While Odys was speaking with Marco, a demigod of the Trunsoest Family, he realized the family must know something about the Night Emperor's condition. Otherwise, Marco would not have told him so confidently that the order to find narrow-necked glass bottles had not come from the Night Emperor.
When Odys heard Bernadette's guess, he smiled. "That's what I think too."
He took a deep breath. "But the question is, I'm curious about the Night Emperor's current condition—"
Odys smiled. "In the Fourth Epoch, the Night Emperor switched to an Adjacent Pathway and became a god. Of the Four Emperors, his condition was probably fairly good.
"If he thought to cooperate with the Underworld Emperor and leave a way out for the Trunsoest Empire and its royal family, he couldn't possibly have forgotten to leave one for himself."
He paused. "But how does he intend to come back?"
The Justiciar Pathway was not the Black Emperor Pathway. It did not seem particularly suited to resurrection.
The trouble was, he could not interrogate the Trunsoest Family about it.
Bernadette smiled. "It's hard for us to make reasonable guesses about the affairs of gods."
That reminded Odys of something. "True," he said, while thinking, I'll go to the Knowledge Moor later and ask the Celestial Master what he thinks.
They did not continue discussing the Night Emperor. They lacked enough clues, so talking would get them nowhere. They could not even narrow their guesses down to a general direction.
Instead, they discussed bringing members of the Trunsoest Family into the fold. Bernadette caught on quickly. "You showed them your hand right away? Aren't you worried they'll make outrageous demands?"
She paused. "That doesn't sound like you."
"They're bound to make outrageous demands," Odys said with a smile.
"Negotiations depend on who you're dealing