When Vice President Freddy asked about his messenger, Raphael replied casually, "I recruited him from the Spirit World."
After a pause, Raphael added, "It took two summonings to succeed. He seems a little unusual, and not much like a spirit world creature, either. But since the payment suited him, we signed a contract."
Freddy nodded slowly and asked another question. "What does he want as payment?"
Raphael smiled. "He wants me to keep supplying him with Beyonder corpses. That isn't difficult for me."
"Oh," Freddy said, realizing that Raphael seemed to have noticed something amiss without realizing the messenger's level.
Not every Sequence 5 could summon a demigod-level messenger-or rather, under normal circumstances, a Sequence 5 who summoned a demigod-level spirit world creature would most likely be killed on the spot.
Freddy did not investigate further. Raphael had the aura of "the Lord's blessed," so he assumed that this messenger, clearly from the Secrets Suppliant pathway, had been drawn by that aura.
Then Freddy glanced at the letter in Raphael's hand and said, "I'll head back first. Call me if anything comes up."
"All right." Raphael nodded with a smile and thanked the vice president again for his help.
He did not volunteer an explanation of the letter's contents or who had sent it. There was no need to explain those things; doing so would only look suspicious.
However, Raphael guessed that Freddy would not leave immediately. He would probably hide in the nearby shadows and observe for a while.
He brought his "main account" online and took a look with True Vision. Sure enough, the vice president, who had just left, was now hiding in the shadow beneath the vase rack.
Raphael knew perfectly well that this did not mean the vice president distrusted him. It was simply a