Chapter 163: The Clock Tower
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My hands trembled slightly without even realizing it.
I didn't know what was wrong with . My mind was just... a complete ss.
Relic Bones, Goddess's Tear, terms I had never even heard of before... and everything written in that notebook, Woodward Forest, the entrance to the Land of Dragons... I needed to tell Lecter all of this right away. I had to get out of here. I knew that was what I had to do.
I just felt weak all over, and I didn't want to stand up.
My mind was filled with only 1 thing.
Sister Theresa...
Why are you part of the Gate of Truth? What are you trying to do?
What are you doing... I was the one who told you about Dabai... So did I... accidentally help you sohow...
And those people who blew themselves up, they were sent by you, weren't they?
After all, you were the only one who knew Abel had given sothing... What did you do to him...
And why did you try to kill .
Was it because you thought I was too much of a threat? Or did you simply not want to expose yourself, because so "mission" of yours was still unfinished?
It's just that those people were too weak... I didn't die, and I'm sure you found that very unfortunate.
You also know Elna... that woman Valarr was still thinking about on his deathbed. You must be quite close to her. After all, you're both mbers of the Gate of Truth.
Honestly, I should have figured it out long ago... when you killed that muscular man without a mont's hesitation. Or even... earlier than that.
If I'm rembering correctly... whether it was inside the Academy or out in the world, whenever we talked about the Gate of Truth, you... never once called them "heretics."
Not a single ti.
...I should have caught on sooner.
That gentle, graceful face surfaced in my mind without warning.
So you're the Gate of Truth.
You're... soone who wanted to kill .
And yet, Sister Theresa... why is it that I just can't bring myself to hate you?
I only want to understand why. And to know what it is you're actually after.
...You're not a bad person, are you?
The Gate of Truth... the world sees them as lunatics... how could soone like you possibly be one of them?
It makes no sense.
Don't you have a vision of your own? Why...
I can't figure it out.
The Holy Church calls the Gate of Truth heretics and says they are servants of demons. But Theresa... don't you believe in the gods? Are you the kind of person who would so easily abandon your faith?
No. You're not.
You were once on the path to becoming a Saintess, you were that radiant a person. So why does it have to be you?
Those bloodthirsty savages... ah, that's the Church's image of the heretics...
The Church...
Co to think of it, are the heretics truly "beyond forgiveness" the way the Church claims?
I had never thought deeply about it before.
Because the Gate of Truth I had seen, they "self-immolated," trafficked in guguo grass, helped Edward kill my brother, and even tried to kill ... such wicked and twisted behavior. It was only natural that I went along with everyone else in thinking they were all just a bunch of incomprehensible lunatics.
But now... honestly, I'm starting to waver.
Sister Theresa, you've turned everything I thought I knew about heretics on its head. You've made suddenly feel like all of this might just be a facade.
Thinking back on it, that so-called "self-immolation" — it was really just the side effect of a powerful force, the Fire of Sin... maybe that's all it ever was.
Just like my own Chaos Power. That terrifying force capable of devouring any living thing, in the eyes of the world, it is pure annihilation, even more frightening than the Fire of Sin. So does that make "beyond forgiveness" too?
No. It doesn't.
And the guguo grass... from what I've seen, you are all certainly tied to the stuff. But... did you actually use it to harm people?
At least, I haven't seen it myself. Or rather, I haven't been able to confirm it.
Whether it was back in the Valen Empire, or here now in Order City, I've never heard of you selling it to commoners, to innocent and ordinary people. You're not the kind of "drug dealers" I had in mind, the type who would hurt people without hesitation just to make money.
Father said it too, the guguo grass you were moving here wasn't being transported for profit.
The incident in the alley was also your doing, wasn't it? Those 2 children... thinking about it now, they were probably orphans from around here.
Right, and the children. The thing about them acting strange... that's still just speculation. And the guguo grass... the plague doctor ntioned that it can actually be used to heal people, it can serve as an anesthetic, only the Church has banned it... I'm not misrembering that, am I?
You're only using it yourselves... to achieve so kind of goal.
But that goal, no one knows except you.
If I don't know, I can't rush to judge what's right or wrong.
As for the Gate of Truth helping Edward... looking at it now, that was simply the result of differing political positions. Perhaps by so twist of fate, the Gold Mask happened to reach an agreent with Edward, and that's how they ended up as enemies of Shanter Castle. But what if... I'm just saying what if.
What if it hadn't been Edward who reached that agreent with the Gold Mask, but Lafayette instead?
Everything would have looked completely different.
Unfortunately, there are no "what ifs" in this world, and so I had co to believe that the Gate of Truth were villains. But even setting that aside, even if the Gold Mask truly isn't a good person... one person's views don't represent an entire organization, do they?
Who would dare to claim that every single person within the Holy Church is absolutely "good."
No one can guarantee that.
And among the Gate of Truth, condemned as beyond forgiveness in the eyes of the world, there are still people like you.
Soone who refused to be chosen as a Saintess...
Rumored to have been rejected by the gods, or perhaps to have rejected the gods herself... soone who abandoned Faith Power...
All of a sudden, a chill ran down my spine.
A deeply terrifying thought began to take shape in the back of my mind. In an instant, like a surging torrent breaking through a dam, it ca crashing into my head.
My eyes went wide, and goosebumps rose all over my body. A few seconds later, alone in the dark room, I shook my head to myself and laughed.
That's impossible... what am I even thinking... it makes no sense.
But I need to see Sister Theresa right now.
Alone. Not a mont to spare.
But where are you?
In the notebook you wrote, "after my death..." does that an you believe you can't escape Order City? Or that, in order to fulfill your "mission," you're prepared to die?
Destroy the clock tower... what does that an? Why destroy the clock tower...
Or maybe, sowhere in this city, inside one of those clock towers, is sothing you must destroy?
If that's the case... could you be there right now, inside one of the clock towers?
Let co find you.
With that thought in mind, I tucked the notebook into the inner pocket of my coat, then quickly flipped out the window. Standing on the stone ledge, I looked up and estimated the distance from where I was to the rooftop in my head... no problem. I could clear it easily.
I drew a deep breath. My toes pressed down sharply, and I burst into Moon Step.
Whoosh—
The roaring wind howled past my ears again.
The mont my body cleared the rooftop, I stretched out my right hand and raised it toward the sky. A cool, thin mist whooshed out of it, using the force as a counterweight to slow my continued ascent and redirect the arc of my jump, and with a soft thud, I landed cleanly on the roof.
"Chirp chirp—"
At the sa mont, from the direction of the warehouse not far away, a fourth insect call rang out. Lecter was done on his end.
That left only .
The late night air was faintly cool. A gentle wind swept across my face. I narrowed my dark eyes slightly and gazed out into the distance.
Within a few kiloters around Cataloma, there were almost no lit lanterns to be seen. The low buildings, packed in row after row, were mostly old and worn, all grimy and cluttered, thick with the feel of common city life. Further back stood several solemn, imposing churches — that was where the church district of the royal city was. Though since arriving here, I had never gone over that way.
Even further out, in the wealthiest part of the royal city's urban center, ten thousand lights wrapped in the haze of the night painted a dim and blurry picture of prosperity.
But the night was too dark. I couldn't tell which were clock towers and which were just tall buildings.
...I'll et up with the others first and ask around.
I re-secured Captain Grey to my back, took the wooden whistle hanging from my neck, put it to my lips, and blew softly.
"Chirp chirp—"
Mission complete.
At the very least, I had found sothing here. Next step was to head to the alley...
Just as I turned to leave, I froze.
There, in the murky darkness of the night, not far from the main building, near the wall, an old, worn, patchwork clock tower stood quietly in place.
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