"Moon" Emlyn's hands clasped together unconsciously, his chin slightly raised as he looked at "Magician" Fors across from him and said:
"I've confirmed that the matter of the abandoned castle in the Delaire Forest was a test from within the vampire community. They withheld some very critical information."
Having said this, he felt as though a weight had been lifted from his heart. He was no longer as hesitant, conflicted, or embarrassed as he had been in the previous few days.
He took the opportunity to look around, glancing at the reactions of "Hermit" and "The Hanged Man," only to find that they seemed to have anticipated this and were not at all surprised.
It seems that last time when "Magician" Fors mentioned the intelligence had problems, they had already made some guesses... Emlyn nodded to himself, and before Fors could respond, he added two more sentences:
"I'm very sorry. I'll refund your 300 pounds intelligence fee, and on top of that, I'll compensate you another 300 pounds. Also, I will punish the vampire who deliberately provided incomplete information."
Although "Mr. Moon" always came across as rather haughty, when facing his mistakes he was quite sincere, making no excuses to shirk responsibility... However, I've already obtained the ancient resentful spirit's cursed object and the residual spirituality, and the matter has passed. He didn't intentionally try to harm me and Xio, so there's no need to demand excessive compensation... "Magician" Fors kept Xio's reminder firmly in mind, avoided making eye contact with her, and spoke on her own:
"This was just a mistake. There's no need for compensation—refunding the intelligence fee is enough."
The moment she finished speaking, a thought suddenly struck her: if the intelligence about the abandoned castle had originated from a vampire test, could she and Xio have already been targeted by vampire members?
Fors finally couldn't hold back and turned her head to glance at Xio, only to see the "Adjudicator" gently shake her head, indicating that she hadn't noticed anyone monitoring the two of them.
This... Fors was puzzled, unable to understand.
She then let her thoughts wander, recalling their condition at the time:
"It was quite a while before we went to explore. The vampires had already lost patience?
"The innkeeper in the small town knew about that abandoned castle—was he a vampire in disguise? No, quite a few locals knew about it. It's just that the place was too remote, and nothing valuable remained there, so unless someone happened to pass through while hunting or foraging, no one would normally go there...
"No, wait—the abandoned castle was so dangerous, so why were the people who had sheltered there from the rain completely fine, only saying it was a bit creepy? Hmm, the vampires normally blocked off the passage to the underground levels, and only opened it in advance for the test? That does mean there was some form of surveillance...
"Ugh, because the castle was too dangerous, the surveillance was in the surrounding forest rather than inside? Xio and I got lost and circled around the observer, so we weren't detected?
"'Mr. Fool' didn't give any warning, so there probably isn't a major problem... I'll keep a closer watch when I get back!"
While Fors's thoughts were racing, "Moon" Emlyn pondered for a moment and said:
"...Fine."
He didn't insist on doubling the refund for the intelligence fee, because he believed the best compensation was to punish Ernest Boyar, not to hand over money.
Then, he waited for "Miss Magician" to ask how he planned to carry out the punishment, intending to take this opportunity to consult the other members of the Tarot gathering to see if he could get some useful suggestions.
"Magician" Fors, on the other hand, considered that this was an internal vampire matter. She felt that although she was the victim, since "Mr. Moon" hadn't proactively offered a proposal, she ought to save him some face and not press too hard—she would simply wait for the result and see if she was satisfied.
The palace, vast as a dwelling for giants, fell silent in turn, and the atmosphere grew somewhat strange for a moment.
"Justice" Audrey looked across, glanced to the side, pursed her lips slightly, and asked with "curiosity":
"Mr. 'Moon,' how do you plan to punish that vampire?"
Phew... "Moon" Emlyn let out a silent breath, subconsciously glancing at "World" Gehrman Sparrow as he said:
"He was only acting under orders from above. I don't think his mistake warrants paying with his life."
Emlyn's implication was that Mr. "World" didn't need to intervene — this matter didn't need to be handled so aggressively.
Seeing that "World" at the far end of the long bronze table didn't object, Emlyn turned his gaze across the table:
"I plan to lure that vampire into one of the Church of the Earth Mother's churches in Backlund."
Having attended so many Tarot gatherings, even though Emlyn couldn't be bothered with minor details, he knew enough to conceal his real-world circumstances, so he didn't specifically mention the Church of Harvest.
The Church of the Earth Mother only had one church in Backlund proper — the Church of Harvest! All the rest were located in the suburbs and surrounding countryside... "Star" Leonard suppressed a smile and looked up at the high vaulted ceiling.
"You want the Church of the Earth Mother's Beyonders to purify that vampire?" "Magician" Fors blurted out in surprise.
In her view, that was no different from killing the other party outright!
"Uh..." "Moon" Emlyn momentarily didn't know how to respond.
Just then, "Hermit" Cattleya interjected of her own accord:
"The Church of the Earth Mother has a tradition of recruiting vampires into the faith, having them convert and become priests or bishops."
"Is that so..." "Justice" Audrey glanced thoughtfully at Mr. "Moon" across the table, without letting him notice.
Making that vampire into clergy — going to church every day to pray, do volunteer work, purify his soul, unable to break free for a very long time... Mr. "Moon's" punishment was truly vicious... But she liked it! That guy had nearly caused her and Xio to be contaminated by the power of corruption and become ancient wraiths... "Magician" Fors grew interested and asked: