Home, this word was an incredible luxury for Hastur.
If it referred narrowly to the homeland where he had been born and raised, then there was definitely no way for him to return.
If considered in the broader sense of the word, Backlund was the place where he had lived the longest since coming to this world, but it was not where his heart belonged.
He had never regarded Backlund as his second homeland.
Thinking carefully about it, in this mysterious world, he had never had a place where his heart could find belonging.
He had always considered himself a transmigrator, someone who naturally had a barrier separating him from this world.
As for where his heart truly belonged, even he himself did not know.
Fortunately, he still had plenty of time to think about this question. It was also possible that he had misunderstood the meaning of that sentence.
Hastur remained in his room until dinner that evening before finally stepping outside. Ariella, who had been guarding the door, immediately pounced over and accurately jumped into his arms.
Ariella had already come by once during this period. Seeing Hastur deeply immersed in thought, she had not disturbed him and instead silently guarded the door to prevent anyone from coming over and interrupting him.
"It's rare for you to be so dutiful."
Hastur gently stroked Ariella's head, carried it downstairs, and went to the dining room for dinner.
When it came to eating and enjoying delicious food, Hastur was very enthusiastic, and Ariella had picked up the same habit from him. Only Sharon showed no interest.
Basically, she might eat only once a week. Her energy consumption was pitifully low.
This made Hastur seriously suspect that Sharon's long-term insufficient food intake and lack of nutrition might be the true culprit preventing her from continuing to grow.
Mm, but the current Sharon was still very cute. If she were as gluttonous as Ariella... that would seriously ruin her image.
...
City of Silver.
Mr. A had already departed, continuing on a pilgrimage path that belonged solely to him. Quite a few residents of the City of Silver accompanied him, including Elder Lovia.
Chief Colin did not object to this. It was also an opportunity for them to interact with the outside world.
Many city-states and tribes lived throughout the Forsaken Land of the Gods. In the past, because of the monsters lurking in the darkness, they had not dared to investigate them casually.
This time, by staying beside Mr. A, they would not be harassed by the monsters in the darkness. Perhaps this could bring a different kind of change to the City of Silver.
"Make preparations. Tomorrow, we'll continue exploring Afternoon Town."
Following Colin's instructions, Derrick and the others returned home and began packing their things.
The next day, the City of Silver team continued toward Afternoon Town. This direction happened to be the exact opposite of the direction Mr. A had taken.
Lightning flashed and thundered across the sky. In this lightless world of darkness, there was simply no distinction between day and night, much less morning and afternoon.
Derrick could not distinguish them either. Every time, it was only when he received Mr. Fool's summons to the gathering that he truly realized another week had passed.
This time, just as usual, when Mr. Fool reminded him of the gathering, he used feeling unwell as an excuse to be alone, then silently counted down the time in his heart.
When the countdown reached zero, he was transported by Mr. Fool's mighty power to his seat at the long bronze table.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Fool."
"Good afternoon, Mr. Hanged Man."
...
As always, Miss Justice was the first to begin greeting everyone warmly and enthusiastically.
A smile appeared on Derrick's face. Although he and Miss Justice had only completed one transaction last time, afterward Miss Justice had sent him food twice through Mr. Fool.
It allowed him to truly taste the delicacies of the outside world, while also making the food he normally ate taste like wax by comparison.
Even so, he was still very grateful for Miss Justice feeding him. To repay Miss Justice's kindness, he had specifically asked the Chief for one of the Beyonder materials Miss Justice had been seeking to purchase.
After Mr. Fool finished reading the weekly Roselle diary pages, he announced that the Tarot Club would proceed to the next segment.
The first to speak was Alger the Hanged Man. In a grave tone, he said, "Recently, a major incident occurred in Trier, the capital of Intis. A massive crater was blasted into the capital, and an area several hundred meters in radius was completely destroyed. There were no survivors."
"According to the official investigation report released by Intis, this was a terrorist attack originating from Feysac, a long-planned act of retaliation."
"But according to the information I've obtained, that isn't the truth. It's said to be related to a deity."
Alger shared the most significant piece of intelligence he had obtained during this period, then looked expectantly toward Mr. Fool, waiting for Him to provide an explanation.
The Intis Republic? Its capital, Trier?
A massive explosion suspected to be related to a deity?
Mr. Hanged Man, what makes you think Mr. Fool knows about absolutely everything?
Mr. Fool isn't omnipotent!
Klein grumbled inwardly a few times. Busy hunting pirates, he had absolutely no idea what had happened over in Intis.
Therefore, faced with Mr. Hanged Man's expectant gaze, he could only maintain his smile and pretend not to notice it.
Mr. Fool did not speak. The others were equally clueless about the matter and had no idea what to say. In the end, all of them turned their gazes toward Mr. Fool, who sat at the head of the table.
Silence. Silence was today's Mr. Fool.
As the center of everyone's attention, Mr. Fool naturally could not allow the atmosphere to remain awkward like this. He had originally wanted to say that they should not yet be coming into contact with information at this level.
But then he felt that he had used that line too many times, and it would lose its original effect.
In the end, Mr. Fool spoke calmly, "The Eternal Blazing Sun has run into some trouble."
He had reached this conclusion based on what Mr. Hanged Man had said.
Intis was a land protected by the Eternal Blazing Sun. Since this incident involved a deity, then it was basically certain that the Eternal Blazing Sun was involved.
He had already experienced divine descent involving the Lord of Storms, so it was perfectly normal for the Eternal Blazing Sun to descend as well.
And divine descent itself represented trouble.
Upon hearing these words, the Tarot Club members all revealed satisfied yet astonished expressions.
They also knew that this was probably as much as they could hear. If they learned any more, they might lose control on the spot.
"Everyone, I have something to announce." Klein waited until everyone's attention had gathered on him before continuing, "From now on, the Tarot Club will be held once every two weeks instead of once a week."
As the Tarot Club members continued growing stronger, one week was becoming a little too short. Changing it to once every two weeks, or even once a month, would instead be better.
Moreover, he was currently hunting pirates at sea, and holding the Tarot Club once every week made his movements somewhat inconvenient.
Once every two weeks was what he considered the better choice.
How could this happen... Audrey's eyes were filled with disappointment. Her weekly happiness had just been cut in half.
The other Tarot Club members had no objections. Fors even breathed a sigh of relief.
Seeing that no one raised any objections, Klein was also in quite a good mood. Now, he could arrange his pirate-hunting schedule much better.
...
After finishing this week's Tarot Club gathering, Audrey sat alone at her desk, sulking.
If Little Sun had not given her a Beyonder material she had been trying to acquire for a long time during the final segment, her mood would definitely have been even worse.
Besides this matter, there was something else that made her very angry.
Her second brother, Alfred, had actually left Mr. Hastur's side and instead gone to work under Prince Leonard.
Anyone with even a little wisdom should understand that Prince Leonard, who had been sent to Southville County to serve as Grand Duke, would definitely not have a good relationship with Mr. Hastur.
One place could not tolerate two different voices.
After thinking for a while, Audrey picked up her pen and wrote, "Alfred, I respect your choice, and I know you must have your own thoughts, but I still want to ask: Has living in the Southern Continent for so many years made you this shortsighted?"
Audrey was not in a particularly pleasant mood, and the strokes of her pen unconsciously became somewhat harsher and sharper.
After finishing her letter to Alfred, Audrey took out a fresh sheet of stationery and began writing a letter to Mr. Hastur.
"Mr. Hastur, Alfred's shortsightedness has left me shocked. I think I should apologize to you. After all, I was the one who introduced the two of you in the first place."
Halfway through writing, Audrey tilted her head slightly, propped her cheek against her left hand, and fell into thought.
There were many things she wanted to share with Mr. Hastur, but for a moment, she did not know where to begin. Clearly, it had only been about a month since Mr. Hastur last left Backlund.
"Audrey, I've finished writing my letter too. Woof."
Susie came to Audrey's feet with a completed letter held in her mouth and gently nudged Audrey's foot, signaling for her to send the letter she had written to Mr. Hastur as well.
"Susie..." Audrey sighed, but ultimately still took Susie's letter and put it away.
"Audrey, are you in a bad mood today?"
"Mm, I'm thinking about some things."
Susie wagged her tail. "Is there anything I can help with?"
"No." Audrey ruthlessly refused.
After this little interlude, Audrey finally found what she wanted to continue writing about.
...
Late at night, Hastur was communicating with Will through a dream.
Unlike before, this time it was Will who had taken the initiative to contact him, entering his dream as someone seeking help.
"Hastur, I really can't stand that stupid snake staying in Backlund anymore. Can you help me think of a way to trick that stupid snake into leaving?"
Hastur immediately found this amusing and teased, "Weren't you the one who said that with Ouroboros's intelligence, He couldn't possibly pose a threat to you?"
Will, dressed in blue pajamas printed with little turtles, said with an angry expression, "Of course He can't pose a threat to me, but He's annoying enough! I haven't had any delicious ice cream in ages!"