Part 1 THE JOKER CHAPTER XXXIV An Advance Payment

　　Inside the windowless basement, Alger Wilson, with his rugged and profound profile, sat beside a long table with various utensils and parchment scrolls.

　　In front of him, a half-burned candle stood, its dim, dull flame illuminating the surrounding objects and the surface of the long table with floating, ghostly shadows.

　　Alger’s hair was as disheveled as seaweed, a deep blue almost black in color, and he wore robes embroidered with lightning bolts, his hands interlocked, thumbs facing each other as he leaned forward to gaze at a bottle of pitch-black liquid to the left of the candle.

　　Woo! Woo! Whoo!

　　Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!

　　The sound of a howling wind came from within that sealed bottle from time to time, and at other times the surging motion of the sea resounded, while where the pitch-black liquid had not been submerged, a faint mist filled and wriggled as if it had grown eyes and a mouth.

　　Alger glanced sideways at the wall clock and saw that the hour hand was pointing to three o’clock.

　　He pinched his temples, his eyes suddenly darkened, and a subtle sheen floated over the various utensils on the table.

　　It was at this moment that he noticed a tidal wave of crimson light emerge, coming out of nowhere and drowning himself in one fell swoop!

　　……

　　BECKLAND, QUEENS, inside the Hall family’s luxurious villa.

　　Audrey, who had dismissed her dance instructor, unlocked the door to her room and sat upright in front of her dresser.

　　Outside the window the sun shone brightly, the flowers bloomed brightly, and on the table a blank notebook bound in delicate light brown parchment was spread out quietly, and to the right of it was a fountain pen with a golden tip and a red jeweled body.

　　Audrey tried it out, making sure she could pick up the pen and record the recipe as soon as she was out of the “party”.

　　”I’m really looking forward to this ……” She took a breath to hold down her excitement and pursed her lips as she looked in the mirror.

　　But she didn’t see herself reflected, only a deep red, illusory glow erupting from all around her, from within her, all at once!

　　……

　　Above the gray mist, inside the magnificent temple that seemed to be the residence of the Giant King.

　　Bronze table on both sides of the crimson bloom, fountain-like upward and downward, “carved” out two blurred figures, their position compared to the last time, there is no change.

　　The tall, blonde-haired Audrey instinctively looked to the top of the room, only to see the figure in the thick gray mist leaning back, one hand flat against the edge of the table, the other clasped and twirling her chin.

　　”Good afternoon, Mr. Fool~!” Audrey exclaimed in a brisk tone.

　　Then she turned her head and looked across the room, vocalizing in the same tone:

　　”Good afternoon, Mr. Inverted Hangman~!”

　　This girl is really heartless, just confirming that I’m a good person and not scared at all? A well-protected noble girl? Klein laughed, maintaining his high and mighty image and said:

　　”Good afternoon, Ms. ‘Justice’.”

　　As he spoke, he lowered his head slightly and raised his left hand in an upward, imaginary grip, tapping it twice on his brow.

　　What he saw was instantly different, as he saw the aura glow emanating from Justice and the Hanged Man!

　　There was no change in the gray mist and crimson stars around him, nothing appeared as if they didn’t exist, and there was no clear light that seemed to have some life in it.

　　Turning his eyes lightly, Klein saw that the colors of “Justice’s” aura perfectly matched Old Neil’s description, the red of red, the purple of purple, the blue of blue, the white of white, and the luster is bright, the thickness is appropriate, at first glance, it is a young girl who is full of vitality.

　　”Her emotional colors are red and yellow, happy, enthusiastic, exuberant ……” Klein made a judgment, and turned his attention to the “inverted hangman”.

　　Same as “Justice”, there was nothing special about the color of the Inverted Hanged Man’s aura, except that the emotions were blue, mixed with a few shades of orange.

　　”Calm, thoughtful, cautious, and a little satisfied?” On his first attempt, Klein wasn’t too confident in jumping to conclusions.

　　Just as he was about to avert his gaze, he suddenly realized something strange.

　　The colors and sensations of the innermost layer of the “Inverted Man’s” aura seemed to be completely unified!

　　Klein gathered his spirit and took a closer look, and vaguely saw that the depths of the “Etheric Body” of the “Inverted Man” was a deep blue color like seawater, giving off the feeling of gusty winds and waves.

　　”His ‘astral body’? Or the surface layer of the ‘Astral Spiritual Body’? In that case, he really is an Extraordinary One, and he seems to be even more powerful than Old Neil.” Klein’s thoughts were strewn with doubts, “It’s not necessarily so, maybe it’s just because of this particular environment, just because it’s my home turf that I’m able to see all of this, not that Old Neil didn’t have similar manifestations.”

　　He turned his head to look at Justice again, confirming that it was special only to the extraordinary.

　　At that point, Alger finished his greeting as well.

　　Audrey took a light breath and asked with veiled anticipation:

　　”Mr. ‘Inverted Man’, did you receive the box of ghost shark’s blood?”

　　Alger glanced at Klein, only to see him tapping his brow as if he was thinking about something else.

　　”Thank you very much, it met all my expectations perfectly. I really didn’t expect you to send it over so quickly, Ghost Shark’s blood isn’t your average transcendent thing.” Alger replied frankly.

　　Audrey smiled modestly and lightly:

　　”I’m happy to see the result.”

　　Because of her love for mystery related things since she was a child, she had made some friends with the same hobby in the circle of nobles, and would exchange information, books and rare items with each other, but before that, no one had acquired supernatural abilities and become truly extraordinary, but rather a few princes had hinted at the fact that if she was willing to become a princess, she would be given the gifts she wanted.

　　However, this time the ghost shark blood is she directly from the family treasury, anyway, the list is registered as “a large bottle”, did not record how many milliliters, also did not say full or not, she believes that pouring away a small half of a small half, certainly will not be noticed, even if there is an accident, the matter is exposed, her parents should not be held accountable.

　　Alger took another deep look at the Fool in the shroud of gray mist, turned back and smiled:

　　”According to the agreement, I will tell your ‘audience’ the formula of this magic potion now.”

　　”I’ll get ready, okay, here goes.” Audrey took a breath and focused her full attention.

　　”The preparation of the magic potion for the lower sequence is very simple, just put them in order as given, but you must remember that the portion of ingredients is rather less than more, that can go terribly wrong, you should have heard of the loss of control of the extraordinary, you don’t need me to repeat it again, do you?” Alger spoke the precautions first.

　　Audrey nodded lightly and said:

　　”I completely understand.”

　　As she spoke, she glanced sideways at Mr. Fool, wanting to know if this mysterious strong man had anything to add, but unfortunately, in her line of sight, Mr. Fool was sitting quietly, like a statue.

　　Alger thought for a moment and said:

　　”A little less doesn’t mean too much of a departure …… If you don’t have help, I’d suggest taking the time to familiarize yourself with chemistry experiments first.”

　　”I have a tutor for that.” Audrey replied unburdened.

　　Alger went over matters such as the maximum degree of deviation before reciting fluently:

　　”‘Audience’, Sequence 9 Magic Potion, 80 ml of pure water, plus 5 drops of Autumn Fairy Essence, plus 13 grams of Ox-toothed Peony Powder, plus 7 petals of Elf Flower, plus a pair of adult Manhall Fish eyes, and 35 ml of Sheepshead Blackfish blood.”

　　”The latter two are the main ingredients, both from marine-type transcendent species, so be careful.”

　　”Uh-huh.” Audrey repeated as she thought back, “80 ml of pure water, 5 drops of Autumn Fairy Essence, 13 grams of Bull’s Tooth, Bull’s Tooth ……”

　　”Paeonia powder.” Alger gave a reminder.

　　With the other party’s help, Audrey gradually memorized the recipe in the correct order, but she still wasn’t quite sure about it, muttering in a low voice and repeating it over and over again.

　　”Do you know how to meditate?” Alger saw “Justice” nodding and continued, “I don’t know what you understand meditation to be like, I’ll describe it first …… As soon as possible after taking the magic potion, you start to meditate, controlling the spirituality and power …… must be practiced daily in order to truly master the power of the magic potion and tap into its symbolism and more mysteries, only then can you best circumvent the danger of losing control of the magic potion symbolism focuses on its ‘name’, such as ‘Audience’!”

　　Klein quietly listened to their exchanges from the sidelines, originally did not intend to interrupt, only secretly memorize and learn, but when he heard this, his mind suddenly moved with an idea.

　　Audrey listened attentively to the explanation of the “inverted man”, and was about to open her mouth to ask a few detailed questions, when she suddenly heard the sound of a light tap on the table.

　　She and Alger turned their heads at the same time, looking at the “Fool” Klein sitting at the top, only to see this mysterious strong man tapping his fingers, spoke in a low voice:

　　”It’s not mastering, it’s digesting.”

　　”It’s not digging, it’s playing.”

　　”The name of the magic potion is not just a symbol, it is also imagery, it is the ‘key’ to digestion.”

　　Audrey listened dumbfounded and confused, not quite understanding what Mr. Fool was trying to convey.

　　She subconsciously looked out of the corner of her eye to see the reaction of the Inverted Man, but was shocked to find that the other woman’s body shuddered and stiffened, like an ordinary person hearing a loud and sudden clap of thunder.

　　”Digest, play …… digest, play …… digest, play, key …… digest, play, key ……,” Alger whispered over and over again whispered, as if he had grasped some key, or had fallen under a queer spell.

　　After a while he raised his head and said in a hoarse voice:

　　”Thank you, Mr. Fool, your hints are as precious as my life, and it’s helped me figure out quite a few things, though of course, I’m sure I don’t understand them fully, completely.”

　　Keeping up the image of mysterious superiority, Klein smiled and said:

　　”It’s an advance payment.”

　　In fact, he didn’t even understand the exact meaning of those words just now, but he was only sure that Rossel the Great was better than the average extraordinary person, better than the “inverted man”.

　　Advance payment …… Audrey saw the reaction of the “inverted hanged man” and realized the preciousness of the hint just now, and while recalling it, she asked:

　　”Mr. Fool, what do you want us to do?”

　　Across the room, Alger followed with a nod:

　　”What is it that you have commissioned?”

　　Klein leaned back slightly and glanced each way, his voice low and soothing:

　　”Help me collect Rossel Gustav’s secret diary, even if it’s just one page.”