Lord of Mysteries: Taiyi

A dog was actually speaking human language! Audrey was completely at a loss for words; it felt slightly unreal. Until Susie nodded innocently and replied:

"In your human terms, I did speak just now."

Audrey patted her cheeks with her hands, which were covered in white gauze gloves, to convince herself that this was a normal phenomenon in the extraordinary world before asking curiously:

"Didn't you only bark before? Awooo? Pshaw, why would I bark like a dog?"

Susie stuck out her tongue and said, puzzled:

"I don't understand your behavior either, and that's not how I usually call you, Audrey."

Audrey nodded with a slight blush, then suddenly had a blasphemous idea: could she get Mr. Fool Rasusie to join the Tarot Club? That way, the Tarot Club would have five members, and all of them would be extraordinary!

"No, wait, a dog sitting in a high-backed chair discussing various secret organizations and mysterious, extraordinary knowledge with the members... Just thinking about that scene is really weird... A dog sitting upright in a mysterious and serious gathering... Mr. Fool would definitely kick Susie and me out of the Tarot Club right away..."

Audrey's thoughts wandered slightly, and she finally gave up on asking Susie which tarot card she liked. Her face turned slightly serious as she said:

"Susie, please don't say this in front of outsiders! Otherwise, we might never see each other again."

Susie wagged her tail and sat up, mimicking Audrey's call from before, barking twice:

"Woof woof woof, howl howl."

"You can only talk to me when we're alone... and don't imitate my voice!"

Audrey's face flushed instantly as she listened to Susie mimicking her voice. She looked at her beloved pet—no, now she should call her friend—with a mixture of amusement and exasperation.

Seeing the clock on the wall, she realized it was almost three in the afternoon. Quickly calming herself, she went to the bedside and took a yellowish-brown, worn piece of paper from under her soft pillow. She said to Susie:

"Susie, you stay and guard the door well, don't open it for anyone."

Susie tilted her head, returned to her usual posture, and stuck out her tongue, letting out a soft bark.

"Susie, that's not ladylike at all."

……

In the Sunia Sea, Alger's ghost ship has left the Roside Islands and is chasing after "The Listener".

Alger, already a "navigator," entered the captain's cabin half an hour early, fearing that something might happen.

He looked at the almost transparent glass of strong liquor in front of him, his nose twitching at the rich aroma. He recalled the boundless gray fog that had appeared before him in the hotel corridor that day, and the fool sitting in the center of the fog. His body trembled slightly again.

After drinking that glass of wine, Alger quickly regained his usual calm and composure, quietly waiting for the Tarot meeting to begin.

……

Backlund, at 36 Ewald Street, at the intersection of the West End and Queens, on the third floor of the nearly bankrupt Bard Watch Shop.

Kurt gently put down his pen, wiped away the lingering smile from the corner of his mouth, ignited a spiritual flame in his fingers, burned the draft paper to ashes, glanced at the exquisite watch, took a slight breath, and then a deep red light instantly erupted from Kurt's body, engulfing him.

……

Above the gray fog, beneath the towering dome that resembled the residence of a giant king, the Tarot meeting was held as scheduled.

In the ancient, boundless gray fog, beside an old, weathered bronze table, at a mysterious and solemn tarot gathering, Audrey's sweet voice, representing "Justice," rang out as usual:

Good afternoon, Mr. Fool.

"Good afternoon, my lover~"

Good afternoon, Mr. Hanged Man~

Klein nodded slightly at the lively "Justice" Miss. His pre-activated spiritual vision revealed that "Justice's" aura was somewhat unstable. "Justice" Miss wasn't in "audience mode" today; had something happened...?

After the greetings were over, Audrey smiled slightly at the Fool and said:

"Your attempt was a success, but unfortunately there's no wine here to celebrate."

Alger Wilson also joined in the praise:

"Your strength is beyond our imagination."

Kut, shrouded in gray fog, also offered a word of congratulations:

"I am honored to have participated in your attempt and I am sincerely happy for its success."

Klein was still shrouded in a thick gray mist. He pressed his right hand down as if answering a trivial question, and calmly said:

"Great, this means that if you have something to do on Monday afternoon and can't get away, you can let me know in advance. You just need to change the 'praying for a good dream' part of the incantation to a specific reason."

"Okay." Audrey nodded in a light tone. "Mr. Fool, I've acquired a copy of Emperor Roselle's diary this week."

"I've been away from land this week and haven't been able to find it." Alger pressed his right hand to his chest and bowed slightly in apology.

Kurt's lips curled slightly as he spoke:

"I wrote down the remaining three pages of my diary this time."

Mr. Kurt seemed rather pleased. Had something good happened? Oh right, he should be able to ask Mr. Fool for payment now, and I still owe Mr. Fool a diary… Audrey thought with a touch of envy.

"Audrey, you have to do your best..." Justice encouraged himself inwardly, then heard the Fool's words.

The Fool Klein tapped the armrest of his chair lightly with his finger and spoke calmly:

"Very good, Mr. 'Lover,' you can now think about what kind of reward you need."

After saying that, he looked at the "Hanged Man" and said:

"Don't worry about it, this is destined to be a long-term commission and transaction. Now, you two can materialize the diary."

Klein was actually quite uneasy. Kurt seemed to have a significant background, possibly backed by a powerful secret organization. He felt that Kurt's request was something he couldn't answer or help with right now. If it were asking for Sequence Seven or Sequence Five formulas, he could complete the transaction, but he didn't yet know the specific value of these potion formulas…

However, upon further reflection, it wasn't a big deal. After all, in Klein's current understanding, no god had the title of being omniscient and omnipotent; this should be common sense... After thinking of his response, Klein guided the diary containing the manifestations of "Justice" and "Lover" to his front.

Kurt, having submitted three pages of his romantic history, was pondering what questions to ask later. He realized Klein still knew too little; he should have fabricated some facts... Kurt was somewhat annoyed. He had overlooked the fact that the "Fool" preferred equivalent exchanges, because subconsciously he didn't expect Klein to provide any assistance beyond Gray Fog communications and transactions...

So he didn't have the idea of ​​getting payment from Mr. Fool, thus overlooking this point, and this time he submitted nothing but useless anecdotes... But Kurt quickly found a way: he could ask some very sophisticated questions, preferably ones that they wouldn't understand, so it wouldn't be too surprising if Mr. Fool couldn't answer them. He couldn't very well ask Roselle how many mistresses he had in total, could he...?

Or should I symbolically request to purchase the recipe? That would make me seem more normal, as I would need the Tarot Club to obtain the recipe.

Klein probably couldn't produce it, and that wouldn't actually damage his image. Whether in the original story or in the first three Tarot readings about formula transactions, Mr. Fool was always in an eavesdropping state... Unless Klein divined the honorific name Kurt gave him, no way... right?

Kurt was a little undecided. His potion should be fully digested soon, and changing the formula now would be a bit of a loss...