In the information provided by The Sun, there were detailed examples of some typical subsidiary gods, but most of the information didn't provide their true names, only their titles. These included the God of Beauty and the Goddess of Life who were subsidiaries to Vampire Ancestor, Lilith; the Goddess of Misfortune and the God of the Dead who were subsidiaries to Annihilation Demonic Wolf, Flegrea; the God of Luck and the Queen of Calamity who were subsidiaries to Elf King, Soniathrym, and so on and so forth.
Queen of Calamity... Klein suddenly thought of the Book of Calamity and the golden wine cup he had taken from the ruins of the high elf. The name Cohinem and the word "Calamity" was engraved on it in Elvish.
This caused him to make the connection that Cohinem was the Elf King's subsidiary—Queen of Calamity!
Unfortunately, I can't directly seek confirmation with Little Sun. I'll have to wait for further information from him... Klein sighed silently.
At the same time, he made some theories about the fact that these titles didn't correspond with their true names.
The City of Silver was originally the Kingdom of Silver that came under the Giant King's Court's rule. Other than having sufficient understanding of its own forces and enemies, the information regarding the other ancient gods will only come from legends and rumors, and they aren't that detailed. Compared to the simple and easy to understand titles, a god's true name can consist of complicated and difficult words to remember which can make it harder for them to be spread.
The information provided to Klein when he turned over the page confirmed his theory. However, it gave him new doubts.
The dragons also had a Dragon of Wisdom which was the equivalent of a god in the City of Silver, called Herabergen, and under Giant King Aurmir, there was also "His" eldest son, the God of Dawn, Badheilbrunn, and "His" queen, the Goddess of Harvest.
Why doesn't the Goddess of Harvest have a real name? Isn't "She" the queen of the Giant King's Court? The City of Silver should have records of it... These so-called subsidiary gods are equal to the angels or King of Angels of later times? Yes, the Sequence 2 of their pathway, and Sequence 1's of the other pathways? Klein suppressed his perplexion and inferred the truth from the information recorded in the Card of Blasphemy—within the same pathway, if there was a Sequence 0, then there wouldn't be a Sequence 1, and if there was no Sequence 0, then there would be at most three Sequence 1's.
However, Klein didn't dare to base his judgment on this. After all, his knowledge was partial, and he didn't even know if there were any preconditions for the Sequence 0 and Sequence 1, which was derived from the Law of Beyonder Characteristics Conservation and Indestructibility.
I'll assume this for the time being... Klein leaned back, letting the information in his hands disappear, smiling as he said, "You may begin."
At this point, Alger was still seriously examining himself.
After considering how to communicate properly, he used the technique of being in the other person's shoes. He started from the point of view of The Hermit, who was suspected of being Admiral of Stars, to see what exactly he had exposed.
Mr. Fool's protects every member's true identity with a blurred and distorted image, but this method doesn't affect the representation of colors. Dark brown colors can be difficult to distinguish, but bright colors are easily grasped. At the very least, I can tell that Miss Justice is blonde with bright green eyes...
And for me, the most obvious thing I can't hide is my dark blue hair. But this doesn't say anything. It's not a problem to say that dark blue hair is a common mutation in Beyonders within the Sailor pathway, but the converse isn't true. This is because such traits are hereditary. On Sonia Island and in the Berserk Sea around Desi Bay, they were places where elves originally gathered. Many humans with traces of elvish blood will also have dark blue hair. Heh, it's the same for districts where there are a certain number of Church of Storms Beyonders...
Ignoring any other trait, it's difficult for The Hermit to determine any further information based on the situation.
Just as Alger heaved a sigh of relief, he caught sight of the Storm robe he was wearing.
After returning to the Blue Avenger, not only was he the captain of the ship, but he was also the bishop of the sailors. He often needed to wear the corresponding clothes to celebrate Mass.
If he didn't show his devotion in his daily actions, there might come a day when he would be reported by his subordinates.
The Church of Storms has always been wary of those members who had been drifting out at sea for a long time, as prolonged acting as pirates might one day turn them into real pirates. In any case, the Lord of Storms has never given a revelation to exclude pirates from "His" followers.
Under the cover of that blurred distortion, it's hard to see the details of one's clothing clearly. This isn't a problem... However, I still have to pay attention in the future. During Tarot Gatherings, I should change into a set of ordinary clothes... Although I can't be sure, I still have to treat her as a pirate admiral. I can't afford to be careless... Alger thought cautiously.
At this moment, he heard the seemingly suppressed voice of The Moon Emlyn, which was a result of him being unable to hide his emotions.
"Mr. Hanged Man, I've done the preparations. When can you obtain the inheritance of that Sanguine baron? You mentioned before that it's in the hands of some powerful pirate?"
You didn't have to say the last sentence... Alger's body instantly stiffened.
Powerful pirate... The Hermit's eyes swept over The Hanged Man once again.
Alger's expression didn't change as he turned his head to The Moon and asked, "Have you obtained the funds?"
"Of course!" Emlyn raised his neck.
He originally wanted to wait until the three-month maturity was up before he went to the bank to withdraw the money, but he soon discovered that he was in a completely different mood after deciding to buy the Sanguine baron's inheritance.
He no longer had any qualms or hesitation. He was filled with expectation and desire, wishing that he could get his hands on it immediately. It was just like how he felt in the past when he was about to buy a beloved doll!
He had held back for more than a week before finally giving up by selling the acceptance draft. Although he had lost some money, it was still acceptable.
In many situations, an acceptance draft could be used as a currency.
"I'll get it for you within the week. Finally, let's confirm the price: 4,500 pounds. Is that alright?" Seeing that a deal was about to be struck, Alger didn't pursue The Moon's act of exposing him.
Emlyn thought about the dolls in his room, cleared his throat, and said with his eyes furtively darting around.
"Can it be cheaper?"
"It's not up to me to decide, but I can try to acquire it for you at a lower price. Also, don't forget my commission. Let's lower it. How about 300 pounds?" Alger's tone didn't change at all.
"Alright." Emlyn exhaled quietly.
Not a very powerful vampire, an underaged or a recently matured one... Cattleya silently watched from the sidelines and made her judgment.
Seeing that the deal between Mr. Hanged Man and Mr. Moon had been concluded in a few sentences, Audrey habitually felt that she should buy something.
In a week or two, I'll contact the members of the Psychology Alchemists in East Chester County and tell them that I've become a Psychology Alchemists member. I'll exchange my contribution points for the subsequent potion formula. There's no need to make a request to purchase it here for the time being... Once I find out what ingredients are needed, I can ask for everyone's help... There's no need to buy any mystical items for now. I've already had one of them reimbursed... Being able to obtain such rare items with too great a frequency might imply many problems... Audrey's thoughts raced, and she came up with an idea.
She turned halfway and looked at the gloomy man at the end of the table.
"Mr. World, you mentioned that you have clues to the characteristic left behind by a Psychiatrist. Have you successfully acquired it?"
I plan on buying it for Susie... she silently added in her heart.
In fact, when she was considering this matter, she had another slightly mischievous idea, which was to find an excuse for Mr. Fool to turn over the Dark Emperor card which sat beside him.
From her point of view, Ma'am Hermit was particularly affected by the matter regarding Roselle's diary. And from how her reaction was extraordinarily excessive before she quickly hid it, it was quite possible that she knew about the Cards of Blasphemy; therefore, the moment she saw it, she would expose a lot of problems and express the truest thoughts in her heart.
But she dismissed the idea in the end, not because she thought it would be bad to sound out Ma'am Hermit, but that this was a way of showing responsibility to both herself and the Tarot Club, and that she shouldn't make decisions for Mr. Fool.
If "He" wanted Ma'am Hermit to recognize the Card of Blasphemy, "He" definitely would've flipped it open himself. If "He" didn't want to do so, then any attempts would be against his will... Audrey nodded solemnly but almost imperceptibly.
At this moment, The World replied hoarsely, "If you're certain that you want it, then I will give it to you as soon as possible.
"The price is 1,800 pounds."
Normally, it would be more appropriate to charge 1,200 to 1,500 pounds for a Psychiatrist's Beyonder characteristic, but Klein had raised the premium slightly to see how much Miss Justice could pay.
"Alright," Audrey agreed with a light tone.
She had paid off the money owed to Viscount Glaint. She had received many gifts for having reached adulthood after returning to her family's fief. It was a time when her finances were in a rather good condition. She had even arranged for the money to be returned to Mr. Fool's Blessed next month.
In the future, her monthly income would be above 3,000 pounds, and a substantial portion of her normal expenses wasn't going to be borne by her, due to the love of her parents and the results of her previous meritorious exploits.
While the two were discussing, The Hanged Man was somewhat surprised. The World had just sold the Faceless Beyonder characteristic the previous time, and he had recently acquired Steel Maveti's Beyonder characteristic. Yet, he appeared to have a Psychiatrist characteristic in his collection, and all of this happened in less than a month!
On second thought, Alger quickly came to an understanding.
The World represented a group of Blessed of Mr. Fool. That might be the harvest from the other Blessed!
As he imagined this, The World, who was Klein, was in a state of shock towards Miss Justice's opulence.
He had thought that Miss Justice, who had just spent 5,500 pounds on a mystical item, wouldn't be as well-off as before. It was just like last year, so he had reserved space for her to haggle. Who knew that she would still agree to the deal without hesitation.
Has she dug up a gold mine? Klein couldn't help but silently lampoon.
Seeing that they had finished their discussion, Derrick hurriedly raised his hand, having learned from Miss Justice.
"Which one of you has the fruit of the Radiance Spirit Pact Tree?"
He had rather successfully collected the other ingredients of the Solar High Priest potion.
Just as Cattleya had initially figured out that Miss Justice was a yet-to-advance Psychiatrist, she heard this request. After a few seconds of silence, she said, "I do.
"What can you provide in exchange?"
After observing for a long time, she decided to intervene in a small transaction to gain a deeper understanding of how the Tarot Club operated.
"Uh... I can use the history of the City of Silver or the history of dragons, elves, and other dark creatures to barter," Derrick said sincerely. "Ma'am Hermit, this is a list of commonly seen monsters around the City of Silver. You can choose any ingredients you need from it."
How honest... Klein almost looked up at the dome of the magnificent palace.
What is he talking about... Cattleya frowned slightly, momentarily failing to understand a single word from The Sun.
Chapter 569: A Straw Will Show Which Way the Wind Blows
After a brief moment of consideration, The Hermit Cattleya made the choice that benefited her the most. She said without betraying her emotions, "I'll make a decision after seeing what the commonly seen monsters are around the City of Silver."
Another person who gains something without risking anything of her own... Are the people who spend too much time at sea good at fleecing others? Or is Little Sun in such a state that makes it impossible to resist fleecing him... Klein instinctively excluded himself from the group of seafarers.
"Alright." Under Justice and company's scrutiny, Derrick didn't hesitate to agree to Ma'am Hermit's request.
He recalled the content and conjured it, recording the most commonly seen monsters around the City of Silver into a list. However, it wasn't as detailed as before, and there were quite a few missing. After all, the Sun pathway's improvement in regards to his memory was rather limited. A few days had passed.
Cattleya received the piece of information and read through it in a serious manner.
The more she scanned through it, the more alarmed she became. This was because the types of monsters had far exceeded her expectations by nearly a hundred times!
Most of the names used were ancient names. If not for her being a Moses Ascetic Order member who had been pursued by knowledge, and having reached Sequence 5, making her experienced and knowledgeable, there was no way she could've known what these names would really be referring to.
But even so, there were still a few monsters she had never heard of. They were like shadows who would never reveal themselves in dreams or imaginations, forever lurking in the depths of the darkness.
Where exactly is the City of Silver? Why are there so many monsters? Ten seconds later, Cattleya raised her head without a change in expression. She said with a staid tone, "Use the history of your City of Silver in exchange."
"Alright." Derrick's eyes lit up as he seemed to see hope in advancing.
He soon conjured the historical materials of the City of Silver with the help of Mr. Fool. Having had ample experience, he knew that even more complete and detailed information was worth more than the fruit of a Radiance Spirit Pact Tree; hence, he retained some of what he knew.
Cattleya knew that she wasn't Mr. Fool, so it was impossible for her to let the members patiently wait for her to finish reading. Therefore, she casually flipped through it. After confirming its value, she deliberated and asked, "How should I hand over the fruit of the Radiance Spirit Pact Tree to you?"
Just as she said that, she suddenly thought of something. With a guess, she looked to the end of the long bronze table.
"Mr. Fool, is it done by a sacrificial ritual?"
This left Audrey, who had prepared the answer, to be clearly stunned. She swallowed the words that she was about to say.
Ma'am Hermit is very impressive and knowledgeable. She directly guessed that it's done via a sacrificial and bestowment ritual! Audrey controlled her minute facial expressions as she clicked her tongue and sighed inwardly.
"Yes." Klein gently nodded without going into detail.
He believed that it was impossible for a pirate admiral, a Sequence 5 powerhouse of the Mystery Pryer pathway, to not know how a sacrifice was made. This was even something they were good at. Furthermore, she knew The Fool's honorific name, so she didn't lack any of the necessary conditions.
Indeed, with a godlike existence bearing witness to a gathering, a sacrificial and bestowment method is the safest and most convenient way of trading... And a conversation through the Soul Body can result in direct knowledge transfer... Cattleya thanked him before saying to The Sun, "I'll do it as soon as possible."
Although she didn't show any abnormalities, her heart was in no way calm. From her casual flipping of the information provided by The Sun, she discovered that the City of Silver was truly filled with oddities.
It included matters about being forsaken by the Lord, how it didn't have a sun, resulting in a state of eternal darkness and high- and low-frequency lightning. Matters like how strange and terrifying monsters hid in the darkness when there was no light, and how they survived thanks to Black-Faced Grass. It mentioned that they had survived for more than two thousand years since the Dark Ages. All of this exceeded Cattleya's expectations.
As a powerhouse at sea who was knowledgeable and had acquired many secrets, she instantly connected the time and descriptions to a famous concept in history—the Cataclysm!
Following that, she followed this line of thought and made a further inference.
The Forsaken Land of the Gods!
Suddenly, the figure she looked up to surfaced in Cattleya's mind once again. A sentence filled with an emotive sigh surfaced.
"He had always been searching for the Forsaken Land of the Gods back when he was alive. He said that the ultimate answer towards everything is hidden there."
The Sun comes from the Forsaken Land of the Gods which Emperor Roselle couldn't find despite all his efforts? Mr. Fool can connect to that place directly? No, perhaps, "He" awoke from that place... Cattleya thought in alarm and solemnity.
She had previously belittled the Tarot Club because The Moon, Justice, and The Sun were of low Sequences. She believed that with Mr. Fool having awoken only recently, he was obviously unable to pull members of significant strength. However, she now had to reevaluate matters.
It involves the Forsaken Land of the Gods, the Church of Storms, the Church of Mother Earth, the Loen aristocrats... Perhaps, it's precisely because they're low Sequences that these members can be nurtured to be able to reach higher ranks in their respective circles without being suspected. This will allow them to play a more important role... As for me, is it because of the Moses Ascetic Order or Her Majesty? Cattleya seriously analyzed the motives of Mr. Fool.
At this moment, the transactions were nearly coming to an end. The Moon, The Sun, and Justice had all confirmed their respective transactions. As for The Hermit Cattleya, she was still observing. Out of caution, she didn't rashly open her mouth to expose more information about herself.
Alger had originally planned on making a request to buy the Sequence 5 Ocean Songster's potion formula so that he could make the subsequent preparations, but with the addition of The Hermit, he became especially wary. He gave up on his decision at the last minute and prepared to push it back until he had really advanced to Wind-blessed. Only with him being stronger would he have the room to breathe.
As Fors would be able to obtain the Astrologer potion formula and a certain amount of ingredients from her teacher soon, she hadn't prioritized her purchases yet, so all she did was watch silently.
She actually curbed her desire to buy a mystical item to make up for her relatively showy Trickmaster powers that were lacking in strength, as well as how her Apprentice powers were only good for passing through walls and opening doors. However, her real life circumstances restricted her desires.
Up to this day, her savings had exceeded 400 pounds. For a member of the middle-class, that was rather good, but she clearly remembered how Miss Justice had bought a mystical item for 5,500 pounds previously.
Even if it was a relatively average mystical item without significant negative side effects, it will still require one to two thousand pounds... Fors languidly sat there, unable to open her mouth to make a purchase.
Klein controlled The World to scan his surroundings before hoarsely saying, "I need a pair of eyes from a six-winged gargoyle."
The supplementary ingredients of a Nimblewright Master—drago bark and the spring water from Sonia Island's Golden Spring—were commonly seen items in the mysterious world. As long as he purchased them at different occasions, he wouldn't garner suspicion from anyone. Therefore, Klein only requested for the eyes of a six-winged gargoyle.
The Hermit glanced at The World and said without rushing, "300 pounds, or the equivalent cost in gold coins."
She had noticed that the previous transactions were all made in Loen's gold pound.
As expected of the Admiral of Stars who has a pirate crew with an ancient faction backing her. She is very resourceful, and her prices are cheaper than usual... If not for Little Sun's imminent advancement, and how he would soon obtain the method for removing the mental corruption of a Beyonder characteristic, I would've even consulted her on this problem... Klein thought as he made The World smiled deeply.
"Okay."
With the transaction completed, the palace that resembled a giant's residence fell silent for more than ten seconds.
Without Mr. Fool's reminder, Justice, The Sun, and company knew that they had entered the free exchange segment.
The Hanged Man Alger deliberately looked at Miss Justice and Miss Magician without looking at Ma'am Hermit.
"Something major recently happened in the Rorsted Archipelago."
He didn't plan on divulging The World's involvement since it was very likely that Mr. Fool was in possession of the Sea God's identity. If he were to rashly confirm this matter, it might spoil Mr. Fool's plans and throw himself into danger.
He planned on using a normal tone to mention the happenings on the surface while emphasizing the Moses Ascetic Order member—archaeologist and adventurer, Leticia. He planned on using this to sound out The Hermit to figure out if she was Admiral of Stars, Cattleya. This was because this pirate admiral was rumored to also be a member of the Moses Ascetic Order.
"What happened?" Justice asked with piqued interest.
Alger said calmly, "A disguised archaeologist, Leticia, discovered an ancient elvish ruin in Symeem Island and took out an item from it. This pushed the deity the locals believed in, Sea God Kalvetua, to be on the brink of collapse.
"This fake god wished to create tsunamis to drown the island so that everyone could accompany it in its death, but it was stopped by the Church of Storms's Sea King.
"Finally, Leticia was found and Kalvetua had died. The threat of the tsunamis was leveled, but strangely, the devout believers of the Sea God would still occasionally receive responses."
Leticia is dead? For an ancient elvish ruin... Cattleya had heard of this archaeologist, who was part of the same organization, before, but she wasn't too familiar with her. This was because formal members of the Moses Ascetic Order had to spend a certain amount of time in silent ascetic training. When fully paying attention, she was able to control her powers in a way that significantly exceeded the average person. Therefore, she only seemed slightly stirred as she listened seriously to The Hanged Man's description without showing any obvious abnormalities.
When The Hanged Man said that Kalvetua was dead and how the "Sea God" still responded to its believers, Cattleya first frowned in puzzlement before using her spiritual intuition to recall a certain scene.
Yesterday, she had seen Mr. Fool hold a milky-white scepter when "He" pulled her above the gray fog.
At the tip of the scepter were many tiny blue "gems" which were swirling with countless points of holy light.
And more importantly, it emanated an aura of godhood, one that seemed like the corporeal aura of the ocean and storm!
This... Cattleya instinctively turned her head to the end of the long bronze table, where Mr. Fool was shrouded in the grayish-white fog.
