"An old friend? What an interesting term."
Klein, genuinely unsure how to respond, instead put on a faint, enigmatic smile, making it seem as though he had seen through some secret of the Stars.
Turning passivity into initiative. Through the long-running Tarot Gatherings, he had already honed this skill to perfection.
"Old acquaintances, old friends, hometowns... Back then, Roselle often looked up at the starry sky, as if reminiscing about something through the stars."
Hastur naturally shifted the blame onto Roselle. Thinking about it carefully, this could hardly even be considered shifting the blame. Roselle must have looked up at the starry sky more than once back then, and there was no guarantee that when he was alone, he hadn't whispered little secrets that only he himself could hear.
"Roselle?" Klein's heart stirred slightly, and he appropriately displayed a hint of curiosity.
"The Stars watch over everything. His magnificent, winding, and extraordinary life was likewise lived beneath the gaze of this starry sky."
"Although he believed he had hidden things very well, especially the unique script he left behind, which seems not to belong to this era."
"Could someone as special as him truly be the only one?"
Hearing this, Klein couldn't help but grow flustered.
If the Stars truly watched over everything, then had his arrival also occurred beneath the gaze of the Stars?
Had He already figured out that he was a transmigrator who had taken over the identity of the original Klein?
Not necessarily.
The one who transmigrated here was Zhou Mingrui, was Klein. What did that have to do with Mr. Fool?
Unless the Stars could see through Sefirah Castle's concealment of him, how could He know that Klein had become Sefirah Castle's new master?
Perhaps He was merely saying these things deliberately to trick him.
After thinking this through, Klein slowly said, "Roselle was indeed an interesting person. Unfortunately, in the end, he still chose the wrong path."
Since He wanted to talk about Roselle, then they could talk about Roselle. Through Roselle's diary, Klein already had a rough understanding of this fellow transmigrator's legendary life, as well as his general personality and way of doing things.
He could conveniently use their discussion of Roselle, a figure from a bygone era, to display Mr. Fool's ancient and mysterious side, as someone who had awakened from his slumber long ago.
"Fool, you seem to have known Roselle quite well?"
Of course I know him well. I even know which witch he slept with on which date.
Klein grumbled inwardly, but calmly replied, "There is quite a bit of fate between us."
"Fate? What an interesting way of putting it."
"The Stars seem particularly concerned about Roselle?"
"There are qualities about him worthy of deeper investigation."
"The Stars watch over everything. Can they still not completely understand everything?"
Klein and Hastur then continued their conversation with Roselle as the central topic, each speaking cryptically and discussing quite a few things. They were just short of stripping Roselle bare, inside and out.
Fortunately, both knew when to stop and didn't delve too deeply. In the end, Hastur was the first to put a halt to the topic of Roselle.
When it came to how well they understood Roselle, he and Klein had practically been taught by the same diary. Neither could break the other's moves.
Neither of them had ever personally met Roselle or truly spoken with him. One knew and understood Roselle indirectly through Roselle's diary, while the other did so through the original novel.
If they really kept talking, the two of them were evenly matched. Perhaps one careless remark would instead give the other an opening to exploit.
Besides, when the Stars came to visit the Fool, how could they spend all their time talking about Roselle?
He wasn't qualified to become the focus of their discussion. He could only serve as a minor topic used to divert the conversation.
"Fool, are you interested in attending a Gathering of the Stars?" Hastur extended an invitation to the Gathering of Stars, wanting to see what choice Klein would make.
A Gathering of the Stars? Something similar to the Tarot Gathering he had established?
Could the members of this Gathering of the Stars all be terrifying existences at the same level as the Stars?
A single Tarot Gathering was already enough to exhaust him mentally and force him into constant battles of wits. If he were to attend another Gathering of the Stars and face a group of terrifying existences comparable to true gods... Just imagining the scene made his scalp tingle.
Klein's heart trembled. He was only a fake Lord of Mysteries. Just dealing with Miss Justice, Mr. Hanged Man, and the others while maintaining the identity of Mr. Fool already required a considerable number of brain cells.
He truly didn't have the energy to deal with the terrifying existences at the Gathering of the Stars.
"Quite a few existences are looking forward to the return of the Mysteries."
"A Gathering of the Stars? Interesting. Which existences are there?" Klein appeared interested, while secretly muttering inwardly, "I'm not the Lord of Mysteries, and I have absolutely no desire to meet Them."
"Mother Tree of Desire, Supernova Dominator, Son of Chaos, High-Dimensional Overseer."
"..." Klein's eyelids twitched violently as his heart pounded wildly.
He wasn't familiar with the Son of Chaos, Supernova Dominator, or High-Dimensional Overseer, but he did know something about the Mother Tree of Desire.
The evil god worshiped by the indulgence faction of the Rose School of Thought was none other than the Mother Tree of Desire!
Being able to participate in the same gathering and converse as equals meant that existences like the Son of Chaos were also evil gods whose status was no lower than the Mother Tree of Desire!
Rather than a Gathering of the Stars, it would be more accurate to call it a gathering of evil gods!
Just imagining such a gathering was enough to make one's scalp go numb, let alone personally participating in it.
Stay away. He absolutely had to stay away from this so-called Gathering of the Stars!
"So it's Them." Klein chuckled and declined, "Heh, not interested."
Hastur deliberately said regretfully, "What a pity."
No, no, there's nothing regrettable about this at all. I haven't lived long enough yet.
Klein merely smiled without speaking. There was no way he would attend some Gathering of the Stars.
Yet for some reason, he had a premonition that he might not be able to escape the "Murphy's law" in the future.
After all, sometimes that law was even more accurate than one plus one equaling two.
"We've talked quite a lot today." Klein issued an order for his guest to leave. He truly was feeling somewhat tired.
He had no idea how many brain cells today's conversation had already cost him. When dealing with an ancient existence like the Stars, who had lived for who knew how many years, he couldn't relax for even a moment. Otherwise, it would be easy for the other party to see through him and bring disaster upon him.
"Fool, I look forward to our next meeting. I hope that when the time comes, you can bring me even more surprises."
Having satisfied his desire for amusement, Hastur had no intention of continuing the conversation. Today, he had merely come over for a casual visit.
Matters such as cooperation were incidental. His main purpose was to see what kind of interesting reaction Mr. Fool would have when someone tracked him down through the "internet connection."
The result was pretty good.
Outside the gray fog, the enormous phoenix raised its head and looked down upon several Hounds of Fulgrim. The Hall of Stars on its back finally began to gradually fade away.
The phoenix, burning with flames resembling the fires of hell, let out a high-pitched cry that resounded throughout the entire gray fog, causing the whole expanse to churn uneasily.
Using a phoenix as a mount, is this the prestige of the Stars?
It really makes one envious.
Klein watched the Stars depart. The huge weight in his heart finally lifted, and he closed his eyes before letting out a heavy sigh.
The Stars had finally left.
With His departure, the Hounds of Fulgrim whimpered softly toward Sefirah Castle for a while before entering the Historical Void and disappearing.
As for the next meeting with the Stars, Klein wasn't looking forward to it in the slightest. His little heart was also firmly saying no.
It would be better to avoid meetings packed with this much excitement whenever possible.
Klein gazed at the seven Pure Lights that had once again been completely filled by the gray fog and sat silently for a long time.
Only after quite a while did he recover from the fear and trepidation he had just experienced. The Stars' pointed references to an old acquaintance and Roselle had made his entire heart tighten.
He was certain that the Stars, who watched over everything, already knew that Roselle was a transmigrator!
After all, Roselle had regarded himself as the protagonist of the era. He had been flamboyant and made no attempt to restrain himself, bringing countless changes to the era and driving it rapidly forward.
That was certain to attract the attention of certain ancient existences, and the Stars were one of them.
Klein found it difficult to imagine what kinds of abilities and authorities an existence like the Stars possessed. Perhaps reversing time and space or freely traversing the cosmos were nothing more than everyday matters to such existences.
If Roselle's appearance had truly attracted Their attention, perhaps what interested Them even more was the Earth where Roselle had lived before transmigrating here!
"Fortunately, I'm different from Roselle."
Klein secretly rejoiced. Fortunately, he hadn't gone around displaying how different he was like Roselle had. That allowed him to avoid unnecessary attention as much as possible and safely grow to where he was today.
Unfortunately, these peaceful days wouldn't last much longer.
The Stars had already set Their sights on him, and other terrifying existences might also notice him in the future.
From now on, unless absolutely necessary, he should avoid casually observing existences whose strength far exceeded his own through Sefirah Castle. Otherwise, it would be far too easy to attract Their attention.
Klein remained above the gray fog, thinking for a long time. Only when his spirituality was nearly exhausted did he return to the real world.