"Don't misunderstand, Mr. Zombie. I have no ill will; I am merely a businessman who moonlights as an intelligence broker." Snow spread his hands with a smile, indicating his lack of hostility. Then, under the man's watchful gaze, he pointed to his pocket.
"There is a charm in my coat pocket. The activation phrase is the Ancient Hermes for 'The Turtle is Older than the Snake.' It allows a participant of the Chained pathway to be immune to the full moon's influence,at least, for the duration of the charm. I can produce these. I think they would be an excellent tool for the Temperance Faction."
"The Turtle is Older than the Snake?" The man chewed on the activation phrase. He realized it was likely a metaphor, similar to the [Lawyer] pathway's ability to distort rules. The man likely used this power to temporarily distort the connection between the full moon and one's impulses.
A flicker of movement crossed the man's malice-filled eyes. While such charms couldn't be used as regular consumables, their value would be immense if a battle occurred during a full moon. Seeing the shift in the man's gaze, Snow continued in a peaceful tone, "This charm in my pocket is a free sample. Tonight happens to be a full moon; you might want to test it. Of course, if you're worried, you can have someone appraise it. It's free anyway. To avoid misunderstanding, have your zombie take it. Left pocket. Don't grope around."
"..." The man couldn't quite gauge the stranger's attitude. However, considering the importance of such a charm, he manipulated a living corpse to retrieve the metal charm,about the size of a one-penny coin,from Snow's pocket.
The man cautiously didn't touch the charm directly, having the corpse tuck it away instead. Once he confirmed Snow hadn't made any strange moves, he asked, "How do I find you?"
"There's a business card in the right pocket with instructions on how to summon my messenger. If you have a need, write to me directly. I'll come here to find you." Snow had no intention of letting them come to his house,not that he feared exposing his address, but he knew such old veterans wouldn't easily step into someone else's territory.
The man nodded slightly and had the corpse take the card. Only then did Snow lower his hands and pat his clothes to flatten the wrinkles caused by the corpse's searching.
"The goods have been delivered. I'll take my leave. Oh, by the way, I hope next time it's Miss Wraith who speaks with me."
Without waiting for an answer, Snow closed the door. "Did he find you?" The man asked quietly once the door shut. On the card table before him, the reflecting surface of a wine glass suddenly mirrored a blonde woman in a court dress, "He likely just has the relevant intelligence."
The ethereal voice appeared abruptly. The man nodded, "What about the charm? Should we try it?"
"You plan to have someone appraise it?"
"..." This time, the woman in the glass didn't speak. She gave a slight nod and vanished.
...
Snow returned home, pondering when Miss Sharron might visit while considering his next moves.
Tomorrow was the Tarot Club gathering. A new page of the Panreadax diary had to be prepared. Besides that, he had to make several contingency plans to ensure he didn't run into any strange trouble.
Currently, the biggest difference from the original story was that Mr. A was not in Backlund. If...
Ring... Ring...
The pull of his doorbell interrupted Snow's thoughts. He swept a finger across the desk, completely erasing the half-drawn mind map on the blank paper, then stood and walked to the door.
"Welcome... Eh? Why you?"
Seeing Klein at the door, Snow felt a surge of relief. Fortunately, for all the people he might meet in Backlund, he'd already preset the labels. Otherwise, if he had blurted out "The Fool" or "Zhou Mingrui," he'd be in massive trouble.
He wasn't afraid of Mr. Fool, but he was afraid of the "Goddess-Sister" upstairs taking offense. Although this "Klein-the-Coward" hadn't sworn upon the Sword of the Goddess yet, there was no guarantee she wasn't watching him through other means. Klein looked at Snow and spoke with a hint of bashfulness, "Mr. Snow, I wonder if you purchase Beyonder materials here?" Honestly, he didn't want to do a sudden house-call sales pitch, but his remaining savings were all tied up in his bicycle scheme. To survive the coming trouble, his ten or so pounds in the bank wouldn't be enough.
Moreover, while he knew what a Beyonder characteristic was, selling it at a gathering wasn't easy. Not to mention whether a host could identify it; the main issue was that there might not be a buyer looking to advance to a [Hunter] at that specific time. Not to mention, he lacked the associated potion formula.
At least in Eye of Wisdom's gathering, all members were Beyonders. After much reflection, he decided to try his luck with Mr. Devil, who seemed to have extensive connections.
"I do. Of course I do." Snow recalled the original story and understood Klein's predicament. He stepped aside to let him in.
"While purchasing materials normally involves a discount, considering you are a Blessed of that existence, I can buy it at market value. What are you selling?"
"A Beyonder characteristic for the [Hunter] pathway." Klein pulled a jelly-like dark red object from a tin cigarette case. Snow nodded.
"400 pounds. That's the standard price for a Sequence 9 characteristic. Of course, if you could provide the [Hunter] formula, I could pay up to seven hundred. You should understand that's well above market price."
"700 pounds..." Klein was salivating at that amount. Unfortunately, Meursault's potion hadn't been mixed by himself. Klein could only shake his head with a pained expression.
"Only this."
"Very well. 400 pounds. Cash or check?" Snow didn't care much, having known the outcome. He spoke with the casual air of someone discussing change at a grocery store.
Seeing Snow's "tycoon" behavior, a flash of envy crossed Klein's eyes. But he suppressed the urge to take the money and spoke up, "Mr. Snow, I was wondering if you had any 'Sun' charms left, like the one I bought before? I've run into some trouble lately and need a powerful enough item for protection."
"Selling a Sun charm back to you isn't a problem, but seeing as you're quite broke right now, I can offer you a cheaper solution."
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]
T/N: "Zombie" (活尸) - Sequence 6 of the Chained pathway.
T/N: "Miss Wraith" (冤魂小姐) - Referring to Sharron, Sequence 5 of the Chained pathway.
T/N: "Hunter" (猎人) - Sequence 9 of the Hunter/War-Priest pathway.
T/N: "Bicycle Scheme" (腳踏车) - Klein's business investment in Backlund.