Just like that, Monday rolled again.
Amanises almost lost track of time ever since waking up from her coma, nearly forgetting about the Tarot Club meeting today.
I didn't attend it last week...Huff, I hope they don't think I slacked off—
She was incredibly curious about what was discussed during the last gathering as Amanises didn't want to omit a single week due to the 'fear of missing out'.
Casual chats there could uncover secrets beyond understanding, especially if Mr Fool is involved!
She noticed how convenient gathering information and asking for advice was during the free exchange segments.
And, since her contribution has run dry—perhaps she could finally make use of the transaction segment.
I could ask Captain if I could gather enough contribution for the Nightmare formula and gather the ingredients myself while still digesting Midnight Poet.
I'm not sure how hard actually getting them would be, but the faster I advance the closer I can be to Mr Fool.
That way, He would give me tasks and in exchange I can ask about my homeland...
Amanises was hit by a wave of sorrow.
Owh, just how much time must I spend in this world?
Surely, there must be a reason why I have been sent. Could it be that Mr Fool Himself sent me here?
She started slowly speculating about the reason for her transmigration, as well as why had Mr Fool helped her in the first place.
We share a connection due to that incantation. Speaking of which, I hadn't tried it again after that...
She felt that the incantation wouldn't do anything anymore. Perhaps her destiny had deviated from the path where it would be useful.
Could I ask Him about the incantation?
At first, she believed that it was some sort of code to enter that castle, but after spending more time into this world, it sounded much closer to an honorific name.
Could it be His? Is that why He doesn't want to share it with us?
She clutched the Miracle Charm to her chest.
Thinking so much about a deity makes me uneasy, maybe I should instead think about what to speak during the meeting.
Amanises shifted into a more comfortable sitting position on her bed, still surrounded by covers and pillows, as if forming a nest.
I already know about how Qilangos ended up, but I don't know the details. I can start with that!
She was reminded about her final ordeal in Tingen—as well as her mission.
Can I share details about the True Creator's descent and the Aurora Order?
It wouldn't do much but bring some awareness of the entire case. The entirety of Tingen was about to be wiped out!
She suddenly struck her fist.
I can ask about the Misfortune!
It was unlikely that The Hanged Man, Little Sun and Miss Justice knew about Her—but the observant Mr World and Mr Fool would surely know!
I hope this isn't some top secret information. I'm currently unable to exchange for anything...
Her own funds weren't so bad yet—but Amanises' hoarder instincts screamed at her loudly.
Without a stable income, spending seemed guilty. It was like she was wasting space in this world—only here to spoil herself.
I better find some sort of job soon, otherwise the guilt will eat me from inside out.
She glanced at the wall clock ticking nearby, then drew a heavy breath and leaned back on the pillow.
Soon enough, her vision was completely engulfed by a red light and harrowing whispers clawed at the back of her head.
Being used to this, Amanises ignored them, letting them retreat on their own.
***
In the opulent palace, that may have once housed gods.
The Fool scanned each member one by one, doing his internal check.
In His ears, a sing-song voice greeted from His right side:
"Good afternoon, Mr Fool!~" Miss Justice curtsied in usual way, beaming with happiness.
The Fool smiled, and silently signaled for the gathering to start.
Without waiting, The Hanged Man, Alger straightened his back and announced.
"Mr Fool, I have gathered nineteen of Roselle's diary pages. I can only memorize a few at one time, so please allow me to hand them to you on separate occasions."
Before The Fool could reply, he added:
"These are also compensation for helping me find and get rid of Qilangos, even if Lady Death also helped a lot in this."
H-huh? Me? Amanises was surprised at the mention of her name.
But I barely did anything... No, I asked Azik for help!
Is he going to pay me for nudging Mr Azik to kill that guy?
The Fool nodded His head, finally being able to respond, "You can hand me the diary pages, while I compensate Lady Death in return."
What?! I didn't do anything yet I'm being given free stuff???!
Amanises was elated.
She looked at The Fool and then glanced at Mr Hanged Man with a nod of her head.
There's no way I would be against that!
Alger Wilson also bobbed his head, "Then with your help, I shall project the contents."
Following that, the goatskin parchment that stood before The Hanged Man was filled with symbols, which flew towards Mr Fool's hand.
He adopted a comfortable reading position, and proceeded to indulge in the contents of the diary.
While that was happening, Amanises took her chance to scan the palace and each Tarot Club member.
None of them look any different than before. That's right—why should anything change just because I almost died?
She had the sudden urge to tell everyone about her adventure, struggles and fears, to get the smallest bit of validation they could give.
She felt that stopping the True Creator's divine descent was a way for her to leave a mark in this world, but then again—
Sigh. Most of this is thanks to Mr Fool anyway. I should thank Him for his help and use some of my 'contribution' to the Qilangos case.
She felt like shrinking down in her seat.
I'm useless here.
...
Meanwhile, Miss Justice used her enhanced Spectator abilities to read the room.
With her digestion of the potion, she felt that her reading on people has increased tremendously.
I wonder how much better it will be once I become a Telepathist...
As she gazed around the table, her eyes landed on the woman next to her own seat.
Miss Death is finally back again. I was getting worried that she would miss this one too—h-huh she seems...sad?
Audrey's Spectator state crumbled, and her face scrunched up in concern.
D-did something happen? Is she feeling the aftereffects of what happened during her supposed mission?
Audrey Hall's mind was doing gymnastics over the case. It felt rare to see Lady Death so—emotional.
She was the quiet and reserved person of the club—often mirroring the uncanny Mr World, but a little more—human. She felt like an actual person next to her, an introverted one, that had her own struggles and reasons to keep quiet.
Not only that, but she rarely spoke or asked for anything.
So it was all the more rare seeing the woman in such a bad mood, making Audrey wish to ask about everything that happened.
Just as her hand almost reached out—Miss Death suddenly straightened her back and looked ahead—whatever sad emotions she had scattered like dust.
She switches between moods constantly it seems. One wouldn't be able to make such a fast shift if they weren't already used to it. Audrey, the senior Spectator, analyzed thoroughly.
When I advance to Telepathist and maybe after, Psychiatrist, I'll check on her condition better.
Just as she finished her thought, the pages in Mr Fool's hand crumbled and dissapeared—as if the concept of their existence was erased.
He placed His hand on the armrest while keeping the other under His chin.
"Roselle tends to mention general knowledge in his entries. That reminds me—have I ever informed you about the Law of Beyonder Characteristics Indestructibility? Which states that—no characteristic can be destroyed or reduced—as it will always be passed down from one carrier to the next."
Audrey ruminated over The Fool's words, taking in the general knowledge that Roselle talks about in his diary.
She shook her head. "I've never heard of it."
Her gaze switched to Mr Hanged Man and then to Little Sun—who neither showed any surprise regarding the new knowledge.
It seems like they knew.
She instinctively threw a look at Lady Death and The World, both stiff as statues.
With that, she sighed and switched her gaze back to the seat of honor.
Suddenly—information started being forcibly snuck into her head.
"A Beyonder Characteristic..." Although she heard the rule first, now it made even more sense.
So that's the way it actually manifests!
She wasn't that annoyed or mad about the knowledge infusion—perhaps this was what Mr Fool chose instead of saying out loud. As it was obvious that the rest knew of this.
The Fool continued in a calm tone, "The Second Law—The Law of Similar Sequence Beyonder Characteristics Convergence."
The Hanged Man suddenly changed his sitting position.
"Why similar Sequence?" He instinctively asked.
The Fool smirked. "What kind of payment do you wish to make?"
You trickster! You're sharing 'general knowledge' yet you're asking for stuff in return? Amanises suddenly felt better about her own ordeal.
"What is it you request?" Asked The Hanged Man carefully, clearly interested in the exchange.
The Fool didn't even need to think of a price, as he long established one. "Information about the Secret Order."
"The Secret Order?" Alger suddenly frowned, but then nodded, signaling his acceptance of the deal.
Although Zaratul is dead, He isn't completely gone. That guy must've set up some resurrection plan—there's no way a true Seer would sneak his hand into the lion's den without a way to remove it!
Even if Zaratul had been Fooled and Grafted, He was still a former Attendant of Mysteries.
The Fool had regained His lost Characteristic, regaining some of His power and connection with the material world—but He still felt weakened and constrained.
If I do things recklessly—They will cast their gaze onto me. That's the last thing I need right now.
And besides, she will also make good use of the knowledge.
The Fool secretly cast His gaze onto the occupied seat on the right side of the table.
With her ears pricked—Amanises listened attentively to the discussion.The notebook first belonged to the Secret Order, and it's clear that they have some ties to Misfortune and perhaps the Aurora Order.
She felt that she could benefit a lot from this loose exchange.
"The Secret Order has ties with the Intis Government from what I'm aware, possibly working from its shadow."
The Fool nodded. "As a government official—Roselle did mention meeting the Secret Order's Leader."
"It's the leader? He met Roselle?" Alger was appalled. "Did he mention His name?"
The Fool smiled. "Would you like to exchange?"
Another one? The Hanged Man's eye twitched slightly, as he resisted the urge to respond with sarcasm.
Then The Fool laughed, clearly entertained. "It doesn't matter, the leader is Zaratul."
Zaratul... Where have I heard of this name? Amanises was jogging her poor memory.
"Zaratul? The Fourth Epoch family?"
"Perhaps." The Fool didn't agree, nor deny, but it was more clear that this was confirmation.
So the Zaratul family is still active. Could the other ancient families also be like that? He had the urge to ask Mr Fool, but suddenly became fearful of another transaction.
"That's all I know for now. Mr Fool, I shall seek more knowledge regarding them and then report to you." He didn't feel like dragging this out, as there was still the end of Mr Fool's deal that he had to fulfill.
Mr Fool replied with a nod of His head and then Justice spoke up.
"I also want to partake in this deal."
The Sun Derrick listened quietly and after some thought, said, "I'm willing to use the payment I reserved and exchange it for the answer."
From the other end of the table, Mr World also spoke up, "I too, shall take part."
Now all that remained was Lady Death.
Fuck, their eyes are on me again? Of course I want to take part, what am I? An animal?
She spoke up. "I'm willing to use my reserved payment to partake in the deal."
She somehow managed to keep a serious expression.
The Fool laughed gently. "Very well then. The so-called Similar Sequence refers to how High-Sequence Beyonders are exchangeable with other pathways.
"Let me give an example. The Death pathway's Sequence 5, Gatekeeper, can not only be advanced normally, but one can also choose the Giant pathway, which is the Guardian pathway's Sequence 4, Demon Hunter.
"This won't lead to the danger of losing control, nor will it accumulate madness. It's different from taking the wrong potion.
"Of course, if it's not a similar Sequence, a semi-deranged state is the best result."
"Exchangeable?" Audrey blurted out, surprised and delighted.
She wasn't that surprised. With the numerous 22 pathways some exceptions were bound to be made!
"To not go mad, one shall only choose adjacent pathways to their own."
Amanises couldn't help but ask this time. "Mr Fool, which pathways are interchangeable?"
She asked for all of them, but in reality—she was only asking about her own.
"Hehe, why don't you use the rest of your contribution to ask?"
Another transaction!
You're on a streak today, Mr Fool!
"Alright. I'm not against it."
"Do you wish to make the deal private or in front of the others?"
"Huh?" Little Sun asked instinctively.
"Hehe, you can make private deals. I can arrange so that the participants can be isolated by the rest."
We were able to do that the entire time?
She was surprised, but quickly calmed down.
"I don't see why this should be hidden. I'm alright with it being public."
Looks like Lady Death is considerate of us. How nice! Audrey internally exclaimed.
"Very well then, which pathway are you curious about?"
So you won't do all of them...
"Sleepless, please."
"Sleepless is interchangeable with Corpse Collector and Warrior, but there are cases where Hunter and Assassin could also work—albeit bringing a little more madness."
So the main three are Sleepless, Corpse Collector and Warrior, while the other two are just some exceptions? That's quite a lot...
"You will be attracted by those pathways and vice versa, but the pull will manifest more with Sleepless."
The old keeper mentioned that Misfortune controls the Sleepless pathway to some degree. Could this be a sign of the Convergence effect?
Amanises finally started putting two and two together.
"By being a Sleepless, you can make better use of Sealed Artifacts that belong to the pathways I mentioned. But don't be too focused on that, as the side effects can still catch you off-guard."
"Thank you, Mr Fool." Amanises felt like she was making the most out of her contribution.
Hearing all that was said, The Hanged Man, Little Sun and Miss Justice suddenly became increasingly curious about their own interchangeable pathways and their characteristics.
"For the rest of you, the deal can be made at a later time." He quickly shut them down.
Dejected, the three shrunk in their own seats, eagerly awaiting the future gatherings.