death.
Old Neil had no other living relatives. After his death, team members searched his residence according to custom, only then learning from the relics that he had always been working hard to resurrect his lover, his prematurely deceased fiancée Selyse. He felt his younger self wasn't strong enough, hadn't been able to cure his seriously ill fiancée through ritual magic, and in guilt and regret, continuously sought help from various mysterious powers.
And the life alchemy and resurrection ritual that Old Neil obtained from the "Hidden Sage" had already been proven to be naked evil rituals, apart from absorbing the user's life and requiring him to obtain more blood for sacrifice, had no other effect.
No, perhaps contamination and losing control itself was the ritual's effect.
From this perspective, his being detected as contaminated at the Nighthawks' station, losing control in advance before a senior deacon capable of controlling the overall situation, might be a good thing for the entire Tingen City.
A good thing...
Remembering the instant Dunn broke Old Neil's neck, Angel painfully closed her eyes.
————
Deep red light flashed, Miss Queen once again appeared in the mysterious gray fog space, appeared on the high-backed chair beside the bronze long table.
Beside her and across from her, Miss Justice and Mr. Hanged Man also took their seats in the same way.
Mr. Sun... he seemed to arrive earlier than the others, his hands were already placed on the table edge, his body completely motionless...
Angel woodenly looked at the Tarot Club members, not even having the energy to greet them, only her thoughts unconsciously operating, analyzing the things before her eyes.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Fool, and everyone."
"Mr. Fool, I have obtained another page of Emperor Roselle's diary."
"Mr. Sun, may I ask if you have already obtained the 'Mind Reader' formula?"
Justice still energetically greeted everyone, while quickly entering the main topic.
The tall and sturdy Sun slowly nodded in response: "I have already obtained the 'Mind Reader' formula, but how should we trade? Should I tell you directly?"
Before his words finished, curled-edge parchment appeared before him, along with a snow-white feather pen.
A feather pen, not a fountain pen? Was this from the Fool's small joke, or to accommodate Mr. Sun's usage habits... could it be that his location was very remote, where even common industrial products were difficult to obtain?
Watching Sun skillfully grip the feather pen, manifesting the formula on the parchment, Angel speculated.
The two quickly completed the formula trade, and Justice also manifested the found Emperor Roselle diary page in the same way, handing it to Mr. Fool, then received the favored one's related information that the Fool gave her. This favored one would receive an additional 300 pounds cash payment from Justice from this trade.
Angel and the Hanged Man coldly observed the three-party transaction.
As the Tarot Club's membership gradually increased, the frequency of such transactions involving only some people would also increase accordingly. Information that was previously shared openly purely for sharing purposes would probably become increasingly rare.
The Tarot Club was becoming more and more "mature".
"You may communicate freely now."
As the Fool finished reading the diary, the quiet gray fog space became lively again.
"Miss Queen, the extraordinary item you entrusted me to find, 'Black Abyss Demon Fish's Blood' I have already obtained, but whether it's specifically 'all' the blood I'm not clear about, the seller said there's no standard quantity in the mystical sense."
Justice said to Angel with some doubt in her voice.
"Indeed so, unless specifying how many grams, how many milliliters are needed, otherwise in the mystical sense, many extraordinary materials will present this strange characteristic. The blood of two Black Abyss Demon Fish of different weights will inevitably have differences in quantity, but this doesn't affect their effectiveness."
Recalling the knowledge in her mind, Angel replied.
This was also a problem easily encountered when purchasing potion main ingredients: sellers might very well use this uncertainty to secretly withhold part of the materials.
Fortunately, Black Abyss Demon Fish blood possessed a magical characteristic - once leaving the demon fish's body, it would become difficult to separate.
"Then there's no problem, I can trade at any time," Justice sighed in relief and continued, "Given that finding this material was my thanks for your answering questions, I'm prepared to charge half the purchase cost, which is 350 pounds."
Half is 350 pounds... meaning this blood cost her 700 pounds total? Angel was somewhat tongue-tied. Sequence 7 potion main ingredient prices had reached this level of expense.
She again thought of Daly unhesitatingly giving her the "Onyx Peacock's Egg" under nearly free conditions, which even without considering the markup portion, had saved her over 500 pounds.
If she had to pay for both extraordinary materials herself, the 1000 pounds in her bank account really wouldn't be enough...
Lamenting her poverty, Angel nodded, agreeing to the transaction price.
But what happened next troubled both traders.
"How should I give this item to you? Should you provide me with an address for me to mail it to, or should you come to an address I provide to get it?"
Justice inquired in a calm tone, seemingly either method made no difference to her. Indeed, this wealthy young lady would definitely have servants handle related matters, so it wouldn't trouble her personally no matter what...
But I'm different. I only have my own home address, and I'm not like Mr. Hanged Man who can casually mention various "friends" and "acquaintances". Once I provide my address to the other party, it's equivalent to exposing my location. And having me come to collect it would require leaving Tingen City, even leaving Ahova County. At this time when Old Neil just had an incident, applying to leave the station would definitely be extremely difficult...
Angel felt somewhat troubled. After Old Neil's loss of control incident, she urgently hoped to advance her sequence as soon as possible. This was not only key to improving strength and avoiding being targeted by evil gods and secret sects, but also could protect teammates and protect important people around her.
But this couldn't be premised on revealing her own whereabouts.
Just as she was silently thinking, she heard the sound of knuckles tapping the bronze long table.
All four Tarot Club members present moved their gazes to the head of the long table, where Mr. Fool had just put down his right hand that had been tapping the table.
"Hehe, it seems you've encountered another trouble," Mr. Fool chuckled lightly, his gaze sweeping over the two members on his left side. "Two ladies, in this matter, are you willing to cooperate with me in another attempt?"
Another attempt? Angel thought of His "attempt" to pull everyone into the gray fog space, the "attempt" to communicate through ritual magic. What would it be this time?
"May I ask what kind of attempt?"
Justice hesitantly asked.
"Very simple, the difficulty won't be greater than your communicating with me through ritual magic."
The Fool's tone was light, as if what he spoke of was as trivial as eating and drinking.
This also somewhat dispelled Angel's inner resistance. With Old Neil and the "Hidden Sage" as precedent, even though the Fool had "deep friendship" with everyone, she still felt some resistance toward new ritual magic at this time.
"If the attempt succeeds, Miss Justice can 'sacrifice' specific items to me, then I will 'bestow' them to Miss Queen. I think this form of transaction would be beneficial to both of you."
"Sacrifice" and "bestow"...
She suddenly discovered that the Fool's request for such an attempt at this time was simply proposed to help solve the biggest problem she currently faced.
If successful, Justice could sacrifice the "Black Abyss Demon Fish's All Blood" to the Fool through ritual, then have the Fool bestow it upon herself, like a transfer station, allowing two Tarot Club members to conduct physical transactions without revealing any of their information.
Having a god-like existence serve as a transfer station...
She felt somewhat fearful in her heart, yet also somewhat excited.