After the meeting ended, in the archive room of the Church of Saint Samuel.
"So, how do you find the strength of our Nighthawks here in the Backlund parish?" Saint Anthony asked with a smile.
"Not bad," Silas answered calmly, his mind drifting for a moment to the two familiar faces he'd just seen, Leonard and Ms. Daly.
He was no longer wearing the crimson robe from before, nor did he bear the face from the wanted posters.
Instead, he wore a suit of pure black, with a blood red shirt underneath.
He hadn't bothered with a tie, and had left the top button undone, giving him a somewhat casual air.
Using his flesh and blood magic, he'd altered his appearance, making the lines of his face harder and more severe, his eyes now bloodshot red.
Silas sat with his arms crossed, one leg over the other, leaning back in his chair.
He still looked handsome, but gone was that unnervingly beautiful look and manic air he'd once carried. In their place was something rational, detached.
Since there were people in the church who knew him, he'd simply decided to become someone entirely different from the person they remembered.
Tucked discreetly at his shirt cuff was a cufflink shaped like a black gemstone. It lent his presence an even greater stillness, as unfathomable as the night itself.
"Heh... this is the first I've heard that the Church keeps a hidden unit like yourself."
Anthony chuckled softly, his eyes sweeping briefly over Silas's cufflink. "Well, I don't know what sort of task Lady Arianna has arranged for you, but I'll cooperate."
According to the cover Arianna had given Silas, he hailed from the Church of Evernight's headquarters, the Cathedral of Serenity, and was a specially trained agent raised in secret.
The cufflink had been hers as well, a genuine Sequence 4 Evernight Pathway item. Even unused, it gave off a profound presence, making him seem all the more like a true Beyonder of the Evernight Pathway.
But Anthony Stevenson was a Sequence 3 Horror Bishop, and should have had no trouble spotting the inconsistencies.
Yet to have risen to such a position, he was clearly no fool, and he wisely asked nothing at all, simply agreeing to look after this deacon who'd been abruptly assigned to him.
"My thanks for your understanding, Archbishop Anthony," Silas said evenly.
In truth, Arianna had indeed given him a task before she left.
"The senior deacon post that's just opened up is mainly responsible for matters concerning the Red Gloves. Get yourself settled first, and then you can speak with Krester, he handles that area as well," Anthony continued.
"Understood," Silas nodded.
The task Arianna had assigned him was tied to exactly this.
Now, why exactly had this senior deacon post suddenly opened up?
Because the senior deacon who had previously handled such matters had killed himself.
That was right, a Sequence 4, demigod level Beyonder, and he had taken his own life.
According to Arianna, the deacon had been resting at the time in a bedroom the Church had arranged for him, inside the Church of Saint Samuel itself.
When someone finally went to see him, they found him kneeling on the bed, having strangled himself to death with his own hands. His Beyonder characteristics had already crystallized out and lay quietly upon the sheets.
One had to remember, this was the very heart of the Church of Evernight, guarded with the utmost care.
No one outside had heard any sound of a struggle, as if the deacon had truly, quietly chosen to end his own life.
To prevent panic, the matter was swiftly covered up.
Aside from a select few, everyone else believed the deacon had suddenly received the Goddess's calling, abandoned everything, and gone off to headquarters to become an ascetic.
In the Church's subsequent investigation, they discovered abnormal spiritual fluctuations in the deceased's bedroom, but the traces had been wiped away so thoroughly that they couldn't even determine which Pathway the killer belonged to.
"But for someone to kill a senior deacon silently, without a trace, in his own bedroom, the culprit must be not only extremely powerful, but likely had help from someone within the Church," Arianna had said while briefing him on the case.
"Since the deacon had decided on the spur of the moment to rest at the church, the room he was assigned wasn't fixed in advance. Everyone who could have known that information is a Church insider."
So basically, you want me to hunt down the mole.
Silas thought to himself, then asked Arianna, "If I find the Church's mole, would that count toward my contribution?"
"Of course," she confirmed.
That was all it took for Silas's interest to be thoroughly piqued.
"...Ishmael, Ishmael, are you still listening to me?"
Saint Anthony's voice rose slightly, though his tone remained just as gentle.
"Sorry, I drifted off for a moment," Silas said, adjusting his posture in the chair. "Where were we?"
"I was saying, you don't have a place to stay here, do you? What are your plans for settling in?" Anthony said. "If it would help you feel closer to the Goddess's glory, you're welcome to stay within the church itself..."
And end up quietly murdered like my predecessor?
"That won't be necessary," Silas said, shaking his head without a flicker of expression. "The church's space is limited. It wouldn't be right for me to occupy it long term."
"If you'd rather live outside, that's fine too. As a benefit the Church offers senior deacons, we can arrange free lodging for you..."
I'd also rather not let a potential mole know where I'm staying.
"The Church's benefits should go to those who need them more. My own finances are fine, I can rent a place on my own."
Silas declined again.
"Your noble character is truly admirable," Anthony said with a smile, rising from his seat.
"I have other matters to attend to, and you'll want to get yourself settled as well, so I won't keep you. Come find me if you need anything."
"Thank you again for your help, Archbishop Anthony," Silas said, also rising.
"At times like these, all you need do is praise the Goddess," the archbishop said serenely, tracing the shape of a crescent moon over his chest with his fingers. "Praise the Goddess."
"Yes. Praise the Goddess."
Silas felt none of the reverence in his heart, but his mouth and hands fell into the gesture readily enough.
Once he'd seen Saint Anthony off, he sat back down and began turning over in his mind what to do next.
First, he shouldn't forget his primary objective: advancement.
To obtain the Trinity Templar formula and its accompanying characteristic, he needed to earn merit within the Church.
Given the current situation, that meant either making a name for himself in the senior deacon post, or tracking down the mole Arianna had spoken of. Of course, the two could be pursued at the same time.
First, find a place to stay, then figure out how to handle both of these matters well...
Thinking this over, he walked out of the archive room, crossed the corridor, and left the church.
In the square before the church, a flock of white doves burst into flight, wings beating as they soared beneath the sky.
Watching this, Silas felt, little by little, the reality of it settle in: he really was back in Backlund.
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