Josh slammed a furious palm onto the table, and the gust it raised made even the newspaper spread across it tremble slightly.
Zoe, some distance away, looked over in surprise.
This was Blood Port.
After Theus's review, the Mystic Society had not been disbanded outright. Even Josh was still temporarily serving as acting high priest.
Honestly, Josh had found this rather unexpected. The believers had shown little reaction to it. Although Theus had personally dispelled the rumors that he was a god, the people of the Mystic Society still secretly recited his name in private—they simply no longer worshipped him openly.
There was even an unspoken understanding about it. The believers seemed to regard it as some kind of test, and their faith had not truly wavered.
After Blood Port's reconstruction began, the prince had assigned the Mystic Society a new plot of land. It was right beside the upper district and not far from the docks, an excellent location.
Zoe and the other diplomatic personnel had also established a base here, perhaps the beginnings of a future embassy.
The Mystic Society's core members were all Northerners. Most of them had previously been part of Nora's resistance army. Jeremiah's Black Pearl had carried them here from the Northern Territory, and they had become the Mystic Society's earliest members.
As for those who joined later, many were Northern Territory refugees as well. Nora's name carried great weight among them.
In short, there was hardly a Northerner who did not know Nora. The resistance army she led had taken in most of the refugees and carved out a path to survival for them from the chaotic Northern Territory.
In the eyes of the Mystic Society's believers, Nora ranked second only to Theus. If Theus was the distant, unreachable god, then Nora was