In Southville County, by the time Hastur returned once again, he had already missed the seventh day after the Duke of Southville's death.
To express his condolences, he had Caius prepare an expensive gift and send it to the Duke's family, making sure to convey his deep mourning for the duke.
After handling this matter, Hastur began going through the financial reports of the eight sea ports during this period.
Perhaps because the Southern Continent temporarily showed no signs of invading the Kingdom of Loen, the number of merchant ships traveling back and forth had increased considerably. This was especially true for some keen-sensed merchants from the Feysac Empire. Although they had not moved their entire families away, they had transferred most of their assets to other countries.
Traveling by land was difficult, so sea transport was the most suitable option.
Several major ports in Southville County served as transit hubs and made a considerable windfall in tax revenue.
Hastur was not surprised. When a country faced danger, profit-driven merchants would naturally make choices that suited their own interests. As long as they possessed enough wealth, they could live prosperous lives anywhere.
As for patriotism and attachment, those sentiments were generally reserved for the lower-class people who had nowhere else to go and no other choices.
Therefore, for these people, Hastur ordered the ports to raise the taxes again. The reason was simple: during wartime, large amounts of tax revenue were needed to maintain public order.
Hastur had only been back in Puning Harbor for a few days when Alfred arrived in Southville County together with Prince Leonard.
The two appeared to have a very good relationship. Prince Leonard invited Alfred to help him handle some affairs.
Alfred did not refuse. He soon took his leave of Hastur, moved into the Governor's Residence, and threw himself into Prince Leonard's embrace.
"Tsk. A fine bird chooses a good tree to perch on."
After reading the latest intelligence sent back by members of the Yellow-Robed Monks, Hastur sighed and silently put a cross next to Alfred's name in his heart.
Although there was nothing particularly objectionable about Alfred's choice, Hastur still felt a sense of betrayal. Perhaps he had truly regarded Alfred as one of his own.
"My lord, do you need me to send someone to teach him a lesson?" Caius volunteered. He was already quite experienced in handling such matters.
"No need. Just let him go. After all, his father, Earl Hall, is a very decent man, and Miss Audrey and I are also on good terms."
Hastur waved his hand, rejecting Caius's suggestion. Alfred had not done anything severe enough to deserve falling into Caius's hands and suffering.
"When are you going to advance to Sequence 4?" Hastur changed the subject.
Caius lowered his head and said awkwardly, "It will probably still take several years."
Hastur leaned back slightly and stared at Caius for a while. "Sometimes you need to look for the problem within yourself. After all these years, has your strength improved? Have you been seriously acting?"
Caius lowered his head even further. After a while, he answered quietly, "My lord is right to reprimand me. I've been busy with other matters lately, and it really has been a long time since I seriously acted and digested the potion."
"Mm. You may leave."
After Caius left, Hastur finished reading some other intelligence reports before getting up and leaving the study for Sharon's room.
As soon as he entered, he saw Ariella hiding off to the side, secretly eating dried fish, while Sharon played the role of a silent puppet.
Upon seeing Hastur arrive, Ariella's first reaction was to hide the dried fish behind her back. She raised her head and let out a soft, adorable meow, putting on an innocent and cute appearance. Hastur did not bother reminding her that next time, she should remember to wipe away the evidence around her mouth first.
Before leaving Backlund, Audrey had specially prepared a large bag of dried fish for Ariella, which Hastur had temporarily confiscated. Judging from the situation, Ariella must have secretly gone and dug it out again.
"After some time, once the situation stabilizes, I plan to make a trip to the Intis Republic. I suppose I'll treat it as a vacation for myself…"
Hastur spoke about his upcoming plans while Sharon listened silently. Ariella watched for a while, then secretly pulled out the dried fish she had hidden behind her back and retreated into a dark corner where Hastur couldn't see her, happily feasting away.
…
Above the gray fog, Klein carefully chose the time to hold the Tarot Gathering that had been delayed by a week.
When preparations were underway in Backlund to deal with George III, he had deliberately postponed the Tarot Gathering for a week as a precaution.
Now that everything had been successfully resolved, it was time to inform the Tarot Club members, who still knew nothing about the inside story, about George III's situation. At the same time, he could also give Miss Magician a slight warning.
This Miss Magician was so close to Bernadette, and Bernadette was a believer of the Stars. It was difficult not to suspect her true identity.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Fool."
"Good afternoon, Miss Magician."
…
Audrey skillfully greeted every member of the Tarot Club before sitting down in her seat with satisfaction.
After the incident involving George III, she had completely digested the potion within her and could now advance toward Sequence 6, Hypnotist.
She already knew the Beyonder ingredients required to advance to Hypnotist. Now, she only needed to gather all the ingredients through the Tarot Gathering, and she would be able to successfully advance.
This time, she had completely pulled ahead of Susie.
"Zaratul came to speak with me again. Heh, that old fellow always only says half of what he means. If the things He mentioned hadn't benefited me greatly, I would've thrown Him out of my palace long ago."
"He prophesied that my daughter would become an important figure in the mysterious world. I quite liked hearing that, but then He said my daughter would turn against me and resent me."
"How could my adorable and considerate little padded jacket possibly let the wind through? I asked Zaratul the reason behind this, but Zaratul merely gave me a mysterious smile and refused to reveal a single word. It really made me want to give Him a good beating."
"October 19th. I met Count Madden's wife. Huh, she looks very much like her daughter, almost like a pair of sisters. But when it comes to pleasing a man, the passage of time can indeed add quite a bit of alluring charm…"
Klein calmly finished reading the three pages of Roselle's diary in front of him. He had basically become immune to Emperor Roselle's romantic exploits and simply skipped over them.
"You may begin your discussions."
Klein pressed the three pages of Roselle's diary against the table and indicated that the members of the Tarot Club could begin talking.
Alger was the first to speak. "I would like to know what happened in Backlund some time ago, as well as how George III fell. Did he really die from an assassination?"
Fors had originally planned to answer the question, but after glancing at Mr. Fool, who seemed to be paying particular attention to her today, she hurriedly shut her mouth.
Just as well. She didn't want the others to know that she had secretly tattled to Mr. Fool before.
"Mr. Hanged Man, I think I can clear up some of your doubts." Audrey briefly organized her thoughts before addressing everyone. "That day, George III was giving a speech to the entire nation at Memorial Square in Backlund. Near the end of his speech, his entire body suddenly exploded, scattering blood and chunks of flesh everywhere. At the same time, a deafening explosion came from the outskirts of Backlund. It affected the outer areas of the city and destroyed quite a few houses."
"Afterward, the Loen Kingdom and the Churches of the three gods came forward and unanimously declared that assassins sent by the Feysac Empire had killed George III at a critical moment."
"Then, the newly enthroned Jevington Augustus used this as justification to formally declare all-out war against the Feysac Empire."
Audrey roughly explained what had happened that day. Fors and Emlyn listened just as attentively. Both of them had chosen to stay home that day and had not gone out to attend George III's speech.
"George III definitely wasn't killed by an assassin!" After hearing the explanation, Alger confidently gave his judgment.
That place was Backlund, a city watched over by the gods. No matter how formidable the Feysac Empire's assassins were, it should have been impossible for them to assassinate George III that day and still successfully escape.
Something else must have happened behind the scenes!
"That isn't something I'm capable of knowing," Audrey replied calmly.
I-I know!
Fors shouted twice in her heart, but she did not speak up and exchange the information for a certain amount of gold pounds. She was afraid that she might accidentally expose her identity.
Klein, who had been paying attention to Miss Magician all along, noticed her hesitant expression.
This time, Klein had no intention of leaving the opportunity to Miss Magician. He controlled The World and spoke in a hoarse voice, "I know some of the inside story, but this information is very important. You will need to pay a certain price for it."
"Fine." Audrey immediately agreed to the transaction, leaving Fors and Alger stunned for a moment.
One regretted that she should have stepped forward just now and made a deal with the wealthy Miss Justice. The information about George III attempting to become a god should have been worth 500 pounds, right?
The other was shocked by just how wealthy Miss Justice was. That decisive, straightforward response could only be confidently blurted out by someone who possessed enormous wealth.
The World naturally took the report Fors had previously made to Mr. Fool and retold it with a few additions and omissions.
After he finished speaking, Mr. Fool, seated high at the head of the table, deliberately glanced at Fors.
The warning was unmistakable. Fors' heart tightened, and she hurriedly lowered her head.
She knew it. After the previous incident where she had informed on the matter, Mr. Fool had already begun suspecting her identity. That was why this time He had deliberately used His believer, The World, to warn her to be more careful in the future.
But soon, she began to realize something.
Since Mr. Fool had already seen through her identity as a believer of the Stars yet still allowed her to participate in the Tarot Gathering, perhaps He also wanted to establish a certain degree of contact with the Stars through her.
Besides, the Fool and the Stars had only recently completed a transaction through her, so what did she have to be afraid of?
When you thought about it, she was basically the diplomatic ambassador the Stars had sent to Mr. Fool!
With that thought, Fors straightened her back again and slightly raised her head, calmly and composedly meeting Mr. Fool's scrutinizing gaze.
Huh, Miss Magician's mood changed rather quickly.
What suddenly gave her such confidence? Klein found it amusing and withdrew his scrutinizing gaze.