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A meeting that was, on Lin Ruo's part, extremely pleasant came to an end just like that.
After promoting The Fool, persecuting a wave of salted fish, and ensuring that Fors knew The Fool's honorific name so that she wouldn't suddenly die after the next full moon, Lin Ruo, having basically achieved his goal, finished his lunch and handed the forged ancient book to Fors, choosing to bid farewell and leave.
And Fors and Xio had no desire to stay any longer in the Purple Grape Restaurant; after Lin Ruo left, they immediately returned to their apartment.
Closing the door, throwing her body onto the familiar sofa, Fors finally felt a sense of peace and relaxation.
She then took out the tarot card with The Fool's honorific name written on the back from her pocket, stared at the palm-sized card, and after spacing out for a while, finally had the mind to pay attention to which card it was in the tarot deck.
"The Magician? It quite suits my aesthetic."
Fors muttered, and a glass of water was handed to her, by Xio.
Fors took the water and glanced at Xio, who sat down next to her, and suddenly said, "I probably won't be able to hold on until the next full moon. When that time comes, I should recite this honorific name... You should refrain from reciting it for now. I'll recite it first and see how it goes. If... if I still die by then, you should leave Backlund first to avoid the limelight..."
Fors naturally couldn't fail to see Xio's hesitation. Unlike her, who might die if she didn't recite the True Name during the next full moon, Xio didn't necessarily need to recite the honorific name.
Although she also hoped that Xio could successfully take revenge, as her good friend, Fors still hoped that Xio could live well first before considering revenge.
"What nonsense are you talking about? How could you die...?" Hearing this, Xio, who had just been hesitating, immediately said with some dissatisfaction.
"If, I'm just saying if. After all, we don't know what kind of... god that Fool is. Although, judging from Rudy's state, The Fool seems to be alright, but who knows if what a fanatic says is true or false? I've even seen cultists who still think their god is benevolent even after their whole family was sacrificed..." Fors said, trying hard to sit up, but failed again, and could only continue to ramble while lying on the sofa:
"If... I mean, if I really die, remember to collect my body, help me write an epitaph, the content is up to you... My inheritance will be given to you by then, anyway, I don't have any relatives... Oh right, if those few books I'm currently following are completed, remember to burn them for me..."
She rambled on and on, her voice calm, only occasionally trembling at the end.
Was Fors afraid? Actually, she was.
After all, she didn't have a God's-eye view, and didn't know what kind of benevolent "evil god" The Fool was.
In her familiar worldview, believing in evil gods, demons, and hidden existences was a death-seeking behavior.
Now that she had to actively believe in an evil god called The Fool, how could she not worry, not be afraid?
But she had no choice, no options.
Xio listened silently to Fors's words, which could be considered a last will and testament, and finally nodded, "Okay, I will."
Having received the promise, Fors fell silent, and then she suddenly sat up with a carp-like flip, startling Xio beside her.
"What's wrong?" Xio, whose emotions had just been low, was now somewhat incoherent.
"I just suddenly thought, if I really die in the next full moon, won't I have to be urged to write anymore?" Fors's spirits suddenly lifted.
Xio: ?
Are you really that unwilling to write?
"Just kidding, just kidding, I just thought that Rudy seemed to like my books quite a bit... I think his liking shouldn't be fake. In that case, even if it's for the sake of being able to read the next book, he shouldn't easily harm me, right?" Fors said, seemingly convincing herself with this reason, her condition improved a lot.
"That way, I might really be able to survive the next full moon..."
Hearing this, Xio's sad and depressed mood also dissipated a lot. She hesitated for a moment and said, "How about I accompany you when the time comes...?"
"No! Let me go first, otherwise there won't even be anyone to collect the body... Anyway, if that Fool really isn't some particularly brutal god, it's the same if you convert a day later," Fors quickly refused, and then, remembering something, looked left and right, "Speaking of which, where's that Abraham family member's diary?"
Xio pointed to under her butt and said, "You just threw it on the sofa, don't you remember?"
"I was wondering why today's sofa wasn't soft enough..." Fors immediately got up embarrassedly and picked up the ancient book, then lay back down on the sofa and began to read.
Even if she really had to die next month, she wanted to first figure out what was going on with that Abraham family and the so-called full moon whispers.
...
After preaching to Fors and Xio, considering that these two might pray to The Fool at any time, Lin Ruo naturally had to tell The Fool, Klein, about this.
And when he found Klein through the connection between the two, he found that the other party was reading the newspaper.
The place where Klein lived was naturally still the house he had rented before. Although this house was rented in Klein's name, logically speaking, now that Klein was acting in Backlund as Sherlock Moriarty to investigate those hidden conspiracies, Klein should have changed his residence out of consideration for protecting his identity.
But Lin Ruo couldn't help but handle this matter, tampering with the landlord's family's memories in this regard and the name on the contract -- this was not difficult for Lin Ruo, and it would not cause any harm to the landlord's family -- so Klein could still live in this house as Sherlock Moriarty without worrying about his identity being exposed.
"Quite leisurely, have you thought about where to start the investigation?" Lin Ruo said as he sat down on the sofa next to Klein, and consciously poured himself a glass of water.
"I plan to publicize the detective's reputation first, which can help me better contact people from all classes in Backlund..." Klein was not surprised by Lin Ruo's sudden appearance, after all, he was already used to the other party's elusiveness.
"By the way, are you going to attend Old Man Eye of Wisdom's gathering tonight? I plan to check the background of that Black Snake, he should be a member of the Aurora Order."
"I'll attend, I'll just see if there are any Beyonder ingredients I want to buy at the gathering." Lin Ruo nodded, his Conspirer Beyonder potion was still missing a main material, which was the "Human-Faced Lion's Brain". Although Old Man Eye of Wisdom's gathering was not high-level, it was still possible to attend and see if there was any.
And... perhaps it was time to contact Sharron and Maric, and expand his network.
Thinking this, Lin Ruo said meaningfully, "When the time comes, perhaps we can meet some new friends..."
New friends? Klein was a little puzzled. He glanced at Lin Ruo, didn't ask much, just picked up his cup and took a sip of tea, and then heard Lin Ruo leisurely say next to him:
"By the way, Klein, I've developed two new believers for you..."
"Cough... cough..."
Klein choked on the water.
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