Giving meaning (6)
The monastery corridor is quiet at night. Since such an unpleasant incident occurred, there is no one wandering around the corridors unnecessarily at night.
Since the nuns wake up early, they are all ready to go to bed around this time anyway, and outsiders who know the circumstances of Abbot Austin’s death do not leave their rooms because they do not want to arouse unnecessary suspicion.
Thanks to this, Auxiliary Bishop Melinir and I were able to cross the monastery corridors without being seen by anyone.
“In the basement of the Cleric Monastery… there is a ‘penitence room’…”
A jingling sound came from a key chain.
There were so many large sets of keys hanging on Auxiliary Bishop Melinir’s belt that it was scary just to look at them. In fact, it seemed like the keys to all the rooms inside the monastery were gathered in one place.
I passed through the dreary hallway and went straight down the stairs at the end.
“And among the nuns, there are lambs who regularly come to the penance room and confess their sins. Since they are nuns who have committed great sins in the past, they spend time in the penance room on the night of the full moon and think about their sins.”
“Is that so…”
“But that’s just the superficial reason.”
I went down and down for a while, passed through the huge hall on the first floor, and was sucked deep into the hallway again.
So, we pass through the restaurant, communal kitchen, supply storage, prayer room, small garden, and across the vegetable garden to the annex. Inside the annex, if you go all the way inside and turn down the deepest hallway, there are stairs going down to the basement.
Next to the stairs, there was a sign that said ‘Repentance Room’. Although it was a place of repentance, it was still a very remote place.
As I continued down the basement stairs, a space that looked like a brick dungeon appeared. When Melinir inserted the key into the iron cage and went in, he saw a private room-like space stretching on either side of the long hallway in the middle.
Each cell is separated by iron bars, and all you see inside is a simple Bible or prayer supplies, and a small window high up to let in the moonlight. Here, you can pray and repent of your past sins and receive forgiveness for them.
How serious of a sin have they committed to come all the way from this remote monastery to this remote penance room to pray for atonement? No matter how complicated the situation is for many nuns, it would be rare for them to do something like this.
As proof of that fact, each cell had dust piled up in every nook and cranny, and many of the iron bars had rust on them, as if they had not been opened for a long time. In fact, it appeared to be a penance room that existed only in name.
“We need to go in more…”
Melinir led me across the penitential hall that stretched out in the middle.
As we reached the end, there was a curved hallway and a bookshelf with simple supplies and a Bible on it.
When I wondered if this was the end of the penance room, Melinir stood on tiptoe and took out a Bible near the top. Then he put his hand into the empty bookshelf space and whined as if he was manipulating something.
-A
strange sound was heard, as if a lever was being lowered, and the bookshelf was pushed to the side. And behind it, a large wooden door was revealed.
“…”
As I swallowed my embarrassment and made a complicated expression, Melinir lowered her gaze.
He said it would be better to see it in person rather than explain it further… Melinir inserted another key into the wooden door.
– Squeak
Eventually, the secret door opens and the scene inside is revealed.
Indeed, it was a sight that everyone who saw for the first time could not help but swallow dry saliva.
– Sniff sniff.
– Kaang! Kaang!
– Crrrrr sniff.
It is the sound of an animal taking a breath.
The sound that came out as soon as I opened the wooden door made me think I was in an animal cage.
However… the things inside the cell, which had the same structure as before… did not have the shape of an animal.
However, it is not completely human-shaped.
Melinir crossed the inner hallway with me with her eyes closed and an expression that seemed to take everything in.
As I looked at the cells filling up both sides… I had no choice but to swallow dry saliva for a moment.
The animals show red eyes and bang on the iron bars when they see humans entering the secret underground cell.
Although they were basically human in shape, they were all drooling while showing off the ears and tails of beasts… dressed as monks.
Sub-human.
A group of heretics who once overthrew the northern grasslands and came close to assassinating Emperor Cloel.
He was the loser of the war to subjugate the demi-humans, one of the wars that cost the most in the history of the Cloel Empire… and
an enemy of the empire that was completely erased from history led by the Cloel Imperial Family.
*
“Zelan the Cutter.”
It is the name of a war hero who protected the imperial family from the demihumans along with the guardian Obel.
The three wizards who assisted Guardian Obel during the war to subdue the demi-humans are already famous.
This is Zellan, the seeker, the outlaw, and the Kaleide cutter.
Glast the Seeker has ended his life, and Kalade the Outlaw is taking a professorship in Sylvania… but the whereabouts of Zelan the Mutilator are still unknown. However, I recently heard something from Austin.
– ‘well. You’ve probably heard the name of the war hero ‘Zelan’, right? He also used to stop by this monastery and donate. If we go a little further into the past… the previous generation’s great wizard Glokt was also like that.’
This is what I said when I was assigned a room.
Should we say that Abbot Austin is a living history book?
It appears that she was already in regular contact with Zelan during her lifetime. After the war, Zelan visited this monastery.
The reason may be…
“After the war to suppress the demihumans, the person who brought thirteen demihuman children to Abbot Austin is… that war hero, Zelan the Cutter.”
– Kaang! Kang! Kang!
– Crrrrr! Wow! Wow! Wow!
The sound of an animal, not a person. The solitary confinement is filled with packs of beasts pounding against the bars and wanting to sink their teeth into us at any moment.
Among them… I also see a red-haired girl who brought my luggage with me on the day I first arrived at the monastery.
I narrowed my eyes at the sight of him losing his senses, which was completely different from before.
Even in the midst of such chaos, Melinir somehow maintained his senses and continued speaking. Is it because I don’t want to see this crazy scene that I close my eyes?
“They are a group of demi-humans who live for war, but there were children who were left behind in the village because they were not strong and were too young. This was especially true for girls who had just been born.”
“Those children… Zelan entrusted them to Abbot Austin…?”
“Yes. They are demi-humans whose lifespan is different from that of humans, but they are still children. They are children who were not involved in the bloodshed of war, so I thought they could probably be rehabilitated.”
The demihumans are a race born for war. By nature, they lust for blood and dream of overthrowing the regime.
Those were the demi-humans that the Cloel imperial family talked about.
Is it because of the painful history of war? The imperial family’s persecution of the demi-humans was already well-known.
The demi-human tribes that lived on the border of this huge empire have now completely dried up.
“He… was skeptical about a war that would only end in blood. He met Abbot Austin and received forgiveness for his sins, and entrusted the children he had brought back alive from the battlefield to this monastery for atonement.”
“Then this penance room…”
“No matter how much I love and teach it, the blood of animals boils on nights when the full moon rises. That is why… the children of the demi-humans mixed among the nuns die around the time the full moon rises. When this happens, I enter this penance room on my own feet.”
If you get drunk on Manwol’s blood, you become a beast that sinks its teeth into people.
Because they themselves know this fact, the children of the demi-human race wear leashes and enter the penitence room.
Until the time comes when he can regain his senses and mingle among humans again… in order to avoid harming others by being locked in solitary confinement.
Eventually, when the full moon passes, she returns to being a nun and continues her religious life. That is the life lived by the children of the demi-humans who continue their lives in this Cleric Monastery.
– ‘Among the nuns who are indebted to the Cleric Monastery, there are many friends with complicated back stories. There are also some illegitimate children from noble families whose names cannot be mentioned, or children born with the blood of cursed blood relatives.’
This is what Abbot Austin said implicitly. Is this what it means to be born of cursed blood?
She was hiding the descendants of the demi-humans whom the empire hated in the monastery she managed.
“If the imperial family finds out about this…”
“They won’t keep silent. It will lead to a problem that is directly related to the existence of Cleric’s Monastery.”
I looked at one of the cells. A girl with beautifully braided red hair. This is the girl who picked me up at the shore and carried my luggage. The monastic robes that he usually wears tightly from head to toe are completely disheveled.
The appearance that seemed gentle and demure is gone, and the ears of an animal are revealed through the flowing veil. Indeed, such a habit could easily cover such animal ears.
If the living space is properly separated from the demi-human children, they will be able to continue their religious life without it being revealed on the surface as much as expected.
Above all, this Cleric Monastery is a different world above the sea, completely isolated from society. Among them, since it is an annex space, contact with the world can be completely minimized.
“Still, Abbot Austin never compromised.”
“…”
“These children are trying harder than anyone else to overcome the curse of their own blood and blend into human society. And… they have nothing to do with the bloody smell of war that our ancestors built up.”
Melinir spoke, biting her lip tightly as if in pain.
“It is a saying that is used everywhere and always… Children are innocent.”
War is not fought in the hands of children. Children are ultimately just victims of war.
Because Abbot Austin knew that fact, he accepted them even while avoiding the eyes of the empire.
‘They are daughters born from my heart.’
That one line of whispers was the meaning that ran through Abbot Austin’s life.
“And… the truth about the rumor about a ‘ghost’ that has been circulating within the monastery for a few days is very different from what Master Ed thinks.”
“…I beg your pardon?”
Melinir led me deeper into the hallway. One of about twenty private rooms. There was a broken window.
When I saw that, I couldn’t help but swallow my saliva.
“──A few days ago, in the middle of the night, Eilen, a child of the demi-human race, escaped.”
She was a girl with beautiful blonde hair and mysterious blue eyes. Sometimes, when I went to the repair room, I could see him lowering his eyes and blushing.
Rumors about a ‘ghost’ circulating among monasteries.
I was assuming that her true identity was Lucy Mayril, who had been hiding in the monastery, but…
“Abbot Austin… went out into the hallway in the middle of the night to find that Eilen.” The meaning of Abbot Austin’s last words
, ‘I’m going to catch a ghost’
… was completely different from what people thought.
“Ailen was the most rational child among the demi-humans. She was close to human to the point where she could maintain her rationality as much as possible even on the day of the full moon, but even so, when it gets this close to a full moon… He wouldn’t have been able to maintain his senses like other children.”
“Then what the Auxiliary Bishop is saying now is…”
“… As Saint Clarisse said at the previous meeting, there is a plan within the Telos Church to murder Abbot Austin. There is no way anyone could be so vengeful.”
Melinir was aware of all these possibilities from the beginning.
“Especially in this Cleric Monastery, Abbot Austin is a benefactor to whom everyone is indebted. So, if Abbot Austin was murdered inside the monastery… the cause was…”
If we exclude the murder due to personal grudges, the only possibility left is a raid by a blood-drunk beast.
Coincidentally, it is avoiding the eyes of humans right now. There is a girl walking between the roofs of Cleric’s Monastery, fighting against the blood of beasts. If
the circumstances fit together so well… it becomes grounds for credibility in itself.
“But Abbot Austin was found in his room . It is done. The wound was also a stab wound with a dagger. The room condition was also neat. “Isn’t it too neat to be something done by a beast who lost his mind?”
“That’s…”
“Besides, it might be possible for a demi-human drunk on a full moon to walk around a monastery for several days without being seen by anyone. ..”
As I tried to talk that far, I ended up speechless.
As new possibilities came into my head… before long, all the puzzles were completed.
*Meeting the next morning.
It was not until late afternoon that the imperial family contacted me. It was said that an investigation team would arrive at Cleric’s Monastery.
Moreover, considering the low tide time, it would be almost midnight before they could enter this monastery. In the end, today was another breathtaking day for the VIPs to watch out for each other. But
the conclusion of the story had already been reached.
The meeting of outsiders, convened again by order of Saint Clarice, did not seem to last very long.
“You said that everyone stayed in their rooms last night. After checking the personnel, it seems that none of the outsiders suffered any major damage. “Everything is returning to normal after Lucy Mayril was arrested.”
Princess Persica, who was presiding over the meeting at the podium of the chapel, reassured the gathered guests.
“The investigation team will come in late tonight and finish the work. Geda. All we have to do is hand Lucy Mayril over to the investigation team, submit a brief testimony, and then all return to the estate.”
Auxiliary Bishop Melinir sat politely in the back with an anxious look on his face, and Saint Clarice looked at Persi with a dissatisfied look on her face. She was glaring at Carr.
However, Clarice did not speak carelessly. Although she was by no means someone who could be pushed down by Persica’s authority… she seemed to not want to make a hasty move and take the situation further than expected. It
seemed as if she believed in something. “Lucy Mayril was locked in the attic at the top of the spire, where it was easiest to monitor .
There are limited routes to come down, so it won’t be easy to avoid anyone’s eyes.”
If Lucy Merill wanted to, escaping from that attic would be no problem.
However, Lucy is thinking of getting stuck in the attic of the spire at this very moment. “Do you
have any special questions or complaints?”
As if confirming everything, the Princess of Persica asked the crowd about their intentions. No answer came back. Persica seemed to have thought this would be the case as well, with a triumphant look on her face.
The crowd was silent, as if they were different people from the noisy yesterday.
The whole thing was concluded without any harm to them. That alone was enough reason to remain silent. The
ostensible sacrifice, Lucy Mayril, complained at a certain point. Even if I tried, it would only be a loss.
I was sitting at the edge, leaning back against the prayer pew with my arms crossed… Saint Clarice casts her gaze.
It feels as if she is asking me if it is really okay for everything to end like this. I narrow my eyes. He closed his mouth and shook his head.
“Then, let’s put an end to this unpleasant incident that occurred at the Cleric Monastery.” All
conclusions were made like that.
It was the end of the incident.
*There was silence in the chapel after the meeting. The princess of Persica ,
who was sitting at the front of the prayer table under the protection of her bodyguard, Tune, wiped her face.
“The work has finally been completed.”
“Thank you for your hard work. Princess Persica.”
“It was difficult because many things went in unexpected directions. Let’s finish the remaining work well and return to the imperial palace.”
Princess Persica spoke in a weary voice as if she were lamenting.
“In the end, we have come this far… but there is nothing to call it a harvest. It is truly futile…”
I suddenly look up at the stained glass in the chapel, and there is a picture of an angel in magnificent size and beautiful colors. The
Princess of Persica does not believe in God. She has no faith at all. She even attends
prayer meetings in the monastery . The visit was just an extension of a political decision.
Still, it felt good. Since I came to this sacred place, wouldn’t it be okay to say a prayer for God?
That was the point when Princess Persica put her hands together for a moment.
-Crash!
Chair. The sound of people pushing and getting up.
There were no VIPs left in the chapel after the meeting. Once the monastery routine begins, there is no reason for outsiders to come to the chapel.
However, in the back seat, out of sight… so comfortable that it almost seems rude. There was a boy lying down. He may have been waiting for all the VIPs to leave.
He stood up, relaxed his body, and walked along the red carpet leading to the central podium.
The Princess of Persica looked at him with astonished eyes. ” When I saw him, it was a familiar face.
His half-up blonde hair and intelligent expression caught my eye.
Ed Ross Taylor.
This was the boy who had only been rumored.
I was still unable to treat him alone due to the sudden change in circumstances, but he begged me to come and visit him in person.
” Were you praying? “I’m sorry for disturbing you.”
Ed Ross-Taylor sat on the prayer table opposite Princess Persica, put his hands together, and prayed in unison.
While Princess Persica was wondering what to say, Ed Ross-Taylor took the first step with his eyes closed. He began:
“Actually, I am praying so politely, but I don’t believe in anything like God.”
Just like Persica, Ed Rothtaylor is also a person with no religious beliefs.
Rather than living discussing God and the world, he focuses on reality and survival. I am a human being who has lived my life arguing. There was no room in my heart for faith in a gigantic invisible being.
Therefore, praying like this is just a guess.
“Even if someone who created the world exists in the sky, such a feeble prayer would not be possible. There’s no way it could reach those ears.”
“You’re saying something interesting in the middle of the Telos Church’s sacred site. Ed Rosstaylor. “I’ve heard a lot of stories, but he’s more interesting than I thought.”
“Actually, isn’t it obvious? I don’t think there is any such thing as an omniscient being who understands all the events and truths in this world. “I wouldn’t know my prayers or the truth about Abbot Austin’s death… unless I was right next to him.”
It’s a confusing incident. It feels like the atmosphere within the monastery has become very tense.
Now, it’s time to resolve everything. The time has come.
“But… at least the Princess of Persica knows, doesn’t she?”
“Me? What do I mean?”
I hinted without putting my hands together for prayer.
“Abbot Austin’s autograph is. The fact that it was suicide.”
Guard driver Tune trembled.
It was an unusual mistake for someone who always carries out her duties quietly.
