Chapter 42 Acting
Hearing the Fool's question, Angel felt as if an invisible hand was gripping his chest, and his heartbeat began to speed up.
Part of this nervousness came from the diaries she had "watered down" herself. Although the Fool probably wouldn't care about such trivial matters, it didn't prevent the panic and excitement that welled up in her heart when she deceived a mysterious being.
Another part of the reason was that Angel was not sure about the rarity of Russell's diary.
Perhaps two hundred years have turned an emperor's notes into a popular puzzle-solving sport for the whole nation, but this is obviously inconsistent with the "Fool"'s urgent need for a diary.
The greater possibility is that these notes are only circulated within major churches and mysterious organizations. If I easily obtain the diary, is there a possibility that my identity will be exposed?
The other two seemed to have a similar mindset. Miss Justice, who used to like to speak first, seemed to have become more stable after becoming a Beyonder. It was the Hanged Man who answered first.
"I found two pages of Emperor Roselle's diary."
"I have a page too."
Justice also answered immediately.
It seems I have the most... Angel thought about it and answered according to the original strategy: "I also found two pages of the diary. Do we need to write it down now... and express it?"
"Yes, please."
Following the Fool's concise words, rolled-up parchment and a fountain pen filled with ink instantly appeared in front of the other three.
Angel picked up the pen, recalled the contents of the diary that she had "split and reorganized" not long ago, focused her attention on the tip of the pen in her hand, and expressed the urge to "write".
The Chinese characters left by the time traveler Emperor Roselle in this world appeared smoothly on the parchment.
In order to prevent fools from guessing that she had some knowledge of Chinese, she deliberately made the fonts strange and bizarre, some small and delicate, some wild and rough, and even messed up the order of some characters, making them look like they came from different transcribers and were pieced together on a piece of paper.
After displaying the two pages of the diary on the parchment using this magical method where the pen doesn't stick to the paper, Angel put down his pen and looked up, only to see that the other two had also finished their work.
Just as it appeared, the parchment in front of him disappeared in an instant, and then reappeared at the end of the long table, in front of Mr. Fool.
His figure hidden behind the gray fog was still hazy, but he was already holding the diary in his hands and began to read with his head down. The others didn't dare to breathe, for fear of disturbing the Fool's reading time.
He really knew this kind of writing...
Although Angel had already guessed that the Fool asked everyone to collect Roselle's diary for the purpose of reading it, he must have some understanding of this kind of writing, or even be proficient in it.
But as she watched the Fool flipping through the diary page by page like a newspaper, reading words that did not belong to this world, more doubts still surged in her heart.
Had He deciphered the meaning of the Chinese language? Did He translate it through some mystical means?
Or maybe He is also...
The Fool read faster and faster, and the last two pages didn't even take a minute. Then he put down the parchment in his hand, raised his head and looked at the other three people one by one, pausing for a moment on Angel, making her think that her behavior of filling the diary with water was discovered.
"Sorry, I was a little mesmerized."
The Fool's deep voice pierced through the gray fog, making Angel breathe a sigh of relief. She said with a hint of lightness, "I hope to learn some of the contents of the diary from you one day."
She really wanted to see what unknown secrets Russell Gustav, who was also a time traveler, had recorded in his diary. Was it unfathomable mystical knowledge, treasures buried in secret bases, or beautiful scenery that was different from the earth? Maybe it also included a way to return to the original world?
"Everything is exchangeable here, but everything also comes at a price."
"Continue to search the diary for me, and perhaps I will disclose some information that you can safely learn."
It seems the diary contains a wealth of profound occult knowledge, and even for us now, even knowing it is very risky... Upon hearing the Fool's response, Angel quickly stood up, touched his chest, and saluted: "Thank you for your generosity."
Justice and the Hanged Man also expressed their willingness to do their best to collect more Roselle diaries for The Fool.
"Mr. Fool, Miss Queen, Mr. Hanged Man, I have three questions for you." After sitting down again, Zhengyi, who had just become an "audience member", couldn't wait to ask. "If the answer is very valuable, please tell me what you need, and I will do my best to meet it."
Ah, it's time for the curious Miss Justice to ask questions again. The knowledge sharing between Tarot Club members shouldn't be one-on-one like the last time they traded potion formulas, right?
Angel was secretly delighted. She secretly glanced at the Fool and saw that He remained noncommittal and did not materialize any new parchment. It seemed that He was not going to interfere with Justice's questioning. So she nodded to Justice.
"Go ahead."
The Hanged Man also leaned back in his chair, assuming a listening posture.
"First question, I want to know in detail what 'acting' means. After taking the 'audience' potion, I feel that the residual mental effects of the potion quickly faded. Is it because I have been acting as an audience?"
At the last Tarot meeting, the Fool used a few words to remind everyone that the key to mastering the power of a potion lies in "acting," and the key to acting lies in the name of the potion itself.
It seemed that Miss Justice had already found the key from the Fool's hint, but as a new Beyonder, she was still somewhat confused, so much so that she was willing to offer a high reward to get the answer in the Tarot Club.
"I can answer that question."
Seeing that the Hanged Man remained in his original position without moving, and the Fool was stroking the edge of the table again, showing no intention of answering, Angel thought for a moment and took the initiative to answer.
"You've realized that the name of the potion is the key to the performance. This means you've gotten some idea, but it's not enough."
Based on his memory of Cole Granger's summary of the rules of potion making and Madam Sharon's teachings, Angel extracted the key points of mastering - or, as the fool would say - digesting - potions and explained them patiently.
"When you take the potion, you should feel a mysterious gaze that ordinary people can't feel, as well as seductive and crazy whispers in your ears. As you meditate afterwards, those whispers will gradually disappear."
Seeing Zhengyi nod solemnly, she continued, "This is the effect of the conflict between the residual spirit in the extraordinary material and your own spirit. Meditation can temporarily suppress this effect, but the spirit of the potion itself has not disappeared. It is like a foreign object in your body. When your spiritual power is exhausted and you come into contact with mysterious forces, it can erupt again at any time, causing you to lose control."
"The purpose of 'role playing' is to gradually eliminate these residual mental influences and fully master the potion's power. To use a more vivid metaphor, the potion is like a heavily guarded villa. The power we need to master is controlled by the villa's owner. If we want to overcome the numerous obstacles, kill it, and seize the power, the best way is to pretend to be the owner, deceive the villa's guards, and successfully eliminate the target."
This is the metaphor that Mrs. Sharon used when she taught Cole how to act, with a sense of bloodiness that comes from the identity of an "assassin". Since the original author has passed away and cannot defend his rights, Angel boldly "borrowed" it.
"But the guards are very clever. To trick them, you need to perfectly match the villa's owner in appearance, clothing, and behavior. Otherwise, if you enter rashly, you will be discovered and attacked as an enemy."
"So the name of the potion is the characteristic of the villa's owner?" Miss Justice suddenly realized.
"Yes, when you act perfectly, sneak into the villa, and kill the target, there will be a very obvious feeling of completely digesting the potion. It's hard to describe, but you will understand it when you get there."
At this point, Angel wanted to describe the feeling of completely digesting the potion in a more specific way, but he couldn't find the right words after racking his brains, so he could only explain it vaguely.
Miss Justice was actually more satisfied with this rather mystical answer. She praised it, "What an assassin-esque metaphor! I think I completely understand it. Luckily, I've been instinctively playing the role of the audience these days. It seems I'm on the right track."
"Ms. Queen, what price do I have to pay for this answer?"
Angel thought for a moment. He didn't seem to need anything urgently right now. The potion formulas for Sequence 8 "Instigator" and Sequence 7 "Witch" were already in his head. While the main ingredients were difficult to obtain, they weren't needed immediately. Gold pounds were a good thing, but he still had a considerable amount of savings and a stable source of income, so he wasn't in need of them for the time being. Besides, asking for money at a Beyonder exchange like this felt like it would lower the profile of both the Tarot Club and Mr. Fool.
After much thought, she concluded that what she needed most at the moment was a weapon with extraordinary power, which was the extraordinary weapon that Old Neil had mentioned, "the entire city of Tingen might not even have one."
"I need a channel to purchase or customize a Extraordinary weapon, preferably near Backlund. If this channel is valuable, I can make up the difference." She limited the scope to the vicinity of Backlund to avoid exposing her long-term secret of Tingen City, and to prevent the other party from providing some location that is not even within the territory of the Kingdom of Loen.
Although she felt that the Hanged Man should already know about her identity, after all, her current identity information was handled by someone he provided.
"Extraordinary...weapons..." Miss Justice hesitated, and it seemed that she knew even less about extraordinary items and weapons than Angel.
The Hanged Man, who had been silently observing the exchange, suddenly said, "I can provide such a channel as a token of my gratitude to the 'Acting Method.'"
Angel's impression of the Hanged Man has always been that of a "businessman who will never let himself suffer a loss". This impression was formed when he came up with a transaction plan that satisfied everyone at the first party. Unexpectedly, he actually took the initiative to ask for payment at this time. It seems that the "acting method" must have helped him a lot.
"There's a 'Kavi Watch Shop' on Golden Avenue in the Oak District of Enmat Harbor. Go find the 'craftsman' Kavi. He always has some extraordinary weapons for sale. If you can't find one you like, you can even order one for a little extra money."
"Don't worry, this is a legitimate channel, but you'd better prepare some extra gold pounds, these things are not cheap."
This time the Hanged Man didn't mention anything like "introduced by the captain", so it seems this wasn't a personal relationship.
Enmat Harbor...
A map of the area around Tingen City appeared in Angel's mind.
The Port of Enmatt is located on the coast of East Chester County east of Tingen. It can be reached by steam train in about 4 hours. It is a port city of similar size to Tingen.
The "psychic" Daly Simone also works as a night watchman in that city.
Unfortunately, he was about to become an official member of the Tingen Nighthawks, and he probably wouldn't have the chance to leave Tingen and go to Port Enmat in the short term. Moreover, from what the Hanged Man said, the price of the extraordinary weapon might not be two or three hundred pounds, and it would take time to save up the money.
"Thank you, this information is very important to me."
No matter what, she was still grateful for the channel provided by the Hanged Man. Having no money was her own problem, not the other party's.
"Well... this can't be considered my payment," Miss Justice said. Since they were sitting next to each other, Angel could vaguely see her movements through the gray mist. She clenched her fists as if she had made up her mind. "How about this, Miss Queen, if you have any difficulties in purchasing extraordinary weapons, mainly financially, I can provide some of them."
"The upper limit should not exceed 500 pounds."
Perhaps thinking that an unlimited “check” was a bit exaggerated, she added.
This is already the price of the formula and main ingredients for a Sequence 9 potion. Just paying for a little knowledge... Miss Justice, how rich are you?
Angel felt as if he had to reassess Zhengyi's family situation.
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