After another round of conversations, Derrick suddenly asked a question, āHonorable Mr. Fool, what kind of hand gesture should we use when we would like to thank you usually?ā
Hand gesture? Klein was momentarily stumped by Little Sunās question.
It had never occurred to him to imitate the gesture of drawing a clockwise circle from the Church of the Goddess, nor the Church of Stormsās prayer gesture of striking the left of oneās chest with their right fist.
This is probably the last bottom line of a fake godā¦ He lampooned inwardly.
Seeing Mr. Fool smile without a word as though he was waiting for her and others to make suggestions, Audrey suddenly had a lot of inspiration and came up with a new question.
Her eyes sparkled as she looked around and said, āEveryone, should we design a secret gesture to indicate our identity? Our Tarot Club doesnāt have many members at present, so thereās no need to worry about us appearing at the same spot and ending up opposing each other due to various reasons. But in the future, it might be very difficult to avoid that. We need a set of unique āsignals,ā so as to identify friend from foe.ā
I have an idea for thatā¦ Klein suddenly remembered the secret hand gestures he knew from his previous life, such as the hand-in-waistcoat.
Just as he was about to manipulate The World to make a suggestion, The Hanged Man opened his mouth.
āNo, Miss Justice, I donāt think itās a good idea.
āCompared to other secret organizations, our Tarot Clubās most striking characteristic is that the members do not know each other. Even ifā¦ UhāLet me raise an extreme example. Even if one of our members are captured and interrogated, they wouldnāt be able to affect the others unless thereās someone who can resist Mr. Fool and enter this place directly. And that is clearly impossible.
āOnce we have a full set of signals and passcodes, traitors can allow the opposing faction to use these means to fish us out one by one.
āAre you that eager to flaunt your identities as Tarot Club members?ā
āā¦ā Audrey temporarily failed to provide a rejoinder as she stammered, āButā¦ā
āItās reasonable to worry about the situation you mentioned, but this can be avoided through our fixed interaction every week and creating a temporary gesture ahead of time, as well as praying to Mr. Fool.ā In consideration that she would be providing him large amounts of gold, Algerās tone gradually turned pleasant.
Audrey replied with some understanding, āThe simplest example is that at the Tarot Gathering on Monday, weāll first understand if thereās a possibility of us bumping into another member, to the point of entering a conflict. Hence, weāll design a set of temporary gestures to identify ourselves. After the matter is over, we would immediately abandon that gesture. Uh, if thereās any sudden situation and weāre unable to communicate in time, or if thereās some suspicion, we can seek an opportunity to pray to Mr. Fool to confirm if another member is participating in the same event?ā
āSomething like that.ā Alger let out a silent breath.
At that moment, Derrick suddenly said in enlightenment, āSorry, I asked a foolish question. Mr. Fool never mentioned any gestures to thank āHimā because he was worried about us exposing ourselves.ā
He immediately looked to the end of the long bronze table.
āYour wish steers our path.ā
I just thought of a special hand gestureā¦ Klein chuckled and replied, āThatās right.ā
He cast his gaze towards the other members and said in a composed manner, āLet us end todayās gathering here.ā
āBy your will!ā All the members apart from The Moon stood up at the same time.
Emlyn froze for a second before standing up in a flurry, mimicking the bows of the other members.
A deep red light immediately appeared in front of his eyes, and he felt his body plummet slightly.
Soon after, his vision returned to normal and he saw dolls of various sizes in his room.
Phewā¦ Only until this moment did Emlyn White completely calm down as he recalled his first Tarot Gathering.
Apart from Mr. Fool, the other members donāt seem too powerful. Could they be like me, chosen for various reasons? I have the Ancestor backing me, so whoās backing them?
What a joke. I originally imagined The Sun to be a demigod who just escaped the pursuit of an angel. It turned out that heās only a Sequence 8 and seeking to advance to Sequence 7!
A child who doesnāt know manners definitely isnāt an adult yet! However, the City of Silver that he mentioned and the experiences that he had undergone are very strange. I have to find an opportunity to ask Lord Nibbs, noāI have to first ask Cosmi, as well as my parents. Iāll see if they know anything about the City of Silver. Humph, how dare the history books of the City of Silver tamper with the feats of us Sanguine!
Miss Justice is from Backlund. Sheās very, very rich. Is she the daughter of some rich banker or the daughter of some noble? Perhaps sheās a banker or noble herselfā¦
Miss Magician looked at me very strangely. She must admire the lofty Sanguine. She doesnāt speak much and didnāt divulge much about herself. Yes, sheās a quiet girl.
Mr. Hanged Man is a mature gentleman. He knows a lot and has a sublime character. Heās willing to answer questions from new members and is willing to provide the corresponding help and information. It can be said that heās very popular. The Sun and The World are both willing to ask him questions and seek his help.
The World is quite an unlikeable person. When he speaks, itās like thereās phlegm in his throat that he canāt spit out. I would disdain even drinking such a personās blood. It has a dirty tasteā¦ Heās very introverted and is good at hiding his emotions. Furthermore, he easily produced a Sequence 6 Beyonder characteristic and promised to provide a Psychiatrist Beyonder characteristic in two monthsā¦ Very impressive!
As the details flashed through his mind, Emlyn discovered that the Tarot Club was simple, but also not very simple. Furthermore, Mr. Fool didnāt interfere much with the development of the gathering.
āHeā seems to only be interested in the so-called Roselleās diaryā¦ But āHeā is willing to offer convenient services on the level of miracles to his members. At this thought, Emlyn couldnāt help but feel a little proud of his identity as The Moon.
Surveying the room of dolls, he recalled his own problem.
A relic worth 4,000 to 5,000 pounds. A chance to become a baron in a short period of time. This is really putting me in a difficult positionā¦
At this moment, although Emlyn hadnāt made his final decision yet, he felt the room grow darker, as though he were shouldering a heavy debt.
ā¦
In the ancient palace above the fog.
Klein pressed his thumb and middle finger of his right hand to one temple and gently rubbed it.
He quickly sat up in the silent environment, allowing a small badge to fly out from the pile of junk and land on the long bronze table in front of him. The badge was only the size of an eyeball. On the surface, there were symbols that symbolized āfateā and āconcealment.ā It was the item that Klein had found on Lanevusās body.
On its back, it was inscribed with the words āYou can join if you have this itemā in ancient Hermes. It also provided the corresponding information for the gathering: āJanuary 4th, 1350, 8 p.m. in Babur Valley.ā
The question Klein needed to consider now was whether he should take the badge to the Babur Valley tomorrow night to try his luck.
Frankly speaking, he was inclined to not delving deeper. Even though he had already advanced to Faceless and was able to put on a perfect disguise, he didnāt want to take the risk, because he didnāt know anything about the gathering.
A Magician never performs unpreparedā¦ He muttered softly, took out a gold coin, and held it between his fingers.
He picked up the badge with his other hand and muttered to himself, āItās risky to attend the gathering in Babur Valley.ā
After repeating this a few times, he finally flicked the gold coin.
The gold coin tumbled down and stood upright in the palm of his hand.
This meant that the divination had failed.
āAs expectedā¦ā Klein wasnāt surprised.
This isnāt a problem of insufficient information, but rather the complete absence of it.
He sat there in silence, letting the gold coin weave between his fingers.
In the end, Klein overcame his curiosity and adventurous spirit and decided not to go.
But that doesnāt mean that I canāt get involved. Tomorrow at 8 p.m., hmmā¦ He smiled faintly and returned to the real world.
ā¦
4th January, 10:35 a.m.
Klein stood in front of a mahogany table and picked up a stack of bills.
There were five ten-pound notes and ten five-pound for a total of one hundred pounds. This was the payment which The Hanged Man had just paid via a sacrifice.
The fifteen notes made Kleinās wallet much fuller, and he was finally able to buy his ticket in peace.
Putting his wallet away, he picked up a thin human-skinned glove on the table and put it on his left hand.
One of the main features of āCreeping Hungerā was that it had a camouflage effect when it wasnāt in use and couldnāt be detected by most Beyonder means; therefore, Klein was able to switch between its original appearance, gloves of various colors, and camouflaging it as skin. This time, he chose black gloves.
To that end, Klein had specially prepared an individual black glove for his right hand.
Soon after, he placed the brown Biological Poison Bottle into a metal box, sealed it with a wall of spirituality, and stuffed it into the inside pocket of his clothes.
As for the Sun Brooch, as long as he wore it and carried it with him, it would create a hot summer feeling. Klein had no choice but to put it in his iron cigarette case and hide it at the bottom of his suitcase.
9 purifying bullets, 15 demon-hunting bullets, 3 exorcism bulletsā¦ Klein took out his revolver and a cartridge box, silently counting as he loaded them.
Pa!
He closed the cylinder, inserted the revolver into his underarm holster, put on his black tweed coat and half top hat, picked up his cane and suitcase, and walked out of the hotel room.
Apart from the All-Black Eye and the other items that he couldnāt use still being above the gray fog, he was fully armed.
Taking a carriage, Klein arrived at the Pritz Harbor Ticket Company located in White Rose Borough.
This company was located in a rather old three-story building. There was a wooden notice board on the door.
Klein walked over and stopped there. He casually glanced at the board which said:
āThings to take note:
ā1. Maintain order. Lines are strictly enforced;
ā2. Do not urinate or defecate, as well as spitting;
ā3. Find the guard in the lobby if there is a dispute;
ā4. Do not open canned wolf-fish in any of the rooms!ā
Canned wolf-fish? Whatās that? Klein raised his eyebrows.