...Meanwhile, as Zhen Liu was doing his best impression as a demonic mafia man...

’What the fuck?! Where did they go?!’

Despite her best efforts to try and hide her movements, Serena had been tailed.

Like any massive religious organization, there were quite a few internal orders dedicated to performing sinful acts in the name of faith.

One such order was known as the [Falling Ash Seekers], whose entire modus operandi was information gathering for the sake of blackmail and manipulation.

This particular order was loyal to no one figure in the church, so they were more than happy to spy on high ranking members at the behest of rivals for the right price.

Which was why, as of this moment, a member of the Seekers was currently investigating an alleyway where he had just seen the First Hearth Tender fraternize with some random man before disappearing through a doorway he swore was there a moment ago.

’I didn’t even sense that door appearing or disappearing,’ the seeker thought to himself as he placed a hand where the door had been just moments ago. ’Where did it lead?’

However, as he continued to investigate, unaware of his surroundings, a group of monsters slowly and quietly began to surround him...

...Now back to the main event...

First, Razorstella appeared and sliced open the wine bottle with such precision and power that only the wax seal and the cork were removed with a singular "pop". She then positioned herself to be on Zhen Liu’s right once he was seated.

Next, Frosttusk appeared and rapidly chilled the wine as he served the two goblets. He then positioned himself so that he would be directly behind Zhen Liu once he was seated.

Lastly, Springerdermain appeared and simultaneously pulled out both seats for Zhen Liu and Serena with his phantom limbs before placing himself on Zhen Liu’s left.

Once both Zhen Liu and Serena were seated, the situation was as follows.

Zhen Liu and most of his visible kaijin were seated at one end of the table, while Serena was seated at the other. At the same time, the kaijin that were summoned earlier were now appearing in unseen parts of the room.

For all intents and purposes, they appeared to be well coordinated, absolutely horrific demonic warriors that were apparently loyal enough to perform such mundane tasks while being more powerful than any other warrior that Serena had seen up until now.

In reality, they were kind of silly.

...

[Well, that was refreshing to do after so long,] Razorstella commented. [Honestly, as much as I love fighting and killing bastards, there is something oddly refreshing about putting on a big performance like this now and again.]

[Oh, now that I think about it, I think this is the first time Porcelain Doll and Corpse Doll got to do something like this,] Screamira pointed out. [So, my protokaijin counterparts, what did you think about putting on a performance like that?]

[That was fun!] Corpse Doll exclaimed. [Although, I think our part in this was too small.]

[Agreed,] Porcelain Doll nodded. [But I think it’s because we’re not full kaijin yet.]

[Boo!]

[Stow it with the side talk,] Nepherage interjected. [Our lord is trying to appear intimidating and evil again.]

...

But Serena didn’t need to know that. All she needed to know was that Zhen Liu was making it absolutely clear that she had chosen the absolute right person to help with her problems...but he was also going to be the guy to make her life a living hell if she tried to betray him.

"Now then, since we’re somewhere a bit more comfortable and private," Zhen Liu said with a casual tone of voice after sipping his wine. "Why don’t you tell me a little bit more about the real reason you found out about this betrayal?"

This question caused Serena to pause before she could even take a small sip of her wine.

"How did you know that I wasn’t being entirely truthful about my revelation?" Serena asked, not entirely surprised that Zhen Liu knew given everything she’s seen, but now genuinely curious.

"About three minutes ago, a spy had been apprehended by some of my zakos," Zhen Liu answered while snapping his fingers.

In an instant, a display showing a struggling man dressed in black was being held captive by a strange warrior woman made of wood, while a ghostly warrior and one made of iron began to poke and prod him. In the next moment, the group disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Don’t worry, he’s not dead...unless you have a want for him to be?" Zhen Liu asked.

"Want?" Serena repeated.

Before she had repeated his words back to him, Zhen Liu had noted a look of surprise on Serena’s face. Evidently, she honestly didn’t know she was being followed...but she did seem to know that this guy was probably bad news.

"Never mind that," Zhen Liu replied while waving his hand and taking a mental note about the woman before him. "Now, mind telling me if that guy following you has something to do with the real culprit of your betrayal case?"

"That...might be the case," Serena answered after a moment of thought and deeply sighing. "But I would like to preface this by saying that I was truthful about the whole incident."

"I figured as much. The most powerful lies are simply truths with missing details," Zhen Liu mused aloud. "So what detail did you neglect to share?"

"Well...for starters...I did remember something about the assassin holding the lantern," Serena started. "The man was wearing a ruby ring and had fought looking hands."

"Okay, that’s a fairly memorable feature."

"Unfortunately, it’s a ruby ring that every member of the Council wears as a sign of membership."

"Oh...fuck."

"And that there are precisely two people on the council that have similar looking hands."

"Double fuck."

...More flashbacks!...

Since I was originally just an attendant for the previous Hearth Tender, I wasn’t familiar with all the inner workings and requirements for the council and leadership structures.

As such, when I got selected and forced to learn all of this, I became intimately familiar with not just the identities of all of the council members, but the factions they represented.

And not just their individual sects and churches.

On one side is the "peace" faction led by Abbot Ferroxa. They want to end the war with the Erupting Dawn Empire, and see if there is a way to peacefully end the struggle.

Granted, their solution involves me marrying the Emperor that way the [Sacred Flame] came be used to help him but we get to keep it in the end.

They had been popular back when that wasn’t their main solution, but they had been slowly losing power due to...obvious reasons.

...Wait, pause...

"Is it safe to assume that this suggestion was made with the previous Hearth Tender?" Zhen Liu interrupted.

"Yes."

"Carry on."

...Continuing Lore Dump...

The second faction, the "war" faction is led by Abbot Hulna. They want to keep fighting the good fight until we outright defeat the Erupting Dawn Empire or force them into surrending. It should be noted that they had been gaining in power over the years due to the lopsided victories that the more militant sects have managed to squeeze out during the ongoing war.

...Now real time talk...

"I am assuming I don’t need to spell it out for you and your kaijin but I believe the culprit to be either Abbot Hulna or Abbot Ferroxa," Serena concluded her explanation with a sigh. "But I can’t find solid enough proof to accuse one or the other."

"And they both have very good motivations for their actions as well... how vexing," Zhen Liu muttered.

Abbot Ferroxa could’ve assassinated the previous Hearth Tender because she had refused his plan for peace. It was possible that this abbott decided to take her out in the hope that the next chosen Hearth Tender would be someone he could charm or coerce in a worse case scenario. In a best case scenario, the chosen could’ve been someone he had a connection with.

Abbot Hulna, on the other hand, could’ve assassinated the previous Hearth Tender because they wanted to keep this war going.

More than once on his tour of the city, Zhen Liu had seen several war-focused sects bring in large crowds and gain several new recruits due to them showing off all of the goods and gains from the ongoing war.

It wouldn’t be too surprising to think that the leader of the biggest war-focused sect would want to keep the party going just a little bit longer.

"A killer for the sake of peace and a killer for the sake of war. What a conundrum," Zhen Liu mused at the revelation. "So do you at least have an inkling on which side is guilty? Or is that why you came to me? Can’t seem to make up your mind..."

Serena was silent at the question.

"...but desperate enough to give me the [Sacred Flame] in exchange?"

"Not the whole flame, but...yes."

"Interesting..."