"Honored Fool, please tell [The World] that I've spoken with Leonard Mitchell. He does have a wondrous item that can steal others' extraordinary abilities, and he's willing to sell it, but the price is steep, seven thousand pounds."
Above the gray fog, the image of [Moon] Emlyn murmuring his prayer appeared clearly in midair. "I put him off for now and said I'd think it over. Whether to buy it or not is up to [The World]."
"Seven thousand pounds? Why doesn't he just go rob someone?"
Klein nearly cried out.
He'd originally estimated an item like this would cost around five thousand pounds, maybe up to six thousand at most with a markup. Who could have guessed their poet friend would be so ruthless, opening straight at seven thousand! He'd worked so hard since coming to sea, and had only just barely managed to scrape together this much of a nest egg!
But he really did need that item.
So their honored Fool began agonizing away above the gray fog, occasionally casting a pained glance at the stack of cash piled in the corner.
Klein had been playing the role of the Sequence 6 "Faceless" for some time now. He estimated that after a few more sessions of role-play, he would fully digest the potion, so it was time to put preparations for advancing to Sequence 5 on the agenda.
He was in no shortage of the recipe and materials for Sequence 5. Rosago had generously delivered them right to his door, not only providing the low-Sequence recipe but also leaving behind a "Master of Secret Puppets" characteristic. That amounted to two of the main ingredients needed for Sequence 5, except this particular material had been corrupted by the aura of a True Creator, so it obviously couldn't be used directly to brew a potion.
As for methods to purge the spiritual contamination, Klein had found three so far.
First, use an item with a "theft" ability to steal the contamination out of the characteristic, then hurry to compound it into a potion and consume it before the "theft" effect wore off.
Second, employ a powerful ritual to directly destroy the characteristic, letting the spiritual contamination evaporate so the characteristic could reform.
Third, ask Silas to handle it. His peculiar nature seemed capable of countering a True Creator's corruption.
However, the second method required a sealing artifact from the Silver City, and the third would mean troubling Silas, so neither was really an option. The Silver City's spatial isolation made communication difficult enough on its own; and as for asking Silas for help, Klein didn't have the nerve to bring it up, since it was his own faulty intelligence that had forced Mr. [Temperance] into a battle on the island. Asking him for yet another favor now would seem rather tactless.
Even if Silas had no objection, their Fool still had some pride to maintain.
"Sigh."
Klein let out a sigh. Reluctant as he was, he gritted his teeth and finally decided he would use his own savings to buy that extraordinary item.
After that, he waited until three o'clock, then let his spirituality spread out to connect with every star before the bronze high-backed chair.
Today was Monday afternoon, and a new week's Tarot Club gathering was about to begin.
Shua! Shua!
Deep crimson light surged upward like a fountain, and once it faded, hazy figures had already appeared around the long table.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Fool~"
[Justice] Audrey rose to bow as always, greeting everyone, spirituality spilling faintly from her body. She wasn't the only one; [The Sun]'s tall figure was also radiating an uncontainable spirituality, a telltale sign of a recent advancement not yet fully mastered.
Both of them had advanced. [The Hermit] Cattelya, attending her second gathering, silently mused to herself as she returned their greetings.
For low-Sequence Beyonders, advancing this quickly was only natural so long as they properly grasped the method of role-play, but even so, it was proof that the Tarot Club carried a certain amount of weight.
"My deepest apologies, honored Mr. Fool. I haven't been able to reach anyone from the Psychological Alchemy Society recently, so I wasn't able to obtain a new Roselle diary."
After exchanging greetings, [Justice] Audrey said this apologetically.
In similar straits were [The Magician] Fors and [The Sun] Derrick. The former explained that her teacher hadn't been in contact recently (though the real reason was that the weather was too cold and she didn't want to go out and send letters); the latter was still in Afternoon Town and hadn't had the chance to gather any Ancient God legends.
I see, so there won't be any diary to read this week, Klein thought, feeling rather disappointed inside, though outwardly he appeared perfectly unbothered, merely nodding slightly as if it were nothing at all. "Understood."
With no diary, the gathering moved straight on to the trading segment.
Two people turned to look at [Temperance] Silas at the same time.
"I've sold off part of your goods."
Said [Hermit] Cattelya.
"Same here, on my end."
[Moon] Emlyn followed right after.
Both of them had been entrusted by Silas to offload the artworks and jewelry looted from Olavi Island. One had connections with an old vampire who loved art, the other had broad channels of his own, and between the two of them the goods had sold smoothly enough.
"Good. Send me an itemized statement of what's sold and what's left, along with the accounts." Silas said, then paused before adding, "As it happens, I've got a new batch of goods on my end too. I'll pass those along as well, keep helping me move them along slowly."
His so-called "new goods" came from the safe of the Governor of the Rosede Islands.
"...Fine."
The two exchanged a glance and agreed.
Wait, is he really treating this place as a fencing operation?
Klein couldn't help grumbling to himself. He could more or less guess that Silas's new haul had come from the governor's residence in Bayam. Still, it felt strange somehow, as if his Tarot Club had turned into some bandit's hideout.
No, actually, if he was being honest, there were already three pirates among the members.
He put aside his tangled feelings and helped [Moon] and [Hermit] manifest parchment to draw up the itemized list. When he saw the figures written on it, their impoverished Fool couldn't help but feel a pang of envy well up inside.
So many zeroes.
Klein sighed with genuine feeling as he passed the statement over to Silas.
Two oil paintings for five thousand pounds, jewelry sold for seven thousand six hundred, twelve thousand six hundred pounds total, with roughly half the goods still remaining. Silas picked up the parchment, looked it over, and nodded.
Next came the matter of what to do with the cash.
"Keep two hundred pounds as commission, then transfer the rest to me."
He said this to [Moon] first. As for [Hermit], she'd already said earlier that she'd count her commission as her apology, so she wouldn't be taking any money.
"All right."
Emlyn's eyes lit up. "For this next transaction, I'll be taking a commission too."
Ever since joining the Tarot Club, acting as a middleman for the vampires' material trades, he'd already pocketed a fair bit in commissions.
Cattelya said nothing.
Then Silas turned to [Moon] again. "Also, remember to set aside twenty-five hundred pounds. Transfer fifteen hundred to [The World], and a thousand to [The Hanged Man]."
[Moon] Emlyn, still basking in the glow of his two hundred pounds commission, froze for several seconds before finally speaking up, utterly baffled.
"...Huh?"