Eli laced his fingers together over his knee.
"It’s a ledger, Mada. I told you yesterday that there may be an imminent threat to the House, but I had no evidence to show for."
Joanne lifted her head.
"And this ledger is evidence? But these only show activities around Florentine though—"
Her sentence broke off mid-way.
’Did she see it?’
She lowered her head and read the papers again. Her finger moved slowly down to the column, stopping for a few seconds at each.
Joanne flipped for the next sheet. She read it carefully before turning for the next. Then the one after.
When she finally spoke, her voice was lower than it had been.
"Where did you find this?"
"A contact of mine—"
"Black Rose, isn’t it. I recognize this handwriting."
Eli almost flinched, but he managed to press it down.
"...Yes."
Of course Joanne would know of Black Rose, being one of the Marchioness’s closest confidantes. Eli could only guess how much of Navia’s clandestine work had passed through Joanne’s hands over the years. Obviously, it had been enough to teach her the shape of Black Rose’s handwriting on a page.
Add to that the experience and perception of a Seven-Song Mage who had been tempered by countless wars and tragedies; absolutely nothing could get past her.
Joanne furrowed her eyebrows as she tossed the papers onto the table.
"I don’t trust this woman’s ragtag bunch."
’Wait, what?’
Eli’s brain stuttered for a second. Of all the things he had expected Joanne to be dubious about, the ssenger had ranked dead last — no, he didn’t even consider the option!
’But Navia literally vouched for them!’
Now, Eli hadn’t forgotten the relationship between the Master of Black Rose and Joanne Morgenstern, or what little of it. In the original story, he could count on one hand how many interactions the two had, and all of them lasted around ten lines of dialogues.
The conversations were never particularly substantive also. Since Eli didn’t exactly possess a computer brain, what was said between them had been lost to ti.
Eli held eye contact and straightened himself.
"...May I ask why?"
Joanne studied the papers for a long mont, then she shook her head.
"It’s a long story."
He narrowed his eyes. Stepping down wasn’t an option here. To win against soone like Joanne, sotis one had to be bold.
"With all due respect, Mada, Her Ladyship vouched for them. They might run so shady services, but in terms of the authenticity of the information they provide — top-notch. What you think of them is one thing; what they have delivered ti and ti again is another."
Joanne studied him for a long mont.
"...You sound just like her when you talk like that. That stubborn attitude."
She leaned back on her chair.
"Regardless, I have no reason to trust a page from their books. Bias exists, sadly. I cannot set aside my own judgent for yours and Lady Navia’s."
’Damn it, Joanne! You’re more stubborn than !’
Eli swallowed the thought deep into his stomach.
He was about to retort when Joanne picked up the papers again.
"Let’s give Black Rose the benefit of the doubt. These accounts are deeply troubling. Tell what you think."
’Yes! She’s reasonable at least.’
Eli crossed her legs.
"Like you’ve already figured out, these activities span the last six months. The suspects appear to be operating within a specific pattern..."
He slid out the quarter-folded sheet and opened it up, revealing a map of Florentine with ink marking many particular spots. He turned the map toward Joanne and laid it down the table.
"...rotating back and forth between these thirteen circled areas, plus another seven unconfird — a total of twenty. Six for the Magic Academy, seven for the Knight Academy, and if we account for the rest, that makes ten each."
As Eli explained and pointed at each area of interest, he hoped Joanne would understand the gravity of this situation. He hoped to rely on her experience, yet again.
Luckily, she didn’t disappoint.
Joanne stared at the map for a long mont before whispering:
"Damnation."
Her lips pressed into a thin line, the jaw working once before she went terrifyingly still. Beside the page, her hand curled slowly into her fist. The amber of her eyes crackled with a cold, intense fire.
She drew a long breath and let it out.
"I might have to set aside my negative bias against Black Rose for now."
Eli kept still.
"Mada?"
Joanne’s finger traced the map from circle to circle, then stopped at the reddest one.
"This is the Devil Star Formation."
’Yes! Thank the gods she figured it out!’
Eli remained calm on the outside.
It was a conclusion he wanted Joanne to reach, given that she had encountered these devil worshippers many tis when they were actively wreaking havoc on the continent.
Now that the Red Moon had long been dormant, the younger generation wasn’t well-inford about the threat this cult once posed. In fact, many didn’t even know they had ever existed.
No wonder that, in this peaceful, naïve age, only one person had reached Seven-Song in the last twenty years. The old monsters of past generations had been honed in an era that demanded more than just talent alone. They were forced to break past their limits, again and again, just to stay alive.
In any case, since Elise was in the younger generation, he should act sowhat clueless about anything regarding the Red Moon.
"...The Devil Star?"
Joanne lifted her eyes from the map.
"Has Lady Navia spoken to you about it?"
Eli’s facial muscle remained as still as possible.
"Never. Not to my knowledge, that is."
Her finger tapped on wood as she locked eyes with him.
"Then do you know about the Church of the Red Moon?"
His eyes pretended to widen.
"...I think I know, Mada. Aren’t they devil worshippers who ultimately lost the Purification War a long ti ago?"
"Correct."
Joanne cut her eyes toward Juli at the back.
"Julianna. Pop quiz. Church of the Red Moon."
"Uh... They were losers and deranged psychopaths! Us humans and other species banded together and obliterated them. That’s what I was taught, anyway."
Joanne shook her head and sighed.
"Close enough."
She interlaced her fingers and set both hands squarely on the table, her expression turning cold as steel.
"The Devil Star Formation is a forbidden barrier technique... practiced by these cultists."
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