Monday, above the gray fog, Klein sat at the head of the long bronze table.
He had been doing quite well lately. Under the identity of Gehrman Sparrow, he had hunted quite a few well-known pirates.
Not only could he obtain a pile of spoils, he could also exchange them for large bounties from the relevant official organizations.
He felt that he had never been this wealthy before. The bounty on a single famous pirate was enough to equal several years of hard work in Backlund.
Pirate hunter was indeed a job that suited him, but he also needed to disappear for a while first.
Otherwise, he would become the public enemy of the pirates. Not only would hunting them become more difficult, even he himself would be in danger.
Mr. Azik had already recovered his past memories and had even invited him to visit a coastal city in northern Feysac during the winter to ski and fish for seals.
He could understand skiing, but fishing for seals... Mr. Azik really knew how to have some wild fun.
If he had the opportunity, he would go enjoy a carefree life and give himself a perfect vacation.
After thinking for a while and feeling that it was about time, Klein summoned the members of the Tarot Club and began this week's gathering.
Miss Justice, who was usually warm and cheerful, still greeted everyone as she always did, but she seemed preoccupied and somewhat gloomy.
Mr. Hanged Man, who was skilled at controlling his psychological state, was also in a very poor mood today, as if some major matter was weighing heavily on his heart and making it difficult for him to breathe.
Even Miss Magician, who normally preferred to simply watch the excitement from the sidelines, seemed weighed down by worries. Her hesitant expression, as though she wanted to speak but held herself back, had already exposed her true thoughts.
Little Sun was as innocent as ever.
Mr. Moon was still as carefree as always. Oh, no, he was simply immersed in his own pure little world.
Klein silently observed everyone and took in the state of every Tarot Club member. He knew in his heart that something major must have happened recently.
This week, Klein had not received any pages from Roselle's diary, so they directly entered the discussion segment.
Miss Justice and the Hanged Man were both preoccupied and neither spoke first.
Instead, the usually unreliable Mr. Moon slightly raised his hand. Once everyone's attention gathered on him, he lowered it again, lightly cleared his throat twice, and tried to make his tone sound as natural as possible.
"I have a friend. Recently, for some reason, he often goes to the Church of the Earth Mother to help the priests there with work, wiping tables, sweeping floors, and experiencing the joy of the harvest."
"But he is a noble Sanguine. How could he betray the faith of the Sanguine? So this must be some kind of illness that needs treatment."
"I'd like to ask whether any of you have a special method that could help my friend change his current situation. If the method works, my friend is willing to pay a certain reward."
Emlyn calmly finished speaking, though his eyes wandered and avoided everyone else's gazes.
The scene first fell silent for a moment, and the looks directed toward him carried a hint of amusement, making Emlyn feel somewhat flustered.
'Mr. Moon, I already used the excuse of "I have a friend" before.'
Audrey worked very hard to suppress the urge to cover her face with her hand.
Back when Susie accidentally consumed the Spectator potion, she had also used "a friend of mine" as an excuse, yet Mr. Fool and Mr. Hanged Man had still seen through her.
That feeling had been far too embarrassing.
Alger wore a strange expression. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Let us first assume that your friend, like you, is a pure-blooded vampire..."
"Not a vampire! Sanguine! Noble Sanguine! How many times do I have to emphasize this? We are completely different from those filthy vampires!" Emlyn said indignantly.
"Alright, alright, noble Sanguine." Alger corrected the term and continued, "The Church of the Earth Mother has always had a tradition of converting members of the Sanguine. For your people, this might not necessarily be a bad thing. With the Church of the Earth Mother backing you, you can live under the sunlight more legally."
"Hmph, we noble Sanguine have no need for such minor conveniences." Emlyn was extremely disdainful.
Alger could not be bothered to explain more basic knowledge to him and directly said, "As for the wavering of your faith, I believe there are two possibilities. The first is that the priest at the church possesses a Beyonder item capable of influencing your mind, causing you to gradually accept and recognize the teachings of the Earth Mother without realizing it."
"The second possibility is that your own faith was not firm enough in the first place, which is why it could be shaken."
At first, Emlyn listened very seriously, but the more he listened, the more something felt wrong.
After carefully thinking it over, his face reddened slightly and he said angrily, "That person isn't me! He's a friend of mine! I would never change my faith so easily!"
Alger merely gave a faint "Oh" and did not speak again.
Audrey suppressed the urge to laugh and tried to speak in a calm tone. "Mr. Moon, you don't need to worry so much. If you don't want to believe in the Earth Mother, then simply stay away from the church and from places where faith in the Earth Mother is practiced."
"Just staying away is enough?" Emlyn thought for a moment before showing a troubled expression. "But my friend always ends up going to the Church of the Earth Mother without realizing it. And whenever he helps the priests with work, he feels a strong sense of recognition and joy from the bottom of his heart. Especially recently, he's almost started treating the Church of the Earth Mother as his second home."
"..." Audrey felt that Mr. Moon was probably beyond saving.
The reason he had come to the Tarot Club seeking a solution was merely to find a reasonable excuse for betraying the faith of the Sanguine.
In truth, deep inside, he already completely believed in the Earth Mother. It was only because of his identity as a Sanguine, and because he did not want the other Sanguine criticizing him, that he displayed such a painful and conflicted state of mind.
Derrick could not help but say, "Doesn't that mean you already completely believe in the Earth Mother? When I devoutly believed in the Creator, that was exactly how I felt."
Audrey, Alger, and Fors all turned to look at Derrick at the same time, their gazes carrying the same meaning.
Little Sun, how could you be so straightforward and pierce through the final shred of Mr. Moon's stubbornness like that?
Realizing that he had said the wrong thing, Derrick silently lowered his head.
Emlyn's face had completely flushed red. He could not help wanting to raise his voice several times over and properly argue this matter with Derrick.
What did he mean by saying that Emlyn already completely believed in the Earth Mother?!
Damn it, the only one he clearly believed in was Lilith, the Ancestor of the Sanguine!
But when Mr. Fool's gaze turned toward him, Emlyn immediately transformed from an aggressive fighting rooster into a tiny quail. He silently shut his mouth, though his lips still twitched unwillingly a couple of times.
Derrick sighed in relief. Just now, he had almost thought he would end up arguing with Mr. Moon again today.
Thanks to Emlyn's amusing opening, much of the gloom in Audrey and Alger's hearts dispersed.
Alger looked toward Audrey and said seriously, "Miss Justice, I would like to know why the Loen Kingdom has declared full-scale war on the Feysac Empire. I can pay a generous reward for this information."
Good question, Mr. Hanged Man. That is exactly what I've been trying to find out as well.
Audrey sighed inwardly. During this period, she had even gone so far as to send Susie into Earl Hall's study to eavesdrop, but she had failed to obtain much useful information.
It was not because Susie was incapable of distinguishing important content from meaningless information. Rather, Earl Hall simply had not discussed the reason behind this matter with anyone in the study, as if there were some kind of taboo preventing him from speaking about it.
She had also tried asking Earl Hall directly, but he had merely smiled and told her not to worry about it. He also appeared extremely confident that this war would end in victory.
"I'm also searching for the answer to this question. Once I find it, I can share that information with you for free," Audrey gave a reasonable reply.
"Thank you for your generosity." After Alger finished speaking, he tentatively looked toward Mr. Fool, but Mr. Fool did not seem interested in discussing the matter.
"???"
Klein was completely baffled inside.
The Loen Kingdom had actually declared full-scale war on the Feysac Empire?
When did that happen?
He had been staying at sea recently, so he was far less well-informed about such matters than Mr. Hanged Man and Miss Justice.
The latest version of events he had heard at sea was still the theory that the Southern Continent might attack the Loen Kingdom.
Under such circumstances, the Loen Kingdom actually dared to declare full-scale war on the Feysac Empire. Where did all that confidence come from?
Could it be that military technology had undergone some kind of explosive advancement?
It seemed he should make a trip back to Backlund as well, both to see whether Benson and Melissa had been affected by the war and to learn about the latest current events.
But that would have to wait until he advanced to Sequence 6 Faceless after some time.
At that moment, Fors, who had remained silent until now, dropped a bombshell in a slightly trembling voice.
"I know why the Loen Kingdom chose this moment to declare full-scale war on the Feysac Empire."
"Because the God of Combat has fallen."
Her voice trembled even more noticeably as she spoke the final sentence.
'The God of Combat had fallen?!' Alger felt an enormous shock. In that instant, he also understood why the atmosphere within the Church had been so unusual recently.
'The God of Combat had actually fallen at this time? How terrifying.' Emlyn shuddered all over upon hearing this and immediately felt that his own little troubles were hardly worth mentioning.
'So the fall of the God of Combat was the confidence behind the king's decision to declare full-scale war.' Audrey was first shocked, then quickly calmed down.
'A god had fallen. Was a new era about to arrive?' Derrick felt lost and uneasy about it, yet at the same time he carried a powerful sense of anticipation toward the future.
'How exactly did Miss Magician learn such major information?' Klein was both shocked and troubled.
Faced with the bombshell Miss Magician had just dropped, how was he supposed to handle this?
He knew absolutely nothing about the fall of the God of Combat!
Would Mr. Fool's true nature end up being exposed because of this?
Everyone turned toward Fors in unison, each with a different expression in their eyes after hearing her astonishing statement.
Fors instinctively shrank her neck backward, wanting to lower her head and bury it in the sand like an ostrich.