Chapter 439: The Ancestor's Revelation

"The Hermit" Catria glanced at Reckton, her gaze not lacking in doubt and curiosity. Is the Church of Knowledge about to begin rectifying the faith of the Southern Continent? I wonder what attitudes the other major churches hold.

Unification—this will inevitably be accompanied by war. "The Hanged Man" A'erjie sighed inwardly.

"Justice" Audrey gazed toward Reckton's direction, somewhat hesitating to speak. Pas Valley? I remember that's a colony Rouen and Intis are currently fighting over. Alfred is over there. I need to subtly remind him to be careful, or find a suitable reason to have him return to Backlund for a while. But that's simply impossible—Alfred is already a colonel, and he can't casually leave his military district.

The Church of Knowledge represented by Mr. "White Tower" and their allied forces wanted to unify Pas Valley, which would inevitably conflict with Rouen and Intis, who were fighting over the colony. And such conflicts were often accompanied by force, very likely developing into war.

After struggling with herself for a while, Audrey looked at Reckton and slightly raised her right hand, saying:

"Mr. 'White Tower,' the unification you speak of—who exactly would unify Pas Valley?"

"The local resistance forces. All we need to do is drive out the foreign colonizers and the local cultists. Neither the Church of Knowledge nor any other forces will interfere in the administration and governance of the Southern Continent."

Reckton cast a glance at Audrey with a hint of deeper meaning, roughly able to guess what she was worried about, and responded with a light chuckle.

Audrey nodded and did not ask any further questions, sitting in her seat without much enthusiasm.

The exchange at the Tarot Club continued until, near its conclusion, Audrey made a request to Mr. "Fool" for a private conversation.

Klein gave a slight nod and temporarily shielded the senses of the other Tarot Club members, then leaned back against the chair behind him and spoke leisurely:

"You may begin."

Miss "Justice" was worried about the Southern Continent matter—did she have some relatives over there? Pas Valley was a colony that Rouen and Intis were fighting over. Was her father or brother an officer stationed there?

Several conjectures quickly took shape in Klein's mind. He glanced casually toward Reckton and couldn't help but sigh inwardly. You really are busy—everywhere you go, you stir up major events!

Upon receiving Mr. "Fool's" response, "Justice" Audrey looked at Reckton with some apology, then said:

"Mr. 'White Tower,' did you seek out Mr. 'Moon' to contact the blood clan of the Southern Continent also for the purpose of driving out foreign colonizers and helping the local forces of the Southern Continent unify the Pas Valley region?"

"Yes. That group of Primitive Moon believers has been unusually active lately, and we can't spare enough manpower to deal with them, so we had to seek some cooperation from the blood clan of the Southern Continent."

Reckton smiled lightly. He could tell that what Audrey wanted to ask was not this question, but he still answered her question in a calm tone.

Audrey fell silent for a moment before continuing:

"I have a matter I'd like to ask of you. If you think it's too difficult, you can refuse."

"My brother is currently serving in the military, and he happens to be stationed in Pas Valley. Because of his status, I can't just find some random reason to have him return to Backlund."

"When the conflict breaks out, could you directly expel him without endangering his life, or confine him for a period of time until the conflict ends? I know this request is a bit excessive..."

"That's fine. It's not a very difficult request. We couldn't possibly provoke that many forces all at once—even the Church of Knowledge couldn't withstand that."

Reckton nodded with a light chuckle, agreeing to Audrey's request.

Receiving an affirmative answer, Audrey finally breathed a sigh of relief, then revealed a proper smile and said:

"Thank you for your understanding, Mr. 'White Tower.'"

"However, the Church of Knowledge taking such action on the Southern Continent will inevitably provoke reactions from various nations and churches. As this matter develops, will it truly not escalate into a war between the Northern and Southern Continents?"

The Southern Continent wasn't the home turf of the seven major churches. The Church of Knowledge only needed to make certain concessions and not affect the missionary activities of other churches on the Southern Continent—the other churches likely wouldn't interfere much in these matters. Unless it were the churches of the Eternal Blazing Sun and the Lord of Storms, who were already at odds with each other.

Klein, seated at the very head of the mottled long table, leaned against the chair back. The pad of his right index finger unconsciously rubbed the armrest of the high-backed chair as he mentally answered the question Audrey had just raised.

Reckton tilted his chin up slightly, resting his head against the chair back, and chuckled softly:

"The churches won't directly interfere in the conflict between the nations and the Southern Continent, but they won't let other forces help the Intis and Rouen militaries either."

Audrey was taken aback for a moment, wanting to say that the gap in military strength between the Northern and Southern Continents was too great, and that those local forces only managed to maintain their hold on a region by relying on the mutual checks among the nations.

Mr. "White Tower" couldn't possibly have failed to consider this. He still had great confidence in the local forces of the Southern Continent. Relying on Beyonders to change the course of war? That would require many Beyonders, especially high-sequence powerhouses!

One thought after another floated through Audrey's mind. She did not ask any further questions, and then "The Fool" Klein lifted the shielding of the other members.

For the rest of the Tarot Club meeting, Audrey remained somewhat distracted, until "The Fool" Klein announced that today's Tarot Club was concluded.

Only then did Audrey rise and bow in farewell together with the others. Streaks of deep crimson light rose within the palace and quickly vanished. In the blink of an eye, only Klein remained in the palace.

Looking at the empty palace, Klein sighed and said:

"I need to speed up the acting of the Faceless. Fortunately, previously playing Admiral Emlyus brought me considerable gains, and the acting rules for the Faceless have all been summarized."

"By next week's Tarot Club, it should be about time to ask 'The Hermit' lady or 'The Hanged Man' sir about sailing to the ruins of the Divine War."

He reclined in the high-backed chair, closed his eyes in thought for a moment, then spread his spirituality to envelop himself, simulated the sensation of falling, and departed from the space above the gray fog.

Backlund's Southern District, Narcissus Street, Harvest Church.

Emlyn woke up on a lounge chair in the clergy rest room. He subconsciously turned his head and glanced around, and seeing that no one had come into the rest room during that time, he finally felt at ease.

How am I supposed to explain to Lord Nibais about contacting the blood clan of the Southern Continent? I have absolutely no connection whatsoever with the blood clan over there.

He reached up somewhat irritably and ruffled his neatly combed-back hair a couple of times, then rose from the lounge chair and headed toward the church's prayer hall.

Father Utravsky's mountain-like figure soon came into view. Looking at the priest who maintained this prayer posture almost constantly except for necessary meals and conversations, Emlyn coughed lightly twice and said:

"Father, I've finished my work for today. If there's nothing else, I'll be heading back first."

Father Utravsky slowly opened his eyes, glanced at Emlyn, and then spoke in a calm voice:

"That is your freedom."

Just as Emlyn was about to turn and leave, he added:

"You seem to have some worries. If you encounter troubles, you can try calming your mind and praying to the Mother Goddess. The Mother Goddess will respond to every devout believer!"

"Mother Goddess... ahem! Father, I believe I need to remind you once more—I worship the Moon!"

Emlyn was about to say that the Mother Goddess couldn't help people solve their troubles, but caught himself just as the words reached his lips, and instead emphasized the fact that he worshipped the Moon.

Then, without waiting for Father Utravsky's response, he gave a somewhat flustered and exasperated light snort and quickly walked out of Harvest Church.

After leaving Harvest Church, he hailed a carriage at random and headed to the Odra Manor located in the West District.

As soon as he entered the manor's hall, he saw Casimir Odra, who had already received the news and come to receive him.

This was a middle-aged gentleman of considerable presence, wearing a custom-tailored long tailcoat, his hair groomed immaculately, his eyes crimson red, concealing rather complex emotions.

Upon seeing Emlyn, he subconsciously tilted his chin up slightly and said:

"What brings you here?"

"Casimir, I've come to see Lord Nibais. Please inform him—there's something very important!"

Emlyn tilted his chin up and directly called out Casimir's name without appending "Baron" afterward, implying that he himself was already a baron and that the two were on equal footing.

Casimir's eyes darkened slightly, and the corners of his mouth pulled into an insincere, polite smile as he said:

"Something important? What important thing? What you consider important may not necessarily be very important to Grandfather."

"Heh, I received a revelation from the Ancestor — is that important enough?"

Emlyn raised his chin slightly and said with a proud expression.

Casimir froze for a moment, wanting to say "Are you joking?" but then recalled his grandfather's earlier instructions, and considering that the other party had clearly already established a certain connection with that "Fool" — perhaps this was that "Fool's" instruction, and the other party wanted to have some exchange with our blood clan.

As these thoughts swirled, Casimir took a deep breath, suppressed the emotions in his heart, and said in a low voice:

"Wait here a moment, I'll go inform Grandfather."

With that, he strode out of the hall without looking back.

Emlyn narrowed his eyes slightly, watching Casimir's retreating back, and couldn't help but snort with laughter at the sight of his expression of displeasure that he couldn't vent just now.

In the manor's basement, Casimir recounted Emlyn's words in a low voice to a pitch-black coffin.

After a moment of dead silence, a hoarse, aged voice slowly came from within the pitch-black coffin:

"Did he really say that?"

"Yes, Emlyn's tone was very certain. Grandfather, could he have been bewitched by that 'Fool,' or perhaps..."

Casimir voiced his own thoughts in a low, contemplative tone.

From within the pitch-black coffin, that hoarse voice said without much inflection:

"What use is there in bewitching a Baron who was only recently promoted? Perhaps He wishes to communicate with us, or perhaps, his actions truly did receive a response from the Ancestor—"

"How is that possible—"

Casimir wore an expression of disbelief and wanted to say something, but was directly interrupted by the voice from within the coffin:

"Enough, go bring him over."

"Yes, Grandfather." Casimir opened his mouth, but ultimately failed to say anything. He quickly composed himself, then turned and walked out of the basement.

In the manor's hall, Emlyn leaned back leisurely on the sofa with his back to the light, resting his eyes. Only when Casimir approached did he slowly open his eyes, his gaze deep and solemn as he looked at the other party.

Casimir took a deep breath and looked at Emlyn with a steady gaze as he said:

"Grandfather wants you to come over."

After saying that, he turned and walked toward the depths of the manor.

Emlyn smiled with mild indifference and followed behind Casimir at an unhurried pace. Before long, the two arrived one after the other at the basement room that held the pitch-black coffin.

Emlyn stepped forward two paces and bowed respectfully toward the pitch-black coffin in greeting:

"Good afternoon, Lord Nibais."

The aged, hoarse voice of Nibais came from within the pitch-black coffin placed in the center of the room:

"Casimir says you received a revelation from the Ancestor?"

"Yes." Emlin tried hard to maintain his expression and nodded with feigned composure.

"Casimir, leave us first." Nibais's voice came again from within the pitch-black coffin.

"Yes, Grandfather." Casimir paused, gave Emlin a deep look, and responded in a low voice, then went to stand guard at the basement entrance.

After Casimir had left, Nibais continued speaking:

"Come a little closer."

"Ah?" Emlin didn't react at first, froze for a moment, then took two uneasy steps forward.

As he moved forward, Emlin felt an intense gaze fall upon him, and his body twitched a couple of times in discomfort.

(End of this chapter)