After watching Will depart, Klein relieved the pressure in his bladder, stepped out of the washroom, and returned to the ballroom. Soon he spotted Sharon sharing "pregnancy" tips with Dr Allen's wife, Velma Gletis.
Watching Sharon imitate Miss Daly's graceful social style with earnest determination, Klein felt a tangle of emotions. Yet the sight only reinforced his resolve: he must go behind the Chanis Gate at Saint Samuel's, complete the Goddess's trial, obtain the Bizarro Sorcerer potion formula, and advance to demigod as soon as possible.
In truth, after meeting Bernadette on Monday night and having her "contaminate" Admiral of Blood with powers from the Darkness pathway, he had originally planned to act tonight.
But MP Macht's invitation had thrown his plans off schedule… and now the shift change was already over; the internal caretaker had entered the Chanis Gate long ago.
As for why he did not decline the invitation—
Macht was a helpful neighbour; refusing without adequate reason would raise eyebrows. And when news of the Chanis Gate theft broke the next day, suspicion might land squarely on him.
The Nighthawks don't know this is part of the Goddess's trial…
Klein grumbled inwardly, then retrieved his "wife" and separated from the Allens.
The rest of the evening proceeded with normal socialising. Once the ball ended and they returned to their large home at 160 Berkronderle Street, Sharon shed her noble-lady disguise, blinked her clear eyes, and asked:
"Did I do something wrong?"
Klein's scrutinising gaze during the carriage ride had made even Miss Sharon—who was well-tempered against the malicious stares she had endured in the Rose School—feel faintly uneasy.
She could ignore malice and greed.
But Klein's gaze made her heart quicken.
Flustered, Klein cleared his throat and opened a safer topic:
"How is your Puppet potion digestion progressing?"
Since their first meeting he had felt she resembled a doll—whether due to temperament or her strict abstinence discipline—both of which amounted to prior roleplay, greatly benefiting potion digestion.
Soon he might have to source Sequence 3 ingredients for her.
"Quite well," she said, faint puzzlement flickering across her face. "Another six to ten months should complete it—faster than my teacher predicted. She expected two or three years."
She paused, considering her words. "But the Puppet pathway's abstinence acting is harder than I thought."
Likely because the Mother Tree of Desire's faint taint has drawn you closer to Its nature, speeding digestion…
Klein took no comfort from this idea; unease weighed down his heart. After Sharon retired to the third floor, he ascended the gray fog and examined "Miss Abstinence" again and again through the Fool's sight—finding nothing each time.
The Mother Tree's methods are truly insidious… and my dominion over the mysterious space above the gray fog is still too limited.
According to Will, the Mother Tree's influence on Sharon resembled Mr Door's mutterings upon Miss Magician—
Except the latter targeted the spirit body, letting Klein isolate her with gray fog.
The former, however, likely acted upon flesh, bodily fluids, even primal desire. Such manipulation was something he could not yet counter.
Besides, as a Great Being, the Mother Tree was almost certainly above Mr Door in power.
Returning to reality, Klein set out stationery, picked up his pen, and wrote to Mr Azik.
Instead of the copper whistle, he raised his harmonica and summoned his personal messenger.
Reinette Tinekerr drifted from the spirit world at a measured pace, clad in her somber, ornate black gown, carrying four identical beautiful heads.
After listening to Klein's account, one head streaked toward the third floor, then returned moments later. The four heads spoke in sequence:
"Sharon…" "problem…" "not…" "serious…"
"Once you…" "demigod…" "easily…" "resolve…"
Same conclusion as Will… Klein inclined his head, still unwilling to relinquish hope. "So there truly is no immediate cure except myself or the Unknown?"
"None…" "Sefirah Castle…" "the Unknown…" "reliable…"
the four heads replied calmly.
So that's how it is…
Klein nodded slowly, as though grasping a deeper aspect of the "Sefirah" Ebner had spoken of.
…
Weekends always vanished swiftly; Monday arrived once more.
As the clock neared three, Ebner split off a Wisdom Eye to attend the Tarot Gathering in "clone form."
—Because the eye's power output had not changed, Klein still had no idea Ebner had advanced to Sequence 3.
Ebner wasn't hiding it intentionally—advancing to demigod and then again within two months was monstrous speed, blatantly abnormal.
To avoid alarming his friends, discretion was best.
Neither Klein nor Xio and Fors knew of his breakthrough after fainting.
Ebner continued his research on the Elf King soul-stone borrowed from Yarolan and the special soul-stone left behind by Lady Julia of House Delien, refining the ritual that would resurrect his previous selves—Alvin Abraham, the Machinery Emperor, and others—and return them to reality.
He had spent the entire weekend immersed in work, leaving home only once to meet Earl Hall and discuss the Academy Award, surprising Xio and Fors with his rare hermit-like behaviour.
…
Within the ancient palace above the gray fog, pillars of deep-red light rose on either side of the bronze table, forming before The Fool Klein and The Tower Ebner.
Justice Audrey was still in high spirits; with Susie's support, her "point farming" efficiency had soared. In a single week she had earned enough for a Separation talisman and planned to challenge the sixth floor of the Dream Labyrinth Tower after the meeting.
Though Susie's contribution might—almost certainly—be greater than mine…
While these thoughts stirred, she glanced forward—and froze.
A new card lay near Mr Fool's hand.
A new Blasphemy Card? Which pathway is it…?
If only it were Audience…
Suppressing her excitement, she led the group in saluting the fog-wreathed figure:
"Good afternoon, Mr Fool~"
Klein nodded with a faint smile, sensing the girl's subtle glance and recognising another opportunity to "perform."
Once all members greeted one another, Justice presented three pages of Emperor Roselle's diary.
One came from the Loen Antiquities Collection and Preservation Foundation, which she had founded and funded—acquiring it was effortless.
The remaining two were rewards from clearing levels in the Dream Labyrinth Tower.
—Repeated clearing naturally diminished reward quality.
"Excellent," Klein said with a smile, signalling for her to manifest the pages.
Hermit Cattleya remained silent; evidently she had not obtained new pages.
The Queen of Mystic, having stopped a major catastrophe and used it to ascend to angelhood, clearly had little time for diary trading.
Klein watched the three pages materialise and leap into his palm.
One glance nearly made his lips twitch: another of Roselle's flirtation chronicles—
And worse, one he had read before.
Suppressing an internal sigh, he turned to the second and third pages—and his eyes brightened.
These held Roselle's summary of dragonkind's abilities and authorities, as well as the potion formulas for Sequence 5 Dreamwalker and Sequence 4 Manipulator.
"These two pages must be Dream Labyrinth Tower rewards tailored for Miss Justice.
The seventh floor alone wouldn't grant formulas of this level, so the tower disguised them as 'Roselle diary pages.'
"It fulfils her desire objectively, yet subjectively the market value is negligible—Roselle diaries don't fetch even ten pounds…"
Monthly ticket begging continues.
(End of chapter)