The gathering had ended.
Silas left the empty house to his flesh puppet and departed alone, returning to his hideout at No. 9 St. Anthony Street in the East Borough.
"Meow~"
As soon as he pushed open the door, he saw the black cat Luna crouched on the floor of the entrance hall, offering a welcome.
It seriously scrutinized Silas, as if checking whether he had been injured while hunting outside.
"Don't worry, I'm not dead yet."
Silas reached out and rubbed its little head, scooped it up into his arms, stepped into the house, and sat down on the parlor sofa.
"Let's begin."
He said to the empty parlor.
Thus, M's phantom quietly appeared behind him, reaching out both hands to press them against his head.
The clock hands on the wall ticked forward second by second, about to reach three o'clock in the afternoon.
He needed to create a virtual personality to attend Mr. Fool's Tarot gathering through this persona.
The new personality was quickly generated. Through M's manipulation, it completely enveloped the outside of his astral body.
Although Silas had experienced this sort of thing for the third time now, he still found it very strange.
The world before his eyes had overlapping shadows, and his thoughts also layered and echoed continuously in his mind.
Fortunately, this state didn't last very long.
As the clock hands reached the twelve position, a crimson tide rose before his eyes, engulfing the virtual personality outside his astral body...
————
Above the eternal gray fog, within the ancient castle that never changed, on both sides of the bronze long table.
With a wave from the towering figure at the head of the long table, the crimson tide rose and fell, outlining different silhouettes.
Another Tarot gathering had begun.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Fool. Good afternoon, Mr. Hanged Man..."
On the ladies' side, Miss Justice rose as always, lifting her skirt and extending sincere greetings to each person participating in the gathering.
And each person participating in the gathering accepted this goodwill, responding to her, including The Sun, who couldn't understand what "afternoon" meant.
"...Good afternoon, Mr. Temperance."
Audrey greeted everyone according to the order they joined.
When she addressed the figure at the far end of the gentlemen's side, her eyes couldn't help but reveal a complex expression.
Yes, so Mr. Temperance's sister is gone.
Based on previous events and Silas's current state, she had reached this sorrowful conclusion.
The bond between the siblings was so deep, no wonder Mr. Temperance behaved so extremely...
"Good afternoon."
Through the gray fog, Silas couldn't notice the subtle expressions on her blurred face at all.
At most, he felt her voice was slightly strange.
After the simple greetings, the gathering officially began.
"Honorable Mr. Fool."
Silas was the first to speak, addressing that mysterious figure wrapped in gray fog.
"I have some new Roselle diary pages here. Please allow me to present them."
"You may."
Behind the gray fog, Klein nodded slightly.
Silas has also started collecting Roselle diary pages. I wonder what kind of content the diaries he's obtained contain...
He thought to himself, unable to help feeling somewhat expectant.
When Silas materialized the diary pages and handed them over, the first thing Klein saw when he picked them up was Roselle's unrestrained life:
"Yesterday, I spent a wonderful and wild night together with Countess Sanchez, the young lady from the Capet family, and the widow from the Lorraine family..."
Three people?
Klein grimaced, not knowing what to say.
I've appreciated far too much of my senior transmigrator's extravagant lifestyle...
Fortunately, the last diary page was quite valuable. It described ancient secrets of the former Intis royal Sauron family.
Their Angel ancestor had disappeared along with two other Angels.
He quickly noticed the connection between the three surnames and the underground ruins, confirming that the evil spirit was definitely not a normal existence.
"Fortunately, I already used explosives to seal off the passage."
Klein thought with immense relief.
"Otherwise, if someone accidentally entered those ruins, who knows what terrible consequences it might cause."
He quickly came back to his senses and looked at Silas, who had provided the information, with a smile.
"What kind of compensation do you wish to exchange for?"
He asked.
"Honorable Mr. Fool, I wish to seek clues to the Black Knight potion formula."
Silas answered.
He thought about it again.
Although exploring the cause of Medici's death was also very tempting, his greatest current need was still the Sequence 4 formula.
If The Fool could help him solve this problem, it would save him a lot of trouble.
How would I know the Black Knight potion formula?
Klein felt a headache coming on, but to maintain The Fool's mystique and status, he couldn't directly answer that he didn't have it.
After thinking for a moment, he chuckled lightly and said, "The diary you submitted and the compensation you're requesting are not equivalent."
"You're right."
Silas said, "I will continue to search for diaries for you until you feel the value between them is equal."
"Then I'll temporarily store this compensation for now."
Klein replied, "You can exchange it for other compensation items at any time... or continue to accumulate it until it can be exchanged."
He planned to "delay" for now.
This was the best way to maintain The Fool's image. On one hand, perhaps after some time, Silas would find clues from somewhere else.
On the other hand, he himself might actually obtain the Black Knight potion formula later, or other high-value items.
"...Alright."
Hearing that The Fool didn't immediately respond, Silas felt slightly disappointed.
After expressing his thanks, he sat back down. Besides him, no one else had diaries to offer today.
The gathering quickly moved to the second item, the trading segment.
"How are the materials I gave you coming along?"
Silas immediately looked at The Hanged Man and inquired.
Previously, he had transferred a Sequence 7 Psychoanalyst Beyonder characteristic and a Sequence 6 Arbiter characteristic to him, asking him to find channels to sell them.
"There are results."
The Hanged Man said in a deep voice, "That craftsman has accepted both characteristics and plans to make them into mystical items... The craftsman will charge a certain handling fee, plus my middleman's fee."
"I want to reserve the mystical item made from that Psychiatrist characteristic!"
Miss Justice, Audrey, was the first to raise her hand, saying actively.
Although she still owed Mr. Fool's Blessed 2,000 pounds, her financial situation had improved greatly recently.
As long as she reduced expenses in other areas, her remaining money would be enough for her to buy a mystical item.
Besides, she could also submit it as an expense to her family. Giving the mystical item to the esteemed Earl Hall would also be a good choice.
"Acceptable."
The Hanged Man, Alger, couldn't help but glance at Justice and nodded.
The division of labor among you three is quite clear...
At the head of the long table, Klein couldn't help but mentally complain.