Mystery: The Witch of Desire

Livre had some guesses about the blue-haired man, but given his cautious nature, she couldn't tell which of the information he revealed was true.

The blonde girl thought for a moment, then smiled and said:

"I'll choose a more confidential way and tell you right here, even though it will test my memory."

Since Mr. Fool agreed to witness the transaction, it means there will be another similar "gathering" in the future.

Thinking about these things, she suddenly turned her head, her eyes shining as she looked at Mr. Fool, who sat at the head of the table, and suggested with great interest:

"Mr. Fool, would you mind trying this a few more times?"

The blue-haired man echoed:

“Mr. Fool, don’t you think this kind of ‘gathering’ is interesting? Although your power is beyond our imagination, there are always areas in the world that you don’t understand or are not good at. The lady opposite you is obviously of noble birth. I also have my own unique experience, knowledge, channels and resources. Perhaps she and I can help you do some trivial things that are inconvenient for you to do on your own at some point in the future.”

Liviel was somewhat embarrassed. Both of them had shown great interest in the party, perhaps seeing it as an opportunity to enhance their own strength. However, Liviel had already had enough adventures, and she didn't want to be inexplicably pulled into an unknown world and bear unknown risks.

But in this situation, if I openly disagree and express my unwillingness to attend the next gathering, will this fool feel that I am disrespecting him, or will he kill me to prevent me from revealing the details of the gathering?

Left with no other choice, Livre reluctantly agreed:

"I think this is a very good suggestion."

The blonde girl paused for a moment, clearly surprised that the blue-haired man had mentioned her noble birth, but she quickly recovered and nodded without hesitation:

“Mr. Fool, I also think that gentleman’s suggestion is very good. As long as the ‘gathering’ becomes regular, there are some things that you are not able to do in person, you can simply hand them over to us, of course, within our capabilities.”

Mr. Fool stopped tapping the armrest of his chair, and smiled as he met the six expectant yet apprehensive gazes:

"I am someone who likes equivalent exchange."

"I won't let you help me unconditionally."

"Every Monday at 3 pm, try to be alone. After I try a few more times and figure things out, maybe you can ask for leave in advance and won't have to worry about being in inappropriate situations."

This means that he agreed to the suggestion of holding another gathering in the future.

The blonde girl immediately jumped for joy, clenching her fists and waving them lightly in front of her chest.

"Shouldn't we give ourselves a nickname too? After all, we can't communicate using our real names."

Her eyes sparkled, and she was full of enthusiasm, like a naive young girl.

"good idea."

Mr. Fool gave a brief reply.

The blonde girl said as she pondered:

“You are Mr. Fool, from the Tarot. As a regular, long-term, and secret ‘gathering,’ the titles should be as consistent as possible. Well, I’ll choose from the Tarot as well.”

Her tone gradually became more cheerful:

"It's decided, my title is 'Justice'!"

This is one of the twenty-two Major Arcana cards in the Tarot deck, ranking twelfth.

Livre, who had some knowledge of tarot cards, pictured a woman holding a sword in one hand and scales in the other.

That's great! I really wanted to choose the Justice card too...

"And you, miss?"

After making her choice, the blonde girl smiled and looked at Livre sitting next to her.

Aside from justice, Livre most wanted to choose either the priestess or the devil, as these would better suit the eerie and wicked feeling of a witch. However, on the other hand, she thought that she had already completed the role of Sequence 7, and the role of pleasure that followed should lean more towards the sweet and joyful kind...

Liviel hesitated for a moment, then spoke:

"I choose my lover."

The blonde girl then looked at the blue-haired man opposite her.

The blue-haired man frowned slightly, then relaxed and said:

"The Hanged Man".

This is yet another Major Arcana card.

"Okay, then we're considered founding members of the Tarot Club!"

The blonde girl blurted out happily, then looked somewhat timidly at the Fool shrouded in grayish-white mist:

"Is everything alright, Mr. Fool?"

Mr. Fool smiled and shook his head, saying:

"You can make your own decisions about such a small matter."

"Thank you!"

The blonde girl was clearly excited.

Then, she looked at the blue-haired man:

"Mr. Hanged Man, could you please repeat the address I just gave you? I'm afraid my memory isn't strong enough."

"no problem."

Mr. Hanged Man seemed to appreciate Miss Justice's earnestness and repeated the address.

After repeating it three times, Miss Justice said again with great interest:

"I've heard that Tarot cards were just a game invented by Emperor Roselle, and don't actually have any divination function?"

"No, often, divination originates from within oneself. Everyone has spirituality and can communicate with the spirit world, sensing higher-level information related to themselves. It's just that ordinary people cannot perceive this, let alone interpret the 'hints' they receive. When they use divination tools, this information will be presented through the tools. A simple example is dreams and dream interpretation."

The Hanged Man glanced at Mr. Fool, and seeing that he made no comment, he refuted Ms. Justice's statement:

"Tarot cards are actually this kind of tool. They use more symbolism and more rational elements to help us interpret 'hints' more conveniently and accurately."

“I understand.” Miss Justice nodded in agreement, then emphasized, “That’s not what I meant. I’m not questioning the Tarot cards. I’ve heard that Emperor Roselle actually created a different deck of cards, a secret deck that symbolizes some unknown power, with twenty-two cards in total. After completing it, he used that deck as a reference to invent the twenty-two Major Arcana cards of the Tarot as a game tool. Is this statement accurate?”

She looked toward the head of the bronze table, as if seeking answers from the mysterious Fool.

No, that's not how it works. The Tarot deck was borrowed from Roselle... However, the number 22 does indeed correspond to the divine path, and some Major Arcana cards have a certain correspondence with a certain path. This must be a coincidence, right?

Mr. Fool simply smiled and didn't speak, turning his gaze to the "Hanged Man" as if he were about to test him.

The Hanged Man instinctively straightened his back and said in a deep voice:

"Yes, it is said that Emperor Roselle saw the Profane Tablet and created that deck of cards based on it. That deck of cards contains the secrets of the twenty-two divine paths."

"Twenty-two divine paths..."

Miss Justice repeated in a tone full of longing.

Livre was stunned. If the twenty-two divine paths recorded on the blasphemous tablet could really correspond to the twenty-two Major Arcana cards of the Tarot, that would be terrifying!

Tarot cards are from the original world!

Is there some kind of connection between the original world and the present world?

Upon closer examination, it's not impossible. After all, there's more than one time traveler in this world, and they basically use the same calendar. Their weights and measures, cultural customs, and industrial development also have many similarities. Perhaps there is indeed some kind of connection between the two worlds.

At this moment, Miss Justice seemed to remember something and looked at Livre, saying:

"Miss, I'm still very curious..."

Before Miss Justice could finish speaking, Livre suddenly had a feeling that the table in front of her and the chair beneath her seemed to be moving in some strange way.

"Alright, that's all for today's gathering."

Mr. Fool suddenly interrupted Miss Justice, speaking in a low voice.

"As you wish." The Hanged Man bowed his head in greeting.

"As you wish." Livre and Miss Justice bowed their heads in a gesture of respect, mimicking the "Hanged Man."

Liviel felt her connection to the gray mist fading, and in the distance came the Fool's deep laughter:

Let's look forward to the next gathering.

The "stars" dimmed, and the deep red light receded like water, making the figures of Miss Justice and Mr. Hanged Man even more blurred and illusory.

In less than a second, Livre found herself back in her hotel room.

In that instant, the Bloodthirsty Gloves, which had previously emitted a red glow, shuddered violently and then emitted a agonizing scream, like that of a living being.

Livre was startled. She took it in her hand and found that its spirituality was greatly damaged and it was in a state of extreme thirst for blood.

Furthermore, it seemed to have lost the ability to actively bite others, howling helplessly like a dying little animal.

It seems that Mr. Fool brought me to the gathering through the spirituality of this Bloodthirsty Glove. How did he pinpoint the Bloodthirsty Glove so precisely? Was he perhaps near me? No, not necessarily. The address Mr. Hanged Man left was Pulitzer Harbour, which is quite a distance from Tingen. However, it's also possible that he deliberately left a different address.

Livre put aside her doubts for the time being and prepared to save the Bloodthirsty Gloves first. Over the past few months, she had grown to love the little gloves and often kept them by her side at night for spiritual communication.

! !

The Bloodthirsty Gloves, whose spirituality was severely damaged, was more irritable than ever before, sucking away at Livre's spirituality like a vacuum cleaner.

The immense suction was almost unbearable for Livre. She frantically tried to stop the Bloodthirsty Gloves, but her limp body seemed to have no will to obey her.

The two magical items used every trick in the book to compete for Livre's spirituality.

And so, the long night continued...

When Livre opened her eyes again, it was noon the next day, and the sun was shining brightly.

Just then, there was a somewhat urgent knocking sound at the door.

"Miss Marilyn Monroe, are you awake?"

Livre quickly got out of bed, ignoring the soreness between her legs, threw on her clothes, opened the door, and saw Hugh and Fors standing outside, their faces full of worry.

“Miss Monroe, we’ve been knocking on your door several times since last night, but you haven’t responded. If you don’t open the door soon, we’re going to have to go to the front desk to get a spare key!”

Livr blushed and quickly changed the subject:

"Sorry, I wasn't feeling well, so I slept quite soundly... Are you all dressed up and going out?"

Fors smiled and whispered:

"My Master of Tricks potion is missing one last main ingredient—the stomach of a Soul Eater. I'll try my luck at the underground market in Tingen that sells mystical materials."

"An underground market? How come I didn't know Tingen had something like that?"

Liviel was initially shocked, but then realized it was normal. After all, she hadn't stayed in Tingen for long after becoming an Extraordinary, and she was constantly on the go, moving between cultists and official Extraordinary individuals, so she had no time to explore things like the underground market.

Fors smiled and patted Hugh on the shoulder, saying:

"This is where Ms. Hugh's exceptional talent lies; she is extremely sensitive to this underground market."

Hugh, somewhat proudly puffing out his 1.5-meter height, introduced himself:

"This underground market is located in the basement of the Dragon Bar in the dock area. The bar owner used to be a substitute for a punisher. The existence of this underground market is tacitly approved by the official Extraordinary. Most of the items sold are simple materials, or have nothing to do with Extraordinary at all, simply to satisfy the curiosity of those who are obsessed with the occult. However..."

Hugh blinked his blue-green eyes and continued:

"Based on my experience, there might be something real in this kind of place, or at least some clues to it."

Livre nodded. She admired Hugh's intelligence gathering skills; he truly lived up to his reputation as an informant for MI9.

From the side, Fors asked in a light tone:

"So, Miss Marilyn, would you like to come with us to the Dragon Bar?"

Livre was somewhat tempted and agreed. She tidied herself up, and the three of them went out together, boarded a public carriage, and headed towards the dock area.

……

Blackthorn Security Company, the base of the Night Watchers team in Tinggen.

Emily's fingertips repeatedly traced the files on the table, picking them up and gently setting them down. She turned to look at Dunn, who sat upright to the side, her tone tinged with barely suppressed anxiety:

“Captain, I’m requesting to participate in this operation again. Klein is a friend of mine, and I know him well enough to be of help.”

Dunn lowered his eyes, tapping his fingertips lightly on the table. After a moment of silent contemplation, he finally spoke:

"Being too emotional will only put you in danger. This case is bizarre in every way. Welch and Naya died mysteriously, which most likely involves extraordinary forces. To be on the safe side, it's best if Leonard and I go."

Emily knew she couldn't persuade him otherwise, so after a brief silence, she suggested again:

"Can I go with you and Leonard? I'm not a formal member of the mission, I'll just accompany you quietly and gain mission experience."

After a moment's thought, Dunn finally relented and agreed.

The three then boarded a carriage and sped towards Narcissus Street. The group first arrived at the police station on Narcissus Street, where they met up with a patrol officer familiar with the area, and then headed together to the apartment at No. 2 Narcissus Street.