Wait, something's off.
Vincent felt a jolt of unease. The Elder Derrick mentioned — couldn't be that Shepherd Elder who worshipped the True Creator, could it? If I remember right, in the original story he didn't set off with that Elder at all.
And more than that — in the original plot, he faked signs of impending loss of control at Alger's suggestion, got himself locked up in the Round Tower's basement, and that's where he ran into Amon, who was also imprisoned there.
But now…
All because I asked him to gather intelligence on Amon, and this kind of butterfly effect happened?
Audrey watched Derrick casually receive the Sequence 7 formula and felt her heart twist with envy. She'd advanced to Sequence 8 two weeks ago, and the Psychiatrist formula for Sequence 7 had been completely out of reach since.
Based on leads she'd gathered at the Tarot Club, she knew the later formulas for the Spectator Pathway were basically all in the hands of the Psychology Alchemists — and despite her efforts to track them down over the past while, she'd come up completely empty.
So she hesitated for a moment, then said: "I'd like to find out more about the Psychology Alchemists. Mr. Hanged Man, Mr. Lovers, Miss Lovers — do any of you have suggestions? I'm willing to pay a significant price — I just need some way to get in contact with them."
Alger shook his head. "I'm sorry. I spend most of my life at sea, and my knowledge of that organisation is genuinely limited."
Bernadette glanced at this noblewoman she'd met in person more than once, and said plainly: "You're looking for the Psychology Alchemists because of the Spectator Pathway's later formulas, I take it?"
"That's right!" Audrey nodded firmly, and then thought of something. "If — if I could get the later formulas directly, I wouldn't even need to find them. Miss Lovers — do you have Sequence 7 and beyond for the Spectator Pathway?"
Bernadette shook her head. As a Sequence 3 demigod and leader of a shadow organisation, she certainly had more potion formulas than most — but the Spectator Pathway was precisely one where she only held the lower-sequence versions.
A pity. After that night when they'd killed that Spectator demigod, there'd been no chance to attempt spirit communication — otherwise they might well have had the formula all the way to Sequence 4 by now.
She thought for a moment and said: "From what I know, the Psychology Alchemists are likely connected to the Loen royal family. That might be a direction worth pursuing."
Audrey blinked. "How do you know that?"
Vincent coughed and decided to add a little face-saving flair on Bernadette's behalf. "Because Miss Lovers recently killed a Spectator demigod — and that demigod had connections to the Loen royal family."
"..."
"!!!"
Audrey and Alger both froze.
Audrey stared, momentarily lost: I'm still a lowly little Spectator scrambling to find the Sequence 7 formula, and Miss Lovers has already killed a Spectator demigod?
Is the gap between us really this big?
Alger recovered somewhat faster — after all, that night dealing with Qilangos, he'd already suspected the Lovers was a demigod. Still, there was a difference between being a demigod and killing one.
That means, among demigods, the Lovers is one of the truly powerful ones. She might not even be Sequence 4 — she could be Sequence 3.
Bernadette caught Vincent's eye and rolled her eyes flatly. She'd long since moved past the phase of needing to show off in front of people — especially low-sequence people. There was no satisfaction in it whatsoever.
Klein, hidden behind the Grey Fog and propping his chin in his hand, looked perfectly unmoved by the Lovers' "feat." Inwardly, though, his mind was already churning through the calculations:
After the Qilangos incident, everyone assumed that Mr. Azure was my own Angel — but honestly, I know how hollow that was. He and I get along well, but "get along" doesn't mean I can boss him around.
But now it's different. I actually have a genuine, above-average demigod on my side. If we ever come across Ince Zangwill, I could commission the Lovers to handle it — pay her back with Roselle's diary content, or just cheerfully hand out some empty promises for now.
He thought about it, and his mood dipped slightly. If the Lovers had been around back then, Melissa might not have had to die.
The group exchanged a little more after that — requests and needs tossed around casually.
Klein watched it all with open envy. If only he had a secondary identity, he could dive straight in, put forward his own requests — like having Justice investigate Prince Edessak. Wouldn't even need a detective.
How exactly do I make the "fake person" I've built above the Grey Fog feel a little less fake?
A few minutes more, and Klein called the meeting to a close, letting each person dissolve into a beam of crimson light and vanish — all except one.
Audrey.
"Oh?"
Audrey looked toward the head of the table with mild surprise, then understood — the Fool wanted to speak with her alone. She folded her hands and bowed slightly. "Mr. Fool, do you have a commission for me?"
"That's right."
Klein gave a faint nod, tapping his fingers lightly against the bronze tabletop, turning the wording over in his mind before speaking: "Miss Justice, I need you to find the 'Lord of Chaos' for me — just once."
Audrey's heart leapt instantly. Me? Acting as a bridge between two divine beings?
"And then, Mr. Fool?"
"Then, ask Him..."
Klein leaned back gently, something almost like a sigh in his voice: "Ask Him whether He knows how to go home."
The words "how to go home" he said in Chinese — so to Audrey's ears, it came out as a string of unintelligible sounds: "%%&*##..."
"You don't need to understand what it means. Just memorise the pronunciation. The Lord of Chaos will understand."
"I understand."
Klein dismissed the link to Justice with a light wave and let out a long, slow exhale. He felt like what he'd just done was a little like putting a blindfold on himself and hoping for the best.
The reason he was using Justice as an intermediary rather than reaching out as "Klein" was simple — he didn't want too much of the Lord of Chaos's attention landing on Klein Moretti specifically.
After all, Mr. Fool only existed up here in the Grey Fog. No matter how much the Lord of Chaos communicated with him, He couldn't exactly climb up the Grey Fog and come knock on his door — but Klein was a different story. If they got too close and the Lord of Chaos figured out the connection between Klein and the Fool, who knew what might happen.
So yes.
After thinking it through thoroughly, Klein had decided from the heart: no direct contact. Better safe than sorry. Old-country meeting old-country — and someone puts a bullet in your back.
You could call him overly cautious — but staying cautious was his whole philosophy.
"Heh. If you really can climb the Grey Fog and come find me, then I'll take my lumps."
Klein smiled faintly, wrapped himself in spirituality, and left the world above the Grey Fog.
Almost in the same instant, Vincent's figure appeared within the giant hall.
To be continued…
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