Lord of Mysteries:The Good Witch

The three-way transaction concluded, and Miss Justice eagerly posed her next question:

"What are the names of the subsequent potions for the 'Spectator' pathway? Where can clues to their formulas be found?"

This question was beyond Angel's knowledge. She looked expectantly towards the Hanged Man, who had previously provided the "Spectator" potion, hoping he could offer an answer.

The Hanged Man did not disappoint: "I can answer this question without requiring payment, as I was the one who set you on the 'Spectator' pathway."

"The Sequence 8 potion for Spectator is 'Mind Reader,' and Sequence 7 is 'Psychologist.' You'll likely need to obtain the specific formulas from the 'Psychological Alchemy Association.' I only learned the names of the potions from one of their members."

"Could you introduce me to that member?" Justice asked eagerly.

"Unfortunately, he's now at the bottom of the sea near Sonia Island. I personally sent him there."

A moment of silence fell over the gray fog. Justice opened her mouth but didn't know what to say.

Angel mentally noted the key terms: Psychological Alchemy Association, Mind Reader, Psychologist.

The names of the Spectator pathway potions were consistent, all related to psychology. Even the name of the Beyonder organization associated with this pathway closely aligned with the potion's imagery.

In contrast, for the Assassin pathway, while Sequence 8 "Instigator" could be somewhat related to "Assassin" as both were experts in causing tragedies and bloodshed, Sequence 7 "Witch" seemed abrupt, with no apparent connection to the preceding potion.

Of course, judging from Madam Sharon's behavior, "Witch" and subsequent sequences likely didn't involve being model citizens.

As Angel analyzed the Assassin sequence potions, the conversation between Justice and the Hanged Man continued. The latter believed that members of the Psychological Alchemy Association might gather in large cities, using the abilities of the "Spectator" pathway to influence the behavior of the kingdom's upper nobility. However, he couldn't provide more specific information. From his gloomy tone, it seemed the sunken member of the Psychological Alchemy Association had been quite tight-lipped.

The Fool, who had been silently observing the exchange, didn't seem inclined to add anything, leaving Justice to reluctantly abandon her line of questioning.

"This is the last question," she said, her tone suddenly softening, as if somewhat shy.

"If, hypothetically speaking, an ordinary animal, say a canine, were to drink a Sequence 9 potion, what would happen?"

Miss Justice, that's a dangerous line of thought...

Angel looked at Justice in surprise. Clearly, there was a purpose behind this question, perhaps planning to feed the only potion she knew about, "Spectator," to a dog.

It was unexpected that Justice would be wealthy enough to use a potion worth several hundred pounds for animal experiments. Or perhaps she intended to have an animal consume the potion to verify its authenticity before using it herself? This made sense, as wealthy people tended to value their lives, and Justice's character suggested she wouldn't experiment on humans...

The Hanged Man sat up straight and took a moment before answering: "After consuming a potion, one needs to meditate to counter the effects of residual spirits. Ordinary animals can't do this, so they would likely die on the spot or lose control and become monsters after taking a potion. If it's lucky enough to survive, there's a chance it could become a supernatural creature. Many wild supernatural creatures are born when ordinary animals accidentally ingest extraordinary items or characteristics."

Miss Justice seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and replied cheerfully, "Thank you, Mr. Hanged Man. I have no further questions."

The Hanged Man shook his head: "Neither do I."

Angel was about to agree but suddenly remembered her earlier discussion with Dunn about the "Labor Mutual Aid Society" in Tingen's port area trafficking humans. After a moment's hesitation, she asked, "Have you heard anything about human trafficking... or slave trade within the Loen Kingdom?"

"Slave trade? The entire Northern Continent has banned human trafficking," Miss Justice asked curiously. "If anyone is found still engaging in these illegal transactions, shouldn't they be reported directly to the police or the church?"

I'm sorry, but we are the police and the church, and we're currently at a loss...

Angel wiped non-existent sweat from her forehead and looked towards the Hanged Man, hoping this "captain" who traveled across various seas might know something.

"I've heard some rumors from the Southern Continent. In recent years, many indigenous tribes there have been completely plundered. No one cares about the property, but all the people, regardless of age or health, have been taken away," the Hanged Man replied. "However, they haven't appeared in plantations or mining areas, which were traditionally the endpoints of slave trade routes. On the contrary, many plantations have reported slave escapes, and in some places, slave rebellions have occurred where they killed the guards and then disappeared en masse."

The Hanged Man's response made the human trafficking involving the Labor Mutual Aid Society even more perplexing. Initially, Angel had thought that with the ban on slave trade in the Northern Continent, slave traders would be dealing with plantations and mines in the Southern Continent where slave labor was still legal. Surprisingly, not only were those places not buying, but even their existing slaves were disappearing.

Adding to this the indigenous tribes in the Southern Continent that had been completely plundered, it seemed as if there was a buyer with an enormous appetite absorbing these slaves, leading to the strange phenomenon of human trafficking "only outgoing, not incoming" on both continents.

Judging by this scale, the chairman of the "Labor Mutual Aid Society" was likely just one tentacle of this buyer. Even the organization behind him that sent "assassins" to retrieve the ledger was probably just a mid-level node. Even if they were caught and this tentacle was cut off, it wouldn't harm the entire trading network.

Such a complex matter should be left for the Church of the Goddess to worry about. The church's believers were spread throughout the kingdom, with Nighthawks stationed in every city, and they could cooperate with the police, making investigations more convenient...

Angel thought to herself as she expressed her gratitude to the Hanged Man and indicated that she had no further questions.

The three looked at each other, all assuming postures of waiting for the Fool to announce the end of the meeting.

At this moment, several taps on the edge of the table came from the head of the long table, followed by the Fool's deep tone: "Since everyone has finished their exchange, I have a matter that requires your simple cooperation."

Last time, His "simple attempt" was to pull all three of them into the gray fog space simultaneously. What would it be this time?

Angel looked towards him with slight nervousness. Although in the three Tarot gatherings so far, the Fool had not harmed them and had even provided many conveniences, the intentions of deities were hard to fathom. Who knew if this "simple cooperation" would require them to do something that endangered themselves?

"Don't worry, it's just a small matter. If successful, you'll be able to request leave in advance if you find yourselves in inconvenient situations on Monday afternoons in the future."

"That's exactly what we hope for," Miss Justice, who had also been tense, relaxed as she looked towards the Fool.

"What do we need to do?" the Hanged Man asked cautiously.

"It's simple. You can try a ritual magic in your spare time. It doesn't need to be very formal."

The Fool introduced a simple ritual magic to the three. It involved surrounding the altar with four new sandalwood-scented candles, placing seafood rice, white bread, Feneboter pie, and Desi pie clockwise starting from the lower left corner, then using a ritual dagger to create a wall of spirituality...

"Excuse me..." Justice started to speak but cut herself off.

"It's alright, Miss Justice. You can ask questions at any time if there's something you don't understand. I said this requires your cooperation," the Fool said kindly, like a university lecturer.

"...How do you create a wall of spirituality?" she asked.

The Fool seemed not to have expected this question from Justice and fell silent for a moment.

The Hanged Man, as Justice's semi-mentor who had guided her to become a Beyonder person, explained in detail how to use a dagger or ritual knife during meditation to guide one's spiritual power to create a wall of spirituality, used to isolate the ritual environment and avoid interference from other forces.

Seeing Justice nod in understanding, the Fool continued to describe the ritual magic that required their cooperation.

After creating a sealed environment with the ritual dagger, they needed to extract an essential oil blend from moonflower, golden mint, deep sleep flower, bergamot, and rock rose, and drip it onto the candlelight. Then, they were to recite the incantation:

"The Fool that doesn't belong to this era;

The Mysterious Ruler above the Gray Fog;

The King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck."

As the Fool recited the ritual incantation slowly for the group to remember easily, Angel's eyes gradually widened, her heart surging with shock.

Although she wasn't an expert in mysticism like a "Seer" or similar sequence, after inheriting Cole Granger's memories, she wasn't completely ignorant about ritual magic. Especially since she had been making "Storm Gathering" bullets every day this week, using such three-part descriptions to pray to another being—the Goddess of Night—every day, asking for her favor.

If this description could accurately point to the "Fool," it meant that His existence was nearly equivalent to the seven deities, including the Goddess of Night!

"I beseech Your help."

"I beseech Your favor."

"I beseech You to grant me a good dream."

"Deep sleep flower, herb belonging to the Red Moon, please transfer your power to my incantation."

"Bergamot, herb belonging to the Sun, please transfer your power to my incantation."

...

Regardless of how those around the table felt internally, the Fool continued reciting all the incantations in his deep tone, finally smiling and asking, "Have you all memorized it clearly?"

"Ah..." Miss Justice exclaimed, "Yes, I've remembered it."

Angel and the Hanged Man also quickly indicated their understanding. The Hanged Man even showed the parchment where he had recorded the incantation. In their eyes, the image of the "Fool" at the head of the long table had completely changed from a few minutes ago. His requests were now something no one dared to disobey.

"Very good. I hope you will complete this ritual by Wednesday at the latest this week," the Fool nodded, seemingly satisfied with everyone's attitude, and continued to instruct.

"We will follow Your will," the three answered in unison.

"Then, let's conclude today's gathering."

A deep red light flashed again, and Angel found herself back in her study, sitting in her original posture at the desk where the transcribed Roselle diary still lay. If it weren't for the hour hand on her pocket watch pointing to four in the afternoon, she would hardly have believed what had just happened.

How did I get involved with another deity?

Amidst her terror, she hurriedly pulled out a blank sheet of paper and, while the memory was still fresh, immediately wrote down the ritual magic and incantations the Fool had just taught.

"The Fool that doesn't belong to this era;

The Mysterious Ruler above the Gray Fog;

The King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck."

In a manor in the Queen's District of Backlund and on a ghost ship in the Sonia Sea, the same incantations appeared under the pens of two other Tarot Club members.