Mystery: The Witch of Desire

“Yes,” the Hanged Man replied simply. “Some people think it’s a unique set of occult symbols, while others believe it’s a kind of hieroglyphics. But to this day, no one has found the correct way to interpret it, at least not to the extent that I know of it.”

As he spoke, he turned his head to look at the Fool sitting at the head of the table, as if seeking some kind of affirmation, or perhaps doubting something.

But Mr. Fool did not respond directly; instead, he maintained his smile and said:

“Once you find Roselle’s diary, reproduce it here. I’m someone who likes equal exchange. The advance payment I just made is only equivalent to two pages of the diary for each person. If there are any extras, I will give them to you as well. As for Miss Lover, if you can find the diary, I will give you the payment directly.”

Chapter 137 Forging Russell's Diary

"You are a very generous gentleman."

The Hanged Man and Justice placed their hands on their chests and bowed slightly. Livre also thanked the Fool, a secret joy welling up inside her. She now possessed two pages of Emperor Roselle's diary, and perhaps she could exchange them for something precious from the Fool.

After bowing, the Hanged Man turned toward the righteous path:

"Let me emphasize again, the audience will always just be the audience. As Miss Lover said, 'Always remember, you are just playing a role.'"

He explained some taboos and key points related to the audience in simple and easy-to-understand language, which sounded like he used the 'role model' as a formula and substituted some specific detailed parameters into it.

Miss Justice listened attentively, her eyes growing brighter:

"That sounds great, that sounds fun!"

After explaining what he knew about "the audience," the Hanged Man paused for a moment and said:

"It seems like everything's alright?"

"Maybe we can just chat casually and talk about what's happening around us. What might be ordinary news to us could be very important clues to someone else."

Mr. Fool nodded slightly:

"can."

Miss Justice agreed with great interest:

"Shall we start with Mr. Hanged Man?"

Alger thought for a moment and said:

"That great pirate who calls himself 'Admiral Ludwell' has once again embarked on a voyage to explore the eastern end of the Sunia Sea."

"Hmm, the owner of the 'Black Tulip'?"

Miss Justice carefully considered her question before asking it back.

"Yes."

Mr. Hanged Man nodded in reply.

Admiral Ludwell… I think I saw him in a magazine before; he's one of the seven famous pirate generals. Livre listened silently, considering what information to share that would reveal her identity while still providing intelligence.

Just then, Mr. Fool ran his fingers along the edge of the bronze table and said:

"As far as I know, the Secret Order has lost a notebook belonging to the Antigonus family."

The Antigonus family's notes?

Livre was taken aback. The Antigonus family was a famous family in the Fourth Age, and Klein and his group happened to have obtained a notebook from the Fourth Age. This notebook caused an extraordinary event and attracted the attention of the Night Watchers... Was all of this a coincidence?

"The Antigonus family's notes?" The Hanged Man repeated, shaking his head with a low laugh. "I'm really curious about the Church of the Night's reaction when they find out."

Why only mention the Church of the Goddess of Night? Liviel keenly sensed the problem. Could the Church of the Goddess of Night have some connection with the Antigonus family?

At this moment, Miss Justice spoke up in confusion:

"Why are you curious about this? Will the goddess's church have any particular reaction?"

The Hanged Man chuckled and said:

"The Antigonus family was destroyed by the Church of the Goddess of Night."

"I'm not quite sure whether it's the end of the Fourth Age or the beginning of the current Age."

This… Livre’s eyes narrowed, and a chill suddenly surged through her body:

This explains why the Night Watchers valued that Fourth Epoch Notebook so much, even recruiting Klein as a clerical worker. Could it be that Klein's Fourth Epoch Notebook really is the Antigonus family's lost notebook that the Secret Order lost?

If that's the case, then things get quite interesting. This notebook has actually gained the attention of such a big shot as the Fool. It seems that the Night Watchers of Tingen City are about to be drawn into a vortex.

After hearing the Hanged Man's explanation, Miss Justice spoke with great interest:

"I never expected something like this to happen..."

"Okay, it's my turn. Let me think about what I should say."

After a moment's thought, she chuckled and began to recount many things concerning the situation in the Kingdom of Rune, including the dissatisfaction of the kingdom's new nobles with the chaotic, inefficient, and rapidly changing government structure.

Liviel knew very well that the Kingdom of Rune had not yet developed a civil service examination system, and the party-based governance model was still in its early stages. Therefore, after winning an election, many so-called administrative positions would be awarded to members and supporters.

Hmm, it's quite unusual that Emperor Roselle didn't invent such a system in Intis... Perhaps it's because he later shifted his focus to things related to the extraordinary.

Just as Liviel was contemplating whether to use her transmigrator knowledge to launch a devastating attack on Miss Justice with her advanced system, Mr. Fool smiled slightly and said:

"This is a simple question."

"Simple?"

Miss Justice asked in slight surprise.

Mr. Fool smiled calmly:

"The exam, like a college entrance exam, is an exam open to the public. It can be divided into two rounds: a written test and an interview, to select the elite in the most objective way."

Liviel was startled again: Isn't this just the civil service exam? Mr. Fool, you're not really a time traveler too, are you?

"But……"

Miss Justice seemed to disagree, but before she could organize her thoughts, Mr. Fool continued:

"After that, these elites will be used to fill administrative positions in the cabinet, county government, city government, and various towns, that is, positions where they directly do the work, such as senior cabinet secretaries."

"To address the different requirements of different positions, we can conduct separate and differentiated assessments in the second or third round. Professional matters should be left to professionals."

“Then the political positions of ministers, county heads and mayors will be left to the winning parties in the elections, which is the pie they deserve.”

The Hanged Man, who had shown little interest in the question, unconsciously turned his head to listen attentively, while Miss Justice frowned slightly and fell into deep thought.

"Don't rush to replace everyone at once. You can hold an exam every year or every three years to gradually replace them. Then, depending on the expansion of the kingdom and the vacancies caused by the resignation or aging of government employees, you can plan and determine the number of positions. This design can bring the kingdom's knowledgeable elites into the government to the greatest extent possible. Moreover, no matter which party comes to power or who the ministers are, the civil servants can keep the kingdom running in a basic and relatively efficient manner."

Mr. Fool continued to speak eloquently, appearing quite familiar with the system.

Miss Justice asked, pondering the question:

"So, even if those ministers turn into curly-haired baboons, it won't have much of an impact?"

“No,” the Hanged Man interjected, “I believe the curly-haired baboon is a better choice than the current minister.”

He paused for a moment and then added:

"After all, curly-haired baboons only need to eat, sleep, and mate; they won't come up with stupid ideas or stick to mindless plans."

Mr. Hanged Man, it sounds like you have a not-so-good boss… Livril shook her head with a smile.

Miss Justice pondered Mr. Fool's description for a long while before exclaiming in astonishment:

"This sounds like it might actually work..."

"A very simple, yet very effective method!"

She looked at Mr. Fool and sincerely praised him:

“Mr. Fool, you must be an elder with rich life experience and outstanding wisdom!”

Livre's lips twitched slightly, and she thought to herself:

He might not be an elder, but rather a 'keyboard warrior' who roams in another world.

Mr. Fool, unconcerned by the praise of justice, calmly said with a smile:

That's all for today's gathering.

"As you wish."

The three of them stood up at the same time and spoke respectfully.

The next moment, their illusory and blurry figures shattered and vanished, leaving only the 'Fool' sitting quietly at the head of the bronze table in the magnificent hall above the gray mist, which resembled the abode of a god.

Unlike last time, Mr. Fool Klein did not fall directly into the gray fog and leave this place. He took a potion this morning and became a Sequence 9 diviner. Now he still has enough spirituality to last a little longer.

He leaned back in his seat and let out a long sigh of relief.

"Phew, it's so tiring to have to act so mysterious at every gathering... But I've learned a lot. Combining what my lover said, I finally understand what the role-playing mentioned in Emperor Roselle's diary means."

"I must say, Miss Lover knows a lot. She even suggested a 23rd way and asked me to provide protection to hide from that being's gaze? Good heavens, I wasn't even an Extraordinary at the time, how could I do something like that? If I hadn't reacted quickly, I would have been exposed!"

……

Liviel opened her eyes and returned to her room at the Lily Inn.

She picked up the Bloodthirsty Gloves that were lying to the side. They whimpered softly, as if they wanted to be satisfied, and seemed to be in good condition, unlike the first time when they were half-dead.

It seems that Mr. Fool only needs one spiritual release to anchor the coordinates, and then he can directly pull people into the gathering through the coordinates without needing any spiritual intervention.

While this would prevent damage to the Bloodthirsty Gloves, Liviel wasn't overly pleased. It meant she was now completely marked by a powerful being, though this wasn't necessarily a bad thing. This being seemed relatively friendly so far, and was quite possibly a transmigrator.

The Diary of Emperor Rosell, the Diary of Emperor Rosell...

As Liviel pondered, an idea suddenly popped into her head:

He forged a copy of Emperor Russell's diary in Chinese to test Mr. Fool!

If he really is a time traveler, he shouldn't mind this kind of probing; if he isn't a time traveler, he won't be able to understand the message he left behind.

Moreover, there are indeed many forged diaries of Emperor Roselle circulating in the world. When Livre was in Backlund, she also asked Hugh and Fors to find the diary, but they did not find the genuine article, but instead found a completely nonsensical fake.

After figuring it out, Livre immediately began to plan the disguise of Russell's diary.

As night fell, Livre looked at the forged diary she had painstakingly crafted throughout the afternoon and a satisfied expression appeared on her face:

June 28, 1345

Dear Earth Traveler:

I am not Roselle Gustav the Great, I am a transmigrator from Earth, just like you.

I have been in this world of mystery and fear for three years, and I simply can't take it anymore. I will go crazy if I continue to live in that darkness and fear!

I've reached Sequence 9 in the Pharmacist Path and have amassed a considerable fortune by crafting extraordinary medicines. However, everything related to extraordinary is far too dangerous! I could lose my life at any moment! I must escape, flee the extraordinary world, and live as an ordinary person in this world.

I have some extraordinary materials. If you read this diary, you can take them; they are all low-level things and not of much value.

But these aren't the most important things. The most important thing is that I hope to make a friend, a friend who is also from Earth.

I want to talk to you about the movies, novels, games, and food we've eaten in our past lives, and even chat about our hometowns... Oh my god, if I keep going, I'm really going to cry!

I hid my address in a safe. Finding this safe requires some common sense from my previous life on Earth. Considering you might not be from the Great Foodie Country, I used universal common sense.

The anonymous safe is located in the Kingdom Commercial Bank in a city of the Kingdom of Rune. The safe's term is 99 years. If you see this letter 100 years from now, I can only say I regret it. However, by then I should be long gone.

Now, let's get to the point: the first digit of this city's area code represents the number of oceans on Earth, and the second digit represents the number of continents on Earth.

The safe's account name is the name of the founding father of the United States.

The first four digits of the safe's combination represent the year World War I began, and the last four digits represent the year World War II ended.

I don't know if I'll ever be able to go back to Earth. I miss my home so much, I miss my family and friends so much...

Goodbye, my fellow villager whom I've never met before. I hope we can meet someday.

Time traveler: Jay Chou

To prevent the time traveler from being a foreigner who couldn't understand simplified Chinese characters, Livre also translated the key information using her broken English.

As she read, Livre couldn't help but feel a stirring in her heart, which also evoked her longing for her hometown.

Although this diary is fake, her longing for her hometown and her yearning for fellow time travelers are genuine.

Mr. Fool, I hope we can become friends...

Livre began to silently recite the diary she had fabricated, preparing to recreate it at the next Tarot gathering.

……

The following morning, the three ladies held their usual 'breakfast meeting'.

“I’ve found the police officer who was in charge of the case of Rowling’s disappearance. His name is Master, and he lives at 118 Iron Cross Street. Now, it’s up to Miss Monroe.”

Hugh said, stuffing a big bite of buttered bread into his mouth.