LOTM: Paradox Pathway

Klein, who had been called to stop by Miss Angelica, sighed inwardly. To leave now would be far too deliberate.

Adjusting his mood slightly, he approached with a peaceful smile:

"Good afternoon, Miss Angelica. How should I address this gentleman?"

"Hello, Mr. Moretti. My name is Snow von Penredax. I've come hoping to request a divination, and Miss Angelica recommended you." Snow removed his hat and politely performed a chest-touching salute. Klein immediately returned the courtesy, though his heart was far from calm.

'So it really is Mr. Devil? Has my identity as The Fool been exposed? No, that's not right. I only came to the divination club on a whim today. If he was really looking for me, he should have gone to Narcissus Street instead.

But his cat gives me a sense of danger? Could it be a pet that has consumed a potion? So besides Miss Justice, there are others who would do such an extravagant thing. No wonder when Miss Justice inquired about it before, Mr. Devil didn't show any particularly surprised expression.'

Thinking this, Klein turned to Miss Angelica:

"Is the citrine room available?"

"You may use it freely." Miss Angelica smiled slightly, and Klein led Snow into this divination room.

As the door closed, Klein silently activated his Spirit Vision. What appeared before his eyes was a very healthy aura.

"The colors are very even, no dimness or murkiness, though the colors around the head are somewhat deep, probably due to thinking..." Klein made his judgment internally but didn't pause at all, moving fluidly to the table. He glanced down at the various divination tools on the table, then asked in a friendly manner:

"Mr. Snow, do you have any preferred method of divination? Such as star charts, tarot cards, or similar?"

This was originally just an opening line to start the conversation, but Klein was horrified to discover that in his still-active Spirit Vision, the ether body of the man before him was expanding outward in a twisted manner. Although it was the first time he had seen such a situation, Klein instinctively thought of one word—

Loss of Control!

'Why would he suddenly lose control? I haven't done anything...' Klein was thinking about countermeasures, even reaching his hand toward the Slumber Charm in his pocket, but the next moment, he suddenly saw the man before him, trembling slightly, pull a penny coin from his chest and toss it into the air. As the coin landed in his hand, the madly twisting ether body slowly calmed down.

"Sorry, I have a very severe case of decision paralysis. Without using coins or dice, I can hardly make any choices. Well, according to the inspiration given by the coin, let's use star chart divination."

'This is more than just severe...' Klein complained internally, though he still breathed a sigh of relief. Although theoretically speaking, this Mr. Devil was only a Sequence 9 Beyonder, he at least possessed a high-level Sealed Artifact, and his cat was also suspected of being a Beyonder. If a real fight broke out, Klein, with his unreliable marksmanship and poor close combat skills as a Seer, would probably be down after just a few exchanges.

Chuckling dryly to ease the awkwardness, Klein pointed to the dip pen and paper on the table:

"I still don't know what you want to divine?"

"My upcoming fortune." Snow shrugged, making a gesture that was slightly crude but looked quite handsome under his high attractiveness. "I've been involved in some trouble recently and want to divine about it."

"Alright, please write down your name, birthday, and address. If you have a specific birth time, that would be even better."

When Klein said this, he suddenly became somewhat nervous. However, unexpectedly, this Beyonder who was a Secrets Supplicant didn't care at all about the dangers that revealing his birthday might bring, and quickly wrote down the information.

'So Mr. Devil is only twenty-one years old this year?' Looking at the text on the paper, Klein muttered to himself, while also being very curious about why a "Secrets Supplicant" who should equally possess divination abilities would come to a place like the divination club to find someone for divination.

Quickly calculating the other party's birth numerology and yearly numerology, Klein showed a gentle expression:

"Next, I need to draw the star chart. This requires a certain amount of time and absolute quiet. Please go out and wait for a moment."

Snow showed no surprise at this. He turned and left the room, and Klein, after locking the door, began drawing the star chart while thinking about what to do next.

Actually, the best approach at this time would be to complete the divination normally, but the information about "Spectator" Pathway that the other party had revealed during today's Tarot Club meeting made him restlessly anxious.

Just thinking about the coincidences that had happened to him, about the owner of the red chimney house that had never been found, about the disaster that Tingen City might face, he felt an urgent desire to obtain intelligence from Snow.

"What should I do? Make contact as a the blessed of Mr. Fool? No, that would be too obvious. And if I were an envoy, I could directly ask Mr. Fool, while a believer would have no reason to obtain intelligence about other believers."

"Then, use divination to extract information? This might be feasible, but the other party is himself a Beyonder, and moreover one with family heritage who possesses extensive mystical knowledge. The difficulty of extracting information would be far too high!"

No, perhaps I could try a different angle?

Klein suddenly thought of another option.

Although it was risky, given Mr. Devil's displayed personality, it was worth gambling on.

Thinking this, Klein glanced at the completed star chart on the table, immediately took four steps counterclockwise, and arrived above the Gray Fog. Sitting in the highest position at the bronze long table, he manifested paper and pen and wrote down a line of divination:

"There is danger in revealing the truth to Snow von Penredax. There is danger in revealing the truth to Snow von Penredax..."

After repeating it seven times, the pendulum began to slowly rotate counterclockwise, which made Klein's heart relax.

"No danger!"

He didn't know much about the secrets above the gray fog, but he at least understood one thing—even the suspected Spectator pathway owner of the red chimney couldn't interfere with divination above the Gray Fog.

In other words, this divination result should be trustworthy.

Feeling much more at ease, Klein was about to leave the gray fog when he suddenly remembered Snow's divination. With the mindset of "since I'm already here," he wrote down a new divination statement on the paper:

"Snow von Penredax's upcoming fortune."

Repeating this phrase aloud while constantly recalling the information on the star chart, after seven repetitions, Klein leaned back against the chair and entered a state of deep meditation...

However, unlike previous divinations, this time Klein's Dream Divination method didn't work. Although he had successfully entered the dream state, nothing appeared before his eyes, as if there was a white fog obscuring his vision.

"This..." Klein suddenly awakened from the dream, looking at the mottled ancient bronze long table before him, his shock so great that even the Gray Fog couldn't conceal it.

This was the first time he had encountered an existence that could interfere with divination above the Gray Fog.

(End of Chapter)

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Author's Note: PS1: For those who think Snow's deal with Trissy was a huge loss, please remember one thing—all gifts have already been secretly marked with a price. There's no need to talk about owing favors, because after Trissy learns this intelligence, she will inevitably be tied to Snow's chariot. No matter how unwilling she is, she can only turn to Snow's side in order to survive.

PS2: The four words "Path of the Divine" first appeared in Chapter 7 of the original work, mentioned by Alger when he brought up the Cards of Blasphemy. In other words, "Path of the Divine" is an official term, and there's no problem with Snow mentioning it. The members of the Tarot Club simply don't know about Sequence 0.