Evil Gods Don’t Save People

The Fool hadn't anticipated such a situation at all.

At a loss, he didn't say anything, the silence stretching on as he unconsciously rapped the side of the long table with his finger.

His expression was hidden by the gray fog as he stopped his rapping and hesitantly answered.

He never expected that he would touch the crimson stars yesterday.

When he touched the crimson stars, he didn't think that such a thing would happen either.

"…Okay."

But was it truly okay?

"I'm a person who likes a fair and equal exchange. Your help will not go unrewarded. Every Monday at three in the afternoon, try your best to be alone."

Maybe it was fate.

Without waiting for Alger to say a word, Audrey said in excitement, her eyes glowing, "Then, shall we give ourselves call signs? After all, we can't use our real names for conversation."

The Fool nodded, watching them proceed.

How strange.

"You are Mr. Fool which is derived from tarot cards. Then, as a fixed, long-term, and secretive 'Gathering', we should be uniform in our designations. Yes, I'll also choose one from the tarot cards."

Her tone slowly turned joyous.

"I've decided. My designation shall be 'Justice'!"

It was one of the twenty-two Major Arcana tarot cards.

"What about you, Mister?" Audrey cheekily smiled at her 'partner' sitting across her.

Alger frowned slightly before relaxing it immediately.

"The Hanged Man."

It was another Major Arcana card.

"Alright, then we can be considered as the founding members of the Tarot Club!" Audrey was the first to blurt it out happily, only to look fearfully at the fog-concealed Fool. "Will that be alright, Mr. Fool?"

The Fool nodded again.

"Yes."

"Thank you!" Audrey was clearly thrilled.

How strange it felt to interact with normal humans after such a long time.

"Mr. Hanged Man, can you repeat the address again once more? I'm afraid that my memories will fail me."

"No problem."

After repeating the address to herself silently thrice, Audrey said again in excitement, "I heard that tarot cards were invented by Emperor Roselle as a game. In fact, doesn't it come equipped with the power to divine the future?"

The Fool was lost in thought once more, basking in the unfamiliar sensation of having people, at least real ones, around him.

"—Was what I said correct?"

He came back to his senses not long after as he saw the young lady's gaze on him, expecting a response.

Embarrassed, the Fool awkwardly forced himself to smile, trying to appear friendly.

"…Ah. I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention. I have a bit of difficulty focusing."

That was true.

Stuck with his thoughts for hundreds of years, that was the only thing there to distract him. If he couldn't be distracted, he couldn't pass the time. At one point, the only thing to focus on was 'how many poor victims is Amon going to traumatize today and in what way?' A question that divination could unfortunately answer very easily for him.

And even while waiting for people to be traumatized, he had to distract himself to pass the time.

Then, he slept. Sleeping could also pass the time.

Yes, the Fool needed a hobby.

At least, a sane one.

Let's just get distracted.

Seeing the Fool's apologetic attitude, Alger froze while questioning his ears.

'A god apologized-'

He must have heard wrong.

Alger.exe has stopped working (again).

Meanwhile, Audrey chuckled before noticing that it was rude to laugh at a god and hiding her smile. Although the person in front of her was an (evil) god, his human behavior made him feel approachable, making her relax a little more.

Audrey happily repeated her previous words.

"It's nothing. I was saying that I heard Emperor Roselle created another set of twenty-two paper cards which symbolized a particular unknown power. Later on in life, he referenced them to create the twenty-two Major Arcana tarot cards which are used as a gaming tool. Is it true?"

The Fool, who hadn't had a conversation with anyone for years was still familiarizing himself with how human beings communicated.

Ah, right, he was also supposed to be a human being (instead of a mass of worms stronger than any gods out there).

What did Roselle do again?

Nevermind, may his spiritual intuition give him the answer.

"…Yes. That gu- Emperor Roselle created twenty-two cards containing the sequence names and potion formulas corresponding to the different Beyonder pathways."

'With his own portraits on it.' He left that part silent.

Ignoring his slip of the tongue, Audrey was amazed.

"And where are these twenty-two cards now?"

Alger also turned toward him in curiosity.

The Fool thought about it.

"Most of them are hidden. Some should be in His daughter's possession, another hidden as a bookmark in the Church of Steam and Machinery, another is in an evil spirit's possession in Backlund, another is among the out-of-control corpse of Antigonus on the Hornacis mountain range… But considering their strong anti-divination abilities, the cards should be corrupted by an at least god-level entity. I don't recommend that you seek for them."

Interesting, so Medici was in Backlund and had fused with Einhorn and Sauron? Wasn't He dead?

The Fool was briefly distracted by the results given by his spiritual intuition.

Oh, had he said to much?

Fortunately, he had stopped at 'god-level entity'. He should keep in mind that humans were very fragile these days, he should be careful not to corrupt them.

Audrey stared at Him in awe, her eyes sparkled as her brain registered and assimilated all of this knowledge, while Alger could grasp the weight of His words more clearly.

The location of these cards was something that nobody knew, not even the orthodox churches, yet the god in front of them did.

Or should it be expected since He is a god?

He was even more scared of Him now.

'Calm down. If I wanted to kill you, you wouldn't even be able to resist,' The Fool lampooned.

Was the Sailor pathway usually this paranoid?

At last, the Fool decided to put an end to this gathering.

It was time for the two to go home now.

"Alright, that will be all for today's gathering."

Alger bowed his head respectfully, "By your will."

The cheerful and naive young lady imitated him, smiling at the Fool, "By your will."

As he severed the connection, the Fool also smiled, "Let us look forward to the next gathering."

The 'stars' brightened once more as the crimson light receded like water. Just as Audrey and Alger heard Mr. Fool's words, their figures turned into a blur as they phased away.

In a second, the 'projection' shattered as the gray fog restored its silence.

The gray fog had returned to its calm state, the previous lively atmosphere and his smile disappearing like a lie.

Now, Mr. Fool was alone once again.

He stared at the fog, blankly.

No more conversation, no more questions, no more wondering how to answer or how to act like a normal person, no one to interrupt his thoughts.

The gray fog was peaceful, unchanging, and empty.

It would remain that way for at least one week.

Mr. Fool was alone once again.

He leaned back into his chair and closed his eyes.

Wasn't he used to this situation by now? He had resigned himself since a long time ago.

Then why did the empty fog feel different this time?

The Fool had forgotten for a moment.

There weren't supposed to be anyone but him above the gray fog.

This empty state was how Sefirah Castle was supposed to be.

And it was also how it would be in the future.

Maybe he had touched the crimson stars because he felt lonely.