ALL NOVEL Giving meaning (6)
The cloister of the monastery at night is quiet. Since there was such an unfortunate incident, no one was wandering around the corridor at night unnecessarily.
Since the nuns are early in the morning, everyone is ready to go to bed by this time anyway, and outsiders who know the circumstances of Abbot Austin’s death do not leave their room to raise suspicion.
Thanks to this, Auxiliary Bishop Melinir and I were able to cross the abbey hall without being seen by anyone.
“In the basement of the Cedric Monastery… there is a ‘Repentance Room’…”
There was a creaking sound from the key ring.
The large bundles of keys hung from the waist of the assistant Bishop Melinir were too numerous to be bloody just by looking at them. In fact, it was as if the keys to all the rooms inside the monastery were gathered together. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
I passed the eerie hallway and went down the stairs at the end.
“And some of the nuns regularly come to the Penitentiary to confess their sins. Since they are nuns who have committed great sins in the past, on the night of the full moon, they spend time in the penitentiary room, on their sins.”
“Is that so…”
“However, that is only a superficial reason.”
I went down for a while, passed the huge hall on the first floor, and was sucked into the hallway again for a while.
In this way, we go through the dining room, communal kitchen, storage room, prayer room, and small garden, and across the vegetable garden to the annex. Even inside the annex, if you go all the way inside and turn the deepest corridor, there is a staircase that goes down to the basement.
Next to the stairs was the phrase ‘Repentance Room’. Even though it was a place of penance, it was a very isolated place.
As I went down the basement stairs as it was, I saw a space like a dungeon made of bricks. When Melinir put the key in the iron cage and entered, he saw a series of private rooms on either side of the long corridor in the middle.
Each cell is separated by an iron fence, and if you look inside, all you can find is a simple Bible or prayer supplies, and a small window that lets in the moonlight. It is here that you pray for repentance for your past sins, and your sins are forgiven.
What a sin he had committed to pray for atonement in this remote monastery and even to the remote penitentiary. Even if there are many nuns with complicated circumstances, it would be rare to do something like this.
As proof of that fact, each cell was covered with dust in every nook and cranny, or there were many rusted parts of the iron bars as if they had not been opened for a long time. In fact, it appeared to be a chamber of penance that only existed nominally.
“More… you have to go in…”
Melinir led me across the corridor of the Chamber of Confessions that stretched out in the middle.
When we reached the end as it was, there was a corridor that had been cut off, and there was a bookshelf with simple furnishings and Bibles on it.
When I asked if this was the end of this penitential space, Melinir took out a bible on the edge of the top with a claw. Then he shoved his hand into the empty bookcase, and whined as if he was manipulating something.
-Kagang
There was a strange sound as if the lever was going down, and the bookshelf was pushed aside. And then a large wooden door was revealed.
“…”
As I swallowed my embarrassment and made a complicated expression, Melinir lowered his gaze.
It’s better to see for yourself than to explain anything… Melinir put another key into the wooden door.
– quiver
Eventually, the secret door opens and the scene inside is revealed.
Indeed, it was a sight that all those who saw it for the first time had no choice but to swallow dry saliva.
– Crackle, sniff, sniff.
– Kaang! Kaang!
– Whoops, whoops, whoops.
It’s the sound of an animal breathing.
The sound that came pouring out as soon as I opened the wooden door made me feel as if I was in a cage of animals.
However… the ones in the cell with the same structure as before… did not have the shape of a beast.
However, it is not completely in the shape of a human being.
Melinir slowly closed his eyes and walked with me down the inner hallway, as if he had accepted everything.
Looking at the solitary cells on either side… I had no choice but to swallow dry saliva for a moment.
Seeing the humans who entered the underground secret cell, the beasts slammed their iron bars with their red eyes.
Although they are basically in human form, they all drool while exposing the ears and tail of beasts… They were all dressed as monks.
Ain people.
Once upon a time, a group of heretics who rose up over the northern steppe and went right before assassination of Emperor Chloel.
One of the most sacrificial wars in the history of the Chloel Empire, the loser of the Ain subjugation war…
He was the enemy of the Empire, completely erased from history, led by the Chloel Imperial Family.
*“Cutter Gellan.”
It is the name of a war hero who, along with the guardian Obel, protected the imperial family from the Ain people.
The three wizards who aided the Guardian Obel in the Ain subjugation war are already famous.
They are Glast the Seeker, Khalaid the Outlaw, and Zelan the Severer.
Glast the Seeker has passed away, and Khalaid the Outlaw is a professor in Sylvania… but the whereabouts of Zelan the Sever are still unknown. However, I have heard comments from Austin recently.
– ‘Well. Have you ever heard of the name of the war hero ‘Zellan’? He also used to stop by this monastery and donate. If we go a little further back… the previous generation of Archmage Glockt did the same.’
That’s what I said when I was assigned a room.
Should we really call it Abbot Austin, a living history book?
It seems that she was already in regular contact with Zellan during her lifetime. After the war, Zelan had visited this monastery.
The reason is probably…
“After the war to subdue the Ain, the one who brought thirteen Ain children to Abbot Austin… is the war hero, Zelan the Amputator.”
– Kaang! Kang! Kang!
– Crumple! Kung! Kung! Kung!
The sound of an animal, not a human. The cell is full of hordes of beasts who want to hit the iron bars and bite us with their teeth at any moment.
Among them… on the day I first arrived at the monastery, I see a red-haired girl who had dropped off my luggage.
Completely different from that time, I narrowed my eyebrows at the loss of reason.
Even in the midst of such a chaos, Melinir somehow kept his reason and continued speaking. Maybe the reason I closed my eyes was because I didn’t want to see this maddening sight.
“They are a group of Ain people who live for the war, but there were children who were left behind in the village because they were not strong enough and they were too young. This was especially true of young girls.”
“You mean… Zelan entrusted the children with Abbot Austin…?”
“Yes. Although they are subhumans with a different lifespan from humans, they are still children. Because they are children who have not been entangled in the blood and winds of war, they thought that they could be reincarnated.”
The Ain are a race born for war. He is born greedy for blood and dreams of overthrowing his stay.
That was the Ain people talked about in the Chlo?l imperial family.
Is it because of the painful history of war? The imperial persecution of the Ain people was already famous.
The tribes of the Ain who lived on the borders of this vast empire are now completely withered.
“He… was skeptical of a war that could only end in blood. When I met Abbot Austin and my sins were forgiven, I entrusted the children I had brought back from the battlefield for atonement to this abbey.”
“Then this penitential room…”
“No matter how much love I have embraced and taught, the blood of animals boils on the night of the full moon. That’s why… Children of the Ain people, mixed among the nuns, enter this penitential chamber on their own feet around the time of the full moon.”
When drunk with the full moon’s blood, it becomes a beast that sticks its teeth to humans.
Knowing that fact themselves, the children of the Ain race themselves into the penitentiary room on their leash.
Until the time comes when I can regain my sanity and be able to mix with humans again… In order not to harm others by imprisoning myself in solitary confinement.
Eventually, when the full moon passes, she goes back to being a nun and continues her religious life. That is the life of the children of the Ain people who are living their lives mixed in this Cledric Monastery.
– ‘Among the nuns who are in charge of the Cedric’s Monastery, there are many friends whose backstory is obscure. There are some illegitimate children of noble families whose names cannot be spoken, and there are also some children born with the blood of a cursed clan.’
Abbot Austin told the story implicitly. Those born with the blood of a cursed kin, did you mean something like this?
She was hiding the descendants of the Ain people hated by the Empire in her monastery.
“If the imperial family finds out about this…”
“I will not stand still. It will lead to problems that are directly related to the existence of the Kledric Monastery.”
I looked at a single cell. A girl with red hair in beautiful braids. She is the girl who met me to the shore and carried my luggage. The monk’s uniform, which is usually tightly wrapped from head to toe, is completely disorganized.
The gentle and meek exterior is gone, and the animal’s ears are exposed through the flowing veil. Indeed, with such a monk’s robe, it was possible to easily cover the ears of such animals.
If only the living space is well separated from the Ain children, they will be able to continue their religious life without being exposed to the surface than expected.
Above all, this Cedric Monastery is a different world on the sea, completely separated from society. Among them, as 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 bit her lip as if in pain and spoke.
“Anytime, everywhere… Children are innocent.”
Wars are not fought in the hands of children. Children are, after all, only victims of war.
Because Abbot Austin knew that fact, he accepted them even while avoiding the eyes of the Empire.
‘They are the daughters of my heart.’
That one line of whispers was of significance throughout the life of Abbot Austin.
“And… The rumors about ‘ghosts’ circulating in the monastery from a few days ago, the truth is very different from what Master Ed thinks.”
“…I beg your pardon?”
Melinir led me further down the hallway. One of about twenty private rooms. There was a window that was broken.
Seeing it, I couldn’t help swallowing dry saliva.
“──A few days ago, in the middle of the night, Eileen, a child of the Ain tribe, escaped.”
She was a girl with beautiful blonde hair hanging down and mysterious blue eyes. Occasionally, when I went to the repair room, I could see her face blushing as she rolled her eyes.
Rumors of a ‘ghost’ circling between the monasteries.
I was assuming that it was Lucy Meryl hiding in the monastery, but…
“Abbey Austin… was out of the hallway in the middle of the night to find Eileen.”
‘I’m going to catch a ghost’
Abbot Austin’s last words meant… it was completely different from what people thought.
“Eileen was a rational child among the Ain people. Even on the day of the full moon, he is close to a human being, capable of maintaining his rationality as much as possible, but no matter how close he is to the full moon… he would not have been able to maintain his rationality like other children.”
“Then what the Assistant Bishop is saying now…”
“…As St. Claris-sama said in a previous meeting, there is no one within the Telos Church who harbors such vindictiveness as to murder Abbot Austin.”
Melinir had been aware of all these possibilities from the beginning.
“Especially in this Cledric Abbey, Abbot Austin is everyone’s benefactor. So if Abbot Austin was murdered inside the abbey… the cause…”
If we rule out murder from personal vengeance, in the end, the only possibility is the raid of a blood-drunk beast.
Coincidentally, right now, there is a girl fighting the blood of a beast while walking between the roofs of the Cedric Monastery, avoiding the eyes of humans.
When circumstances match up so well… it becomes a basis for credibility in itself.
“But Abbot Austin was found in his room. The wound was also a dagger stab wound. The condition of the room was also neat. Isn’t that too neat for a beast that lost its temper?”
“that…”
“Besides, it’s possible that the Ain people who are drunk on the full moon walk around the monastery for days without being seen by anyone… is it possible…”
I was going to talk up to that point, but I was speechless.
A new possibility popped into my head… because eventually all the puzzles were complete.
* Meeting the next morning.
The imperial family contacted me, saying that it was not until late in the afternoon that the investigation unit arrived at the Cedric’s Monastery.
In addition, considering the low tide, you can enter this monastery only at midnight. In the end, it is a story about having to spend a suffocating time today as the VIPs are wary of each other again.
However, the story had already come to an end.
The meeting of outsiders, which was convened again by the order of Saint Clarisse, did not seem to last very long.
“Last night, everyone said they were well nailed down in their rooms. After checking the personnel, it seems that none of the outsiders were seriously upset. Everything is back to normal after you arrested Lucy Meryl.”
Princess Persica, who presided over the meeting at the chapel podium, reassured the distinguished guests who had gathered like that.
“At the end of the night, the investigation team will come in and finish all the work. We’ll have to hand over Lucy Meryl to the investigation team, submit a brief testimony, and then we’ll all go back to the estate.”
Auxiliary Bishop Melinir was sitting politely behind him with an anxious face, and Saint Clarisse was glaring at Persica with a face full of dissatisfaction.
However, Clarisse did not speak rudely. Persica’s authority was definitely not someone who could be pushed aside… but it seemed like he didn’t want to act hastily and lead the situation unexpectedly.
It seems that he has a sign of believing in something.
“Lucy Merrill was locked up in the attic at the top of the spire, which is the easiest to monitor. The route you can descend is limited, so it won’t be easy to avoid anyone’s eyes.”
If Lucy Meryl made up her mind, it wouldn’t be a problem to escape from that attic.
But even at this moment, Lucy had no intention of getting stuck in the attic of the spire.
“Do you have any questions or complaints?”
As if to confirm everything like that, Princess Persica asked her intentions in front of the crowd. No answer came back. As if Persica thought it would be like this, her face was triumphant.
As if they were a different person from the noisy yesterday, the crowd was silent.
Everything ends with no harm done to them. That alone was reason enough to remain silent.
At the time when the superficial offering of Lucy Meiril was decided, it was only a loss to speak of dissatisfaction.
Sitting on the edge of my head, with arms crossed, leaning my back on the prayer table… Saint Clarisse throws her eyes at me.
It really feels like you’re asking me if it’s okay for everything to end like this. I closed my eyes and shook my head.
“Then, let’s put an end to this unfortunate incident that happened in this Cedric’s Monastery…”
So, all conclusions have been drawn.
That was the end of the case.
*In the chapel after the meeting, there was only silence.
The Persica princess, who was seated in the front seat of the prayer table, while being escorted by the bodyguard Tune, swept her face once.
“It was just finished.”
“You have been through a lot. Princess of Persica.”
“It was difficult because there were a lot of things that went in an unexpected direction. Let’s finish the rest of the work and go back to the imperial palace.”
The Princess of Persica spoke in a voice that seemed to have lost energy, as if lamenting.
“After all, I have come this far… but there is no such thing as a harvest. It is really absurd…”
Suddenly looking up, on the stained glass of the chapel, a picture of an angel spread out in a magnificent size and with beautiful colors.
The Princess of Persica does not believe in God. There is no such thing as faith
The fact that he even came to the monastery’s prayer meeting was just an extension of his political judgment.
Still, it feels Since you’ve come all the way to this holy place, wouldn’t it be okay to pray for God at least once?
With that thought in mind, it was the time when the Princess of Persica put her hands together for a while.
– Kudangtang!
The sound of pushing a chair and getting up.
After the meeting, there were no distinguished guests left in the chapel. This is because there is no reason for outsiders to come to the chapel once the monastic work begins.
However, there was a boy lying in the back seat that was not conspicuous… in a position that was comfortable enough to be rude. Perhaps they were waiting for all the distinguished guests to leave.
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He rose from his seat, relaxed and walked along the red carpet leading to the central podium.
When the Princess of Persica looked back at him with absurd eyes, it was a familiar face.
Her half-up blonde hair and intelligent impression stood out.
Ed Roth Taylor.
It was the boy who was disregarded only by rumors.
He was still unable to stand alone due to the sudden change of circumstances, but he came directly to me.
“Are you praying? Sorry to disturb you.”
Ed Roth Taylor sat in the prayer seat opposite the Princess of Persica and prayed at the same time, putting her hands together.
While Princess Persica was contemplating what to say, Ed Roth-Taylor spoke first with her eyes closed.
“Actually, I pray this politely, but I don’t believe in gods.”
Same with Persica. Ed Roth-Taylor is also a man who has no faith in him.
He is a human who has lived by discussing reality and survival rather than discussing God and the world. There was no room in the mind for the belief in an invisible giant being.
So, to pray like this is just to match the assortment.
“Even if someone who made the world exists in the sky, such a feeble prayer would never reach their ears.”
“You’re making a funny noise in the middle of the Telos Church’s holy land. Ed Roth Taylor. 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 such a thing as an omniscient being who understands all the events and truths of this world… Neither my prayers nor the truth about Abbot Austin’s death… unless it was someone who was right next to me.”
It’s a puzzling case. The atmosphere inside the monastery also seems to have increased a lot.
Now is the time to clear it all up.
“But… at least Princess Persica doesn’t know?”
“I mean? What do I mean?”
I did not put down the hands I had gathered for prayer, but I spoke as it was.
“The fact that Abbot Austin’s cause of death was suicide.”
The bodyguard, Tune, trembled.
It was a rare mistake for a woman who always does her duty quietly.