Early morning, having just bought bread, Klein avoided the pedestrians coming and going on the street and began walking toward the "Lettuce and Meat" market one street away, working hard for the tender pea stewed lamb his sister had requested.
Just as he reached a municipal square where Iron Cross Street and Narcissus Street intersected, Klein discovered something rather novel.
The municipal square was different from usual today - numerous tents had been set up, and some strangely dressed, comical clowns were distributing flyers everywhere.
"Tomorrow night, circus performance?"
Klein looked at a flyer he had picked up from the ground and quietly read its contents.
Melissa would definitely love this. I wonder how much the tickets cost? The thought flashed through his mind as Klein moved closer.
Just as he was about to inquire with one of the red and yellow clowns, a hoarse female voice suddenly came from beside him:
"Need a divination?"
Instinctively turning his head to look, Klein saw a woman wearing a pointed hat and black dress standing in front of a low tent.
Her face was painted with red and yellow pigments, her eyes gray-blue and profound.
"No, I don't need one." Hearing the other party's inquiry, Klein shook his head without hesitation. He didn't have spare money for divination right now.
Besides, what was urgent now was performing the ritual and entering the mysterious gray fog space that Hermes had mentioned.
Hearing Klein's refusal, the woman in the long dress didn't give up. She smiled and said:
"My Tarot divination is very accurate."
"Tarot..."
Hearing the woman mention Tarot divination, Klein was suddenly stunned. He felt this pronunciation was very similar to the Tarot cards from Earth.
The next moment, he remembered the origins of Tarot divination in this world.
It was invented over 170 years ago by Roselle Gustav, who was then the Consul of the Republic of Intis. Besides inventing Tarot cards, this Consul had also invented Texas Hold'em, Gwent, and many other card games.
Besides these, this Mr. Roselle had invented the steam engine, improved sailing ships, found safe shipping routes to the Southern Continent, and opened the colonial era.
But most unexpected was that this Consul had actually gained the support and assistance of the Church of the "God of Craftsmen" (predecessor to the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery), overthrew the Kingdom of Intis, and became the first Consul of the new Republic.
During his rule, the Republic of Intis conquered north and south, incorporating countries like Lenburg under its protection, forcing great Northern Continent powers like the Kingdom of Loen, the Republic of Feysac, and the Feysac Empire to bow their heads. He then transformed the Republic back into an Empire and declared himself "Caesar."
Unfortunately, in his old age, he was betrayed and assassinated in 1198 of the Fifth Epoch by a coalition of the Eternal Blazing Sun Church, the original Intis royal Sauron family, and other nobles at the White Maple Palace.
Recalling this common knowledge, Klein couldn't help but suspect this was a transmigrator like himself.
With this thought, Klein was curious to see what the Tarot cards here looked like and how they differed from what he knew in his previous life.
Taking out the pocket watch his sister had just repaired this morning to check the time, Klein looked at the woman wearing the pointed hat with painted face and asked:
"If the price is reasonable, I'm willing to try."
"Sir, you're the first person to come for divination today - it's free."
Free? Free things are the most expensive! Klein silently grumbled. He had seen plenty of such tactics before his transmigration.
Clutching the paper bag in his arms, Klein bent down and entered the low tent.
Inside the tent was very dark, with only a little light filtering in, dimly illuminating a table covered with cards.
The woman in the pointed hat seemed completely unaffected by the darkness. Her black dress swayed as she moved around the table to sit across from him, lighting the candle on the table.
The dim candlelight flickered, and the seemingly bright yet dark illumination filled the entire tent, instantly adding a mystical atmosphere to this small space.
Klein sat down nonchalantly, his gaze falling on the Tarot cards on the table. He found familiar major arcana like "The Magician," "The Emperor," "The Hanged Man," and "Temperance."
"They're really the same as in the original world. This means Roselle the Great really could be a transmigrator predecessor of mine?
That's right - colonization, steam engines, Caesar, civil code - these all existed in my original world. One appearance could be coincidence, but so many couldn't all be coincidence.
After I finish performing the ritual today and enter the space left by the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth, I'll summon Hermes.
As an angel