With the light of the deep red star rapidly receding, Roger woke up again.
He was still in his underground workshop, everything was as usual, and even Bandit hadn't left yet.
"...That card is for you to learn to read, not for you to squat on."
Roger's mouth twitched, and he lifted Bandit, who had almost become a cuboid, from the card.
"It's already four o'clock, I have to go see Vincent."
Previously, Roger had taken the initiative to find Hynes Vincent, expressing his desire to join the Beyonder gathering with the help of the other party's connections.
Of course, this was almost a clear indication that he was a Beyonder.
This didn't matter much to Roger, as he wasn't afraid of possible corruption, since his goal was to join the Aurora Society in the first place.
But he didn't know how Hynes Vincent's thought process worked. After knowing about this, he seemed to think that Roger was showing his sincerity, becoming more and more enthusiastic towards the latter, and even said that he wanted to "introduce some friends to him."
Roger didn't say anything, and agreed, because his top priority now was to obtain the last Elf Dark Leaf.
The "Attention Seeker" mainly worked in the emotional field, and had little effect on the direct combat strength, which made Roger feel a hidden anxiety.
As long as he could complete the "Chatterer" potion, his strength would definitely increase by a large margin!
Roger put on a newly bought coat, a new gray wide-brimmed hat, and went out the door with a leather bag and a cane without silver inlay.
Because Hynes Vincent had told him that he must wear a mask for this Beyonder gathering, Roger also temporarily replaced these personal style items.
Since he had made a name for himself at the previous banquet, Roger suddenly became famous in Tingen.
Many people went to the Divination Club to ask him for divination, and some even publicly expressed their willingness to bid. According to Lady Angelica, "8 Sol is simply restricting the imagination of these rich people."
Being popular brings trouble, but Roger had already paid off the debt of the Divination Club, so he planned to avoid the limelight for the time being.
On the other hand, he didn't want to raise his divination price too high, so as not to have the suspicion of ruining Hynes Vincent and Klein's business.
Especially since the latter was currently in urgent need of digesting the "Diviner" potion, Roger didn't want to delay Mr. "The Fool"'s becoming a God.
"Yo, Klein, it's a good day today."
Seeing Klein just at the door, Roger greeted him warmly.
“Mettis, it's good to see you. Why didn't you bring Bandit today?”
Klein glanced at Roger's empty shoulders and asked with a smile.
"I'm going to have a meal with a friend, and that restaurant doesn't allow pets."
Roger made up a lie casually.
It should have been influenced by the previous Tarot Club, and this time Klein had a clear sense of joy in his tone when he mentioned Bandit.
"Well, that's right, Mettis."
Klein changed the subject: "Thank you for the business you introduced before. I'd like to invite you to my house for dinner tomorrow night, and I'll cook myself."
"It's an honor." Roger took off his top hat and placed it in front of his chest, slightly bowing.
After saying goodbye to Klein, Roger took a public carriage and headed towards the suburbs.
It seemed that in order to avoid the scrutiny of the Nighthawks, the Mechanical Heart, and the Punishers, this gathering was deliberately arranged in a less densely populated area near the University District.
Of course, this also perfectly matched the Aurora Society's style.
Around 4:50 p.m., Roger arrived at the scheduled location.
He followed the memory in his mind, turning left and right, and going along an underground passage, finally seeing Hynes Vincent, who was wearing a classical black robe and had heavy dark circles under his eyes.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Vincent.”
After Roger greeted the other party, he followed the latter's instructions and continued to walk deeper underground from an inconspicuous hidden door.
On the way, both of them took out a mask and put it on.
Roger was wearing a brown Owl Mask, while Hynes Vincent put on a fox mask.
This passage originally seemed to be some kind of abolished underground construction in Tingen, and it was quite dim.
After they passed several intersections and walked for about 5 minutes, their vision suddenly opened up.
In front of them was a rather spacious circular room, with several bright gas lamps on the walls, and many men and women wearing masks of various colors were already sitting inside.
Some of them were whispering, and some were silent.
In the few seconds after entering the room, Roger clearly felt that many gazes passed over Hynes Vincent and fell on him.
Most people returned to the discussion after a brief distraction, but the gazes of some of them stayed for an exceptionally long time, as if they were deliberately examining something.
This also included a tall person wearing a goat mask sitting at the head of the table.
He knew in his heart that these should be members of the Aurora Society, and as for the "goat mask," Roger judged that he should be the organizer of this gathering.
But he remained unmoved, and sat down in an empty seat with Vincent.
Through the Owl Mask, Roger squinted and looked at a blackboard on the wall with many words written in white chalk, and next to it stood a figure wearing a Puppet Mask, a gray suit, and a thin figure.
The blackboard was full of information about the needs for spiritual materials, potion formulas, and other rare items, as well as corresponding sales information.
And among them, Roger even found the demand for the potion formula of "Trick Master," Sequence 8 of the "Apprentice" pathway.
“If you have anything you want to buy, or if you want to sell something, you can register it.”
Vincent coughed lightly, which attracted the attention of the Puppet Mask Attendant.
The latter came forward and handed Roger and Vincent paper and pens, asking them to write down their requests.
“Demand: Elf Dark Leaf, one piece.”
“Sale:
“Sequence 9 ‘Apprentice’ Potion Formula, 250 Gold Pounds.
“Sequence 8 ‘Trick Master’ Potion Formula, 450 Gold Pounds.”
In fact, Roger didn't want to sell the potion formula, but considering that he wanted to buy a Magical Item, he decided to exchange some cash first.
He just didn't know if the Beyonder who wanted the "Trick Master" potion formula was willing to pay this price.
Roger handed the paper in his hand to the Puppet Mask Attendant, and Vincent also wrote some things and handed them to him.
After a while, the attendant came back again and whispered in Roger's ear.
“Sir, someone wants your ‘Trick Master’ potion formula and agrees to your asking price.”
“No one wants the ‘Apprentice’ formula?”
Although Roger was a little disappointed, it was also a good thing to be able to cash out 450 Gold Pounds now.
He nodded, truthfully wrote down the "Trick Master" formula, handed it to the attendant, and soon the attendant returned and brought 450 Gold Pounds in cash.
“It's really good to have money, isn't it?”
Hynes Vincent joked, and he didn't expect that Roger could earn 450 Gold Pounds as soon as he came.
Roger chuckled and said nothing more.
After a while, Roger suddenly saw the person wearing the goat mask call the attendant over, said a few words, and then the attendant walked over directly as if he didn't avoid it.
“Sir, the organizer of the meeting, ‘Mr. C,’ can provide the Elf Dark Leaf, and you only need to pay 10 Gold Pounds.”
“Mr. C?”
Roger was slightly stunned when he heard this name.
“This wouldn't be the Messenger of God from Ahoa County?”