Listening to the information coming through the Mind Link, Hughes nodded silently and refocused his attention on Chloe in front of him.
The guests invited to the banquet were all nobles from the island, essentially all of Hughes’ subordinates.
For example, Alexei, who held a noble title. Any civil servant above the eighth rank could receive a noble title bestowed by the royal family.
Of course, they were not granted fiefs, but the title allowed them free access to high society, sothing many rchants couldn’t buy even with money.
Therefore, Hughes and Chloe’s quiet departure didn’t cause the slightest stir. Under Connor’s cue, Alexei had already steered the crowd’s conversation toward Castel Island’s unpredictable weather.
"Sister Chloe, we et again. How have you been lately?"
Chloe touched her neck sowhat uneasily. Ever since Hughes ca near her, she felt the hidden gazes around her suddenly intensify.
She didn’t need any extraordinary senses to feel the oppressive atmosphere, as if an invisible force perated the air, making even breathing difficult.
Those six-ard serpents lurking in the shadows seed to pay extra attention to Hughes. Their gazes were like icy blades, pricking painfully against her skin.
She would bet that if she made a single wrong move, a swarm of six-ard serpents would pour in from the doors and windows to skin her alive.
Chloe took a few steps back, distancing herself from Hughes.
"What’s wrong?"
"Afraid."
"."
Hughes’ eyelids twitched. He cleared his throat and said, "Then I’ll get straight to the point. Sister Chloe, what exactly were you doing yesterday?"
He had already made up his mind. No matter how Chloe tried to deny it, he would make sure she revealed so information.
Cooperating with the Moths Chasing Fire could be a slow process, but he needed to at least gain a basic understanding of this organization.
If they were truly insane cultists, then this collaboration wouldn’t be worth it.
Castel only needed to develop steadily. Eventually, it would possess the power to handle the extraordinary world. There was no need to take unnecessary risks.
This mont marked the first confrontation between the two sides.
"Summoning an Outer God," Chloe said flatly.
Hughes’ expression froze instantly. The air seed to solidify in that mont, and a trace of shock flickered through his eyes.
He truly hadn’t expected Chloe to just say it outright.
Hughes stared intently at Chloe, trying to find any hint of a joke or a lie in her expression. But Chloe’s face remained unnervingly serious, even carrying a faint trace of mockery.
Just as she thought, Chloe mused inwardly. He actually doesn’t understand what the Moths Chasing Fire represents.
His willingness to engage with them ultimately stemd from ignorance.
There was nothing shaful about ignorance, and pursuing knowledge because of it was even comndable.
But Chloe had seen too many nobles before, greedy, weak, eager to chase after truth yet unwilling to pay the price.
"Why summon an Outer God?"
Chloe lifted her head, as if seeing this lord for the first ti.
He seed to be the first noble who, upon hearing their goal, didn’t scream for the guards but instead sought to understand their purpose.
Oh, I see now.
Chloe suddenly recalled the strange fluctuations she had sensed on the island not long ago. This Count Hughes had also summoned an Outer God.
Heh, what am I thinking? This very room probably contains more than one of an Outer God’s followers.
Chloe, suddenly losing interest, spoke in a bored tone, "Summon the Lord of Moths, then kill it. This ritual will remove the pollution from us."
"Kill it? Remove pollution? Isn’t the Lord of Moths the god you worship?"
"Exactly. And because we worship it, we must kill it. We can’t actually allow an Outer God to descend, that would bring disaster."
I’m not like you people from the Sea God Church, Chloe thought to herself.
Hughes felt his brain struggling to keep up. Why worship it if they were going to kill it?
They summoned an Outer God but didn’t want it to descend, weren’t they completely insane?
Did these people actually have any rationality? Or were they just pretending to be sane?
Hughes decided to avoid questioning the Outer God aspect for now. Instead, he focused on the part he understood. "You perford this ritual, causing such a commotion, just to deal with pollution?"
"Yes, this way fewer people will die."
"Pollution can kill people?"
Chloe fell silent, thinking that this Count was seriously insane. Wasn’t pollution dangerous enough already?
She had long heard that the Sea God Church had ways to utilize pollution, but even they feared the vast, polluted ocean. Yet Hughes spoke as if he didn’t care at all.
Well, that made sense. After all, only a madman would bring six-ard serpents into his manor.
The room fell into silence.
Communication seed difficult. They lacked both common ground and trust… Maybe getting to know each other more before negotiating would yield better results.
Hughes pondered on how to break the deadlock. Perhaps… cooperation?
『My Lord, Beatrice seems to have run into so trouble.』
A slightly puzzled voice ca through the Mind Link from the Siren.
『What happened?』
『She, uh, she didn’t find the extraordinary item we left for her.』
The so-called extraordinary item was actually a clue deliberately left for Beatrice by the Sirens.
Hughes knew that the extraordinary aura in the manor couldn’t be hidden from the investigator, so he simply let her discover so extraordinary items to put her mind at ease.
It was a jar of "candy" left by Nora, sothing that could cleanse pollution. Hughes didn’t know the specifics, but it should be enough to attract Beatrice’s attention.
If left unchecked, Beatrice could easily cause trouble. Explaining things to her wouldn’t necessarily work, but if she found clues on her own, she’d be much more likely to believe them.
After all, she discovered them herself. She wouldn’t doubt her own conclusions.
『Did you hide it too well?』
『No, we placed it right on the table. It’s the first thing she should see when entering the room.』
『She didn’t look for it?』
『She did. She even searched the table for a long ti and checked for hidden compartnts, but sohow, she completely overlooked the jar sitting right on top.』
『.』
『My Lord, what should we do now? She seems to have lost track of ti. The maid is supposed to check on her soon. Should we send the maid in?』
Hughes’ eye twitched. How incompetent was this investigator? She couldn’t even find sothing in plain sight?
No, that didn’t make sense. She had extraordinary abilities to aid her search. So why couldn’t she find it? Bad luck? Impossible.
"Ahem."
Chloe coughed lightly, drawing Hughes’ attention.
"Is that Beatrice in trouble?"
Hughes raised an eyebrow.
"Don’t look at like that. I left a mark on her. She’s been in the upstairs room for half a day, frantically searching for sothing."
"She ran into so trouble."
"Then how about I go find her? I think I can guess what you’re doing. It’s hard to hide things from an investigator with so many people around. I can provide so assistance."
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