"Of course," Klein said, naturally not refusing. He briefly explained the Tarot Club's rules to Jack, then manifested a stack of tarot cards. "You can pick one as your codename."
Evah's gaze swept over the deck, which excluded the "Fool," "Justice," and "Hanged Man" major arcana. His eyes lingered on the "World" card, tempted by the mischievous urge to choose it, but he ultimately decided to let Klein play his own double act. Instead, he drew another card.
It was the Emperor card!
"Emperor. I'll take the Emperor card."
Evah had initially considered "Lovers," since it corresponded to the Parasite pathway, but as a single guy, picking that codename felt a bit awkward. So, he went with his second favorite, "Emperor."
"Fine by me," Klein said, having no issue with the choice. He nodded, making the manifested cards vanish, then added, "Without my permission, don't reveal my existence or the Tarot Club's to anyone."
Klein had to stress this, genuinely worried that without the warning, The Fool and the Tarot Club would end up common knowledge by next week.
"Huh? Not even my teacher?" Evah said, as if caught off guard, pausing before asking cautiously.
"No," Klein said, smiling and shaking his head.
"…Oh," Evah replied, sounding a bit aggrieved. Then, as if struck by a thought, he looked at Klein with curiosity. "Mr. Fool, is Klein a Tarot Club member too?"
"He's a provisional member," Klein answered, unfazed. He didn't yet have a way to create a secondary identity, but The Fool had long planned for one. The Fool's lofty status limited the questions he could ask directly, so he was laying the groundwork now for when "Klein" could join the Tarot Club later without raising eyebrows.
"Oh, so I joined the Tarot Club before Klein? Guess I'm the better one after all…" Evah said, flashing a goofy grin, like a college kid who'd one-upped a friend in some trivial way.
Klein could barely watch, but his mood lightened a bit.
Interacting with Jack, his fellow transmigrator, brought out a sense of clarity and simplicity that relaxed Klein, reminding him of life before transmigration.
...
"Now I just need to wait for the next Tarot Club meeting. I wonder if Little Sun's about to join soon. Hope I didn't take his spot," Evah mused, stretching lazily after leaving the gray fog. Confirming Klein was no longer watching, he assessed his nearly depleted spirituality and decided to take a nap to recover.
When he woke up refreshed at noon the next day, Evah tidied up and began reviewing yesterday's events.
Summoning Mr. Door had been planned for a while, and the process had gone remarkably smoothly. Not only had Luo Lin struck a deal with Mr. Door, but he'd also confirmed a hypothesis: the Nyarlathotep fragment's authority was indeed higher than an Outer God's, allowing it to overwrite and purge their corruption.
The only issue was that the madness within the Nyarlathotep fragment was clearly too much for Mr. Door to handle, meaning the cleansing would likely be a long, drawn-out process.
Evah was fine with that. If he saved Mr. Door in one go, he'd lose his leverage over him, wouldn't he?
"But, honestly, is Nyarlathotep's madness really that unbearable? I think it's manageable. Sure, taking the potion required anchoring to this world's madness, but Mr. Door shouldn't lack for homegrown craziness… Uh, maybe I'm the problem?" Evag said, spreading his hands. He wasn't completely oblivious to his own anomalies.
For instance, his overpowered Shadow of Time ability. Or the fact that he'd faced deities like Nyarlathotep and Yog-Sothoth without issue—while everyone else who'd seen a deity's true form, no matter their abilities, had gone mad without exception.
Evah just didn't care much. Whether he was a mortal or some weird entity, it didn't matter to him.
"Evah is just Evah. A mortal, a Mischief-maker," he said, grinning as he defined himself. He then pulled out some letter paper, wrote down the materials Mr. Door had listed, added a few other items, and sealed the letter in an envelope.
The letter was, of course, for Mr. A of the Aurora Order. Evah couldn't personally supply Mr. Door's materials.
He felt no guilt about fleecing resources. He wouldn't take them for free—he'd give the True Creator what they wanted in return.
"They're probably hoping I ask for more…" Evah said, shaking his head with a chuckle, a spark of anticipation in his eyes. "I hope Mr. Door finishes my commission soon. Then the Trickster Club can officially take shape."
"But the membership's still a bit thin…" Evah mused, stroking his chin for a few seconds before his eyes lit up. "Should I recruit Leonard too? And pull Klein in? Imagine them parting ways at the Nighthawks' branch, only to see each other at the same gathering right after. How fun would that be?"
Evah thought that'd be a great spectacle.
But he wasn't in a rush. He moved on to reviewing his other gains.
"I should visit Pallez again. The old man just saw an old friend, so he's probably itching to dig for more info. That'll indirectly solidify my cover. Sure, I got exposed to Mr. Door, but…" Evah shook his head, chuckling. He could see through Bethel's assumptions.
A bold mortal pretending to be a god? (✗)
A wicked Mischief-maker god posing as a human, toying with angels? (✓)
"Though Mr. Door's not exactly wrong…" Evah said, laughing as he shook his head. He then sensed the digestion progress of his Actor potion. After his performance in front of Mr. Door, it had advanced significantly.
"As expected, just playing a persona isn't enough. As an Actor, I probably need to put on performances worthy of a stage. Otherwise, with Mr. Door's caliber, I should've fully digested the Actor potion by now…" Evah mused, stroking his chin, unsurprised by the result.
Suddenly, he reached out and pulled at the air. A shadowy figure emerged, swiftly merging into him.
"Finally…" Evah's smile was brighter than ever. He'd finally gained the Traveler ability he'd been coveting.
(End of Chapter)