Maintaining her smile and calming herself down, Emlyn responded:
"I can find enough helpers."
In this matter, he did not want to rely too much on the power of the Sanguine, because if he did, he would undoubtedly be reduced to a liaison, an observer, and a messenger, with no say in the final distribution of the spoils.
Many of the dukes and marquises of the Sanguine have direct descendants who aspire to become Demigod and counts.
At first, Emlyn believed in his identity as the savior of the Sanguine and that the higher-ups would treat every matter and every member fairly. However, as the " The Hanged Man " analyzed the hidden intentions behind the orders, actions, and words of high-ranking Sanguine such as Marquis Nibes time and time again, Emlyn gradually became wary.
Maric frowned almost imperceptibly and said:
" Sherlock Moriarty?"
Emlyn looked puzzled, adjusted his posture, and said:
Why do you think it's him?
In the past, he would have directly said, "Why bring up Sherlock Moriarty? He's been gone from Backlund for almost two years." But now, he could keenly perceive certain information hidden in Maric's words, and thus subconsciously adjusted his rhetorical question.
In the eyes of this " Wraith," Sherlock Moriarty was no ordinary man? Well, he certainly was... Emlyn made this guess in his mind as he spoke.
Upon hearing Emlyn's question, Maric's expression immediately turned strange, as if he were seeing this Sanguine Viscount for the first time.
He quickly suppressed his outward abnormality and said in a completely emotionless voice:
We need to think about it.
"I hope you can come up with a more convincing proposal next time we meet."
"No problem." Emlyn secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
He immediately stood up and gave a very gentlemanly bow.
After agreeing on a way to contact him, he put on a silk hat, turned around, and walked out of the room.
On his way back to his lodgings, Emlyn couldn't help but go over his initial plan in his mind:
"Once I reach a cooperation agreement with the Demigod of the Temperance Faction of the Rose School of Thought, I can use it to apply to marquises and dukes for access to the clan's 'Level 1' Sealed Artifact..."
"Using the demands of their partners as a pretext, they refused to allow the Demigod within their clan to directly intervene..."
"Well, to reach an agreement, we need to demonstrate sufficient strength to persuade Maric and the others... We can only issue the mission at the Tarot Club and see if Lady ' The Hermit,' Miss ' Justice,' and Mr. ' The Hanged Man ' are willing to accept the commission. Also, Miss ' The Magician ' can be considered; she can summon a projection of 'The World,' Gehrman Sparrow..."
"The biggest problem now is that I can't offer enough compensation..."
"I can only try to get an advance, or make a promise that I can pay it back piece by piece once I become a count..."
Thinking about this, Emlyn suddenly felt glad he had joined the Tarot Club.
This was the only organization he knew that offered a future promise in exchange for current resources.
Within the Sanguine, and within the Church of the True God, one must accumulate merit step by step before having the opportunity to wait in line for Beyonder Characteristic and advancement ceremonies. Sometimes, an Beyonder individual may not be able to accumulate enough contributions in their entire life.
It's like a credit loan guaranteed by Mr. The Fool, which can be used to issue tasks, and then be repaid once or in installments after a successful promotion... Emlyn habitually tries to relate the essence of things to things he is familiar with.
Although he himself had never taken out a loan from a bank, some Sanguine had extensive experience in this area and frequently exchanged information internally.
Most of them have fixed, expensive hobbies, and their valuable collections are difficult to liquidate quickly, so they have to resort to borrowing from acquaintances or taking out bank loans to make ends meet.
Emlyn recalled a Sanguine who wasn't good at business and made money purely as Doctor. He took a fancy to a precious work of art and bought it by taking out a loan from Bank of Backlund.
Afterwards, unwilling to give up the mortgaged property, he relied on his long enough life to repay the debt in installments over a full two hundred years. Of course, nominally, the father died, the son took over, and the son died, the grandson took over.
Emlyn's assessment of this was. "Very trustworthy."
Outside Saint Samuel Cathedral, North Borough, Backlund.
Citizens lined up in several rows, taking turns to receive food such as toast, dried mushrooms, and preserved fruit from the staff of the " Loen Poverty Relief Foundation ".
Their procession stretched from outside the church gates all the way into the square, circling several times; as far as the eye could see, it was a dense mass of heads.
Audrey stood on the steps behind Melissa, taking in the entire scene.
She saw citizens with sallow complexions and longing in their eyes; she saw mothers holding their babies, soothing them while anxiously scrutinizing the seemingly undiminished queue ahead; she saw many people dressed smartly, in formal attire and long skirts; and she saw some people with their hats pulled low and veils on, as if they didn't want to be recognized.
Occasionally, someone would try to break the rules, but the priests and police officers who were helping to maintain order would drag them out and leave them at the back.
As food was served, the cloth bags piled up behind the long table shrank one by one, and then became empty.
Finally, all the food was distributed, but the long queue was only reduced by half.
The citizens who failed to receive relief could not contain their disappointment, frustration, reluctance, and pleading mixed with emotions, but they did not make a fuss or argue. They mechanically moved their feet and hurried towards other food distribution points.
They had experienced this too many times in the past month or two, and they knew that unnecessary emotional outbursts would only waste their already limited energy and prevent them from quickly moving to another relief point or affordable food stall.
At this moment, they left the square with blank expressions and vacant eyes, like a group of Living Corpse.
During this process, a woman holding a child suddenly lost her footing and fell to the ground.
Her child immediately burst into tears, the sound clearly indicating pain.
As the child sobbed, he said:
"Mom, I'm so hungry..."
"There will be food soon, there will be food soon, there's food at Memorial Day Square..." The woman picked up the child, patted his back, and said this while tears streamed down her face.
Witnessing this, Audrey was about to speak when she saw Melissa take a piece of food from a wooden box under the long table and run towards the mother and child.
"I didn't see it earlier, there's another one..." Melissa half-squatted down, handing over the bread, dried mushrooms, and candied fruit in her hand, then explained very quietly, afraid of causing a scramble among the surrounding citizens.
The leftover food was actually intended for the Foundation staff who had been working hard for a long time; Melissa was giving out her own portion.
The woman took the food and, while handing it to the child, repeatedly said:
"Thank you, thank you..."
The child hugged the food tightly and said in a childish voice, echoing his mother's words:
"Thank you, thank you..."
Audrey glanced around instinctively and noticed that the church pastor, most of the police officers, and the " Nighthawks " mingling among the citizens to guard against any unexpected events all wore undisguised expressions of sympathy, pity, and sorrow.
Once most of the citizens had left, Audrey picked up her food and handed it to Melissa:
You deserve it.
Melissa looked at Miss Hall in front of her and shook her head, saying:
I sent my own portion.
"Miss Hall, don't worry, there will be food when I get home. My brother is a government employee..."
Audrey smiled gently and placed the toast, dried mushrooms, and candied fruit into Melissa's hands.
"You don't need to worry about me, my family is busy preparing desserts for me while I'm out."
As she spoke, she took a wooden box from her personal maid Annie, and opened it for Melissa to see.
The wooden box contained delicately shaped cucumber sandwiches, cream muffins, and mini carrot cakes.
Melissa's face showed obvious surprise. She stared at the desserts for a few seconds, then looked up at Miss Audrey Hall.
She immediately lowered her head, said nothing, and began to eat her toast with the water provided by Saint Samuel Cathedral.
Audrey seemed to be petrified by her gaze, holding the wooden box, frozen in place, motionless for several seconds, only pressing her lips tightly together.
After the fifth batch of Moon City residents underwent Purification and healing, and enjoyed the miraculous mushrooms, this ancient city-state became a follower of " The Fool " without any resistance, welcoming the Saint and divine messenger, Gehrman Sparrow, into the city.
Klein then held a grand mass, healing the remaining Moon City people with the " Unshadowed Crucifix " and the " Staff of Life ".
High Priest Nim emerged from his isolation and, at the end of the Mass, respectfully inquired:
"Your Excellency, what is the full name of the great Lord?"
Klein looked around, his face tense, and solemnly said:
" The Fool That Doesn't Belong to This Era..."
After stating his name, he emphasized one point:
"Do not recite Your name in its entirety during ordinary prayers; only do so on important occasions."
Otherwise, this " The Fool " would have a mental breakdown from being bothered by "work calls".
Nim was not surprised at all, because the Ancient The Sun God had done the same thing.
He thought for a moment and then asked:
What are the specific requirements for the ritual of worshipping the Lord?
Klein said with a charlatan-like air:
"God says, the eighth commandment: Serve Me with your heart, not as a sacrifice."
"The most important thing about the ritual is sincerity; there are no other requirements, and it can be very simple."
Anyway, the Lord doesn't care... Klein silently added to himself after saying that.
After explaining the situation, he raised his right hand and pointed to the pile of mushrooms in front of him, saying:
"The Lord has given you these mushrooms so that you may have Harvest."
"These mushrooms feed on the flesh and blood of Monster, growing and reproducing rapidly, accumulating all the toxins, pollution, and madness within their pure black bodies. This can be used as a medium for curses or as a coating for arrows..."
The residents of Moon City listened with great excitement, then clasped their hands, bowed their heads, and shouted:
Praise the ' The Fool '!
At that moment, Klein seemed to hear countless illusory voices emerging from the air, mingling with real praise, surrounding him, fixing him in place.