I'd just returned to my suite after having dinner and drinks with Black Death's informant. He was a middle-aged local who used to live in a harbour village northwest of the main city.
To keep up the appearances, we acted like we'd struck a friendship after I visited the shop for the first time.
He was our contact on the island and helped pass information and cover when needed. I'd learnt from him that the Red Skull pirates will arrive at a small port a mile south of the Tiana city on Tuesday night.
They'd actually preset that date. They were looking for new recruits because last month they'd lost a whole ship to the military and the Church of the Storms, and just recently, a few more members vacationing in Bayam.
I wouldn't know nothing about that last one.
Either way, so because they'd lost a lot of members and half their fleet, they were looking for new recruits.
When I finally lay back on the bed to relax and wait till Tuesday, I suddenly felt lightheaded, and my consciousness felt like it was pulled up to the sky. When my eyes finally got their sight back, I was standing in a place completely out of this world.
All around me were majestic, tall walls of brownish, bronze stones. The old, somewhat crumbling castle had a tall and long ceiling. From outside, and inside, the floor and surroundings were covered in a boundless, endless gray fog.
As I stood at the entrance of the castle's long hall, my eyes saw a long, mottled bronze table, at the sides of which were ten chairs each, along with one at both the head and the end.
On top of the tall, high back chair at the head sat a man surrounded by the same endless gray fog. He wore a modern, black tuxedo suit with a black silk top hat.
I have finally been invited, huh?
I almost felt excited but did my best to actively suppress any emotion I might show.
Still, looking at the man in front of me, I couldn't help but rejoice. I'd finally met the true protagonist of this era.
Praise the Poor!
I prayed in my heart.
"Are you the great, esteemed lord, Mr. Fool? Is this your divine kingdom, sir? How must I be to pronounce you?"
While I could never compete with a certain glazer, I tried my best to speak diplomatic words that suited my nature. The last thing I wanted to do against a Faceless was act overly dramatic or different from my usual personality.
Mr. Fool, surrounded by gray fog, nodded.
"There are others like you who simply call me 'Mr. Fool'; you are welcome to as well."
I nodded.
"I understand, Mr. Fool."
Seeing me at ease, the pseudo-god in front of me did an almost imperceptible nod.
"Why did you pray to me? What do you want?" Mr. Fool asked, with his hands kept on the surface of the long table before him. He did, in fact, look really cool, as he said so. Truly, a born aura farmer.
I had already prepared answers for this type of questions. After all, it was not without plan that I just prayed to Klein.
"Sir, I discovered your honorific name from a beyonder gathering. Soon enough, I am going on an important expedition, and I was hoping to earn as much good luck as possible before I embarked on it. And since your name implies your authority over good luck... I decided to pray to you. If there is anything I can do for you, I am yours to command."
The Fool tapped the table with his finger once, and the gray fog around him squirmed a little. In a moment, he spoke with his same, neutral, resounding voice.
"Whether you find fortune or not is up to your fate. But here, others like you attend a weekly gathering. They exchange information and resources; if you manage to strike luck in such a place, your wish would be fulfilled."
Mr. Fool spoke like a true charlatan belonging to the cowardly trio. But since I too was posturing as a devoted prayee, I said what my internal script allowed me too.
"O great lord, Mr. Fool, what must I do to earn a place in your gathering? If it's something I can accomplish, I am willing to offer it."
More gray fog churned around the fool for a second before he replied with the same, resounding voice.
"There is no official requirement. Try to seek out and bring me pages of Roselle's diary when you can, though. That is all you need to do."
Bringing my hands together, I bowed.
"I understand, sir."
When I looked up, suddenly a stack of cards had appeared in front of me.
"The other members like to call themselves by the name of Tarot cards, so you should choose an identity for yourself as well."
The next moment, the cards all spread open for me to look at. In total, they were fourteen. I quickly scanned through them to see who'd not joined yet. Among the fourteen cards, there was still the Judgement, and the Star card available. This meant, Emlyn and Cattleya must have joined recently.
After having considered the possibility that I would be allowed to join the Tarot Club, I had already decided on the card I'd choose. But to posture as if I was carefully thinking, I took a few seconds to look through the cards while lost in thought. Of course, the thoughts were just about who was a member already, and who would come after me.
After about twenty seconds of waiting, I took one card from the stack of fourteen laid open in front of me.
"I choose the Empress." I said, doing my best attempt at an emotionless face and voice.
Just as I finished, the tarot cards all disappeared. The Fool tapped on his table once again, and spoke.
"The meeting is held on every Monday, at 3 pm, Backlund time. Tomorrow will be your first meeting. Make sure to isolate yourself at the appropriate time."
I nodded in response.
"I understand."
No longer did I hear anything else, until the gray fog around me dissolved into nothingness and I was suddenly back in my body, lying in my bed.
Talk about an out-of-body experience.
Hey, at least I now have a network of people to lean on when I need help.
As for when I go back to the ship eventually? I decided to deal with that situation when it would happen. After all, as far as I was concerned, Klein wouldn't take too well to me being an underling of Tracy, whom he considered a wretched pirate.
Sigh.
Oh well, to deal with the future in the future.
...
Klein, who'd dealt with a lot of things today, finally descended below the gray fog, and lay down in his bed to relax.
Not only had he gone to a beyonder gathering with Danitz today, but he'd also taken up a new commission from the said gathering, and had outsourced it to the believer of Sea God Kalvetua.
After that, he was interrupted by a rude swindler who was trying to seduce women in his name.
And after that, he'd had to step in to save a certain Pirate Admiral from dying to Hidden Sage's information rant.
And after all of that, he had to induct another new member before the next gathering. Two new members in one gathering—he was at least looking forward to everyone's reactions.
Still though, what a strange fellow. Why choose the Empress card? Is he a cross-dresser? Or an Assassin pathway beyonder?
However unlikely it may have been, it turned out that Klein had accurately discovered two truths about his organisation's latest member. All with nothing but the power of intuition.
No longer bothered, Klein went to wash up, drank some water, and fell asleep.
...
The next morning, I woke up with a happy dream of me and Eleanor living in a small house in East Chester County's countryside.
We had a small farm, and a bit larger farmland. In our farm we had several animals, an orange cat, a snake, a horse, a blade of grass, and a mighty chicken that cultivated the qi of heaven and earth.
We both lived merrily, and ate delicious foods we cultivated ourselves. At the end of the dream, I and Eleanor were about to become father and mother, when suddenly my world was struck by a rooster's extremely loud, ear-wrenching cry.
I woke up to the hotel owner's roosters crying their hearts out at 6 in the morning.
___
This chapter is a little shorter than the previous ones. Thanks for reading, do drop a few power stones and comments if you wanna make me feel happy.
The last bit is a reference to Beware of Chicken.