Klein listened to Miss Death's description with a faint sense of puzzlement: using the "Underworld" within oneself to host spirits—wasn't that the ability of a Gatekeeper?
But Gatekeeper is Sequence 5 of Corpse Collector Pathway…Could Miss Death be Sequence 5?
Impossible!
However, he quickly recalled an entry in Roselle's diary, which mentioned that his youngest son, Bornova, had been born with characteristics equivalent to those of a Sequence 5 Beyonder. It was a mystical trait left over from Roselle's excesses when taking potions.
Could it be the same for Miss Death...? No, that couldn't be right. When I first met her in Tingen, she was clearly just an ordinary person.
And those names—Medici, Einhorn, Sauron…weren't those the three families mentioned by that evil spirit from underground?
At this moment, The Hanged Man spoke up, "The three names mentioned by Miss Death…Einhorn and Sauron sound familiar. They're both ancient families—the former is part of Feysac's royal lineage, and the latter belongs to Intis' former royal family. But I've never heard of Medici before."
Controlling The World, Klein's voice turned low and hoarse, "Medici, Einhorn, Sauron. They were all angel families from the Fourth Epoch. Einhorn and Sauron once served the Trunsoest Empire and both walked the 'Hunter' pathway. As for the Medicis, though I'm not as familiar with them, their status during the Fourth Epoch must have been no less than the other two."
The Fourth Epoch?
The Fool took over smoothly, his voice calm and detached, "The Medici family once helped establish a secret organisation we're all rather familiar with—the Rose Redemption."
Derrick, who had been spacing out, suddenly jolted in surprise. During their last exploration in City of Silver, inside the half-ruined temple, alongside statues of the Fallen Creator, there had been several murals. In the corner of one, there were peculiar glyphs derived from the Giant language—one of which read "Rose Redemption."
According to the Chief's speculation, that might have been the name of the organisation responsible for building the temple and the city-state it once belonged to.
Yet here was Mr. Fool speaking with certainty, naming it as an actual organisation—and confirming that it was the Medici family that had helped establish it. That meant...that family's origins might be linked to the City of Silver!
Everyone looked toward Mr. Fool, hoping he would elaborate further on the Medici family. But he only offered a faint smile and said nothing more.
The Hanged Man, grasping the connection, asked, "So the evil spirit housed within Miss Death comes from those three families?"
Edward's tone turned solemn, "To be precise, they are the angels of those three ancient families!"
"!!!"
Everyone thought they had misheard. Even the lofty Mr. Fool nearly lost control of his expression.
Miss Death was housing three angels in her underworld?!
Wasn't that just...too outrageous?
Fors's jaw dropped. I knew it! I knew any child appearing in a secretive organisation like this wouldn't be simple!
But this…this wasn't just "not simple"—this was downright absurd!
Priscilla scratched her head. "Angels? Do angels all like arguing with each other every day?"
You're missing the point!
Edward went on, "However, these three angels perished during the War of the Four Emperors. What remains now is a fused evil spirit composed of their merged consciousnesses. It's far from angel-level strength."
The World asked in a deep voice, "Roughly what level of power can it exert?"
Edward recalled the performance of the fused Medici in the original timeline.
"Roughly…demigod level?"
That's still insanely powerful!
Klein massaged his aching temples. After dealing with the 'genius' that is Edward, my Tarot Club has now welcomed a full-blown monster.
The Hanged Man Alger couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Tower, where did you learn all this?"
"Mm, actually, the evil spirit told me these things. I've met it—and know it quite well." Edward then turned his gaze to the Red Priest card resting near Mr. Fool. "That card I sacrificed to Mr. Fool came directly from that evil spirit."
"Ah?"
Alger was momentarily stunned, then suddenly understood:
So…this was all orchestrated by Mr. Fool?
First, he had Mr. Tower snatch away the Card of Blasphemy from the evil spirit, then turned that evil spirit into something controlled by Miss Death…
Hiss—three once-glorious angels, now all dancing in the palm of Mr. Fool's hand?
Meanwhile, Priscilla tilted her head in thought. Does Big Brother Edward already know I'm Priscilla?
Ugh…boring!
I wanted to give him a scare!
Edward continued, "In any case, based on what I know about that evil spirit—or rather, them—they're extremely fond of plotting and scheming. I'm worried that while Miss Death may have successfully housed them, there could still be some hidden agenda at play."
Audrey immediately turned to Mr. Fool and asked, "Mr. Fool, do you know what's going on?"
Klein felt his head throb. How would I know?!
He tapped his fingers lightly on the bronze table and said calmly, "This isn't necessarily a bad thing."
—It wasn't an empty remark. After all, before pulling Miss Death into the Tarot Club, his divination had indicated that it would be beneficial to him.
He turned to look at Priscilla and said, "If you encounter any danger, you can pray to me at any time."
Klein forced himself to say this. He had no choice—what else could he say?
Priscilla nodded obediently.
"Alright. Thank you, Mr. Fool."
A short silence followed before Little Sun Derrick raised his hand and spoke up.
"Everyone, I've been thinking seriously about the suggestion Mr. Tower gave me some time ago."
Edward blinked. My suggestion? What suggestion?
Seeing the others look at him in confusion, Derrick quickly explained, "You said…you said we could use the storage-type mystical items to offer food from the outside world to the City of Silver by sacrificing it to Mr. Fool."
Edward suddenly understood.
"Oh. That. What about it?"
Derrick looked a bit nervous.
"I want to know…how can I do that without arousing the Chief's suspicion? My current strength is still far from enough to change the City of Silver's fate. But I…I hope I can start doing something, even if it's just a little."
Alger stroked his chin thoughtfully and said, "From what you told us before, your Chief already has some suspicions. But the item you brought back—the 'Hand of Glory,' right?—was beneficial to the City of Silver, so he chose to suppress those doubts for the time being."
"That's actually a good starting point. As long as everything you do moving forward continues to prove beneficial to the City of Silver, even if your Chief remains suspicious, he'll likely turn a blind eye."
He paused and sighed.
"Because what City of Silver needs most right now…is hope."
Derrick's eyes lit up.
"So, I just need to bring things back?"
Alger shook his head.
"You can still explain the Hand of Glory as something you found during an expedition. But what about a whole pile of food? How are you going to explain that?"
"I…I could confess to the Chief that I've received the favour of a great being. That all of this was granted to me by "Him". That "He" will save the City of Silver, and lead us out of eternal darkness, back to the real world."
He looked earnestly at Mr. Fool.
"Would that be alright, Mr. Fool?"
Klein hesitated.
I'm only Sequence 7 right now…but City of Silver's Chief is a demigod. I'm not ready to face a demigod as The Fool. If I get exposed…it's all over.
Edward spoke up at just the right moment, "Take it step by step. After this Tarot Meeting, try revealing just a little to the Chief. Test his reaction. But remember—you can, and should, only tell the Chief. No one else."
The Hanged Man Alger's words had been right: what the City of Silver needed was hope. Chief Colin Iliad didn't care where that hope came from. Just like in the original timeline, he'd simultaneously 'placed his bets' on both Derrick's Fool and Lovia's True Creator.
So, even if Derrick told him about the Fool's existence now, it wouldn't be a big problem.
But there was one thing that couldn't be solved—Amon was in the City of Silver right now.
Klein didn't yet have control over the Paper Angel. If Derrick exposed too much too soon, Amon might sniff it out immediately.
Edward had no desire to attend the next Tarot Meeting only to find Mr. Fool sporting a monocle.
Derrick nodded solemnly.
"Alright."
"That's all for today."
Klein ended the gathering. As the blurry silhouettes of everyone began to fade and vanish into light, he was just about to dismiss the clone of The World as well when he suddenly sensed it—someone was still watching him.
It was Miss Death.
Her body lingered in a semi-illusory state, and she, too, seemed confused by this, exchanging a puzzled glance with Klein before she faded away completely.
Klein's heart skipped a beat.
What's going on? I already cut the connection—how could she remain for a few more seconds? Was it because of that angel-level evil spirit?
A sudden sense of danger surged within him.
The space above the grey fog is my last refuge in this world. If a being at the level of an angel can invade this place…then that would be disastrous.
With this in mind, he materialised the divination crystal and wrote on a piece of parchment:
"Someone just intruded here."
He repeated the divination seven times. The yellow crystal rotated counterclockwise.
No intrusion?
Klein was stunned. For the first time, he began to question the reliability of his divinations above the grey fog.
He thought for a moment, then wrote another question:
"Will Miss Death housing the evil spirit bring danger?"
Still counterclockwise.
"Is there any hidden conspiracy in the evil spirit being housed by Miss Death?"
Still counterclockwise.
No conspiracy?
So Miss Death really did manage to house an angel-level evil spirit as a Sequence 5 Gatekeeper?
For a moment, Klein was at a complete loss.
Just then, his spirituality began to wane. Rubbing his aching temples, he returned to the real world.
———
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