Chapter 1202: The Tarot Club

The demigods and Beyonders present nodded at Leonard's demonstration,

indicating that they understood what the Red Glove captain meant.

One of the Mandated Punishers raised his arm and took the opportunity to

ask a question:

"In other words, whoever left a tarot card behind is the member

executing the mission?"

"That should be the case." Leonard did not give a definite answer.

The same Mandated Punisher continued asking, "What do the tarot cards

that were scattered all over Lanevus's corpse mean then? There's no

specific direction."

Leonard immediately picked up a white chalk and wrote the name Lanevus

on the blackboard behind him. Then, he drew a circle.

"I've just said that in the past two to three years, the matter

involving tarot cards have really caught our attention because of the

Lanevus case. This is very likely the beginning of everything.

"Therefore, without a specific direction, the casually scattered tarot

cards might be referring to the whole. This means that the organization

that uses the tarot cards as code names has officially stepped onto the

stage of history. Heh heh, please forgive me for using poetic words."

"That makes a lot of sense." The few Mandated Punishers were convinced

by Leonard.

Leonard looked around and continued, "Let me use the Aurora Order, which

everyone is familiar with, as a comparison. We all know that there are

twenty-two Oracles in the Aurora Order. Each of them will be in charge

of a region's affairs. It's very possible that the organization with the

tarot card code names is the same. The members of the likes of Judgment,

The Emperor, and The Hermit should have their own factions. They will

exert their influence in a particular region."

Upon hearing this, a member of the Machinery Hivemind pondered and said,

"However, the three members corresponding to Judgment, The Emperor, and

The Hermit have appeared consecutively in Backlund. According to what

you just said, does this mean that the organization that uses tarot

cards as code names are still lacking in scale, and that the members are

all gathered in Loen, or perhaps just in the Backlund region? After all,

Backlund's person-in-charge for the Aurora Order is only an Oracle. As

for Saint Tenebrous, he's in charge of the entire Loen."

Leonard slowly nodded, indicating that he understood what he meant.

He organized his words and said, "This possibility cannot be ruled out.

After all, this is an organization that has only appeared in the past

two to three years.

"Of course, there might be other reasons. This organization might not be

divided based on location demarcation. Instead, they are determined by

whether or not they can handle an area alone. They will also work

together depending on overlapping situations, such as the Capim case."

Seeing that the Beyonders of the three Churches and MI9 didn't raise any

further questions, Leonard deliberated for a few seconds before saying,

"Next up will be all my personal guesses. There are also some problems

with it. This might be a direction of investigation for the future.

"The first question, what is the purpose of this organization?

"If they are like the Aurora Order, with the goal to spread the faith of

an evil god, then why haven't we discovered people who believe in The

Fool? Even if there are, they're all people who are scamming others in

the name of The Fool.

"Second question, what do they have in common in the few operations? I

haven't been able to find it yet.

"The third question I have is that high-level members who use tarot

cards as their code names are not of low Sequences and have their own

factions. However, they aren't famous in the Beyonder world at all. This

is very abnormal. After all, although the twenty-two Oracles of the

Aurora Order hide their identities, they have more or less crossed paths

with us. They rose up from Low-Sequence Beyonders to Middle-Sequence

Beyonders under our 'watch,' eventually taking over the spot as Oracle

when their predecessor dies or advances. They are all already on our

lists."

Having said that, Leonard paused and said, "If the organization that

uses the tarot cards as its code name is really an organization that

believes in The Fool, then there is someone who can answer my third

question.

"He's the crazy adventurer, Gehrman Sparrow. Rumor has it that he

believes in The Fool."

This name made all the Beyonders from the three Churches and MI9 fall

into silence, as though they were quickly recalling the relevant

information.

They had long heard that Gehrman Sparrow had a mysterious background. He

believed in The Fool, and they had obtained quite a bit of information

from him. However, they hadn't made any connections like Leonard to

string everything together.

A few seconds later, the archbishop of the Church of Evernight, Saint

Anthony, said in a deep voice, "...Gehrman Sparrow seems to be in close

contact with the original Death Consul of Balam. That's an angel who's

still active over the land."

This gave the Beyonders who weren't demigods a fright as they

instinctively sat up straight.

They all knew about Admiral Hell, but due to the confidential

restrictions, they didn't know that the Death Consul represented a

Grounded Angel.

"...That Death Consul doesn't seem to belong to any faction of the

Numinous Episcopate," said a Beyonder from MI9 hesitantly.

Leonard nodded solemnly.

"Perhaps 'He' is a member of the secret organization that uses the tarot

cards as a code name.

"Death card!"

There was another round of silence. All the demigods had to admit that

this was possible.

The level of the secret organization that was represented by tarot cards

suddenly rose, reaching a level that was equal to the Aurora Order.

"In short, Gehrman Sparrow is a clue." Leonard took a deep breath and

slowly said, "Your Graces, ladies and gentlemen, I'm done."

Saint Anthony nodded slightly and stood up. He looked around and said,

"Up to now, this secret organization that uses tarot cards as their code

names hasn't targeted us yet. It has shown a certain level of

friendliness. Now that the war situation is tense, we are severely

lacking in manpower, so it's difficult for us to take any major actions.

Therefore, I suggest that we try our best to avoid conflict with them

and not attempt to eradicate them for the time being.

"Of course, we have to do what we need to do. A secret organization with

the existence of a Grounded Angel itself represents danger. If we don't

understand it or grasp enough information about it, we won't be able to

react in time and stop any possible conspiracies."

Horamick and the other demigods thought for a moment before nodding in

agreement.

Anthony Stevens looked around, his gaze landing on Leonard's face.

"This investigation will be led by you. Coordinate it well."

"..." Leonard agreed solemnly.

At this moment, Deep Blue Officiant Randall Valentinus spoke to Leonard

impatiently, "Give them a name. We can't keep saying 'secret

organization that uses tarot cards as a code name.' It's quite a

mouthful.

"What suggestions do you have?"

Leonard considered carefully before saying, "Tarot Club?"

"That works." Randall stood up and said with a thunderous voice, "Let's

call it the 'Tarot Club'!"

Late at night, in Empress Borough, in the Hall family's villa.

The exclusive dessert chef, Tim, suddenly woke up from his dream and

stared at the ceiling in the darkness.

He had just dreamed that he was enjoying an ice-cream and had just eaten

it when he woke up.

The more he thought about it, the more intense his cravings became. In

the end, he overcame his feelings that it was trouble and got out of

bed. Putting on a thick sleeping robe, he walked out of the room and

came to a pantry not far away.

As a slightly famous dessert chef in the aristocratic circles, Tim was

given special privileges by Earl Hall. He could enter the pantry at any

time and use the ingredients here to test his new ideas.

Meanwhile, Tim had repeatedly returned Earl Hall's trust with

high-quality desserts.

Of course, he often appeared in the pantry due to mid-night cravings for

food, just like now.

After some serious and hard work, Tim used the remains and prepared

ingredients to make a few cups of ice-cream and ate half of it.

Then, he patted his stomach, washed the cutlery, and left the pantry in

satisfaction.

The remaining few cups of ice-cream were left in the corner, as if they

had been completely forgotten.

In Cherwood Borough, by the Tussock River, in an uninhabited shallow

flat.

Wearing a dark-colored cloak, Audrey first made use of Dream Traversal

to arrive nearby before walking over on foot.

She skillfully set up the ritual and prayed to Mr. Fool.

Soon, a silver-black accessory box embedded with many gems tore through

the illusory door and landed in front of Audrey.

Audrey tucked a wisp of blonde hair behind her ear and picked up the Box

of the Great Old Ones, 0-61, without any delay. She aimed at a few rocks

and pulled open the first layer.

Silently, numerous long tables and chairs appeared messily in the area.

Several Beyonders that had used various means to conceal their faces

appeared. One of them was the hooded Fors.

Their skin quickly changed from that of a toy's to that of a human's,

and their eyes began to move.

Fors, who had the highest Sequence, recovered the fastest. Looking

around, she was extremely surprised to find that she had unknowingly

come to a flat by the side of the river from that apartment.

Furthermore, this change was only limited to her overall area. The

situation around her was no different from before.

Where am I... What happened... Fors's gaze landed on the empty

altar. After pondering for a second, she seemed to understand something

as she asked in surprise, "Has the matter ended?"

"Yes," replied Audrey, who was using her Psychological Invisibility.

It's ended... It's ended... Fors followed up with a confused

and dazed question.

"How's the target?"

"He's dead." Audrey was multitasking as she controlled the other six

Beyonders. Her answer was very simple.

*He's dead... Saint of Secrets Botis has died... I didn't participate in

the battle. I didn't summon Gehrman Sparrow's Historical Void

projection...* Fors's mouth gaped slightly as she felt like she

was dreaming.

She only felt that she had been terrified for a second and was in a daze

for a moment, and the mission had already been completed...

At this moment, she saw the surrounding Beyonders come to "life," but

they didn't show any surprise towards the change in environment. It was

as if the gathering had been held here.

They skillfully destroyed the chairs and long tables and threw them into

the Tussock River. Then, they left the flats one after another and

returned home under the illumination of the street lamps.

...This is a Manipulator... How terrifying... Fors jumped in

fright and completely snapped awake.

"Return first." Audrey didn't have time to explain. She turned around

and used the altar from before, preparing to sacrifice the Box of the

Great Old Ones above the gray fog.

Fors shot a look over, but she didn't ask or say anything. She made her

body turn transparent as she vanished from where she was.

Author's Note: The title of this chapter originally should

have been "Official Debut," but it was just not serious enough.