Faced with The Sun, Derrick Berg's question, Silas didn't answer immediately.
A dreadful silence descended over the gray fog.
Mr. Sun, why would you ask that...? Did you forget that the last time we mentioned Lovia eating her husband, Mr. Temperance nearly lost control?!
Audrey Hall grew anxious, but she didn't dare say anything outright. She could only try to signal Derrick with her eyes from across the table.
Unfortunately, the gray fog here was far too thick. There was no chance Derrick would notice such a subtle expression.
Fortunately, Silas managed to keep himself under control. Since he had already expected something like this, he didn't erupt this time.
He lowered his head and thought for a moment before slowly explaining to The Sun, Derrick, "From a certain perspective, yes. She did indeed eat her own husband."
"So Elder Lovia is a bad person!"
Derrick's tone immediately became agitated.
He had absolute faith in Mr. Temperance's authority on matters like this.
If Elder Lovia truly had eaten her own husband, just as the rumors claimed, then she had to be a twisted, insane, and dangerous person. On top of that, she worshiped an evil god. She would definitely bring disaster to the City of Silver!
Then he saw Temperance shake his head from across the table.
"You can't say that."
Silas's voice grew somewhat heavy. "Her husband most likely died for her willingly and became part of her body."
He gave the group a general explanation of the advancement ritual for a Shepherd.
If the person offering their flesh wasn't doing so completely willingly, Lovia could never have completed her advancement.
She would have lost control midway through the process because of the resisting will remaining within the flesh.
For something like this to succeed, the bond between Lovia and her husband must have been extraordinarily deep, deep enough that he was willing to die for her...
"That monster was extremely powerful, and they couldn't defeat it. Either they would all be killed, or one of them had to be sacrificed."
Silas offered his own speculation. "I don't know how they discovered that Shepherd characteristic or learned about the corresponding ritual... but judging by the outcome, her husband truly loved her."
As he reached this point, his eyes darkened slightly.
Silence once again filled the space above the gray fog.
The husband sacrificed himself so his wife could survive, allowing himself to be eaten by her... In the end, the despairing wife gained the power to kill their enemy, but lost the person she loved most... How tragic, beautiful, and horrifying...
The Magician, Fors Wall, sighed inwardly.
Normally, hearing a story like this would have immediately filled her head with all sorts of new ideas for her writing.
But she was simply too exhausted today. She could only commit it to memory and come back to it after she'd gotten some proper rest.
From Mr. Temperance's reaction... could he have suffered something similar when he advanced to Shepherd? How pitiful...
Justice, Audrey, saw even further. She noticed the gloom weighing on Silas's heart and couldn't help feeling sorrow and sympathy for him.
"But... but..."
The Sun, Derrick, still looked confused.
More than a decade of simple living had left him with a straightforward view of the world.
Bad people were bad, and good people were good. He represented justice. He was a messenger who would rely on Mr. Fool's mighty power to bring light to the City of Silver. Naturally, that meant Elder Lovia belonged to the side of evil...
Yet her husband had willingly sacrificed himself for her. That completely contradicted what Derrick had imagined.
"People are complicated. You can't judge someone based on only one aspect of who they are."
The Hanged Man, Alger Wilson, guessed what Derrick was thinking and spoke in a deep voice. "Her love for her husband was real. Her desire to make the City of Silver a better place might also be real... But after becoming involved with the True Creator, her mind and her loyalties may have become distorted."
He was trying to prepare The Sun mentally, helping him gain a deeper understanding of such matters.
"...Thank you for your guidance, Mr. Hanged Man."
Derrick thought for a while before respectfully thanking Alger.
Although The Hanged Man often took advantage of The Sun in their usual dealings, he had also taught him quite a lot about how to deal with people and the world.
The youngest member of the Tarot Club turned back toward Silas and moved on to the second matter.
"Also, she plans to perform the advancement ritual for the Black Knight soon... The Chief summoned me and asked what I thought about the ritual, and whether I could suggest anything that might improve her chances of success."
He still needs to ask me about that?
Lovia has the protection of the True Creator.
Her ritual should naturally go smoothly. Besides, just as their Chief had said, the quality of a monster's soul far exceeded that of a human, so it didn't matter if she lacked the required quantity.
A normal ritual required ten thousand corrupted human souls.
Silas himself had used thirty thousand incomplete souls for his advancement, while Lovia would use several thousand monster souls. One relied on quantity, the other on quality, but both could achieve the same result.
The only explanation was that the Chief cared too much about Lovia's advancement and desperately wanted it to succeed, so he had asked a question that didn't really need asking.
Unless...
A thought suddenly struck Silas.
Unless Lovia didn't actually believe in the True Creator that deeply.
Perhaps she still retained a certain degree of independence and hadn't turned into a fanatical believer like Mr. A... If so, the True Creator's influence over her would also be limited. Maybe her advancement really wouldn't be that simple!
"How about this."
Silas's expression grew more serious as he looked at The Sun. "Do me a favor. Keep a close eye on Lovia's advancement. If anything unusual happens, contact me immediately."
"All right."
Naturally, Derrick had no reason to refuse.
---
In the North Borough, inside a private prayer room of St. Samuel Cathedral.
"You want me to teach His Excellency Ishmael ballroom etiquette?"
Daly Simone wore a strange expression. "Your Grace, are you serious?"
"I wouldn't joke about something like this."
Saint Anthony wore a black clerical robe trimmed with red. Beneath the Evernight Goddess's holy emblem, he appeared solemn and dignified.
"Ishmael has spent most of his time at the Church headquarters and is completely unfamiliar with all these complicated social formalities. Someone needs to teach him."
"Then why not hire an etiquette instructor from outside...?"
"There isn't enough time, and finding a suitable person would be difficult."
Anthony shook his head. "Besides, if we invited a noblewoman into the Church for private lessons, it could easily lead to rumors... So it would be more appropriate to choose a woman from within the Church who already has some familiarity with ballroom etiquette."
"So you chose me?"
Daly understood what he meant and gave a short laugh.
"All right, then."
She continued, "I can't even remember the last time I danced, but I should still be able to teach him the basics."
"A basic understanding is all he needs."
Anthony said gently, "Thank you for taking the trouble."
Daly didn't respond. She merely shook her head with a complicated expression.
The man she had once wanted to dance with would never ask her again.
What she had accepted now was nothing more than another assignment.