He stopped at the building next to the alley and paid attention to what the children were going to say.
He did not lean out to see them directly but instead concentrated on his senses and located the boys.
This was to avoid alerting the brat.
"3 pennies," said the one with the strange head
"5 pennies" said the arrogant fat boy.
The brat sighed.
"10 pennies" the annoyed grunts from the other boys rang out.
"How come you keep most of it? You should give us a little" said the chubby boy annoyed.
"That wasn't part of the deal Francis. I'd help you pick targets but that's it, I don't have to give you anything." the brat replied.
"Damn Freak-" when Francis raised his arm to hit the peanut boy he stopped him.
"Francis!" The peanut spoke trying to calm down the other who was released with force.
"Let me go Joland! I don't know why I agreed to work with the Freak!" Francis grunted as he left the alley in annoyance.
"You know how Francis is..." Joland tried to defend his friend but the brat cut him off.
"I'm used to it, I'll see you at school this weekend Joland" the brat said as he left the alley leaving only Jolan who sighed.
...
'What a curious boy' the redhead thought as he followed the brat and followed him through several streets of Wolf Troath.
The boy kept his head down but that didn't prevent him from receiving glances from the people he passed.
This confused Adryan a bit and he kept a good distance from the boy.
'Looks like a reject... Isn't your name Naruto by any chance?' he thought curiously.
After a while, he saw how the brat entered a quite old residential building.
Adryan didn't get upset by this but instead went to the side of the building and listened carefully. He could hear the brat's footsteps and could follow him like that.
The brat went up 3 floors and he heard him enter a room.
'So this is where he lives...' he thought as he looked at the building.
'Well it's quite late so now he's going to sleep for sure...' he thought as he looked at the dark clouds in the sky.
Right now it was eight o'clock at night.
'It's fine for today, I'll continue tomorrow...' Reaching that decision, Adryan started his way to return to the hotel.
On the way, he couldn't help but remember something that made him let out a soft laugh.
There was still someone he hadn't bullied and the time was finally drawing near.
'Don't worry my dear Klein. This will be the only time I will bother you at this hour. After all, I know how precious sleep is~' he thought mischievously as he chuckled.
'I can't forget Flora's surprise either~ I'm sure she'll get another heart-attack because I prayed to an unknown existence...again.'
...
It only took him an hour and a half to get back to the hotel and another 20 minutes to take a shower in the public bathroom...
He entered his room with a towel covering his hair.
"What a filthy shower..." he muttered annoyed as he removed the towel from his head, leaving his beautiful red hair free.
The shower cubicle was too small for him, his shoulders bumped against the dirty wall which caused him to spend more time in the shower.
He sighed as he tried to forget about that and spread out his towel to dry and left his soap and shampoo on the table.
He wouldn't use the public bathroom soap, no chance.
His stomach turned in disgust as he remembered that dirty greenish soap with hair of unknown origin in it, which was not so unknown thanks to his nose...
He shook his head trying to get that image out of his head.
He pulled Hangover Time out of his pocket and checking the time he nodded.
There were still a few hours left to perform the ritual so he decided to review the book that Isengard had given him to pass the time.
He kept Hangover Time in his pocket and took a great leap reaching the ceiling of his room with ease.
He grabbed a book that was hidden in it before gravity pulled him down.
Seeing the familiar purple cover along with the title written in Hermes he just lay on his bed and opened the book.
He started the book again and started with the title page.
_ Introduction to Rituals By Debulg Heiseng_
....
Time passed and 2:00 a.m. quickly arrived.
Adryan closed the book and set it aside, he rose from his bed and formed a wall of spirituality.
He took out the materials he had prepared earlier for the ritual that Klein had requested.
With everything ready, he woke Flora up.
"Flora, do you remember the surprise I told you before?" he said amused and Flora grunted.
"What happens now Adry..." Flora had gotten up and the first thing she saw was everything that Adryan had prepared. This made her words die in her mouth and she fell silent.
In front of the redhead, there was an altar with 4 new candles, one in each corner.
"You're not about to do another stupid thing are you?" she said after a few moments in silence and Adryan let out a mischievous laugh as he shrugged.
"Maybe~~" he said while rolling his eyes and Flora felt her stomach drop.
She was having Deja Vu.
Then the realization hit.
"No..." she said incredulously and Adryan's smile grew.
"Yes~"
"No" Flora said refusing to believe that he would do it again.
"Yes~~" Adryan said amused and before Flora could protest he began to pray to Hermes while grabbing what he had prepared.
"The Fool that doesn't belong to this era;
You are the mysterious ruler above the gray fog;
You are the King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck.
I pray for your help.
I pray for your loving grace.
I pray for you to give me a good dream."
"Why are you doing this to me!" Flora said desperately as she felt that what had happened when she met the redhead for the first time was happening again.
"You don't have to worry Flora" Adryan comforted the woman as he came out of the prayer pose.
"The Fool is an ally of my Lord. 'He' is also a just God and will not harm us. My Lord has formed an alliance with 'Him' and it will be very normal to see me pray to both of 'Them' so don't pay too much attention to this" Adryan explained calmly and Flora after a few moments could only accept this.
"Next time let me know when you will do something like that..." she said annoyed.
"I promise~" he said while crossing his fingers.
....
Tingen city.
Klein was fast asleep, curled up in a fetal position as he hugged his pillow.
He was comfortably lying down when suddenly he began to hear murmurs began to reach his ears that woke him up.
"Urggghhh" He growled as he opened a tired eye.
"But what..." he saw how the crimson moon was illuminating his room through his window and seeing that the moon was still very high in the sky, he just growled tiredly.
"What was that?" he muttered tiredly as he got up.
The murmurs returned and this woke him up even more.
'Am I losing contr-wait...Is someone praying to me? ' He realized it was a male voice and this made him frown angrily.
"I know I told you that you had until Wednesday but what makes you think it's a good idea to do it at this hour" he grabbed his pocket watch that was on his nightstand and opened it.
Seeing that it was 2:20 a.m., Klein exhaled slowly to calm his troubled heart.
'Don't they sleep or what?!' he thought annoyed as he got up from his bed.
The sleepiness had gone so better to check who was the one that disturbed his sleep time.
He closed the curtains and made sure the door was locked, he then formed a wall of spirituality in his room.
Then he stood in the middle of his room and took four steps counterclockwise, saying the incantation with each step.
He then heard the ravings again but he went into a state of semi Cogitation and ignored these ravings.
After a few moments, he returned to the mysterious space above the Gray Fog and looked around.
He then saw how the crimson flame with black spots was pulsing.
"I expected that..." He muttered in exasperation.
Who else but Chariot would pray at this hour?
He reached out his hand towards the flame and sent a little spirituality into it.
A scene appeared in front of him that made him freeze.
Unlike what he had seen when Miss Justice had prayed to him, referring to the fact that he could see that it was a young lady with clothes and a fine room.
He could see that 'Chariot' was in an old room with a bed with white sheets and new pillows that was in stark contrast to the rest of the room.
But that was not what caught his attention!
It was Chariot!!
He could see a kneeling humanoid figure of pure darkness, it had 5 tails coming out of its back and its eyes were a bright scarlet red that gave it a demonic look.
'Chariot is not human?! but in the Tarot Club he appears as a normal person! But then what is this!!' Klein thought incredulously as he saw this terrifying figure.
Was this the true appearance of Chariot?
Before he could think of the meaning of this, he suddenly feel a little dazed and he felt something come out of his nose.
He put his hand to it and touched what was dripping.
He looked down and saw that his fingers were covered in red.
"Blood?" he muttered a bit dazed as he staggered and sat down in his seat of honor.
He took a few moments to recover and quickly repeated what he did with Justice and cut off the supply of spirituality.
The scene of the creature disappeared and the crimson flame with black spots returned to normal.
Klein was still sitting in the seat of honor and he had a hand on his head.
_______________________________________________
Something came out but is nothing serious so dont worry. I just have to make a Model for a project
This next weekend I will publish the 3 chapters.
Sorry and have a good night.
Love.
His mind was clouded and he felt close to fainting.
He was rubbing his head to try to ease it but he was still in a daze, at least it was slowly subsiding.
The gray fog around Klein was enveloping his body and black smoke was slowly coming out of him...
"What's happening to me? Just looking at Chariot did this? But it was only a few seconds..." Klein muttered as blood slowly trickled from his nose.
He couldn't even get a good look at Chariot or whatever that man is!
If it's even a man in the first place...
He swore he had seen strange illusory symbols running all over the creature's body but before he could look any further his mind went hazy.
Klein was like this for a few moments but quickly his condition improved and his mind returned to normal.
The gray fog that was enveloping him receded and the black smoke no longer came out of his body.
All this happened before the eyes of Klein who was somewhat disturbed.
"A few more seconds and I think it would have killed me..." Klein muttered with a shudder.
He was sure of this because his intuition told him so!
Trying to calm down, he went into a state of cogitation to recover from that episode.
His breathing, which had been agitated before, was now calm and his heart was no longer so afraid.
He opened his eyes and began to tap the armrest with his finger.
'Is this what Chariot meant with the more you know the more infected you will be? Is the mere fact of looking at someone capable of infecting you?'
'But how is it possible that nothing happens when he is in the Tarot Club? He appears here as a normal person...'
A phrase came to his mind that he had been told not long ago.
Don't look at God!
As quickly as that sentence came, he shook his head as the force with which he tapped the armrest increased.
'If Chariot really were a God I'm sure I would have died looking directly at him. But all I got was an infection that the gray fog purged and my dazed mind and blood from my nose.'
Klein looked around him, at the gray fog that was in this space, ever-present.
The speed with which he tapped his armrest decreased but not the force.
'But that doesn't mean Chariot isn't a High-Sequence Beyonder!'
'How else would he have high-level knowledge? His seat in the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom should be quite high...'
Klein always kept his gaze on the surrounding Gray Fog.
'This space has purifying abilities.
This is good to know...'
The image of how black smoke was being expelled from his body was imprinted in his head.
Realization hit him and a shudder washed over him.
"When I return to my body, I won't be infected again? In reality, I don't have Gray Fog, so what will happen to me? When I return to my body, will I die or become a monster?"
Not wanting to risk it, Klein used the control he had with the Gray Fog and formed his pendulum.
He let it hang on his arm and closed his eyes.
'It's safe to return to my body...' he repeated this 7 times in his head and opened his eyes.
The pendulum was spinning clockwise at a good speed.
"It's safe..." Klein sighed in relief and leaned back in his seat.
"If Chariot's true appearance did this to me, what would it do to The Hanged Man and Justice?"
He already assumed that this was Chariot's true appearance. The 'man' hid it and took on a more human form to fit more.
'When he is in his human appearance it is safe to look at him directly but when he takes on his other appearance, just a glimpse of him for a few seconds stuns you greatly and I don't know what would happen if I looked at him directly...'
He repeated to himself that it had only been a glimpse.
'Is this the power of High-Sequence Beyonders? They don't even have to attack you directly, they just have to show that form and you'll already lose your reason and ability to fight...'
Chariot was a risk for the Tarot Club, if one day he wanted he could show that form and everyone, including him, would die.
Chariot's involvement was a danger he had to seriously consider.
The man contributed valuable things but these came from a jack in the box that could come out at any time.
'Will I have to expel a member so quickly? Justice hasn't even received her formula...'
'He can tease the members but he's never tried to hurt them and even goes to the trouble of taking human form to avoid hurting them...'
Klein shook his head softly as he extended his arm and prepared to make another divination.
He could not trust the goodness of people or their good hearts.
The only way to get an answer was either divination or Chariot himself.
'Chariot endangers my well-being and that of the other members...' he closed his eyes and mentally repeated 7 times.
Opening them he saw how the pendulum rotated counter-clockwise slowly.
'No' Klein sighed in relief but before he could cheer anymore the pendulum in his hand snapped in half.
In shock, he released the thread of it and saw how a black liquid came out of the remains of the pendulum.
Before he could do anything the Gray Fog around him boiled slightly and quickly engulfed the pendulum and purified it.
The black liquid disappeared and the gray fog returned to normal.
Klein looked at all this stunned and felt a chill go up his spine.
'Good thing I didn't use dream divination...'
'Chariot seemed to have anti-divination means and very strong ones...'
To provoke such a reaction...
Klein took a slow breath and looked at where the pendulum had been before with doubt.
'The result of the divination was real or was it interfered with? Chariot should not be able to sense that I divined him right?'
He didn't want to risk doing another divination so now he could only trust his intuition...
Tapping the armrest, Klein considered everything he knew about the man...
After a few moments, he let out a sigh as he raised a hand to his forehead.
Rubbing his forehead, he did one last check to confirm that this was the right decision.
'While Chariot's presence is a danger in and of itself, the knowledge he seems to possess is invaluable...'
'Not to mention that having a High-Sequence Beyonder in the club will be very helpful...'
Chariot also seemed to know quite a bit about the Seer Pathway but now those were things he couldn't ask.
Chariot thinks that he was the Ancestor of the Antigonus family and this family controlled this pathway.
If he were to ask that, not only would he ruin his mask of a great existence, but Chariot would know that his identity was false.
'And my identity may be the only thing I can use to control him...' he thought heavily while raising his head.
"I hope I don't regret this..." he muttered as he looked at Chariot's seat.
'All this would be easier if I could create a kind of smurf account to ask questions that my identity as The Fool does not allow me...'
Klein let out a breath.
'It's a shame that the meetings here are so different from the online forums, otherwise, I could make half the members here my smurf accounts...'
Klein looked at the other seats imagining how these were full of his alternate accounts and he could ask whatever he wanted.
'Maybe when I learn divination related to mirrors I can give it a try...'
As he looked at the seats he realized one thing.
"There are twenty-two seats here, and there are twenty-two cards in the tarot deck. That matches perfectly. But when I 'created' this hall I hadn't even named myself The Fool or intended to create a Tarot Club... Do these symbolize the twenty-two path sequences?"
"I wanted a divine hall, so a divine hall appeared. If I want a smurf account, would I get a smurf account?"
With nothing to lose he decided to try that...
....
Returning to his body, Klein was visibly disappointed.
He had tried several times but could not create a smurf account...
Disappointed, he could only lie back on his bed. He had used a lot of spirituality so he needed to rest.
As he lay in bed he couldn't help but remember what had happened.
As he closed his eyes to sleep he realized something that made him open them wide.
'I never looked at Chariot with my Spirit Vision!'
'Of all the chances I had to do it, I never did it!'
'Was it my spirituality that made me unconsciously ignore him? What would have happened if I look at him...' A chill ran up his spine.
His tiredness was gone...