"Hmm... an Evil God?"
Lord of Scales and Feathers read the thoughts in Iver's heart, leaned forward slightly, and let out a hearty laugh. "So that's what you thought?"
"Just kidding, just kidding..."
Iver laughed awkwardly.
Because he didn't want anyone to hear him, Iver hadn't spoken a word the entire time. Instead, he relied on Lord of Scales and Feathers's mind-reading to communicate through his "inner thoughts."
With anyone else, this sort of muttering could still count as complaining inwardly. But to Lord of Scales and Feathers, it was the same as complaining to his face—thinking about it that way, it was indeed somewhat impolite.
"I was only joking."
Lord of Scales and Feathers cheerfully leaned his upper body back and lay down across from him in the carriage. "I wouldn't get angry over something like that. Is it possible that I was an Evil God to begin with?"
It feels like you did get angry, though!
Yet in the face of Iver's increasingly peculiar gaze, Lord of Scales and Feathers merely said calmly, "Don't worry about those details. When all is said and done, what difference is there between an Evil God and a True God?
"Darkness is devoured by an even greater darkness, and villains become worthy of alliance before an even greater villain. Just like the assassins of Hawkeye.
"From the moment they were founded, they were unstable elements in the eyes of rulers, a mass of uncontrollable darkness. No ruler in this world could tolerate the existence of an assassination organization whose members possessed skills deep enough to kill them with ease, while remaining beyond their absolute control.
"Yet when faced with the ever-expanding Child of the Moon, the Iris royal family still chose to tacitly approve of Hawkeye and even protect it. During the