Kiyotaka looked down at the diary's pages alongside Klein and read the first page:
[16th December. I managed to contact the pathetic fellow who's trapped in the storm and was lost in the darkness.]
'Pathetic fellow? Trapped in a storm? Wait, 16 December? So, it seems like this diary is kind of a journal of this fellow called Roselle...' Kiyotaka paused mid thought as a storm of memories came flooding in, once again.
He recalled who Roselle was and what his contributions to this world were. Although he had an inkling from before regarding who he was, but a direct mention opened up a part of his mind that was sleeping.
'It is almost 100% that Emperor Roselle also transmigrated. All of the inventions so far that he had brought forward while ushering the era towards the development phase along with the modern script of Mandarin means that he was from around 2020's China.'
'This nullified my assumption of me being in the past. Because let's say this really is a past that was wiped out by the time I was born, if Emperor Roselle of the 21st century helped the past world then it would result in a Bootstrap Paradox.'
'However, it is entirely possible that I am in a totally different reality altogether, despite it being the same world. After all, no historical texts mention a kingdom named Loen. Or Intis. Or Feysac. Or Feynapotter.'
'While that eliminates the possibility of it being in the past, there is still the prospective eventuality of it being the future...'
A bit more confused than before, Kiyotaka shook his head and turned his attention to the diary before glancing once at Klein.
'This Mr. Fool, he transmigrated from the future as well. There is a high chance he is Chinese, but that said, a lot of people learn Chinese as a third, or fourth language. So, it might be possible that he is American, since there are a lot of them there.'
'Then again, I suppose his nationality doesn't really matter. What I am more interested in is how he even ended up in this situation. Not to mention this eerie feeling I get when I look at him.'
'Could it be that he is a Beyonder? But of course, he could not be at the same time. I mean, after all, even I, a non-Beyonder, was able to come into this palace.'
Putting the matter to the back of his head, he continued reading:
[He called himself Mr. Door and tried to teach me a complicated and difficult ritual. He wanted me to help him return to the real world and promised to fulfil three of my requests.]
'Don't' tell me he listened to Mr. Door.'
[Does he think I'm stupid? I've lived for more than sixty years over my two lives. Does he think I can't tell that this is the usual manipulation done by evil gods and devils?]
'Well, he had enough tact not to believe in a suspicious fellow like this. That said, who could be Mr. Door? Mr. Fool here is the card 0 of the Tarot Card Deck. Could it be that "The Door" is a card, or some other symbolic representation from some other organization, such as this?'
'It is feasible. But there might be no way to tell since this so-called Mr. Door has been trapped somewhere. And from the looks of it, Roselle didn't help him. Highly possible he is dead by now.'
[But the history of the Fourth Epoch that he described was truly interesting.]
'Fourth Epoch, hmm...yes, indeed, the Fourth Epoch, amongst all other Epochs, other than the pre-Epoch has intrigued me the most. While Williams isn't the brightest, there is rudimentary information regarding almost everything.'
'I think I should visit a library when I am a little sober and spend a few hours there to absorb all I can about the history of this world and then learn of deviations via observations during this meeting.'
'Of course, that is based on the optimistic approach towards the thought that I will be summoned here again, or I will be able to come regardless of an external effect. No matter what, I should really read some books regarding history once I pass the RICA exam.'
'If I can earn good, I can rent books for longer. Or better yet, buy them and read them in my spare time...I still have the suspicious organisation's calling to attend tomorrow...sigh. This is indeed troublesome.'
Kiyotaka kept reading. It was quite long, consisting of two long pages. However, the general crux of it was the key details about the Fourth Epoch.
The famous War of the Four Emperors was fought between the Dark Emperor from the Solomon Empire, the Blood Emperor of the Tudor Dynasty, the Night Emperor of the Trunsoest Empire and the Emperor of the Underworld of the Southern Continent.
The first three emperors perished, while Death emerged strongest—though he eventually went mad after "digesting" his power, later allying with the Primordial Demoness to unleash the Pale Disaster.
Mr. Door hinted that the Fourth Epoch was full of powerful figures beyond anyone's imagination but refused to reveal his own role or the stance of the Seven Deities in that war.
He also explained two fundamental laws:
The first was: Indestructibility of Beyonder Characteristics.
The second was: Conservation of Characteristics within the same Sequence.
This suggested that Beyonder power is finite and fixed at the source, raising the terrifying implication that all deities—and the laws themselves—may ultimately trace back to a single, omnipotent Creator God.
For someone like Kiyotaka, it felt like a load of bullshit. But from his practical experiences so far, it was real. All too real.
However, there were many different things that raised questions in Kiyotaka's mind.
The first was the emphasis on the word "digesting."
'How did Death digest power? Shouldn't death be a source of its power since it's a self-sustaining and inevitable natural concept? This doesn't make sense!'
The other was the mention of the Pale Era. Perhaps it was a nod to a part of Fourth Epoch, but Kiyotaka couldn't tell for real.
The last was the two fundamental laws of Beyonders.
'I suppose I need to look into these Beyonder powers as well. Because as of now Sequences and Beyonder Characteristics are not making any sense to me.'
Making a mental note to dig deeper into the topic, Kiyotaka ruminated over the entire ordeal so far.
Audrey sensed a little fluctuation in The Emperor's posture. However, it disappeared as soon as it had appeared. She tried to pry a little deeper, purely out of a childish intrigue. Since The Emperor was a new addition on the level of The Fool without the overwhelming presence, it made her naturally more prone to pry into "His" habits.
However, the unmoving statue of a man was still sitting in the same preposterous position.
Kiyotaka flipped through the diary with the same expression he always wore when dealing with something absurd but not worth showing surprise over.
Roselle's entries struck him less as a seriously curated series of journals and more as the private complaints of a man who regretted every choice he had made but lacked the discipline to accept them.
On 10th September, Roselle bitterly complained about the "Savant pathway."
The early "Sequences": Sequence 9 to 6—Savant, Archaeologist, Appraiser, and Artisan—granted mainly intellectual and technical skills such as memory, knowledge, item identification, ritual magic, and mechanical creations but almost no combat power.
This forced him to rely heavily on external mystical items, leaving him envious of other pathways like the "Mystery Pryer," which offered more versatile abilities.
Despite his frustration, he clung to hope, looking forward to Sequence 5: Astromancer which finally promised combat powers, though he half-joked it may turn him into a deranged scientist.
Then, the talks shifted to political observations: his kingdom's endless wars that had drained the resources, driven it deep into debt, and left citizens, merchants, and soldiers alike on the brink of revolt.
He saw opportunity in the brewing chaos as he intended to let rebels destabilize society before stepping in as the saviour and establishing himself as "Consul Roselle Gustav."
However, he recognised the dangers as well such as the powerful old families of the Saurons, who held High-Sequence Beyonder heritage, and the need for support or tacit approval from influential Churches, particularly the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun. (bum)
His ambition was clear.
He was trying to use the crisis as a stage to rise in power, but so was his caution, calculating how to position himself without exposing vulnerabilities.
'That...was a lot of information. I would assume that the pathways are some kind of categorisations for the Beyonders. Like how Roselle complained about choosing the so-called Savant pathway, and not the Mystery Pryer one. Just from the name I can tell what kind of applications each Sequence could hold.'
'One more thing to notice is Sequences. Extrapolating from previous observations and current train-of-thought, I assume this "Sequence" is the layered "tier" to the "Pathway" mentioned before. Since he did mention Sequence 9: Savant, Sequence 8: Archaeologist and Sequence 7: Appraiser, I would assume that there are a total of 9 Sequences to these pathways.'
'That begs the question, how many Pathways are there? Although it is quite strange how Sequence 9 is the weakest and Sequence 1 is the strongest. Hmm...but since this is a supernatural means of gaining power, perhaps it has some symbolism to it.'
'Wait, supernatural? Could it be that the "abilities" from these "Sequences" are derived from a higher being. Kind of like how mediumship and using summoning circles and sacrificing children was a common practice, even in the future, to gain favour of certain demons in exchange for fame and wealth.'
'Of course, that theory of gaining power and wealth was purely speculative. There was no tangible proof that these agencies were real and not just Conspiracy Theories. Meanwhile it was also undeniable that there was no tangible way of subverting those Conspiracy Theories.'
'Main point is: It could be completely possible that these "Sequences" are deriving power from a higher being and the "Sequence" means that sequence by sequence, one is getting closer to the "source" of that power.'
'Hmm...I should not get too carried away with my theories and stay close to what is given and extrapolate from there.'
'So, there are Pathways. And each Pathway has Sequences—9 to be exact. It is not confirmed if every Pathway has 9 Sequences, but let's assume that is the standard. According to Roselle, the Pathway called Mystery Pryer was much better than the Savant Pathway.'
'If a Transmigrator who became Emperor later thinks that this Pathway is a good one, I would take his word for it. Of course, it being "better" can be purely comparative. And just like before, Roselle can be having a big lapse in judgement—like him choosing Savant Pathway.'
'That leads me to another point. It's the fact that you cannot change pathways. Because if he could, a person like Roselle would've definitely done it. I am sure of it. Unless he was too impatient for everything he did.'
Alger looked at The Fool who was busy reading the papers and then at The Emperor who was doing the same.
'For two deities to put this much emphasis on the diary left behind by Emperor Roselle...it must be something great. No, great is not the word for it. It must contain the knowledge of unspeakable volumes! It must be divine! Yes—of course. Because why else would Mr Fool put so much emphasis on it and even invite another angel or even a deity to have a reading session with him?!'
'I should probably try to decipher them as well.'
At that moment, Kiyotaka who had just finished reading the second last page, looked up and his gaze just so happened to fall on The Hanged Man.
Suddenly, cold sweat erupted all over Alger's spiritual body and he almost felt his heart jump to his mouth.
'Did—Did Mr Emperor read my thoughts? Could he do that? Mr Fool never paid any heed to it so I thought...wait, could it be Mr Fool had been testing me since the start? And he could read my thoughts too...?'
'That... makes Mr Fool extremely benevolent!'
'...on the other hand...'
His gaze fell on The Emperor who was sitting in the seat of honour on the foot of the long bronze, mottled table, completely surrounded by the thick, gray and mysterious fog. '...Mr Emperor would not be so benevolent...what am I thinking?!'
He looked in suppressed fear in Kiyotaka's direction, however, the man was already busy reading the rest of the contents.
[8th April, I have to send someone to investigate the Secret Order to get more information. I can't repeat my passiveness from before. I can't let Zaratul lead me by the nose anymore.]
'Zaratul? That doesn't ring a bell...hmm.' Kiyotaka looked up at The Fool.
From his facial features, he could tell that The Fool was obviously in anger. Was it because he didn't get the piece of information from previous pages, or he himself did not know who Zaratul was, was another matter.
'Hmm, but Secret Order, huh? Kind of has the same ring as The Freemasons and other cults like The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Was Zaratul a part of it...well, the text indicates so.'
After a moment, Kiyotaka sighed.
'There is so much I do not know. It is actually terrifying.'
'Of course, common sense dictates that I should arm myself enough before even thinking of diving deep into these matters. I mean...I am armed, I have a revolver...but is that enough? Hmm...'
As Kiyotaka was thinking, Audrey suddenly spoke up. "Mr. Fool, did Emperor Roselle mention some general knowledge? I'm willing to pay for this information."
'However, I want it to be communicated to me privately!' She added silently in her heart.
Klein chuckled and said, "There's no need. This is very simple general knowledge."
"After reading this part of the diary, as the summoner of the Tarot Club, I feel it's necessary to let all of you know this. Of course, I'm very certain that some of you are already aware of this."
Klein looked at Kiyotaka.
'What? Is he gauging me? I do not know anything...' Kiyotaka thought inwardly.
"Thank you very much! Mr. Fool, you are just too generous!" Audrey replied in joy.
Klein stopped rapping the table and described with a calm voice, "The first piece of general knowledge—Law of Beyonder Characteristics Indestructibility. The characteristics of a Beyonder are never destroyed or reduced. It's only passed from one carrier to the next."
'Characteristic? Is it the core of a Beyonder? As in the working core? What fuels a Beyonder? Or is it something else? An extra organ? The word "characteristic" is too broad. A lot of things come under this umbrella. The information I can extrapolate and assume from is very limited.'
Kiyotaka was very disappointed but listened regardless, banking on the off chance of him getting his hands on Beyonder knowledge in the future and everything being said here finally making sense later on.
At this point, Klein added, "After a Rampager dies, they will leave behind an item of Beyonder Characteristics. It could be the main ingredient, or it could be a mystical artifact that requires sealing. An ordinary Beyonder's death results in similar results. However, the item left behind will be equivalent to the corresponding potion without the supplementary ingredients. Of course, the item alone will contain Beyonder powers. They can be used as a half-mystical object."
Suddenly, Kiyotaka's mood improved a little. This suddenly saved him weeks—hell, months of research. 'So, Beyonders gain their powers via Potions made of Main and Supplementary Ingredients. However, what is a Rampager? A rogue Beyonder? A Beyonder who has lost control?'
'Regardless, I should probably find a Mystery Pryer potion if that's the case. Or better yet, I should first do my research on all Pathways first. But that would be hard, since knowledge of Beyonders and Potions is not common knowledge.'
Then, something odd struck Kiyotaka. 'I am not acting like myself...I know this is not my body and my mind is infected by the memories and habits of Williams, along with my own subconscious slowly merging with the "possibly" dead Williams, this is still strange. I am losing recollection of my own habits...even though I know how I act, talk and think.'
After a moment, he sighed and turned his attention to Klein.
Klein wasn't surprised by the three members' reaction; however, The Emperor's reaction surprised him. 'He knew...how? He is not even a Beyonder? Or is he at too high of a level that I can't even detect his Pathway or Sequence. No symbol has appeared behind his chair!'
He continued in a calm tone regardless. "The second piece of general knowledge—Law of Similar Sequence Beyonder Characteristics Conservation."
"Why Similar Sequences?" Alger couldn't help asking.
'Yes, good question. However, from the name, it means that at a given time, only specific numbers of Characteristics can exist? Hmm...' Kiyotaka couldn't help but compliment the useful burly man.
Klein smiled and replied, "What do you wish to pay for the answer?"
One of the ideas he had was that general knowledge was free, but any explanation required a fee. This both matched his status and didn't waste the information.
Klein initially wanted to redirect the question to Kiyotaka, however, since he thought that The Emperor might actually answer it and it might reduce his benefits, Klein decided to extract as much resources as he could from The Hanged Man.
Alger was silent in the meantime. He was still too afraid to talk. While he could offer any information and Mr Fool could evaluate it, he was afraid that the maleficent Mr Emperor would strike him down and torture him for downplaying things with mere mortal knowledge.
However, Mr Fool liberated him from the odd feeling.
"Information regarding the Secret Order. That should be sufficient."
"The Secret Order..." The Hanged Man Alger muttered to himself. He was thankful he did not have to decide. He was saved.
After nearly twenty seconds of silence, Alger looked at The Fool in the gray fog, deliberated his words and said, "I will accept this request and help you gather information regarding the Secret Order.
"Can you make 'payment' in advance?"
It wasn't surprising that a suspected deity was interested in an ancient and secret organization; therefore, Alger wasn't puzzled about it.
More importantly, after many gatherings, he had a guess in his mind, which was that Mr. Fool's state wasn't perfect, that "He" might be in a predicament, that all "His" attempts and the actions of "His" adorers on the Northern and Southern Continents were to help "Him" break free from "His" confines.
He thought it might be the case for Mr Emperor as well. Of course, he could be in an even more precarious state if he was Mr Fool's angel or his subject. A quasi-level God.
'This might even be related to the huge secret of why the seven deities no longer descend upon the real world after the Fourth Epoch...' A thought flashed through Alger's mind, and he shuddered as he felt himself entering the realm of the gods.
Upon hearing The Hanged Man's request, Klein leaned back in his chair and nodded.
"No problem.
"If the information you have collected exceeds the value of the answer, I will provide you with further compensation."
Klein laughed and replied, "Sure. The so-called Similar Sequence refers to how High-Sequence Beyonders are exchangeable with other pathways."
"Let me give an example. The Death pathway's Sequence 5, Gatekeeper, can not only be advanced normally, but one can also choose the Giant pathway, which is the Gatekeeper pathway's Sequence 4, Demon Hunter."
'Hmm...then why didn't Roselle make a shift?' Kiyotaka thought for a moment. 'Perhaps...perhaps it could be that Pathways are categorized in groups?'
Kiyotaka decided to not let his mind weave weird theories and rather first do research. As he was thinking, The Justice and The Hanged Man were having their own talks. It was related to some materials. It was related to creatures Kiyotaka had never heard of, for example: A mature Rainbow Salamander's Pituitary Gland.
From their talks, Kiyotaka learnt that Miss Justice was trying to advance to Sequence 8: Telepathist of the Spectator Pathway.
Hearing the names, Kiyotaka shuddered. 'That...does sound kind of terrifying. If it can manifest the powers in the name of the Sequence, then it is quite troublesome. That would explain the girl's behaviour of constantly observing me in such a discreet manner. She really does give off the feeling of an immersed spectator with zero presence at times.'
'Going off on a literal basis, a Spectator could theoretically become an enhanced Spectator of the world, observing everything. Obeying that theme, as a Sequence 8: Telepathist, she could hear thoughts out loud...'
'...talk about breach of privacy.'
'I really should beware of The Spectator.'
Kiyotaka ruminated.
Suddenly, Klein suggested something. Kiyotaka willed a little more Gray Fog to cover himself and stayed silent, merely observing.
What ensued surprised him to no end.
The slight variance didn't escape Audrey's eyes.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, if you wish, I would like your cooperation in a simple matter." The Fool spoke as everyone's attention turned towards himself. "Of course, Mr. Emperor, you're going to participate as well." He added with a tone of authority and indifference.
'So, The Emperor is not at the level of Mr Fool...' Justice and The Hanged Man had the same thought while The Sun sat with contentment, realising his theory of Mr. Emperor being a blessed angel held a lot more weight to it.
******
Author's Note: Around 7.5K words covered via Chapter 3 and 4. That is enough for this week.
See you all next week. Feel free to drop your speculations... well, at this point, I would assume there are none. Still, comment so the "distinguished" algorithm can have the fic reach a broader audience.
Thanks.