'This isn't Roselle's diary!' Klein was shocked in his heart, but his gaze continued to scan down the characters, "February 5th. The process of collecting Seer materials was quite smooth. Most of them can be bought at ordinary mysticism enthusiast gatherings. But this ability... is a bit average. Could I have been scammed by Roselle? Or does the 'better' he referred to not mean just raw power?"
Seeing this, Klein moved his gaze upward, looking back at the date on the first line that he had ignored, "February 2nd."
'Three days? Right, Lavos Squid blood and Stellar Crystal aren't rare materials. But this diary doesn't have a year? Is it because there are pages before it, or was the year just not written?' Klein shook his head slightly and continued reading, "February 6th. The Seer's ability requires a fair amount of mystical knowledge to be effective. For that, I've had to start learning that mystical mumbo-jumbo. Maybe I should have chosen the Marauder pathway instead."
"February 7th. The Seer's ability is truly useful."
'Hey, hey, sir, you've lost your integrity!' Klein looked at the last sentence, his mouth twitching slightly.
He wanted to ask Mr. Devil about the origin of this diary immediately, but he dismissed the idea in the next moment.
Once asked, no matter the form, it would make 'The Devil' and the other members realize the uniqueness of this diary.
Suppressing his curiosity, Klein waved his hand to dismiss the notes and spoke in a gentle tone, "Very well. What reward do you want?"
"Consider it a 'sacrifice' to repay Mr. Fool for allowing me to pray to Him." Snow spoke respectfully, instantly causing surprise for Justice and Hanged Man.
'Sacrifice? Prayer? Has Mr. Devil also already prayed to Mr. Fool?' Miss Justice's understanding of the Beyonder circles was still limited, and she couldn't fully grasp the profound significance. After all, not long ago, she had also prayed to Mr. Fool for a good dream.
But as a veteran in the Beyonder circles, The Hanged Man keenly captured the key information, 'The Devil' said "allowing." In other words, did The Devil take the initiative to offer his faith to The Fool?
Although they had only participated in two Tarot gatherings together, based on the knowledge and information network 'The Devil' had previously displayed, The Hanged Man was certain: even if the man weren't a member of some ancient family, he surely belonged to a secret organization, perhaps even at a mid-to-high level.
How could such a person not understand the risks of praying to an unknown entity?
Or did he judge that praying to The Fool would yield benefits greater than the risks?
'It seems my previous guess was correct. The Fool is indeed some ancient existence, and the family The Devil belongs to likely knows about this entity--or was even originally an organization that worshiped Him!'
Seeing The Hanged Man's ether body enter a deep thinking mode, Klein didn't wait long. He spoke unhurriedly:
"Acceptable."
Then, he scanned Justice, Hanged Man, and Devil, and continued, "You may exchange information freely now."
Hearing Mr. Fool's words, Audrey, who hadn't found any diaries, immediately spoke:
"Mr. Devil, I've found the Agate Peacock tail feather and Black-spotted Scaly Snake fangs you were looking for. How should I get them to you?"
'By praying to Mr. Fool, of course!'
Snow had originally intended to say this, but he suddenly remembered that Little Sun hadn't joined yet, and Klein hadn't even finished digesting the Seer potion. It was impossible to complete a sacrifice and bestowal. However, he didn't need the Instigator potion yet; it was better to let Justice keep the materials for now...
Just as Snow was about to say this, a flash of inspiration struck his mind. Subsequently, Mr. Devil had an interesting idea.
Miss Justice, in her Spectator state, noticed that Mr. Devil seemed to show an, well, somewhat mischievous smile before he spoke, "You can can have someone bury them in the woods of Backlund's Empress District. I'll go and collect them. Oh, and make the package as small as possible."
'He knows my identity?!' Miss Justice almost failed to maintain her Spectator state. But in the next moment, she shook her head--
'Mr. Hanged Man easily determined I was a Loen noble before, and it shouldn't be hard for Mr. Devil to notice either. And since it's currently the Backlund social season, most nobles will be in the city. So choosing the Empress District--the area with the most nobles--seems and reasonable. But I still need to be careful... Right, I can have Susie do it, and she can observe the person's appearance while she's at it.'
Although Audrey told herself that trying to secretly investigate the identities of Tarot Club members was wrong, her curiosity still made it impossible to restrain the thought. Moreover, her identity appeared to be at risk of exposure; it was better to investigate!
With this thought, Audrey finally made up her mind. She nodded and said, "Alright, I'll have someone do it. But there are five or six woods in the Empress District. Which one do you mean?"
"Whichever is most convenient for you. But we should agree on a time, lest it be dug up by someone else."
Snow's tone was very relaxed. Miss Justice hesitated slightly before nodding:
"I'll have the materials buried in the woods on the west side of the Empress District. You can go look for them after five o'clock this evening."
Justice and Devil quickly finalized the details of the trade, and everyone began sharing information again. The Hanged Man casually mentioned a few things about the sea, but Devil and Justice were clearly not very interested.
Seeing the exchange drawing to a close, Klein immediately ended the Tarot gathering. But upon returning to reality, he couldn't help but recall that diary.
Undoubtedly, that diary highly likely came from another transmigrator. It was only because it was also written in Chinese that it was turned in as a "Roselle Diary" by 'The Devil'. And judging from those neat notes, it was likely an original manuscript.
While it wasn't impossible for an original manuscript to have been lost, Klein still felt that there might be some connection between this manuscript and Mr. Devil.
In mysticism, intuition meant that one's spirituality was giving a hint. Repeatedly chanting the divination statement, Klein activated the Dream Divination method. As his body leaned back, his soul seemed to drift out of his body. Then, he saw--or rather, heard--a sentence, "Yes, Pan... um, a notebook left by an elder in my family mentioned this point. However, that elder didn't leave behind the corresponding decoding method, so that's all I know."
'A notebook left by an elder mentioned Roselle's diary... could this so-called elder be the transmigrator who arrived after Roselle?'
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika Kagura]