"The Fool" Kline slowly surveyed the room, not offering the explanation everyone had expected, but instead gathering a sigh and smiling, posing a question: "In your opinion, where do the twenty-two extraordinary paths originate?" This is one of the three most fundamental questions in mysticism, and no definitive answer has ever been universally accepted. Each tradition holds its own theory, yet none can convincingly persuade the others. "The Hermit" Gauthier replied after some thought: "The essence of the world is knowledge; the essence of knowledge is number; humans are number; the extraordinary nature of the twenty-two paths is also number; everything is number, from the very beginning." This reflects the theory of the Mois Monastery, though it does not necessarily represent her personal viewpoint. "The Seven Churches all believe that the extraordinary nature originates from the First Creator, who manifested Himself in all things—beings, deities, the sea, the land, and the extraordinary paths themselves." "Leonard," said simply, "of course, this is an explanation reserved for stewards and above. Official extraordinary beings below Sequence 6 need not know so much." Then, he glanced at "The Moon" Emlyn: "The Life School teaches that the world is divided into three layers—the material world, the world of souls, and the world of absolute rationality. Extraordinary traits are the projections of certain elements from the world of absolute rationality into the material and soul worlds. Therefore, traits are eternal and only reorganize over time." It now seems that the Life School's concept of the world of absolute rationality may refer to things such as the 'River of Fate' itself... "The Fool" Klein thought of Will Ongenthein, yet remained silent, allowing the members of the Tarot Circle to continue their conversation uninterrupted. Emlyn, the Moon, glanced at the Stars and said, "As one of the sovereigns of the Second Age, our House of Blood believes that extraordinary traits indeed originate from the very first Creator, and that through the accumulation of different characteristics, the ancient gods emerge, who in turn give rise to various races." This is the Blood's explanation of the First Age, and Emlyn has grown somewhat skeptical of it, having encountered many secrets during his time at the Tarot Gatherings. "While there are various interpretations regarding the origin of extraordinary traits," Aljere, the Inverted Nine, nodded slightly, "most point back to the original Creator—whether it's the Holy Church of the True Gods, the Aurora Order, or the City of Silver." "So, it's fairly consistent that extraordinary traits stem from the initial Creator?" Odile, the Justice, asked thoughtfully. The Psychological Alchemy Guild primarily focuses on the inner world and the vast ocean of collective unconscious, and thus lacks a complete theoretical framework for the origin of extraordinary traits. "That's about right." The "Turner" Aljer did not conceal his views. At that moment, the "Wanderer" Kline sighed slightly and said: "Not entirely." He offered no lengthy explanation, merely a relatively vague response. "Not entirely..." The "Wanderer" meant that while extraordinary traits indeed originated from the first Creator, not all of them did—some were exceptions? That is why the "Plow" and "Moon" paths are unique? The "Turner" Aljer instantly grasped many insights and immediately understood the essence of the matter. Since the matter had no direct bearing on him, the "Magician" Fols remained calmly attentive until now, and asked with genuine curiosity: "Respected Sir Wandering, your implication seems to be that the majority of extraordinary traits stem from the first Creator, while the 'Plow' and 'Moon' paths are exceptions—where do these two paths originate?" The "Wanderer" Kline responded succinctly: "The stars." "The Starry Sky... 'The Moon.' Emlin felt a sudden jolt of alarm, realizing the situation might be far more serious than he had imagined. ——The underground pollution and the peril of the Starry Sky had already been shared within the Tarot Circle; all members knew that mere awareness of these concepts would itself lead to erosion. When 'Justice' Odile and 'Wise One' Gauthier exchanged glances, 'The Fool' Kline spoke with a slightly weary tone, adding: 'Not just these two.' He has maintained constant communication with the Seven Lights and has confirmed that six of the twenty-two extraordinary paths belong to the Outer Gods. 'Respected Sir The Fool,' Odile, 'Justice,' raised her hand habitually, asking with both caution and curiosity, 'Are there any others from 'The Starry Sky'? 'The Fool' Kline responded succinctly: 'The Prisoner, The Criminal, The Lawyer, The Arbiter.' The first two stem from the "Mother Tree of Desire," while the last two, enhanced with the addition of "The Kingdom of Disorder," originate from the "Child of Chaos." — Chaos begets order, yet order itself carries shadows. "The Arbitrator"... "The Magician" Fols turned in surprise, glancing at "The Judge" Xiu. Just moments ago, she had thought this matter had nothing to do with her—she could simply observe and remain undisturbed. Now, however, the fire had burned right up to her doorstep. "The Judge" Xiu furrowed her brows, turning to the head of the bronze long table: "Respected Sir 'The Fool,' I have not noticed any unusual occurrences, nor have I received any divine revelations—indeed, none from outside of you." "The Fool" Kline smiled gently: "The Arbitrator and the Lawyer have been particularly favorable to me." "As far as he knows," the "Child of Chaos" has had only a modest impact on the paths of the "Arbitrator" and the "Lawyer"—far less significant than the "Falling Mother Goddess" has been to the "Moon" and the "Plowmaker," or the "Desire Mother Tree" to the "Offender" and the "Prisoner." This foreign deity has remained as quiet and unobtrusive as if it had vanished entirely. The "Magician" Fols and the "Judgment" Hau breathed a collective sigh of relief, yet both harbored a growing sense of caution. Observing the "Knight of Foolishness" making no further explanation, the "Moon" Emlyn gathered her thoughts and remarked: "The distinctiveness of the 'Plowmaker' and 'Moon' paths stems from the 'Starry Sky.' Could the divine revelation perceived be a form of contamination?" The "Hanged Man" Aljer glanced at the "Knight of Foolishness" seated at the head of the weathered table, noting that He showed no intention to speak, and then nodded in agreement: "That seems likely." "This is indeed a test for me..." Elmer sighed, then continued. "I have mastered the high-level spell names of both the 'Farmer' and 'Moon' paths, though I find myself somewhat puzzled about two of them." After becoming a Count of the Bloodline and a Senior High Priest of the Church of the Earth, he had gained access to permissions that allowed him to consult materials previously out of reach. As the other members of the Tarot Circle turned to look at him, even Germain Sparo raised a hand and gently pressed his chin, prompting Elmer to reflect and say: "The third level of the 'Moon' path is called 'Master of Summoning,' the second level 'The Creator,' and the first level 'The Beauty Goddess.' For the 'Farmer' path, the third level is 'The Bearer of the Coffin,' the second level 'The Mother of Desolation,' and the first level 'The Wanderer of Nature.' I find it particularly curious that both 'The Beauty Goddess' and 'The Mother of Desolation' carry a clear gender orientation—what do you think?" "..." For a moment, no one else in the Tarot Circle spoke. We looked at each other, each of us thinking of a possibility. After a few seconds, Audrey of "Justice" steadied her gaze and carefully said, "I remember that the Sequence 7 in the 'Assassin' path is called 'Witch,' and every Assassin who takes this potion ultimately becomes a Witch." ...This is, then, my test... Emlyn's lips moved slightly, but he couldn't find the words. When he first saw the name of the potion, he had already sensed something, though he had been reluctant to accept it, hoping instead for a different explanation during the Tarot Circle meeting. Rest assured, you're unlikely to become an Angel—even if you do, you won't have the chance to become the 'Beauty Goddess'... Klein murmured these thoughts to himself, but didn't voice them as reassurance. The atmosphere grew momentarily still. Leonard of "Stars" cleared his throat and took the initiative to speak, "I'd like to share something." He spoke at a steady, unhurried pace, recounting the tale of the wandering magician Merlin Hermes, the overnight reconstruction of Constantine City, and the "fully automated wish machine." As he spoke, he didn't hesitate to glance knowingly at "The World" Kraen. Kraen's lips moved slightly, and he gently directed "The World" Gérard Spáro to look straight ahead. "I will be leaving the eastern shore of the Sea of Interlaken very soon." Wait... Are all these feats of "The World"先生's doing? Has he already achieved such miracles? Indeed, no wonder—he is an angel, He... "Justice" Audrey recalled the information shared by the committee member known as "The Glutton" during the Psychological Alchemy Council meeting, feeling both astonished and deeply impressed. She did not conceal her reaction by leveraging the abilities of "The Audience," since everyone else had shown the same response—except for the clearly well-informed "The Star" gentleman. Merlin Hermes... the itinerant magician... "Magician" Folsom jotted this name down in her personal notebook, silently deciding to keep a respectful distance whenever she heard it again. This wasn't out of any deep fear for Germaine Sparrow, but rather because she had come to realize that Germaine Sparrow's world would never be still—there would always be something happening, here or there. Of course, a certain instinctual fear remained, much like a childhood fear that lingers into adulthood. Enjoys fulfilling wishes... "Fully automated wish-fulfillment machine"... is that how Germaine Sparrow, the embodiment of the World, plays her part? Aljere, the "Turner," and Gauthier, the "Hermit," simultaneously thought the same thing, then recalled a detail: Since a while ago, the "Knight of the Fool" had been encouraging everyone to make requests during prayer in the form of wishes, and then fulfilling them. Is He helping the "World" digest the potion, or does He belong to the same path as the "World," now displaying similar characteristics after revival? The smaller "Sun" had previously remarked that the "Knight of Cups" had performed miracles—transferring an entire city's population directly from a place abandoned by the gods to outside of Bayam. Yet, with "World" Germaine Sparo still observing, this seems beyond what he could achieve. The "Hangings" Aljer barely nodded his head, forming a tentative guess about the path of the "Knight of Cups." Is he about to leave the eastern shore of the Intersea? Then my investigation will be much easier—I can simply draw a conclusion at will, and if necessary, directly state that Germaine Sparo has become a "miracle-worker," now playing the role. After all, everything that needs to be known is already known. Leonard murmured a few words without further inquiry. At that moment, "World" Germán Sparo glanced around and asked, "What do you know about the 'Black Throne King' Balor Hopkins?"