Edward thought for a moment, then stepped forward. "Bishop Elektra, His Excellency the Saint has been away for quite a while this time. Did he say when he would return?"
It wasn't that he insisted on finding Anthony for something, but according to Bernadette's earlier prophecy, a catastrophe suspected to be the Great Smog might occur very soon. With one less Saint stationed in Backlund, who knew whether something unexpected might happen?
Bishop Elektra shook his head. "Before His Excellency the Saint left, he only said he was going to preach around Backlund. He didn't say when he would return. In fact, the Church of Serenity has sent people to look for him during this time."
The Church of Serenity was the headquarters of the Church of Evernight. Even they didn't know where Anthony had gone?
Could the Goddess have assigned him a secret mission?
The Goddess's main objective at this stage should be to merge with the Artificial God of Death, right? How could Anthony help with that?
Just then, Bishop Elektra suddenly looked toward the church entrance and said,
"Oh, His Excellency Cecimir is here."
Edward turned to look. This young high-ranking deacon was still dressed as he had been at their last meeting, in a black trench coat over a white shirt, his collar turned up high enough to hide his entire chin in shadow.
This time, however, he wore a red glove on his left hand.
"Hey, we meet again!"
Edward removed his hat in greeting. "Hello, Your Excellency Cecimir."
Crestet Cesimir waved lazily, a smile on his face. "I've been hearing your name quite a lot lately from that new member of the Red Gloves."
"Traitor, murderer, conspirer, bastard, beast... Hmm, and some dirtier ones. Forgive me for not saying them here..."
He counted them