Roselle froze for a moment, staring in astonishment at the black crow. Wait…did it just imply that it knew that priest? From just those two short sentences, it had already identified who the man was?

Edward tapped his finger lightly against the armrest of the throne, cutting off Amon's hearing and speech. "Ignore it. Continue."

"Alright…"

Roselle recounted in detail everything that had happened on the island that day. "When we turned back later, both the priest and the church had vanished. Not long after we hastily left the island, even the island itself disappeared."

—Of course, he omitted the part where the priest had declared that he wasn't from this world.

Edward nodded faintly after hearing it all. "Since you didn't tell me about this back then, but chose to bring it up now…does that mean something else happened recently?"

"Yes."

Roselle didn't hesitate—he promptly sold out that old fox Zaratul. After all, that fellow had approached him with his own ulterior motives; he was certainly no good person.

"Tonight, at the banquet I hosted, I met with a certain friend—or rather, a collaborator. His name is Zaratul. He's the leader of an extraordinary organisation called the Secret Order. He's a high-sequence powerhouse who has lived for a very long time and knows many secrets of the mystical world. So, I thought I'd ask him whether he knew anything about this so-called 'Creator.'"

Zaratul showed up at a banquet tonight?

Edward raised an eyebrow, feeling a twinge of intrigue. The mysterious world truly did become terrifyingly powerful at higher Sequences—but compared to those cultivation novels he'd read, it still had its shortcomings. At the very least, there was no such thing as sweeping one's "spiritual sense" across an area and instantly knowing everything that moved within miles—down to the last fly.

Well…technically, my "False Reality" can achieve something similar, he mused, but it's not accurate enough for perfect identification.

If Zaratul had really appeared in Trier tonight, then there was a good chance he was still there now.

The question was—how could Edward find him, and use the opportunity to hunt him down?

Currently, besides himself, his available forces included the Sequence 2 Arianna, the Sequence 2 Krismona, and the Sequence 1 Pallez Zoroast, who could only exert half of a true angel's power. Perhaps he could even bring in the little snake for assistance.

If they could launch a sudden, coordinated strike, there might actually be a chance to take Zaratul down.

But the problem was—among the top dogs of the Fool's Path, the hardest part wasn't defeating them, but finding and catching them in the first place.

Zaratul, especially, had once been scared off when Edward pretended to be Amon. He would be even more cautious now, slipping away at the slightest sign of trouble.

What if I used the Sefirah Castle to bait him?

On second thought, that didn't seem too promising. At present, Zaratul was only at Sequence 2, and his top priority would be advancing to Sequence 1—Attendant of Mysteries.

That meant the Sefirah Castle, for now, held limited allure to him.

Hmm…then again, Edward thought, the temptation of a Sequence 1 advancement pathway might be the greatest lure of all.

Yes. I might just have a faint idea forming.

Reining in his scattered thoughts, Edward refocused on Roselle.

"So, just because you met a mysterious priest at sea who told you some unverifiable 'myth,' you decided to go consult Zaratul about it?"

Edward smiled lightly. "Mr. Didn't-Live-Properly, are you hiding something from me?"

"..."

Roselle fell silent for a moment. Considering that this "Chairman" probably already knew he was a transmigrator, he decided there was no point in pretending anymore.

"The priest…He said, word for word, that I wasn't from this world."

"Oh?" Edward propped his chin on one hand, smiling faintly. "So what you really wanted was to learn more about him—and through that, find a way to uncover the answers you've long been seeking, correct?"

"Yes."

Edward tilted his head slightly. "Then why not just ask me directly? I told you before—complete the commissions I assign you, and I'll answer whatever questions you have."

Roselle kept silent. What could he say? That he was wary of the "Chairman"? That he didn't want to sink deeper into this god's schemes?

Yet here he was—coming to Him anyway.

"Never mind," Edward said with a chuckle. "I've never been one to force others."

Right, and pressuring me and that not-quite-dead guy to join your damned "Misery contest" wasn't forcing, was it?

Edward leaned back slightly. "You said you met with Zaratul earlier tonight. And then?"

"Oh—right, and then…" Roselle recalled, "Zaratul told me that he didn't know much about this so-called Creator, but he was aware of an extraordinary organisation whose goal was to resurrect Him. He seemed rather evasive about it, though, and left soon after without saying much else."

"And then you came to me?"

"No."

If they hadn't been in the middle of a serious conversation, Roselle would've already transformed into a husky pointing meme at Edward—Hey you, can you not interrupt for once?!

"Right after that," he continued with a strained expression, "I met with the King of Intis. Out of nowhere, she invited me to join an organisation called the 'Twilight Hermit Order.' And this organisation's goal, according to her, is to 'resurrect a certain great being.' I strongly suspect this group is the same one Zaratul mentioned."

Edward froze for a second—it was that queen who invited Roselle into the Twilight Hermit Order? Could she actually be one of its members? But…when he had read her memories with Legilimency, there hadn't been the slightest hint of that.

Roselle took a deep breath. "At that moment, I felt everything was far too coincidental—to the point it scared me. So I…prayed to you."

"Oh? So you only remember me when you're scared now?"

Roselle fell silent, his face blank but full of unspoken words.

In theory, he should have sought help from the Church, but this situation involved the secret of him being a transmigrator. After thinking it through, he was hit by a pitiful reality—the only being he could actually turn to for help was the so-called "evil god" above the grey fog.

Edward said mildly, "I can answer most of the questions in your heart, but…have you decided what you'll offer me in exchange?"

Roselle hesitated for a moment before asking cautiously, "So…Chairman, what exactly do I need to do this time?"

"It's simple," Edward replied with a faint smile. "You said Zaratul told you to steal a certain notebook from the Church, and he'd answer your questions afterwards?"

Roselle nodded. "Yes. That notebook is said to be an extremely dangerous Sealed Artifact."

At that thought, he couldn't help freezing again. Why did all these 'big shots' he met have the same problem? Why did they all like sending him to steal things from the Church—especially Sealed Artifacts? Did they think the Church of the Steam and Machinery was easy to rob, or did they just see him as a natural-born thief?

"My commission," Edward said leisurely, "is for you to go to the Church, steal that notebook, and hand it to Zaratul."

"Huh?"

Roselle was completely dumbfounded.

Why would you ask me to steal something from the Church just to give it to Zaratul?

Wait a minute—

If I could really steal it, why would I even need to ask you for help? I could just give it to Zaratul myself!

"But I think I…don't really have that ability," Roselle said weakly. "You know I'm only Sequence 6 right now. How could I possibly steal a Grade 1 Sealed Artifact from a place guarded by high-sequence powerhouses? That's completely beyond me!"

"Don't be in such a rush to refuse."

Edward chuckled softly. "How about this—I'll give you part of the information you want in advance."

"The organisation you mentioned—the Twilight Hermit Order—does indeed exist. Its goal is to manipulate the tides of history and ultimately resurrect the Creator. And that priest you met on the island? He's their leader, Adam."

"Adam is the most powerful angel of the Spectator Pathway. He possesses the ability to make what he writes or says become reality. In other words…if you ever feel like the coincidences in your life are too uncanny, that might just be Adam's arrangement."

Roselle's pupils contracted violently. How could such an ability even exist? That's way too broken!

"But…why would someone like that focus on a nobody like me?"

Edward silently rolled his eyes. Oh, so now you're not calling yourself the protagonist anymore, huh?

"It's true," he said, "but that's not the whole reason."

Edward leaned back and spoke in that infuriatingly cryptic tone he'd picked up from certain deities. "The rest falls under…premium information. Once you complete my task, I'll tell you the rest. Oh—" his lips curled, "if I'm in a good mood by then, I might even tell you how to avoid that tragic fate of yours."

Roselle's pupils shrank again.

"So," Edward said with a teasing smile, "feeling a bit more motivated to steal that notebook now?"

Roselle stayed silent for a long while. "You want me to steal the notebook and give it to Zaratul…because you're planning to do something to him, aren't you?"

"Exactly."

"But given what I know about Zaratul, and his terrifying divination abilities—even if I really did hand him the notebook, he'd definitely sense something was off, wouldn't he?"

Edward nodded. "You're right. Zaratul is far more cautious than you can imagine. But you also can't imagine how powerful the temptation of advancing to Sequence 1 is to him."

Roselle's eyes widened. "That Sealed Artifact…can help Zaratul advance to Sequence 1?! No wonder he's been keeping an eye on me ever since I was a weakling. All these years he's been secretly helping me, using his divinations to make sure I'd one day get that notebook for him."

Damn it!

If I'd known, I would've gone down the Seer Pathway too—it's way too useful!

This Chairman was almost certainly a god from the Seer Pathway as well. His so-called ability to "see the future" must just be high-level divination, right?

So that means…Bernadette really will…

Edward interrupted his spiralling thoughts, saying calmly, "And more importantly, during the entire process of you stealing and delivering the notebook…I won't do anything. Zaratul won't be in any danger."

"Huh?"

"Think about it," Edward said with an amused gleam in his eyes. "When Zaratul realises that all his careful plotting, all his calculations, all his divinations…end up being nothing more than him playing mind games with thin air—wouldn't that be interesting?"

Roselle was speechless. You're not seriously just doing all this for fun, are you? Are you actually a God of Entertainment?!

Of course, that wasn't the case.

Using Antigonus' Family Notebook to bait Zaratul was merely the first step.

Edward's true plan was to lure Zaratul—following the notebook—to Mount Hornacis in search of the opportunity to ascend to Sequence 1.

And once he entered that place, the Evernight Goddess would send him into the foggy town.

That—would be the perfect opportunity to hunt Zaratul.

———

[Note]: Don't forget to VOTE. It keeps me motivated.