Chapter 218 – The Doubt of the Monks

Chapter 218: The Doubt of the Monks

Heidi suddenly stuttered and sneezed, startling the young monk across the room who was taking notes.

“Are you alright?” The young friar looked at the psychiatrist lady in front of him with some concern, “Is it a physical discomfort? There’s a feeling of something unusual ……”

“I’m fine – it’s probably just that the cool wind blew in the square just now, plus I was anxious and nervous before, and now I’m cold,” Heidi waved her hand without waiting for the other party to finish, and rubbed her nose while saying, “Where did we talk about up?”

“Talking about how you saw two ‘realities’ iterated in the Citadel at once in a state that approximated a ‘disembodied soul,’ and that the arrival of the Lost Country caused the stripping and annihilation of one of them. “The young acolyte glanced at the information he had just written down, while flipping back to what had come before, “You also mentioned that you had a crystal pendant, which you perceived might be the key.”

“The pendant was broken,” Heidi said thoughtfully, nodding her head, “The pendant was obtained by my father from an antique store, but I doubt that either my father or the store manager would have known what was so special about the pendant- -it was just a giveaway, even …… with the Glassworks label.”

“That is to say, an object with transcendental powers, but concealed from its true posture-which by coincidence flowed into the Lower City and came into your hands,” said the young friar, as he bowed his head to take notes, “could you please tell us a little about that antique store and certain details of the pendant’s character? This may help us to have a more detailed picture of the real situation in the aftermath; after all, transcendental objects have the ability to pull fate many times, and its encounter with you may not have been by chance.”

“Of course it’s no problem,” Heidi nodded immediately, talking about what she knew, and after getting the general picture out of the way, she hesitated for a moment before she finally couldn’t help but speak up, “Is everyone …… back yet? ”

“From the situation …… we have so far, yes,” the young friar nodded, “although almost everyone’s memories have a scene of the city-state being incinerated by the flames, but now everything is back to how it was before the catastrophe occurred –which is currently being explained by the Archbishop and Inquisitor as ‘a reality-invasion level disaster of historical contamination’, but the exact details are yet to be made public.”

At that, he paused and added, “But your case is the most unique – almost everyone doesn’t remember how the disaster ended, whereas you ‘saw’ the key process, which is why your testimony is crucial. ”

“I understand,” Heidi sighed softly, and then as if something had suddenly occurred to her, “so hadn’t I better check in with home first? It looks like I won’t be able to get back for a while ……”

“We’ve already sent someone,” the young friar gave a small smile, “you don’t have to worry.”

“Already informed? That’s good,” Heidi thought for a moment and nodded gently, “Let’s get on with it then, what are we going to ask next?”

“Okay, next question, do you remember any specific details of the ghost ship that surfaced in the two historical tracks, and do you experience any mental trances or hallucinations when recalling those details?”

……

Vanna came into the Great Sanctuary.

The empty and sacred place seemed exceptionally quiet at the moment, and apart from the necessary guards at the entrance, Bishop Valentine, who was standing silently in front of the icon, was the only person in the hall.

The sound of Vanna’s footsteps broke the peaceful atmosphere in the great sanctuary.

Valentine turned his head, he had already removed the gorgeous clothes and crown that he would only wear at special moments, and was only wearing a simple robe and a floppy hat, except for holding the long staff that represented the bishop of the city state in his hand, he looked no different from an ordinary old man.

Vanna came in front of Valentine with a stoic expression, “Order has been restored in the church district, the various garrisons are heading to their quarters in order to straighten out the order of the city-state, the high-ranking priests have already gone to the various major factories to pacify the steam cores, and at least before nightfall, we can ensure that the ‘twilight bells’ will be rung as usual, and that the gas supply to the entire city will not be interrupted.”

The old bishop was visibly relieved, “Hard work, Vanna.”

“As it should be,” Vanna said calmly, “The residual mental and cognitive dissonance after the contamination subsided is still having an effect, and it’s hard for the untrained average person to snap out of the disaster, and even City Hall is a mess right now, so we’ll have to leave the ‘professionals’ to the ‘professionals’ for now. ‘professionals’ to take over the order.”

Valentine nodded, then reminded, “After nightfall, in addition to ensuring the supply of gas, we should also deploy additional night patrols in all urban areas, and bring enough lanterns and incense, so as to beware of anything ‘running’ in during the night. …… us Having just experienced a reality invasion, the foundation of the reality in which Prender is located is at its most fragile state. Also check all the nightfall shelters in the city one by one, there may still be overly nervous citizens who have locked themselves in …… Once the holy oil in the shelters runs out, those panicked asylum seekers are going to become a big problem.”

Vanna nodded, “I understand, I’ll make the arrangements later, and I’ll personally lead the team to check the key areas at night.”

“…… You can just leave it to your own deputy,” Valentine looked at the young Inquisitor in front of him with a bit of worry, “Go and take a rest after you’ve dealt with the matter at hand, you’re still injured.”

“The injuries have largely healed since returning to the cathedral,” Vanna said immediately, and looked the old man in front of her up and down, “Your previous ‘injuries’ were more serious than mine… …”

“Can it be the same?” Valentine scowled, “I’ve recovered from historical contamination, and you’ve literally killed your way through the entire city-state twice, both inside and outside the curtain! I can even see how weak you are at the moment.”

Vanna, however, said nothing, but silently turned and raised her head, gazing silently at the icon of Gemona, the Storm Goddess, illuminated by the glow of the candles and gas lamps.

A short silence fell in the great sanctuary until Valentine broke the dead silence, “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking about what exactly to write in the second half of this report,” Vanna sighed, “How are we going to explain to the Pope Coronet how it all ended when she wants to know about this disaster in Prand?”

The expression on Valentine’s face was a bit brilliant all of a sudden as well. “In a sense …… well, it doesn’t have to be ‘in a sense’,” the old bishop held his tongue and could only sigh like Vanna, ” The fact of the matter is that the arrival of the Lost Country extinguished the historical contamination brought about by the Final Preacher and prevented the black sun that was about to be born on the earthly plane. Though we don’t know what the phantom captain’s purpose was in doing all this, there is no doubt ……”

The old bishop paused, silent for nearly half a minute before he had to speak in a hushed voice, “Prand survived the arrival of the Lost Country.”

“Perhaps he came for the ‘Shard of the Sun’,” what was on Vanna’s mind was in fact a lot, but she didn’t say all her thoughts out loud, “Do you remember that ‘White Oak ship’? That ship had a head-on encounter with the Lost Country, and ended up retreating in one piece, with only Anomaly 099 being taken – perhaps that ‘Captain Duncan’s’ purpose is simpler than anyone imagines.”

“Hijacking a sun fragment and hijacking an anomaly are not the same concept,” Valentine shook his head, “but you’re right, it’s really the only explanation we can come up with at the moment, and if the Coronation of the Pope needs an answer, then it’s the only one we can give… …The rest is just a matter of reporting everything that happened here as it happened, and seeing what conclusions the clerics of the Storm Cathedral can discuss.”

With a soft hmmm, Vanna turned back to the goddess, her gaze once again falling on the icon of the goddess.

“Your mind is still very unsettled,” having known each other for many years, Valentine could certainly detect that Vanna was not quite in the right state, “Vanna, we’ve already discussed the matter of the city-state and the church, what else is shaking your will now?”

“I …… am fine.”

“We’ve known each other for many years,” Valentine but shook his head, “Although from the priesthood, you’re my equal, but in getting along, you’ve always regarded me as an elder who can be trusted – I can tell that you’ve been in a state since you came back has been a bit off, what exactly happened?”

Vanna was silent for a moment as she looked up at the veil-covered goddess, and after a moment, lowered her gaze to look at this body of hers.

It was as if Dante Wayne’s words were still echoing in her ears.

Eleven years ago in the fire, the final preachers used to open the historical pollution of the “source of the fire”, his uncle …… actually did not save himself.

That fire is the beginning of the historical pollution, is the “positive history” and “pseudo-history” demarcation line, the people who died that night is really dead, and after the fire, the destruction and survival of the Pranders split into two diametrically opposed “World Lines”.

That is to say, she, who died on the night of the fire …… should never have survived.

It was the “Blessing of Subspace” that kept her alive until today.

The end of the preacher at the top of the clock tower crazy shouting still ringing in the ears.

“As thou art dead and risen, so shalt thou be born and die …….”

She has come back from the dead.

But not born to die.

The appearance of the Lost Country interrupts this.

Now, she still stands well, breathing the earthly air and enjoying the warmth of the living.

Even the Goddess of Storms, was still raining down blessings on herself, using the moisturizing power of the sea breeze to make all the wounds she had sustained from the previous battle recover.

This even caused Vanna, for the first time in her life, to have a goddess-related confusion –

Storm Goddess …… didn’t care about the fact that she had survived due to the “subspace blessing”?

And this confusion continues to expand, can be associated with something that makes Vanna a little bit chilling–

According to the words of the preacher and Captain Duncan, the entire city-state of Prand has already been drenched in the flames of the Lost Country, and everyone in the city-state, even the land itself, is already a “blasphemous heretic”.

However,……, the blessing of the cathedral is still there, and the prayers of every deep-sea priest to the goddess in Prand are still answered as in the past.

For the first time in her life, Vanna questioned her long-held beliefs.

(End of chapter)