After a friendly negotiation, Bilt Brando cheerfully paid a total of 9,500 pounds in cash and provided, free of charge, all the materials for the Sequence 8 "Clown" potion for the esteemed Miss Luna, who had recently completely digested the "Seer" potion and could consider advancing.
Silas put away the money and materials, declined Bilt's friendly overtures, and left the bar alone, preparing to return to the hotel.
Walking down the street, his spirituality was suddenly stirred.
Looking up, he discovered that the crimson moon in the sky had somehow turned an eerie blood-red.
A blood moon!
This irregular natural phenomenon still had no definitive explanation in mysticism.
However, as Silas's sequence increased, he seemed to gradually sense danger.
The blood-colored moon seemed to symbolize something ominous.
"Meow."
Luna's azure eyes reflected the red moon's image as she called out softly, alerting him to something.
Silas withdrew his gaze and felt wind howling in the void before him.
Then a figure pushed through a membrane, "squeezing" into the real world.
It was a tall woman wearing a black court dress, her headless body silhouetted against the blood-red moon, holding four identical blonde heads in her hands.
Their faces were bright and beautiful yet eerily terrifying.
Klein's messenger!
Honestly, seeing such a scene late at night was quite impactful.
"You have..." "...a..." "...letter."
The messenger lady looked at Silas, with three heads speaking in turn.
Her fourth head, holding an envelope in its mouth, regrettably missed its turn to speak.
"Okay, thank you."
Another letter from Klein. There might be news about "Scarlet Elaine." And I have to say, that was pretty fast.
Silas took the envelope and thanked her.
After handing over the letter, the messenger's four heads simultaneously turned to look at Luna in Silas's arms.
"Hiss!"
Under that stare, all of Luna's fur stood on end.
Being a spiritual creature, she could naturally see the messenger lady, but she seemed unable to accept this one's appearance.
She shrank into Silas's arms and hissed loudly at her.
"..."
The messenger silently turned her heads back, her expression seeming somewhat regretful.
Well, whose fault is it that you look like this...
Silas smoothed down the fur on Luna's back, comforting her. Then he looked at the messenger and spoke seriously:
"Miss, what did you sense from me?"
Other creatures from the spirit world were unwilling to communicate with him, and "Red" spoke ambiguously, concealing things.
Perhaps he could obtain valuable information from this communicable being.
"You..." "...have..." "...a strange..." "...smell."
The tall lady had been about to leave, but hearing Silas's words, she turned back around.
After leaving these words, she vanished.
Why does your description of astral aura make it sound like I don't bathe...
Silas grumbled internally. Seeing that she had already left, he could only put away the letter.
He held the now-calmed Luna and continued toward the hotel.
Behind him, the blood moon hung high.
---
"City of Generosity," Bayam, in a secret room within a Storm Church.
"Storm be praised."
Alger took the initiative to salute, greeting the elderly man in dark blue clerical robes across from him.
"Your Excellency Bishop, you were looking for me?"
"Praise the Storm."
The old man returned the salute, looking Alger up and down before speaking in a deep voice.
"How many days have you been back?"
"Your Excellency Bishop, my crew and I finished our patrol and returned to Bayam the day before yesterday."
Alger spoke in a low voice, while his mind began to consider the meaning behind the other's words.
Could there be a new task for him, or had his cooperation with [The World] to attack "Steel" been exposed...
"The Navy's situation has been somewhat abnormal recently."
The bishop's words resolved his confusion.
"Believers of the Church have reported that several Navy ships setting sail seem to have some extra people on board.
Based on their characteristics and behavior, they appear to be connected to MI9."
"MI9?"
Alger's expression grew serious.
The Great Smog of Backlund hadn't passed that long ago, and the Church's investigation into the royal family was still continuing in secret.
At this time, forces belonging to the royal family appearing at sea would inevitably arouse their suspicions.
"Your next task is to follow a Navy ship, record its whereabouts, and see if there's anything abnormal."
The bishop said, "Our Church cannot act openly, so such operations rely on forces like yours.
Of course, if you're caught, don't say you're connected to the Church."
You're saying I should use a sailboat to track a warship... Are you joking?
Even though his ship was a ghost ship, it couldn't withstand bombardment from naval cannons!
"Yes."
Alger's expression remained unchanged as he bowed deeply to the bishop.
"I will certainly not fail this mission."
This was the Storm Church. The authority of superiors was absolute and could not be defied.
No matter how difficult the task, they could only steel themselves to execute it, releasing their fury and rage, just like this majestic sea.
Alger suddenly felt somewhat tired.
The Church was full of unreasonable people, and communicating with such figures every day inevitably led to exhaustion.
There were still a few days before his leave ended and he left Bayam.
If something happened during this time that caused the warship to sink, then he wouldn't have to take this risk...
The usually steady Mr. [Hanged Man] rarely departed from reality, fantasizing in his heart about a miracle occurring.
---
After returning to his room, Silas opened the second letter he had received today.
The contents of the letter were quite brief.
First, Klein had obtained information through some channel and discovered "Scarlet Elaine's" whereabouts.
"!"
Reading further, Silas's body suddenly trembled.
The letter clearly stated that "Scarlet Elaine" was currently located inside the Governor's Mansion in Bayam.
The Governor's Mansion in Bayam!
The place where Roy King was being held!
The words spoken by that Councillor Ricciardo from the School of Life instantly flooded his mind.
If he needed to enter the Governor's Mansion in Bayam for some reason, he could rescue Roy King while he was at it.
He actually predicted this correctly!
Silas thought in astonishment.
No, wait. Even though Ricciardo guessed this, it's still too extreme.
In his words, I would "attack" the Governor's Mansion in Bayam... It wouldn't come to that method.
Klein and I both have "Faceless" abilities. We could just disguise ourselves, infiltrate, and rescue the person, right...
He thought this way.
If that were the case, perhaps he really could accept the School of Life's task.
After all, as the other party said, it would just be doing something in passing...
In that case, what kind of reward should he ask them for? Right, he just happened to need some better Beyonder items.
Such a large organization should be able to provide something that satisfied him...
Silas thought this way, uncertain whether to accept the task, and just looked at what Klein had written below.
The second part of the letter was even more brief.
Klein was asking him if he had any way to remove the True Creator's mental pollution from Beyonder characteristics.