The child’s flesh and veins blackened, but he wasn’t in pain. He seemed so relaxed, his face looking as if he were asleep.
“How did you… how did this happen?”
Bishop Andrei asked with no hint of embarrassment.
“Teacher healed it. He said it would regenerate his arms and reduce his pain. And he said, ‘This child is the proof of the end of the world….'”
The woman said, placing her hand on the child’s shoulder. Iris could not hear the woman’s words. She could only see the child’s horrific transformation and her mother’s face, happy she didn’t have to watch her child suffer more.
“Here, you go in first.”
The woman patted the child on the back, and he returned inside. Iris followed the child’s disappearing back with her eyes. ‘What had she seen? What had the doomsday cult done to him? What was going to happen to him? Was he the only one who had been subjected to this?’
Iris’ head spun. Arjen quickly grabbed her shoulders and raised her off the ground. Andrei glanced at her, then turned to the woman. His eyes were emotionless.
“Please, come in. I’d like to offer you a cup of tea.”
“Thank you, but I must finish writing my report.”
Andrei waved her off. The woman didn’t seem to care why they had to leave.
“Does ‘Teacher’ appear in town often?”
Andrei asked, and the woman shook her head.
“No, he doesn’t. He only appears in the village when he has a sermon, always at midnight, and we have no idea where he usually stays. During a sermon, he cured our son’s mind and body at the same time….”
The Bishop frowned. ‘He doesn’t appear in the daytime. They only meet him at night. The only way to contact him is to sneak into the brewery at night. It would be cleaner to kill everyone in the brewery, but that would cause problems for the Kingdom of Kairos.’
“And the only way to see ‘Teacher’ is to attend his sermons at night?”
The woman smiled gently and nodded.
“Yes. Is it possible that you have also become interested in his teachings?”
Andrei gave a broad smile at the woman’s question.
“I think it is fascinating, and I would love to attend one of his sermons if I had the chance.”
The woman smiled, pleased with his answer.
“Well, then… Come to the brewery at the end of our village at midnight; he says newcomers are always welcome, and if it’s someone from outside our village, he’ll be even more pleased. I wish my husband was like you… He says he won’t attend them. Ever.”
The woman grasped Andrei’s hand warmly.
“There are so many people around here who have learned so much. Maybe one day, my husband will realize that.”
He looked her in the eye and nodded.
Just then, they heard the sound of someone running. A bucket of rainwater that had been set up in the alleyway spilled over, spilling clean water. The woman’s husband was rushing toward them, his face contorted with anger and fear.
“You-!! How often have I told you not to bring guests into the house-!!”
The man’s mouth dropped open when he saw the house’s open door. The blood drained from his face, leaving it a dead brown color.
“I showed them our son. They helped us; they should see what happened to him.”
Her voice was so innocent. The man shuddered and then struck his wife.
The woman’s body was too weak to withstand the man’s strength. She stumbled backward, crashing into the doorway. She didn’t clutch her cheek where the man had struck her; she just stared at him with her swollen face, her expression unchanged. The man’s face contorted into a demonic grimace, and he walked over to his wife, who had fallen against the door.
“I said. No matter what, you can’t do that.”
“They understood; they said they were interested in what Teacher had to say after I showed them how he cured our son.”
“Crazy bitch.”
The man staggered back, shaken. Then, clutching his head, he collapsed to his knees on the floor and let out a sob. The man’s hand slammed into the floor, tearing open and stained with blood. The woman looked at him as if he were an animal.
“Calm down.”
Andrei grabbed the man and pulled him to his feet. Staggering, barely able to stand, the man clutched at Andrei’s collar with a bloodied hand. His stench wafted up. He staggered toward the depths of the alley, dragging the Bishop with him.
“Don’t worry, I understand.”
Andrei nodded slowly, looking into the man’s eyes.
“Help me. This town is getting strange, and it’s all been going on since that ‘Teacher’ came in. One by one, people fall for his tricks and are taught strange things.”
The man’s words poured out without pause, and then he cleared his throat harshly.
“I can’t do this anymore. I can’t live here in my right mind. My wife won’t listen when I ask her to leave with me.”
The man looked around again.
“I don’t know where his ears are listening. Everyone in the village is his eyes and ears now, so….”
The man sank to the ground. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He looked up again to see the Bishop and the Saintess who followed them.
“Help us. Please, save us.”
Iris looked into the man’s eyes, the eyes of a man lost in deep despair more than anything else. What it must be like to be the only one holding on to sanity when everyone around you is going mad.
“Saintess. Please, heal them like you’ve done before. Put an end to this madness.”
“Tell us, promise us that the world will not yet end.”
***
“…What was that?”
One of the inquisitors spoke up. Bishop Andrei looked around at the people gathered in the church. Each man who had come to investigate the village wore that same pale, weary expression. He recalled the shape of the flesh that covered the child’s body.
“Mark of the Disaster.”
The Bishop replied tersely, pulling a cigarette and holding it. He lit the end of the cigarette using his holy power and inhaled.
“Perhaps the Third Disaster, for there are records of monsters created by evil worshippers by feeding people snake flesh.”
A faint wisp of smoke escaped from his mouth. Arjen’s ordinarily expressionless face was now contorted in disgust.
“Why would they do such a thing?”
“Some do it out of mere curiosity, while others do it in earnest, wishing for the return of the Disaster.”
The Bishop took another long drag on his cigarette. The tobacco burned black.
“And what happens to the person who is marked?”
“What do you expect me to say? Either they become monsters bereft of intellect and reason, or they become lumps of flesh and die.”
He blew out a puff of smoke as he looked down the slope toward the village.
“What are the chances of the Disaster rising again?”
“Converging on zero. I’m sure the Evil God worshippers are well aware of that, but they will grind thousands of people to a pulp for that chance.”
Arjen frowned.
“Are they only doing it to revive the Disasters?”
“Perhaps. No one knows their purpose.”
Bishop Andrei pulled out a portable ashtray and stubbed out his cigarette.
“Well, I guess that puts us on a list of things we need to do: infiltrate their sermon, catch that ‘Teacher’ guy, weed out the doomsday cultists, and….”
“To kill the marked child. If there are others like him, find them and kill them.”
Arjen said coldly. The Bishop looked back at Arjen disapprovingly but did not deny his words.
“Yes. It would be best to deal with them before they become strange. It would be better for us if the child turned to flesh and disappeared on his own, but given that he’s still alive, he’s far more likely to become a monster.
Their eyes met. Arjen grinned bitterly and gripped the hilt of his sword.
“I don’t see why we should delay our execution. We should do it as soon as possible.”
“We might as well do it when we catch that ‘Teacher.’ He has almost the whole town under his influence. It’s best to do them at once.”
Andrei looked at his cigarette meaningfully, then stood up. Iris then watched as his hand slammed down on his chair. As if the chair were the child’s head. It shattered under his hand.
“Help us. Please, save us.”
She could hear the man’s voice. Iris looked at Andrei and Arjen as they discussed the child’s treatment. By treatment, she meant discussing how to kill him.
“Don’t waste our men for nothing, Elroy. To truly kill the Kraken, we must wait for it to come ashore and strike it from both land and sea simultaneously. Otherwise, there’s no way.”
By agreeing with him, she had already thrown away one chance to save them. She was afraid, for she did not yet know the weight of saving others.
And Iris had seen the consequences of her choice closer than anyone else. She remembered the cries for help, the people dying without time to heal them. Cities gone, villages shattered. The look on the parent’s face when their child dies.
“Tell us, promise us that the world will not yet end.”
Isis opened her mouth despite herself.
“No.”
Arjen and Andrei looked at her at the same time. Iris spoke again, clearly, with strength in each word.
“You must not kill the child.”
The Bishop frowned at her words.
“What do you mean by that, Iris?”
“I mean it literally; don’t kill him.”
The Bishop shook his head and opened his mouth again.
“I’ve told you, Iris, we can do nothing to bring him back. He’s been ruined, and only two futures are left for him.”
Become flesh, or become a monster.
“It would be far less painful for him to die.”
Arjen added dryly. Iris shook her head. This was her punishment, not her atonement.
“I’ll cure him.”
Bishop Andrei and Arjen’s faces hardened.
“…Curing him is impossible. It’s a waste of time, Iris. You can’t waste your mana on that.”
Iris shook her head stubbornly.
“Give me a chance, just once. If that fails, I can do as the Bishop wishes.”
“…How and when will you cure him, Iris?”
“I’ll cure everyone when they gather at the brewery.”
This time Arjen shook his head.
“It is too dangerous. The Bishop told you to refrain from acting during the night. I understand your sympathy for them, but there are things that sympathy alone cannot overcome.”
“Even if your magic could work a miracle and cure them, it’s still too dangerous.”
“I will go there, no matter what anyone says.”
Arjen frowned at her words.
“You’re risking too much on unseen possibilities, Iris. You must remember that our purpose is to catch the heretics here….”
“To catch the heretics and save the people.”
“You have the stubbornness of a child.”
Iris frowned. But no one else seemed to agree with her. Bishop Andrei was siding with Arjen, and the other Inquisitors were unwilling to make eye contact with her.
As it was, the child would die before she could attempt to heal him.
“Please….”
Tears pooled in Iris’ eyes.
Just once, if only she could be given a chance.
“I agree with her.”
Just then, a voice broke the silence. Arjen looked up, narrowing his eyes at the voice.
“…Why are you here?”
The Hero.
“When you have a chance to save them, even if it’s close to zero, why ignore it?”
Translator’s Corner
Hope you enjoyed that. I wanted to make another chapter because of the cliffhanger. So have this one instead.
-Ruminas
