After handing off the task of selling Beyonder items to [The Hanged Man], Silas had no other trading needs for the time being, so he quieted down to listen to the conversations between the other members.
"Does anyone have a Spirit Eater's stomach pouch?"
[The Magician] Fors asked.
Although she had forcibly consumed the second "Apprentice" potion, because she had mastered the acting method, the potion was digesting much faster than she'd imagined.
At this rate, in just a week or two, she could consider advancing to Sequence 8 "Trickmaster."
So Fors had begun to gather the corresponding potion materials. Of course, she was in such a hurry for her own reasons.
The sooner she completed her advancement, the more she could gain her teacher's approval...
"I have some."
[The Sun] Derrick nodded.
"During this exploration, we hunted some Spirit Eaters... In a few more days, once the situation stabilizes, I'll use my merit from this mission to exchange for one."
"That's great! Um, but you don't seem to need pounds?"
Fors was happy to hear the good news, but immediately ran into difficulty over how to pay.
After all, the other party was in the City of Silver, completely disconnected from their world.
Fortunately, [The Hanged Man] Alger provided a solution.
Fors could give the money to him, and he would give the "Sun Priest" formula to [The Sun].
As for the price difference between the two, it would be made up with additional Beyonder materials.
After incidentally tricking [The Sun] into providing a list of common monsters around the City of Silver and their corresponding materials, [The Hanged Man] Alger sat back down with satisfaction.
He already had leads on both the "Wind-blessed" potion formula and main ingredients he needed. Now he just needed to prepare the funds.
After he sold that Beyonder item, the money would be about right.
"..."
[Justice] Audrey looked at everyone, hesitated, but didn't speak.
To advance to Sequence 7 "Psychologist," she still needed the main ingredient of an Elder Tree fruit.
But her friend's death was like a bucket of cold water, cooling her previously high enthusiasm somewhat and making her more rational.
"There's no need to be so anxious... I'll wait until I've completely digested the 'Telepathist' potion before making plans."
Audrey thought to herself.
While she was feeling down, [The World] at the other end of the long table spoke up.
"Does anyone know the whereabouts of mermaids?"
His voice was as low and hoarse as always.
Mermaids?
This world has such things?
Right, I remember the "Queen" seems to have one...
Silas recalled.
Back when he had fallen into madness from ingesting too much living human flesh and blood, the Queen had used an illusory mermaid to awaken him.
However, that mermaid didn't look like it truly existed and might not meet the other party's requirements, so he didn't speak up.
"Mermaids are already extremely rare. They basically don't exist in places where humans appear."
[The Hanged Man] Alger said, "I've heard that in the Gargas Archipelago, sailors hunting deep-sea white-tailed whales can occasionally hear mermaid songs in storms."
The same as what Miss Sharron said...
Klein felt slightly disappointed.
His Sequence 5 advancement ritual required him to consume the potion while hearing a mermaid's song, which was why he was searching for mermaid traces.
"I understand."
He manipulated the [The World] puppet to nod slightly at [The Hanged Man] in acknowledgment.
After this, the Tarot Club members had no more trading requests, and the proceedings quickly moved to the free exchange segment.
"Everyone must already know about the major event that recently occurred in Backlund, right?"
[Justice] Audrey looked around and slowly spoke.
"Duke Negan ultimately couldn't escape the arrangements of those behind the scenes and was assassinated to death."
Everyone fell silent.
"Duke Negan still died in the end..."
[The Hanged Man] Alger said with a sigh.
He was a Beyonder affiliated with the Church of the Storms.
Usually, he disguised himself as a pirate wandering the seas, but he was actually part of the church's peripheral forces, doing things for the church that were inconvenient to do openly.
Since he could only come ashore periodically, his information would be delayed.
Actually, the first moment he learned this news, Alger had been both fearful and excited.
Fearful because even a grand duke of the kingdom would be pushed to his death by an invisible hand.
Excited because he knew earlier than the vast majority of people in the world that this would definitely happen.
Because at the Tarot Club, [Temperance] had already shared him experience.
The duke's second assassination attempt had been nipped in the bud by him before it even began.
And Mr. Fool had directly pointed out that behind all these events, there was a hidden manipulator...
"Was it done by the 'Twilight Hermit Order'?"
[The Magician] Fors carefully spoke that name.
When Mr. Fool informed them, he also reminded them not to mention this name in reality, otherwise they might be discovered by that organization.
"...Hard to say."
Alger resisted the urge to look at The Fool at the head of the table.
Although he felt this mysterious and great existence must know something, he absolutely didn't dare to probe.
After some thought, he shifted his gaze to [Justice] Audrey.
"I want to know the details of Duke Negan's assassination."
He said to [Justice] Audrey.
You're from the Church of the Storms, shouldn't you also be very clear about it... Oh, you want to use me to open up the topic and indirectly draw Mr. Fool's attention...
[Justice] Audrey quickly understood his intention. After thinking for a moment, she slowly answered:
"The assassin was a demigod of the Demon pathway.
He was hidden among the House of Lords' security personnel and created chaos during a regular session, taking the opportunity to kill the duke himself before escaping."
"The Storm Church's Cardinal Archbishop, a 'Spellsinger of God,' successfully caught up with him and, with the assistance of a Grade 1 Sealed Artifact from the Goddess's church, successfully killed him."
When speaking of these matters, she couldn't help but recall her deceased friend, and her voice dropped somewhat.
On the opposite side of the long table, [The Hanged Man] Alger keenly noticed this.
When mentioning this matter, [Justice] seemed a bit strange... And today, her spirits have been consistently low...
Could it be that she was affected by this assassination event?
She can still attend the gathering, which means she's fine herself. So perhaps a relative or friend died in the conflict...
Maybe if I investigate the social networks of the noble casualties a bit, and combine that with Miss [Justice]'s vague appearance, I can determine her identity...
Alger thought instinctively.
But just then, a voice abruptly rang out.
"Tap, tap."
Mr. Fool extended his slender fingers and lightly tapped the table.
As everyone's gazes immediately focused on him, Klein smiled and issued a warning:
"In the near future in Backlund, a major event will occur."