Under the Magician Fors's uneasy gaze, Silas lowered his head and kept thinking.
Mr. X was a trap.
He was clearly bait, deliberately let loose to draw me out... He himself should be real, but there must be someone even more powerful lurking behind him, some Beyonder... Uloryus?
No, wait, a place as important as Backlund, where the royal family and the elites of the Three Great Churches all gathered, wouldn't tolerate an Aurora Order angel lingering for long... It's probably some other method...
In any case, the people of the Aurora Order probably had enough confidence in their own restraint to set up this trap.
Silas gave a faint, mocking smile.
Unfortunately for them, he wasn't fighting alone anymore.
With that thought, he raised his head and said to the Magician Fors, "Do me a favor."
"What kind of favor?" Fors asked reflexively.
"Report this material to the Church of Evernight." Silas replied flatly.
Oh, so this was what Mister Temperance wanted, for her to report it to the church... Report it to the church?!
The Magician Fors was stunned for a second, then said blankly, "...Ah?"
The moment the question left her mouth, she realized her reaction had been somewhat rude, and quickly followed up, "Mister Temperance, aren't you going to handle this yourself?"
From her point of view, someone as insignificant as Lewis Wien could be wiped out with a mere flick of the powerful Mister Temperance's hand; even if Lewis had a few low-Sequence helpers around him, it wouldn't make much difference... So why did he want her to report the information to the Church of Evernight instead?
If the authorities found out, things would only grow more chaotic!
Silas didn't explain much, only saying flatly, "Just do as I say. I'll bring you his head."
"Ah, all right."
Hearing that cold tone, the Magician Fors immediately hunched her shoulders. She didn't dare press further, and weakly gave her reply instead.
Since Mister Temperance had put it that way, she supposed she'd just trust him... He should be trustworthy, right...
Meanwhile, the other members were secretly listening in on the exchange between the two.
Why report it to the authorities?
The Hanged Man Alger kept his body still, but his mind was racing.
It was just an Aurora Order angel; he didn't believe Temperance was incapable of handling him alone... Unless there was some inside information he didn't know about...
As for Justice Audrey, she was more concerned with a different question.
Why the Goddess Church, of all things?
And from the way Mister Temperance had spoken, it sounded as though even with the authorities getting involved, he could still help Miss Fors get what she wanted... It was almost as if he were saying he had official backing himself!
At that thought, Audrey couldn't help but be startled.
Surely not... Would he really, right in front of Mister Fool, imply that he had ties to another True God? Wasn't he afraid of angering Mister Fool?
But soon, Miss Justice worked something out.
No, that wasn't it.
Everyone present had, to some degree or another, backgrounds of their own.
She herself believed in the Goddess and had joined the Psychology and Alchemy Society; the Hanged Man was suspected to come from the Storm Church; the Moon had openly admitted to being a vampire... Mister Fool had never cared about any of that...
No wonder he was Mister Fool: truly a tolerant and magnificent god!
Audrey could never have guessed that Mister Fool, the very man she'd built up so many mental images of in her head, was at that very moment inwardly ranting fiercely about Silas's behavior.
This guy Silas, since when did he start acting just like me?
Klein muttered to himself. He too had sensed something off about the man, and planned to get a clear answer out of him at the next Transmigration gathering.
As for the other members of the Tarot Club, they naturally had their own varied reactions, which will be skipped over here and not elaborated upon.
The atmosphere above the gray fog turned somewhat strange, yet Silas, the one responsible for all of it, paid it no mind whatsoever. He simply looked around and asked, "Everyone, I'd like to learn more about the Primordial Moon. Does anyone have information to offer?"
His eyes instinctively drifted toward the Moon, Emlyn.
As a vampire, the man should know at least something about it.
Emlyn turned his head somewhat blankly and looked at Silas. A few seconds later, he said slowly, "Fifty pounds."
Why was this guy's reaction so sluggish? Had being locked underground turned him stupid...
Silas thought to himself, then nodded. "Deal."
"The Primordial Moon is an enemy of our vampire clan."
Having heard the good news that money was to be made, the Moon Emlyn regained a bit of energy. "It's extremely dangerous...
Most who pray to it will change little by little, becoming cruel, mad, and filled with a desire to breed..."
As he spoke, Emlyn's voice grew heavy.
"There was once a powerful vampire who, facing danger, tried praying to it... She lost control and turned into a mass of flesh that knew nothing but mating and reproduction, bearing one strange offspring after another with all manner of animals, and even with plants and stones..."
Good God!
Hearing this, Justice Audrey felt a chill and numbness spread through her whole body. She wanted to cover her ears, yet couldn't help wanting to keep listening.
In the silence that followed, the Hermit Cattelya pushed up her glasses and added, "There are also people within the Moses Ascetic Order who believe in the Primordial Moon. Based on my guess, this name is likely just a false alias, and behind it may be hiding the true evil god..."
Just as he'd suspected, the Primordial Moon wasn't so simple after all...
Silas thought.
The two explanations had helped him somewhat, but they also made him even more wary of this evil god.
He made up his mind that no matter what, he would meet with that "Snake of Mercury" of the Life School of Thought once more, and ask him in person to get things straight.
After that, silence settled over the gray fog, and no one raised any further requests to trade.
"Free discussion." Klein said flatly from behind the gray fog.
Everyone shifted in their seats.
"Mister Fool, I'd like to request a private conversation with Temperance." The Moon, Emlyn White, spoke up first.
After the Fool granted his request, he immediately looked at Silas and asked, "When can I get out?"
He had learned earlier than the others that Temperance might have some connection to the Church of the Evernight Goddess; he simply didn't know that it was Temperance himself who had given the order to lock him in the dungeon.
"Once your fellow vampires have collectively paid your bail, you'll be free to go." Silas replied.
"Actually, this is a good thing for you. It'll help clear you of suspicion."
Seeing that the man wasn't in the best mental state, Silas offered a bit of explanation.
"Think about it: if every other contestant besides you got caught, and you weren't caught but instead went and hunted down the remaining targets... your fellow vampires might well suspect you sold out to the Church of the Evernight Goddess and secretly orchestrated all of this."
"Besides, you don't even need to pay the bail yourself. It's just a few days locked underground... What, not enjoying your stay?"
Did he really think this was enjoyable? He has PTSD when it came to churches!
The Moon Emlyn had no strength left to argue, and only said, "I hope you can let me out as soon as possible..."