13)Mr.Emperor

28th June 1349

A blonde man with pure and innocent eyes sat on a church bench staring into nothingness. "He" wore a simple white cloak and silver cross on his neck just like an ordinary priest. As his eyes twinkled, an ethereal quill appeared in his right hand, and he wrote into reality..."The Curtain, the Sequence 1 characteristic of the Fool Pathway, was spat out of the  Sefirah Castle to the Forsaken Land of the Gods. Kotar  obtained the Curtain."

***

Zaubereni who was a Sequence 7 Witch now, made her way through the corridors filled with Balancer agents and reached the Team Leader's Cabin, and knocked. As she heard a 'Enter', she entered the room with an alluring smile and spoke "Sir, this the new report from headquarters, and sadly Madam Lily has yet to find traces of the Queen Mystic"

"Well that's good enough for now, what about those lunatics from Aurora Order. Are they still making trouble?" Edessak inquired while reading the report. "Sir, their higher-ups have already restricted themselves, I think it would be for the best if we leave this to the Orthodox Churches. And Sir, more importantly, the William Sikes that we were observing, has become your cousin the 2nd Prince's land steward. Do we need to move in?" Zaubereni asked.

"Oh no dear, you can leave that guy alone for now, and kindly inform everyone to not bother me while I get ready for the inauguration.Can do that for me, dear?" Edessak requested endearingly. "Of course, I can sir." Zauberini answered with a straight face, she was used to the Prince's mannerisms by now.

After the witch excused herself, Edessak sealed his room with his spirituality. He dressed himself with a golden and black princely attire and sat down while taking out a gorgeous handheld mirror. As he held it, he waited for the crimson light to arrive, which it did and shrouded him completely.

***

In the fog of gray mist, Prince Edessak regained his sight. As he calmly studied his surroundings, he noticed the future Miss Justice and Mr.Hanged Man examining their situation in a state of horror and confusion. They also looked at him with suspicion as he was the sole person who was calm and collected here. Almost immediately the trio noticed the presence of another mysterious man who seemed featureless. Both Audrey and Alger then spoke in unison,

"Sir, where is this?"

"What are you planning on doing?"

"Where am I? What do I plan to do here? I would like to know too…" Zhou repeated the couple's question inwardly.

After thinking for a while, he chuckled and calmly spoke as though he was replying to the polite greetings from the visitors, "An attempt"

Audrey then asked in a somewhat perturbed way, "Sir, is the attempt over? Might you permit our return?"

After realising his powers in this mysterious gray fog and it's connection to crimson stars,

Zhou Mingrui nodded mildly and looked at the blond, chuckling. "Of course, if you make a formal request, you can return this very moment."

After realising that she did not identify any ill intention from his tone, Audrey heaved a sigh of relief. And she said in an eager, anticipative and tempted manner, "This is such a wonderful experience… Yes, I have always been hoping that something like this would happen. I mean—I like mysteries and supernatural miracles. No, my point is—what I mean is that, Sir, what can I do to become a Beyonder?"

"Good question! I would also like to know the answer…" Zhou complained inwardly as he looked at the man with seaweed hair and the gentleman in elaborate aristocratic clothing. Later of whom had yet to mutter a single syllable and was not as scared of him as the noble girl and the pirate-looking fellow. As he thought about an explanation befitting his unfathomable image,he felt that it was quite unbecoming of him to talk while standing.

As he thought that,the gray fog started to churn, giving both Audrey and Alger a shock.

In an instant, they saw a number of towering stone pillars around them. Above them was a vast dome that encapsulated them.This entire edifice looked magnificent, grand and lofty, just like a legendary palace for giants.Directly under the dome where the gray fog gathered, a long, bronze table appeared with ten high-back chairs on either side in a symmetrical arrangement. The back of each chair dazzled and shone faintly with crimson red, drawing the outlines of weird constellations that differed from reality.

Audrey, Alger and Edessak sat side by side near the seat of honor.

Audrey muttered "How fascinating"

After inspecting his surroundings for while, Alger spoke, "Are you a Loen?' while looking at Audrey, "If you want to become a Beyonder, join the Churches of either the Evernight Goddess, the Lord of Storms, or the God of Steam and Machinery.The majority of us will not meet a Beyonder our entire lives. This is caused by the churches, and even some clergies within some of the biggest churches, to suspect the same. While this is the case, I am certain to tell you that Beyonders still exist in courts, tribunals, and execution agencies. They are still fighting against the dangers that grow in the dark, only that their numbers are much fewer as compared to before and during the early days of the Iron Age."

Audrey retorted "Mister, I know all about what you just said; I even know more than that, including the Nighthawks, the Mandated Punisher, and the Machinery Hivemind, but I don't want to lose my freedom."

Alger gave a low chuckle and said vaguely, "You can't become a Beyonder without sacrifices. If you don't consider joining churches and accepting their given challenges, you can only seek the royal families and the few nobles with family histories of more than a thousand years. If not, you can rely on your luck to search for clandestine evil organizations." After saying so Alger fell silent, half a minute later he spoke again after realising neither of the two mysterious were going to speak, "I have two sets of Sequence 9 Potion formulas."

At this very moment, Edessak spoke too, " I'm also in possession of three sequence 9 potions"

"Really so many? Can you guys tell me a brief bit about them?" Audrey clearly knew what Sequence 9 potion were.

Alger began speaking, "The first potion I have is the 'Sailor' also called 'Keeper of Seas' it gives you great strength and illusory scales under your skin. They will enable you to swim like a fish and be difficult to catch. You will move agilely underwater just like marine animals. Even without any equipment, you will be able to easily submerge underwater for at least ten minutes. And the second potion I have is 'Spectator'. This set of potions enables you to have an exceptionally sharp mind with acute observational abilities. I believe you can understand by what 'spectator' means from watching operas and plays. Just like an audience, spectators judge the 'actors' in the secular world, catching a glimpse of their real thoughts of them through their emotions, conduct, and mantras.".Alger looked towards Edessak after he completed his explanation, the prince then started speaking "The first potion I have is the 'arbiter' potion it gives on enhanced physical and charisma and great adaptability. The second potion is 'Lawyer', after consuming this one would slight physical improvement and make you cunning and convincing and allow you to exploit loopholes in the law. The last one is called the 'Assassin' potion it gives you great physical prowess and superhuman agility."

As bother Alger and Edessak looked at Audrey, she thought for while and then said,"I'm sorry Sir" to Edessak and looked at Alger and said"I'm gonna choose the 'Spectator' potion.How can I get this potion's formula? What can I use to trade with you for it?".Alger looked like he was already prepared as he said in a deep voice, "The blood of Ghost Sharks, at least 100 milliliters of it". Audrey bobbed her head excitedly, but subsequently inquired worriedly, "If I can get it—and I'm saying if—how do I hand it to you? How can you promise me that you can give the potion's formula to me in return for the Ghost Shark's blood, as well as the authenticity of the formula?".Alger explained calmly, "I'll give you an address. I'll mail the formula to you, or tell you directly here, once I receive the blood of the Ghost Shark.As for promises, I think that both you and I can feel rest assured under the witness of the mysterious sir." as he swept his towards Zhou Mingrui in the seat of honor.

"Sir, please be the witness of our trade.", Audrey requested. The trio then echoed the a question respectfully, "Sir, how should we address you?"

Zhou then rapped his fingers on the bronze table and leaned back and answered in an amicable tone,"You can address me as The Fool."

After a few seconds of silence, Audrey stood up, held up her skirt slightly and bent her knees, curtseying to Zhou Mingrui.

"Honorable Mr. Fool, would you please permit me to take the liberty of requesting you to be the witness of our trade?"

With Zhou's agreement, Audrey and Alger completed their trade , Alger convinced Zhou that gatherings like this were beneficial to all.

Zhou had no issue with the gatherings as such as all four of them had different backgrounds and connections.The pros clearly exceeded the cons, so Zhou Mingrui rapidly made a decision and said,"I'm a person who likes a fair and equal exchange.Your help will not go unrewarded.Every Monday at three in the afternoon, try your best to be alone. After I make a few more attempts and figure out certain things, perhaps you can apply for a leave of absence ahead of time. You will no longer need to worry about being in inappropriate situations."

Without waiting for Alger and Edessak to say a word, Audrey said in excitement, her eyes glowing, "Then, shall we give ourselves call signs? After all, we can't use our real names for conversation." "Good Idea" Zhou answered in a relaxed tone.

Audrey declared in a joyous tone,"I've decided. My designation shall be 'Justice!'" Her eyes then swept at Edessak and Alger, "What about you guys?"

Alger frowned slightly before relaxing it immediately, and said.

"The Hanged Man."

Edessak thought for a while, and then confessed calmly in his natural baritone.

"The Emperor"