Chapter Text
When Klein awoke, he found himself lying in a pure white room. In the centre of the room stood a long wooden table, flanked by thirteen chairs; on the table, in corresponding positions, stood thirteen tall, slender stemmed glasses filled with a silvery liquid. He rubbed the back of his aching head and stood up.
There were many familiar faces in the room. Audrey, Alger, Emlyn… the entire Tarot Club was present. In addition, the Messenger, Mr Azik and Danitz were there, as well as Baby Will in his pram. Audrey and Alger were cautiously surveying the people around them and the long table, whilst Fors and Xio were checking that each other was safe; Leonard, meanwhile, had already pulled up a chair, sat down and begun examining his glass of silvery liquid. Danitz, who had woken up to find himself very close to Renette, quickly distanced himself from this big shot and moved closer to the only person present with whom he was truly familiar: Gelman Sparrow.
Someone had noticed the presence of a few non-Tarot Club members, but Azik, the Messenger, and little Will in his pram all exuded an aura typically associated with those of a higher order. On any other day, they might not have been able to sense it, but this space seemed to amplify perceptions and instil certain notions, leading everyone to assume—almost instinctively—that these three were angels in the service of Mr Fool. Upon seeing Danitz, the members of the Tarot Club also had a vague inkling that he might be one of the Fool’s followers.
Although this was the first time they had seen one another’s true forms without the interference of the grey mist, the current situation clearly made figuring out how to escape this strange place a higher priority. Everyone’s attention was focused on finding a way out of the room, rather than scrutinising their ‘own kind’—logically, they ought to have been more wary of others, but this space possessed an inexplicable ability to put them at ease.
Audrey furrowed her brow slightly, a vague sense of unease stirring within her.
Azik reached out and touched the pure white wall. It was dry and smooth, like an impenetrable barrier. He tried tapping it, only to feel his hand stopped by something; there wasn’t even the expected recoil, as if the force of the movement had been completely absorbed by the wall.
‘There’s writing on the ceiling,’ Derrick said, looking up. ‘A room from which you cannot escape without drinking the truth potion.’
‘Is this the truth potion?’ Leonard picked up the cup and swirled the contents, watching the silvery liquid flow like honey. ‘It looks rather suspicious,’ he remarked.
‘In any case, let’s see if there’s another way out first,’ Audrey suggested.
Meanwhile, Fors was attempting to break through the wall—and, unsurprisingly, failed. Danitz, witnessing this, couldn’t help but let out a faint snort. Fors noticed this pirate prototype—who was about to feature in her book—and, for some reason, on a whim, began asking him how he’d come to know Gelman Sparrow.
Klein, who was trying to get Will to share some of his good fortune so that everyone could get out, failed to notice that the Fool’s two followers had already begun to whisper gossip about ‘the Fool’.
Having completed a full circle, Azik Eggers and Renette Tinicor exchanged a glance—though it was a little odd that Azik lowered his head to take turns glancing at the four heads Renette was holding.
‘Have you found…’ ‘a way…’ ‘yet…’ Renette’s three heads spoke in turn.
The last head, having been left out of the conversation, glared at the other three and let out a soft snort.
‘No,’ said Azik. ‘The defences here are flawless; even extraordinary abilities are virtually useless.’
His gaze turned towards Klein.
Klein, encased in the German shell, looked at Will.
Will was blowing bubbles in his pram when he realised Klein was looking at him.
So a weak, pitiful and helpless mercury snake couldn’t help but cling tighter to himself.
Why did a little baby have to be dragged into this sort of thing?
He shook his little fist, his eyes brimming with resentment that said, ‘I’m just a little baby.’
“There seems to be a note here,” Cattleya said, pulling a piece of paper from under the table. “The truth serum causes one to involuntarily speak their innermost desires. After drinking it, you must utter three sentences to leave this room.”
Will, who could only make ‘ba-ba’ sounds, fell deep in thought.
“Ah, ah,” he opened his mouth, but due to the limitations of his body, he could not produce any clear, intelligible words.
Xio watched Will for a moment, then suddenly muttered to himself, “Child labour?”
Klein, who’d been having a bit of fun at Will’s expense amidst the commotion, broke out in a cold sweat. He screamed inwardly: I’m not! I didn’t! I’m a model socialist youth—how could I possibly be doing the work of a capitalist? It’s illegal to make babies work, but you can’t stop them from working voluntarily, right?
Clearly, his defence didn’t reach anyone; this wasn’t the Hall of Honesty, and the ‘Mad Adventurer’s’ cover remained intact.
Just then, Derrick suddenly began to pray. He borrowed three drinks from others, then arranged his own drink and the borrowed ones at the four corners of the table, chanting the Fool’s sacred name as he attempted to communicate with him.
At first, Klein had been wondering whether he should drop his alias and respond with a wisp of grey mist at this moment, but he soon realised he could not pick up on the other’s prayer at all.
This was a very bad sign.
Just then, Azik walked over to him and gently tapped his arm.
Klein gave Azik a subtle shake of the head.
Having received no response, Derrick also informed everyone present that they were unable to contact the Fool.
‘Can even the power of the gods not penetrate this room…?’ Cattleya mused. She noticed that the angels seated beneath the Fool were all at a loss regarding this room, and subsequently realised that ‘doing as instructed’ was likely the only way to leave it. Recalling how she had previously fished a note out from under the table, she began to search, one by one, the areas not visible to the naked eye.
Audrey, observing Cattleya’s actions, quickly began inspecting the backs and undersides of the chairs. Before long, she found a note tucked into the seam between the backrest and the seat of one of the chairs.
‘This is a space free of malice, where a group of visitors from beyond the heavens have planted their wishes,’ Audrey read aloud. ‘If you manage to successfully pass through all the rooms, they will bestow upon you a miracle—a small measure of happiness.’
‘That doesn’t sound very credible,’ remarked Alger.
He found a note tucked under the leg of his own chair.
‘Once you leave, you will forget everything that happened within this space.’
After reading the note, Alger fell deep in thought.
Emlin picked up his glass, brought it close to his nose and took a sniff. ‘It smells like mint syrup.’
That actually sounds quite nice, Klein thought to himself.
He sensed there was something in the lining of his suit jacket, so whilst the others weren’t looking, he secretly reached behind his back and pulled it out.
Sure enough, the object pressed against the lining of his back was another note, written in Chinese: ‘We are your followers, followers of the Fool, followers of Zhou Mingrui.’
Klein’s hand trembled, and the note burst into flames of its own accord. He’d tried to keep it discreet, but Leonard had been watching him ever since he’d finished examining the drink. As soon as Klein had finished, Leonard leaned in mysteriously and asked what the note said.
‘He said they’re also followers of the Fool,’ said Klein. ‘I was originally trying to see how much of my extraordinary abilities I could actually use here—it seems only my ability to start fires still works properly; the rest have been weakened to the point of being barely detectable.’
‘Same here—I can’t use most of my abilities either,’ said Leonard. ‘But the “Enter Dreams” ability still seems to be intact.’
In the end, having found no other solution, the group had no choice but to believe the words on the note.
Klein thought for a moment, then tentatively said, “I’ll have the rosemary lamb chops with a drink.”
A plate of French-style rosemary lamb chops appeared on the table, so hot that the fat sizzled on the surface; exquisite silver cutlery lay beside the plate. Klein didn’t touch the truth serum; after cutting a piece of the lamb chop to taste, he said, “Delicious.”
About half a minute later, Klein checked himself over to ensure that eating the food hadn’t caused any problems.
So Leonard followed suit and ordered, “I’ll have the pan-fried fish.”
He waited for a moment, but nothing appeared on the table.
Klein thought of the note from earlier and nodded imperceptibly.
Suddenly, a fragrant pan-fried fish fillet appeared on the table in front of Leonard.
‘Why’s there still a delay with this one?’ Leonard grumbled.
With these two setting the example, everyone began ordering according to their own tastes.
At first, Klein nodded a few times, but later—as if the will of the space knew he would certainly agree—the dishes were served without waiting for his nod. Some even requested more comfortable seating, and these requests were also granted—though, of course, any wishes voiced aloud seemed to simply dissolve into the air. Requests that were too outlandish or nonsensical, however, went unanswered.
Nevertheless, the atmosphere—which had been tense and guarded—began to relax thanks to the table laden with delicacies.
After devouring an entire lamb chop, Klein decided to place his trust in the ‘believers’ for once. After all, even if they could obtain all manner of daily necessities within this space, he could not remain here indefinitely for the sake of those on the outside. Klein was the first to raise his wine glass and take a small sip. He felt an urge to speak, but one he could suppress. To prevent himself from uttering words unbecoming of Germann’s image, Klein held his breath, striving to sift through the truths in his heart that he felt safe to speak.
There were plenty of truths, but it seemed that under the influence of the truth serum, Klein could not be certain that after uttering his first truthful statement, his second or third might not reveal some earth-shattering secret—for instance, he currently felt an urge to shout at Fors and Xio, ‘There’s nothing wrong with my prostate!’
German remained silent, so no one could gauge the effect of the truth serum. His gaze was concealed behind his gold-rimmed spectacles, appearing inscrutable due to the shadow cast across his face by the brim of his hat.
At that moment, Emlyn, whose mouth felt a little dry after eating something, said, ‘Fancy a glass of red wine?’
There was no red wine on the table.
It seemed that the meal provided did not include any alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks.
Before he had a chance to complain that the space had actually bundled the truth serum with the food, Danitz, sitting opposite him and for some reason suddenly choking, had already disregarded everything and downed the ‘truth serum’—after all, nothing had happened to Germann when he drank it.
The first thing Danitz said after finishing it was, ‘It really does taste like mint-flavoured water—it’s far too sweet.’ He immediately followed that up with a second remark: ‘Miss Wal, you absolutely must make me look a bit more handsome in your book. Once it’s published, I’ll buy a copy to give to the captain.’
Just as he was about to utter his third sentence, he instinctively clung to Germann’s thigh—who was sitting beside him—and began sobbing uncontrollably, wiping away his tears.
‘Waaah… why doesn’t my captain like me…’
Klein had been trying hard to hold his breath, and Danitz nearly ruined it for him.
Having uttered his third sentence, Danitz—unable to rein in his emotions for a moment—saw Germann’s icy gaze and snapped back to his senses. He hastily withdrew his hand from the ‘God of Death’s’ leg and covered his mouth instead.
Although what Danitz had said was a proper ‘social death’, considering that if what the note said was true—that everyone would forget this experience once they got out—then making a fool of himself wasn’t entirely unacceptable.
It was certainly better than being trapped here to die of starvation.
The third to drink the potion was Derrick. He uttered some words of gratitude to the Fool for ‘leading us out of the light’, then began to pray to him. Emlyn, seeing that the outcome didn’t seem too dire, could no longer bear the dryness in his throat and downed the truth potion. His very first words were: ‘It’s bloody salty—if there’s no red wine, a glass of water would do.’ Suddenly, a glass of water appeared rather ‘thoughtfully’ in the cup he was holding.
Emlyn: “……”
He then finished the water in his cup and, unable to contain himself, began to rant: “Three gold pounds for a single puppet? They might as well go and rob someone!” He then broke into a blissful smile again, “Ariel, wait for me. I’ll have saved up enough by next month. Next month, I’ll come and take you home…”
Audrey, who had been observing all this, concluded, “I suppose once you’ve drunk it, you’ll speak your truest inner desire.”
Azik lifted the cup, took a small sip, and, satisfied that the taste wasn’t too strange, drained the liquid in one gulp.
He was somewhat curious about his own innermost desire.
“I wonder when I’ll ever uncover the truth about the past…” he said. “I used to miss them too—my daughter, my wife, my home. I… the person I am right now is the real me.”
Is this the real me, then…
Azik pondered, surprised by the truth serum’s revelation. His gaze gradually grew vacant, as if he had been lost in some memory.
As there didn’t appear to be many side effects—and they were able to control whether or not to speak after uttering those three sentences—everyone went ahead and drank the truth potion.
“Oh, Susie, just give me a little more time, and I’ll find you a second batch of the potion very soon,” said Audrey. “Audrey, you need to grow stronger; the more you know, the better you’ll be able to do what you want to do…”
Alger proclaimed that he would become the First Angel under the Fool, declaring that all the injustices in the world would surely be judged; suddenly, Cattleya said she missed her mum terribly. Will, who’d been forced to drink the truth serum by Renette, let out a series of ‘ah-ah’ sounds; in Klein’s mind, he could hear Him throwing a tantrum, demanding ice cream—refusing to cooperate unless he got some—and accusing him of exploiting child labour.
Leonard pointed at the ceiling, declaring himself the darling of the heavens, the protagonist of the age… Then, after a brief pause, he said sadly, ‘Old man, I won’t let you turn into a little snack.’ A moment later, he turned to Klein and said, ‘Klein, I’ll definitely catch up with you.’
‘ ‘Klein?’ Danitz looked puzzled for a moment, then blurted out without thinking, ‘Germans really do have a lot of names.’
‘Klein is this bloke’s real name,’ Leonard couldn’t help but interject.
Having his real name revealed by Leonard, Klein felt his fists itching to strike, but fortunately Leonard didn’t go on to lecture everyone on ‘what sort of person Klein is’, so he managed to hold back.
The messenger girl studied the drinks for a while before finally selecting a ‘Lucky Head’ and downing the whole cup. She then set off to find Klein with her request for ‘gold coins’.
“You should…” “Pay me…” “Ten thousand…” “Gold coins…”
Klein was tempted to shout, ‘I’ve got no money,’ but he realised that for a Germann to shout ‘I’ve got no money’ would be a terrible blow to his image, so he held back.
Just then, Fors began complaining that Germann’s constant nagging for a manuscript was truly dreadful, but she simply had no inspiration and couldn’t write; writing was not something that could be forced. She poured out her heartfelt lament for quite a while, then suddenly broke into a silly grin and said, ‘Hehe, I’m just not going to write it.’
Klein was itching to give Fors a good thrashing—that sort of behaviour was entirely in keeping with Germann’s character—but a strange impulse interrupted him, causing him to suppress his urge to deal with her.
After uttering those three sentences, Audrey fell silent, simply observing the chaotic spectacle unfolding around her.
She noticed that although Klein had been the first to drink the truth serum, he had remained completely silent.
Under the influence of the truth serum, she couldn’t help but voice the question weighing on her mind.
“Mr World, what are you thinking?”
This gave an outlet to the impulse within Klein, transforming it into actual words.
Tears suddenly welled up in his eyes.
He said.
He said.
“I really want to go home.”
The slip of paper with Chinese characters had reappeared at some point, and Klein was clutching it tightly in his hand.