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Mysterious realm

In the surge of steam and machinery, who can grasp the extraordinary? Amidst the fog of history and darkness, who whispers in the ear? I awaken from the enigma, opening my eyes to behold this world: Firearms, cannons, colossal ships, airships, differential engines; alchemy, divination, curses, hanging men, sealed objects... Light still shines, mystery never far away, this is a tale of "The Fool."

jojokria · ファンタジー
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55 Chs

054 First seeker

Seeing Klein's surprised expression, Angelica hesitated:

"Isn't that so? Mr. Grassis said you diagnosed his lung condition just by observing..."

She spoke more quietly as she continued, eventually trailing off.

"Observation? Darkening forehead?" Klein suddenly realized, shaking his head with a wry smile:

"I think Mr. Grassis misunderstood."

He had intended to leave it at that, but then remembered the difficulties he faced yesterday afternoon when no one came for a reading, leading to a very awkward session pretending to be a 'Seer.' So he quickly improvised an explanation:

"This is actually a form of divination."

"Divination? But Mr. Grassis only mentioned you observing his face, is that also divination?" Angelica asked, surprised and puzzled.

Klein replied calmly:

"As a member of the Divination Club, you should be familiar with palmistry, right?"

Palmistry wasn't exclusive to the Great Eat Empire; even on Earth, India and old Europe had developed their own theories. Moreover, in this world of extraordinary powers, palmistry was quite popular.

"I am, but... you didn't seem to show him your palms? Were you observing secretly?" Angelica asked curiously.

"I was reading his facial features," Klein improvised, "which is essentially the same principle as palmistry."

"Really?" Angelica's eyes showed skepticism.

For the advancement of the 'Seer' profession, Klein lightly chuckled, pretending to ponder, and tapped his forehead twice.

Focused, he saw Angelica's aura in his mind's eye: purple around the head, red around the limbs, and blue around the throat... There were no health issues, just slightly dim colors, indicating normal fatigue.

Glancing at her emotions, he noticed a mix of orange with hints of red and blue, indicating warmth with a touch of excitement and thoughtfulness.

Thank goodness... Klein intended to close his clairvoyance, but at that moment, he suddenly saw a deep darkness hidden within Angelica's emotional colors.

"And she also lacks a bit of positive white..." Klein nodded thoughtfully.

"Mr. Moretti, are you reading my facial features?" Sensing the sudden silence and intense scrutiny from the young gentleman in black attire in front of her, Angelica, sensing something, asked with a mixture of curiosity and concern.

Klein didn't answer immediately. Instead, he tapped his forehead lightly again, looking as if he were examining her carefully.

When Angelica started to feel uneasy, he gently spoke:

"Ms. Angelica, some sadness, some pain, don't keep them sealed inside."

Angelica's eyes widened, her mouth opening in surprise, but she couldn't find the words.

She looked at Klein, with his half-high hat and scholarly demeanor, and listened to his deep, soothing, and warm voice:

"You need a mountain climb, a game of tennis, or perhaps a sad play. Let your body tire from the exertion, let the tears flow freely, then cry, scream, let those emotions burst out completely."

"It's also good for your physical health."

His words were soothing to the ears, and Angelica seemed to turn into a statue, standing there motionless.

She blinked hard, lowered her head in confusion, and muttered:

"Thank you for your advice..."

"Quite a few members today, it seems?" Klein didn't say much more, just like he hadn't done any divination, and glanced towards the meeting room at the end of the corridor.

"On Sunday afternoon... at least fifty members..." Angelica's voice was still hoarse, her description consisting of just a few keywords.

Pausing for a moment, she gradually regained her normal pace:

"Would you like some black tea or coffee?"

"Tyrian black tea," Klein nodded slightly, politely tipping his hat, then slowly made his way to the meeting room.

Only after he disappeared behind the door did Angelica let out a slow breath.

The meeting room of the Divination Club was quite large, almost twice the size of Klein's high school classroom. Normally, there were only five or six members, making it seem very empty. But now, dozens of "diviners" sat in groups of two or three in different places, filling most of the space. Sunlight streamed in through several bulging windows, with members either quietly discussing, gathering around Hanes Vincent for advice, practicing divination, or reading newspapers while sipping coffee.

This scene made Klein feel like he was back in his student days on Earth, although it was much more lively and noisy back then, without this peaceful atmosphere.

He looked around but didn't see familiar faces like Grassis or Edward Steve, so he casually picked up a public divination textbook, found a corner, and leisurely started flipping through it.

After a while, Angelica came in with a cup of tea, placing it on the table in front of Klein.

She was about to quietly leave when she noticed Mr. Moretti taking out a peculiarly shaped silver chain from his left sleeve, with a pure yellow crystal hanging from it.

What was he going to do? Unconsciously slowing her pace, Angelica gazed at Klein.

Klein held the silver chain in his left hand and let the yellow crystal hang directly above the cup of Tyrian black tea, just a little away from the surface.

He closed his eyes calmly, and the atmosphere around them instantly became tranquil.

The pure yellow crystal moved slightly, rotating clockwise along with the uniquely shaped silver chain.

Seeing this scene, Angelica felt Mr. Moretti was exceptionally mysterious.

"Your black tea is quite good," Klein opened his eyes, smiled softly, and whispered.

His actions just now were deliberately done, deliberately shown to Angelica!

If he wanted someone to come for a divination quickly, Angelica, who was in charge of reception and recommendations, was actually a crucial factor!

Since he was playing the role of a "Seer," Klein no longer had any reservations and fully embraced this identity.

"...Yes, Mr. Vincent is very picky about the quality of the black tea," Angelica said hesitantly.

At this point, Klein put away the pendulum, retracted it neatly, then picked up the white porcelain cup with patterns on it and nodded with a smile towards Angelica.

Back in the reception hall, Angelica, no longer in the mood to read magazines, sat there, lost in thought, unaware of what was on her mind.

Until a knock on the door startled her, she suddenly looked up, anxiously gazing towards the entrance, where she saw a lady in a light blue dress.

The lady took off her veil, which had a pale blue ribbon, her expression calm and melancholic.

"Afternoon, esteemed miss, are you here to join the club or for a divination?" Angelica greeted warmly, as she was accustomed to.

"I want a divination," the lady with beautiful eyes but hidden melancholy bit her lip and said.

Angelica invited her to sit on the sofa first, then gave her a detailed introduction to the divination services available for members.

She handed over a catalog and said:

"You can choose anyone from here."

The melancholic lady earnestly flipped through the catalog. Due to the large number of members in the club today, she felt a bit overwhelmed by the options available.

"Could you recommend someone? From these pages," she pointed to the middle section of the catalog, skipping the diviners whose fees were above 2 sovereigns and below 4 pennies.

Angelica took back the catalog, looked at it for a few minutes, and then said thoughtfully:

"I recommend this gentleman."

The anxious lady focused her gaze and saw that it was a diviner named "Klein Moriarty."

"...Mr. Moriarty just joined the club... Is his skill reliable?" she asked, somewhat uncertain.

Angelica nodded confidently and said:

"Both I and another member can confirm that Mr. Moriarty is an excellent diviner. If it weren't for his recent membership, he wouldn't charge such low fees."

"I see." The melancholic lady nodded, "Then I'll have Mr. Moriarty do the divination for me."

"Alright, please wait a moment," Angelica took the catalog and walked towards the meeting room.

She approached Klein and whispered softly:

"Mr. Moriarty, someone wants you to do a divination. Which divination room would you like to use?"

Not bad, the first "business" came knocking... Klein set down his tea cup, nodded calmly, and said:

"The Citrine Room."

"Okay." Angelica led the way gracefully and opened the wooden door to the Citrine Room.

Klein sat behind a table with various divination tools and waited for a few seconds. He saw a lady in a light blue dress, her mood low and melancholic, entering.

Seizing the opportunity as she closed the door behind her, he lightly tapped his forehead twice.

"The yellow color in the stomach area is somewhat dim... The dark hues of emotion are predominant, with worry and unease being the main emotions..." Klein carefully observed, leaned back slightly, and raised his hand to close his clairvoyance.

"Hello, Mr. Moriarty," the lady in the light blue dress sat down.

"Afternoon, how should I address you?" Klein asked politely, without expecting a definite answer.

As a skilled typist, he knew many people preferred not to use their real names during divination.

"You can call me Anna," the lady in the light blue dress put her veil aside and looked at Klein with anticipation and some doubt, "I want to divine the situation of my fiancé. He went to the Southern Continent for business in March and sent a telegram to me and his family on the third of last month, saying he would set sail back soon. However, it's been twenty days, and he still hasn't returned. I initially thought it was because of the violent weather in the Savage Sea, but today, it's been over a month, and the ship he was on, the 'Alfalfa,' still hasn't arrived at the port of Enmat."

The ocean separating the Northern and Southern Continents was called the Savage Sea, famous for its numerous natural disasters and treacherous currents. If it weren't for Emperor Roselle sending people to explore a few relatively safe routes, the countries of the Northern Continent might not have been able to enter the colonial era until today, let alone lay underwater cables and establish the architecture for telegraphy.

Klein looked at his first client in his "diviner" career, and cautiously asked:

"What kind of divination method do you prefer?"