The thought was so startling that Klein was dazed for a full beat.
After a long moment, the Klein concealed within the Grey Fog slowly dispersed the diary pages and looked toward Bernadette, asking evenly: "Miss Lovers, do you have any questions about these entries?"
Bernadette spoke seriously. "I want to know — if Emperor Roselle is still alive, where would he most likely be, and how would one get there?"
Of course she already knew her father was waiting in that nameless island's mausoleum for a resurrection. What she actually wanted to find out from the Fool was something different: whether the Fool knew the location of that strange and dangerous island.
If the Father had said it was too risky for her at her current power level to approach the island, then what about the Fool, who had always shown such keen interest in her father? Could He go?
Klein thought for a few seconds, then said: "Roselle once discovered a nameless island in the Fog Sea. If he truly is still alive, he's most likely there."
He paused. "As for how to get there — I'm afraid I don't have any leads on that either."
Bernadette didn't seem disappointed. She simply asked again: "If you did learn its location — would you go?"
"Of course."
Klein smiled and said what he didn't mean at all: "I've been wanting to meet this Emperor for a long time."
Pfft. At Sequence 7, the moment I step foot on that island, I'd be contaminated. That's a certainty.
"I see. Thank you, Mr. Fool."
Klein nodded and waved a hand. "Begin."
Vincent's hand went up immediately. "Mr. Fool, regarding the matter I mentioned earlier — introducing some new members to the Tarot Club — after receiving your approval, I've passed your honorific name to them through certain channels."
"I was wondering whether they've recited it yet, and whether they've passed your review?"
Audrey shot the Lovers a sideways look and puffed her cheeks slightly. He's cutting in front of me again.
In Klein's mind, the two "maids" surfaced immediately. He'd originally assumed they were people the Lovers had introduced — turns out it was the Lovers indeed. He thought for a moment and said: "Those two candidates are still under evaluation."
He continued: "Here's what we'll do — I'll give you a simple task, and you commission it to them in your name. Consider it part of their assessment."
Klein extended his right hand and pressed it against the table. A drawing materialised — an accurate depiction of Lanevus's face and appearance.
"Gather intelligence on the person in this image. He's currently in Backlund."
Vincent looked at the figure in the drawing and inwardly guessed that Klein had probably learned of Lanevus through Leonard. He suppressed a quiet sigh. This task is anything but simple.
Setting aside Mr. Z — just Lanevus's cunning alone was well beyond what Xio and Fors could handle. Unless… he used another Boon to give them both another power-up.
But he said aloud: "Understood. I'll commission it to them."
The moment Vincent finished, Audrey jumped in: "Mr. Fool, I also have two candidates of my own..." She looked at the Fool with hopeful eyes. "Have you seen them? Have they prayed to you yet?"
Klein shook his head. "Other than the Lovers' recommendations, I haven't received any other prayers recently."
"Oh."
Audrey deflated. Did Fors and Xio just… not find the note I hid in the book? If so, I probably need to try a different approach to get the Fool's honorific name into their hands.
Reading Justice's thoughts plainly, Klein quickly added: "Miss Justice, I very much appreciate your sense of ownership in the Tarot Club — but let's handle things one at a time. Let me finish evaluating the Lovers' candidates first."
"...Alright then."
I was here first, though.
Derrick, who had been patiently waiting his turn, quickly spoke up: "Mr. Lovers, last week when I went back to the City of Silver's library, I found some intelligence on that Angel of Time you asked about. Do you still need it?"
Vincent glanced at Bernadette and nodded. "Of course."
Derrick, who had now been through the Tarot Club enough times to have shed most of his earlier awkwardness, made a quick scan of the room and said, a little stiffly: "Should I tell you in private?"
"No need. Go ahead."
If it were potion recipes or Pathway materials, Vincent might have charged the others to listen — but when it came to Amon, the current Tarot Club members had basically no frame of reference. Probably no one would pay to sit in on that.
Better to give it away free. Think of it as giving everyone an early introduction to the final boss.
Facing the eyes now turned his way, Derrick felt a touch of nerves. He pressed his lips together and said:
"Last time, I mentioned that the Lord of the City of Silver led His angels to defeat the mythological creatures that had dominated and enslaved humanity, allowing people to live better. Among them, the Angel of Time was the Lord's right hand. He was primarily involved in the campaigns against the dragon race and the wolf-demon race — personally slaying the Dragon King's son, the Nightmare Dragon Alsokhod."
"In the campaign against the wolf-demon race, He turned one of the powerful wolf-demons against his own kin, slew the Wolf Demon King Fregla's eldest daughter, and routed the Wolf Demon King's son — leaving Fregla encircled and fighting alone, which ultimately allowed the Lord to deliver the killing blow."
Vincent was genuinely surprised by that. So the Evernight Goddess backstabbing the Wolf Demon King actually had Amon's involvement? Though, honestly — I'm more inclined to believe it was the Evernight Goddess who reached out to Amon first, not the other way around.
Wait.
If the Evernight Goddess was going to betray the Wolf Demon King anyway, she would've naturally gone to the Ancient Sun God, wouldn't she? Why Amon?
There doesn't seem to be any deep bond between the Evernight Goddess and Amon in the original story.
Derrick continued:
"The Angel of Time's presence can also be traced in the later campaigns against other mythological beings — though not playing as decisive a role as against the wolf-demons and dragons."
"As for the Angel of Time's final recorded strike against one of the Old Gods, that happened within the City of Silver itself — though the records don't state who He struck or what He did."
"All that's known is that as the mythological creatures were wiped out and humanity gradually became the dominant race, the Angel of Time later came to manage the City of Silver on the Lord's behalf, and received our faith."
"As for what came after..."
Derrick paused and scratched the back of his head. "I'm still looking into that part." He glanced, a little anxiously, at the Lovers. "Mr. Lovers — was any of this useful to you?"
Although Derrick knew by now that ordinary knowledge from the City of Silver often carried considerable value on the outside, what he'd managed to gather about this Angel of Time was frustratingly thin.
Audrey and Alger, who had been listening in, and their Fool sitting in the background, all found themselves involuntarily imagining that sweeping, magnificent era — and feeling something close to awe for the "Lord" who had led humanity from being prey to becoming the world's rulers.
And yet, at the same time, they couldn't help but doubt: because in their understanding, the ones who had done all of this should have been the seven Orthodox Gods.
Their instincts told them the Sun was telling the truth.
And that truth made Alger's hands tremble, ever so slightly. What a blasphemy this is…
"Useful."
Vincent nodded. "But I'm afraid this alone may not yet be enough to trade for a Sequence 7 formula."
Derrick lowered his head. He'd thought the same.
"That's alright though — I'll give you the formula first. You just keep gathering as much intelligence as you can about that Angel of Time."
With that, Vincent produced parchment and a quill, wrote out the formula for the Sun Pathway's Sequence 7 Priest of the Sun, and passed it to Derrick. He'd gotten it from Bernadette.
"Thank you! Thank you!"
Derrick burst with excitement and called out sincerely: "I'm about to head out with one of our Elders to explore — she told me there's a mural in an ancient temple that might contain information about the Angel of Time. I — I'm definitely going to find it!"
To be continued…
Advance 100 Chapters are up on my Patreon!
pat reon.com/AlphaSenatus