After a moment's thought, Odis said again, "Mysterious and great being, although I do not wish to confront that powerful lady, may I ask for your protection if necessary?"
Before meeting Bernadette, Odis was reluctant to associate with Klein or other members of the Tarot Club, as they often represented trouble and danger.
But the situation is different now. Influenced by her previous profession, Odis likes to do some research, and necessary experiments still need to be carried out.
Although he tried his best to hide it, his experimental subjects have now attracted the attention of some important figures or extraordinary organizations, which has made his situation somewhat dangerous.
Now, the Fool's Church is nowhere to be found. In order to balance the crisis brought about by the "Mysterious Queen," they have no choice but to temporarily cling to the "Fool's" coattails.
Of course, Odis could also choose to join the Church of the God of Steam and Machines directly, or join the "Elemental Dawn".
However, he knew that the God of Steam and Machinery had questionable judgment when it came to choosing sides, and if he were to join "Elemental Dawn," it would be better to join the Tarot Club, which would guarantee a "demigod" in the future.
The "Fool" behind the gray fog smiled peacefully upon hearing Odis's question: "Yes."
Klein was waiting for those words, as they would give him complete control.
Odis, following normal line of thought, said, "I will worship you and believe in you."
The Fool replied, "I don't lack believers; I prefer equal exchange."
Following Klein's lead, Odis continued, "What should I offer you in order to gain your protection?"
He knew very well that offering gold coins would surely please this "great and mysterious being".
Klein considered it for a moment and did a simple divination before saying, "There are a few people similar to you who were brought here by me for other reasons."
"They wanted me to hold regular gatherings for formula trading, material buying and selling, information exchange, and mission commissions, and I agreed."
"You can find out my needs, or the needs of my family members, at the gathering."
Doing so was a bit reckless, since there hadn't been a chance to assess the stranger in front of them.
But Klein's spiritual senses told him that the stranger before him was different from "Justice" and "The Hanged Man," and also somewhat different from "The Sun" or "The Magician." He seemed to have been "invited" by the space "Above the Gray Fog."
He had a premonition that if he didn't establish further contact, this stranger might show up at the door again tomorrow night, so he might as well invite him to join the Tarot Club directly.
Klein was quite confident in his control over "Above the Gray Fog," although he didn't know why "Above the Gray Fog" would "invite" strangers. But without his permission, the "invited" people could only appear outside those two mysterious doors.
So Klein did a quick divination and, after confirming that inviting this stranger to join the Tarot Club would be safe and even beneficial, he invited him to join.
Odis said, "It is my honor."
The Fool said, "Every Monday at three o'clock in the afternoon, eliminate all distractions."
He added, "They decided to use the names of the tarot cards as their code names, and you can also choose a code name for yourself."
A tarot deck appeared before Odis, and he randomly drew one: "The Hermit!"
Sure enough, Odis thought to herself: Now that I've stolen Cattleya's code name, I wonder if she'll still be able to join the Tarot Club smoothly?
"The Fool" announced: "Your code name is 'The Hermit.' Be mindful of the time of the gathering."
He then added, "If you encounter danger, you can pray to me."
With a flick of his wrist, Klein sent Odisie back into the red stars.
Instead of leaving immediately, he used "dream divination" to find out why the "Hermit" appeared outside "above the gray fog".
For Klein, this "above the gray fog" was a relatively private space that belonged only to him, and no creatures had ever appeared around this space before.
The reason why the 'hermit' appeared here.
The reason why the 'hermit' appeared here.
"..."
After repeating it seven times, Klein used 'meditation' to fall asleep.
Soon, the illusory gray mist before his eyes dissipated, and he reappeared on the second floor of the "Kingdom Museum," in a replica of Emperor Roselle's study.
Klein saw that after his spirit body suddenly disappeared, a mysterious woman wearing a hood and whose face was obscured also disappeared.
Because of the isolation of "above the gray fog," the mysterious woman could not have known the whereabouts of her spirit. Klein, recalling their later encounter, guessed that the woman had chased after him entirely based on her spiritual senses.
At this moment, there was still a hooded figure on the bookshelf. He stretched out his hand in the direction where the mysterious lady disappeared, as if to say: You left me behind!
Just then, Klein saw a gray, illusory sphere suddenly appear where his spirit had disappeared. At the same time, the hooded figure on the bookshelf also changed, and a field composed of illusory light appeared behind him. In the depths of the field, there seemed to be a tall tower.
There seemed to be a powerful attraction between the tower and the gray sphere. In an instant, the sphere disappeared into the chest of the hooded figure, and the tower on the field of light became exceptionally bright...
Pfft~
Klein's head suddenly exploded like a rotten watermelon, forcibly exiting the "dream divination" state.
Under the influence of the gray fog, it seemed as if his head had regrown after half a minute, and all the knowledge in his mind was boiling, which only subsided after a dozen seconds.
Immediately afterwards, some previously unseen memories appeared in Klein's mind: Sequence 9 "The Spy":
Main ingredients: a pair of eyes of the giant ape from Mount Nasragu, and 70 grams of star crystal.
Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!
"Auxiliary materials: 80 ml of pure water, 8 drops of Fatsia japonica juice, 7 g of Magnolia officinalis powder, and 9 g of Dragon's Blood Grass."
...
Sequence 9 "Generalist" potion recipe:
Main materials: the head of a brown-backed firefly, and a complete five-colored foliage plant.
"Supporting materials:..."
...
Sequence 7 "Wizard" potion recipe:
"Main ingredients: the complete brain of a pale long-necked beast, and the fruit of two flying tumbleweed trees."
"Supporting materials:..."
...
The Astrologer's Ceremony (Sequence 5): Ride on the back of a colorful star-eyed beast and drink a potion in the midnight sky.
...
Klein quickly realized that this was the knowledge he had just gained from that "Field of Light": What was that illusory field? How could it cause such damage even with the spatial protection of "Above the Gray Fog"?
This was something Klein hadn't anticipated. He had suffered similar injuries before, but those were when he deliberately chose to die, divining the origin of the drop of blood in the "mutated Sun Emblem".
Thinking about the Hermit's reaction, it seemed that he himself was unaware of his own special abilities, and the Hermit was currently asking for his help. The power of "Above the Gray Mist" could also completely control the Hermit. Klein's concerns gradually subsided.
Klein then remarked: The new member's identity is not simple, and he seems to have many secrets.
He then recalled the results of his previous divination: perhaps it was these secrets of the "hermit" that could bring him some benefits.
Thinking of this, Klein's lips curled up slightly: with the addition of the "Hermit," the Tarot Club would have become even more mysterious.