"Praise the Goddess, glory to the Goddess."
Klein drew the Evernight sigil on his chest, tidied up the room out of habit, and only then stepped out. After greeting the archbishop, he hurried back to the inn.
Near three o'clock, he instructed his Traveler marionette to stand guard at the door while he entered the washroom himself and ascended above the grey fog.
3:00 p.m.
Klein leaned lazily against the armrest, fingers interlaced, as streaks of crimson light gradually lit up one after another and faded into vague silhouettes.
Soon, he heard Miss Justice's cheerful greeting, "Good afternoon, Mr. Fool~"
Only after seeing both new members—Star and Judgment—appear one by one in the ancient palace did Klein finally relax. He had worried whether his spirituality might fail to support incorporating two more members at once.
It seemed that after advancing to Sequence 5, he no longer needed to worry about lacking sufficient spirituality to pull people into the grey fog.
Audrey greeted everyone in turn, and very quickly she noticed that one new member had appeared on each side of the long table. On the girls' side was a petite figure, shrinking her neck and cautiously observing the group, then sneakily making eye contact with Miss Magician.
Audrey instantly recognised the small woman—Xio. She had finally passed Mr Fool's test and joined the Tarot Club?
But why…did she look nothing like the straightforward, decisive woman Audrey had met before? Instead, she seemed overly timid?
(Xio: If the first time you saw Mr Fool, you pulled out a triangular blade trying to stab Him, you wouldn't be much better than me!)
On the men's side—
A man in a vest and shirt sat with an awkward posture, around 180 centimetres tall, carrying a lazy air about him.
From the very moment he arrived above the grey fog, he had been scanning his surroundings rapidly. But clearly not to study the environment or assess the members—he was looking for someone.
He was looking for a specific person.
Which meant this new gentleman recognised someone present!
But who could it be?
Just then, after Audrey finished her greetings, everyone rose to greet Mr Fool.
Leonard, however, did not react at all. After glancing past Derrick and Alger, he locked onto World and Moon, trying to guess which of them was Klein and which was Edward.
Only after a second, when he felt the others' gazes, did he snap back to his senses and stand up hastily to follow along.
Across from him, Xio gave him a glance and subconsciously equated him with Fors in certain aspects.
Fors, for her part, was thinking the same—but in reverse. She equated Leonard with Xio in certain aspects, because upon first meeting, both had behaved rather unreliably.
—Oh right, and Mr. Moon as well.
Klein pointed lightly at the two newcomers and said casually, "This is Mr. Star, and this is Miss Judgment. Sit. Introduce yourselves."
One by one, they each gave their simple introductions. There wasn't much to say—aside from Little Sun Derrick reporting that he came from the Land Abandoned by the Gods, the others only stated their codenames.
When Emlyn introduced himself as "Moon," Leonard immediately fixed his stare on him.
So it was you who stole the codename I wanted! Are you Klein?
Then that gloomy "World" must be Edward? Yes—reasonable!
Emlyn looked utterly baffled.
Why is the new guy staring at me like that? Did I say something inappropriate just now? I didn't, right? Right?
Meanwhile, after Xio gradually relaxed, her gaze kept darting back and forth between Lilith and Priscilla.
Great! There are finally people shorter than me!
I swear, I already love this Tarot Club!
Unfortunately, her joy lasted only until the two introduced themselves—because those two small figures turned out to be children.
Ah…so in the end, I can only compare height with children?
I…I'm such a failure…T0T.
While Xio and Leonard were quietly observing the other members, everyone else was naturally observing them as well.
Especially Alger—who swiftly assigned them mental labels:
The petite Miss "Judgment", though short, carried herself with a convincing presence…just with an inexplicable hint of sneakiness.
As for Mr. Star…judging from his performance at the opening of the meeting, he could easily have sat at the same table as Little Sun and Mr. Moon.
Bernadette merely gave both newcomers a glance during their introductions. For the rest of the time, she was either deep in thought or watching Lilith.
At this moment, Audrey turned toward Mr. Fool. "Mr. Fool, I don't have any diary pages this week."
Alger and Fors followed one after another:
"I don't have any this week either."
"Apologies, Mr. Fool, I also have none."
Klein felt a trace of disappointment—though none of it showed on his face. He only nodded calmly.
"Mm."
He was just about to announce the start of the trading segment when Emlyn the Moon spoke with a faintly proud tone, "Mr. Fool, I obtained two pages of diary this week."
Emlyn glanced around with a "critical moments always rely on me" expression.
Instantly, Leonard drew a conclusion—This guy is definitely not Klein, and definitely not Edward! Neither of them would act this…pleased with himself.
He shot another look at Derrick and Alger. Neither of them resembled Klein or Edward in the slightest. That left only the unreadable "World."
But there are two people—Edward and Klein. Which one is he supposed to be?
This prompted a sudden, belated realisation, "Huh? Diaries? What diaries? Don't tell me members of the Tarot Club have to write daily journals and submit them to Mr. Fool every week?"
What kind of normal person writes a diary?
And even if they do—who writes the truth?
Fortunately, judging from what the others said, it didn't seem to be mandatory.
Soon, Klein received the diary pages manifested by Emlyn. He lowered his gaze and read:
"June 6th.I performed another divination above the grey fog today—a divination concerning the Apocalypse."
Above the grey fog?!
Klein's heart trembled.
Was the "grey fog" mentioned in the diary this grey fog?
The moment he saw the handwriting on the parchment, he felt instantly:
This wasn't Emperor Roselle's diary.
So—was this the diary of another transmigrator predecessor?
He continued reading:
"In a daze within my dreamscape, I searched for a long time. Only when my spirituality was nearly exhausted did I glimpse a name through the dream's illumination. But…why would a divination of the Apocalypse reveal a name? What does he have to do with the Apocalypse? Unfortunately, no matter how I divined afterwards, I found nothing further."
"Although I couldn't learn more, I'm basically certain of one thing: after me, other transmigrators will come to this world. And he—is the true hope against the Apocalypse."
"If this world were a novel, perhaps I would only be some insignificant character living in a flashback, while that person is the true protagonist of the story, the saviour who will stand against the Apocalypse."
"I must say, it's rather sad. But that's the reality of this world. No matter how unwilling I am, no matter how loudly I shout 'My fate is mine and not the heavens', nothing changes. After all, beneath the gods, all are ants. In the short term, I have no hope of becoming a god. So that's that—I'm tired. Let it all be destroyed."
From beginning to end, this diary was steeped in despair. As Klein read, he couldn't help but feel the same helplessness weighing on him.
But what captured his attention most was the "name" the diary mentioned—and why the predecessor concluded, upon seeing it, that other transmigrators would surely arrive.
A thought stirred in Klein's mind:
Wait. Aren't I precisely one of the later transmigrators? Was the name he divined…actually mine?
With that in mind, he continued reading:
"June 8th. Slept the whole day yesterday. Felt incredibly refreshed. I have to admit—once someone casts off all burdens and stops worrying about things beyond their capability, the world suddenly becomes damn beautiful."
"Before transmigrating, I am just an average college student. But coming to this backward world, I instantly became a noble lord—with dozens of people ready to serve me hand and foot, doing whatever I wanted. It's too indulgent."
"But after corruption comes emptiness. That emptiness comes from having abilities with nowhere to use them. Showing off before ordinary people isn't my style. Fighting against the Apocalypse is beyond my power. But I still feel like I must do something to live up to the education I received!"
"Yes! I've decided—I shall start a revolution! I'll liberate those oppressed, bullied, colonised, unfortunate people! Of course, I won't do anything unrealistic for this era. But liberating these poor people…may actually help humanity resist the Apocalypse in the future."
Klein's eye twitched slightly.
This transmigrator predecessor's thought process is…really something.
But he had to admit—
Compared to Emperor Roselle, who immediately indulged himself upon arrival…
And compared to himself, who had integrated into this world rather quickly…
This "predecessor's" scope was far grander.
I only occasionally think about helping the unfortunate people I encounter. But he went straight to revolution and liberation.
Still—
Klein frowned.
But why did he say that "liberating the oppressed" would help humanity resist the Apocalypse?
———
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