Uh… Fors froze for a second, almost wondering if she was seeing things.
Immediately, thoughts uncontrollably popped into her head:
Mr. World wants to take this task? Actually, yes, he's in Backlund.
But this is an investigation, not a murder. Dwayne Dantès has suffered enough already, let him off!
Eliminating the subject of the investigation means the investigation is a success? Because there's no need to investigate anymore…
What now? Should I still take this task? A whole 500 pounds! I could simply recount what I discovered earlier and get at least 200 pounds, but the competition is Mr. World… Maybe it's cooperation, not competition?
Huh, why would Mr. World be interested in this task? Is he actually focused on the case of Baron Sindras being framed or the attack on Councilman Macht?
Just as Fors finally grasped the crux of the issue, The Hanged Man, Alger, and The Hermit, Cattleya, had already fixed their gazes on The World, Gehrman Sparrow. For them, the Baron Sindras frame-up case, the Councilman Macht attack case, and the fact that wealthy businessman Dwayne Dantès had donated over ten thousand pounds were all things that didn't normally require much attention. But the fact that Mr. Fool's Blessed had voluntarily taken on an investigation task suddenly made the issue extremely complicated, suggesting some important secret lay hidden within.
The Moon, Emlyn, didn't think that deeply, but he still sensed that this seemingly ordinary investigative task wasn't that simple. He had originally intended to earn some pocket money to make up for the "wallet" that was about to lose 5,000 pounds in cash, but now he suddenly didn't feel like speaking.
Could Dwayne Dantès really be that complicated, with major problems, to the point that Mr. World himself took on the investigation? Or maybe those two cases were more important and critical than I imagined? Justice Audrey's heart stirred. Her eyes flickered as she used her advantageous position to record in her mind the reactions of every Tarot Club member.
Among them, only The Sun, Derrick, was out of the loop.
To him, wasn't mutual help among Tarot Club members perfectly normal? Someone offered a task, and if you had the ability and conditions to complete it, you accepted it. Wasn't that normal?
Justice Audrey's gaze turned back to the far end of the long bronze table, and she asked with a hint of anticipation:
"Mr. World, do you wish to take this task?"
After returning to Backlund, she had gathered maritime news from the past few months and preliminarily confirmed that Mr. World was the mad adventurer Gehrman Sparrow. She deeply admired this gentleman who outwardly seemed polite but was actually dangerous and had accomplished many great feats. She even felt that her own fascination with sea adventures had somewhat diminished.
Klein had already prepared a response. After making the puppet "World" raise a hand, he waited for Miss Justice to ask her question. Then, he made "Gehrman Sparrow" put on a serious expression and speak in a low voice:
"Dwayne Dantès is an identity."
After brief but repeated deliberation, Klein decided to reveal some information and position Dwayne Dantès as a shared identity for his Blessed!
He believed that if he chose to conceal it now, there would still be a risk of exposure later, because Dwayne Dantès was about to deeply integrate into Backlund's high society and could at any time find clues to the Great Smog incident and other cases. In such a situation, he might need Miss Justice's assistance from the side. Then, this Spectator would very likely notice something, realize that World had deliberately concealed it, and that Mr. Fool had not warned her.
This would reduce her sense of belonging and even make her suspect other things, triggering a trust crisis for The Fool.
Two members not knowing each other, unaware of each other's existence, yet tacitly cooperating by completing designated parts of a task to piece together the overall goal— this seemed very nice in theory but was actually extremely difficult to achieve successfully. Especially when the partner was a mid-Sequence Beyonder of the Spectator pathway, it was almost impossible to hide anything from them!
Thus, in most situations, being straightforward was a better, more effective, and less troublesome approach than lying.
As for why he didn't simply say that Dwayne Dantès was Gehrman Sparrow, it was because Klein didn't want to leave the Tarot Club members with the impression that it was always him, that Mr. Fool's only Blessed was him.
Dwayne Dantès is just an identity? Justice Audrey keenly read the implied meaning in this sentence and vaguely guessed something.
Then she heard The World, Gehrman Sparrow, simply say:
"An identity shared between me and my companion."