"???"
Klein's heart lurched. He very nearly lost his composure entirely.
He had just read the word "Broker" in Roselle's diary barely a minute ago, and now Justice brought it up — the coincidence was almost too much.
Alger frowned. "No — first I've heard of it."
Vincent was also mildly surprised that Audrey had raised the question. He quickly realised it was likely because of how strongly he'd emphasised being a "Broker" himself in the past — enough to catch the attention of this Spectator.
"As far as I know, there doesn't appear to be any Sequence called 'Broker.'"
"There isn't?!"
Impossible.
Audrey's inner shock was complete. The way Lady Natasha operated was the very image of someone using the Acting Method to digest a potion. How could there be no "Broker" Sequence?
Klein said, with a mild, unhurried tone: "The Broker is a special Sequence. It belongs to an existence known as the Lord of Chaos."
Vincent suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. I literally just fabricated that diary entry, and you're already using it to casually establish authority. Well played, Mr Fool.
Audrey clasped her hands together in delight. I knew it! There's no way I misread the situation!
Then, confused: "Mr Fool — when you say 'Broker' belongs to the 'Lord of Chaos'... what does that mean exactly?"
"Think of it as a Pathway that belongs exclusively to this existence."
Klein continued: "Justice, where did you hear — or encounter — information about the Broker?"
"From the friend who helped me find a bodyguard! She's a lady who has consistently called herself a 'Broker,' and operates entirely in the Broker manner — exactly like the Acting Method."
"..."
Could the "friend" Justice mentioned be someone who, like Emperor Roselle, has contacted the Lord of Chaos and received the Broker abilities as a Gift?
This isn't my concern either way. I'm certainly not going to casually recite an unknown entity's three-part honorific.
But...
After a moment's thought, Klein said: "Justice, there is something I'd ask your help with."
Audrey immediately brightened. "At your service, Mr Fool."
"If you have the opportunity, learn what more you can about the 'Broker' and the 'Lord of Chaos' from this lady — but through subtle, indirect questions only."
"Understood!"
Vincent smiled inwardly: Taken the bait, Mr Fool.
Alger then asked Audrey several questions about whether Loen Kingdom was likely to retaliate against the Feysac Empire. Just as Klein was preparing to close the meeting, Vincent spoke:
"Esteemed Mr Fool — has your blessed follower's difficulties been resolved?"
Audrey and Alger both looked toward the mist — startled. So the Fool has blessed followers beyond the three of us?
Well, of course He does. He's a powerful divine being. Why wouldn't He?
Klein said evenly: "Yes. It's been resolved. A friend of his handled the business with the Hidden Sage."
Though his sister has since been targeted instead. But that's another matter.
Vincent said warmly: "That must be your doing, Mr Fool. Praise be to the Fool."
"..."
I threw myself into it at the time and couldn't even crack the ritual barrier. But I have no choice but to play it cool now.
Klein maintained a noncommittal dignity.
Audrey's eyes widened further. So the Hidden Sage — which the Hanged Man described last week as a terrifying evil god — went after the Fool's blessed follower's friend, and the Fool stepped in?
That's practically a battle between divine beings.
What in the world happened while we weren't looking last week?
Alger's mind raced too: I've always known Mr Fool is a divine-level existence — but that was conjecture. The Hidden Sage's power, however, is beyond doubt. If Mr Fool engaged that evil god in direct confrontation — that's genuine proof of His strength.
He immediately bowed his head. "Praise be to Mr Fool!"
Audrey followed, waving her hand: "Praise be to Mr Fool!"
After the two enthusiastic fanatics had finished their tribute, Vincent said carefully:
"Mr Fool — given that you resolved things for your blessed follower... may I ask — the answer I gave him, does it no longer count as worthwhile?"
Klein said: "Of course it does."
"Have you decided what to ask of him?"
"Yes. Something simple. I'd like to know what actually happened — the full account of events."
Vincent explained: "Because of the nature of my conflict with the Moses Ascetic Order and the Hidden Sage, I have a pressing need for any and all information about them."
"Understood."
Klein nodded. "When the meeting concludes, I'll inform him."
"Thank you, Mr Fool."
Vincent opened his eyes. Bernadette's voice reached him at once: "Over?"
"Yes."
"When the Fool pulled you into His divine domain just now, I felt a pulling force too — brief, and gone in an instant. It didn't carry me up."
Bernadette said: "What was His answer about 'homeland'?"
Vincent answered honestly: "He sighed quietly and said, 'Together they mean hometown — the place where the heart and spirit belong.'"
She repeated it softly to herself, then: "What else did the meeting cover?"
Vincent gave a brief account. Bernadette's brow lifted slightly. "So 'Justice'... is Hall's eldest daughter, Audrey Hall?"
"Almost certainly."
"And what's this 'Lord of Chaos' the Fool mentioned? We both know the Broker Pathway came through the Realm of Chaos. Could it be the previous owner of the Realm?"
"Possibly," Vincent said with a hint of carefully performed uncertainty. "It might even be your father, Emperor Roselle."
"..."
Bernadette was quiet for a moment. "I've speculated along those lines before. Father mentioned the Realm of Chaos in his later years."
This is getting complicated.
"These questions might all find answers in his diary."
"Yes." She paused. "After this exchange ends, I should be able to read his diary properly."
Vincent opened his mouth — then shut it again.
I meant: take the diary out and I'll translate it for you.
Bernadette: Absolutely not. If this man sees the embarrassing things Father wrote in that diary, I'll never live it down. Father has to be magnificent in my eyes. I just have to wait one more day. That's nothing.
Just then, a grey-white mist crept into Vincent's vision. The Fool's figure flickered in the depths of the fog, and a moment later a different, blurred shape emerged.
Vincent felt a small rush of anticipation: here we go.
"Mr Lovers — my thanks for your answer last time."
"Think nothing of it. In the end it was Mr Fool who resolved things, not me — I was no real help."
"You're too modest."
Klein then gave a thorough, nearly verbatim account of what had happened. He concealed one detail and altered another: he concealed Melissa's involvement, and he softened the description of the "high-Sequence lady" — without saying outright that she was another of the Fool's blessed followers, he allowed the phrasing to imply it.
Klein's talent for spinning a story is getting sharper by the day.
"And that concludes everything."
Klein thought for a moment and asked: "Mr Lovers — the individual who was contaminated and had to take the Mystery Pryer potion as a result... would it be possible for her to eventually expel the Beyonder characteristic and return to being an ordinary person, using the method you described?"
Vincent gave it thought. "I couldn't say with certainty. I've never encountered a situation quite like this before. But I would say — given that the contamination came from an evil god, caution is advised."
"Understood. Thank you."
With the grey-white mist fading, Vincent returned fully to reality. He immediately turned his attention inward, reaching for the state of the potion.
At first: nothing.
He waited patiently. Two minutes. Three.
Then, all at once, an extraordinary sensation rose inside him — like ice melting into running water, a sound of flowing that moved through his mind and spread through his whole body, bringing with it a deep, profound sense of release.
The sensation of a potion fully digested.
To be continued…
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