The Tarot Club Meeting came to an end without a hitch.
Klein made Derrick Berg, Audrey Hall, Alger, Fors Wall and Mr. World disappear, leaving himself and Kiyotaka alone in the Mysterious Space above the Grey Fog.
Kiyotaka pondered over the contents of the meeting silently. The information he had gained, while useful, was putting him on the edge. The abilities a devil could portray varied a lot, and depended from Beyonder to Beyonder.
The most terrifying ability that Kiyotaka came across was the Danger Intuition of a Devil. Even the thought of a harmful act towards a Devil could inform them days ahead of the actual attack, letting them triangulate the person and take care of them.
"Anti-divination seems to be the only workaround for this, but well, I suppose you can tell the problem behind this." Klein began talking.
"Right, their ability is not powerful divination, but rather some sort of a supernatural sense. That means even with anti-divination measures, it is still hard to curb that sense or instinct of a Devil. That means..." Kiyotaka's words drawled into silence.
"That means we need to take him head on. An element of surprise is hard to pull off." Klein finished the sentence. He was just as sour as Kiyotaka, not being able to ambuscade their target.
"Hmm, you once mentioned that divination in this place is much more accurate than in the real world."
Klein pondered over his words for a moment. He remembered how he had once tried to divine the Eternal Blazing Son's blood and had nearly gotten roasted to his bones, if it was not for this mysterious space.
"Yeah. Well, we can do something like planning here and then only acting when the time is nigh, but I am not sure if we can hide our intentions in the real world. Once we even think about it, the Devil would know and will start taking precautionary measures. Not to mention that there are 2 devils that we need to take care of." Klein rubbed his temples.
Then, as if remembering something, he spoke up again. "Ah, right, the Rose Bishop Mystical Item will take some time to be ready. However, in the meantime, I had asked one of my old acquaintances regarding your request for changing appearances. It seems like you're in luck."
"I am?"
"Yup. While there will be quite a hefty price to pay, there is a Beyonder Characteristic that can help you change appearances." Klein referenced the reply from Mr. Azik.
One of the souls trapped in Creeping Hunger—that was in the possession of Mr. Azik—was that of a Sequence 6: Faceless from the Seer Pathway. The reason why Klein had mentioned a "hefty price" was because it was necessary for his own advancement.
However, while he had agreed to give it to Kiyotaka as goodwill, he was not going to let go of this opportunity to charge a "large" premium from his fellow transmigrator who also happened to be laced with cash these days.
"And what is the price?"
"Well, first of all I need my own premium. Sorry, not sorry.
Secondly, you'll need to convert the Beyonder Characteristic into a Mystical Item. That would need money too. And since you want it urgently, that would require quite a large premium as well. Heh-heh, you are doing quite well so this shouldn't be an issue for you."
Kiyotaka did some mental mathematics based on assumptions and historical data stemming from his experiences with Beyonder Characteristics and Mystical Item prices. The price of this was definitely going to fall in the range of £1.000 to £1.500, while being generous.
'I can afford it. I currently have £3.000 with me. This should be enough to have this done and also buy materials for Barbarian. I am currently living with Leppard and he makes the food as well, so that isn't necessarily a big expense.
Occasional stays at hotels near the Church of Evernight Goddess for my own safety would cost around £10 a month. Hmm, it is do-able, but I would need to cut some other expenses. There is also the payroll of the workers coming up this Sunday and advertising costs in the newspaper for the Car is also due on Wednesday.
Sigh... Looks like I will have to make the Zmanger Gang increase their activity a little.'
"Deal." Kiyotaka agreed to his terms.
Klein smiled. "It is a deal then. Now, how do you intend to deal with this Devil Duo? Certainly you do understand that we are not enough if we want to handle those two. Even with the aid of various Mystical Items, it would be a hard feat to pull off.
Not to mention, as you said before, MI9 is on the lookout. They most probably have guessed by now that a Pyromaniac was involved in all this. The moment you use that Mystical Item again, they will be able to track us down in an instant.
I will be fine but there is a limited amount of anti-divination that I can provide to you using this space. With all that said and done, do you have any idea how to deal with it?"
Kiyotaka leaned back into his seat. Gently caressing the place where he was wearing Ember, he thought for a long moment.
It was true that defeating the Devil Duo was most certainly not going to go in their favor. However, that did not mean Kiyotaka had no other methods to deal with them.
The only detriment in his plans was Klein himself.
'I want to use the Detectives as bait to lure him out and then gather the attention of the Official Beyonders and Churches, however, a bloodbath is inevitable. Knowing Sherlock, he would most likely abstain from doing this and will most certainly see me in a bad light in the future.
All of this buildup of trust would be wasted.'
"Are you still in contact with the Wraith Lady?"
"Madam Sharron? Well, not in regular contact, but I know where to find them."
'Them? So she has other people to help her too. Great.'
"From what I could judge, you hired her as a personal guard. Is it possible to do it again?" Kiyotaka touched his chin with his finger and stroked the projection of the little, intangible stubble of blonde beard that had grown there.
"I mean, everything is possible. As long as..." Klein looked down at his hands, "...well, you know how the world operates. It is all about..."
"Money, right."
"Yeah. She charged me £1.000 I am sure it would be the same for you. I mean, the guy we fought was a Sequence 5. The only difference this time is that there would be two of them!" Klein laughed.
"You sure are hell-bent on punching a hole inside my non-existent wallet." Kiyotaka joked back.
Letting out a scoff, Klein flipped one leg over the other. "Do not talk about empty wallets in front of me. I visited Leppard the other night, when you had just left the place and had then asked me to pull Miss Magician up. The car is already ready! You're going to be a tycoon soon!"
"The costs are relatively high as well. The margin—"
"Spare me the technical stuff. Not only has your idea delayed my idea of Bicycles, it has also put it in jeopardy!"
"Not everyone will be able to afford cars, and certainly not in this economy and age where mortgages are almost non-existent. Bicycles on the other hand will be found in almost every household, even in the richer ones. Besides, bicycle models won't take that long to develop."
"There was no concept of a bicycle before so why do you think that?"
"Because I helped Leppard with most of the chain designs. It should be ready in about 1-2 weeks."
Klein was a little taken aback. "You did? Wait, that reminds me, you said you were a high-school student. How come you are doing all this?"
"I read a lot of books as a child. I was quite a nerd, if you ask me." Kiyotaka tried to joke once again, but this time Klein merely narrowed his eyes.
"Imagine you're a 40 year old NEET who spent all his life for a moment like this, to make cars once he gets transmigrated. Or well, maybe reincarnation, you Japanese folks have a weird obsession with the genre."
Kiyotaka, who was not well versed in the whole manga/manhwa/manhua/light-novel realm, could not think of a clapback and instead just nodded his head.
"I can confirm that I was not 40 before transmigrating."
"That is besides the point!" Klein lightly smacked the corner of the long bronze table.
Kiyotaka looked at Klein with a calm expression. "Then what is the point?"
"You didn't let me take it for a spin, that's what!" Shaking his head, Klein pressed his fingers against his temples. "Such a bratty junior. How dare you not include your Senior in such a historical event!"
"Uhh, you can come and take it for a drive. I will tell Leppard to let you take it if I am not there."
"Nah, I would prefer to drive it with you around. In case it breaks down, I can neither repair it nor push it around. So, yeah, only driving it with you around."
Kiyotaka nodded. "That should not be a problem."
Klein smiled again. For the first time ever since coming to Backlund, Klein was feeling a homely feeling once more. However, at the same time, it made him a little uneasy too. His previous attachment to the ones in Tingen had given him quite the heartbreak.
"Sorted. Right, well, if you want to meet up with Miss. Sharron and talk about the hiring thing, let me know. I will take you there."
"As soon as possible."
"Does this evening work for you?
"Yeah."
"Alright then. Let's leave for now."
Kiyotaka tapped the table and raised his voice. "Before we leave, can you perhaps divine the Devil Duo? Just the Dog would do as well. The owner lets his dog out at night, and from what I can guess, he is using his dog as a scapegoat to do something big in hindsight."
Klein looked at Kiyotaka for a long moment. Clearing his throat, he spoke. "I need some sort of thing to use as a medium for divination. Since we have nothing of that sort, I am not sure if Divination is possible."
Kiyotaka hummed. "Alright. Well, see you in the evening then."
"Yup. See ya, take care." With that, Klein made Kiyotaka disappear from the place as well, leaving himself with the total silence, shrouded by the Grey Fog.
Conjuring a topaz pendant and a sheet of paper, he scribbled something on it and let the pendant hang above it. "Let's see..."
*****
Having nothing to do until evening, Kiyotaka changed into formal clothes and went outside.
He had gotten a lot better than before. The urges for drinking and smoking were at their weakest point and the instinctual urge to masturbate multiple times a day was also fully curbed. However, he would still smoke and drink occasionally.
The reason for this was purely instinctual. There was a theory in his head, after all.
''Pathways of the Divine' and 'Sequences' being the official names make some sense, but in a terrifying way. If one starts treading on the Path of Divine, then each Sequence is a ladder to becoming Divine.
The entire journey, even at Sequence 9, is full of madness.
Even "Death" had died in the Fourth Epoch after going mad. That means as one climbs the Sequences, the risk of madness is even higher. The closer a person gets to the Divine, the more prone they are to death and madness.
It means that a person needs to ground themselves. This can be tied back into the concept of Cogitation that Sherlock had explained. It meant grounding our focus into this world and not letting our mind be consumed by the Divinity.
The teachings of "That Place" are quite dangerous here.
If a person was to become a 'perfect' existence by shedding all of their human impulses, wouldn't they just be making it easier for the madness to take over? If a person has no attachments, no vices, and no flaws, there would be nothing left of that person...
There would be nothing left of Ayanokouji Kiyotaka to hold onto the wheel.
I might just become an empty vessel waiting to be filled by the essence of the Divine Sequence.
For now, I can't think of anything to bypass this situation, other than adhering to certain quirks that were a part of me before becoming a Beyonder. Even the ones that seem like a waste of time.
But that begs the question—is this quirk of smoking and drinking associated with me, the soul inside this vessel, or the vessel housing my soul? Who am I in the end, the flesh or the soul? What aspect of me would become divine, if I am lucky enough to survive all that's coming my way?
It is really a topic worth pondering. Hmm, maybe I should pick on some hobbies to ground myself. While I have time, it is better to have preparations in place beforehand.
Sigh, is this really the case or am I just searching for an excuse to go back to smoking and drinking...'
As he mused internally, his monologue was interrupted by a certain feeling. Looking up, he saw that he had wandered into an area he had not visited before. Once again, much like the time when he had first transmigrated, he found a pamphlet in his hand.
He didn't know it was in his hand until it crunched between his fingers.
'What a weird thing to happen now of all times... This is really troublesome.'
Looking around, he found himself deep into the West Borough. The pamphlet in his hand was about the Royal Museum on 2 King's Avenue.
Since he had nothing else to do, he decided to dig a little deeper into it. He bought the ticket and entered.
As he walked while looking at various things preserved in the museum, he heard a voice. The voice was coming from a group of people standing in the front. There was a woman at the forefront, explaining various things to people who had gathered.
"Ladies and gentlemen, these are the daily necessities of Emperor Roselle. Look, that's his velvet quilt, and that's the golden glassware he used to drink his wine. That's the toilet he used, the first toilet in the modern sense."
Kiyotaka looked at the toilet with a flushing system behind the glass wall and saw that it was shimmering with golden light. It seemed to have a layer of gold foil on its surface, and it was engraved with an exaggerated and artistic pattern.
'Hm? Roselle made the first toilet with a flushing system? This world has a God of Steam and Machinery and yet Roselle was the one who made the first ever flushing toilet system? This is...strange.
One could definitely argue that a God would not concern "Himself" with something as mundane as a toilet system, but seeing as how all Gods were once mortals, did he not once think of it? Come to think of it, most of the modern day inventions were all made by Roselle.
While he had the advantage of knowledge from the modern world, isn't the God of Steam and Machinery too much of a hobo-vagrant?
Hmmm... This is the second time I have had bad thoughts about a Deity. I wonder if this is going to impact my life moving forward. But well, since this "Deity" can't even make a single world-shaking invention despite being the embodiment and God of Craftsmanship, then I don't need to be that worried.'
Committing sacrilege—mentally—once again, Kiyotaka kept walking. After the Daily Necessities Exhibition Hall, there was a display of the original versions of the important documents which Roselle had issued, including the Civil Code and other extremely valuable historical relics.
At that moment, the female guide pointed at a display cabinet and said, "This is one of the diaries left behind by Emperor Roselle. It uses his self-created mysterious symbols that have yet to be deciphered to date. Many historians and archaeologists believe that these notes contain the least known secrets of Emperor Roselle.
"As a romantic, I have my own guesses. Perhaps these are the symbols he had agreed upon with his most beloved woman. They wrote about each other, but were never able to truly be together."
'I doubt Roselle left any woman in his vicinity untouched. It is quite hard to believe that Roselle had unrequited love. Hmm, I should probably see what he has written to double check though.'
Just as Kiyotaka glanced at the diary entry, he couldn't help but sigh. The diary entry that was supposedly a love letter said:
['I am so constipated with the food here, damnit!']
"That tracks." Kiyotaka mused slowly before continuing his exploration, following the guide at enough distance so her voice could reach him.
She introduced a bit of other things, but they were not of much significance.
Just as Kiyotaka was about to leave, he heard something that made his ears perk.
The guide, who was introducing the stack of manuscripts, spoke up.
"... These record the wonderful ideas of Emperor Roselle. They record inventions which he was unable to turn into reality in time. They record the glory of what our human civilization is capable of!"
Kiyotaka was not sure why he had reacted to such a mundane thing so strangely. But then he realized that if he felt something that keeps pulling him here, then there must be something related to him.
Before when he had gotten the pamphlet for the Accountant position, he had gotten in touch with the Nighthawks, and only by that arrangement was he able to get on good terms with them, leading to a lot of situations in which they covered up for him.
Kiyotaka kept looking around, when suddenly he noticed a bookmark in a hardcover book on the desk. The exposed part of the bookmark depicted a drawing which was randomly drawn by a child.
At the same time, Kiyotaka remembered something from around 2-3 Tarot Club Meetings ago.
Roselle had made Cards of Blasphemy after looking at the Blasphemy Slate and one of them was disguised as a bookmark and placed it inside a certain book!
'But Roselle said that the Cards of Blasphemy possess anti-divination and anti-prophecy characteristics. Under normal circumstances, there's no way to discover their uniqueness. I did not intend to come here by myself... I was guided. That means that this isn't the convergence effect but rather an arrangement by someone... Who can it be?
Someone from The Church of Evernight Goddess? Nighthawks have been surprisingly lenient to me. But why would they lead me here? What benefit can they possibly gain from me getting my hands on a Card of Blasphemy?
Hmm... Perhaps they are trying to use me as a scapegoat. To coax me into trying to steal it, thinking that I am under the impression that the Church will always save me, but instead this time, they can just take the Card of Blasphemy away from me and have me handed in to the authorities.
A good grooming tactic... But the allure to go ahead and steal it is strong. Hmm, I should probably consult Sherlock first. As much as I don't appreciate it, his Mystical Knowledge far outweighs mine. And I am unable to do divinations in that safe space to see if doing this would be safe or not.'
Kiyotaka kept looking around and began scrutinizing the other books. He discovered that many of them had a bookmark in them, and all of these bookmarks were of different shapes.
'I should contact him as soon as possible. There is still time before we go to Madam Sharron for her help.'
Just as he was about to leave, Kiyotaka's eyes landed on a certain book. There was also a bookmark in it, and on it, there was a depiction of Roselle in royal Emperor clothes.
*****
A/N: Should I change the cover to the image linked to this paragraph? It's just Kiyo with blonde hair and blue eyes, wearing a suit in a Gehrman Sparrow pose.