Chapter 27: A New “Angel”

Chapter 27: A New “Angel”

Seeing Frank’s smile, Cattleya felt rather complicated for a moment. She then withdrew her gaze and looked toward the fishing village near the harbor where the Future was docked.

No one would have imagined that this place was an important stronghold of the Moses Ascetic Order.

In order to avoid a possible pursuit from the Aurora Order, Star Admiral Cattleya and her fleet had remained here for some time recently!

She was not in a hurry to set sail. Instead, she planned to go ashore and use the facilities inside the fishing village to contact her subordinates who had remained in Bayam to monitor Craftsman Sharf, so as to confirm the situation and prepare a plan.

Only with that premise would the Future set off for Bayam, the capital of the Rorsted Archipelago, several days’ voyage away.

…

In July, dawn came exceptionally early in Backlund, but the overall temperature was not particularly hot. It did not even exceed thirty degrees Celsius.

Using his top hat to block the sunlight that pierced through the layered clouds, Emlyn stepped down from the carriage and entered Harvest Church.

With a single glance, he saw Father Utravsky, wearing a brown clerical robe and a clergyman’s soft cap, standing like a mountain before the Sacred Emblem of Life, preaching to several believers who had come to pray in the morning.

Emlyn did not look for long. He went straight to the rear of the church, entered the room that belonged to him, and changed into a clerical robe with practiced ease.

While wiping the candlesticks and other objects, he waited for those believers to leave. After around twenty minutes, he finally found an opportunity. Sitting down beside Bishop Utravsky and gazing at the Sacred Emblem of Life, he spoke as though to himself:

“Father, I have a question I would like to ask you.”

Bishop Utravsky, whose eyebrows were sparse, whose eyes were pale blue, and whose wrinkles were obvious in several places, responded with a smile,

“Speak.”

Emlyn paused for the span of one breath, then said the words he had repeatedly considered the night before:

“If, and I do mean if, a distant relative deceived you, causing you and your friends to fall into danger and nearly lose your lives, and this matter was not suitable to bring to court, how would you punish him?”

Even while seated, Father Utravsky was like a small mountain. In his deep and gentle voice, he said,

“First, you need to determine whether that relative was careless and made a mistake, or whether he deliberately deceived you and guided you into a trap. If it was the former, then what you need to do is admonish him, remind him, and teach him, rather than only think of punishment. If it was the latter, you must also confirm whether this is his usual style of conduct.

“If it is, then eliminate him. Otherwise, he will inevitably harm others and harm innocents. Ending his life, sending him back to the earth, and restarting the cycle of rebirth is a kind of mercy and a kind of purification…”

…Eliminate… Father speaks of killing even more calmly, naturally, and peacefully than The World! The muscles on Emlyn’s face twitched, and he quickly interrupted Father Utravsky’s answer.

“No. He usually does not behave this way. It was only because of certain reasons that he targeted me this once. I… I do not want to kill him because of that.”

The moment he finished speaking, Emlyn froze there. He seemed, probably, perhaps, to have revealed that the victim was himself, and that this matter was an internal issue of the Sanguine.

Father Utravsky turned his head to glance at him, revealing a gratified smile.

“Not bad. You have already come to understand the preciousness of life.”

Emlyn forced out a smile.

“Then how should he be punished?”

Father Utravsky looked toward the Sacred Emblem of Life ahead and said,

“I do not advocate solving problems through violence. You can bring him here, let him listen to my sermons, read the scriptures, comprehend the preciousness of life, experience the Mother Goddess’s mercy, and work for the crimes he has committed.”

Isn’t that exactly what happened to me… Emlyn froze for a second, then suddenly felt that this method fit his wishes perfectly.

It would neither cause Ernest Boyar’s death, nor could it be compared to simply beating the other party up and demanding some compensation. More importantly, it would not rise to the level of conflict and would not provoke internal strife among the Sanguine!

Of course, every method had its flaws. To Emlyn, if he wanted to do this, the greatest problem was:

How could he bring Ernest Boyar to Harvest Church?

Ever since he had begun volunteering here, every Sanguine in Backlund knew to stay away from this area, and Ernest Boyar was no exception. There was no chance of tricking him inside!

And if he forced the matter through violence, Emlyn believed that with the ring bestowed by the Ancestor Lilith, along with the magical and powerful “magic book” he could rent from Miss Magician, defeating Viscount Ernest Boyar would not be too difficult. But if he wanted to control the other party, that would not be so easy. After all, he was a Sanguine viscount, equivalent to a Sequence 5 Beyonder. In addition, although Ernest was not that old, he still had some collections.

Under such circumstances, directly making a move would make it hard to control the degree of force. One careless mistake could lead to bloodshed, which would go against Emlyn’s original intention.

Perhaps cooperation is needed… In Backlund, the Tarot Club has several members. If we work together, we should be able to control Ernest easily… Uh, I cannot expose my own identity because of this. It would be best to carry out the cooperation in stages, without meeting one another… As his thoughts surged, Emlyn made a decision. He planned to issue a commission at next week’s Tarot Gathering and seek help.

He nodded lightly, responding to Father Utravsky’s proposal:

“That sounds rather good.

“I plan to calm down for a few days before deciding.”

Father Utravsky gave a slight nod and smiled.

“For fruit, from sowing to harvest, the process is long and requires patient waiting. It seems you already understand this point.”

Of course. That is a very simple truth! Emlyn’s chin lifted slightly. Out of habit, he clasped his hands before the Sacred Emblem of Life and began praying.

…

22 Phelps Street, the location of the Loen Charity Bursary Foundation.

Audrey placed the documents in her hands back onto the desk and raised her head to glance at the wall clock hanging in the directors’ office. Her mind remained unable to relax.

She had already arranged with Escalante to meet at Stephen Hampres’s home that afternoon.

Clearly, this meant there would be a test. If that Psychology Alchemists group was cautious enough, they might even have already reported the matter upward, and perhaps a member of the Review Council would secretly observe everything.

Based on her own level and abilities, Audrey still could not confirm just how terrifying high-sequence Spectators could be, but she could already imagine what sort of performance they would have in certain fields. This made her unable to suppress a slight nervousness. She was afraid of having problems “seen” through.

“Actually, I should have delayed for a while longer. Although the timing I chose and the emotions I displayed all fit psychological logic, delaying the meeting any further would definitely arouse suspicion. But compared to a little suspicion, waiting for Mr. World to return from the Southern Continent is more important. In that case, I could directly ask them to meet at the foundation and would not need to worry about a high-sequence Spectator discovering anything… Sigh, Audrey, you still didn’t think deeply enough…” Audrey sighed soundlessly, then threw herself a Calm, smoothing out her emotions.

After noon, she did not rush to leave the Loen Charity Bursary Foundation. She sat inside the office, lowered her head, clasped her hands, and quietly prayed to Mr. Fool.

Only after completing this matter did she bring her personal maid Annie and the golden retriever Susie into her family’s carriage, heading toward the home of the furniture merchant Stephen Hampres.

The carriage had only just started moving when a dazzling pillar of light suddenly appeared before Audrey’s eyes.

Within the pillar of light, an angel bathed in golden radiance, with twelve pairs of wings on His back, slowly descended. His wings made of flames wrapped layer after layer around her, then dissolved layer after layer.

Audrey’s vision quickly returned to normal. From the corner of her eye, she swept a trace-free glance across her personal maid Annie and the golden retriever Susie, discovering that neither had sensed anything of the scene just now.

A little different from the angel before… As Mr. Fool revives further, has His angel also recovered another step? The corners of Audrey’s mouth moved slightly. She restrained her smile, while her heart became unusually certain.

Less than half an hour later, her carriage stopped at Stephen Hampres’s entrance.

After handing her hand to her maid Annie, Audrey stepped down from the carriage, walked to the door, and watched as the attendant rang the bell.

Before long, Escalante came to open the door. Just as before, she directly led Audrey toward the sitting room on the first floor, while maid Annie and the golden retriever Susie were led by servants into the drawing room to wait.

Arriving at the sitting room door, Escalante placed a hand on the handle and made a rather solemn gesture of invitation.

This… Audrey vaguely guessed something, but on the surface, she remained perfectly composed. She walked slowly through the door Escalante opened.

Escalante did not enter. She closed the sitting room door from outside.

Audrey then looked forward and saw an elderly man quietly sitting on a single-seat sofa directly opposite the door.

This elder wore a shirt, a waistcoat, a formal three-piece suit, and striped blue-gray trousers, with a dark-red bow tie. His hair was already entirely white, yet still thick. His bearing was gentle and scholarly.

He had a pair of blue eyes that seemed to contain wisdom and knowledge. Aside from rather deep forehead wrinkles, there were basically no wrinkles elsewhere.

Audrey knew him. He was the royal adviser, Hvin Rambis!

Of course, Audrey had long since learned of this old gentleman’s hidden identity from the Tarot Gathering:

A member of the Psychology Alchemists’ Review Council!

She did not conceal her surprise, because she truly was surprised. Although she had guessed that Hvin Rambis was very likely to come, she had thought the other party would not appear directly and would only observe secretly, having Hilbert or Stephen represent him in speaking with her.

“You are surprised?” Hvin Rambis asked with a smile.

He then stood and bowed.

“It is a pleasure to see you, Miss Audrey.”

Audrey deliberately opened her mouth, then closed it again. Only then did she respond with a complicated smile:

“I do not know how I should address you anymore.”

Hvin Rambis chuckled.

“As usual.”

He pointed to the nearby sofa.

“Sit down and let us talk.”

Audrey quietly took a deep breath. With a faint smile, she walked over neither quickly nor slowly and sat down on the sofa, maintaining a distance that was neither too close nor too far from him.