Part 1. The Joker Chapter 152 – A Nice Attempt
A gray haze filled the room as it had for ages, and crimson stars hung far and near, as Kraven sat in the grand palace of a giant’s abode, gazing at the familiar sights before him in silence.
After a few seconds, he withdrew his gaze and allowed a tawny parchment to float before him before putting pen to paper and writing down the summoning ritual for which he had altered the incantation:
”Light a candle to symbolize yourself;”
”Create a holy environment with a spiritual wall;”
”Drop into the candle flame ingredients such as Full Moon Essential Oil, Chamomile Pure Dew, and Deep Sleep Flower Powder (note: at this step, there is no need to be too elaborate, as you are summoning yourself);”
”Chant the following mantra:”
”Me! (Ancient Hermetic, Giant, Gargoyle, Elvish, must be whispered)”
”I invoke in my name (Hermetic language):”
”The Fool who is not of this age, the Mystic Lord above the Gray Mist, the Yellow and Black King who reigns over good fortune.”
……
After scrutinizing it three times, Klein writes the divination statement at the bottom:
”There is danger in performing the above ritual in the outside world.”
Exhaling, he exhaled and set the pen down, unclasping the silver chain inside his cuff and holding it in his left hand.
Waiting for the citrine pendant to hover silently above the parchment, just shy of touching the divination statement, he gathered his thoughts and entered a meditative state.
”There is danger in performing the above ritual in the outside world.”
”There is danger in performing the above ritual in the outside world.”
……
After seven silent recitations, Klein opened his almost completely black eyes and saw the citrine pendant doing a counterclockwise rotation.
This meant denial, meaning there was no danger!
”It’s safe to try.” Klein was busy making the item that materialized in front of him disappear, extending his spirituality to wrap around himself and simulate the sensation of plummeting downward.
After returning to the bedroom, since he had sealed the entire room with the wall of spirituality earlier, Klein directly cleared the desk and stood a mint-scented candle in the very center.
He pressed his right hand vaguely on top of the candle’s wick, prancing the other side to ignite it with a spiritual friction.
In the wavering, dim glow, Klein dripped the corresponding essential oils, pure dews, and herbal powders into the flame.
The serene, relaxing scent filled the room instantly, brightening and dimming the room at times.
Taking two steps back, Klein looked at the candle that symbolized himself and exclaimed out in a low voice in the Giant’s tongue:
”Me!”
Immediately afterward, he switched to Hermetic:
”I invoke in my name:”
”The Fool who is not of this age, the mysterious lord above the gray mist, the yellow and black king who reigns over good fortune.”
As soon as he spoke, he felt the flickering dim candle flame mingle with the serene scents around him into a vortex, sucking in its own spirituality like mad.
”O Deep Sleeping Flower belonging to the Red Moon, please pass the power to my incantation ……,” Klein endured the uncomfortable feeling of having his spirituality drained away, and finished chanting the subsequent incantation.
At this time, he saw the candle flame stop swaying and stand quietly and tinted with a grayish hue, stretching out in all directions to the size of a palm.
”Didn’t summon anything …… Ah yes, maybe I need to go above the gray mist to make a response …… It’s a pain in the ass to summon myself …… ” Klein muttered silently to himself as he pinched his empty, stinging forehead.
He slowed down for a dozen seconds, took four steps against the grain, and once again went above the gray mist to see circle after circle of swirling patterns of light at the very top of the ancient long table.
This came from the strange symbol behind the corresponding high-backed chair – a strange symbol composed of the “pupil-less eye”, a symbol of secrecy, and the “twisted line”, a symbol of change.
Klein just made a gesture of reaching out and touching it, and immediately, “I… I call in my name! I call in my name”, “Fool of this age”, “Mysterious lord above the gray mist” and other incantations sounded in his ears, and he saw the influx of spirituality mixing with the ripples of light and transforming into an illusory, unformed gate.
The gate swung open, wanting to open, and Klein was instantly inspired to give the strong intention of pushing it open.
Almost instantly, the infinite gray mist and the magnificent palace were suddenly tugged, creating a faintly invisible ripple.
The ripples went round and round, surging towards the illusory, unformed gate.
However, no matter how much Klein pushed, the gate could not be opened, and all the movement eventually returned to silence.
”Because the ‘Gate of Summoning’ is not fully formed?” Klein withdrew his thoughts and analyzed the reason for the failure with a slight frown.
–He casually named the illusory gate the “Gate of Summoning”.
”Well, it’s because I don’t have enough spirituality to construct a complete ‘Gate of Summoning’ …… When I advance to Sequence 8 and become a ‘Joker’, and get through the initial dangerous stage, I can try again, maybe then there will be no problem …… “Klein nodded gently, probably understanding what was going on.
This experiment gave him great confidence and strong encouragement, as this was the first time he had made the mysterious space above the gray mist react differently outside of that incident with the Divining Eternal Sun!
”One of these days, I’m going to figure out all the secrets here!” Klein excitedly made a declaration in his heart and fell into the infinite gray mist under the spiritual wrapping.
……
Back in his bedroom, Klein hurriedly extinguished the candles and ended the ritual, then tidied up his desk and disarmed the wall of spirituality.
Yawning in the sudden gust of wind, he collapsed to his bed and fell asleep just as he wrapped the covers around him.
In a dazed, fragmented dream, Klein suddenly awoke to find himself sitting in the living room of his home, a copy of the Tingen City Honest Man newspaper in his hand.
Captain …… isn’t doing it again, is he? He froze for a moment, then looked out the convex belly window with good humor and amusement.
With a creak, the door opened and Dunn, dressed in a black knee-length trench coat and carrying a cane and pipe, walked slowly in.
He still wore his half-height black bowler hat and still had his dark gray eyes.
Dunn came into the living room and sat down to the single sofa, leisurely resting his right leg on top of his left.
He placed his cane, removed his hat, leaned back slightly, and just looked at Klein quietly, as if in thought.
Captain, what do you want to do today …… Klein was bewildered for a moment.
In order not to reveal his knowledge that this was a dream, he pretended to be unaffected and continued to read the paper.
One minute, two minutes, five minutes, he looked up at Dunn across the room and realized that the captain was still looking at himself quietly, as if in thought.
Five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes, Klein, who had turned the paper over and over several times, saw out of the corner of his eye that Dunn was looking at himself quietly, as if in thought.
Captain, I am uncomfortable when you are like this …… Klein was a little unable to sit still, he folded the newspaper, put it aside, smiled and nodded at Dunn, and then went to the kitchen and took out a rag, pretending to wipe the dining room table and coffee table.
Captain, look, my dream is so simple and so ordinary and so boring, there is nothing worth observing, you should go! Why don’t you turn into a ghost, and I’ll pretend to be frightened, so that you can complete your “nightmare” achievement! He prayed silently, but looked up and saw Dunn’s deep, thoughtful gray eyes.
Under this silent, unchanging gaze, Crane scrubbed the furniture and cleaned the room, exhausted from the dream.
And the thing that tired him most of all was Dunn Smith, who had been watching him quietly, as if in thought.
He didn’t know how long he had been busy, but he finally saw the captain drop his right leg and stand up, then take his cane, put on his hat, and walk to the door.
Crane held his breath and watched Dunn all the way out of his house.
He couldn’t help but raise his right hand in a goodbye gesture.
Whew…… waited until everything was back to normal, Klein let out a long breath.
What a nightmare just now! he thought tearfully.
……
Becklander, West End, Philip’s Department Store.
This was the most upscale department store in the Rune Kingdom, open only to nobles and rich people with memberships.
It always had one luxurious carriage after another parked outside with different insignias on them, and in addition to being a mecca for shopping, this place had also become a well-known social venue due to the strict restriction of personnel.
Audrey, with her maid Annie and golden-haired big dog Susie, stepped down from the carriage and entered the gate in the attentive reception of the attendants.
Along the way, every now and then, she could see a Viscountess, a Countess, or a young girl whose parents had a prominent position.
She maintained her elegant posture and greeted them one by one with a standardized but not rigid etiquette, briefly communicating with different nobles with the help of different entry points, for example, when facing Countess So-and-So, she had to praise how well her new dress fit, and when exchanging pleasantries with Baroness So-and-So, she had to talk about how outstanding her husband’s performance was in the Upper House.
Audrey used to be inadequate in this department, too capricious and egotistical, but now she copes perfectly without even putting much thought into it.
The emotions and thoughts of most noblewomen were as if written on their faces in the eyes of the “audience”.
Coming to the second floor, Audrey turned to the store selling ready-made clothes.
The store attendant was a short, youthful girl wearing a black and white dress with stubborn shoulder-length blonde hair, the “Arbiter” Hugh Dilcha.
Audrey winked at her big dog, Susie, without a change of expression, and the other dog instantly understood what she meant and ran happily to the other counter.
Annie, the maid, had to follow quickly to try to pull Suzie back.
Well done! Audrey gave a dark praise and walked next to Hugh Dilcha, pretending to look at the different styles of dresses.
”…… What is it that you asked me to meet you here for?” Hugh inquired in a low voice as he made a loud introduction.
Her voice was childish, like that of a small child.
”Where is the original waiter?” Audrey asked without answering.
Hugh surveyed the surroundings and said, “I convinced her that she was happy to take a morning off.”
Audrey looked at the different styles of dresses and pulled a folded piece of paper from the small lambskin handbag she carried and covertly handed it to Hugh:
”‘Lieutenant-General Hurricane’ Zillingerus has secretly infiltrated Birkeland; here is his portrait, and I want you to help me to find him, well, without alarming him.”
Hugh took the sheet of paper, unfolded it quickly and glanced at it, and found it to be a life-like sketch of a man in his thirties with a distinctive broad chin.
I was often praised by my teachers for my drawings, too …… Audrey glanced at Hugh and raised her head slightly.
She adds:
”The Kingdom’s bounty on Zylingus is 10,000 pounds, so if we do manage to catch him, even if it’s just the person who provides the information, we’re sure to get at least a few hundred pounds.”
As soon as her words left her mouth, she unsurprisingly saw Hugh’s eyes light up.