You can address me as The Fool."
Klein's voice kept resonating in Audrey's and Alger's hearts, stirring up one ripple after another.
Not only inside the screen, but the audience also felt the weight of the answer. Just a moments ago, wasn't he a normal human. How can he exude such a power? It made no sense!
Benson and Melissa had been told by their neighbor Azik about their brother Klein's identity so they wouldn't be so surprised. But just listening from the mouth of others and seeing it with their own eyes is a different experience after all.
Although Audrey herself was shaken a bit, she quickly placated everyone, regulating their emotions to a stable level.
The Moretti siblings didn't have a very hard time accepting it. As long as their brother was well and alive, anything is acceptable. After Klein's death, they mourned for his departure. They had long since, accepted that their brother is no more with them. Now that they knew that he hasn't died… They only wished for him to live well.
Even if they no longer saw him, or Klein no longer stayed with them, everything is fine as long as he isn't dead.
The tarot club has mixed feelings. This Klein… he isn't even a beyonder. He came into this world just a day before, and he dared to assume such a lofty identity… They didn't know whether to laugh or cry…
After a few seconds of silence, Audrey stood up, curtseying, "Honorable Mr. Fool, would you permit me to take liberty of requesting you to be the witness of our trade."
"It is nothing." Zhou Mingrui answered in a way that matched his persona.
"It's our honor, Mr. Fool." Alger stood up and bent his back slightly, putting his right palm over his chest.
"Continue both of you."
Leonard: "You didn't have to do anything. They assumed everything on their own, didn't they?"
Klein: "Would you take the risk to question the situation if you were in their position?"
Leonard: "…"
Klein: "And it's not like I could've explained the situation, even if I did, who would believe me? So, I kept quiet."
Audrey: *laughs awkwardly*
Alger: "…"
After Alger elaborated the transaction to Audrey, she asked, "Mr. Fool, would you mind making a few more 'attempts' like this?"
Alger also chimed in, "Mr. Fool, don't you find such gatherings interesting? Although your powers exceed our imaginations, there has to be certain domains that you don't understand or excel in. The person across me is obviously a young lady of lofty stature. I also have my unique set if experiences, insights, mediums, and resources. Perhaps there will come a day when both of us can help you complete something trivial that might be inconvenient for you."
Derrick: "As expected of Mr. Hanged Man! You give really good suggestions!"
If Alger didn't know Derrick's personality, he would've thought this young man was mocking him.
"If it wasn't my kind and soft-hearted junior, you wouldn't be here to see this day, you know, haha." Roselle commented in amusement.
"Well, his suggestion did give me some idea on how to make use of those gatherings. It turned beneficial for both them and me. Thank you, Mr. Hanged Man." Klein said with a friendly smile.
"Alger is fine," Alger muttered in low voice. He won't deny that the club gatherings were indeed useful.
Zhou Mingrui began weighing the pros and cons of convening regular gatherings after Audrey voiced her opinion in favor of the idea. The pros were getting more information and sources about this world, while the cons were the risks of his identity being exposed.
He rapped the end of the table as he thought. Considering the fact that he was in control of the gathering's summoning and dismissal any threat of exposure was within the confines of his control. The pros clearly exceeded the cons, so Zhou Mingrui rapidly made decision.
"I'm a person who likes fair and equal exchange.
"Your help will not go unrewarded.
"Every Monday at three in the afternoon, try your best to be alone. After I make a few attempts and figure out certain things, perhaps you can apply for a leave of absence ahead of time. You will no longer need to worry about being in inappropriate situations."
Will: "Wow, such a kind hearted boss~"
Pallez: "A boss who takes good care of his employees"
Leonard turned to look back to see a face like a grandpa next door, he felt that his voice was familiar. Pallez noticed his gaze and smiled arrogantly. He didn't understand why this old man was showing such friendliness towards himself… Wait- Old man???
Leonard, who was about to turn his head forward stopped midway and quickly turned back again. His eyes skeptical and difficult to understand. He didn't know everyone present here, so he thought this wise looking old man was someone related to Klein. He really didn't expect that it was his own grandpa!
Pallez chuckled quietly and said in slow tone, "Finally noticed this old man, huh. You're so preoccupied that you don't even observe your surroundings."
Leonard accepted that the great ancestor in his head was now out. "Listening to you talk like that every day, I imagined you like a wrinkly only man who only knows how to nag. Can you blame me for not recognizing you when you look so fit and handsome~" he replied cheekily.
Pallez couldn't guess whether it was an insult or a compliment, he scoffed and mumbled, "This kid sure knows how to talk."
Klein and Audrey looked amused with their banter and had gentle expressions on their faces.
Mr. Fools words were a kind of approval to Alger and Audrey's suggestion. Audery was a young girl having been raised and sheltered at home, she seeked adventure. She was excited for her new adventure.
"Then, shall we give ourselves codenames? Afterall we can't use our real names for conversations."
'Although I might not be able to deceive Mr. Fool regarding my true identity, the person opposite me poses some danger. I must not let him know who I am!' she thought so internally.
"Good idea," answered Zhou Mingrui in a simple and relaxed manner.
Audrey's mind immediately began whirring as she aired her thoughts as they came to her. "You are Mr. Fool which is derived from tarot cards. Then, as a fixed, long-term, and secretive 'gathering,' we should be uniform in our designations. Yes, I'll also choose one from the tarot cards."
Her tone slowly turned joyous.
"I've decided. My designation shall be 'Justice!' What about you Mister?"
"The Hanged Man."
"Alright, then we can be considered the founding members of the Tarot Club!" Audrey was the first to blurt it out happily, only to look fearfully at the fog-concealed Zhou Mingrui. "Will that be alright, Mr. Fool?"
Zhou Mingrui shook his head in amusement. "You can decide on such trivial matters by yourselves."
"Thank you!" Audrey was clearly thrilled.
"Thank you once again, Mr. Fool." Audrey sincerely thanked Klein beside her. Klein smiled and replied good-naturedly, "I'm not Mr. Fool right now, just call me Klein, I like to differentiate between my personas," he turned his head forward and continued watching the screen "You're welcome." He replied.
Audrey asked Alger to repeat the formula so that she could remember it. She then began discussing about Tarot divination. The topic then smoothly shifted from Tarot to the special cards that Emperor Roselle created, which then Mr. Hanged Man revealed to be the Cards of Blasphemy, a path to the divine.
This was the general knowledge for most beyonders present, except who were hearing it for the first time were listening with attention. This movie turned helpful for them to gather more knowledge.
Benson felt that his brain was about to be overloaded. He turned to look at his daughter who was quietly playing with the elegant golden retriever's fur. He wondered if 'elegant' can be used to describe dogs?
Zhou Mingrui's headache intensified as he felt his invisible connection with the crimson stars and grayish-white fog was beginning to falter.
"Alright, that will be all for today's gathering," he said in a deep voice after making the decision immediately.
"By your will." Alger bowed his head respectfully.
"By your will." Audrey mimicked The Hanged Man.
As Zhou Mingrui severed the connection, he said with a smile, "Let us look forward to the next gathering."
He was still standing in the middle of his apartment.
"It was like a dream… What the heck was that foggy world… Who or what sort of power created that changes that just happened…" Zhou Mingrui sighed softly. He looked puzzled as he walked towards the study desk and picked up the pocket watch.
"Time flowed at the same pace."
After putting down his pocket watch, he sat on the chair and lowered his head, using his left thumb and middle finger to massage his temples. He seemed to be experiencing a headache.
Amon too, looked like he was experiencing a headache. His face looked more pained than Klein on the screen. 'Looks like the sensations that come out of the screen are directed at me… Evernight…'
It was a useless blame, after all Evernight was under no obligations to protect him.
After a long while, he suddenly let out a sigh and said in Mandarin, "From the looks of it, I won't be returning any time soon…"
Everyone except the transmigrating trio didn't understand what was being said. A rare look of unwilling acceptance flashed through their faces. Even Evernight had a look of sad nostalgia on her beautiful face.
"What do you mean by that?" Azik asked politely, he was curious about this language that he hasn't heard about before. Whether it was the accent or the vocabulary, it was very different from any languages he knows.
Klein was about to reply when Amanises spoke, "He said that he won't be returning home anytime soon."
She's been in this era for the longest time than other two, so compared to them her degree of acceptance was very high. She deemed it right to not let them think much about the past.
Klein was surprised, not because of her sudden reply; but because she seemed to know Mandarin. He asked without thinking, "Jiejie you know Mandarin?"
Amanises simply nodded her head and replied like it was nothing, "Yeah, back when I had to go on overseas business trips, I frequently visited China and many other countries. I learned 5 foreign languages except for my mother tongues."
Roselle looked impressed, he asked, "What did you used to do?"
Amanises replied, "I was a CEO at a listed company in London."
Both Roselle and Klein had their mouths shaped like letter 'O' as they clapped lightly.
Others couldn't care more about their chat, they felt like a veil was slowly being lifted from their minds.
They couldn't tell whether the pressure was increasing or decreasing. Higher level beyonders almost grasped the truth hidden behind the veil as they heard 'Her' voice. While the Angels fully realized… This was a God. The Evernight Goddess!
They were already surprised by Roselle's appearance here, now even the Goddess is here. No matter how much anyone says that Klein is normal– Nothing about his arrival was normal! How can a normal person casually talk to Gods!
He's only 'not-a-beyonder', but that doesn't mean he's normal human like any other non-beyonder!
Only the clueless could be fearless. After experiencing the fascinating trip and learning the situation regarding beyonders and the mysterious world, Zhou Mingrui no longer dared to rashly try luck enhancement ritual using ancient Feysac or Loen language.
"At the very least, I should attempt only when I have a deep mastery of mysticism," he said helplessly.
Thankfully, the so-called gathering could provide him with help.
After another bout of silence, he muttered himself with a tone of dismay, disappointment, agony, and grief, "From this moment forth, I'm Klein."
Zhou Mingrui, who now viewed himself as Klein, found that there were now four black dots on the back of his hand, which happened to form a small square. The dots faded and disappeared quickly, but Klein knew that they were still hiding in his body, waiting to be awakened.
"For spots forming a square, is it in correspondence with the four pieces of staple food in the four corners of the room? Does that mean that I don't have to prepare the food and can do the ritual and chants immediately in the future?" he made a guess.
The emergence of the spots was ominous, and "things" that one lacked understanding of were always scary.
"I still don't understand whether I should consider you as unlucky or extremely lucky… Accessing a fucking Sefirah with just some simple chants and ritual; and succeeding in that?" Will expressed his thoughts as he let out a sigh.
"The oldest and the strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest fear is the fear of the unknown." He recalled this saying as he was experiencing the fear of the unknown acutely.
As warm sunlight shone through the window onto the desk, Klein relaxed slightly and a strong sense of fatigue washed over him.
His eyelids were as heavy as lead as they kept closing themselves. It must have been the combined effect of the sleepless night and the tiring encounter.
He fell asleep immediately after he walked over to his bed and laid down.
The screen showed his sleeping appearance for a while, making people think that he's a human after all, he needs sleep like any normal human.
Before anyone can voice their opinion on whether they'll have to watch Klein sleep, the scene changed.
Audrey had returned back to her room and sat in front of the broken dressing mirror for a while in a daze. She pinched her cheeks in disbelief of her encounter a while ago.
She saw the swirling 'crimson' on the back of her hand; it was like a tattoo depicting a star. The 'crimson' gradually faded and disappeared into her skin.
At this point Audrey was certain that it was not a dream.
She grinned as obvious excitement should be seen on her face. She curtseyed towards thin air and started dancing lively. It was the "Ancient Elf Dance", the most popular dance among royalty at the moment.
She moved gracefully yet playfully, like an Elf dancing in the forest.
Many people had warm smiles while looking at her innocent and jolly demeanor, the Miss Justice they know was only 17 at this time. She displayed the youthfulness of teenagers who were full of hope and optimism for the future.
Even Melissa felt she was quite cute, let alone Klein and Leonard who were looking at the blonde with gentle eyes
When Audrey's maidservant knocked on the door, she quickly hid the smile from her face, and ensured everything was presentable.
"Come in." She gently responded and her maid opened the door.
Her maid Annie, saw the outcome of the old bronze mirror as soon as she walked in. "It cracked…" she said.
Audrey blinked and said slowly, "Erm yes! Susie was here just now. I am sure you know she likes to wreak havoc!"
Susie in the screen looked unperturbed; however, Susie in the audience says, "I'm wronged…"
Some of the audience turn to look at the golden retriever, who now had small braids woven out of her fur around her body… Bennett was still busy braiding her fur, not minding the gazes of the adults.
'Right, this dog can speak…' some thought. While some realized that this dog belonged to this Miss Justice, who is also Miss Audrey Hall, the famous gem of Backlund. She seemed to have turned her pet into a beyonder!
Looking at her innocent expression and looking at the potion experimentation on the dog… They felt that this lady was quite frightening. 'They' were Danitz and Maric who had soft spot for animals.
Alger still remembered when Audrey had tried to ask the consequences if an animal drank a beyonder potion. It should be this dog that drank her potion.
Audrey smiled and reached her hand to pet Susie as if apologizing for her blaming, "You look really pretty with braids Susie~"
The entire first row felt the interaction between a human and a dog was quiet entertaining. While Miss Magician in the back felt her hands itching to rub the beyonder beast's soft and golden fur!
Susie simply turned and continued to watch ahead, her tail wagging slowly behind.
Notes: