Thunder flickered intermittently in the sky, lighting up this cursed land, and with it the makeshift camp hastily erected on the outskirts of Afternoon Town.
Around the camp's perimeter, patrol members carrying lanterns passed by from time to time, while inside the tents, most of the expedition members had already gone to rest.
Lovia quietly watched over the "sleeping" Derrick.
Only half of her head rose up out of the shadows, expressionless, appearing eerie and terrifying under the dim light. If Derrick had opened his eyes at that moment, he would surely have been badly frightened.
Shhk... shhk...
Lovia's body slowly rose upward, as though being drawn out inch by inch from a bog. The room was utterly silent, with only the faint rustling of her deep purple robes audible.
Her head tilted to one side, her eyes fixed unwaveringly on Derrick.
And Derrick continued to lie there peacefully with his eyes closed, entirely unaware of the danger he was in.
Lovia extended her pale hand, slowly reaching toward Derrick...
————
"If that's the case, could Elder Lovia try to harm me while my consciousness is here?"
Sun Derrick quickly grasped what Hanged Man meant, his expression growing increasingly uneasy. Even though it was only his consciousness that had come to the Grey Fog, he still felt his throat tighten and his breath grow short, as if the threat of death itself had descended upon him.
No, wait, what's even more dangerous is that she might use me to discover the Grey Fog, and leak the information here to the "Fallen Creator," putting Mr. Fool in danger!
Derrick was thoroughly panicked now.
The others on the Grey Fog were infected by his emotions as well, and the atmosphere grew tense for a moment.
"Mr. Fool!"
Sun Derrick immediately stood up, addressing the tall figure seated at the head of the gathering:
"Please, get me out of..."
"No, wait."
Hanged Man suddenly spoke again.
Under the unified gaze of everyone present, he shook his head. "Your Chief won't allow that to happen."
————
"Stop."
Just as Lovia's hand was about to touch Derrick, a calm voice suddenly rang out. Colin Elliott, Chief of Silver City, had appeared inside the tent at some point without anyone noticing, the twin blades in his hands giving off a strange, oily sheen beneath the lantern light.
"I merely wanted to confirm whether he was truly asleep,"
Lovia said, her hand still outstretched, her voice soft and gentle, "or whether he'd entered some peculiar state. Aren't you the least bit curious, Chief?"
"Leave this place."
Colin's voice, however, was utterly cold and decisive.
Lovia withdrew her hand, and suddenly let out a soft laugh.
"I nearly forgot. Given how cautious you are, you must have thoroughly investigated him long ago. Whatever's unusual about him, you must have already discovered it too." She spoke, her face beginning to twist slightly, as though she were enduring some kind of torment. "But Chief, how much longer do you really think Silver City has left? Don't you truly want to..."
"I said, leave this place."
Colin repeated himself once more, brooking no argument, a hint of something dangerous seeming to lace his voice.
"..."
Lovia fell silent, turning her head to glance at him.
Her pale skin began to split and tear open, revealing the muscle and blood vessels beneath, cleaved neatly in two, as though some invisible blade were slicing through her body. Blood dripped steadily from her ears, splattering onto the ground before quickly dissolving into her shadow.
Lovia's body dissolved just like that, scattering into the shadows and vanishing without a trace.
Only once she had completely disappeared did Colin Elliott sheathe his blades.
He gave Derrick a deep, searching look, then pulled back the tent flap and walked out.
————
On the Grey Fog.
"Still, even if your Chief is able to keep Lovia in check, you should be more careful going forward," Hanged Man Alger said. "Once you're back, try not to show anything out of the ordinary, or it'll only give her more reason for suspicion..."
"...For the sake of Silver City's future, you must stay vigilant."
Alger had, by now, thoroughly mastered the art of handling Sun.
Sun's safety mattered a great deal; losing him could cost Alger an important source of information and a channel into the Beyonder world, so he still wanted to do what he could to keep him safe.
"Mr. Hanged Man, thank you for the warning."
Derrick said gratefully, growing ever more convinced that the man was a genuinely good person.
"Once you're back, help me look into that shepherd's background thoroughly."
Silas added. He'd begun to take some interest in this elder of Silver City.
"Does anyone else have anything to share?"
Justice Audrey asked, looking around at everyone present.
"Um, actually, there is something."
Magician Fors hesitated for a moment before finally raising her hand.
"Mr. Temperance, there's something I wanted to tell you. A new Aurora Order divine envoy has arrived in Backlund, calling himself Mr. X. His real name is Lewis Wien. I'd like to hire you to kill him. How much would that cost?"
That Mr. X was an enemy of her teacher's family; the rebellion he'd taken part in had caused their family tremendous harm.
To repay her teacher, she was willing to pay some price for it... Still, hiring a demigod was an extravagant expense, and she hoped Mr. Temperance might, given that they belonged to the same organization, be willing to keep the price relatively low.
The Aurora Order...
Silas went momentarily blank, and then his gaze slowly turned cold.
Well, isn't that convenient. He'd barely left Backlund and already this bunch of bastards were crawling back. Like rats in a gutter, mildew in a damp house, no matter how much you cleaned, they just kept coming back.
"You don't need to pay me anything."
Silas came back to himself and gave a cold laugh. "Not only do you not need to pay, I actually owe you my thanks, for giving me information on that trash. Once it's done, I'll cut you in for a tenth of the spoils."
He hadn't forgotten the vow of vengeance he'd made back then. He intended to wipe out every last Aurora Order bastard, along with that evil god sitting at the top of it all.
"Ah, no, really, that's not necessary, thank you."
Fors waved her hands in a bit of a panic, having originally meant to decline, but once her eyes met Silas's, she didn't dare argue and could only accept it obediently.
"That said, I'm still out at sea right now and can't get to Backlund for the time being. You can start gathering information for me in the meantime."
Silas said, then swept his gaze across everyone present. "Everyone, if any of you come across Aurora Order members or related leads at any point, feel free to reach out to me as well. I'd be more than happy to wipe them out, and I'll share a portion of whatever's seized with you."
This guy really is set on fighting the Aurora Order to the death...
Hanged Man Alger glanced covertly at Silas, then, along with everyone else, indicated that he understood.
After that, no other members had further news to share, and once Fool declared the gathering concluded, everyone bowed in farewell, bringing today's meeting to an end.
Back in reality, Cattelya, the "Star Admiral," woke in her captain's quarters. She stood there for a moment, considering, before finally unrolling a sheet of paper and writing down a single line:
[Someone is seeking the Sequence 3 potion formula for the Secrets Suppliant pathway]