Klein hadn't expected Melissa's reaction and hurriedly explained. It took half a day of convincing to make her believe it wasn't a scam—that his talent had genuinely caught the boss's eye.
"I knew you had it in you, Klein," Melissa said, breaking into a smile. But after a moment, her worry crept back. "Klein, where are you going to stay in Backlund? I hear the rent there's steep, and the air's not great…"
She rambled on, listing a slew of practical concerns Klein hadn't even considered, leaving him stunned.
When she finished, Melissa hesitated, then said, "So, when you get there, make sure to write to us. If we have time, we'll visit you too."
Benson ruffled his little sister's hair and looked at Klein. "Moving to Backlund's a good opportunity—it's the capital, after all. And don't worry about us too much. If things go well, we might join you there soon."
Klein blinked, caught off guard.
Benson smiled and reminded him, "Don't forget I'm studying for the clerk exam. And Melissa's old enough to apply for university next year. Backlund's schools are better than Tingen's. We might not get in, but I think Melissa's got a shot."
"So go to Backlund with confidence, Klein. No matter what, we've got your back."
…
With his siblings' support and no more worries holding him back, Klein still had to wait for the Nighthawks' headquarters to approve his leave. So, before officially advancing to Magician, leaving Tingen, and heading to Backlund, he first attended another Tarot Club meeting.
Above the gray fog, Klein materialized a pocket watch, checked the time, and estimated when to pull Little Sun up. Thinking back on the past seven days, he felt a twinge of relief.
There was supposed to be a Tarot Club meeting during those seven days, but due to the Qilangos incident, both Justice Audrey and Hanged Man Alger had asked for leave, unable to attend. Klein had simply canceled that meeting.
"Good thing I did, or I'd have been hosting it as a cat… Though, maybe not," Klein muttered to himself. He glanced at the watch again, saw it was time, and began the meeting process, pulling Tarot Club members onto the gray fog one by one.
During this, Klein recalled what Lucifer had mentioned and took a close look at Jack's spirit body. Unfortunately, it looked no different from anyone else's—at least, Klein couldn't spot any signs of past damage.
What kind of accident was it, anyway? Klein wondered, only to be interrupted by Justice Audrey's ever-energetic voice.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Fool~"
And just like that, the gray fog was filled with a cheerful vibe.
But this time, before Justice Audrey could go through her usual round of greetings, Hanged Man Alger raised a hand and quickly said, "Mr. Fool, I've collected 26 pages of Roselle's diary this time."
He had to be quick. The Sailor pathway didn't boost memory or learning much, and Alger wasn't a genius in that department. If he didn't manifest Roselle's diary fast, he'd forget it.
Of course, Alger didn't deny he was also showing his loyalty.
Thinking of Qilangos turned into a sheep, and recalling Archbishop Ace Snake referring to the Fool's favored one as "Him," Alger's tone grew even more deferential. He stated outright that these diaries were his due payment, since Mr. Fool had sent his favored one to deal with Qilangos.
But Mr. Lucifer isn't my favored one… Klein gave a wry smile inwardly but nodded calmly on the surface. "This is the principle of equivalent exchange."
Klein didn't feel too guilty admitting it. After all, Lucifer's intervention had indeed backed him up.
Mr. Fool glanced at Jack out of the corner of his eye and, sure enough, caught a thoughtful look.
Jack knew who'd taken out Qilangos, after all.
Good thing Jack already suspects Lucifer's tied to the Fool, so I'm not worried about blowing my cover, Klein reassured himself inwardly. Then he heard Hanged Man Alger explain that his memory was limited, so he could only recall six pages at a time and would provide the diaries in installments.
Mr. Fool had no issue with this, nodding with a smile. "No problem."
The others didn't chime in, clearly indicating that, aside from Hanged Man Alger, no one else had collected Roselle's diaries this time.
So Mr. Fool smoothly moved to the reading phase. His gaze dropped to the first page, and after scanning it, he confirmed it was indeed Emperor Roselle's diary.
This page mentioned Mr. Door and touched on Fourth Epoch history—like which four emperors fought in the War of the Four Emperors, and how the Death God emerged as the final victor, later joining the Primordial Demoness to unleash the Pale Disaster.
This aligned with what Klein had learned from Jack, but one detail caught his attention: the diary's mention that "the Death God went mad."
"From Zoroast's diary, I've basically confirmed the War of the Four Emperors was a battle between four Sequence 0s. Tudor was a half-mad god, and now the Death God, who gained the most from the war, went mad too. Why? What did the Death God gain in that war…" Klein mused, his intuition telling him it was significant.
But with limited information, he couldn't piece it together. He moved on to the next diary, then perked up—the second page was clearly Zoroast's.
"September 9, clear.
Nice weather today, but I dreamed of that chaos again.
Since Amon ate me last time, this is the third time. I thought it was another of Amon's little tricks, but it doesn't seem like it.
If anything, it's because of this chaos that Amon couldn't fully devour my spirit body.
So what is this? A transmigrator's late-blooming cheat?"
Chaos? What chaos?
Klein instantly thought of the gray fog. Not that he believed Zoroast dreamed of the gray fog itself, but his gut told him it might be something similar.
This matched what Lucifer had hinted at: he and Jack weren't vessels for the Celestial Worthy's revival but were tied to another entity.
Could the chaos Zoroast dreamed of be linked to that entity?
(End of Chapter)