Chapter 158: Preparedness Averts Peril

*How enviable it is for Miss Justice to always maintain a cheerful mood.

I wish I could be like that...* Listening to her lively

greetings, Klein couldn't help but sigh wistfully.

He then recalled the time when she had taken out a thousand pounds so

easily, and he realized that it would be very difficult if he wanted to

maintain his cheerful emotions like Miss Justice.

The Sun, Derrick Berg, was a young man that cared a lot about his

reputation. He immediately replied, "I have obtained the Telepathist

formula."

For the past week, he had been settling the inheritance that his parents

had left him. Besides the property, furniture, and a few sentimental

items, the rest of the valuable items were brought to the black market

in the City of Silver in exchange for the Telepathist formula and the

Bard potion's ingredients. His meals were now rationed.

However, he believed that the situation wouldn't be for long. When he

passes the combat examination, he would then join the team that cleansed

the Things of the Dark in the outskirts of the city and be paid a decent

amount.

*When I become stronger, I'll apply to become a member of the elite

squad, to explore the depths of the dark and find a way to remove the

curse...* Derrick thought with hope as he looked towards The

Fool who was engulfed in the fog.

He noticed that last time after Miss Justice made a request to Mr. Fool,

she was able to produce a page of the unknown Roselle diary out of thin

air!

Although Derrick didn't quite understand what had happened, he felt that

it'd be better if he watched Mr. Fool.

"First, recall the formula in your head. Then, grab the pen by your side

and instill it with the strong desire to express your thoughts." Klein

casually leaned back in his high chair.

As The Sun was from the City of Silver, which might be the Forsaken Land

of God, the pen that instantiated before him wasn't a fountain pen, but

a quill instead.

Of course, there still wasn't any ink.

Derrick didn't dare to doubt what The Fool said, so he immediately

grabbed the quill that suddenly appeared by his hand.

He followed The Fool's instruction, and as expected, he saw the

Telepathist potion formula appear on the brown goatskin parchment before

him within seconds.

After looking through it twice, Derrick silently pushed the promised

item towards Miss Justice.

Audrey was overjoyed and eager, but she took the parchment gracefully.

She glanced at the page, and the words that Klein had translated came

into sight.

"Main ingredients: Phantom Netherdrake's complete pituitary gland, 10 ml

of Half Specter Rabbit spinal fluid.

"Supplementary ingredients..."

*Main ingredients that I've never heard of... Hmm, I don't know

enough.* Audrey, who had been trying to learn more about the

different types and names of Beyonder ingredients from Fors and Xio,

seemed to fret in thought.

During such moments, she would completely forget how a Spectator should

behave.

Suddenly, Audrey heard a light rapping sound. She quickly looked towards

the seat of honor at the long bronze table subconsciously.

She was surprised to see Mr. Fool rapping at the edge of the table with

his right index finger while he gestured to her with a nod.

What's going on? Audrey was confused as her eyes wore a vacant

look.

Just when she was about to ask, the corner of her eyes suddenly saw some

changes on the Telepathist formula. There were remarks next to some of

the ingredients:

"Main ingredients, Phantom Netherdrake's complete pituitary gland (also

known as Rainbow Salamander), 10 ml of Half Specter Rabbit (also known

as Farsman Rabbit) spinal fluid.

"Supplementary ingredients..."

I know all of these! Audrey was stunned at first, then there

was an intense surge of delight from the bottom of her heart.

"Thank you, Mr. Fool. You're really very knowledgeable." She looked

towards the seat of honor as she thanked and sincerely complimented him.

The Hanged Man Alger didn't know what had happened, but he felt extreme

contempt towards what Justice had said.

*How could you describe a godlike figure with the word

"knowledgeable"?*

*His existence alone is equivalent to knowledge itself to a certain

extent!*

Klein accepted Miss Justice's compliments without any misgivings because

this wasn't something he could've done just because he had chanced upon

the Psychology Alchemists' Telepathist formula.

After he pulled The Sun into the Tarot Club, he had been taking

precautions against such problems by taking into consideration The Sun's

special circumstances of being from the City of Silver. He had been

constantly studying ancient terminology. Therefore, even if Daxter

Guderian hadn't managed to get the formula in time, he could've made the

notations easily. Through prior divination and comparison, he had made

certain that both Telepathist formulas were accurate.

This is why we say, "Preparedness averts peril..." Klein

thought smugly.

Audrey looked at the Telepathist formula a few times and then reined in

her gaze unwillingly. She then personally expressed Roselle's diary onto

a page.

"You deserve this." She put down her pen and looked towards the

fog-engulfed Fool. "In addition to this, I'll give your Blessed another

300. Is 300 pounds okay?"

She sounded a little guilty because the three pages of Roselle's diary

only cost her twenty pounds, while the Sheriff formula at Sequence 8

required 450 pounds.

In other words, from the perspective of simple math, she had to pay

another 430 pounds on top of the three pages of the diary.

However, Audrey felt that it was thanks to her luck that the seller

didn't know the value of Roselle's diary. It allowed her to buy it at a

low price.

Emperor Roselle's diary costs at least fifty pounds per page!

Audrey held her fist and encouraged herself.

*300 pounds? Until today, I've only seen that much money at Sir

Deweyville's place...* Klein sighed and pretended to not be

interested in money as he nodded and said, "A reasonable deal.

"This is my Blessed's information."

He avoided speaking of terms like "Backlund Bank" and "anonymous

account" verbally through The Fool's mouth as they damaged his image. He

made them appear on the parchment before her.

Klein had taken time to visit Backlund Bank's Tingen branch last

Wednesday while investigating the houses with red chimneys. He had

disguised himself and opened an anonymous bank account.

The account only required one to memorize his account number and the

corresponding password in order to withdraw cash from any Backlund Bank

branch.

If one found that it wasn't secure enough, he could also request to add

in a signature and thumbprint verification. But that would be more

troublesome.

In order to keep his identity secret, Klein left it with a password.

*The password is written in ancient Hermes: "The Fool that doesn't

belong to this era, the mysterious ruler above the gray fog; the King of

Yellow and Black who wields good luck."*

*As ancient Hermes itself can be used for rituals and prayers, anyone

who dares to copy the password would be reciting my name. Then, I'll

immediately receive a signal, and can simply find out who's the one

trying to steal my wealth from the world above the gray fog!*

Klein was very satisfied with the idea that he came up with.

The only downfall was that it would slightly expose the existence of The

Fool, but the risk was within an acceptable range.

Audrey pushed the diary page to Mr. Fool as she took the parchment with

the information of The Fool's Blessed. Recorded on it, was the Backlund

Bank and a bunch of numbers that formed the anonymous bank account.

*I wonder if Mr. Fool's Blessed is a male or female, and which Sequence

he or she is...* Hmm, he must be very powerful, at least not

weaker than Vice Admiral Hurricane Qilangos... Audrey couldn't stop her

thoughts from wandering.

But she quickly focused and memorized the anonymous account.

"It doesn't have to be so troublesome." Just then, she heard The Fool's

low yet gentle voice. "When you get home, recite my name and you'll be

able to write down the information directly."

*This would be just like when I drew the red chimney scene through

divination... An account number is very important, you can't memorize it

incorrectly...* Klein added in his head.

*That works too? From Mr. Fool's words, he appears very confident. He

lives up to his status of a godlike figure if he can even do

this...* Audrey was stunned at first before coming to the

realization that everything seemed to make logical sense.

But, why did I have to memorize the formula earlier? Audrey

was suddenly confused again.

At that moment, Klein pressed down on the page of Roselle's diary, but

he wasn't in a hurry to read it. He looked to the side at The Sun and

calmly asked, "What compensation would you like?"

Derrick thought seriously and said, "As of now, I don't have anything

that I desperately need... I should digest the Bard potion very soon. I

shall wait until then to request my compensation. Yes, perhaps to

prepare for the corresponding Sequence 8 formula or the necessary

ingredients."

*Sequence 8 is Light Suppliant, which I have... but the ingredients.

Even if I had them, I would have no idea how to give them to you. Wait,

he used the word digest... Indeed, the City of Silver knows of the

"acting method"... Hmm. The highest Sequence there is only Sequence 4,

so are they limited by ingredients?* Klein nodded in deep

thought, agreeing to the deal.

Audrey also sharply noticed the word "digest." She weighed her words and

asked, "Mr. Sun, are you aware of the 'acting method'?"

Derrick looked at Miss Justice in confusion and answered

straightforwardly, "It's nothing strange... The general education

classes in the City of Silver teaches the 'acting method.'"

The "acting method" is taught in general education classes...

Audrey stole a glance at The Hanged Man and realized that he was looking

back at her. The two of them suddenly fell silent.

*The origin of The Sun is indeed mysterious. I wonder where Mr. Fool

pulled him into the Tarot Club from... The more I think about it, the

more I revere him...* Audrey settled down and looked at The Fool

who didn't look visibly surprised in any way.

Then, Alger probed, "Mr. Sun, do you talk about any key things to look

out for with respect to the 'acting method'?"

"Yes." Derrick nodded without hesitation. "It's clearly stated in our

general education classes that the one and only key point for the

'acting method' is to 'Remember that you're only acting.'"

*As expected... We're using an ingenious method to go around obstacles

and completely break down the remnant spirits in the potion, without

submitting to it... The Sun, you're such a simple boy. You just shared

important information by accident...* Klein smiled and cast his

eyes on the diary page before him.