At the happy, energetic voice, the corners of the red-haired man's mouth turned up a little higher than they already were.
While he had missed that voice, Adryan went with the flow of the club and, rising, also saluted the figure at the top of the table with a respectful bow.
"Good afternoon, Mr Fool."
'I knew it wasn't my imagination, that guy is taller now. The hunter's pathway seems to bring considerable augmentations to the body. If that's the way that path is, how ridiculous would the path that not only has Giant by name but comes from them be? Well, taking as an example Sun, who is barely a teenager, is already taller than me, the real beyonders must be huge...' Lampooning a bit, Klein looked at his fellow and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow internally.
But, maintaining the image of the mysterious Fool, he didn't comment on the matter, instead giving a slight nod with his chin resting on two fingers.
Smiling enigmatically, the Fool said without haste, "Welcome back, Mr Chariot. Congratulations on your successful hunt."
Returning to be part of the mighty poor god's act, Adryan acted his part with a stellar performance and smiled in gratitude.
"Thank you very much for your kind words, Mr Fool, but I don't feel worthy of receiving them. It is nothing that looks deserving of your attention."
As he said that, Adryan made sure to bow a little more, showing how honored he was to be praised by the club leader.
Thanks to the increased control over his expression after being a Magician, the corners of Klein's mouth didn't even twitch at the embarrassing words.
'A little more humility at least. It was nothing says this guy, it's a Demigod we're talking about!
'Are all hunters like this? No wonder Roselle wanted to hit that Floren Sauron guy so badly. Emperor, I understand your pain and discomfort, you try to lend a hand and they take away your whole arm, your legs, and your dignity...' Controlling his face from showing his annoyance, Klein rolled his eyes sarcastically within himself at his soul brother's personality.
But, remembering that this was a place that sought equivalent exchange, he let it go—a fair payment.
This wasn't the first time Joa had completed a successful hunt at the Tarot Club, but it was the first that directly involved a demigod. Being that one of the members was a significant part of it, for the mysterious and ancient existence that was The Fool to casually mention it wouldn't raise suspicion and fall into his role.
'It would even be strange for me not to mention it, being that I congratulate a member for becoming a Beyonder and advancing to Sequence 8. I cannot present so much favoritism as a boss, it is not suitable...' Adding in his heart, the Fool Klein said nothing more and only nodded.
Justice Audrey Hall glanced out of the corner of her eye at the back of the table.
'So he succeeded after all... I guess it makes sense that if anyone from the Tarot Club were to go up against a demigod and win, it would be him...
"Mr Chariot seems to find himself in ridiculous situations all the time. Is it because he seeks them out, or is it just that he has a lot of bad luck?
'Sigh. Whatever the case, he always seems to know how to react accordingly. This is the skill of an experienced beyonder, in a world like this, adaptation is survival... I wonder if I will ever be able to do that? What does it take to get to that point...'
Her short analysis and internal dialogue suddenly stopped. A little dazed, she had to control her expression with a little more attention.
Despite the distance Chariot was from them, the mysterious gray mist that permeated this place carried his voice without a problem, so conversations were easy. The same could not be said for seeing him.
Yet, even through the fog, it was undeniable that Chariot looked bigger than before.
'He's always been a tall man, but...' Unable to help herself, her eyes shifted slightly, and she quickly glanced at the other inhabitant deep within the bronze table.
While Mr World had an aura that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, Audrey would be lying if she said it wasn't cute the size difference between the two.
Biting her cheeks hard, the noblewoman quickly closed her eyes and cut all thoughts from her mind.
The one she had called cute was also the blessed of a God!
The same one who was only four steps away from her!
'Don't push your luck, Audrey! Even if Mr Fool has proven to be kind and merciful, insulting his blessed one in his kingdom is a huge disrespect!!!' Going into cogitation, the noblewoman quickly reigned over her thoughts.
Hanged Man Alger only allowed himself a few moments to glance at the man in the background before returning his gaze to the middle of the table. His brow furrowed slightly.
'His presence is heavier...'
Being an experienced beyonder who had close encounters with death and been in the same room with true powerhouses such as Vice Admirals and Sea Kings, Alger knew how to recognize power.
That's why he immediately noticed the change in the most well-known but unknown member of the club.
He didn't even have to see him to know that he had advanced, just feeling it was enough.
'It was clear that for someone like Mr. Chariot, hunting a Demigod would not be as simple as it sounded. In the end, there were intentions aside. But using one to advance, isn't that too much? Why did he do it? It's not as if his exploit would be heard around the world as his time in Backlund. Is there another motive? What kind? To act in advance? Is he really willing to risk so much to digest his potion?
'What sequence is he even in now? At the very least, he would have to be Sequence 5...' While Alger felt he was far from understanding how the mind of a blessed one worked, there was one thing he was sure of.
Before long, the Tarot Club would have its first demigod.
The Sun Derrick, for his part, just sat there with a big toothy grin. Happy that the Tarot Club was once again complete and that his role model had succeeded in his hunt.
Magician Fors closed her eyes and resigned, 'Goodbye, calm, I'll miss you.'
While she said that, it was actually a bit more reassuring to have that madman here again. Being alone in a place as strange and mysterious as this, without someone she knew, was a bit awkward and even uncomfortable.
Noticing that no one was saying anything, Alger took the opportunity to lead a little. Turning his head to the top of the table, he placed a hand on his chest and gave a respectful bow.
"Mr Fool, I have managed to get two pages of the Emperor's diary."
With Chariot's assignment yet to be completed on an artifact capable of resisting the effects of the full and blood moon, he had been attending gatherings more frequently than he usually did, which gave him the opportunity to also complete Mr Fool's mission.
Of course, Alger never asked for the pages often, only very occasionally, and always with a disguise concealing his identity. He preferred to buy in bulk as it reduced the chance of them being fakes, but he hadn't had much luck. The gatherings he had attended were too low level to be able to repeat the feat of a few months ago, they were better for getting information or listening to rumors and news than anything else.
'New pages! Finally... Please let it not be another escapade!' Happiness and fear mingled in Klein's heart, who didn't know what to expect.
Every page of Emperor Roselle he received was a Russian roulette in that sense, offering either useful information or heavily explicit details about his life.
'Well... it is a diary after all. I don't know what I expect with that...' Nodding and presenting the supplies to the Hanged Man, Klein soon had a yellowed parchment with the promised contents in his hands.
Increasing considerably the effort he was putting into controlling his expression and body language, along with raising his mental barriers, Klein calmly began to read.
**
July 30.The meeting with that organization ended a few hours ago.
First of all, one of the members expressed interest in the changes that happen when one changes their path.Whether they do it in Sequence 4 or later, the abilities already possessed would mix with the changed sequence, generating terrifying and powerful combinations.The change of pathways can also be seen in their mythological creature forms that become a combination of both paths.
Sooner rather than later, the discussion turned from changes to the reason why there were pathways that had more cards to choose from than others.
Some complained that it was unfair that the Spectator, Sun, Sailor, Reader, and Secret Supplicant pathways could interchange with each other while pathways like the Monster were alone.
The only ones that came close to that ridiculous number were the Hunter, Assassin, Sleepless, Corpse Collector, and Warrior pathways. Then there was the Seer, Marauder, and Apprentice, which came in third.
Except for the Monster Pathway, which has no adjacent pathway, fourth place is a tie among the rest of the pathways, which can only be exchanged with a maximum of one.
For example, my own, the Savant Pathway, is only interchangeable with the Mystery Pathway.
But that's not what confused me, I already knew all that.
As the other members continued to discuss what that meant, old Hermes calmly approached me.
With a simpering smile, he said, "Did you know that the Moses Ascectic Order conducted an experiment in the Fourth Epoch to try to find out if Monster really didn't have an adjacent path?"
What kind of crap was this old man talking about?
By that point, the pathways had already been determined thanks to the First Blasphemy Slate; everyone knew what would happen if someone tried to switch to a path that wasn't adjacent to theirs.
Death or go completely insane.
Shit! They even had the Blood Emperor Himself to know what would happen if they tried to do that!
From what he said about the time of this experiment, the Hidden Sage had already been born.So asking about 'how' they had conducted that experiment was not necessary.
Leaving that aside, even as a newborn, His mutterings already fried the brains of the members of the organization who did that stupid thing?
I knew he was just being annoying and ridiculous.For an elder older than Feysac and Intis, old Hermes has a certain mischievousness.
Is this common in third-age people?Well, in his case, it would be people of the tenth age... Hehehehehehe.
Well, the wretch aroused my curiosity and I asked him about it.
"And what was the result?Madness or death?A combination of the two?"
The next thing he told me is what puzzles me.
"Ironically, the chances of losing control by switching to the Red Priest pathway are 5 percent lower."
What is that supposed to mean?Why is it ironic that it's lower with the Red Priest pathway than with other pathways?What makes it different?
I decided to try my luck and asked him about it. I didn't think he would answer me, but he did, and not only that, he even explained it to me.
Apart from its name being unique among the other Sequence 0s, it turns out that this path is the one that resists fate the most.
The reason for this is due to the authority that dominates, War!
It is a war against destiny itself for dominance over one's own control.One between two sides that will not yield.
With his words, he reminded me of something. Sequence 1 of this path is called Conqueror. This being so, how could they allow themselves to bend the knee to destiny and allow themselves to be dominated?It was against their very nature!
Also, this makes it so that, from Iron-Blooded Knight onwards, the beyonders of this path are difficult to track by methods that depend on fate. Divination of all kinds included.
Curious...
**
'If I didn't know that Joa still isn't a demigod, as well as that what's hiding him is that terrifying tunic, this would kill any doubts I had about whether he's one... Conqueror...' Klein looked at this page with eyes glinting slightly.
Turning to the next page, Klein noticed that it was significantly shorter and lacked the date, making it incomplete.
Already expecting to be disappointed, he just continued reading without pause.
**
It has been 4 years since I became an angel.With the growth of my anchors and my digestion of the potion, that 'other me' has become unable to bother me.
As it should be.How dare you mess with the protagonist of this era!
Anyway... Today has the potential to be at least curious.
A few days ago, I was invited by the Church to have a private talk with 'Pope Francis,' it's in a few hours.I wonder what they want...
It's impossible for them to know what I plan to do; that organization helped me conceal it, so it must be something else.
I'll tell you about it later...
I don't even know why I get excited with them, they never give me or say anything interesting!
All this theater was to give me another title, one that is almost identical to the one I was given decades ago.Don't they have any creativity whatsoever?Shame!
If they ask me, they can throw it in the corner along with the hundreds of titles I have acquired over the years, which, like this church, are empty.
Well, at least it's cool; it rolls better on the tongue.
"Herald of Steam Roselle"
Mmm
It almost makes me feel bad about what I'm about to do... Almost.
I'm about to finish my preparations with that organization, If there are no sudden changes at the end of the year, right at the time of the announcement of my new title to the public, we can have the biggest heist in history!
With-
**
The page ended there.
'...'
Klein had to control his eyelid from trembling.