Chapter 25: The Mist
Spirituality extended bit by bit from his palm as he tried to sense the vanished black inverted pyramid mark.
After a few minutes, Rolls clenched his fist, exhaled softly, and opened his eyes. Aside from his own palm, he felt nothing; the black inverted pyramid mark seemed to have completely vanished.
In the original work, "The Hanged Man" Alger Wilson could use the snowflake mark on his hand as a substitute for an honorific name, allowing "The Fool" Klein to cast his gaze upon him. This proved that the mark on the hand could communicate with Sefirah Castle. However, Rolls currently couldn't sense the black inverted pyramid mark on his hand, making it impossible to attempt a connection.
I suppose I'll have to wait until Klein is released by Sefirah Castle to have a chance to enter. I just don't know if I'll be able to attend the first Tarot Club meeting.
In the original plot, when Klein first ascended to Sefirah Castle, he only touched two crimson stars, which meant only Alger and Audrey were summoned.
If the plot followed its course but he also entered Sefirah Castle—meaning two crimson stars connected to three people—knowing Klein's cautious personality, he would likely remain tense for a long time and constantly test the three of them.
Furthermore, the vanished black inverted pyramid mark was quite peculiar. If it were a standard black pyramid or an inverted one, Rolls would at least have some understanding of its significance.
The former might be a symbol of the "Black Emperor." One of the rituals to become a Black Emperor involved secretly driving the populace to build nine pyramid-like mausoleums, which aligned with Rolls's "Lawyer" pathway.
However, the inverted pyramid was the architectural style of mausoleums in the Southern Continent, symbolizing the transition from the mortal realm to the Underworld. Whether in the former Balam Empire or its branches like the Highland Kingdom, only the so-called descendants of Death were permitted to build such tombs for themselves. In a sense, it was a symbol of "Death."
With the symbols of the "Black Emperor" and "Death" overlapping, Rolls was completely out of his depth.
If the former represented himself and the latter represented the Goddess, it didn't quite add up—the Goddess shouldn't have obtained the authority of Death just yet.
Regardless, linking the black inverted pyramid mark, the crimson halo suspected to be Sefirah Castle, the Evernight Goddess, and the Moon Mass together, Rolls was nearly eighty percent certain that the Evernight Goddess was aware of his existence and held goodwill toward him.
This was vital for Rolls; having a reliable "backer" gave him at least some right to be a bit "unrestrained."
But what exactly is the Goddess planning?
Moreover, She managed to link me to Sefirah Castle even before Klein was released.
He recalled from the original work that the Goddess told Klein She had never been back to Sefirah Castle since being released from it. She could only indirectly influence it through the Uniqueness of the Antigonus family, tampering with the location of the "Curtain"—the Beyonder characteristic of the Attendant of Mysteries that accompanied Klein's descent—to the Forsaken Land of the Gods.
The Uniqueness of "The Fool" and the Curtain containing the Attendant of Mysteries characteristic both belonged to the "Seer, Apprentice, and Marauder" pathways. Since Klein was suspended above Sefirah Castle, the three could influence each other through the Law of Beyonder Characteristic Convergence. That made sense.
Whether it was an item tainted with the aura of Sefirah Castle or the chanting of The Fool's honorific name, Klein's consent was required to establish a connection with Sefirah Castle.
So, how did I end up on Sefirah Castle?
He certainly didn't have any mystical items tainted with its aura; even his clothes were newly bought today. After establishing the connection, nothing on his person had shattered or changed.
Unless the thing that caused his transmigration was related to Sefirah Castle, Rolls simply couldn't fathom how the Goddess had linked him to it.
It couldn't be that I was originally hanging on Sefirah Castle, and by some fluke, I was released instead of Klein, right?
Rolls gave a self-mocking laugh. If that were the case, things would be truly chaotic!
The carriage sped through the sparsely populated streets and arrived at Rolls's residence: 45 Garton Street, West District.
Stepping down from the carriage, Rolls instructed Fitch to pick him up at eight the next morning.
After entering his home and opening the door, Rolls retrieved the books Byrd Mastang had given him from a secret room and began his study of mysticism for the day.
For Rolls, his learning path differed from Klein's. Having grown up in a family of prominent lawyers with a Beyonder father, he already had a grasp of most languages involved in mysticism, such as Hermes, Ancient Hermes, Feysac, and even bits of Jotun and Elvish.
His "Lawyer" abilities, practiced repeatedly in his daily work, were already mastered. The only things he lacked were the application of various simple ritual magics and meditation.
In terms of meditation, his predecessor had done very little. The Beyonder powers of a "Lawyer" consumed very little spirituality; the most taxing aspect was the "Emotional Guidance and Stimulation."
A "Lawyer" uses words to guide and provoke an opponent's emotions. This was similar to the Sequence 8 "Provoker" of the Hunter pathway, though far less potent.
A "Lawyer" achieves this by exploiting an opponent's weaknesses, which requires a deep understanding of the target—similar to the military proverb: "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated." Only when the emotional guidance is successful can a "Lawyer" guide or distort the opponent's thinking to a certain extent.
However, this guidance was easily interrupted. Just as when Rolls was guiding Raul Hendler's emotions, he was cut off by the experienced Burton Chester.
It wasn't necessarily that Burton Chester knew Rolls was guiding emotions; any experienced lawyer knows that when an opponent starts talking about "irrelevant matters" in court, they are likely digging a pit with their rhetoric.
Therefore, if Rolls were to encounter a battle now, he could only rely on his reasonably strong physique to resist. He might even fall at the hands of a common thug.
According to the "Viscount of Fear" Byrd Mastang, this ability would play a massive role once he reached Sequence 6, "Baron of Corruption." At that level, Rolls would be able to easily make those around him behave irrationally without relying on words or actions.
Because the inherent Beyonder abilities of a "Lawyer" consumed so little spirituality—recoverable through mere sleep—his predecessor had almost entirely abandoned meditation. It was only recently that Rolls had picked it back up.
Rolls closed his eyes and began to meditate.
He visualized a teacup in his mind, focusing all his attention on it, sketching its contours repeatedly, before replacing the cup with countless distorted, overlapping circles of light.
Rolls's body and mind settled into a state of tranquility as he entered a meditative trance.
He felt himself enter an illusory space. Opening his eyes, he saw a faint white mist permeating his surroundings.