As he spoke, Shade thought again of the first god he had encountered, of the young man in the toy store wearing a Clown Hat:
"He once created an Eternal Fire that would never go out, and a spring that would never run dry, for a beautiful Witches Princess. But when the Witches Princess asked Him for immortality, the god left her."
Smiling in response to Mr. Anderson's not particularly funny, slang-filled joke, Shade summarized his own approach:
"Immature children always have all sorts of wishes. For those warm and sincere wishes, of course we should find a way to fulfill them. For wishes that may be problematic, we should correct and remind them. As for how to distinguish children's wishes, and how to handle the thoughts of immature young people, that is what qualified adults must do. An adult's responsibility toward children is probably just that."
Her laughter by Shade's ear grew gentler, while in his pocket, the Anchor Silver Ornament radiated a warm temperature. The anchor accepted this method of handling the task. Illustrious Miss's second task had officially ended here.
His meeting with Anderson the porter had also concealed Shade's desire to make contact with Eternal Light. Unfortunately, Mr. Anderson did not relent in the end and did not tell Shade how to contact the other members of Eternal Light.
But at least he had told Shade about Eternal Light's internal structure, information that even the police might not have figured out:
"The highest leader is called the Archbishop. I have never met him, but people all praise him as a devout ascetic."
"Devout? Who does he worship?"
"Not a deity, but light itself. He and two cardinals form a council that jointly governs Eternal Light. Of course, that is only what I have heard. Beneath the