Above the gray fog, the ancient temple-like building stands quietly.
Klein, who noticed something unusual due to a series of coincidences, entered this mysterious space after lunch, trying to confirm a guess in his mind.
He picked up the materialized round-bellied fountain pen, paused for two seconds, and then wrote:
"I am once again involved in a series of coincidences created by Sealed Object 0-08."
Putting down the dark red pen, Klein held the silver chain in his left hand and began divination step by step.
Finally, he opened his eyes and looked at the pendulum that was so close.
The citrine pendant is still and not rotating.
This indicates that the divination has failed!
It could be that the conditions were insufficient and divination was impossible, or it could be that "0-08" had resisted... Both situations would produce similar results... Klein changed the sentences and pointed to different targets, but the divination ultimately failed.
He tapped his fingers on the edge of the long mottled table, wondering whether to go to Red Rose Manor the next day or the day after tomorrow.
If there is indeed no "0-08" or similar force to arrange these things, then my sudden escape will definitely arouse Prince Edessak's suspicion. No, the escape may not be successful, because Prince Edessak's people live next door... Of course, it is very easy for me, who is already a "Faceless Man", to find a chance to escape when I am out, but is it necessary to go to this extent?
Tomorrow afternoon, if I pay a respectful visit to Prince Edessak and complete the mission normally, I will be able to "leave" Backlund without attracting attention. As a prince, he should not force a wild Beyonder like me to complete something too difficult...
If there really is a seal or demigod like "0-08" that is influencing recent events, then from what I've experienced, I should be just a supporting role that strayed onto the stage and hasn't received enough attention. In this case, absconding is equivalent to telling the other party that I've noticed "you"'s existence! I have a big problem!
In this case, the ability of the "Faceless Man" may not be enough to get rid of the "attention" that is locked on him...
The best way is to go to Red Rose Manor calmly, exit the stage in the most normal way, bow out gracefully, and fade out of the "sight" from who knows where...
After considering both factors, Klein finally decided to pretend that he hadn't noticed anything, hand over the mission according to the predetermined plan, and "leave" Backlund.
…………
There was a fire burning in the open-air camp, which was always manned.
Derrick Berg leaned against a stone pillar, sleeping to recover his strength.
At this moment, he dreamed of endless gray-white fog, an ancient chair located at the highest point in the center, and an indifferent figure sitting on the chair, looking down at everything.
"Mr. Fool..." Derrick chanted the name in his mind.
Then, he heard the voice of The Fool:
“Get ready to party.”
Yes, Mr. Fool. Derrick answered silently, counting his heartbeats.
His eyes never opened, as if everything that had just happened was just an interlude in a dream.
There was still a long time before departure, enough time to attend the Tarot party... he thought with relief.
He originally thought that he would miss this party as he had joined the exploration team.
After 1,000 heartbeats, Derrick waited a little longer before he felt himself entering the quiet and peaceful temple.
He had just opened his eyes when scenes suddenly flashed through his mind, one after another, as if an external force had instantly injected all his lost memories back into his head.
Those scenes include: collapsed city walls; white and blue buildings; the "Fallen Creator" temple similar to the Silver City in style; murals detailing the coming of doomsday and the "Fallen Creator" resisting the six evil gods and protecting the remaining humans; the beautiful yet dangerous "mushrooms"; and Jack, an unusually strange boy with light yellow hair who came from nowhere.
This scene was repeated over and over again for five times, but each time there were some differences in details:
The first time, outside the temple of the Fallen Creator, all the animal skin lanterns were extinguished, almost causing a tragedy. The second time, someone couldn't control himself and almost swallowed the "mushroom". Fortunately, Chief Colin stopped it in time. The third time, the little boy Jack told an extra story, that is, he and his father were searching for the Creator's sanctuary in the ocean with no visible boundaries, but they encountered a huge storm. The fourth time, Joshua was seriously injured by the little boy Jack who mutated without warning. The fifth time, the temple collapsed completely, blocking the exit of the underground area.
And each time, it ends with the "demon hunter" Colin killing the little boy Jack, and begins with resting in the camp and preparing to enter the ruined city, connecting the beginning and the end and repeating the cycle over and over again.
We have explored the temple five times... We have been living in this experience, and there is no way to truly end it! The more Derrick understood his sudden extra memories, the more horrified and creepy he felt.
Audrey Justice, who was sitting on the other side of the bronze table, originally wanted to greet Mr. Fool and everyone else cheerfully and happily as usual, but she glanced around and immediately noticed that Little Sun was in a bad mood, so she immediately asked:
"Mr. Sun, what happened? The exploration of the true, um, temple of the fallen Creator did not go smoothly?"
Derrick the Sun seemed to have grasped hope. He quickly described the incident in general and said at the end:
"After the little boy was eliminated by the Chief, we all closed our eyes and woke up in the camp outside the city, ready to start a new exploration without any memory of the past.
“This process was repeated five times, with only slight variations in details.
"If Mr. Fool hadn't reminded me, I wouldn't even know that I have been living a repetitive life all this time."
He naturally believed that the extra memories after arriving above the gray fog came from Mr. Fool’s reminder, so he stood up and bowed solemnly to the blurry figure sitting at the head of the long bronze table.
I had to listen to your description before I understood what happened... Klein the Fool was still a little confused from the beginning until now.
He maintained his original posture and nodded slightly in response.
Without understanding the cause of the problem, the superior cannot easily express his opinion or speak rashly... Klein secretly reviewed the knowledge he had learned when he was a keyboard expert in his previous life.
Seeing that Mr. Fool was like a deep ancient well without any waves, Derrick the Sun felt relieved and thought that the problem could be solved after all.
He turned to look at The Hanged Man, The World, Justice, and The Magician and asked sincerely:
"Do you know the root cause of the problem? How to solve it?"
The enthusiastic "justice" Audrey instinctively wanted to answer, but found that she had no clue and couldn't even guess.
The "magician" Fors is in a similar state to her.
Klein has a wealth of knowledge from Earth and has read many novels that stay on the same day. He wanted to manipulate the "world" to give ideas so that everyone can gain inspiration for thinking, but after thinking about it carefully, he chose to keep a low profile and prepare to observe first.
After listening to the description of The Sun, Alger was silent for a long time. He then said carefully:
"I can only think of two possibilities. One is that you have encountered a nightmare or hallucination ability that is beyond the level of a demigod. After you regain your memory with the help of Mr. Fool, you should be able to immediately notice something is wrong as soon as you return to the real world. In this way, the problem can be easily solved.
"Second, you were forced or actively entered into a strange space or state at a certain point, where time maintained a certain degree of flow, but was fixed within a certain range, circling back and forth, and continuing in balance, which means it was relatively static.
"In this case, there are not many ways to end the cycle. Either an external force forcibly breaks the balance, or we find the key point that connects the time warps."
An external force forcibly broke that balance? Hearing this, Audrey the Justice, Fors the Magician, and Derrick the Sun all subconsciously glanced at Mr. Fool, who was sitting calmly at the top of the bronze table.
No, I can’t always ask Mr. Fool for help... He didn’t ask directly, probably because he wanted to test my ability to handle this kind of thing... Derrick understood something, thought for a moment and said:
"Mr. 'The Hanged Man', let's assume that it is the latter case. What do you think is the key point that connects the previous and later time warps?"
Without waiting for the Hanged Man to answer, Justice Audrey guessed with interest:
“That little boy Jack?
"When facing him, can't we just kill him?"
The Hanged Man Alger nodded:
“It’s possible.”
He considered it for a moment, then said hesitantly:
"The description of Jack and his father in 'The Sun' reminded me of something."
He turned to look at Miss Justice:
"Did I mention that I once hunted down a 'Listener' of the Aurora Society at sea? His goal at sea was to find the sanctuary of the 'True Creator'?"
Audrey recalled carefully and said uncertainly:
"It seems that this is the case."
Alger, the Hanged Man, said in a deep voice:
"The 'Listener' also brought his child with him, whose age was close to the one described by 'The Sun'."
“You mean, that Jack came from your world to the vicinity of Silver City?” Derrick the Sun asked in astonishment.
After a short period of calm, he felt inexplicably happy.
Because this means that the area where the Silver City is located has not been completely sealed off, and there is still a chance to connect with the normal world where "The Hanged Man" and "Justice" are!
"I can only say that it is possible." The "Hanged Man" was unable to give a definite answer.
He thought about it and suggested:
"You can find an opportunity to mention the Sonia Sea, the Kingdom of Loen, and the port city in front of the little boy Jack. Maybe he will get a different reaction. Of course, try to avoid the chief of your Silver City.
"Also, the key point may not be the little boy Jack. We need to consider other possibilities. If you tell us the specific situation, such as the details of the mural, maybe we can find something useful."
Having said that, Alger began to look forward to the intelligence that could be obtained.