The strange and terrifying trials had left a profound mark on Lu Li, particularly the second one.
Because that city truly existed.
Olivia Kiken, who sought help for her son suffering from severe asthma; Arthur Green Pierce, who committed murder to save his daughter; the naless girl who stole money to help a sick neighbor and was now in hiding; Ol Peters, weak but willing to take the bla for his brother; John Peters, who fell victim to evil because of an old book, yet dread of saving at least one person.
And Mary, daughter of Viscount Levais, the girl who changed everyone's fate but her own.
Were these people fictional characters, or was this a true story, one that had followed its own course, unaffected by Lu Li's intervention?
Typhoon. It was reminiscent of an ancient city from legends.
Walled cities were typically found only on the Main Continent. Back when humanity was still at war with itself, these walls offered the best defense against enemy incursions.
Then the anomalies appeared, and the wars vanished thanks to the efforts of the Spirit Hunters Association.
Having beco obsolete, the walls could offer the citizens little more than an illusion of security and... a feeling of oppression. That was why, for centuries afterward, most cities were built without such laborious, restrictive fortifications.
However, everything had now changed. With the invasion of anomalies, the role of the old walls beca obvious once again. They provided a sense of security second only to one's own ho.
That was why, even though Typhoon was a small city of only a few tens of thousands, it had not only held onto its populace in these troubled tis but had also welcod refugees from the surrounding settlents.
At the city gates, amid a stream of carts and people, an unusual pair entered Typhoon: a girl pushing a wheelchair.
Unlike the clamor and chaos of Himmfast, Typhoon was a place of relative order, though the sounds of construction and repairs still echoed from beyond the buildings.
A tavern was a good place to gather information, but a police station suited Lu Li better.
Anna pushed Lu Li's wheelchair inside. Most of the officers at the station took note of her black cloak, their attention only shifting when Lu Li introduced himself and asked if they had recently detained a young man nad John Peters.
The officer looked bewildered and summoned the deputy sheriff, but he didn't know anything either. So, Lu Li rephrased his question, asking if there had been a killer in Typhoon known as the Ripper.
The deputy sheriff's expression shifted. He confird that there had been, and imdiately asked if the Ripper was so kind of monster, and if Lu Li was an exorcist sent to handle it.
It hadn't happened yet.
Or was the trial rely an illusion, spiced with fragnts of reality?
"You could say that," Lu Li answered evasively. He learned the location of the church from the deputy sheriff and, declining his offer to stay, set off for it.
In his mory, the church had been consud by fire, but now it stood intact and unhard behind a low wall.
Anna wheeled Lu Li into the church.
Morning mist shrouded the church, and shafts of sunlight filtering through the stained-glass windows bestowed a sacred, solemn air upon the statues.
A soft, soothing lody from an organ drifted through the interior. The church's vast, silent emptiness inspired an involuntary reverence, compelling one to speak only in whispers.
Lu Li's gaze fell upon the confessional, just as it was in his mories.
Behind the carved wooden partition, it seed he could see a silhouette, but perhaps it was just a trick of the light.
While Anna was looking in the sa direction, Lu Li shifted his gaze to the priest at the altar, who was adjusting sothing on a table where a radio stood.
"Let's move to the pews," Lu Li said.
Once they reached the pews, Lu Li opened a book from his case to pass the ti, as if he were waiting for sothing.
This piqued the priest's curiosity. He was about to approach them when the sound of hurried footsteps echoed from outside.
Several people pushing wheelchairs appeared at the entrance and headed for the front pews.
The priest walked out to et them with a faint smile and struck up a conversation with the middle-aged man leading the group.
"That's..."
Anna stared at the girl in the wheelchair—her appearance was ghastly. Her face was a ruin of disfigured flesh, as if scorched by fire. Her legs were gone below the knees, and only a single eye remained.
"Yes," Lu Li observed, watching the scene unfold.
Everything was unfolding as expected.
The girl in the wheelchair glanced curiously at Lu Li, who was also in a wheelchair. She gave him a slight nod, then let her gaze drift around the church, pausing for a mont on the confessional.
Only Lu Li, Anna, and the girl nad Mary noticed a slip of paper fall from the confessional's window and land on Mary's lap.
Nearby, the conversation between Viscount Levais and the priest was growing louder, turning into an argunt. anwhile, Mary, by the confessional, began to communicate with soone she mistook for Lu Li.
After so ti, the argunt died down, and Mary's conversation with "Lu Li" also ca to an end.
"Can you talk?" the girl asked suddenly.
[No.]
"Do you have any cigarettes, then?"
[What for?]
"I've always wanted to try. I've seen people smoke to forget their troubles for a while."
[I don't smoke.]
"Goodbye, Father. I'll try to do as you said... if any of it is true."
The girl wheeled herself toward the viscount and the others as they erged from around the corner.
The enraged viscount joined Mary, and they left the church together.
Silence fell over the church once more.
The priest, watching them leave, shook his head with a sad smile, then turned to Lu Li, hesitated for a mont, and walked away without speaking.
Soon, only Lu Li and Anna remained in the church.
"Wheel
over to the confessional," Lu Li said.
Anna wheeled him to the confessional, but the slip of paper did not appear.
"Whoever is inside doesn't seem to sense you," Anna remarked, her voice tinged with a faint, curious smile. She found the situation both strange and amusing.
"That's to be expected," Lu Li replied, having Anna wheel him back to the pews to wait.
The story continued. One by one, Olivia, Arthur Green Pierce, the naless girl, Ol Peters, John Peters, and finally the priest approached the confessional. They all received answers and new questions.
As he passed Lu Li, the priest finally brought himself to speak. "Is sothing troubling you?"
"Nothing is troubling ," Lu Li replied calmly. He knew what was about to happen.
The priest froze, astonishnt flickering in his eyes.
"Before nightfall, the truth will be revealed to you," Lu Li said, not wanting to disrupt the course of events.
The priest, unable to conceal his astonishnt and confusion, departed.
After that, like a detached observer, Lu Li relived what had "already happened."
Everyone, except for John Peters, who considered himself betrayed, found redemption.
Thanks to Lu Li's hint, the priest—unlike in the previous trial—did not wait until the very end to learn the truth. This ti, he sought it out for himself.
When the priest returned to Lu Li with an inscrutable expression, the latter asked, "Father, would you happen to have any cigarettes?"
"I... don't..." the priest stamred, not understanding why Lu Li would ask such a thing.
"Could you take
to a shop that sells them?" Lu Li asked.
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