"..."
Of course Klein wanted that. The trouble was — doing it this way risked exposing his identity as a transmigrator.
He'd barely started to form a refusal when the thought reversed itself: what if Mr. Lovers took the initiative and went to find the person himself? Then it wouldn't be a matter of "possibly" exposing his identity — it would be a certainty.
This is a mess.
Klein felt cornered. All he'd wanted was to identify the person who'd sent the note. Somehow that had turned into a situation where he had no good moves.
After a beat, he made his decision. Since he couldn't stop Mr. Lovers from going, his best option was to go along — and try to get a moment alone with the "fellow countryman" to question him without anyone else seeing.
"When do you want to move?"
"I can go anytime."
"Then… give me a few minutes to prepare."
"Preparing" meant going up to the Grey Fog and running a divination.
Settled into the bronze chair above the fog, Klein wrote out his query: "Going with Mr. Lovers to apprehend the person who sent the note is harmful to me."
Seven repetitions. He let the topaz hang — and waited. Half a minute went by. The crystal didn't move.
"Not enough information? Or does meeting the person carry neither benefit nor harm?"
He rubbed the bridge of his nose, thought it through, and wrote a new query: "Meeting Mr. Lovers in person is harmful to me."
This time the topaz rotated — counter-clockwise. Negative.
A small exhale of relief. He wrapped himself in spirituality, left the Grey Fog, and prayed to Mr. Fool as "the World" to reconnect with the Lovers.
"Ready on my end, Mr. Lovers. Let's move."
"Where should we meet?"
"Bravehearts Bar, Bridge District. That'll do."
"See you shortly."
Klein cut the connection and felt a residual thread of nerves. He hadn't expected to be meeting a fellow Tarot Club member in person this soon — it had never been part of his near-term plans. He'd always figured he'd wait until Sequence 5, with a reliable level of self-protection, before any face-to-face meetings. But given that the Lovers and the Hanged Man had already met and worked together, that his Faceless disguise was solid, and that everything here touched on a transmigrator situation — he had no choice.
He stepped in front of the mirror and started moulding a face. Something forgettable.
...
When Vincent arrived at Bravehearts Bar, the place was quiet — mornings were always like this. The bartender was barely awake, so he skipped ordering anything and picked a spot in a corner to wait.
"Why this roundabout approach?" he asked inwardly. "Why not just go introduce ourselves to Klein directly?"
Because the "introduction" scheme had been Bernadette's idea.
"Introduce ourselves how?" Bernadette replied. "As Roselle's daughter? Then how do I explain knowing Klein is a transmigrator? As a fellow transmigrator?" She paused. "That's exactly what we're doing right now."
"Fair point."
"From what little I've seen of Klein, he's an extremely cautious person. Given that — it's better to manoeuvre him into coming to us on his own terms than to approach him and put him on guard."
Vincent pinched his chin. Poor Klein. Being played like a fiddle and he doesn't even know it.
Bernadette said, without any particular warmth: "I'm not interested in manipulating people. I just want to understand more about the mechanics of transmigration through Klein."
Which won't get her far — Klein knows as much as she does. Which is nothing.
About ten minutes later, a figure in a trench coat and a beret walked into the bar. He made a quick sweep of the room, his eyes landing on Vincent in the corner.
He paused for a few seconds. Then walked over at an unhurried pace. "Mr. Lovers…?"
Despite knowing intellectually that "the Lovers" was two souls sharing one body, actually facing the very female exterior of what was technically a male "colleague" gave Klein a strange feeling.
Vincent looked up and smiled. "Mr. World?"
"That's me."
Klein kept the low, flattened register he used in the Tarot Club, pressed one hand to his chest, and bowed slightly. "Good morning, Mr. Lovers. And madam."
To hide the sapphire ring on his finger, he'd put on gloves — not unusual in Loen, where plenty of people, nobility especially, wore gloves year-round regardless of weather.
Vincent returned the greeting pleasantly. "Good morning. Oh — and Miss Lovers asked me to pass along her regards."
A beat. "You must feel quite strongly about this person who was watching you, Mr. World — to meet with me in person after only one Tarot Club session together."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because that's the only reason I can see for taking the risk."
"..."
Klein felt a jab of self-reproach. He'd been so psychologically familiar with the Tarot Club members that the thought hadn't even crossed him.
"Mr. Lovers is joking," he said evenly. "We're all Mr. Fool's believers. All companions of the Tarot Club. What risk is there?"
Vincent laughed. "True enough. One day I'll have to get everyone together for a proper introduction."
Klein kept his low tone: "A pity that Mr. Sun would find it rather hard to attend."
"The Forsaken Land of the Gods, yes."
Vincent shifted. "Alright — we should get moving. Before that watcher leaves his hotel, let's go bring him in. I want to see what kind of person dares to surveil a member of the Tarot Club."
"..."
Klein was quiet for a few seconds. "Mr. Lovers — I have an imposition to ask."
"When you have him — could you leave him to me alone first? For questioning?"
Vincent's mouth curved. "So Mr. World has a secret he'd rather keep."
"It's not a secret exactly. Just some personal matters."
He said it calmly, but his nerves were taut underneath. If Mr. Lovers refused — then what? Appeal to Mr. Fool and use his authority to push? No. That would cheapen the Fool's identity, especially when the person on the other side of this wasn't an overly imaginative thinker like Alger or a newcomer like Audrey. This was a genuine heavy-hitter of the Beyonder world.
Fortunately, Vincent just shrugged and smiled. "Sure. Prying into other people's private business isn't really my thing."
Besides — you'll tell me of your own accord soon enough.
To be continued…
Guys, do support me on Patreon; It helps me a lot!
Advance 100 Chapters are up on my Patreon!
pat reon.com/AlphaSenatus