After listening to Derrick's description, Alice solemnly suggested:
"Why don't you just run away?
"'True Creator' is an extremely dangerous evil god. Even if His temple has already been destroyed, it probably still hides dangers that are difficult to detect.
"Besides, the most dangerous thing may not be the temple itself, but the elder leading your team... You know, the pinnacle of the 'Shepherd' pathway is precisely the 'True Creator.'"
Alger agreed. "That's right. If another elder from the Council of Six were leading this mission, it wouldn't be impossible for you to go, though the risk would be high. But you just said that the one in charge is Shepherd Lovia, so you absolutely cannot go!"
After several seconds of silence, Derrick said awkwardly, "But I have to accept the mission."
"Maybe you could pretend to be sick... Uh, pretend to be injured?" Alice asked hesitantly.
Even Audrey understood how unreliable that idea was. She tactfully asked, "Wouldn't that be discovered?"
"Then get genuinely injured," Alger said with a low chuckle. "Before this mission, will you still be taking part in patrols? Find an opportunity and deliberately let a Monster injure you. As for the extent, you can refer to past cases in the City of Silver."
Derrick wore an expression that said, "That works too?"
Alice suddenly understood and asked Alger a very ill-timed question. "Mr. Hanged Man, do you do this often? Why do you sound so experienced with this sort of thing?"
Alger opened and closed his mouth twice, but could not force out a single word.
Fortunately, the confused and astonished Derrick came to Alger's rescue at that moment. "But I haven't had any patrol duties recently..."
Hanged Man Alger gave a short laugh:
"You can pretend that you're close to losing control. No, more