Although Emlyn was shrouded in gray fog, revealing only his silhouette and the broad outlines of his face, his undisguised movements still alerted many Tarot Club members that something was wrong.
The Tarot Club had been meeting for two years, and everyone had long since exhausted the pages of Roselle's Diary available to them. Offering diary pages and waiting for Mr. Fool to read them had therefore become stages they all tacitly skipped. Transactions had also dwindled considerably as their Sequences rose, with barely one deal concluded each month. As a result, their weekly gatherings at three on Monday afternoons had become discussions where everyone shared intelligence and spoke freely.
Thus, after the customary greetings, Audrey, Justice, asked with concern:
"Mr. Moon, are you all right?"
The others also turned their attention to the Sanguine.
Emlyn instinctively straightened his back, glanced around, and gathered his thoughts before shaking his head.
"I'm fine. I just received some important information at noon today..."
After a moment's hesitation, he decided to raise his questions at the gathering and draw on everyone's wisdom rather than worry alone.
"Here's what happened. An Archbishop of the Church of the Earth Mother came to see me today. He said that, in accordance with the pontiff's wishes, I would serve as the Sanguine's representative within the Church of the Earth, with a rank equivalent to a senior deacon..."
A hint of pride entered Emlyn's voice as he said this.
A vampire—no, a Sanguine—becoming a senior deacon of the Earth Mother. How peculiar. I remember that two years ago, he cried every day because he was locked in the basement of Harvest Church, begging everyone who passed by to find a way to rescue him... Angel secretly laughed at the weak-willed vampire.
Of course, she understood why the Church