When the plot-skips players into the game world

April 1st—it was Fool's Day.

The number four itself is the Holy Number of the Path of Wisdom, just as the "Fools' Chants Manual" itself is a Codex Book of the Path of Wisdom.

This was the day the elves commemorated the death of Dionysus the Fool, before the era of Eternal Self began.

Now, there are hardly any humans left who remember this event.

Back then, Eternal Self had yet to ascend to the Seat of the Pillar God, the Dawn Celestial Marshal had yet to be born; the age of the "Beast" had not ended, and the rule of "Strength" still prevailed—in a world shrouded in endless darkness, everything was primitive and savage. The winner took all, the weak were meat for the strong.

The Fool wandered the earth, behaving madly and recklessly, sarcastically praising the great figures as "Sages," yet ruthlessly pointing out their selfishness, ignorance, stubbornness, madness, and greed. Even the Church and the Pope often found themselves the target of his criticism.

He sympathized with mortals who were helpless and precarious amidst the grinding of the divine wars, calling them "Fools," while simultaneously berating, pitying, and praising them.

Such a stance naturally earned him many enemies.

However, the Fool had many friends, and coupled with his undeniable strength, he left people utterly exasperated. In many places, the great figures would respectfully entertain the Fool, fearing he might again say something troublesome, or inscribe his scathing remarks about them into poems that would be passed down through the ages.

Although he was strong, he stood on the side of the weak.

At that time, the Sun had yet to rise; the Fool was the only flame in the night.

The Fool even dared to deny the gods themselves—back in those days, the Celestial Marshal was simply called "God," and Angel Envoys were called "followers of God." Even Transcendents of the Fifth Power Level and Phantom Demons could be referred to as "Demigods" or "False Gods."

People looked up to the heavens, where every celestial body in the firmament was a god.

People saw the gods walking on the earth and bowed in worship.

Though the Fool himself did not ultimately become a god, his will endured. To commemorate the Fool, April 1st became "Fool's Day," much like the holy days of other Pillar Gods.

...Although the Fool himself might not necessarily agree with this.

Nonetheless, on this day, people's mad acts and audacious words were generally forgiven, for they were considered "a tribute to the Fool, a mimicry of the Fool's speech." Many also mixed an element of sincerity into their lies on this day. Those words, half-truths and half-lies, were all the more akin to the Fool.

Initially, people set "the time for permissible lying" as "before the Sun rose." Later, as this conflicted with most people's normal schedules, it gradually shifted to "before noon," when the Sun had ascended to its zenith and illuminated the earth.

But as time went on, people gradually forgot the Fool's name.

Now, the name of the "Fool" exists only in esoteric texts, as a piece of Mysterious Knowledge. What remains in the world is the tradition of Fool's Day, but people have long forgotten for whom these lies are truly spoken.

On this very morning, the Church chose to announce the revocation of its permanent neutral stance—if it had picked another day, perhaps the controversy would not have been so intense.

People fiercely argued over the matter, yet they couldn't determine whether the news was true or false.

—Or perhaps people had known the truth all along but simply wished it were false.

In Avalon, people didn't worry much about this. Rather, many treated it as a topic of interest—after all, everyone knew that the current Pope was an Avalonian. Not only that, he was their very own Minister of the Department of Unconcern, soon to be crowned their Crown Prince!

This was one of their own!

Breaking the shackles and removing the chains—wasn't this cause for celebration?

Yet in modern-day Xingti, the news caused tremendous chaos—

The Sons of the Moon were gathering at the Red Fortress.

The First Red Chancellor, Pomponazzi, was long dead, and now Queen Louise had naturally become the leader of the Sons of the Moon.

She was a powerful Son of the Moon herself and now the proxy ruler of the legitimate Royal Family—her husband was Valentine VII, her child was Valentine VIII, and with no other royal claimants stepping forward to inherit the throne, it was natural for her to administer the government on behalf of the "ailing" Valentine VIII.

Upon hearing the Church's revocation of neutrality, their first thought was—was this targeting them?

"Don't panic."

Louise's expression was grim, but her demeanor remained stable: "According to the Church's traditions, this counts as an internal shift in national power... Our father was Pomponazzi. He himself was one of the founding figures of Xingti, and from any angle, he cannot be considered an outsider."

"...But the problem is," a young Son of the Moon cautiously asked, "the current Pope is Aiwass Moriarty, right? As a human, would he truly abide by the Church's traditions?"

"—He must abide."

An older Son of the Moon, appearing around fifty years old, spoke firmly—this was General Lister, who was also Xingti's Minister of the Navy.

Due to the unique characteristics of the Sons of the Moon, when they seized control of a nation's upper echelons, they often prioritized taking control of its navy. If the navy wasn't firmly in their grasp, they were easily threatened by "flowing water," a weakness that could trap them in place or drown them at sea. Thus, ships must be controlled by their own people.

Before Lister joined the ranks of the Sons of the Moon, he had been stationed in the Church for over a decade. He could be considered an expert on the Church among the Sons of the Moon.

"The elves in the Church are not saintly beings, free of desires. Within the Church's Cardinal Archbishop ranks, several factions exist, and one of them rigidly adheres to tradition. This is perhaps the loudest faction."

"Moreover, Aiwass is merely a Vicar Pope. He is not the true Pope... According to the Pure White Saintess, she will officially take over as Pope by the end of the year. This means he is only a transitional figure, and under such circumstances, the Church would not grant him too much power."

"Then might there be a possibility," Louise humbly inquired of General Lister, "that the founding event of the Eternal Theocracy was not led by Pope Moriarty?"

"That possibility exists, but it's unlikely."

The Minister of the Navy shook his head, speaking seriously: "As I said—because the Church internally remains divided in opinion, if a decision was 'unanimously approved,' it must mean external forces intervened, swaying the thoughts of the Cardinal Archbishops.

"Those Cardinals, each one of them, is as eccentric and uncompromising as the Black Chancellor. They don't compromise on matters of principle, even if the order comes from the Pope. For them to collectively agree on a decision, something significant must have occurred.

"I believe we can first rule out the possibility that this is an initiative by the Church to interfere directly in Xingti's situation. After all, the current situation in Xingti is just petty squabbles… We haven't even started a civil war yet. Although the Army Department has already sided with the Academy, they haven't launched any attacks against us, have they?

"In the elves' long lifespans, far weightier matters have arisen. To the elves, the disarray in Xingti isn't even serious enough to warrant deploying a Paladin for mediation—if the Church truly expressed, 'I don't want you to keep fighting,' do you think we'd still continue like this?"

"...Definitely not."

Louise admitted with some awkwardness but nodded in acknowledgment.

To be fair, if the Church truly exerted pressure on them... they would likely cave.

They had always believed that Pomponazzi was the second-most powerful figure after the Pope. But ultimately, he was still "under the Pope." Not to mention, Pomponazzi was no longer alive.

Moreover, the person who killed Pomponazzi was right here in Xingti—if the Church applied pressure, they could even use it as an excuse to back down gracefully.

In such a scenario, they could at least retain their influence and power.

Because they would not have failed; they would merely have capitulated to the Church's demands...

But who could endure the Church's demands?

Surely the people would understand them.

However, if they were truly crushed by the Church, the situation would be entirely different.

Fortunately, General Lister, after his analysis, could essentially rule out such a possibility...

Louise was relieved as well.

As long as the worst-case scenario of "direct Church intervention in Xingti's affairs" could be ruled out, they could handle the rest.

Meanwhile.

The attitude of the Army Department was far more serious.

They had an entirely different interpretation from the Sons of the Moon.

—They believed the Church was targeting them!

And they gave their reasons—

"Speak up," Master Walter said with a grim expression, "Who leaked it?

"The secret… of the Ring of Ouroboros ritual."