Upon seeing Frank's smile, Cattleya had mixed feelings. She then retracted her gaze and turned it to the nearby fishing village where the Future was docked.
No one expected this place to be an important base of the Moses Ascetic Order.
To avoid the pursuit of the Aurora Order, Cattleya and her crew had been docked here recently!
She wasn't in a rush to set sail but was prepared to go ashore. She planned on using the equipment in the fishing village to make contact with her subordinates who were monitoring Artisan Cielf in Bayam. Through that, she could confirm the situation and make plans.
Only with this in place could the Future set sail again, headed for the capital of the Rorsted Archipelago, Bayam, that was several days away.
In Backlund, the sky brightened especially early in July, but the overall temperature wasn't considered hot. It didn't even exceed 30°C.
Emlyn wore a top hat to shelter him from the sunlight that penetrated the clouds as he disembarked a carriage and walked into the Harvest Church.
Looking over, he saw the mountainlike Father Utravsky who wore a brown priest robe and a clergyman's bonnet. He was standing in front of the Sacred Emblem of Life, preaching to the few believers that came to pray in the morning.
Emlyn didn't take a second look as he walked straight to the back of the cathedral. He arrived in a room that he called his, and he familiarly changed into his priest robes.
As he wiped the candle stands, he waited for the believers to leave. About twenty minutes later, he finally found an opportunity to sit beside Bishop Utravsky and muttered to himself while looking at the Sacred Emblem of Life, "Father, I have a question I would like to consult you about."
The thin-browed, light blue-eyed Bishop Utravsky with some clear wrinkles replied with a smile, "Go ahead."
Emlyn held his breath and verbalized the words he had been thinking over the entire night.
"If—and I'm saying, if there's a distant relative who fools you, making you and your friend fall into danger and almost lose your life, and this matter isn't suitable in court, how would you punish him?"
Despite sitting down, Utravsky remained like a hill. He said in a deep but gentle voice, "First, you have to confirm if the relative had made a mistake due to negligence, or if he had deliberately fooled you and lead you into a trap. If it's the former, you need to warn him, remind him, and teach him, instead of thinking of punishing him. If it's the latter, you still need to confirm if this is the way he usually does things.
"If it is, then you need to eliminate him. Otherwise, he will definitely bring more harm to others, bringing harm to innocents. By ending his life and sending him back to the land, it will restart the cycle of life. It's a type of compassion and a type of purification..."
...Elimination... Father speaks of murder in a way that's more natural, mellow, and calmer than The World! Emlyn's facial muscles twitched as he hurriedly interrupted Utravsky's reply.
"No, he usually doesn't act this way. It's just that due to various reasons, he had targeted me this once. I-I don't wish to kill him because of this."
Just as he said that, Emlyn froze. He had apparently, probably, most likely, just expressed the fact that he was the victim, expressing that this matter was a Sanguine internal matter.
Utravsky turned to look at him and revealed a smile.
"Not bad. You already understand how precious life
is."
Emlyn forced a smile.
"Then, how should he be punished?"
Utravsky looked at the Sacred Emblem of Life in front of him.
"I do not advocate appealing to violence. You can bring him here and have him listen to my preaching and reading the bible. He will understand the value of life and experience the compassion of Earth Mother. He will serve to redeem his sins."
Isn't this what I experienced... Emlyn was taken aback before realizing that this method was in line with his intentions.
This neither caused Ernes Boyar's death, nor was it comparable to simply beating him up and demanding compensation. More importantly, this wouldn't escalate to a conflict that would cause strife among the Sanguine!
Of course, every method had its flaws. To Emlyn, the biggest problem was:
How was he to bring Ernes Boyar to the Harvest Church?
From the moment he began doing volunteer work here, all the Sanguine in Backlund knew to avoid this region. Ernes Boyar was no exception. It was impossible to trick him into coming in!
And if he resorted to violence, Emlyn believed that, with the ring bestowed to him by Ancestor Lilith, as well as Miss Magician's powerful spellbook that could be rented, defeating Ernes Boyar wasn't a difficult endeavor. However, to control him wasn't simple. After all, he was a Sanguine Viscount, equivalent to that of a Sequence 5 Beyonder. In addition, although Ernes Boyar wasn't too old, he had quite a collection.
Under such circumstances, the extent of which to directly taking action was hard to gauge. It could easily lead to death, and Emlyn would be blamed for
Perhaps I need some help... In Backlund, there are many members of the Tarot Club. If we work together, we should be able to easily control Ernes... Uh, I can't expose my identity because of this. The cooperation should be done in stages, so that we don't have to meet... Amidst his thoughts, Emlyn had made his decision. He planned on assigning a mission during the Tarot Gathering next week in search for help.
He nodded gently in response to Father Utravsky's suggestion.
"It sounds pretty good.
"I plan on making a decision a few days later after calming down."
Father Utravsky nodded and smiled.
"Fruits are obtained from planting them. It's a long process that requires patience. From the looks of it, you have understood this point."
Of course, it's such a simple principle! Emlyn raised his chin slightly as he habitually clasped his hands and prayed to the Sacred Emblem of Life.
22 Phelps Street, Loen Charity Bursary Foundation.
Audrey placed a document in hand on the table and looked up at the wall clock in the director's office. She could hardly relax.
She had already made an appointment with Escalante to head over to Stephen Hampres's residence in the afternoon.
Clearly, this meant a test. If the Psychology Alchemists's team was careful enough, they would've already reported the news, and there might be a councilor secretly observing everything.
Based on her current level and abilities, although Audrey was unable to determine how terrifying a High-Sequence Spectator was, she could imagine the kinds of performance they had in certain domains. This made her uncontrollably nervous, afraid that she would be "seen through."
In fact, I should've delayed it a little more. Although the time and the emotions I showed are in line with logic in psychology, delaying a meeting would definitely incur suspicion. But compared to a little bit of suspicion, it's more important to wait for Mr. World to return from the Southern Continent. That way, I can directly arrange for them to meet at the foundation. I don't have to worry about a High-Sequence Spectator discovering anything... Sigh, Audrey, your plans weren't well-thought enough... Audrey sighed silently and cast Placate on herself to calm her emotions.
After the afternoon, she wasn't in a rush to leave the Loen Charity Bursary Foundation. Sitting inside her office, she bowed her head, clasped her hands together, and softly prayed to Mr. Fool.
After completing this, she got onto her carriage with Annie and Susie, heading for the residence of the furniture merchant, Stephen Hampres.
Just as the carriage began moving, Audrey suddenly saw a gorgeous beam of light appear.
Amidst the beam of light, a twelve-winged angel bathed with golden light descended. The wings which were made of flames had wrapped her in layers before they dissipated layer after layer.
Audrey's vision quickly recovered as she swept her gaze past Annie and Susie through the corner of her eye in an unnoticeable manner. She realized that they hadn't noticed anything that had happened.
It's a little different from the previous angel... With Mr. Fool's greater reawakening, "His" angels have also recovered further? As the corners of her lips quivered, Audrey wiped the smile from her face, her inner heart becoming abnormally firm.
In less than half an hour, her carriage had stopped by Stephen Hampres's door.
After passing her hand to Annie, Audrey was helped down the carriage, and she walked straight to the door. She watched as her attendant pulled the doorbell.
Before long, Escalante came to open the door. Like before, she directly brought Audrey to the activity room on the first floor. Annie and Susie were brought to the living room by the servants.
Upon arriving at the activity room, Escalante reached out to hold the doorknob as she gestured for Audrey to enter.
This... Audrey had a guess, but she didn't show it. She slowly walked through the door which Escalante had opened.
Escalante didn't enter as she closed the activity room's door.
Audrey looked ahead and saw that on a single-seater facing the activity room's door, there was an elder sitting there quietly.
The elder wore a shirt, vest, and a jacket, matched with blue-gray trousers with lines adorning it, as well as a dark red bow tie. His hair was completely white but remained thick and lush. He had a warm and elegant bearing.
He had a pair of blue eyes that seemed to hide wisdom and knowledge. Apart from the wrinkles on his forehead, he didn't have any wrinkles elsewhere.
Audrey knew him. He was the royal family's consultant-Hvin Rambis!
Of course, Audrey had long known of this old gentleman's secret identity from the Tarot Club: a councilor of the Psychology Alchemists!
She didn't disguise her surprise, because she truly was surprised. Although she had guessed at the possibility of Hvin Rambis's appearance, she never expected him to appear directly. She imagined that he would observe her in secret, allowing Hilbert and Stephen to speak on his behalf.
"You're very surprised?" Hvin Rambis asked with a faint smile.
He then stood up and bowed.
"A pleasure meeting you, Miss Audrey."
Audrey deliberately opened her mouth before closing it again. Following that, she replied with a mixed smile, "I'm not sure how I should address you."
Hvin Rambis chuckled.
"Like always."
He pointed to the sofa beside them.
"Let's have a seat."
Audrey took a deep breath, wore a smile, and unhurriedly walked over. Sitting by the sofa, she maintained an adequate distance from him.
