Arrangements

Healing my injuries? Nimrod frowned, momentarily puzzled. He did not think Mr. Z knew he had been injured.

As far as Mr. Z knew, these three days had never happened to him. Before that, he had only spent an afternoon at this Aurora Order base, then gone peacefully to sleep.

"I heard the Lord's voice."

Mr. Z's tone was frenzied as he addressed Nimrod with utmost devotion. "Did you hear His voice? How peaceful, how tranquil it was-I saw the Lord's benevolent gaze. He hung upside down at the end of the world, watching over our existence..."

An endless stream of praise poured from Mr. Z's lips. Nimrod did not interrupt him, while several conjectures swiftly surfaced in his mind:

This had to be a lingering effect of Adam's earlier intervention.

He had protection of an extremely high standing. Only Adam, who controlled the stage that was the Cordu Village Dream, could have realized that an unobservable shadow, one that could not be gazed upon, had appeared in his story-and earlier, He had seized an opportunity to grant that shadow a blessing.

Afterward, Nimrod had used Sefirah Castle's power to conceal Adam's gaze.

But the future Grisha Adam possessed the authorities of both the Visionary and the Hanged Man. The part belonging to the Hanged Man had been taken by the mad True Creator as a sign of His own "favor."

But why would the True Creator attach such importance to him? Suspicion suddenly rose in Nimrod's mind, but after turning it over, he could find only one explanation: the gaze Adam had left upon him was of a sufficiently high level.

[But you never intended to accept Adam's gift.]

The Celestial Worthy said leisurely:

[Could a Half-Pillar's gaze really penetrate my Sefirah Castle and see our faces? This is an existence close to the origin itself, the strongest fortress forged jointly by the Original Creator's legacy and your standing.]

Nimrod raised his eyebrows and spoke to the Celestial Worthy in his mind:

"What do you mean?"

This time, the Celestial Worthy did not refuse to answer Nimrod's question. Instead, he spoke quite candidly:

[Simply put, He probably mistook you for my successor-perhaps the Fool, perhaps someone else. But who cares? As long as you bear my aura, He has to give you the corresponding level of attention.]

"Then is there a chance..." Nimrod considered it, feeling that his guess might accidentally hit the mark. "That Adam mistook me for Amon?"

The Celestial Worthy: *[...]*

The Celestial Worthy: [...That is not impossible.]

Having resolved that question about himself, Nimrod slowly nodded and extended a hand toward Mr. Z in front of him.

"Go ahead."

Mr. Z slowly lowered his head. His earlier fanaticism vanished, and like a silent physician, he used shadows and Flesh Magic to repair the charred marks on Nimrod's body.

After some time, once the charring on Nimrod's body had been completely healed, Mr. Z gave a slight nod and left Nimrod's room.

Once Mr. Z had disappeared from the room, the Celestial Worthy's figure slowly materialized opposite Nimrod. Half reclining on his bed, Nimrod looked at him.

"Is something the matter?"

"Just now, Sefirah Castle came under attack from the True Creator," the Celestial Worthy said bluntly. "No, rather than an attack, it was more like the True Creator said something to Sefirah Castle. We were well hidden. He did not even realize that He was speaking to Sefirah Castle."

"What did He say?"

Seeing that the Celestial Worthy was keeping him in suspense again, Nimrod simply asked calmly:

"What did He say?"

"He said, 'Well done.'" A meaningful smile appeared on the Celestial Worthy's face.

"It seems the Fallen God Almighty really has gone quite mad. God Almighty certainly gave him a potent dose. From the looks of it, most of the erosion from God Almighty's will has fallen on Him. Thinking of it that way, we ought to support Him all the more."

"After all, if the enemy opposes Him, that means He's doing something right?"

Nimrod casually agreed, pulled his warm little blanket over himself, and comfortably closed his eyes.

The next morning, Nimrod quickly cleaned himself up, took off the Custom Clothing hidden beneath his robe, and changed into a fitted suit.

In his office, Mr. Z dutifully reported to Nimrod the information the believers had sent in over the past two days. As Nimrod listened to one matter after another, he felt his blood pressure steadily rising:

"When we were short on resources, why was your first thought to hunt other Beyonders, and in those unmistakable black robes, no less?"

"-Even the Lord's Holy Bible says that if we want others to believe us, we must dress in splendid clothing so they will trust our authority... You say the Holy Bible states that only devils dress in fine clothes? Then you've misunderstood it. We bear the sins of all living beings. Doesn't that make us devils in other people's eyes?"

"Why not use assassination and coercion to control the factory owners in the surrounding suburbs? Of course, that's the crudest approach-why didn't you think of spreading the Lord's glory to them? They don't have Beyonders from the churches protecting them! Although all the major churches are currently stamping out faith in the Lord, doesn't that make it all the more important to pay attention to the quality of that faith?"

Nimrod let out a soft breath, feeling that Mr. Z's professional competence left something to be desired. Still, he softened his tone:

"...I also know that we lost most of the Beyonder items and operating funds we had accumulated because of some earlier accidents. So, for the time being, we need to devote more of our strength to the Lord's descent. Suspend the plan to bring new lambs into the fold, and focus all our efforts on recruiting a few specific lambs who can provide us with operating funds."

Mr. Z nodded silently.

"Also, there is the matter of Lanevus, that believer of the Marauder Pathway whom Sirius recruited."

Nimrod tapped the desktop before him as he spoke to Mr. Z, gradually shifting the topic to Lanevus:

"For the time being, your task is to keep watch over Lanevus personally."

Faced with Mr. Z's somewhat puzzled gaze, Nimrod added:

"He is connected to the Lord's descent, for better or for worse."

Mr. Z's gaze immediately turned solemn:

"I will carry out the Lord's task without fail!"