The crowd felt a slight stir of emotion upon hearing the Sage's question. However, they were not ordinary people and soon managed to suppress their inner emotions.
Before this, Angel had mentioned to them the Sage's intelligence as relayed by Cicia. Being called a "Sage" already indicated a level of intelligence... or rather, cunning.
In front of the Sage, any emotion you reveal, any behavior, and even actions you think are innocuous might be interpreted by the Sage and provide even more information.
Therefore, Angel had advised them that when meeting the Sage, it was best to do nothing at all and to act like an emotionless, heartless Gargoyle.
Of course, doing nothing would still offer some information to the Sage, but compared to the information provided by emotional outbursts, it would be considerably less.
