Chapter 41 Preparing a Diary
After making up his mind, Angel felt that his gloomy mood for the whole morning began to relax. Even the unkempt staff member on the public carriage looked much more pleasing to the eye. Of course, he would look even more pleasing to the eye if he didn't charge any fare.
"Daffodil Street." She gave her destination, handed three copper pennies to the toll collector, got into the carriage and found a corner to sit down.
She was riding in a trackless public carriage, drawn by two horses, which could seat about twenty people, including the roof of the carriage.
It was almost noon, and while the flow of people wasn't as high as in the evening, Zouteland Street, one of Tingen's busiest streets, still saw many people returning home from work. After Angel boarded the carriage, three more passengers followed, and those who arrived later had to sit on the roof. By the time the carriage slowly started moving, it was completely packed.
The advantage of a fully loaded carriage is that it will not stop until someone gets off, even if a passenger calls out on the road. The staff hangs a red cloth by the door, indicating that people can only get off and not get on.
There were downsides as well. The passengers in the crowded carriage were piled shoulder to shoulder, and the carriage swayed as it passed through the bends. Coupled with the scorching summer heat, a strange smell filled the carriage.
The harsh environment even made Angel start to consider the feasibility of taking a hired carriage when going out, but she gave up the idea after a quick calculation of the price. The price per kilometer of a two-wheeled hired carriage was four times that of a public carriage. Even if she traveled back and forth between Zouteland Street and Daffodil Street once a day, it would cost more than 10 soli per week. After becoming a formal member of the Night Watch, her weekly salary would increase to 6 pounds, but such transportation fees would be too much for her to afford.
Just treat it as taking the bus, no matter how crowded it is...
Angel moved to the corner, closer to the window, so that she could breathe fresh air. She looked at the seat opposite, where there was also a passenger who was squeezed and looked helpless. He had a cute round face and looked like he had just reached adulthood. Feeling Angel's gaze, the round-faced boy looked up and smiled shyly, but his smile was immediately squeezed away by the passenger who fell towards him when the car turned.
Fortunately, the roof of the public carriage was too low to sell standing tickets, otherwise it would have been twice as crowded... Angel complained in his heart.
The atmosphere in the car didn't lighten up until several passengers got off at Iron Cross Street. The round-faced man also got off at Iron Cross Street. Angel looked at his back and felt strangely familiar.
Where have you seen this person?
Angel recalled his experiences during those days and found no useful memories.
She looked out the window at the round-faced man getting on another public carriage and leaving in the direction of the dock area. She looked away and didn't think about it any further.
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After a quick lunch at the Silver Crown Restaurant on Daffodil Street, Angel returned home and took off her windbreaker and hung it on the hanger at the door. She found that her underwear was soaked with sweat.
"I used to laugh at those gentlemen of the Nighthawks who valued elegance over warmth, wearing formal attire even in the hottest weather..." Angel laughed at himself, "But now I'm the same way when I go out..."
In order to hide her face that came from the "witch" potion and her figure that made her peers like Roxanne jealous, Angel now wears a windbreaker when going out, and even wears a hood in crowded places.
Although Tingen City is located at a high latitude, it is July now and the sunlight after noon can still make people breathless. Angel's way of dealing with this is to go out as little as possible.
She went to the bathroom, took off her clothes and threw them into the basket, then she tied up her soft golden hair and took a cold shower.
After living in this body for nearly two weeks, Angel no longer had to grope with her eyes closed even when taking a shower like she did at the beginning. Looking at the perfect female body in the half-length mirror, her initial shyness had disappeared without a trace, which made her marvel at the powerful adaptability of human beings.
But taking a bath, her favorite leisure activity in her previous life, is still not possible now. Taking a shower while standing for ten minutes is one thing, and lying in the bathtub for half an hour is another.
Taking her eyes off her neck, she dried herself with a towel, changed into a light indoor dress, and came to the desk in the study.
Before starting the afternoon Tarot Club, Angel still had to do an important thing - forge the diary of Emperor Roselle.
It is not actually accurate to say that it is a forgery, because the contents of the diary are all true, but she plans to "expand" part of it and turn the three-page diary into four pages.
This does not mean changing the content of the diary. People who know nothing about Chinese cannot perform such a difficult task.
This batch of diaries seen from Old Neil should have come from different copyists. The font sizes of the three pages of the diary are not the same. Two pages have wider spacing and larger font sizes, while the other page has beautiful fonts and the text density is much higher than the former.
Of course, to the uninformed, these mysterious "Rossel symbols" might even have different sizes that imply specific meanings, just as in mysticism, a palm-sized holy emblem is more effective than a fingernail-sized one.
But after realizing that this was only a type of writing from the homeland of the time traveler Emperor Roselle, Angel knew that the size of the text depended only on the craftsmanship of the first batch of transcribers, and the owner of the diary would definitely not use different font sizes to record his or her feelings.
This gave her room to "fake".
She planned to re-transcribe the three pages of Russell's diary that she remembered in her mind onto paper, and rewrite the one with the higher information density in the same font size as the other two, so that she could squeeze in an extra page of diary content.
Mr. Fool only said that each person had to hand in two pages of diary, and did not specify the number of words or lines. This was also the reason why Angel dared to do so. After all, the diaries circulating in the world now are basically copies that have been repeatedly transcribed and copied. The amount of content is not something that the Tarot Club members who are looking for the diaries can control, and Mr. Fool will not punish them for it.
Maybe the Hanged Man and Justice got less than I did... Angel thought so, soothing his conscience that was a little painful.
She picked up a pencil and re-wrote the straight and neat Chinese characters in her memory onto a piece of white paper one by one. After adjusting the text size several times, she successfully turned the three pages of diary in Old Neil's hand into four pages. Although the last page only had about three-quarters of the content, it could barely be called a page.
If I weren't a Beyonder with a memory far superior to that of an average person, I really wouldn't be able to remember so many unfamiliar characters...
Angel sighed as he looked at the crooked Chinese characters under his hand.
Since she didn't recognize the words, she almost "drew" the contents of these four pages.
After checking it again and confirming that it was no different from the text she remembered, she breathed a sigh of relief and put down her pencil.
In this way, I have completed the task assigned by The Fool, and even exceeded it. He asked for a two-page diary, but I have four pages!
Of course, Angel didn't plan to hand in all of it at once. She planned to first see how the other two had done, and then decide whether to hand in part or all of it. After all, the opportunity to find a diary was rare, and keeping one or two pages for the next knowledge exchange was the best option.
As the hands of the pocket watch hanging on the bookshelf pointed to three o'clock in the afternoon, a familiar crimson light surged around Angel.
The crimson faded, smoke rose, and Angel instantly appeared at the Tarot Club's gathering place, just like the previous two times.
The relative positions of the people remained unchanged. To her left was still Miss Justice, and opposite her sat Mr. The Hanged Man. At the head of the long table on her right, Mr. Fool, the initiator of the meeting, was shrouded in a thicker gray fog than before, making his figure almost invisible.
His power has increased again... or has it been restored?
Angel speculated.
Unconsciously, she had begun to refer to "the Fool" as a term for the gods.
As usual, Miss Justice was the first to greet everyone, including the Fool. Everyone politely responded to the greetings, and in this friendly atmosphere, the third "Tarot Club" began.
"Congratulations, Miss Justice, you have become a Beyonder."
The Fool first congratulated Justice. He seemed to have a way of telling whether the other person was a Beyonder.
Angel looked towards Justice on his left in surprise.
Hadn't she just obtained the "Audience" potion formula from the Hanged Man last week? It only took her seven days to gather all the ingredients, successfully create the potion, and become "Audience"?
You should know that the main ingredients of all magic potions are truly extraordinary materials. Not only are they expensive, but they almost never appear in the ordinary trading market. The Orthodox Church may reserve some for the promotion of its members. If ordinary people obtain these materials, they will either use them as soon as possible or exchange them for gold pounds. They rarely keep the precious materials in their hands.
Thinking about how Justice easily helped the Hanged Man find the extraordinary material he needed, 100 ml of "Ghost Shark's Blood", Angel realized that he had underestimated this naive girl.
She resisted the urge to open her psychic vision and observe Miss Justice.
Even if she wasn't in this gray foggy space, only the power that overflowed when she just took the potion could be observed by her clairvoyance. Moreover, opening her clairvoyance at will was a taboo for Beyonders, especially with a mysterious existence like the "Fool" around her. If she accidentally saw something she shouldn't see, she would probably lose control on the spot.
"Thank you, Mr. Fool and Mr. Hanged Man, the potion formula you provided is accurate."
"Faster than I thought," the Hanged Man commented calmly. "As expected, ordinary materials are no problem for you."
"A friend helped me a lot." Miss Justice answered modestly.
Is the friend you are talking about called Jin Pound?
"Thank you, Miss Queen, for your suggestion last week. Many members of the parliament have supported the idea of establishing an exam for civil servants to select those with long-term service. However, given the efficiency of the royal government, it will likely take six months for these proposals to become policy."
After thanking The Fool and The Hanged Man respectively, Justice turned to Angel and said with a slight nod, his words filled with joy.
What, the approval of the members of parliament, the government’s policy?
Weren't we on Keyboard Politics last week? Wasn't that your college assignment?
Angel's eyes widened, and he forgot to answer for a moment.
At this moment, a gentle knocking sound was heard from the top of the long table. Several people turned their heads to look at the same time. Mr. Fool was retracting his right hand from knocking on the edge of the long table.
"Ladies and gentlemen, have you found Russell's diary?"
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