Besides the Hanged Man and the Hermit, who were both well informed about events at sea, Fors the Magician had also personally visited Saint Angelica Church. She instinctively turned her gaze toward Angel, whose seat was right beside Mr. Fool's. Even if the other members had never heard of the Witch Church, they at least knew the name of the Tarot Club's only angel. Soon, every gaze rested on her.
Only Derrick, who was in the Forsaken Land of the Gods and preoccupied with the City of Silver's internal affairs, asked in confusion:
"The Witch Church? Is that the secret organization worshipping an evil god that you mentioned before?"
"That's the Demoness Sect," Alger corrected casually. "The Witch Church, which reveres calamity without spreading it, currently only preaches in Partis, the Dream City. Its believers are limited to the city's residents and some sailors who frequently visit that port. I estimate that there are no more than ten thousand of them. The church's official members probably number in the hundreds?"
His final sentence was a question directed at Angel.
I should have founded the church under a different name. As things stand, there's no hiding it from anyone who knows me... But my need for anchors leaves me no choice but to preach openly... Angel grumbled inwardly, then shook her head and said:
"There actually aren't that many."
Counting Trissy, Sherman, Helene, some of the Beyonder sailors in the Red Haired Woman fleet, and Tia, the Witch who had only just been coaxed into the church, there were fewer than twenty people who qualified as official members. That was fewer than the clergy of any one of the Three Great Churches in Tingen City.
Not only did Angel's Witch Church have few members, its organizational structure was also deeply unbalanced.