The atmosphere in Tingen City grew increasingly grim. Even civilians who knew nothing had gradually begun to sense that something was wrong.
The number of constables patrolling the streets seemed to increase every day, while the nobles began holding fewer of their beloved balls.
The gangsters in the city's underworld began restraining their subordinates. Even the lackeys responsible for "taking out the trash" became increasingly diligent.
Yet amid such tension, Sno was living quite leisurely, with nothing changing from the previous half month.
Mr. A was busy searching for the whereabouts of the Divine Child and had no intention of contacting him. Klein had not come to collect his Clown Potion Formula either.
That left him somewhat anxious.
Although Klein was still a full month away from advancing in the original story, compared to obtaining a Potion Formula from an enemy's corpse, getting the potion from Sno would probably make it difficult for Klein to acquire the ingredients through official channels, because he had no way to explain where the formula had come from.
"If my interference ends up slowing Mr. Fool's advancement, that really would be a sin." Sno grumbled inwardly, then rehearsed the script he had prepared twice more before quietly waiting for the time to arrive.
A crimson glow surged in like a tide. Sno only felt a flash before his eyes, and in the next moment, he appeared once again before the ancient, mottled Bronze Long Table. Across from him sat Miss Justice, who seemed perpetually optimistic and cheerful, while to his right sat Mr. Hangman, with his blue seaweed-like hair.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Fool. Good afternoon, Mr. Hangman. Good afternoon, Mr. Devil."
Miss Justice's sweet, lively voice seemed to dispel all gloom. Infected by her smile, Sno and Mr. Hangman returned the greeting as well.
After the customary greetings, Miss Justice suddenly turned to Mr. Fool and said:
"Honorable Mr. Fool, I didn't collect any pages of Roselle's Diary this week. I had originally contacted two Beyonders and planned to collect them through their circles, but for some reason, that Beyonder gathering was suddenly suspended..."
"Of course, it's because Mr. A came to Tingen." Sno muttered inwardly before respectfully adding:
"Mr. Fool, my situation is rather sensitive at the moment, so I can't retrieve Roselle's Diary for now."
"I'm still at sea, so I can't obtain any diary pages for the time being either."
Seeing that the other two members had not obtained any diary pages, Alger immediately relaxed. Even his excuse sounded more justified now. However, he also noticed that when Devil mentioned the diary, he had said retrieve rather than obtain. That most likely meant he possessed a considerable collection of Roselle's Diary.
Mr. Fool could not say much about the three of their circumstances. He could only sigh inwardly about his recent bad luck before speaking in his Fool-like tone:
"You may exchange information."
Hearing that Mr. Fool had not displayed any emotional change because of this, Audrey immediately breathed a sigh of relief. She took the initiative to enter her Spectator state, then said with a faint smile:
"Backlund has seemed rather strange lately. The Beyonder gathering that had been arranged in advance was suspended, and many scheduled literary salons and cocktail parties were all canceled. Aside from a few balls involving the 'dignity' of great nobles that are still being held, all of Backlund seems to have entered a social off-season."
"This never happened in the original story! If Mr. A merely left Backlund, that shouldn't have been enough to affect the nobles' lives, much less cause gatherings like literary salons to be canceled. Was it the influence of Ince Zangwill's new script? But 0-08's range of influence should only be one city! There's no way it could affect Backlund across regions..."
Listening to Miss Justice, Sno immediately fell into thought. In her Spectator state, Miss Justice sharply caught Mr. Devil's emotional shift and promptly asked:
"Mr. Devil, did you think of something?"
"Yes. I don't know whether it has anything to do with what you mentioned, but something has indeed happened on my end." Sno nodded gently, organized his words slightly, and said:
"Last week, Tingen City discovered traces suggesting that the Progeny of the Fallen Creator had been conceived. An Aurora Society Oracle originally stationed in Backlund then came to Tingen and clashed with the official Beyonders of the Three Great Churches. This directly caused Tingen City to enter martial law. However, a week has already passed, and the elite Beyonder squad that was originally scheduled to arrive in Tingen City has yet to appear."
"An Aurora Society Oracle? What is that? And that Progeny of the Fallen Creator, is it dangerous?" Audrey had heard the name of the organization "Aurora Society" more than once from both Hanged Man and Devil. They seemed to be a cult that worshiped "The Creator," but that was the extent of her understanding. Now that she had heard more information about the organization, her curiosity once again began to stir uncontrollably.
However, she noticed that after she asked the question, Mr. Hangman and Mr. Devil suddenly exchanged glances. Then neither spoke, as though each were waiting for the other to speak first.
"Could this question expose their identities?" Audrey realized that she might have asked the wrong question. Yet after a brief silence, Mr. Hangman gave Mr. Fool a meaningful glance before finally speaking first:
"Because the Aurora Society has always targeted the Church of the Lord of Storms, the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun, and the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, these Three Great Churches know more about the Aurora Society than other organizations. I learned some things from them."
"Here it comes, the classic 'I have a friend'!" Mr. Fool grumbled inwardly. Then he thought of Mr. Devil from the Aurora Society and Miss Justice, who was about to join the Psychology Alchemists, and suddenly felt that his Tarot Club was truly a gathering of double agents.
However...
Why were the Aurora Society's targets of hatred precisely the three oldest churches?
Though he had no reason for it, Mr. Fool instinctively felt that Mr. Devil might know something. But it was inconvenient to ask in his capacity as the Fool, so he could only calmly wait for Mr. Hangman's next words.
Alger knew that he definitely could not hide this from the Fool. What he truly cared about, however, was this "Mr. Devil" seated beside him. Although Devil had only joined the Tarot Club last time, his remarks showed that he likely belonged to some ancient Beyonder family and possessed considerable resources.
The other party was simply too cautious, giving him no chance to probe his identity. Thinking that his own identity might have already been exposed by his blue hair, Alger felt slightly helpless as he began introducing the Aurora Society's Oracle and Saint system...
As for Ince having the Aurora Society cause trouble to tie down the official Beyonders, I think it was feasible.
First of all, those great nobles would not care how many people died in Tingen. They would not even care how many people died in Backlund. They only cared about their own safety, and I think that was made quite clear in the original story. Therefore, when the Aurora Society's actions threatened the nobles' safety, Backlund's nobles would inevitably pressure the churches to protect them.
Second, as I said, an Evil God Progeny was a ticking time bomb in Tingen, but it was nothing in Backlund. Unless it was Sequence One or a King of Angel, even an Angel could not gain any advantage in Backlund, much less a Divine Child that was possibly only Sequence V or an incomplete Sequence IV. Therefore, for the royal family and the officials, the greatest Catastrophe an Evil God Progeny could cause would be creating a disaster equivalent to an ordinary epidemic in a small, third-rate city like Tingen, then adding one Saint to the Aurora Society. That was all.
Finally, have people forgotten that, theoretically, this Evil God Progeny was also created by the Aurora Society? In other words, if the Aurora Society caused trouble in Backlund, the officials would suspect that they intended to create more Evil God Progeny, or simply bring about the descent of an Evil God.
So I believe it was reasonable to use trouble in Backlund to tie down the official Beyonders.
As for whether that would directly draw Angels, it probably would not. The Evil God Progeny had not yet been discovered; it had only been confirmed that one existed, but no one knew where it was. And Angels could not remain stationed in Tingen, so they could only first find the Divine Child. Only then could an Angel possibly travel to Tingen to destroy it.
Before you continue