Chapter 546: Punishment of Fools
A golden sailboat, several dozen meters long and reflecting brilliantly in the sun, was docked on the deserted island between Pasu Island, where the Church of Storms' altar was located, and Bayam, the capital of the Rorsted Archipelago.
It belongs to one of the seven pirate generals, "Vice Admiral Iceberg" Edwina. Although this pirate general has a good reputation and generally does not rob ordinary passenger ships, ships passing through cross-sea routes will still carefully avoid it.
At this time, the sailors on the "Golden Dream" had no time to care about the passing passenger ship, because their captain, "Vice Admiral Iceberg" respected by all the sailors, had disappeared!
The top leaders of the pirate group asked each other and found out that the latest time they had seen Edwina was in the evening two days ago. At that time, the general said that he had to conduct a difficult research and would not appear in the next day, and then locked himself in the captain's room.
At the time, none of the sailors, including "Flame" Danitz, paid much attention, because for this erudite but more studious captain, seclusion and research were common.
They treated the day without extra classes as a holiday during their journey. They sailed the "Golden Dream" eastward to the White Whale Sea as planned, went to the Pirate Paradise to track down the traces of the "Ghost Empire", and held bonfire parties and singing and dancing performances like crazy, spending a fulfilling 24 hours.
It was just a matter of firing the precious main guns into the sky or directly setting fire to the flammable materials on the deck.
Then……
"She didn't ask anyone to bring her water or food, and she didn't show up outside the captain's cabin. It's like... it's like she's completely evaporated."
Danitz waved his arms exaggeratedly and spoke to the others.
"People don't evaporate, wine does."
"Flower tie," Jodson retorted subconsciously, but his expression was also a little worried.
They discussed it for a long time and searched every cabin except the locked captain's room, but found nothing.
Finally, everyone mustered up the courage to come to the captain's room, supervised each other, and opened the door of the captain's room with the spare key. They were horrified to find that there was no one inside. Even the light beer, bacon and toast prepared before the "retreat" were placed on the coffee table, almost untouched.
This means that Edwina was no longer in the captain's room at least two days ago!
As a Sequence 6 "Fire Thief" of the "Thief" pathway, Flower Tie Johnson mastered certain divination skills. In front of a group of sailors, he used the items frequently used by Edwina in the captain's room to perform several divinations, but the results were not optimistic.
"Almost all divinations failed. I couldn't point to her location or judge her condition. The only thing that was clear was that she was still alive."
Pushing the coins, pendulum, Edwina's wine glass and cushion forward, Jodson said with a look of despair.
"Aren't you usually called an expert? Bullshit! Any adventurer I meet in Damir Harbor is better than you!"
Danitz cursed angrily. Seeing the wine glass about to fall off the table, he quickly caught it with both hands and put it back in its place.
"Then find other people to help. We'll set sail now and head back to the west coast. If the wind is favorable, we'll arrive in a week."
First Mate Blue Walls said calmly, wearing a monocle.
"A week! Captain can't wait that long. Besides, there are always various accidents along the way. The navy, other pirates, and even headwinds could take us twice as long!"
Boatswain "Bucket" Daniels retorted, his bloated bucket waist swaying.
"Let me try divination again..."
Feeling endless pressure from the quarrel and everyone's gaze, Jodson muttered, grabbed the gold Louis of Intis, muttered something, and flicked it up with a "ding" sound.
Everyone's eyes followed the flying gold coins, but Danitz associated this scene with a "fortune-telling expert," a "crazy adventurer," and also Captain Edwina's temporary ally.
"German Sparrow!"
He suddenly shouted loudly, and frightened Jodson so much that he couldn't catch the gold coin. It rolled several times on the table and stopped next to a heavy book with a dark brown cover and bound in parchment.
————
Surrounded by the familiar crimson light, Angel came from the suite on the passenger ship bound for Bayam to the magnificent palace surrounded by gray fog and sat down in the seat belonging to the "Queen" at the long bronze table.
Next to her was "Justice" Audrey, who stood up and greeted everyone happily. Across from her was "The Hanged Man" Alger, who looked pensive and simply nodded in response.
The others, mostly people I know, like Emlyn the Moon, Klein the World, and the newest one, Cattleya the Hermit...
Angel looked around and found that most of the Tarot Club were already his acquaintances, and he couldn't help feeling a little proud.
Miss "Magician" was from Backlund, so maybe we'd run into each other someday. But Mr. "Sun" was in the mysterious and terrifying "God-Forsaken Land," so perhaps we'd never have the chance to meet again in this lifetime...
Finally, there's Mr. Fool, the initiator of the gathering, everyone's secret faith, and perhaps a resurrected god...
She looked at them one by one, and finally her gaze stopped on the figure shrouded in gray mist at the head of the long table.
"Mr. Fool, I request to speak with you privately."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Angel felt everyone's eyes focused on him.
"And, Mr. Fool, a private conversation?"
The most surprised person was Cattleya, who had never seen "this kind of operation" before. She first secretly glanced at the other members out of the corner of her eye and found that although everyone was a little curious, they were not surprised. This meant that "communicating with the Fool alone" was indeed a feasible request, but members should rarely engage in such behavior.
That means I can also ask Him for a private conversation, and then…
She turned her gaze towards the Fool and subconsciously activated her Eyes of Prying Eyes. The gray fog that usually enveloped this being seemed to become thinner, allowing her to penetrate it!
Just as she was about to see through the gray fog, everything before her eyes turned dark.
The private conversation began.
Seeing Mr. Fool knocking on the table, Angel bowed his head and then spoke stiffly:
"Mr. Fool, I must first apologize to you. On the way to the God War Ruins, I was seduced by a fake diary of Emperor Roselle and fell into the trap of a High-Sequence Beyonder. She learned of your existence and that we were collecting diaries.
"She is the 'Mysterious Queen' of the Five Seas, and also the eldest daughter of Roselle Gustav, Bernadette Gustav..."
After reporting the conversation with Bernadette to the Fool, Angel saw that the latter did not speak, so he continued:
"She requested a method to decipher the diary in exchange for the Emperor's diary. She said she could provide the entire diary, and there would also be a reward for me."
After saying this, she lowered her head and glanced secretly at the Fool, waiting for his “deal”.
After all, at the beginning of the Tarot Society, this being had stated that his name should not be spread outside without his consent.
Although the "Fool Who Doesn't Belong to This Era" seems to have been known to secret sects like the Aurora Society, it's no longer a secret... Angel pondered for a moment, and finally waited for the Fool's response:
"She can exchange the diary for the answers she needs, but the method of interpreting the diary is beyond her ability to bear."
Is this a blunt refusal? No, Mr. Fool means that Bernadette can pay a certain price to know some of the contents of the diary, but obtaining the complete deciphering method is impossible... Angel nodded in understanding.
"Yes, I will convey it to her."
"Don't reveal more information, be careful not to make the same mistake again."
Klein's tone turned cold as he gave the order. Seeing Angel, who was sitting in the first seat on his left, nod his head in agreement with a hint of fear in his expression, he couldn't help but feel an inexplicable sense of relief.
But this emotion was quickly replaced by guilt. His original intention was not to let Angel continue to interfere in the affairs of the "Mysterious Queen", but he also wanted to maintain the status of "The Fool", so the words he said sounded like a cold order.
Looking at Angel's lowered head at this moment, he pursed his lips, but ultimately did not continue speaking. Instead, he waved his hand to remove the visual and auditory restrictions on others, ending their private communication.
Then, he looked at Cattleya, the "Hermit," who was at the end of the "female queue," and tapped the long table, causing everyone's faces to shudder. After everyone looked at him, he spoke:
"If Bernadette wants to know the answer, she must pay a sufficient price."
Angel, still thinking about the "Mysterious Queen", subconsciously thought that this sentence was directed at him. Just as he was about to speak, he found that the "Fool" was looking at the "Hermit". He closed his mouth again and looked at Cattleya curiously.
Why did He give the same answer to the Star Admiral? Was it because He knew her breakup with the Mysterious Queen was fake, and they were still connected? Even Bernadette's communication with Klein and me, two of The Fool's followers, aboard the Future, was orchestrated by her. Was The Fool warning her?
She quickly confirmed this from the Fool's tone, which was even colder than before, and the Hermit's cowering and even trembling figure.
Fortunately, I took the initiative to confess everything, otherwise I would be the only one who would be socially dead, no, community-wide dead... She thought with half relief and half fear.
Except for her, the other members expressed their confusion and surprise when they heard this.
They didn't associate this common Intis female name with other titles, but they all guessed that "The Hermit" had committed a certain act of "betrayal" shortly after joining the Tarot Club, revealing the content of the meeting or Mr. Fool's intelligence to this "Bernadette", who even wanted more, to the point of alarming Mr. Fool himself.
Fortunately, their doubts didn't last long. In response to Derrick the Sun's questioning, the Fool continued:
"Bernadette is Roselle's eldest daughter, the owner of the 'Dawn', and the leader of the 'Elemental Dawn'."
"So, the 'Mysterious Queen' is the eldest daughter of Emperor Roselle? It seems that the identity of the 'Hermit' has also been confirmed as the 'Admiral of the Stars'. They are indeed faking a breakup, but are actually still in contact secretly..." The Hanged Man's mind exploded, and he had a certain understanding of the recent complicated situation at sea. He looked at the 'Hermit' and found that the other party lowered his head even more. He did not deny it, and laughed in his heart.
Although other members, such as Justice, Magician, and Moon, were not as clear about the situation at sea as Alger, they had all heard of the Dawn. Audrey, in particular, who was very interested in the world of mysticism, immediately realized that the "answer" that the "Queen of Mystery" Bernadette might want to know might be in her father's diary.
The focus of everyone's attention, Cattleya, the Hermit, regained some of her ability to think after a long silence. She looked up at the Fool and said in a low voice:
"I made a mistake and I won't make excuses for it. Whatever you decide to do to me, even if it means killing me, I'm willing to take it."
Angel, who had been observing Cattleya's expression and movements, felt a pang of pain in her heart. She had just left the pirate admiral's flagship and had a good impression of the beautiful, mysterious, and hospitable "Admiral of the Stars." Seeing that a member who had also made the mistake of "leaking secrets" was about to be punished, she couldn't help but feel puzzled.
If I was only let off lightly, while the Hermit was severely punished, wouldn't that be a bit...
...Biased?
Just as this thought flashed through her mind, she heard Cattleya groan in pain, her body leaning back, and her whole body fell on the high-back chair.
Afterwards, endless screams echoed in the gray fog palace, piercing the ears of the other members.
Mr. Fool's punishment on the Hermit has begun!
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