1202 The Tarot Club (1/2)
The demigods and Beyonders present nodded at Leonard's demonstration, indicating that they understood what the Red Glove captain meant.
One of the Mandated Punishers raised his arm and took the opportunity to ask a question:
”In other words, whoever left a tarot card behind is the member executing the mission?”
”That should be the case.” Leonard did not give a definite answer.
The same Mandated Punisher continued asking, ”What do the tarot cards that were scattered all over Lanevus's corpse mean then? There's no specific direction.”
Leonard immediately picked up a white chalk and wrote the name Lanevus on the blackboard behind him. Then, he drew a circle.
”I've just said that in the past two to three years, the matter involving tarot cards have really caught our attention because of the Lanevus case. This is very likely the beginning of everything.
”Therefore, without a specific direction, the casually scattered tarot cards might be referring to the whole. This means that the organization that uses the tarot cards as code names has officially stepped onto the stage of history. Heh heh, please forgive me for using poetic words.”
”That makes a lot of sense.” The few Mandated Punishers were convinced by Leonard.
Leonard looked around and continued, ”Let me use the Aurora Order, which everyone is familiar with, as a comparison. We all know that there are twenty-two Oracles in the Aurora Order. Each of them will be in charge of a region's affairs. It's very possible that the organization with the tarot card code names is the same. The members of the likes of Judgment, The Emperor, and The Hermit should have their own factions. They will exert their influence in a particular region.”
Upon hearing this, a member of the Machinery Hivemind pondered and said, ”However, the three members corresponding to Judgment, The Emperor, and The Hermit have appeared consecutively in Backlund. According to what you just said, does this mean that the organization that uses tarot cards as code names are still lacking in scale, and that the members are all gathered in Loen, or perhaps just in the Backlund region? After all, Backlund's person-in-charge for the Aurora Order is only an Oracle. As for Saint Tenebrous, he's in charge of the entire Loen.”
Leonard slowly nodded, indicating that he understood what he meant.
He organized his words and said, ”This possibility cannot be ruled out. After all, this is an organization that has only appeared in the past two to three years.
”Of course, there might be other reasons. This organization might not be divided based on location demarcation. Instead, they are determined by whether or not they can handle an area alone. They will also work together depending on overlapping situations, such as the Capim case.”
Seeing that the Beyonders of the three Churches and MI9 didn't raise any further questions, Leonard deliberated for a few seconds before saying, ”Next up will be all my personal guesses. There are also some problems with it. This might be a direction of investigation for the future.
”The first question, what is the purpose of this organization?
”If they are like the Aurora Order, with the goal to spread the faith of an evil god, then why haven't we discovered people who believe in The Fool? Even if there are, they're all people who are scamming others in the name of The Fool.
”Second question, what do they have in common in the few operations? I haven't been able to find it yet.
”The third question I have is that high-level members who use tarot cards as their code names are not of low Sequences and have their own factions. However, they aren't famous in the Beyonder world at all. This is very abnormal. After all, although the twenty-two Oracles of the Aurora Order hide their identities, they have more or less crossed paths with us. They rose up from Low-Sequence Beyonders to Middle-Sequence Beyonders under our 'watch,' eventually taking over the spot as Oracle when their predecessor dies or advances. They are all already on our lists.”
Having said that, Leonard paused and said, ”If the organization that uses the tarot cards as its code name is really an organization that believes in The Fool, then there is someone who can answer my third question.
”He's the crazy adventurer, Gehrman Sparrow. Rumor has it that he believes in The Fool.”
This name made all the Beyonders from the three Churches and MI9 fall into silence, as though they were quickly recalling the relevant information.
They had long heard that Gehrman Sparrow had a mysterious background. He believed in The Fool, and they had obtained quite a bit of information from him. However, they hadn't made any connections like Leonard to string everything together.
A few seconds later, the archbishop of the Church of Evernight, Saint Anthony, said in a deep voice, ”…Gehrman Sparrow seems to be in close contact with the original Death Consul of Balam. That's an angel who's still active over the land.”
This gave the Beyonders who weren't demigods a fright as they instinctively sat up straight.
They all knew about Admiral Hell, but due to the confidential restrictions, they didn't know that the Death Consul represented a Grounded Angel.
”…That Death Consul doesn't seem to belong to any faction of the Numinous Episcopate,” said a Beyonder from MI9 hesitantly.
Leonard nodded solemnly.
”Perhaps 'He' is a member of the secret organization that uses the tarot cards as a code name.
”Death card!”
There was another round of silence. All the demigods had to admit that this was possible.
The level of the secret organization that was represented by tarot cards suddenly rose, reaching a level that was equal to the Aurora Order.
”In short, Gehrman Sparrow is a clue.” Leonard took a deep breath and slowly said, ”Your Graces, ladies and gentlemen, I'm done.”
Saint Anthony nodded slightly and stood up. He looked around and said, ”Up to now, this secret organization that uses tarot cards as their code names hasn't targeted us yet. It has shown a certain level of friendliness. Now that the war situation is tense, we are severely lacking in manpower, so it's difficult for us to take any major actions. Therefore, I suggest that we try our best to avoid conflict with them and not attempt to eradicate them for the time being.
”Of course, we have to do what we need to do. A secret organization with the existence of a Grounded Angel itself represents danger. If we don't understand it or grasp enough information about it, we won't be able to react in time and stop any possible conspiracies.”
Horamick and the other demigods thought for a moment before nodding in agreement.
Anthony Stevens looked around, his gaze landing on Leonard's face.
”This investigation will be led by you. Coordinate it well.”
”…” Leonard agreed solemnly.