Friday, January 21, 1350. Wind of Azure Inn, City of Generosity, Bayam.
Klein—who's just had a filling and delicious lunch—was chilling in his bed, with a book in his hands, when muted murmurs started resounding in his ears.
Shocked, he closed the hard-cover book with a little slam, and threw it beside the pillow.
Somebody's praying to the Sea God Kalvetua? No, it's to me, somebody's praying to the Fool. But it does not sound like any of the Tarot Club members.
A newbie?
Having put the book aside, Klein stood up from the bed, took four steps counter-clockwise and went above the gray fog.
Sitting in his palace, at the head of his long table, on his mysterious high-back chair engraved with ancient patterns, Zhou Mingrui/Klein Moretti/The Fool silently observed the subject who disturbed him.
Just like him before, the subject was sitting on a luxurious-looking bed in an expensive inn. While it was not as lavish as the Wind of Azure inn, it was not much shabbier. The man of dark brown hair wearing a linen shirt and loose pantaloons sat expectantly on the bed.
Since his honorific name had been outed by Mr. A, Klein expected to get it pronounced by certain lunatics.
Are you not afraid I'm an evil god who will erode your sanity, consume your flesh and blood, and leave but a husk? Why are people so willing to die these days... is the spirit of adventure really that exhilarating?
Klein lampooned, unable to comprehend the kind of thought process that would lead someone to make such decisions.
You don't even look desperate, unlike Little Sun and Miss Magician. See, you're not even praying for anything.
Klein watched as the man on the bed in casual clothes opened his blue eyes in disappointment. Instead of giving up, though, it seemed like a new idea has struck the man's head.
Intrigued, Klein watched what the man would do next.
The man, following a sudden epiphany, exited his hotel room and went down the stairs to a bartender and told him something.
While this was going on, Klein decided to look out from the room and check where this death-wisher was. Willing the gray fog to zoom out, Klein's gaze exited the building and saw the small harbour town that the strange lad was in. After about a minute of looking around, Klein found a few road signs, and shop boards, which confirmed that his subject was in Tiana Port.
Another sailor?
When Klein zoomed in again into the room, to check what was up, he saw the man take a plate and a glass from the server. The dessert and the beverage were something he was familiar with.
Strangely, it seemed like the man was preparing for a ritual. He took out a candle from a small bag kept on his desk, created a wall of spirituality, lit the candle, and placed the food items before it.
Then, the man stood straight and chanted his name again.
"The Fool that does not belong to this era."
"The mysterious ruler above the gray fog."
"The King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck."
This time, instead of stopping here, the man took a moment and then continued chanting.
"I!"
He said in Ancient Hermes, and then continued in Hermes.
"I pray in my name to your greatness, o lord of good luck. Please accept my offerings, and bestow me with your grace."
At first, Klein wasn't sure whether to accept the sacrifice or not.
Why are you holding a sacrificial ritual out of nowhere? Do you expect the entity you're praying to be satisfied with some Desi Pie and Sweet Iced Tea?!
Klein thought for a second, then shook his head.
It will be a waste to not accept good food, though. And this guy looks like he knows some mysticism, so if I don't accept them, he won't consume them, and they'll go to waste. Sigh.
With a rueful sigh, Klein reluctantly accepted the serving of the Desi Pie and Sweet Iced Tea.
Alas, now I'll have to give a response.
As the delicious-looking servings appeared before him, Klein finally made a decision. Tapping on the burgeoning crimson star, he formed a connection with this strange soul, and spoke with great control over his voice.
"I'm aware."
Not wasting any more time, Klein severed the connection, and watched the man react with a somewhat joyful, and somewhat strange smile.
The plate of Desi Pie, and the tumbler of Sweet Iced Tea appeared on the long bronze table in front of him.
With a wave of his hand, Klein summoned a set of plate, knife, fork, and tumbler from the junk pile, emptied the man's dishes, and sent them back to him through his sacrificial ritual.
Deciding to spy on this strange individual later in the day, Klein simulated the feeling of falling down and returned from the gray fog. Then, he quietly set up a sacrificial ritual, went above the gray fog, and delivered himself the Desi Pie and the Sweet Iced Tea.
Once done, he enjoyed the serving of the delicious pie and fragrant tea until the plate was clean.
After that, he prayed to himself again, sacrificed the utensils, went above the gray fog, accepted them, and threw them back into the junk pile after cleaning them with gray fog's power.
Convenient dishwasher.
Klein lampooned his silly usage of the gray fog, before coming back to the world. Having planned to only spy on the strange individual later in the day, he got back to reading his book.
...
Puerto Copa Inn, Tiana Island.
Ah, Mr. Fool is truly polite; he even sent back the utensils so I don't end up having to pay for them...
I sighed. It was a success. I had gotten Klein's attention but, for now, failed to enter the Sefirah Castle to talk to him or join the Tarot club. Oh well, hopefully with time, that should happen too.
Feeling rather good, I undid all the ritual things I did, and cleared the room of any spiritual material.
Once done, I lay on the bed to get some sleep, which I'd missed out on last night.
By the time I woke up, it was already 6 PM, the tropical sun was dipping into the horizon, and the hot day no longer remained hot. Getting up, I decided to get out and find a musical instrument shop in this town. After all, in the end, I chose not to bring Eleanor's guitar with me.
While it was old, I found it too precious to risk bringing along, and despite her insistence, chose to leave it back at the ship.
I'd asked the bartender at the inn for recommendations for an instrument shop. Now that it was evening, the first floor of the inn was bustling with guests eating and drinking.
When I left the inn, the sky had started turning dark blue. Following the bartender's direction, I reached the instrument shop in a matter of ten or so minutes.
The Sorin's Instrumentals and Music School was a relatively big shop compared to most other establishments in the town. Turns out, not only was it the only music shop in the city, but it was also a small music school, as evidenced by the name.
From the shop, I bought a relatively cheap Ukelele for 2 pounds. Turns out not only this world had developed the guitar, but they also had Uke.
Since I was planning to role-play an adventuring bard, I decided an Uke would be a better choice than something bigger or more complex.
Over the next few days, I got my hands used to the instrument.
My main reason for just chilling was that, I'd gotten word before leaving Black Death that Red Skull pirates would come around Tiana Port through a private harbour.
There was a small gift shop in front of the Puerto Copa inn, where our crew's informant in Tiana Port lived undercover. After only two days of exploring the small city, and its wonders, I decided to visit the shop on Sunday.
...
For the next two days, Klein would login a few times a day to check on his new worshipper. The more he watched him, the more peculiar that fellow became. At some point he'd gone out and bought a music instrument, an Ukelele!
Klein didn't know such an instrument also existed in this world! But then again, it's not like his keyboard warrior skills actually translated into some meaningful hobby. So he was undoubtedly not very curious about musical instruments of this world.
But even more strangely, he saw the man go here and there around the island like a true tourist. It was clear from this room, his belongings, and his antics, that his man was clearly no tourist.
On the evening of the Sunday, when Klein had logged in to monitor, the man was talking to a shopkeeper about a certain pirate crew, and even figured out the location of their arrival!
Is he planning to hunt them? A whole ship? And here I thought my persona of Gehrman Sparrow was crazy; this guy is clearly crazier.
After a moment, he validated his inner voice screaming at him.
Of course he's crazier! Who in their right mind would just pray to a random entity, and even sacrifice food to the said entity?!
What a weirdo.
Bored with all this watching, Klein finally gave in to the curiosity, and pulled the man up to the gray fog to have a chat.
___
Thanks for reading. Sorry for the late chapter. Pls drop a few power stone and comments. Do tell me if you find typos or errors, I'll fix them. Cya.