Suggestions? My suggestion is to stay as far away as possible, to prioritize stability. As soon as he heard the question about "The Sun," Klein had already formed his answer in his mind. However, to preserve the image of "The Fool" and to observe what other suggestions others might offer, he remained silent and allowed "The World" to speak. After a brief pause, "The Hanged Man" Aljer turned his head toward "The Sun," speaking in a calm, measured tone: "You've provided too little information; it's difficult for us to offer anything meaningful." "We don't know what else exists within that partially ruined temple besides the unusual statue of 'The True Maker'—that is, the 'Fallen Maker'—so we're unable to assess the situation adequately." "The 'Fallen Creator' is indeed the 'True Creator'... The city of Silver, where the 'Sun' lives, also holds the faith in the 'True Creator' and has even built a temple for them. The 'Magician' Folth listens intently, almost ready to take notes, while 'Justice' Odile eagerly awaits the 'Sun's' specific description of that strange temple. Dric nods, his eyes briefly lifting upward: 'Besides the statues, there are numerous fragmented murals, haunted by dreadful spirits—though these have already been cleared by an exploration team led by two of the six elders of the Council.' 'I haven't personally seen those murals, but it's said they depict prophecies of the end times and the 'Fallen Creator's' salvation of the faithful, along with the corresponding bloody rituals.' 'In a corner of one mural, there appears a peculiar script evolved from the language of giants. After a rough deciphering, the elders believe it means: 'The Redeemed Rose.' " "This might have been the signature of the mural's original creators, or it could have been the name of the organization that built the temple and the city." "According to the Chief, these murals are at least a thousand years old." "I mean, a thousand years as you understand it—well, I'm not entirely certain. In the Silver City, we experience days and nights differently: the periods of frequent lightning are our days, and the quieter, slower phases are our nights. A full cycle constitutes a day, and the seasons exist only in books. So we don't keep precise counts of days—only the Chief can confirm the exact duration." "Sun," Vorth said, and suddenly he doubted whether he was listening to a story at all. How could a city without a sun, without a red moon, without day and night, without seasonal changes—how could that be anything but a tale from a fairy tale or a novel? And the author must have smoked a lot of marijuana, been in a state of spiritual convulsions and frenzy, to have produced such a city... The very first thought that came to Folsom after her astonishment and bewilderment was: I should write a novel based on Silver City! But she soon abandoned this idea, since she didn't know what Silver City actually meant, whether it belonged to a secret jointly preserved by the seven churches, and was afraid that as soon as the book was published, the author herself would be visited by the Night Watchers and the Enforcers to collect the copper pennies that had settled in the gas meters. Indeed, the environment of Silver City was like this—yes, and there was also the monster from the deep darkness that "the Sun" always mentioned... Unfortunately, I only have Sequence 8; otherwise, I would have really asked Mr. The Fool to take me there for an adventure. No, no, Audrey—you're no longer a naive girl. You must clearly recognize just how great the dangers hidden within are... "Justice" Audrey sometimes drifts off into thought, sometimes reflects on herself. At least a millennium? The auroras have appeared no more than three centuries, perhaps even less than two—this shouldn’t be what they built. Hmm. Maybe the faith in the "True Maker" existed as early as the early Fifth Age, or even the early Fourth Age, though at that time, the organization serving Him wasn’t the Aurora Order. For the next few centuries, under relentless pressure from the Seven Churches, the followers of the "True Maker" faced repeated crises, with their sects collapsing time and again—only to revive eventually as the Aurora Order? With that in mind, Klein made no change to his posture or demeanor. "Person of the Pendulum," Aljer said with almost no hesitation, "my recommendation is absolutely not to go!" "The Fallen Creator is indeed a true deity of evil. Even if His temple has been destroyed, it may still harbor hidden, subtly eerie dangers that are hard to detect. If another elder from the Council of Six were in charge, you would certainly be expected to go—though the risk would be high. But as you just mentioned, the one leading this mission is Loviara, the Shepherd. And the True Creator is the divine being at the very apex of this extraordinary path! Therefore, you must absolutely not go," Aljer added, clarifying further. Your suggestion is no different from mine—yet the description of the partially ruined temple involving the "Sun" is entirely unnecessary, as the conclusion could be drawn directly from the initial conditions. I now understand: you deliberately set this up, and with no real cost to yourself, you've already gained a clear grasp of the temple's condition. It's simply treating a child like a toddler. The "Turner," Sir Kline, calmly reaches up to rest his hand on his forehead. After a brief moment of surprise and confusion, Deric furrowed his brow. "But I haven't had any patrol assignments recently..." "Death's Head" Aljer exhaled. "You can feign approaching instability—no, more precisely, actively push yourself into a state of near-instability. In that case, I'm certain the senior leadership of Silver City wouldn't send a potentially volatile asset on an exploration mission." "There's a technique: if you maintain a relatively dry state of your spiritual energy for two consecutive days, you'll begin to hear phantom sounds and exhibit signs of instability. If you don't continue to strain it, the condition will improve within a week, and you won't actually reach full instability." "Of course, Silver City undoubtedly has established protocols and treatments for those showing early signs of instability—recovery should be faster. Therefore, you need to time your preparations carefully, ideally beginning two to three days before departure." "Sun," Deric listened, stunned, and only after a while did he murmur, "Yes, those showing signs of losing control are taken into custody and isolated beneath the circular tower, where they undergo treatments involving medications, rituals, and magical artifacts. If the condition is mild, they merely need to take the prescribed remedies..." Oh, how a sincere and honest child like this is gradually poisoned by a simple piece of toast... Nevertheless, "The Hanged Man," how do you know the techniques that bring you close to losing control? If these techniques are practiced regularly, the collapse might indeed come to pass... Klein sighed quietly to himself. "Justice" Odile listened in wide-eyed amazement, feeling as though she'd just received another valuable lesson. Seeing that "Sun" still hesitated, perhaps unwilling to deceive the elders of Silver City, "The Hanged Man" Aljer asked gently, "Do the other elders of the Six-Body Council know that the 'Fallen Sovereign' holds the 'Shepherd's Path'?" "No, they don't." "Sol" Deric shook his head honestly. Aljer asked again: "Do you think Elder Loviara, the 'Shepherd,' could pose a threat to Silver City? Just answer yes or no—no explanation needed." "...Yes." Deric ultimately could not deceive himself. Aljer chuckled lightly and said: "So, you're the only one who knows about this, yet temporarily unable to alert the other elders of the Six Councilors, aren't you?" "Indeed." Deric's expression grew steadily more serious. Aljer shifted slightly in his seat, leaning back a bit: "That mission carries immense risk—you know that well. If you perish within that half-ruined temple, who else will uncover Loviara's oddities? Who else will save Silver City from disaster? 'The Fallen Maker' is no mere deity—she's a true evil god!" "You're not pretending to lose control out of self-interest. You're doing it to save Silver City." "Which is more important—your honor or this?" "Sun" Deric gritted his teeth, nodded firmly, and said: "I understand!" "Thank you, 'The Pendulum' sir." "Justice" Odile and "The Magician" Folsie both felt a strong urge to cover their faces with their hands. What a convincing youngster! Though, perhaps that was for the best—avoiding the card deck losing members in the near future. Klein sighed silently, guiding "The World" and said: "I have a question for 'The Sun'." "This might involve a transaction." "I'd like to speak privately." Klein quickly switched back to himself, gave a composed nod: "Agreed." Once "The Magician" and the others were shielded, "The World" turned to "The Sun" and asked: "Does the Silver City have any means to counteract the divine spirit contamination within the extraordinary traits?" "This had been something Klein had wanted to ask several times before, but considering that the 'Justice' faction might also be interested, and given that when 'Sun' couldn't answer—especially when it involved the divine beings—the entire attention would inevitably shift toward the godlike 'Fool' gentleman, he had restrained himself until he received a clear inspiration from the 'Justice' lady, which led him to devise the idea of having a private conversation. 'We have never encountered the divine beings,' 'Sun' Deric answered sincerely. 'We only possess methods to counteract the mental contamination caused by the uncontrolled spirits within the exceptional separations.' That's it! That might just work—after all, I have the gray mist. Klein suppressed his joy and allowed 'World' to speak. 'What kind of compensation do you require?' 'Compensation isn't the issue,' 'Sun' shook his head. 'That method, along with the corresponding knowledge, is accessible only to strong individuals at the level of patrol squad leaders, or even exploration squad leaders. The former requires a sequence 7, while the latter needs at least sequence 6.' "Heh... Caine exhaled, letting the word 'world' come out huskily: "I hope you'll be able to secure your qualification soon."