And just like that, Bernadette turned and stepped back through the Spirit World, leaving the hotel as abruptly as she'd arrived.
Vincent was mildly surprised. "That's it? I thought you'd go introduce yourself."
"No rush."
Bernadette's tone was flat. "There are some other things I want to confirm first."
"…What things?"
"The Fool is from your world. Klein is from your world. Klein is also one of the Fool's followers. At first glance, it looks like the Fool took a special interest in Klein out of a kind of hometown sentiment." She paused. "But my instincts tell me there's something else going on that we don't know about."
Oh no.
She hasn't already guessed that Klein is the Fool, has she?
That nose of hers was unreasonably sharp.
God help whoever ends up marrying her one day — that would be a terrifying marriage.
...
What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?
Back in his room, Klein stared at the note in his hand, those familiar characters burning into him, and that question was the only thing in his head.
His first instinct had been to bolt — put as much distance between himself and this place as possible.
But he caught himself. Whoever left this note was almost certainly watching from somewhere nearby. Running would be the same as confirming everything.
Right.
If they'd gone to the trouble of slipping him a note, they probably weren't certain. It was a probe. And if their sequence was genuinely high, they would've just come to his door directly, not played these games.
So there was nothing to be afraid of.
But…
Klein couldn't figure out where he'd slipped up. He'd been disguised as a woman this entire time. He was certain his behaviour had never revealed anything connected to Earth.
Unless… this person had been watching since Tingen, and followed him all the way to Backlund?
If so — was the note just a probe? Or was there something else behind it?
The more he thought, the more tangled his mind became. This was, after all, his deepest secret.
He breathed in slowly, fought the panic down, and produced his topaz pendant to write out the divination: "The person who sent the note knows my true identity."
Seven silent repetitions later, he let the topaz hang free. Half a minute passed. Nothing. Not even a tremor.
"Either there's not enough to go on, or that person used anti-divination."
If the latter — he should be able to get a result above the Grey Fog. Up there he might even be able to identify who had sent it.
But Klein couldn't go up to the Grey Fog right now. Miss Justice had prayed to him a while ago and he'd been too drained to answer. Going up now felt even more dangerous.
He put the topaz away and wrote a fresh divination: "The identity of the person who sent this note."
Then he fell back against the sofa and slipped quickly into the dream state.
Familiar haze and darkness — and then the dream shattered and woke him. That confirmed it: the sender was using anti-divination.
If I could just get above the Grey Fog…
Klein shook his head hard, turned off the gas lamp, and went to bed. If it was a probe, the right move was to act as though nothing had happened. If the sender had other intentions and was watching him — anything he did now was pointless anyway.
He pressed his fingers together, and once more quietly recited the Lord of Chaos's three-part honorific name.
...
In the Nation of Disorder, Vincent watched Klein's figure take shape in the golden mist and felt mildly surprised — and yet, not really.
Faced with something like this, Klein's only real option was to turn to the "fellow-countryman" Lord of Chaos. What Vincent was curious about was whether Klein would admit to being a transmigrator.
Vincent leaned back in the stone chair, chin resting in one hand, watching quietly.
"Great Lord of Chaos — thank you for your help today. I… I owe you two lives now."
Vincent said nothing. Just waited.
"Thank you, great presence." Klein gave another bow, then said: "I've already passed your message along to Mr. Fool."
"Oh? What did He say?"
"He… He said He very much wants to speak with you in person, but He is currently far from reality and cannot return — He can only relay things through believers like me."
"I see."
Vincent nodded. "So — you've prayed to me this time just to say thank you and report on the Fool?"
"No."
Klein lowered his head. "I… I…"
He pressed his fingers together. His heart was hammering.
"Just now, at my door, I found a note — and on it… it had a few words written in Roselle script…"
He quickly added: "I know that script isn't actually something Emperor Roselle invented — it belongs to… another world. A world where both you and Mr. Fool come from."
Vincent rested his chin in his hand, smiling faintly, waiting to see how far Klein could push this particular fiction.
"But now someone has left me a note using that script, and I don't know whether they've simply decoded the Roselle text, or whether they… also come from your world and Mr. Fool's."
"I… also don't know how they realised I understand the Roselle script. So I consulted Mr. Fool, and He told me to ask your opinion."
"I see."
Vincent tapped the armrest lightly with one finger.
"My opinion? I'm perfectly happy about this. I don't mind at all if this world has more people from the same place I came from. If they were to take the initiative and contact me, I wouldn't mind extending some help to them."
"Just as I once did for Roselle."
He smiled gently. "The confusion and uncertainty I see in your eyes — you don't understand why I'd feel that way?"
Klein said nothing, but that was exactly what he was thinking.
"Because you're still young. When you've spent thousands upon thousands of years living alone in a world that isn't yours, you'll understand what it means to suddenly find a 'fellow countryman.' Someone who can understand what you're saying. Someone who knows where you're coming from. Their existence makes you feel, for just a moment, that you're not alone — not abandoned by the world. That feeling is something no amount of power can replace."
These words stopped Klein cold. He turned them over in his mind, and found something close to understanding stirring within him. If that were me — maybe I'd feel the same way.
But he quickly realised something else, and asked uneasily: "You… can you no longer return to your own world?"
"I can."
Vincent answered without hesitation.
"Then why did you say—"
"Heh. That's not something you need to know." He seemed to think of something. "Oh, right — that girl Audrey already asked me the same question on the Fool's behalf earlier today. I already told her: if He wants an answer, He'll have to come ask me himself."
"..."
Audrey.
That must be Miss Justice. So her prayer just now was to pass on the Lord of Chaos's answer.
"I understand."
Klein gave a docile nod. "Great presence — is Emperor Roselle still alive?"
To be continued…
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