Secrets: Priestess

Chapter 181 "Trial"

"Ms. Viper, the continuous study, especially the intense rapid memorization, has made me feel a little dizzy. I hope to pause and rest for a while."

Audrey held her forehead with her hands, and her emerald eyes looked at Claire with a pitiful look, as if she had been exhausted.

Claire's tone, hidden beneath her cloak, hinted at regret. "Really? But after today, I'll have to deal with the mission assigned by Captain Galadilla, so I'm afraid I won't have time to tutor you. Based on our current pace, it will take at least two more hours to complete the most important and fundamental content."

Hearing Claire's words, Audrey was anxious to participate in the next Tarot gathering, but she also didn't want to give up this rare tutoring opportunity. She quickly said, "I'm not ending today's tutoring. I just want to rest for an hour, or even just half an hour."

"Is that so...Okay." With only three minutes left until three o'clock, Claire agreed to Audrey's request and went to the next room to rest as arranged by her.

On the way to the guest room, Claire saw the Fool's figure appear above the gray fog. In the palace as huge as the giant king's court, the Fool materialized the "world" and sat down with it at the beginning and end, respectively.

At three o'clock, a series of misty figures sat down around the long bronze table.

Claire paused as she entered the guest room. She saw a new figure appear at the empty seat on the long bronze table above the gray fog.

……

After watching Anne lead Viper away and have Susie guard the door to the room, Audrey breathed a sigh of relief, cleared her mind, and was prepared to be swallowed by the crimson light.

In the blink of an eye, the towering palace, the long bronze table, and the blurry figures behind the table all made Audrey feel safe and proud.

Huh?
Any new members?

Audrey looked at the new member in her row in surprise.

The new member's seat was between hers and the priestess's seat, slightly closer to the priestess's seat.

Even though she was sitting on the chair, Audrey could clearly see her petite figure, and her messy, rough, shoulder-length blond hair...

With just a quick glance, Audrey was certain that she was the one who had revealed the name of the Fool to the newcomer—

Hugh Dilcha!
"Miss Xiu passed Mr. Fool's assessment? And successfully joined our Tarot Club?"

With this in mind, Audrey restrained her gaze from the newcomers and greeted the Fool at the top seat with a smile, "Good afternoon, Mr. Fool."

A trace of barely perceptible complacency and pride flashed across Audrey's elegant smile. From her perspective, Hugh's joining the Tarot Club was largely due to her efforts in the process.

This gave Audrey a sense of satisfaction that she had done her part to strengthen the organization.

"It seems that Xio finally chose to pray to Mr. Fool. I'm not sure what's happening with Fors... But with Mr. Fool's intervention, Fors's troubles will definitely be resolved."

Audrey, in a good mood, received a nod from the Fool. She didn't hide her curiosity about the new member and asked him directly, "Mr. Fool, is this the new member?"

The Fool leaned back in his chair with a relaxed posture. He raised his hand and manifested twenty-two Tarot cards, which danced and circled on the long bronze table.

Among them, cards such as "The Fool", "Justice", "The Hanged Man", "The High Priestess", "The Queen", "The Sun", and "The World" float vertically and fall in front of their respective seats, while the remaining tarot cards spin and dance above the table in front of the new members.

“Welcome, our new member.” A slight smile lingered in the Fool’s leisurely voice.

……

Xio stared at the dozen or so tarot cards spinning in front of her in confusion. Just now she was in the staff lounge of the Oak Leaf Bar, but in the blink of an eye her vision was swallowed by the crimson light. When her vision cleared, she came to this huge palace that seemed to be a residence for giants.

The panic of arriving here for the first time had not yet faded, but Xio found a sense of familiarity with this place from his own memories.

She's been here!
She had once obtained the three-part honorific name of a hidden being from the interlayer of a book she borrowed from Viscount Greylint's study. After reciting it, she was pulled here by some force.

Because the time was so short, she thought it was a dream!

But apparently not.

Later, after asking Captain Galadilla for help, she learned from the Red Glove Captain that this might be the residence of an evil god, which made her a little panicked for a while.

Fortunately, this evil god didn't seem to care about her too much and never paid any attention to her.

Until she was in danger in Forth, she once again chanted the name of this god...

"We've been noticed!"

When Xio decided to use the "King of Yellow and Black" as a lifeline, she had anticipated this kind of situation. Although she was panicking at the moment, she was not unable to lose her ability to think.

Xio glanced around anxiously.

An elegant lady with smooth blonde hair;
A man with dark blue hair as tangled as seaweed;

A large fellow with tan hair;
A woman whose charm cannot be concealed even by a black robe;
A man with cold eyes under a half-hood.

And at the very top, that indescribable figure.

"Fors is not among these figures."

Wasn't Fors noticed by this god?

Xio heaved a sigh of relief, and even the panic in his heart gradually subsided.

Listening to the conversation between the elegant blonde woman and the supreme, unspeakable being, and the invitation extended to her by the one who seemed to be the "Yellow and Black King," Xio took a deep breath, attempted to initiate a conversation, and respectfully inquired, "Are you the great Yellow and Black King?"

Before the being at the top responded to Xio's question, the blonde woman sitting in the first seat in the same row as Xio spoke first:

"Lucky lady, the one sitting before you is the Fool, who doesn't belong to this era. He is the mysterious ruler above the gray fog, the Yellow and Black King who wields good fortune. He has graciously granted us permission to address you as Mr. Fool."

Mr. Fool...

Is this the secret organization behind Audrey?
Is this the god Audrey believes in?
Miss Audrey... As Quinn thought this, she noticed the familiar, long, smooth hair of the woman who introduced her. An idea suddenly came to her mind -

Could this be Audrey?
But how could Audrey hold such a high position? And actually sit next to the "King of Yellow and Black"?!
Xio felt uncertain again.

Quinn looked at the tarot cards in front of the blonde woman. It was the "Justice" card.

The others are "The Hanged Man", "The Sun", "The Queen", "The World" and "The Priestess".

But strangely, the position of "Priestess" was empty.

There are no tarot cards in front of the remaining empty spaces.

The Hanged Man, who was sitting on the other side of the Fool, also spoke at this moment:
"New lady, we, like you, are allowed to stay here by the grace of Mr. Fool. The great and benevolent Mr. Fool has allowed us to trade formulas, buy and sell materials, exchange information, and commission tasks in this mysterious place. As you can see, the tarot cards in front of us are our code names at the gathering. I am 'The Hanged Man.'"

The Fool's gentle voice rang out again: "Do you want to finalize your code name and stay here, or do you want me to take you back? You called me twice, little one."

Calling twice... I was indeed noticed by this god. Did Fors also get noticed by him?
Considering the safety of her friend, Xio looked at the dozen or so tarot cards hovering in front of her, and finally gritted her teeth and decided to stay.

Stay and explore the danger level here!

After making up his mind, Xio responded in awe, "You are the King of Yellow and Black, the ruler of good luck. Please allow me to draw a lucky card from this swirling deck to serve as my code name."

As Xio said this, he reached out and took a tarot card from the swirling pile.

It is the "Judgment" card.

Xiu was startled.

It really fits my code name...

Is it a coincidence?
Do not……

This must be how well the King of Yellow and Black understands me!

Being hooked up to such a secretive being, I don't know if this is a blessing or a curse... Quinn sighed inwardly. Captain Galadilla had also instructed me to report any similar incidents immediately, but in this case, would I dare to report it?

Then, the gathering officially began. Xiu, who was constantly thinking in his heart, listened to this unique gathering of extraordinary people with the mentality of a newcomer.

At the same time, in the guest room of the Hall Mansion, Claire released the "white paper" with the eye of prying eyes, wanting to observe Audrey's condition while she was participating in the party.

But apart from the deep red light that was impossible to see at first, Audrey then seemed to be in a light sleep, with steady breathing and no abnormalities. Even the spirits could not detect any abnormalities.

"The Fool and the methods used in that gray fog space are truly amazing."

Claire sighed.

After watching Xio join the Tarot Club and receive the codename "Judgment," Claire pondered for a moment, wondering why the Fool chose to light up the crimson star of "Xiu. Dilcha" instead of Fors.

From Claire's perspective, both Xio and Fors had been fixed in this gray foggy space with crimson stars representing their connection.

The Fool could not only contact Xio, but could also contact Fors without any obstacles. However, this choice was clearly based on the Fool's own considerations, and Claire had no way of guessing.

Putting aside this doubt for the moment, Claire continued to listen to the gathering above the gray fog.

Since there were no new diaries, the meeting went straight into the exchange of intelligence.

The first information mentioned to be exchanged was still the sequence information that each member intended to be promoted to. Especially when it came to the transaction of formulas and materials, the method of "sacrifice and gift" mentioned shocked the newcomer Xi greatly.

After the transaction and commission phase ended and the conversation began, Audrey took the lead in discussing the case of the "cannibal woman" in Backlund.

Audrey looked across the long table and said solemnly, "According to my intelligence, this incident may be a sequel to the 'Devil's Painting.' Queen, you may need to be more careful in the near future."

Tessa looked up in surprise after receiving the reminder. After a barely perceptible nod, she said, "The demonic painting? I still have that thing. I've done some research on it, but I haven't come to any conclusion..."

The others were also quite interested in this topic and started chatting about it. Except for the newcomer Xiu, everyone present knew that Beth Lyonness died at the hands of the "Queen". Naturally, they knew that this "cannibalism incident" could not be caused by someone else using the devil's oil painting to cause trouble.

Even the Hanged Man quipped:
"It's possible that the demonic painting's extraordinary power caused this change, or it could be someone targeting the demonic painting who's behind it. Regardless of which speculation is true, Queen, you're bound to be in trouble. Otherwise, you can transfer this trouble to me by offering a sacrifice to Mr. Fool. I'm quite interested in this demonic painting."

The Hanged Man had previously expressed his interest in Beth Lyonness at the party. He seemed to be keeping an eye on the situation in Loen and wanted to use Beth Lyonness to learn about the secrets of the upper class in Loen.

But the "Hanged Man" is obviously not from Loen.

Thinking of this, Audrey wanted to participate, but she was worried that the danger was beyond her ability to bear and might even bring unpredictable disasters to her family, so she gave up.

Xio, who was listening in, pieced together from everyone's discussion that the "Beth's Head" incident that had previously caused a sensation in Loen was actually accomplished by the "Queen" on the opposite side. In addition to being astonished, Xio's guess about the strength of the Tarot Club members present increased several levels.

The gathering of evil gods is indeed not simple...

Xio thought silently.

If Miss Justice is really Audrey, then this seating arrangement doesn't seem to be based on strength?

No, or maybe the real Audrey is pretending!

Since she is already a follower of the evil god, how could Miss Audrey act so simple in front of Fors and me?

By the end of the party, Hugh had already equated Audrey Hall with a dangerous person.

After this gathering, the image of the Tarot Club members in Xio's mind has developed in a new way——

There is Miss "Justice" who is suspected to be Audrey, Mr. "Hanged Man" who has a leadership posture, the young man "Sun" who is in the mysterious Silver City, Ms. "Queen" with unfathomable strength, and Mr. "World" who is ruthless and taciturn.

And Mr. Fool, sitting at the head of the table, seemed to be observing their actions with great interest...

gods.

And the vacant position with a code name also made Xio quite concerned.

At the end of the gathering, out of curiosity and a desire to learn more about the Tarot Club, Xio took the initiative to ask, "Is the vacant seat for the 'Priestess' the one who was absent from the gathering this time?"

Xio's question caused everyone to be silent.

Xio sensed a sadness in the silence.

It was Mr. Fool who responded. He sighed softly and said, "This is the first companion the Tarot Club has lost. The dangers of the extraordinary road, even if you imagine them to the fullest, are still less than one ten-thousandth of them."

Following the Fool's words, Xio also sensed obvious emotions from the people present for the first time. These people all expressed obvious sadness, especially the "Queen" across from him.

"Although this Tarot Club seems loose, there is a certain degree of affection between the members."

"Not a cold-blooded cultist."

As this mysterious gathering came to an end, Xio made this judgment in his heart.

"Tessa's acting is so realistic..." Claire muttered in her heart after she also finished watching.

Compared to Xio who only observed the surface of things, she benefited greatly from being able to glimpse the private conversations among the members at this gathering. In particular, she unexpectedly obtained a lot of detailed information about the twenty-two sequences in Silver City and the creation myth of Silver City from the mouth of "The Sun".

Omniscient and omnipotent God.

Giant King Ormir.

Angerweed, the dragon of fantasy.

The Elf King Sonyathorem.

Lilith, the ancestor of vampires.

The demon king Fabuti.

Gray Carrie, the ancestor of the Phoenix.

The alien king Kwashitun.

The Wolf King, Fregola...

Some of these words were confirmed by Claire from ancient texts.

This also made Claire very curious about the inheritance of Silver City.

"In the description of the 'Sun', the Wolf King, Flegra, is also called the 'Wolf of Destruction' and the 'Wolf of Night'... It's hard not to associate these names with the goddess... And the 'Sun', with such a complete heritage, is completely unaware of the Seven Gods..."

"If my guess is correct, then the history of the Seven Gods doesn't seem... to be very long."

"Unfortunately, the location of Silver City is completely unknown."

Claire sighed softly in her heart.

She tidied herself up briefly, and soon after, Audrey's personal maid came to call her to continue the class.

The white paper with the "Eye of Prying Eyes" hidden in Audrey's room did not notice anything unusual in Audrey's process of returning from the party.

"As expected, the existence of the gray fog space is completely undetectable from the outside... So what's so special about me being able to observe it?"

"I think this trait will be revealed a little bit if I go to the temple... The goddess's attention to me must be related to this trait..."

Hiding these thoughts deep in her heart, Claire returned to Audrey's room under Anne's guidance to continue the unfinished lesson.

(End of this chapter)