Chapter 77: Another Attempt

August 27th, another Monday.

Crawling out of the grave, Klein had just arrived in Backlund and rented a house. After barely settling down, he was already facing Monday. He had no choice but to temporarily set aside his thoughts and head directly to the place above the gray fog.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Fool. Good afternoon, Mr. Lover. Good afternoon, Mr. Hanged Man. Good afternoon, Mr. Sun."

With the sweet voice of the girl greeting them, this week's Tarot Club commenced as usual.

As always, Audrey and Alger provided the Fool with the Roselle's diary he needed. Then, everyone quietly waited for the Fool to finish reading.

"You may converse freely now."

After a moment, Klein made the diary disappear from his hand and looked at the others as he spoke.

"Miss Justice."

The Hanged Man, Alger, was the first to speak. "I have obtained the Beyonder materials you requested, but how should I deliver them to you?"

"The pituitary gland of the seven-colored dragon lizard?" (TL/N it's the rainbow salamander idk why the Original Author said lizard🧐)

Hearing the first half of the sentence, Audrey was delighted, but the following question quickly doused her enthusiasm.

Indeed, how was he supposed to give it to her?

And even if Alger managed to give it to her, she would still need to find a way to send him the payment in return.

Klein tapped his fingers on the edge of the bronze table, attracting everyone's attention. Smiling, he said, "Would you be willing to cooperate with me in conducting an experiment regarding this matter?"

"I'd be happy to help," Audrey replied, somewhat excited, nodding gracefully.

The Hanged Man tensed up, hesitated, and eventually bowed his head respectfully. "Your will is my desire."

Klein's lips curled slightly.

The experiment he wanted to conduct was simple and could be summed up in two words: sacrifice and bestowal.

The inspiration for this came partly from reality and partly from Ashes and the Sun.

In the City of Silver where the Sun resided, they regularly performed sacrifice rituals to the "All-Knowing and All-Powerful Lord" they worshiped. This was the act of sacrifice.

As for Ashes, his "items" were bound to his soul and could be directly brought above the gray fog, where they could be handed over to others to take back to reality. This was bestowal.

Combining the two ideas, Klein thought of an experiment: Could one of the Tarot Club members sacrifice an item to him, and then he could bestow that item to another member?

He had thought about this for some time but had never had a good opportunity to bring it up.

Perhaps life in Tingen had been too comfortable, making him almost forget that he was in a perilous world where one wrong step could cost him his life.

Moreover, he was now burdened with a huge debt to Ashes, which added to the immense pressure he was under.

This made Klein feel increasingly pressed for time, and he urgently wanted to turn the ideas in his mind into reality.

The current transaction between Miss Justice and Mr. Hanged Man provided just such an opportunity.

After receiving their willing consent, Klein instructed them on some sacrificial rituals and prayer words.

With that matter settled, it was time for other transactions.

"I have two questions."

Ashes raised two fingers and spoke slowly. "First, I want to know as much as possible about the Aurora Order and Elemental Dawn. Second, I want to know if any of you have any information related to the 'Painting Worlds,' whether accurate intelligence or mere hearsay."

After a pause, Ashes explained, "You can think of the Painting Worlds as peculiar mystical items. They appear as paintings, which can be of any type. On the surface, they may look like ordinary artworks, but they actually contain a world within them."

"A world inside?" Audrey's eyes sparkled with curiosity, at Ashes description instantly piqued her interest.

"Painting Worlds?"

Klein was startled.

He certainly knew about the Painting Worlds, but only from the game. Did they exist in this world too?

No! If Ashes brought it up, it meant he was sure they existed.

But Ashes had only recently learned about the Painting Worlds, or he wouldn't be asking now.

But who told him?

Klein had a vague answer in his mind.

Ashes had just arrived in this world, with very limited channels for obtaining information. And who could have told him such important and secretive information if not the Church of the Evernight Goddess?

But why did the Church of the Evernight Goddess know so much? What was their relationship with Ashes?

Moreover...

Klein suddenly felt a chill down his spine.

He and Ashes were both transmigrators.

Ashes was deeply tied to the Church of the Evernight goddess, so what about him?

Was he also being secretly monitored by someone from the Church of the Evernight goddess?

For some reason, Klein suddenly recalled the events that occurred shortly after he arrived in this world.

Back then, he had sought out a tamer pretending to be a Seer to perform a reading for him. The card drawn was the Fool!

Even his decision to impersonate the Fool might have been influenced by that card.

Could that "tamer" have been someone from the Church of the Evernight Goddess?

Klein suddenly had a feeling of dread creeping up on him.

"My apologies," Alger, unaware of what the Fool was thinking, spoke slowly. "I know nothing about the 'Painting Worlds' you mentioned. I've never even heard of them. As for the Aurora Order and Elemental Dawn, I have limited information."

He paused, noticing that Ashes hadn't shown any signs of impatience, then continued, "Regarding the Aurora Order, I've already shared some information in previous Tarot meetings. I assume you wouldn't want me to repeat it."

"However, I can add some information I haven't mentioned before, which you might find interesting."

"The Aurora Order has five Saints and twenty-two Envoys of God. These envoys use letters as their codenames, calling themselves Mr. A, Mr. X, and so on. They are at least Sequence 7 Beyonders, with the strongest being at Sequence 5, and are quite skilled at concealing themselves."

"Moreover, the Aurora Order seems to have a large number of reserve envoys. Whenever an envoy dies, a new one takes their place."

"Mr. A?"

Audrey was slightly surprised, but her "Spectator" roleplay allowed her to maintain her composure.

"As for Elemental Dawn," Alger paused again before continuing, "This is a mysterious organization that emerged in the Fifth Epoch, only one or two centuries old. Even among many secret organizations, it is considered relatively young. But because it is so young, there is very little information about it."

"All I know is that this organization seems to have some historical connection with the Hermit Order of Moses."

Alger stopped, noticing Ashes was still looking at him. He sighed slightly and said, "That's all I know."

He had thought he knew enough. But faced with Ashes barrage of questions, he found himself unable to answer any of them.

For instance, he had never even heard of "Painting Worlds."

Wait!

Alger's expression changed slightly, and he spoke again, "Mr. Lover, I've found some clues about the slave trade you asked me to investigate."

"I discovered that the most active figure in the maritime slave trade recently is the Mad Captain Connors Victor, who is rumored to be in contact with many human traffickers and slave traders."

"But, based on various indications, it seems that he hasn't personally handled the slave trade."

"Why do you say that?" Miss Justice asked curiously.

If he was involved in the slave trade, why say he hadn't handled it himself?

Alger patiently explained, "To engage in the slave trade, one needs a large fleet, but the Mad Captain has only one ship. This means that if he were to rely solely on this one ship for the slave trade, he might actually lose money. Even a fully loaded ship wouldn't be able to carry many slaves, and even if he sold them all, he might not make back the cost."

"But," Alger paused, his expression becoming serious, "There are also rumors that the Mad Captain can transport large numbers of slaves with just one ship because he possesses a Beyonder item capable of holding a significant number of people. Therefore, he doesn't need to maintain a large fleet; one ship is enough."

"However, since no one knows what this Beyonder item looks like or what it's called, most people dismissed it as an unreliable rumor."

After a moment, Alger added, "But given the current situation, I believe this Beyonder item might be related to the Painting Worlds you mentioned."

(End of Chapter)

60 PWS = Extra chapter