Lord of the Mysteries

“The Fool that doesn’t belong to this era… the mysterious ruler above the gray fog… King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck…” Audrey Hall recited the three descriptions to herself silently. She suddenly felt a tumultuous wave of emotion go through her, preventing her from maintaining her Spectator state.

As an aficionado of mysticism, she had learned Hermes that was used in rituals and had tested out the rituals that fellow noble aficionados mentioned in private gatherings before she was pulled into the gray fog or made formal contact with Beyonder powers.

None of those rituals had any effects, but they had given Audrey a basic understanding of the structure of incantations.

Thus, she knew clearly what these three incantations described and signified.

The descriptions usually described one of the seven gods that looked over this world!

Thus, The Fool’s incantation was claiming status equal to the Lady of Crimson, Mother of the Secrets, and the Empress of Disaster and Horror!

Is Mr. Fool the unknown, mysterious, powerful, godlike entity that Glaint spoke of? The source of danger that we must avoid in rituals? Audrey quickly recalled the comments made during the strange rituals which she and her friends did not dare attempt back then. She was momentarily at a loss for words.

Alger Wilson, who knew and understood much more than Audrey, shivered from the bottom of his heart.

If the ritualistic magic which Mr. Fool designed truly points to him to allow him to accept our requests, w-we would have to be addressing him with Him. He is to be addressed in the third person, which is reserved for gods…

How lucky, how smart I was to act in concert with him and not do anything foolish. Even when I was testing him, I did not step beyond the boundaries of normalcy…

Could he perhaps be an ancient, mysterious, horrifying existence, only that he does not appear before us in his true form and name… The Primordial Demoness, the Hidden Sage, or the true Creator which many mysterious churches believe in?

Alger understood that The Fool he was looking at now might not be his true form. He might not even have a gender or be a humanoid creature.

Klein propped his forehead up with one hand and tapped on the table with the other hand. He acutely noticed the changes happening to The Hanged Man and Justice.

But he acted as though nothing happened, as if everything was within his expectations. He continued without any care.

“I pray for your help.

“I pray for your loving grace.

“I pray for you to give me a good dream.

“Moon flower, an herb that belongs to the red moon, please bestow your powers to my incantation!

“Fingered citron, an herb that belongs to the sun, please bestow your powers to my incantation.”

…

incantations that belonged to another type of

have

Audrey exhaled. She quickly covered her mouth and

processed the information and

did not stop for a moment, no

is successful, then we shall modify the

the time to complete the ritual no

intended to come in here again on Thursday

of absence, Klein was worried that he would be unable to discern if the results were from them asking for leave or merely the outcome of an attempt of the ritualistic magic. Was he to

your will.” Audrey and Alger replied respectfully, collecting

a time for casual conversation after all official issues have been discussed. Who shall begin?” Klein gave a hand gesture signaling for

and said, “Mr. Fool, the suggestion you made regarding the exam selection and the separation between civil and political matters has received the approval of many members of parliament. Perhaps it could become a reality. Of course, with the efficiency of this government, the

intentionally and intermittently dropped hints and guided those proud wives to think that they had conceived the idea. Those ladies

as though she was watching a flock

that they came up with the idea to claim the glory for themselves. They would soon forget about what Audrey’s role in the matter was, fighting among themselves to see who thought of the suggestion

gave Audrey a weird sense of satisfaction, as if she had found a way for a

hope so,”

then glanced at The Fool. He deliberated before saying, “In recent decades, the amount of activities of the various secret organizations has seen an upward trend. In fact, there are even new secret organizations appearing, some of them having reached scale with a good number

even gained access to information about illegal organizations… Klein merely smiled without commenting on The Hanged Man’s news. He changed the subject and said vaguely, “An ancient power is about to wake from its

example, the power represented by the

softly to himself, as though

Man, then past Justice and said with a smile, “If there is nothing else to share, then let’s end today’s

Audrey and Alger

the dark red stars. He

own chair which was also the back of the

formed a strange symbol. It was not a symbol that fit anything in Klein’s present understanding of

represented

incomplete change… What do we get when we add them together?

along the ancient, magnificent palace. His eyes scanned every corner of the

rough concept; I did not describe the shape of the palace, table, or chairs… Where does this design come from? The best choice?

observant enough, to the point of only realizing this question now… With such a self-reflection, Klein made a serious effort to examine every corner of the palace, but did not find

an illusory

when I become more powerful…

the grayish-white fog and saw reality. He saw the table, curtains, and clothes rack