Mr. Hangman, You're Overthinking It!

The atmosphere in Tingen City grew increasingly heavy. Even the commoners, unaware of the specifics, began to sense that something was amiss.

The number of detectives patrolling the streets seemed to increase daily, and nobles started reducing their beloved ballroom dances.

The gangsters and ruffians beneath the city began to rein in their subordinates, and even the errand boys responsible for "taking out the trash" became noticeably more diligent.

Amidst this tense atmosphere, Sno, on the other hand, was living quite leisurely, no different from the previous half-month.

Mr. A was busy searching for the Divine Child's whereabouts and had no intention of contacting him, nor did Klein have any plans to retrieve his Clown potion formula.

This made him a little anxious.

Although it would be a full month before Klein's advancement according to the original story, compared to obtaining potion formulas from enemies' corpses, if Klein were to get the potion from Sno, it would be difficult for him to acquire the ingredients through official channels because he wouldn't be able to explain the source of his formula.

"If my interference actually slows down Mr. Fool's advancement, then that would truly be a sin," Sno muttered to himself, then recited the prepared script twice before quietly awaiting the appointed time.

As crimson light surged like a tide, Sno's vision brightened. The next moment, he found himself once again before the ancient, mottled Bronze Long Table. Opposite him sat Miss Justice, who seemed to maintain an optimistic and cheerful demeanor at all times, and to his right was Mr. Hangman with his blue seaweed-like hair.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Fool, good afternoon, Mr. Hangman, good afternoon, Mr. Devil."

Miss Justice's sweet and light voice seemed to dispel all gloom. Infected by her smile, Sno and Mr. Hangman also offered their greetings.

After the usual pleasantries, Miss Justice suddenly turned her head and addressed Mr. Fool:

"Respected Mr. Fool, I did not manage to collect any of Roselle's Diary this week. I had already contacted two Extraordinary individuals and planned to collect them through their circles, but for some reason, that Extraordinary gathering was suddenly suspended..."

"Of course, it's because Mr. A came to Tingen," Sno thought to himself, then added respectfully:

"Mr. Fool, my current situation is rather sensitive, and I am unable to retrieve Roselle's Diary for the time being."

"I am still at sea and cannot obtain the diary for now."

Seeing that the other two members had not obtained the diary, Alger immediately felt relieved, even his excuse sounding somewhat righteous. However, he also noticed that when Mr. Devil mentioned the diary, he said "retrieve" rather than "obtain," which likely meant that he might possess a considerable number of Roselle's Diaries.

Mr. Fool could not say anything about the situation of the three. He could only sigh inwardly about the recent string of bad luck and then speak in his characteristic Fool-like tone:

"You may now communicate with each other."

Audrey, hearing that Mr. Fool did not show any emotional change because of this, immediately breathed a sigh of relief. She actively entered the Spectator state and then said with a faint smile:

"The situation in Backlund has seemed a bit strange lately. The previously arranged Extraordinary gatherings have been suspended, and many scheduled literary salons and wine parties have also been called off. Except for a few balls involving the 'decorum' of the great nobles, which are still proceeding, the entire Backlund seems to have entered a social off-season."

"The original story didn't have anything like this happen! If it were just Mr. A leaving Backlund, it shouldn't be enough to affect the lives of the nobles, let alone cause gatherings like literary salons to be called off. Is it the influence of Ince Zangwill's new script? But the scope of 0-08's influence should only be limited to one city! There's no way it could affect Backlund across regions..."

Sno fell into thought upon hearing Miss Justice's words. Miss Justice, in her Spectator state, keenly captured Mr. Devil's emotional change and immediately asked:

"Mr. Devil, did you think of something?"

"Yes, although I don't know if it's related to what you're talking about, some things have indeed happened on my end," Sno nodded slightly, tidied up his language a bit, and then began:

"Last week, traces of a Conception by a child of The Creator were discovered in Tingen City. The envoy of the Aurora Society, who was stationed in Backlund, subsequently came to Tingen and clashed with the official Extraordinary individuals from the three major churches. This directly led to Tingen City entering a state of martial law. However, a week has passed since then, and the elite Extraordinary team that was scheduled to arrive in Tingen City has still not shown up."

"An envoy of the Aurora Society? What is that? And that child of The Creator, is it dangerous?" Audrey had heard the name "Aurora Society" from Mr. Hangman and Mr. Devil more than once. They seemed to be a cult organization that worshipped "The Creator," but her understanding of it was limited to that. Hearing information about this organization again at this moment, her curiosity could not help but stir.

However, she noticed that after she asked this question, Mr. Hangman and Mr. Devil exchanged a glance, and then neither of them spoke, as if they were waiting for the other to speak first.

"Could this question potentially expose their identities?" Audrey realized she might have asked the wrong question. However, after a brief silence, Mr. Hangman, after giving Mr. Fool a meaningful look, finally spoke:

"Because the Aurora Society has been targeting the Church of the Lord of Storms, the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun, and the Church of Knowledge and Wisdom, these three major churches understand the Aurora Society better than other organizations. I learned some information from them."

"Here it comes, the classic 'I have a friend'!" Mr. Fool thought to himself, then considered Mr. Devil from the Aurora Society and Miss Justice, who was about to join the Psychology Alchemist Association, and suddenly felt that this Tarot Club of his was truly a gathering of traitors.

However...

Why were the Aurora Society's targets precisely the three oldest churches?

Although there was no reason, Mr. Fool instinctively felt that Mr. Devil might know something, but it was inconvenient to inquire in his capacity as The Fool, so he could only calmly await Mr. Hangman's continuation.

Alger knew that he couldn't hide it from Mr. Fool. What he truly cared about was this "Mr. Devil" sitting beside him. Although he had only joined the Tarot Club last time, his remarks indicated that this person likely belonged to an ancient Extraordinary family and possessed considerable resources.

However, the other party was too cautious, giving him no opportunity to pry into his identity. Thinking that his own identity might have been exposed due to his blue hair, he somewhat helplessly began to explain the envoy and saint system of the Aurora Society...

Regarding Ince's plan to have the Aurora Society cause trouble and involve official Extraordinary individuals, I think it's feasible.

Firstly, those great nobles wouldn't care how many people died in Tingen, or even in Backlund. They only care about their own safety, which should be very evident in the original story. Therefore, when the Aurora Society's actions threaten the safety of the nobles, the nobles of Backlund will inevitably pressure the Church to protect themselves.

Secondly, as mentioned before, a child of an evil god is a major issue in Tingen, but nothing in Backlund. Unless it's Sequence I or the King of Angels, even an angel would have a hard time in Backlund, let alone a child of an evil god who might just be Sequence V or an incomplete Sequence IV. Therefore, for the royal family and the official authorities, the greatest disaster that a child of an evil god could cause would be, at most, to create a disaster equivalent to a common plague in a small city like Tingen, which is ranked third-tier or lower, and then add one more Saint to the Aurora Society, and that's all.

Finally, hasn't everyone forgotten that this child of an evil god is theoretically also created by the Aurora Society? In other words, if the Aurora Society messes around in Backlund, the officials will also suspect that they intend to create more children of evil gods, or even bring about the descent of an evil god.

Therefore, I believe that using Backlund as a place to cause trouble to involve official Extraordinary individuals is a reasonable experience.

As for whether it would directly attract an angel, it probably wouldn't. This is because the child of an evil god has not yet been discovered, only confirmed to exist, but its location is unknown. Angels cannot be permanently stationed in Tingen, so they can only go to Tingen to eliminate it after finding the Divine Child.