They ended back at the breakfast place Silvy had taken them to before.
But instead of an open area where they could sit and enjoy eating, Silvy ended up taking him to a side-place where she and Kyle would not be spotted by others.
'She's being cautious…a lot more than I expected her to be. Looks like she really does not want to be spotted by anyone else while we talk.'
Silvy stood frozen in place for a few seconds, her wide eyes staring up at Kyle with a mixture of guilt and apprehension.
She tried to speak once, then twice, but no words ca out.
Finally, she managed to bow her head slightly and murmured.
"I'm sorry. I didn't an to deceive you."
Kyle raised an eyebrow, folding his arms.
"Didn't an to?"
He asked calmly.
"I… I needed the money. And I thought if I could just lead you around for a few days, get you to trust , I could bring you in without hurting anyone"
She admitted.
Kyle didn't respond. His gaze remained sharp, unyielding.
Silvy sighed and glanced away.
"But you're not completely innocent either, are you?"
She muttered under her breath.
Kyle tilted his head.
"What was that?"
She hesitated, biting her lower lip.
"I told you I would be back and that you needed to wait for . If you did that, then you would have been blissfully unaware of everything that is happening.. But you followed anyway. Just for the record, I was never going to get you entangled in any of this. I just said that to get my supervisor to get off my back."
Her voice was quiet, but there was a flash of irritation in her eyes.
"So maybe I'm not the only one crossing lines here."
Kyle didn't answer right away.
There was a flicker of amusent in his gaze, but he didn't deny it. Instead, he shifted the subject.
"What is this place really? And what is the 'purification ritual' I keep hearing about? Care to elaborate for ?"
Silvy's posture tensed imdiately.
"I don't know what you're talking about. Where did you hear that? Did soone say sothing?"
She said quickly.
Kyle took a step closer, his tone unchanging but firm.
"Don't play gas with ."
There was sothing in his voice—steady, controlled, but cold enough to cut.
Silvy realized then that there would be no dodging the question. No charming her way out.
If she kept lying, Kyle might drag her right back into that casino and toss her into the lion's den himself.
She sighed heavily and ran a hand through her silver hair.
It seed she did not know where to start talking about things. So she decided to rethink about what she wanted to say and then open her mouth.
"The purification ceremony… is just a rumor. That's what everyone says, at least. But rumors don't spread like wildfire without so spark to start them."
She began slowly.
Kyle didn't interrupt. He watched her with calm intensity.
Silvy went on.
"The people here… they've had enough. Of the nobles, of the taxes, the raids, the cruelty. They think the only way to change things is to bring in a new kind of power. A divine one. So they've started worshipping a being they believe will set them free."
"Divine? So there is a ritual?"
Kyle echoed, eyes narrowing slightly.
Silvy hesitated.
"There are several. They're happening in different places. So are just symbolic. Others… I don't know. I try not to get involved. It's dangerous."
"And yet, you were taking straight into one of those nests."
Kyle said.
She looked away, ashad.
"I needed the money. And I told you that you were never in trouble. I had no intention of involving you/"
She repeated softly.
Kyle leaned back in his seat, digesting her words.
Silvy looked up at him warily.
"If you have any common sense or care for your life, you'll leave. Right now. Don't stick your nose into this. The people behind it… they're not people you can handle."
But Kyle didn't look like soone who'd been warned. In fact, the longer she spoke, the more interested he looked.
Which terrified her more than anything else.
Kyle leaned forward slightly, his voice calm and polite, though the slight edge in his eyes hinted at a deeper unease.
"Silvy, what divine being are these people turning to? You ntioned they're seeking power… I'd like to know who they're praying to."
Silvy looked hesitant.
Her fingers curled slightly around the rim of her untouched cup of tea, eyes flicking toward the window as though hoping soone else might co rescue her from this conversation.
But Kyle's patience was steady, unflinching.
"It's… Tirakos. The Sun God."
She said finally, her voice low.
Kyle's expression didn't change, but sothing in him shifted.
Tirakos—the na echoed in his mind like a faint bell tolling from a forgotten tower.
It was a na he hadn't heard in this lifeti, but in his past life, it had been a minor footnote in the grand stage of divine politics.
A lesser god of sun and fervor, nothing more than a loudmouth with an ego and so flashy fire magic.
Kyle had crushed him once without even drawing his blade.
But this ti… things were different.
Kyle remained silent, but inside, a bitter realization settled in his gut.
The one who made gods tremble is gone.
What remained now was a shadow, a flicker of potential without the power to back it.
Facing Tirakos now—if the god were truly stirring—wasn't just dangerous. It was reckless.
"How far has this ritual progressed?"
He asked, forcing his tone to stay light.
Silvy shook her head.
"I don't know. The information's tightly controlled. Even I only hear whispers. They keep us in the dark for our own safety."
She said truthfully.
Kyle nodded slowly. It made sense. Asking her for more details would be a waste of ti. But he had one last question.
"How did you end up here, Silvy? An elf, tangled up in all this… ss. Don't the elf have their own gods?"
He asked.
She froze.
The question sat between them like a stone in still water, disrupting the calm surface of their shared breakfast. Silvy looked away, jaw clenched.
The silence dragged on for several long seconds.
Kyle waited.
Eventually, she sighed.
"Because I needed to. Because it's my duty… and because I needed money."
She said quietly.
Her voice sounded bitter at the end, but it wasn't self-pitying. It was simply tired.
Kyle didn't press her yet. He wanted more.
And Silvy could feel it—his gaze, the way he watched her as if reading through every layer of her carefully composed mask.
"Don't look at like that. You think I want to be part of this? That I enjoy dragging strangers into dangerous places or lying through my teeth just to survive?"
She snapped, suddenly irritable.
Kyle raised a brow, still saying nothing.
She scowled and looked away.
"I'm doing what I have to do. You wouldn't understand. So maybe you should just mind your own business."
He studied her for a mont longer, then leaned back slightly, his smile returning—but not without a touch of sadness behind it.
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