In the meeting room beneath Backlund's Church of Steam.
Horamick Haydn, Archbishop of the Backlund Diocese and a member of the Meeting Before God, sat at the head of the long table in a white pastor's robe. His face bore an unusual hint of exhaustion, causing the deacons and captains of the Machinery Hivemind around the table to exchange glances.
Over the past few days, this Demigod had been rushing all over the place, dealing with the aftermath of last week's Great Smog, fighting for more benefits for the Church of Steam during negotiations between the royal family and the Three Great Churches, joining forces with the Church of Storms and the Church of Evernight to strike the remaining cult strongholds in Backlund, and repairing his damaged mechanical puppets.
Though excessive labor would not bring down his body, which was already far beyond ordinary human limits, the damage to his spirit was obvious.
Most importantly, the Church of Steam had played almost no positive role in this disaster. The smog had ultimately been dispersed by Archbishop Randall Valentinus of the Church of Storms after he rushed back. Anthony Stevenson of the Church of Evernight had been the first to obtain the crucial information, and Evernight believers led by Earl Hall had donated vast sums of money and supplies for disaster relief. Horamick could only follow along and handle the aftermath.
"Let us begin. Report the new developments in order."
Even he was surprised by the exhaustion contained in his voice.
The deacon seated to his right, Ikanser Bernard, pressed down his stubborn hair, spread out the documents before him, and reported as concisely as possible:
"Based on Sherlock Moriarty's tip-off letter, we confirmed that Talim Dumont died from a fatal curse, and that the murderer was Trissy, the Demoness at