"???"
Fors went absolutely blank, then turned red with outrage: Xio Derecha! Fine, you can say that to my face, whatever — but talking shit about me in front of a god?! That is WAY too far! I swear we're through! We are DONE!
In reality, Vincent genuinely didn't have the ability to protect Fors from the full moon whispers. In the original story, Klein did it by pulling Fors's spirit body into the Grey Fog, which isolated her from Mr. Door's "calls."
The Nation of Disorder, at least right now, didn't have that capability.
But admitting that would tank the Lord of Chaos's mystique. Better to just deflect and shoo her along — except the way things were diverging from canon thanks to his interference, there was a real chance Fors might never recite the Fool's Honorific Name the way she did in the original. Which meant she might just die without it.
So Vincent said: "That said, I can introduce you to another mysterious entity. He may be willing to protect you without charge and free you from the full moon whispers for good."
That was objectively good news.
But Fors felt zero happiness about it — only fresh despair: Oh god, not another one.
"His name is the Fool. His Honorific Name is: the Fool who does not belong to this era; the mystical ruler above the grey fog; the Yellow-and-Black King who commands good fortune."
"???"
Fors's brain short-circuited for a solid few seconds before she put it together: Wait — isn't that exactly the Honorific Name I accidentally read out loud earlier?
The whole reason she'd gone to the Lord of Chaos was to use His protection as a counterweight against this potential "Fool" entity she might have just summoned. And now the Lord of Chaos was introducing the Fool to her?
She looked up at the floating figure, utterly lost. "You don't seem happy," Vincent observed. "Shouldn't you be?"
"Happy!" Fors nodded so fast her head was practically a blur. "I'm — I'm practically crying from happiness!"
You don't look it.
Vincent kept a straight face. "As the price for telling you the Fool's Honorific Name, I need you to do one thing for Me."
"..."
I already knew it — You didn't need to tell me.
"In the future, when you encounter others afflicted by the full moon whispers, feel free to pass on either My or the Fool's Honorific Name, and tell them that either of us can resolve their curse."
Fors blinked in surprise. "There are other people out there with the same full moon whispers as me?"
"Hah. The truth is, this is a curse that's been carried by a bloodline for a thousand years. You were only caught up in it through the bracelet."
"..."
My god, I really am just unlucky.
"I understand."
Vincent offhandedly produced a contract. "Sign your name."
...
When the golden mist and that imposing, mysterious figure faded, Fors returned to reality and found Xio pressed close to her face, wide-eyed with concern.
"Well? Did the Lord of Chaos agree to protect you?"
Fors pursed her lips. "I… didn't even get to mention that."
"Huh?"
"I barely looked at Him before He already knew about the full moon whispers…"
As Fors recounted what had happened, Xio kept rubbing at her head. Then, all of a sudden, her expression went serious: "FORS! About the full moon whispers — have you been lying to me this whole time?"
"Lying to you about what?" Fors averted her eyes, a bit guilty.
"You told me the whispers were just some annoying noise that kept you from sleeping — nothing dangerous. If that were true, why would you be this worked up about it?" Xio grabbed her best friend by the shoulders, got up on her tiptoes, and shook her. "FORS! Tell me the truth!"
"I..."
"FORS!"
"Okay okay, stop shaking me, I'll come clean!"
...
After using the last Shadow Merchant slot to grant a blessing to Fors, the grey crystal on the Scale grew just a little larger. Vincent wandered around the restored palace, then walked out onto the stone platform's edge.
He gazed at the towering structures of the Thirty-Three Heavens in the distance and idly wondered what this isolated, floating platform would eventually become as his Sequence kept rising. Why was this palace set apart from the rest of the structures — was it moved there by someone, or had it always stood alone? What was the deal with the ancient Scale that seemed to be the Nation of Disorder's very core…?
Would all these puzzles eventually sort themselves out the higher I climbed?
"Hm."
A question suddenly flashed through Vincent's mind — something he'd never paid attention to before, or rather had just assumed was a given but now, thinking carefully, seemed slightly off:
Why did the Nation of Disorder's stone platform keep changing and evolving in sync with his Sequence?
That kind of change couldn't be fully explained just by the Sefirah being bound to him. A Sefirah was a source of divine power — not a part of his body or his soul.
Take Klein's Grey Fog as a comparison: it had never actually changed with Klein's Sequence at all. The only "limitation" it imposed was that Klein couldn't ascend the staircase into its depths until he reached demigod level, when he'd finally be allowed to climb those light-bathed steps, enter the innermost sanctum, see the "cocoons" hanging behind that door, and learn the truth about the transmigration.
Different Sefirah expressing themselves differently made sense — but could they really diverge so dramatically that the Nation of Disorder could grow alongside him?
Vincent returned to reality with that question, and asked: "What do you think is going on with this?"
Bernadette shook her head. "I know even less about Sefirah than you do. Before I met you, I'd only ever heard the concept mentioned in passing. So I genuinely can't give you anything useful."
She thought for a moment and added: "Maybe… you could try asking the True Creator?"
"That's..."
If it were a normal True Creator, maybe that would work. But in His current state, even a basic conversation was a struggle.
And come to think of it, since that last time He'd brushed up against what seemed to be the Primordial Demoness's consciousness, He'd been completely quiet.
Anyway — today's the afternoon of Klein's first Tarot Club meeting after the Tingen incident.
He hadn't died like in the original. He wasn't a rogue Beyonder, wasn't a detective, but was continuing as an official Beyonder for the Church of Evernight, transferred to Backlund as a Nighthawk. He'd taken a completely different road from canon.
Which meant the story as written in the original… didn't have much reference value anymore.
......
North District, Backlund. A hotel near Saint Samuel Cathedral.
Klein and Leonard had been in this city of hope for several days now. Aside from reporting to Sword of the Goddess Cressida Cesima on day one, they'd been billeted in a nearby hotel ever since.
To lift Klein's spirits, Leonard took him out wandering every day — bars, card rooms. Klein's mood had gradually improved, and some light had returned to his eyes.
"Not coming with me today."
Over breakfast, Klein told Leonard: he had the Tarot Club to run this afternoon.
"Aw, what a shame."
Leonard shook his head in exaggerated disappointment. "I heard about a new bar that just opened — style sounds totally different from the usual."
"Go check it out first then. If it's good, maybe we can head over tonight."
"Deal."
After Leonard left, Klein picked up a newspaper and started leafing through it. Then, layered and phantom-like, prayers began echoing in his ears.
Who was it? Miss "Justice"? Mr. "Hanged Man"? "Sun"? Or one of the two "Lovers"?
Something clicked. Klein put down the paper, went back to his room, locked the door, and walked the four steps backwards to enter the Grey Fog.
He looked at the ancient, weathered bronze table. Over by the "Fool's" chair, on its side, there was a circle of gentle, luminous ripples expanding outward.
He raised a hand slightly, extending his spirituality, reaching toward those ripples as if answering a prayer.
In an instant, the scene before him shifted entirely.
On a stretch of lush green lawn, a girl in a maid's dress was staring at a note in her hands in sheer terror. Beside her was another girl — petite, also in a maid's uniform.
...Two maids.
To be continued…
Guys, do check out my friend's new fic titled as I, A Vitrumite, Have The World's Strongest Chatgroup...? It is really enjoyable!
Advance 100 Chapters are up on my Patreon!
pat reon.com/AlphaSenatus