Part 1 The Joker Chapter 94 The Hidden Sage
”Fallen Creator …… Fallen ……” “The Inverted Hanged Man” Alger chewed on the Fool’s words as if he were lost in contemplation.
And in his mind, what echoed was the other party’s relaxed, natural, unconcerned attitude.
It was a level-headed, equal attitude!
Without the previous encounter, Alger might have thought that Yugi was just bluffing, using the means of elevating himself to deter himself and “justice”, but now, he preferred to believe that Yugi was close to that level, even if he was not as good as the real Creator.
It’s a danger …… and an opportunity …… Alger whispered silently, and then said with a few smiles:
”Mr. Fool, your description is indeed more appropriate, according to our observation, any extraordinary person who believes in the True Creator, no, the Fallen Creator, the percentage of those who are out of control is much higher than normal, and most of the remaining ones are also insane.”
This point, the night watchman’s internal information also mentioned …… And the so-called “madness” does not mean losing one’s mind, but rather, the three views have become abnormally distorted …… Klein kept his sitting position unchanged. He didn’t answer the “inverted hangman”‘s words.
He was still considering how to properly inquire about the Order and the Joker’s potion, but could not find a way to do so.
It’s a pity that there’s still a fundamental difference between this place and an online dating platform, or else I could create my own trumpet and add it to the group, specifically to ask the questions I’m not comfortable with …… Maybe one day I’ll learn something like the magic of mirroring, and I can try to, for example, make half the members my trumpet… …
There are twenty-two chairs and twenty-two tarot cards, perfect correspondence, but when I “wanted” a temple, I hadn’t even called myself “The Fool” yet, and I hadn’t even thought about creating a tarot club, so this is symbolic of the twenty-two sequential paths?
I want a temple, so the temple appeared, I want a “trumpet”, will appear a “trumpet” it ……
Seeing that the Fool, who was shrouded in a thick gray fog, did not say another word, Audrey “Justice” spoke up, half sighing, half curious:
”Sounds scary… Well, Mr. ‘Inverted Man’, can you tell us more about the various mysterious organizations and hidden sects? It’s hard for me to get in touch with these in my daily life, so I can only learn about them through you guys, and I’ll pay for it, so I don’t know what you want?”
Good question! Ms. “Justice”, you’ve taken on the responsibility of my trumpet in a way …… In that case, “The Hanged Man” will definitely mention the occult. …… You are the best comic! Klein was energized by the news, but did not let his emotions show through his expressions and movements.
Alger thought for a moment:
”I need a sum of money, 1,000 pounds, preferably in non-consecutively numbered bills, or freshly mined gems, at the average monthly price of the Birkeland Jewelry Exchange.”
A thousand pounds? That’s a huge amount of cash, it would buy a house in a fancy neighborhood in Tingen! Not everyone can get it out at once……. That’s the annual salary of a captain, isn’t it? Harriet’s “death benefit” is only 300 pounds …… Miss Justice, although she is a member of the aristocracy, has obviously not inherited the family fortune, and can only get the corresponding annuity income! …… Well, no wonder the “inverted man” said he could use gems to deduct …… Klein is particularly sensitive to money figures, but fortunately, he was surrounded by a dense gray fog.
For a single young lady or lady, £2,000 would be able to give her a decent living for the rest of her life!
- – – – £2000 for a steady annuity yielding around £100.
”A thousand pounds?” Audrey was taken aback, then replied in a brisk and pleasant tone, “No problem, is it still at the same address as before?”
From the tone of Ms. Justice’s voice, she thought it was cheap? Klein didn’t let his gaze wander.
Alger was silent for a full twenty seconds or so before saying:
”Yes, the ‘Warriors and the Sea’ bar on Pelican Street in the White Rose section of Port Pritzker, give it to the owner, Williams, and say it’s for ‘The Captain’.”
”Good.” Audrey leaned back slightly and assumed an ‘audience’ stance and said, “Mr. Inverted Hangman, you may begin.”
Alger glanced at Yugi, deliberated for a moment, and spoke slowly:
”Let’s start with the Moss Ascetic Order, which was the earliest hidden organization, and of course, there are quite a few people who believe that the earliest hidden organizations would have been the Church of the Goddess of the Night, the Church of the Mother Goddess of the Earth, and the Church of the Goddess of War.”
”These people must be members of the Church of the Storm Lord, the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun, or the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom.” Audrey retorted sullenly.
The Church of the Goddess was the earliest hidden organization? It was the first time Klein had heard a similar statement.
What exactly happened in the Fourth Age, or the Third Age?
Alger chuckled:
”Those truths have long been buried in that ancient history, and the only thing that is certain is that no one has ever said that the Church of the Storm Lord, the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun, or the Church of the Goddess of Knowledge and Wisdom were once hidden organizations.”
”Well, let’s save time and get back to the point. The Moss Ascetics were first formed by several humans who viewed the Blasphemous Tablets and believed in an impersonal deity called the Hidden Sage.”
”This is described as a deity, but is closer to an idea, a natural law, such as everything is number, and the Hidden Sage is the embodiment of spiritual number, such as the supremacy of knowledge, and the Hidden Sage is knowledge itself, which is why the early Moss Ascetic Order was a very respected organization, with good relations with all the major churches.”
”The members of this organization used asceticism to fight against loss of control, to dissolve the effects of the residual effects of magic potions, and to keep strict secrets, adhering to morals and precepts, believing that people are continually reincarnated after death ……”
”The Sequence 9 they hold is called ‘The Secret Peepers’ …… The term ‘sorcerer’ has also been passed down from this organization. ”
Audrey asked perceptively rhetorically as she savored the description of the Inverted Man:
”You said that the early Moss Ascetics were a highly respected organization, aren’t they now?”
Alger nodded imperceptibly:
”Yes, they have degenerated into an evil organization.”
”Why? I thought their philosophy was good and normal.” Audrey expressed her doubts.
This was also Klein’s doubt; the information his classified rank had access to did not document the reason for the fall of the Moss Ascetics.
Alger looked again at the high and unspoken Fool and said with a “hmmm”:
”The true reason, I do not know, it may have been completely obscured by the dust of history, but I do know an appalling explanation.”
”In that explanation, the main reason for the fall of the Moss Ascetics was that the deity they believed in, the ‘Hidden Sage’, came to life!”
”k became personified as an evil god!”
”Alive? How did this …… come to life?” Audrey asked back in an unimaginable, incomprehensible tone.
She unconsciously exited the “audience” state.
It’s just like a ghost story …… and that “ghost” is still a deity …… Klein’s heart also set off a stormy wave.
”I’m sorry, no one knows the answer.” Alger was about to make a pretense of a casual “Maybe Mr. Fool knows,” but he forcibly resisted the urge.
Because he’d already tried it once today on the edge of danger.
The Book of Storms, Chapter 5, Section 7 had this sentence that Alger remembered vividly, which was:
”Do not tempt God!”
Audrey gathered her emotions and didn’t press the issue, signaling to continue.
Klein remained seated and silent, corroborating what the Hanged Man had told him with what he knew.
In the end, he realized that there were four points that he needed to pay attention to:
”One, the Witch Cult was also known as the Witch Family in the Fourth Age, at that time, they had few members, and relied on bloodline reproduction to sustain them, and they would kill the fathers of their children and abandon the male babies, so all of their members were female, of course, this is all Alger’s words, the specific truth or falsehood can not be verified for the time being.”
”Two, the Spirit Order that believes in death, and the Rose School that likes bloody sacrifices, both originated in the Southern Continent, and after the arrival of the Colonial Era, they were struck down by the Church of the Seven Gods to the point of near extinction, but they also spread to the Northern Continent as a result.”
”Three, the Society of Psychological Alchemy is currently similar to the early Mosaic Ascetic Order, believing in an impersonal existence and that the human spirit can diffuse everything.”
”Four, the Secret Cultivation Society is the least active of all the secretive organizations, and thus the least understood by others; every time they appear, they seem to be just chasing something, searching for something.”
Chasing what? Searching for something? Klein thought of the diary he had just read in a flash: the leader of the Secret Cult, Charatu, had collaborated with Rossel with the aim of getting a relic of the Antigonus family.
And the purpose of their appearance this time was to retrieve the lost notes, the notes of the Antigonus family …… Klein’s eyes narrowed slightly, feeling as if he had grasped the core elements of the actions of the Secret Society:
They were after what was left of the Antigonus family!
Klein resisted the urge to tap the edge of the table, thoughts streaking through his mind:
Hmmm, they’re after what’s left of the Antigonus family?
Is that where they need to start in order to get the formula for the Joker’s Potion from the Order of Cistercians?
After a few more exchanges of information, Krynn declared the gathering to be over.
”By your will.” Audrey and Alger rose at the same time.
Cutting off the connection and watching their figures shatter and disappear, Klein rubbed his brow and tried to visualize a “trumpet”.
Just as he thought, he saw a figure appear at the bottom of the bronze table, wearing a black tuxedo and a half-height silk bowler hat, with a stagnant expression and mute movements, and even if there was an illusory gray fog covering it, you could clearly see that something was wrong with it.
It doesn t work …… Klein experimented many more times, sighed, and dismissed the idea of creating a trumpet.
Trying something else, he continued to sit on top of the gray mist, sitting at the main seat of the long bronze table, considering Audrey’s earlier words and curiously casting his eyes over the illusory, crimson stars.
After a few moments of silence, Klein began to reach out to those stars by answering prayers, rather than establishing a connection.
A peaceful and dead silence reigned, and he gained no information from the ten or so crimson stars nearby.
The only way to “answer” was to establish contact first, to pull someone above the gray mist? Klein nodded thoughtfully, slightly disappointed.
He did not want to forcefully pull someone into this mysterious space against their will.
嗯…… Klein began to prepare to leave, but inertially touched a nearby illusory star.
At that moment, he suddenly felt a faint and inconspicuous “prayer” in the crimson!