"Before coming here, I asked Lord Crestet Cesimir to send over the case files, and I've gone through your team's past combat records."
Facing the members of the "Red Gloves" squad, Silas said calmly, "As far as I can tell, you've all put in a great deal of effort, but the results have been poor. Take, for instance, tracking down a devil performing an evil ritual, that alone took you nearly a month..."
Among the crowd, Leonard couldn't help but look up.
Wasn't that the very case his squad had been assigned to?
For a moment he felt both embarrassed and angry.
Embarrassed because what the man said was true, and angry because so many days of hard work had been dismissed with a single offhand remark. As for their squad leader, Soest, he looked even more uneasy.
"...Of course, there are many reasons behind such outcomes."
Silas had noticed Leonard's reaction; it was only because he'd spotted a familiar name while reading through the files that he'd taken any notice of the case in the first place.
"I don't intend to lay blame on anyone, or criticize anyone in particular... but for those of you charged with protecting the safety of the faithful in the kingdom's capital, the elite of the Nightwatcher Church no less, to turn in results like this is, frankly, a bit laughable."
A ripple of unease passed through the crowd, but no one spoke.
This newly arrived deacon spoke with startling bluntness, nothing like the traditionally reserved people of Loen; the moment he opened his mouth, he cut straight to the heart of the matter.
"So then, Lord Ishmael, what do you plan to do?"
one of the Red Gloves members asked, mustering his courage.
"Good question."
Silas nodded. "I think one important reason is that your understanding of evil forces simply isn't deep enough."
"So I'm going to teach you the twisted logic of cultists, the various corrupting rituals and their different effects, the different evil gods worshipped by each depraved sect, and the corresponding occult symbolism that goes with them..."
As a Beyonder on the Secrets Suppliant pathway, and as someone who had dealt with more than one evil god and lived to tell of it, he was confident he counted as an expert in this field.
If they could understand the way cultists thought, it would obviously be of great help in investigating cases; the logic was plain enough.
Under the astonished stares of the squad members, Silas continued calmly, "Of course, knowledge alone won't be enough.
I'll also be leading you in putting it into practice. To start close to home, at the very least we're going to clear out every one of those cockroach-like vermin within Backlund."
He was, of course, referring to the Aurora Order.
Publicly, this was simply rooting out cultists, a matter of protecting the parish's order and faith.
Privately, he had a score to settle with the Aurora Order, and this gave him the perfect excuse to use official power to wipe them out.
---
Backlund, East District, inside some dim, shadowy room.
"Well then, that will be all for today."
A hooded man said calmly, his voice echoing through the room.
"Yes, Honored Mr. X."
All the guests attending the gathering rose together and bowed, their eyes full of awe as they looked at him.
This mysterious Beyonder possessed uncannily strange abilities; powerful Beyonders had once tried to challenge him, only to be defeated with ease.
Even official Beyonders had made repeated attempts to capture him, yet he always managed to slip away in some inexplicable manner.
Once the crowd had dispersed, Mr. X, Lewis Wien, lowered his hood and walked into a room at the back.
The dim room held only a single lit candle, its flickering light casting deep black shadows across the walls.
Within the shadow cast by the candle, at the very edge of the light where the darkness ran deepest, there was a strange human silhouette.
As though it had suddenly come alive, the shadow writhed and squirmed without end.
Beside the table where the candle stood sat a peculiar man.
He wore a mysterious black robe.
His brown hair curled slightly, each strand stiff and coarse, and his deep-set eyes glimmered with starlight.
His attention was fixed entirely on a crystal ball that was neither clean nor clear, but murky and heavy, as though it had been filled with some opaque black liquid.
"Saint Botis, there's still no sign of the [Blood Reverend]."
Mr. X, the man who had presided over the gathering with such an air of authority in everyone else's eyes, now spoke with respectful deference to the man in the room. "What should we do next?"
"Hm. It's fine. Keep investigating, and keep spreading word of it."
The mysterious man across from him didn't even lift his eyes from the crystal ball as he dismissed Mr. X with a wave.
"Yes, Saint of Secrets."
There was nothing more Lewis could say. He simply bowed and withdrew.
After all, the man before him was far more powerful than he was, and shared his own pathway besides.
Not to mention that, years ago, it was this very man who had led a host of apprentices in the struggle against the Abraham family, ultimately winning them entry into the Aurora Order...
Indeed, this "Saint of Secrets" was the very man who had once betrayed the Abraham family, sending many innocent members of it to their deaths.
His true name was Botis, the Saint of Secrets, and after all these years, he had become one of the five Saints of the Aurora Order.
After Lewis left, Botis went on casting his spell over the crystal ball.
For a moment, a strange light flickered within it, something like a crimson glow from the sky, before it quickly faded into stillness.
Seeing this, Botis took a deep breath and adjusted his seated posture.
"How did the divination go?"
At the same time, the black shadow cast upon the wall spoke, "Did you find any trace of the Blood Reverend's whereabouts?"
"Unfortunately, no."
Botis shook his head, brow furrowed deep.
"All I could see was a sea of blood-red... and that red felt more like a warning to me, hiding some extremely dangerous presence within it. If I'd pushed any further... I might well have been the one to lose my mind today."
"But we must ease our Lord's burdens."
said the black shadow, Kisma, the Saint Tenebrous, with a strange, alien fervor.
"According to our intelligence, he's already forged a connection with the wicked Evernight Goddess, and even His Highness Ouroboros failed to capture him... If this defiler isn't stopped soon, he'll advance further still, and go right on tearing apart the Aurora Order from within!"
"Don't worry, there's no need to fret so much."
Botis, the Saint of Secrets, said with a smile, "I've already set the bait. Given that defiler's obsession with our Lord, if he's anywhere in Backlund, he's bound to come knocking sooner or later. And when he does..."
A small jewelry box had somehow appeared in his hand without anyone noticing. "Even if that Blood Reverend really is as powerful as the legends claim, this should let me stall him long enough for His Highness Ouroboros to make his move... All for our Lord..."
"Shf, shf!"
The shadow rippled, and a human shape squeezed itself out of it.
"Everything is for our Lord."
said Kisma, the Saint Tenebrous, solemnly, as he emerged fully from the shadow.