Mystery: Survival from the Secret Doll

Chapter 265, 264 strokes

After hearing Mr. Hanged Man's answer, which sounded like a ghost story, Klein's stiff body gradually relaxed as his emotions returned to normal, preventing Miss Justice and Mr. Hanged Man from getting the impression that "Mr. Fool, you seem to have shivered."

"The leader of the secret order is none other than Zarathustra, and he even had contact with Emperor Roselle!"

Klein had a sense of déjà vu, like "why is the world so small?" This feeling of predetermined fate gave even someone like him, who wasn't a big believer in fate, the illusion that "it all seems to have been arranged."

Of course, that should be impossible.

Klein composed himself, not believing that someone as insignificant as him could be manipulated by anyone or for some inexplicable reason.

After all, he was just an ordinary Sequence 9. Apart from the strange space above this gray fog being a bit special, his identity as a "transmigrator" was the only thing that was eye-catching enough.

Klein could not possibly reveal his identity as a "transmigrator." Even now, in Tingen, the city of miracles, he did not rashly expose his existence to the transmigrator senior who was confirmed to be the founder or partner of Miskatonic University.

"It really is such a coincidence."

A fateful coincidence.

This seemingly fateful coincidence can actually be explained to some extent by Klein's knowledge of mysticism.

"The Law of Convergence of Extraordinary Characteristics?"

As the three fundamental laws of the occult world—the conservation of extraordinary properties, the indestructibility of extraordinary properties, and the aggregation of extraordinary properties—Klein had already learned about these three laws when he studied with Old Neil at 32 Red Rose Street, in the Night Watchers' office building.

"This situation does indeed fit the characteristics of extraordinary property aggregation. However, I am just a Sequence 9. How could I possibly generate such a large aggregation effect?"

Klein was baffled, but he couldn't explain these bizarre incidents involving "fortune tellers" that had occurred frequently since his transmigration. He could only attribute them to his bad luck and the mastermind behind the missing notebook case who had come to Tingen City.

Klein didn't pay much attention to the conversation between Miss Justice and Mr. Hanged Man that followed. However, at the end of the gathering, Klein brought up some of his guesses and ideas from when he was learning ritual magic from Old Neil.

“I have something to ask you.” Klein remained in his seated position and tapped his knuckles lightly on the table to attract the attention of Mr. “The Hanged Man” and Ms. “Justice.” “This requires your cooperation.”

"As I mentioned before, we'll be experimenting with ways to allow you to ask for leave in advance, so you don't have to worry about being in an inappropriate situation on Monday afternoon..."

-

"That's it for today."

"As you wish, Mr. Error."

"Justice" Audrey and "The Hanged Man" Alger stood up, bowed, and paid their respects to Mr. "Error" at the head of the bronze table.

As the crimson stars faded and the ancient, unchanging gray mist fell silent once more, Mr. "Mistake" straightened his black silk top hat and slowly took out several translucent insects from the pocket of his tailcoat.

They floated out of Mr. "Mistake"'s hand, as if possessing their own spirit, and burrowed into the two figures who had somehow ended up sitting in the positions of "Justice" and "The Hanged Man."

They recombined with the two clones of Mr. "Mistake" formed by the Time Worms, and the two clones of Mr. "Mistake" began to change. Their expressions gradually became more vivid and lifelike, as if they had been infused with their own souls.

These reflections of "justice" and "the Hanged Man," born from "errors" and "loopholes," become increasingly vivid.

They sat in their places, seemingly becoming the real "Hanged Man," the real "Justice."

They prayed in whispers:

"A fool who does not belong to this era..."

"The mysterious ruler above the gray fog..."

"The King of Yellow and Black, who holds the key to good fortune..."

"I pray for your help."

"I pray for your favor."

"I pray to you, let me have a good dream..."

Layer upon layer of prayers echoed above the vast, boundless gray fog.

Mr. "Mistake" sat at the head of the long bronze table, slowly closing his eyes, seemingly asleep amidst the illusory, layered prayers.

On either side of the bronze table, in addition to the "Hanged Man," "Justice," "Chariot," and "Fool," two more figures appeared.

They each occupied one of the two seats on either side of the long bronze table, bowing and greeting the Tarot Club members beside them.

Finally, the two new members bowed to Mr. "Mistake" at the head of the bronze table, saying, "Good afternoon, Mr. 'Mistake'."

-

real world.

After Klein regained consciousness, he came out of the bathroom.

Although he tried to minimize his time above the gray fog, the gathering there had a profound impact on Klein, causing him to spend an excessive amount of time in the restroom in the real world…

Klein opened the bathroom door and glanced at his hospital room.

Good, it didn't attract the nurse's attention.

He secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then lay back down on the bed, waiting for Miss Justice and Mr. Hanged Man to hold the ceremony, to see if he could use the three-part honorific name to respond using the mysterious space above the gray fog.

This is a test of some mechanism in the mysterious space above the gray fog.

This is very likely the root cause of his time travel; the sooner he grasps it, the sooner he can return home.

"Since the Gray Fog was able to bring in Miss Justice and Mr. Hanged Man, then its status, well, that is to say, should not be low."

It exists in the real world, yet transcends it; it is truly a miracle...

While anxiously awaiting the results of this attempt, Klein's attention involuntarily shifted to another topic.

"However, the leader of the secret order is actually named Zarathustra."

The leader of the secret order is Zarathustra, a high-ranking noble family from the Solomon Empire in the Fourth Age. According to Klein's understanding of the Fourth Age, the Zarathustra family was on par with the Antigonus family at that time, both being high-ranking noble families in the Solomon Empire and both possessing the "diviner's" path.

And now, the descendant of that great nobleman of the Fourth Age is investigating the notes of the Antigonus family, who are also nobles of the Solomon Empire... Meanwhile, the leader of the secret order is suspected of having had contact with Emperor Roselle.

"No, it's also possible that the Zaratu mentioned by the Emperor in his diary was just someone from the Zaratu family, and not specifically the angel from the Secret Order."

The surname Zarathustra, being a diviner, does not necessarily mean that he is the leader of the secret order. There are quite a few people with the same surname, and the Zarathustra family itself controls the diviner's path. Without the necessary supplementary conditions, the equation cannot be established.

"But regardless of whether the Zarathustra the Emperor knew was the angel from the Secret Order... Antigonus and the Secret Order are clearly high-ranking figures who control the diviner's path. Indeed, when gods fight, mortals suffer..."

As for the connection between Hornakis, Fregra, and the ancient god of the Second Age, Fregra, the Destroyer Wolf...

Klein recalled a small portion of the Antigonus family notes that he and Welch had deciphered, which mentioned a kingdom called "Night Country" above the Hornach Mountains.

"The terrifying and bizarre murmurs that diviners hear during their advancement may originate from the Hornach Mountains, from the high-ranking diviners who reside there..."

Klein recalled Old Neil's interpretation of "Honakis, Fregra's" and breathed a sigh of relief.

The concentration of fortune tellers in Tingen has recently exceeded the standard.

Shortly after the party ended, Pedigru visited St. Peter's Hospital in prison.

“I brought some notes from that mad member of the Secret Order. I think you might be interested, just to pass the time.”

"But you have to be prepared," Pedigru said. "While there's nothing wrong with the notes themselves, there are some parts, some things, that are pretty creepy."

A notebook that gives you the creeps?
Klein's heart skipped a beat. Pedigris took out some notes from the file bag, which were obviously copies of the notes of the mad members of the Secret Order. The copies were neatly stacked together, looking like a thick stack, not something that one person could write in a short period of time.

"This contains not only the notes of that cult member who went mad, but also a large number of strange paintings."

"painting?"

Pedigre nodded. "Yes, the investigators from Miskatonic have examined it. Although the painting doesn't contain any extraordinary powers, it does have a rather eerie atmosphere."

Paintings with a horror story atmosphere?
Klein thought of some novels he had read before he transmigrated, novels that contained illustrations that could help readers better understand the content.

Do these paintings serve a similar purpose?
Klein took the things Pedigru gave him and started looking at the notes of the insane cult member.

On the first page he looked at, Klein saw the following written in the notes:
"This is the day I become a magician. I have prepared the Sequence 7 potion recipe and main ingredients. Hmm, now I can start concocting the potion and prepare to advance to Sequence 7, Magician, through the Diviner pathway."

"The bigwigs in the Secret Order told me that there won't be any major problems during the advancement process to Sequence 9, Sequence 8, and Sequence 7. These are just low-sequence potions and don't require rituals. As long as the potion is prepared correctly, there won't be any issues."

"Promotion to Sequence 7 only makes the audible babbling a little louder than when promoting to Sequence 8. As long as I ignore those things, Sequence 7 is not dangerous for a 'clown' like me, provided I can digest the potion through acting."

"..."

“I heard that voice again during my advancement process, ‘Honakis,’ ‘Fregra.’ What does that mean? What exists on the main peak of the Honakis Mountains? I asked others before, but they didn’t seem to know either. Perhaps I will know when I become a Master of Mystic Puppetry, a Trickster.”

"However, there's still one thing I'm not quite sure about."

"During my journey to becoming a magician, I vaguely saw a vision."

"But I can't remember clearly. I asked my mentor, and my mentor told me that I must never recall or remember anything I saw or heard during the advancement process. This was true before I advanced to Sequence 4 and became a Trickster."

Sequence 4 of the Diviner's Path, the potion is called Trickster.

Klein already knew this when he encountered the cultist sorcerer.

He continued looking down.

"But after I became a magician, I dreamed of that scene that I should have forgotten."

Klein, having read this far, prepared to turn to the next page.

Pedigris stopped him. "Prepare yourself. This is a painting created by that mad magician using ritual magic."

Although it doesn't possess the spiritual pollution symbolized by mysticism, it still manages to lower your sanity level.

"Illustration? The illustration for that dream."

Klein was silent for a moment, then turned the pages of the book in his hand.

The sound of paper rubbing together was strangely rough, and the things drawn by the crazy members of the secret society slowly appeared before Klein's eyes.

The sun outside the window has gradually set, and the crimson moon is slowly rising from the distant edge of the city.

The mineral lamp in the ward seemed to be stimulated by something, flickering rapidly twice for no apparent reason, but quickly returned to normal.

Klein seemed completely unaffected as he looked at the second page of his notebook.

It was a painting rendered in oppressive black.

In the painting, a continuous mountain range is covered in intense darkness, with tiny figures layered on top of each other, their intricate arrangement seemingly filling the entire mountain range.

It seemed that from the countless black figures covering the mountains and fields, countless thin black lines grew, flying towards the highest peak of the continuous mountain range and connecting to a place that looked like a palace.

Looking at the painting, Klein didn't find anything terrifying about it; on the contrary, he felt a sense of physical discomfort from the monotonous colors.

"It seems a bit nonsensical, doesn't it?"

"Pedigre said."

Klein nodded honestly, not finding anything frightening about the painting, which could only be described as having somewhat oppressive colors and composition.

Pedigru said, "Klein, have you ever seen a moving dead body?"

"This painting is real."

"All the little figures drawn on the mountain here, they are all..."

“The dead who should have died, now living corpses.”

(End of this chapter)