As the carriage swayed, Miss Brolignans shook her head.
"The Star Spirits? Yes, they can indeed provide the thod for forging the Four King Souls. But the title of Savior belongs to those who are already worthy. Therefore, he must also beco 'Uncrowned'."
"What does that an?" Miss Audrey inquired.
"The Star Spirits certainly haven't told Jenkins, so I cannot tell him either. But he will find out. We are, after all, nearing the end... That All-Seeing Card—"
"It's with . I lent it to Jenkins once, but he didn't have occasion to use it."
She produced the card, 'the World', from her pocket. But Miss Brolignans only inspected it for a mont before handing it back.
"Did nothing happen when he touched this card?" the Level 9 diviner inquired.
"No."
Miss Audrey nodded seriously, then took a mont to recall.
"Although, his cat did seem to glance at it."
"Do not pry into the matter of Jenkins's cat."
Miss Brolignans shook her head.
"In my brief death, I saw many things. So truths are best left unknown to you forever. In any case, this has nothing to do with the cat, so pay it no mind... For now, you will safeguard 'the World'. At the appropriate ti, give it to Jenkins again. After all, you are the guide on his fated path."
"Teacher, this card... did it truly co from the pages of the Millstone of Fate?" Miss Audrey couldn't help but ask.
"Jenkins may accept that explanation, but I have my doubts. After all, that book..."
"That book cannot be opened at all. Only its cover truly exists. Anyone capable of turning its pages must already be connected to destiny, which allows them to see the contents of its non-existent pages.
By that logic, the first person to see the card slip from its pages must be the one who opened it—soone acknowledged by the Millstone of Fate and, most likely, the one chosen by the card."
Miss Brolignans finished the thought for her, then smiled at her student.
"Yes, your intuition is correct. It didn't co from the Millstone of Fate at all."
"Then where did it co from?"
"It was already in the possession of our Church."
"I'm sorry, what do you an?"
The more she heard, the more confused Miss Audrey beca.
"At the very beginning of this epoch—on December 31st of the first year of the 18th Epoch, to be exact, during the first year-end festival—our Lord, the Hermit of Destiny, bestowed it upon us. We were to safeguard it and deliver it to the Savior at the end of the era."
"Why?"
"Oh, Audrey, I just praised you. Are you going to be foolish now? Think carefully. Why would that be?"
Seeing her teacher was testing her, Miss Audrey imdiately sat up straight.
"Is it because at the end of an epoch, the gods cannot interfere with the material world?"
"Precisely. If they cannot interfere at the end, then they interfere at the beginning."
The logic itself was sound, but Miss Audrey perceived a major problem.
"Sothing isn't right about that. The gods don't involve themselves in the changes at an epoch's end because they understand it's a necessary process. The prohibition against interference isn't a re rule; it's a tacit agreent, a principle acknowledged by all deities. To interfere, whether at the beginning of an epoch or at its end, would be to break their pact to maintain the stable cycle of the material world. It would be tantamount to violating their own will. How could that be possible?"
"Because this card does not represent aid for the Savior. No, this is not 'help'. There are so things the Church cannot tell you, even now that you are an eighth-level demigod. But if you truly wish to know, I can offer you a hint."
"Very well, Teacher. What does this All-Seeing Card, 'the World', truly represent?"
"It represents a transaction between our Lord and the Sage."
Now Miss Audrey was even more lost. The Sage was sohow involved in this.
"You should know that the Church of the Sage was originally established with the help of us, the followers of Destiny."
"Yes, that's a story from long ago. It marks the beginning of the friendship between our faiths."
Papa Oliver had ntioned this to Jenkins as well, on the night his 'Cycle' ability first appeared.
Miss Brolignans chose her words with care.
"You may not be able to imagine it, but the Sage... was qualified... to command destiny."
Miss Audrey's eyes widened. Those were utterly blasphemous words. For a mont, she thought her teacher had gone mad.
"Do you realize what you are saying?"
"Yes, of course I do. Neither you nor I know much about the affairs of gods, but if Jenkins were here, he would surely grasp the aning."
In other words, before becoming a Righteous God, the Sage had been qualified to assu the mantle of the God of Destiny.
A sigh escaped Miss Brolignans's lips. She traced the back of her index finger across her student's cheek, which had gone pale with shock.
"Don't try to reason it out. Just listen to my story. In short, the Sage was qualified, but chose not to take that path. Instead... it forged a path of its own. Because of this, in a distant epoch, our Lord and that god of knowledge beca bound by a unique thread of fate. To repay this connection, our Lord promised the Sage one thing: that in the 18th Epoch, this card representing 'the World' would be delivered into the hands of the Savior."
This tale was so incredible that Miss Audrey found it hard to believe. She didn't even want to think about it further.
"How could you possibly know such details?"
"Our Lord told last month, when I retrieved the card from the Holy See."
Miss Audrey sat bolt upright.
"You saw..."
"Yes. Our Lord wanted to ensure the card would be obtained by the right person."
"Oh, that is a trendous honor."
She was genuinely proud of her teacher. Then she summarized her understanding.
"So, it wasn't our Lord who wished to interfere at the end of the epoch, but the Sage?"
"Not exactly. Oh, Audrey, have you forgotten what I said? The gods acknowledge the rule against interfering at an epoch's end. The great ones would absolutely never intervene.
In truth, the Sage rely wished to cultivate a mortal. Audrey, our Lord revealed very little about the intentions of that god. He only wanted to ensure I found the right person. To put it simply, the God of Knowledge foresaw the ergence of a special mortal and, through the hand of Destiny, sent this card to her to aid in her mortal ascension.
To describe it more dramatically, the Sage has found an heir to their knowledge."
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