"Of course you may let Him use it."
Bernadette answered calmly.
"How much can it restore Him to, at most?"
Silas pressed further.
He could sense that Medici, inside his body, had already extended tendrils of spirituality, quietly listening in.
"If the evil spirit inside you truly is the legendary Red Angel, then in theory, it should be able to restore Him to the might He once held in ages past," the Queen said.
"But in practice, I have never tested this on a being of such high standing, so I cannot be certain of the actual effect."
"Moreover, the effect this item brings would be very brief, and it would consume a great deal of spirituality as well."
So many restrictions... Still, even so, this was quite a formidable item.
Silas thought to himself, glancing unconsciously at the staff head in his hand.
"It won't be enough."
Medici's soft laughter echoed within his body.
"No Uniqueness, no Beyonder trait to it at all, it can't support that kind of power. Even if you used it, it wouldn't amount to one percent of what I had while I was alive."
Tch.
Silas gave a cold snort inwardly.
"Then shall I just refuse her?"
he shot back.
"No need, keep it. For a weakling like you, it's a means of saving your life," Medici said with a laugh.
"When the critical moment comes, as long as you sincerely beg me and then use this item, the great Red Angel will descend and save you..."
"Oh, is that so? Then I suppose I owe you my thanks."
Silas said perfunctorily, then directly manipulated the tides within him to surge, swiftly flooding the space around him.
"Hey, you're doing it again..."
"Whoosh."
The illusory sound of tides instantly drowned out Medici's furious shouting.
In an instant He was enveloped by the tide, unable to extend His spirituality any further, let alone continue receiving information from the outside world.
"Your Majesty, I'm a little worried."
After sealing off the evil spirit that was the Red Angel, Silas said to Bernadette, "If I use this item and restore Medici's past power, is there any chance He could break free of my control?"
This Red Angel fellow was clearly a two-faced schemer, and there was no telling when he might stab you in the back.
If his power were restored, there was every chance he wouldn't go after their enemies at all, but turn around and harm Silas instead.
"The spirituality this item draws on comes from you. If something feels wrong, simply stop channeling spirituality into it."
Bernadette glanced at him. "Besides, even though you haven't said so, you must have some special ability inside you that could suppress Him without any trouble."
Put that way, it did seem to make sense.
Having heard Queen Mystic's explanation, Silas felt considerably reassured.
"Then I'll accept it, thank you very much," he said politely. "As payment, is there something you need my help with?"
"Yes, there is one thing."
Bernadette asked, seemingly offhandedly, "Have you heard of [The Fool]?"
As she said this, her deep azure eyes gazed intently at Silas.
Above Midpoint Island, fierce winds howled past, blowing through the emerald vines and drawing from them a strange, wailing shriek.
"The Fool? I've heard of him."
Silas frowned slightly and answered, "That name was passed directly to all the Shepherds by the True Creator. I received it too, back then. Judging by the attitude of that Mad Evil God, this mysterious being seemed to be his enemy..."
The abilities of the Spectator Pathway let him keep tight control over his emotions, showing nothing out of place.
On the surface, Silas appeared perfectly at ease, while inwardly his guard shot straight to its peak.
But why would Queen Mystic suddenly take an interest in Mr. Fool? And why bring it up in front of him like this? It was almost as if she suspected he had some connection to Mr. Fool...
"...Your Majesty, if you'd like to know more, I could try to look into it for you."
He explained, from the perspective of an outsider, a few pieces of useless information about [The Fool] that had circulated publicly.
Bernadette gazed at him intently.
Silas raised his head as well, meeting her eyes with a calm expression.
She definitely knows something... Now that he thought about it, giving him that staff head earlier might have been deliberate too, just to observe how he'd react upon seeing the mark of [The Fool]!
Who was it? Where had the leak come from?
But even if Queen Mystic had guessed something, he intended to deny it to the death, no matter how many times she asked, he'd claim he had no idea. Bernadette still needed to rely on him to find the Black King, and she couldn't threaten him through force alone.
"No need."
After the two of them stood in a moment of silent standoff, Bernadette slowly spoke.
"You should go on ahead to the Sea of Fog and search for the Black King... But if you happen to find any leads on The Fool, be sure to contact me. I'll give you a reward you'll find hard to refuse."
What, can you help me take down the True Creator or something?
Silas thought dismissively.
He knew exactly where he stood. The Fool had offered him help in his most desperate hour and given him hope of reviving his sister.
There was no way he'd carelessly leak that deity's information for the sake of some reward.
"Understood."
He answered as though taking it seriously, though in truth he had already made up his mind to report this matter the moment he left. "Your Majesty, if there's nothing else, I'll be on my way."
With that, he tucked Luna into his coat and turned to walk down the vine-woven stairway.
Bernadette sat in her throne without moving, only gazing deeply at his retreating back.
"Honored Mr. Fool, Queen Mystic seems to suspect there's a connection between you and me.
I'm not sure how she found out, but I suspect it might have something to do with Roselle, you know, she is that Great Emperor's daughter."
Above the gray fog, having received the message conveyed through Silas's prayer, Klein's expression shifted slightly.
What?
Queen Mystic had discovered him?
How did she find out?
After a brief moment of confusion and unease, he quickly calmed himself and began to think it over.
Well, setting aside the possibility that some of Silas's own behavior had exposed things in front of the Queen, the only people who knew of his connection to [The Fool] were, in fact, those seated at the long table... which meant, had a member of the Tarot Club leaked the information?
He didn't even need to run through the entire membership in his head; one member of the Tarot Club immediately came to mind.
The Admiral of Stars, [The Hermit] Cattelya!
She had once been a subordinate of Queen Mystic, and the ties between the two of them ran deep.
Moreover, at the last Tarot Club gathering, this admiral had been quite eager to reach out to Silas, offering to find him a Sequence 3 potion formula...
Klein had originally guessed that her means of obtaining the formula might have come from the Moses Ascetic Order. Now it seemed she might well have gone and contacted Queen Mystic instead!
At this thought, our Mr. Fool nearly laughed out of sheer exasperation.
What nerve, Lady Hermit... Didn't Silas just have me teach you a lesson last time?