After Klein finished reading Roselle's diary at this Tarot Gathering, the members naturally shifted the topic to the recent events in Backlund.
"Was that meteor shower in Backlund really divine punishment?"
After The Hanged Man Alger raised this question, the Tarot Club members naturally turned their gazes toward Audrey and Fors.
From their previous conversations, there were currently three Tarot Club members living in Backlund: the rather unreliable Mr. Moon, Miss Magician, who had been making her presence felt like crazy some time ago, and Miss Justice, who had always been widely acknowledged as a Loen noble.
Oh no, I'm not in Backlund this time. I don't know anything at all about what happened there.
Audrey's thoughts stirred. She deliberately turned her gaze toward Miss Magician, naturally diverting some of everyone's attention away from herself.
She already knew that Miss Magician's true identity was Miss Fors, and she had the clever and reliable Susie to thank for that.
When the Tarot Gathering was about to begin, Miss Fors had suddenly said that she wanted to take an afternoon nap. Audrey, who had prepared the exact same excuse, immediately became suspicious.
She then pretended not to care while sending Detective Miss's most capable assistant, Susie, to investigate.
It didn't take long to uncover Fors' little secret.
Miss Magician was Miss Fors!
"…" Under the gazes of every Tarot Club member, Fors revealed a flustered expression. She hadn't been in Backlund recently either, having accompanied Miss Audrey to Southville.
She had only learned about what happened in Backlund from Xio, so she knew very little. However, she wasn't going to reveal that she wasn't currently in Backlund.
She had a peculiar feeling that Miss Justice, who also lived in Backlund, might know her.
"This is the retribution the Augustus family brought upon themselves."
Those were Xio's exact words, and Fors felt they were very appropriate. In any case, the Augustus family definitely wasn't anything good.
Alger murmured, "Retribution… punishment from some deity? The Lord of Storms?"
He also believed that the meteor shower might have been caused by a powerful Beyonder of the Storm pathway. Some members within the churches thought the same.
During this period, the King had been making frequent moves, which had greatly displeased the higher, ups of the Church of Storms.
"Ahem."
Just as everyone fell into a brief silence, Mr. Moon Emlyn, who was usually rather unserious, casually cleared his throat.
Once everyone turned their attention toward him, he did his best to put on a mature and composed appearance and said solemnly, "This was punishment from the Stars!"
"Punishment from the Stars?" Fors was the most surprised of them all. She was a believer of the Stars, yet she didn't know about this. Instead, the usually unserious Mr. Moon had learned of it first.
What a failure of a believer of the Stars I am.
At this thought, shame spread across her face.
Audrey also noticed this scene.
"Are you certain?" Alger asked somewhat doubtfully.
"Of course." Emlyn raised his head rather proudly, but when he noticed Mr. Fool's gaze, he lowered his head again and quickly explained, "This was an oracle personally issued by the progenitor of our Sanguine. She instructed us not to provoke believers of the Stars in the near future."
"Of course, this doesn't mean that we Sanguine are afraid of these so-called believers of the Stars. We've simply always loved peace and dislike making enemies."
"Though the Stars shine brightly, the glory of our Sanguine once covered the skies as well."
The Tarot Club members naturally ignored his last two sentences and focused on the first.
So it really was the work of the Stars. Although Klein didn't need to personally explain what had happened in Backlund, he still secretly applauded his own accurate prediction.
Fors was similarly applauding herself inwardly. She was a genuine believer of the Stars. Even Lilith, progenitor of the Sanguine, had issued an oracle forbidding them from making enemies of believers of the Stars. That was quite the prestige.
As for Mr. Moon's remarks, they merely highlighted his childishness and bluster.
After their brief shock, everyone tacitly moved away from the topic. First, they didn't dare investigate too deeply into matters involving deities. Second, they didn't want to see Emlyn's smug face.
If Mr. Fool hadn't been here, his tail would probably have risen all the way to the sky, and he would have gone on and on about how he was the Sanguine savior chosen by the progenitor of the Sanguine.
Audrey, who wasn't in particularly high spirits today, didn't care much even after hearing that the Augustus family had suffered punishment from the Stars.
After the Tarot Club members finished discussing the matter, she looked around at everyone and asked, "I have a patient who has developed some psychological problems. What methods would be effective in helping him?"
As she asked this, her gaze deliberately swept across Fors.
Fors was stunned.
Psychological problems? Why does that sound so familiar? Isn't that exactly what's happening to Mr. Hastur?
Is it merely a coincidence, or does this Miss Justice know Mr. Hastur? Then could it be possible that Miss Justice is actually Miss Audrey?
Fors was shocked by her own clever deduction. Her gaze toward Miss Justice became more contemplative. The more she looked, the more she felt that Miss Justice was Miss Audrey!
Their images overlapped almost perfectly. Both were noble young ladies from Backlund, and their personalities and financial means were also very similar.
When Fors' scrutinizing gaze inadvertently met Audrey's meaningful one, she became uncertain again. It seemed that the other party had already seen through her identity, which was why she had deliberately glanced at her when bringing up the matter.
Fors' heart trembled slightly. She immediately withdrew her scrutinizing gaze and deliberately put on a relaxed and natural demeanor to conceal the panic in her heart.
Sigh, Miss Fors has probably already figured out my identity. I originally wanted to hide it for a while longer.
Audrey sighed inwardly, but she didn't regret making a move at the Tarot Gathering that was practically equivalent to exposing herself. After all, Mr. Hastur's situation couldn't be delayed. She needed to find a suitable method to treat him.
Besides, Miss Fors had been accompanying her recently. Deepening their relationship at an appropriate time wasn't a bad thing either.
"For psychological problems, counseling and guidance should be relatively effective methods."
Alger was as steady and reliable as ever. Drawing upon his experience, he told Audrey quite a lot about such matters, as well as possible measures that could work.
Audrey listened silently, occasionally asking about things that weren't entirely clear. Combining Alger's extensive experience with her own thoughts, she continuously refined the preliminary method she had devised to help Mr. Hastur escape his psychological predicament.
Klein also listened with great interest. Recently, he had also felt that there seemed to be a slight problem with his mental state. Perhaps he would need to trouble Miss Justice about it in the future.
…
Puning Harbor.
Immediately after the Tarot Gathering ended, Fors left her room and deliberately went to Audrey's door. She wanted to knock, but hesitated.
She was only suspicious and couldn't be certain that Miss Audrey was the wealthy and generous Miss Justice.
"Woof?" Susie, who was guarding the door, looked at the hesitant Fors in confusion.
Fors thought for a moment. Her eyes brightened, and she crouched down beside Susie, lowering her voice as she said, "Um, Susie, are you guarding this place to provide cover for Miss Audrey?"
"Woof?" Susie appropriately put on an innocent and confused appearance.
"What I mean is, do you know whether Miss Audrey might have another hidden identity?"
"Woof?"
"…" Before Fors could get anything out of her, the door creaked open. Audrey walked out with a lazy expression. The sleepiness and fatigue on her face made her look exactly like someone who had just been awakened from an afternoon nap.
"Miss Audrey, were you taking an afternoon nap just now?" Fors asked cautiously.
Audrey smiled and deliberately put on an innocent expression. "Yes. I've always had the habit of taking afternoon naps. Weren't you also napping this afternoon, Miss Fors? Did you sleep well?"
Fors' expression changed slightly, and she nodded. After thinking for a moment, she tentatively asked, "Regarding Mr. Hastur's situation, how does Miss Audrey plan to handle it?"
"Of course, we have to find Mr. Hastur first."
Audrey's natural and innocent tone caused the next question Fors wanted to ask to become stuck in her throat. Faced with such a Miss Audrey, she found it difficult to continue probing.
"Susie, time to get up. We should set off to save Mr. Hastur."
Audrey lightly patted Susie's head twice, signaling for her to get up and follow. Fors silently followed behind them as well.
When they reached the street, Audrey deliberately bought some excellent, quality dried fish. Susie barked twice, so Audrey also bought her some jerky. Recently, Susie had taken a liking to chewing dried meat.
Fors merely glanced at the prices of the dried fish and jerky before tactfully pretending she hadn't seen anything. Inwardly, she sighed with emotion.
Susie's food expenses for a single day are probably enough to cover three days of mine, right?
And she had even heard Miss Audrey mention that aside from her normal three meals a day, Susie also needed two snacks prepared for her.
It really is nice being Miss Audrey's dog. Fors hurriedly suppressed that envious thought.
Having visited once before, Audrey and Fors quickly entered the house where Hastur was staying this time and successfully met Sharon and Ariella.
When Audrey took out the carefully prepared dried fish, Ariella's eyes twitched slightly. In the end, however, she closed them again and lazily remained nestled in Sharon's arms.
She firmly stood on Miss Sharon's side. Don't even think about tempting her with dried fish!
"Is it not to your taste?" Audrey frowned slightly, but soon relaxed. "That makes sense. The dried fish here is far inferior to the delicious fish from the frozen rivers of northern Feysac. Once we return to Backlund, I'll treat you to some properly."
Ariella's eyelids trembled.
Her impression of Miss Audrey improved considerably. After all, how could a young lady willing to please an adorable little cat possibly be a bad person?
After finishing her brief exchange with Ariella, Audrey turned toward Sharon, who had remained silent the entire time. Judging by her demeanor, Audrey would have to be the one to start the conversation.
"I encountered Mr. Hastur on the street earlier." Audrey began with that topic. Seeing Sharon appear somewhat moved, she continued, "There seems to be something wrong with Mr. Hastur's mind. I think we should help Mr. Hastur overcome this difficult period."
Sharon didn't answer immediately. She simply looked quietly at Audrey.
Hastur's sudden return last time had given her an unsettling suspicion.
This Miss Audrey had only arrived here recently, yet Hastur, who had been missing for so long, had suddenly appeared.
Could Hastur have returned because Miss Audrey came here?