"They were guardians. I was only a bystander."
After a little more discussion among the members, Klein announced this week's Tarot Club was over. He saw off Miss "Justice" and the others, and didn't linger in the Grey Fog — he left quickly.
No surprise: Vincent was left behind again.
But he'd already explored this place back and forth several times over the previous two stays. Nothing left to look at. He was about to head straight out.
Then he felt it — a strong, pulsing draw, emanating from somewhere deep in the grey mist. It was the same thing he'd felt the first time he'd stayed up here. He'd known something was at the end of those stairs in the depths that had a pull on him, but without being able to get up there, it was useless.
Except this time it felt stronger than the previous two?
Curious, Vincent walked again toward the deepest part of the Grey Fog's mysterious space, until he reached the heaven-like staircase bathed in light. He tried once more to set foot on the first step.
Still couldn't cross it.
He clicked his tongue. "Right, I see. Having a laugh, are we."
Then, abruptly, the grey-white fog blocking the way ahead stirred. After a moment, Vincent could make out something squirming in the mist — roughly finger-width, like a worm.
A worm?
Aren't all three of the "third uncle's" true forms worms?
Just as that thought formed, the mist seemed to clear slightly, letting him see the worm's shape more clearly. It was a translucent creature with ring-like segments along its upper body.
Twelve rings?
That's a Worm of Time!
Vincent's mind jolted. He immediately backed away, staring at the squirming thing in the mist with alarm: "What is a Worm of Time doing in the depths of the Grey Fog?"
Could it be… Amon, lurking inside the City of Silver through Little Sun, somehow bypassed Klein without him noticing and snuck in here?
But then how did he end up in the deepest part…
Oh right — in theory, members of that "third uncle's" family can climb the staircase at Sequence 4.
But why does this Worm of Time look like it's trapped in there and can't get out?
No — it's not that it "looks" like it. It just IS stuck.
Vincent was finding the world of Lord of the Mysteries increasingly incomprehensible. First Amon somehow becoming the City of Silver's object of worship. Now a Worm of Time appearing in the depths of the Grey Fog.
Someone — anyone — tell me what the hell is going on.
A faint aching throb came from his mind — the warning signal of spirituality running low. Vincent rubbed his temple and looked toward the grey mist again, but the worm was already gone.
He exhaled, pushed the confusion aside, and shifted his focus to leave the Grey Fog. He entered the Nation of Disorder and stood before the ancient Scale.
After careful observation, he confirmed: the deal that the Fool had just brokered between Audrey and Derrick had indeed added a small amount of grey crystal to the Scale.
Pity the two of them were at such low Sequences and the transaction content wasn't worth much, so the crystal gain was minimal.
But — did that mean he could exploit Bernadette to game the system? As a Sequence 3 demigod, if she could complete a high-value transaction in the Tarot Club, that should add a massive amount to the Scale, right?
The problem was the other Tarot Club members had nothing Bernadette needed, let alone anything worth a high-value transaction.
Damn. He'd need to keep thinking about this.
...
North District, Backlund. Klein's temporary hotel.
He'd just returned to reality and hadn't even had a few minutes to rest when there was a knock at his door.
He walked over quickly and, even as his hand closed on the doorknob, his mind produced a clear image of whoever was on the other side.
Daly Simone.
"Good afternoon, Klein."
Daly was dressed as before, wearing her usual faint smile. Her energy seemed slightly different from last time.
Klein stepped aside and asked: "Ms. Daly, what brings you to Backlund?"
"Got transferred here too, of course."
"Oh — I thought you'd be staying in Tingen to…"
Everyone knew about the unspoken thing between Daly and Captain Dunn, even if nobody had said anything.
She pressed her hand to her forehead and shook her head. "Dunn chased me out here. It's fine — good excuse to use the time and contact the Sanguine for him."
She looked around the room. "Where's Leonard?"
"He can't sit still. Gone wandering again."
"Ah."
Daly's expression turned businesslike. "Official notification: from here on, you and Leonard are assigned to my squad."
She paused, then curved the corner of her mouth upward. "When Dunn recovers, he'll join my squad too."
So I can issue him some very particular orders.
Klein said earnestly: "Understood!"
"Your first task, then…"
She continued: "Investigate a string of serial murders in the East Borough and the Docks. Based on current evidence, the killer is an Assassin."
"An Assassin?"
Klein immediately thought of Trissy from the four-leaf clover ship — also on the Assassin pathway, and yet after advancing to Sequence 7 she'd switched genders, becoming a woman.
This world truly never runs out of surprises.
And honestly, he was curious — if a man married someone who'd been male before their transformation into a woman via witch's potion, and later found out about his wife's previous gender — what would he actually do?
Half an hour later, Klein stepped into Backlund's underground railway.
When he'd first learned this world had a subway system, he'd been genuinely baffled — something about it gave him a surreal, dreamlike unease. But it really did exist, and it had been running for over twenty years.
Once he got on, though, he realised this was basically just a steam train running underground. The confined space was deafeningly loud, the smell was horrible, and it made him feel like he couldn't breathe.
So after just a few stops, Klein hopped off back above ground, flagged a horse-drawn cab, and headed straight to the Docks — where, according to Daly's information, the serial killings had started.
When he arrived at the bar, however, he learned with a start that the situation was apparently more complicated than he'd imagined: just recently, a horrific massacre had taken place inside, killing dozens in one go.
Klein couldn't help being dumbfounded. This was supposed to be the City of Hope — the prosperous city that so many people in Tingen dreamed of reaching. How were there mass-casualty incidents happening left and right?
More to the point, the incident hadn't reached any real conclusion, and it was clearly being quietly buried.
Turning over what he'd seen on the way here, Klein found Emperor Roselle's words in the diary coming back to him: the Industrial Revolution the Emperor himself had launched, the age of steam and machinery he'd ushered in — it brought societal progress, yes, but it also provided a breeding ground for evil gods to be born.
And if even the most prosperous and stable capital of Loen looked like this, what did the rest of the world look like?
Just then, a small, thin figure burst from a side alley in a blind panic, glancing back repeatedly as he ran. Behind him, three or four thuggish men gave chase.
Klein caught the scene. Without making it obvious, he took two steps back and cleared a path for both parties.
To be continued…
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