After dealing with the werewolf Tyll's corpse, Silas left with Old Jack's body.
He didn't disturb too many people, instead going directly to Charle's bedroom.
The latter was startled awake from his sleep.
Opening his eyes to see a corpse, the shock he experienced was easy to imagine.
But even so, he didn't dare show anger.
Instead, he cooperated with Silas's wishes and accepted the task of burying the deceased.
This leader of the Remann Gang now nominally controlled several streets, gaining stable funds and reputation.
He could control more gang members, and the stable funding made the members trust him more.
But Charle was a smart man. He knew all his power came from Silas.
If the other man didn't want him as leader anymore, he could be removed at any time. Of course, more likely, he'd simply be eliminated.
"Damn Count Andres!"
After hearing Silas's words, he couldn't help cursing. "Can't compete with us in the market, so he plays dirty tricks like this!"
Silas's brow furrowed.
"You know this count?"
"Of course I do."
Charle nodded.
"When you said you wanted to open a textile factory, I investigated and learned about the industry.
Count Andres also runs a textile factory. In Backlund, his business is the biggest."
So after all that, it's competition between rivals in the same trade.
Count Andres probably wanted to use the werewolf to secretly kill some people, making factory workers disappear and unsettling everyone's hearts, affecting production.
He just happened to run into the blood moon, and the werewolf went berserk.
Silas somewhat understood, but also didn't quite understand.
His own factory wasn't large in scale.
No matter what, it couldn't affect the count's industry. Why specifically target him?
"Do you know where his home is?"
"No, but I know where their factory is located."
Charle answered, giving an address in an industrial district. Having that address would work too.
With so many people in the factory, there would surely be one or two who knew where Count Andres lived.
Silas entrusted Old Jack's matter to Charle, then left under cover of night, heading toward that textile factory's location.
He grazed Mr. A, Mr. A grazed the Interrogator, releasing the recorded "Travel."
The triple layering all required his spirituality for support, resulting in heavy spiritual consumption.
Continuing to act wasn't a wise choice.
But Silas couldn't stop.
The cries of his sheep seemed to still echo in his ears.
The lingering resentment after death had merged into his soul, igniting his flames of rage, scorching his heart.
He needed to seek justice for his sheep.
Continuous factory buildings came into view, on a scale far surpassing the small factory Silas had purchased.
By the time he arrived here, it was nearly midnight, but the factory buildings were still brightly lit.
High-powered gas lamps illuminated the night, giving the workers no peace.
A massive steam engine provided power to the entire facility, transmitted via belts to each textile machine, driving their operation.
Each worker had to manage six machines, promptly replenishing materials for machines that had run out of cotton thread.
They looked exhausted and numb. The workshop noise was extreme, bright as daylight, yet many people were still drowsy.
At such times, what woke them was the supervisor's stick and angry roars.
Silas walked among them using "psychological invisibility."
He roughly surveyed the area and found the region where management was located.
However, it was already too late; these people had long since left, leaving only empty rooms.
"Who's there!"
Just as Silas was feeling impatient at finding nothing, his Shepherd's intuition made him sense a powerful Beyonder hidden in the office area.
"Come out!"
Because he'd made a sound, his "psychological invisibility" automatically cancelled.
Although he couldn't see the other person's specific form, he could clearly sense someone was right around him!
Just as he prepared to use some methods to force the person out, the space before him suddenly became hazy, and a figure slowly emerged.
This was a woman wearing a black court dress, with pale golden hair and azure eyes.
Her features were delicate but her complexion abnormally pale. In her bearing and movements, she gave the impression of a doll.
Sharron.
"It's you?"
Silas said in surprise.
This was the Sequence 5 Beyonder he'd met at the Queen's gathering, the "Wraith" who had agreed to team up with him to explore Amon's tomb.
It was just that afterward, for reasons on her end alone, they'd lost contact.
"It's been a while."
Sharron wore a small, delicate soft cap on her head.
Floating in midair, she lifted her skirt and bowed slightly, greeting him. Her ethereal, drifting voice echoed around them.
"Why are you here?"
Silas asked.
At the same time, he raised his guard somewhat in his heart.
Perhaps she was also from the Rose School, appearing here to protect Count Andres. However, he only suspected this slightly.
After all, the fact that she could appear at the Queen's gathering proved a certain level of reliability on her part.
"..."
Sharron looked at him silently, not immediately speaking. When maintaining silence, she truly looked like a delicate, proportional doll.
Unwilling to answer? Is it out of caution, or because it concerns her personally?
Silas met her gaze, his voice like ice. "One of my men was attacked by the Rose School.
The trail led me here, to you. If you can't explain that, I'll have to assume you're the enemy."
"Boom!"
He drew his lava longsword. The deep blue firelight reflected on Sharron's delicate face that lacked the aura of the living.
"I do come from the Rose School, but things aren't what you imagine."
She finally spoke.
"Those people who hurt your subordinate and I have a very poor relationship. Or rather, we hate each other and are mutual enemies."
"You have a grudge against them?"
Silas asked, surprised.
"We belong to the same pathway, but have different philosophies, leading to opposition and conflict.
They advocate indulgence and releasing malice, while we emphasize restraint and maintaining our true nature until the moment of eruption." Sharron explained briefly.
"To escape persecution, we came from the Southern Continent to Backlund, yet still suffered their pursuit and assassination attempts."
"I appeared here today because I wanted to kill them."
The same Sequence...
Silas was somewhat surprised.
The difference between werewolves and wraiths was too great, yet they were actually the same Sequence.
If forced to name similarities, probably the only one was that both were inhuman existences. Does that mean this entire pathway consists of similar monsters?
He suddenly understood some things.
"You suddenly broke off contact before, and the agreed exploration of the tomb also stopped. Was it because you needed to evade pursuit?"
Sharron nodded, the movement not very large.
Silas thought for a moment, then pulled out that dark green fang from his coat and showed it to Sharron.
"This Beyonder characteristic comes from a man with very short hair who was lean. Do you recognize it?"
"Should be Tyll, a Sequence 7 werewolf."
Sharron actually knew that werewolf's name.
"Is this one of the Rose School people pursuing you?"
"Yes. Besides him, there's also the Sequence 6 'Living Corpse' Jason and the Sequence 5 'Wraith' Steve."
Sharron said softly, "Leading them is a Sequence 4 demigod, but he was lured away by false clues we left behind. Currently, he's gone to another location."
In other words, right now the Rose School's forces in Backlund only consisted of one Sequence 6 and one Sequence 5.
Meanwhile, on their side, they had two Sequence 5s, one of whom was a Shepherd, known to be powerful even within the same Sequence!