Fool's gathering

Klein tapped his glabella and said with a smile, "Lady, Sirs, have either of you found Roselle's diary?"

Upon hearing The Fool's question, Justice did not immediately answer like in the past. Instead, she widened her crystalline eyes and glanced at The Hanged Man and The Devil with a scrutinous attitude.

Hanged Man subconsciously subdued his body motions. After a few seconds of silence, he said, "I found two pages of the Emperor Roselle's diary and have memorized their contents."

Hector tried to ignore Justice stare and said, "I have found one page."

"I have one page," Audrey, whose vision was obscured by the fog, said as though she was removed from the conversation.

"Pretty good," Fool said

"Should we 'express' them now?" Audrey inquired with a calm tone.

"Yes." Klein simply nodded.

When Fool held goat skins with Chinese symbols on them Hector waited for him to finish his reading time.

When he put the pages down he looked at the members present and said, "My apologies, I was too absorbed in reading them."

Audrey calmed the envy in her heart and smiled faintly. "I can understand. I hope to one day be able to exchange information about the diary's contents."

"That will require a price." Klein smiled and glanced at Justice.

Audrey put her palms together and placed them in front of her. "Mr. Fool, Mr. Hanged Man, Mr. Devil I have three questions to ask. If you think that the answers warrant a high price, tell me what you want, I will try my best to seek it."

Fool and rest gave their individual confirmation signs after which Justice thought for a few seconds and said, "The first question is, what does 'acting' really mean? I realize that the remnant psyche in the potion has minute effects on me; is that because I've been acting as a Spectator all this while?"

Alger did not speak; instead, he looked at The Fool, as though waiting for him to give an answer. But Hector cut before he could say anything, "Think of your core powers of potion as a castle or fortress, and remnants of the psyche reside within said structure.

"Your goal is to get rid of the master and replace him. You could just use brute force but that is not guaranteed to work for a multitude of reasons be it defensive which may bring you to harm unless you are strong enough to obliterate them.

"In my opinion, the better and safer option is to get an invitation into the castle, with it you could pass through the enemies without fighting, and then it is good old assassination. But problem is that invitation specifies the features and characteristics of the guest. And so you need to disguise yourself as the guest which is in the name of the sequence."

Audrey froze for a moment, having the sudden feeling that she completely understood what 'acting' meant.

She immediately exited her Spectator state due to her excitement. "Thank you, Mr. Devil. Luckily, I have been acting as a Spectator the past few days."

She paused for a moment before saying, "I think that this is a very valuable answer, what do you need in exchange?"

"What about the information on Backlund merchants and traders who make their business at the sea."

Justice was surprised at Devil's request and hurriedly entered her spectator state and observed him.

"I will look into it and I will bring what I have found next time." When he got a positive response Hector smiled and nodded.

Hector thought about how he threw a slight stick before Klein's legs as he would use this information to get to know about the Antigonus family from Hanged man, but Hector believed that Klein would be able to manage. To somehow meditate he thought of how he could bring it up at the end of the gathering.

"Then, I shall ask the second question: what is the name of the subsequent potion for Spectator? Where can I find the clues?" Justice said after a few moments of silence.

This time Hector decided to remain silent and let the Hanged man to answer.

Alger remained silent for a few seconds before saying, "I'll answer the question for free because I led you on this pathway.

"The subsequent Sequence for Spectator is Sequence 8 Telepathic. The ancient name of Sequence 7 is Psyche Analyst but is called Psychiatrist now..." Hector stopped listening after that.

But he started to pay attention when she mentioned beyonder animal.

"The third question. If—and I'm saying if—a normal animal were to drink a Sequence 9 potion, what would happen?"

'What kind of a question is that?' Klein tapped his glabella unnoticeably with his finger that was supporting his forehead.

Very quickly, he saw the changes in color and noticed that Audrey's emotions had turned frantic, nervous, and a little ashamed.

The Hanged Man, Alger, was obviously dumbfounded as well. He took a while to reply.

"Normal animals do not have the brains of humans. They wouldn't be able to learn Cogitation in a timely manner. Therefore, it would most likely lead to immediate death or a breakdown into a monster. However, if they survived the initial ingestion of the potion, they should become extraordinary creatures. If the potion has the ability to enhance their intelligence, they can even become smarter."

"It is not so bad." Hector spoke at last, "you see, depending on animal and potion pathway you get a higher and lower probability of success. Those that enhance the intelligence of the animal are ideal in my opinion as they will be able to order much better and they will be better prepared for understanding mystical knowledge.

"And as many people will mistake them for ordinary animals they will be very useful in surprise attacks or defense.

"If you would... let's just say use spectator potion then they could be sent to spy on others."

"Alright." Audrey breathed out a silent sigh and nodded while saying with a relaxed tone. "I have no other questions."

"Nor do I." The hanged man also said.

Hector simply shook his head.

He had yet to turn off his Spirit Vision, and he immediately saw that The Hanged Man was showing signs of nervousness, while Miss Justice was too simple-minded to show fear or carefulness. And strangely Devil showed no emotion.

Before they could reply, Fool comforted them, "Don't worry. It's trivial. If it succeeds, it will be beneficial to you, so I wouldn't be paying extra remuneration."

"Go ahead." Audrey instinctively entered the Spectator state, but she couldn't see through the thick gray fog engulfing The Fool.

"As you will," Hanged man replied, steadying himself.

Fool moved his fingers and smiled when he said, "Previously, I said that we would do some experiments to enable you to ask for a leave of absence. That way, you do not have to worry if you have to be somewhere inappropriate on a Monday afternoon."

"That's our wish." Justice loosened her tightly knitted eyebrows.

The hanged man thought and said, "What do you need us to do?"

The fool then explained his modified version of the luck enhancement ritual

"What about the incantation? Mr. Fool, what's the corresponding incantation?" Justice asked

"The Fool that doesn't belong to this era, you are the mysterious ruler above the gray fog; you are the King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck…"

Audrey Hall recited the three descriptions to herself silently. She suddenly felt a tumultuous wave of emotion go through her, preventing her from maintaining her Spectator state.

Alger Wilson, who knew and understood much more than Audrey, shivered from the bottom of his heart.

'If the ritualistic magic which Mr. Fool designed truly points to him to allow him to accept our requests, w-we would have to be addressing him with Him. He is to be addressed in the third person, which is reserved for gods…'

Hector also showed his surprise but on inside he thought that he too should make his own incantation.

"I pray for your help.

"I pray for your loving grace.

"I pray for you to give me a good dream.

"Moon flower, an herb that belongs to the red moon, please bestow your powers to my incantation!

"Fingered citron, an herb that belongs to the sun, please bestow your powers to my incantation."

"If this test is successful, then we shall modify the ritual next time to achieve what we want to do.

"I hope that you will have the time to complete the ritual no later than Wednesday. " Fool said.

"By your will." Hanged man, Justice, and Devil replied respectfully, collecting themselves.

"According to The Hanged Man's suggestion last week, we shall have a time for casual conversation after all official issues have been discussed. Who shall begin?" Klein gave a hand gesture signaling for someone to start.

In a casual conversation, Hector waited for Justice to finish her story about the suggestion from Fool, and then he talked about an interesting rumor about Antigonus.

When he finished he heard Fool speak about An ancient power waking when at last they finished and Justice and Hanged man disappeared.

"I do have a question for you, Mr. Devil. Why did you choose the path of the Devil."

"Well if we would believe if fate then it was not much of a choice. But there was also my overwhelming desire to punish the guilty and who better than one who can see into the hearts of others and be able to know who is truly deprived?

"And who better to hunt damned than damned themselves."

Hector was looking at the Fool as he knew that this moment is extremely important for his future plans.

After a few moments he heard Klein as Fool answer, "Wery well then, I will see you next week."

Hector felt as his surroundings got blurry and he could feel his chair from his study. And the light from his desk lamp.