Mystery: Good Witch

Chapter 825: Church of Fools?
The eyes of the Tarot Club members kept moving from one person to another, as if they hoped someone would raise an objection and reject this possibility. However, there was an extra sense of inquiry in the gazes of Magician and Judgement when they looked at Miss Justice, and their eyes kept lingering on her long golden hair, hazy green eyes, and well-fitting dress.

Mr. Hanged Man mentioned that I had been snooping around the upper echelons of the kingdom a year ago, which must have made Fors and Xio suspicious of my identity. Through key details like hair color and eye color, they may have confirmed that I was the "Miss Audrey" who often held occult salons and issued them many commissions...

Audrey muttered, deciding to ignore the secret that would inevitably be exposed in the constant contact, and instead said:

"During this period, I also learned some information..."

After everyone really focused their attention on her, she continued carefully:

"After the unified government employee examination, the kingdom has already filled the urgently needed mid- and low-level officials. Other laws and policies promulgated after the East Balam War are also gradually getting on track. In various informal occasions, parliamentarians, officials, and even the cabinet that decides the direction of policy are quietly discussing the feasibility of a new war...

"I think Mr. The Hanged Man's suspicion is very likely. In the next six months, the Kingdom of Loen has the motivation and determination to proactively provoke a local war to regain the interests lost in East Balam!"

This was what she learned while pretending to complete the task assigned by the "Psychological Alchemy Society" and secretly collecting conversations between her father and brothers, who were members of the New Party, and the nobles and councilors who often came to their home. After a little compilation, she made it public at the Tarot Club.

As a noble of the Kingdom of Loen, Audrey was well aware of the attitudes of the king, the prime minister, and the vested nobles towards war. However, from the perspective of ordinary people, Audrey had been busy reviewing the poor students who applied for financial aid recently. Having seen the life of the lower class in Backlund, she also understood the ordinary people's disgust for a war. This contradictory mentality constantly tormented her, making her often unable to fall asleep late at night. She stared at the expensive furniture in her bedroom and the vast estate outside the window, not knowing where to put herself.

The other Tarot Club members looked at each other in bewilderment. The news confirmed from the perspectives of "The Hanged Man" and "Justice" made them worried.

Especially for those who have lived in Backlund for a long time, such as Emlyn the Moon, Fors the Magician, and Xio the Judge. They had just experienced a war-like haze that made the whole city cry and die half a year ago. When they heard that war might be imminent, their first feeling was absurdity, followed by waves of disgust and panic from the bottom of their hearts.

Will this war continue to take place in East Balam, or in the Sonia Sea, which has an old grudge with Feysac? Or will the scale of the war expand and take place in the northern continent, breaking out directly between the two countries?

Will Backlund be attacked?
Will they see again the scene of so many dead and wounded people that there is no time to bury the bodies and they have to be burned together or buried hastily in the wild to prevent the spread of the plague?

Compared with them, The Hanged Man has some different ideas.

If the war really breaks out this year, then I, who own a ghost ship and have been promoted to "Wind-loving One" on the surface, will definitely not be able to escape. I will definitely be sent to the battlefield and participate in the actions of the Loen Navy... This is dangerous, but it also means opportunity... Alger's mind became active as he evaluated the benefits of the war for him, but when he saw that the "Queen" and "Hermit" were silent, and the atmosphere of "worry" was also around the other members of the Loen Kingdom, he wisely did not show his excitement.

Only the "Sun" Derrick beside him was detached from the emotions of others. After all, he was in the Silver City in the God-forsaken Land, struggling on the brink of life and death, existence and extinction. He had no idea what a war between countries was.

For them, every day is a war.

When the collective mood eased a little, Angel secretly breathed a sigh of relief, looked at the others, and finally fixed his gaze in the direction of Mr. Fool. He opened his mouth and made a proposal that he had already prepared:
“Dear Mr. Fool, during your discussion about the situation in the Kingdom of Loen, I had an idea… that is to develop some ‘secondary’ members. They will be led by the existing Tarot Club members, but will not have direct contact with the Tarot Club. Instead, they will serve as extended tentacles to help us complete some actions that do not involve high-level forces.

"This can increase our influence without adding any additional members to the Tarot Club, and can even exert a driving force on the world situation that is independent of us to a certain extent... I think we can call them the 'Minor Arcana', that is, use the small cards in the Tarot as code names."

As she spoke, she secretly glanced at World Klein at the other end of the long table, signaling him with her eyes to be the first to stand up and support her proposal.

At the end of her sight, Klein had already smiled behind the gray fog, but he was muttering in his heart.

"No wonder she mentioned to me before that she wanted to give her Sherman and Elaine a Minor Arcana card as their code names. It turns out that she was planning to make these subordinates 'regulars' at the Tarot Club, and she wanted me to stand on her side and support her..."

Klein, who used the Fool as the main body to stop the World from moving, looked at the other members under the cover of the gray fog and found that they were still shocked by the proposal and had no time to react. He also entered a short period of thinking. Soon, he found that Angel's proposal was actually quite good!

As for The Fool, he no longer has much energy to continue "recruiting new members". After all, as the members' ranks continue to rise, the number of things that need to be handled through him and the Gray Mist Space continues to increase. Various transactions and temporary discussions will squeeze his energy. Unless there are special circumstances, Klein plans to fix the current group of members and make them the entire Tarot Club, and no longer issue new "Major Arcana" cards.

But if other members, like Miss Justice Audrey, find suitable candidates around them and ask The Fool to bring them to the Tarot Club, and he has no reasonable reason to refuse, after all, in the eyes of everyone, The Fool is an ancient god who is reviving, and the expansion of his power has become very natural because of Klein's previous operations and hints. Refusing to "bring new members" at this time will be contrary to the previous purpose and behavior.

The "small card" system can solve these two problems.

Do you have new members you like? Just develop them into the Minor Arcana. No need to find the Fool or have them join the Tarot Club, because it is already full!
Do you want to integrate your forces under Mr. Fool? Just let them be responsible to you, and then you report to Mr. Fool!
And in this way, my “Favoured One”, “Flame” Danitz can also get a tarot card, although it is a Minor Arcana... Well, I think the Knight of Wands is good, representing a young man with a fiery heart, which fits his personality... Or the Knight of Swords?
Klein was choosing code names for his followers, but Alger, the "Hanged Man" on his right, frowned and said:
"Dear Mr. Fool and Ms. Queen, I don't think this is a good idea."

He bowed in Klein's direction to show his respect, then looked at Angel and continued:
"Before, Miss Justice proposed to design a hand gesture for us to identify other members in the real world, and I expressed the same objection. This is not to discourage your enthusiasm, but because compared with other secret organizations, our biggest advantage is that we don't know each other in the real world. Even if someone is caught and tortured, and confesses the Tarot Club, the others will not be exposed... and your plan to develop the Minor Arcana will undoubtedly increase the chances of the Tarot Club being exposed, putting all members in danger."

"In fact, just last week, nearly half of the Tarot Club members have carried out 'cooperation' in the real world. I think that we no longer need to worry about exposing our identities in the real world or getting into danger by contacting other members like we did six months ago."

Angel immediately retorted.

"Also, as for your objection, the Minor Arcana is the best way to prevent the Tarot Club from being exposed. Each of us is equivalent to a small Tarot Club. We develop our own Minor Cards around us, but we don't let them know that we are also... also members of the Church of Fools. This can isolate the risks. Even if we are exposed, it will only stay on a certain member and will not affect all of us."

The Church of Fools? I like this name. It sounds like an organization owned by a real god, but it's a little too ostentatious... Klein sighed. Seeing that the two sides were in a stalemate, he immediately manipulated the "world" and said in a low voice:

"I agree with Miss Queen's proposal," he looked at the other members who were silent and seemed to be weighing the pros and cons, and finally stared at the Hanged Man and continued, "In the past, everyone announced and accepted commissions from each other in the Tarot Club, and then handled them personally or entrusted them to a third party. There were no additional 'isolation' measures in between. Once you were exposed, it was equivalent to the exposure of the Tarot Club. With the cover of the Minor Arcana, you are no longer a member of a secret organization, but their leader. You can completely block other people's prying eyes at this level."

Then he added meaningfully:

"And as everyone's rank and status within their respective factions rise, their uniqueness will be exposed sooner or later. It's better to make corresponding plans as soon as possible."

Feeling the gaze of the "world" that carried an inexplicable signal, the "Hanged Man" Alger moved his body uneasily and sat up straighter.

The moment the other party opened his mouth, he instinctively sneered in his heart, thinking that it was ridiculous that "The World" and "The Queen", a pair of members whose interests were almost bound together in the eyes of others, were singing the same tune and raising the banner of mutual support.

But after listening to the last statement of "The World", he felt that there was something else in the other party's words, as if he was hinting at something.

Make plans early... He means that I should find an opportunity to rebel against the Church of Storms and completely join Mr. Fool's camp and join the Church of Fools?
The World is a follower of the Fool who clearly states his identity. Is his opinion...

Alger secretly looked at Mr. Fool, who was sitting at his side in the depths of the gray fog. He secretly swallowed his saliva and lowered his head.

"I, I take back my opinion," he whispered. The dissatisfaction in his heart quickly disappeared, and he began to think about whether he had any reliable subordinates who could be considered "Minor Arcana" cards. "If other members have no objection, then I also agree with the Queen's proposal."

Ah, I had prepared several excuses... no, suitable reasons, why did you suddenly agree?
Seeing the Hanged Man no longer looking defiant and with a noticeably softened tone, Angel tilted his head with doubt in his heart, and then looked at the other members.

(End of this chapter)