"A lost soul leads to the end..."
A faint prayer emanated from the cleric's lips as Matilde Fay scread, bound within a magic circle, as if in so exorcism ritual of old.
An ethereal, formless spirit detached from his body, slipped weakly out of the magic circle, and was promptly caught in the snare Lu Li held at the ready.
As paynt, a fragnt of the weakened vengeful spirit remained permanently embedded in Matilde Fay. It was a "gift"—a pure spiritual energy that granted the lucky yet unfortunate man inspiration and various mystical abilities. This was why the church demanded no fee for their services.
Matilde Fay himself was the paynt.
"Do not forget your promise."
The leading cleric whispered to Matilde Fay, who was slowly regaining his senses. The shadow beneath the cleric's cloak turned toward Lu Li, standing a short distance away. Lu Li sensed sothing amiss, but ultimately departed, wary of the gatekeeper's presence.
Lu Li walked back to the edge of the magic circle, carrying the ethereal spirit in his snare, now degraded to a re ghost.
"Is this your wife?"
Staggering to his feet, Matilde Fay stared at the ghost in the net and uttered in bewildernt:
"No... Mrs. Kegma, why is it you..."
Her husband, Kegma, was Matilde Fay's forr landlord—
Having borne the full brunt of the separation, the stupefied "Mrs. Kegma" didn't respond to Matilde Fay's question. Lu Li had no intention of prying further. After confirming that no contamination remained, he asked Matilde Fay for a room where he could help Mrs. Kegma find peace.
The silver crossbow that had made Silver Cross Elephant a legend had long since been returned. Lu Li pulled out a set of similar implents and thrust them through the openings in the spirit snare.
An incoherent scream was cut short, and the scene abruptly changed.
...
A filthy, balding old man with a red, vein-riddled nose glared with vicious malevolence at Lu Li's neck.
After a mont of calm observation, Lu Li turned to look behind him.
A disheveled and scarred Mrs. Kegma was chained like a captive in a dark, damp cellar.
When she didn't answer, the old man yanked Mrs. Kegma's matted hair, peering into her bloodied face. He spoke directly to her eyes, which flickered with a mixture of fading life and pure hatred:
"Find Matilde Fay. Tell him you're his dead wife. Help him. Then your mission will be complete."
The old man raised a crude knife fashioned from a tal scrap and ended Mrs. Kegma's life.
...
Lu Li returned to the living room on the first floor.
Just before leaving, he suddenly asked Matilde Fay to describe Kegma.
Matilde Fay was undoubtedly a man of mixed fortunes, though luck seed to have the upper hand. He kept his wealth and his position, and even though the beautiful, elegant lady had fled in terror, he had gained a fraction of the vengeful spirit's power.
"Uh... mostly bald, always stinking of booze, with a red, vein-covered nose."
After leaving the ho of Matilde Fay, for whom the whole experience must have felt like a dream, Lu Li told the gatekeeper about the conspiracy behind the vengeful spirit.
Their indifferent reply was that it was none of their concern.
The gatekeepers were responsible for order within the Academy of Giant Trees, not Midnicht.
"Who should I take this to?"
The gatekeeper's tone softened slightly as he nad the organization responsible for such incidents: the Order of Knights.
Conveniently, an outpost of the Order of the Radiant Knights, one of the Five Knightly Orders, was located on the way back to the Academy of Giant Trees' encampnt.
As he passed the outpost, Lu Li explained the incident with Matilde Fay's commission and the conspiracy behind it to the squire who received him.
"This conspiracy... it might be aid at ."
"Aid at you? No, you're a student from the Academy of Giant Trees."
Although the attendant gatekeeper and Lu Li's unsettlingly potent aura led the squire to suspect the cloaked man was no ordinary person, he didn't give the idea much weight. After all, they had seen this sort of thing many tis:
"It's just the church's filthy, disgusting thod for creating their 'chosen ones'..."
He didn't elaborate, but Lu Li could guess the rest.
The churches needed faith, and they needed power.
Power stemd from faith, and faith from followers. Sincere faith was more valuable than feigned devotion, and the faith of an anomaly was more valuable still than that of a human.
Recalling how easily he had contacted the nearby Church of Ignorance, and how promptly and generously they had responded, the answer beca obvious.
"We know how to proceed. State your course and na. We'll issue a reward once your information is confird. But if it proves false, there will be consequences."
The squire opened a notebook, picked up a quill pen, and waited.
"Middle courses, Lu Li."
"...What did you say your na was?"
The tip of the quill, poised over the page, trembled, blotting the paper with a sar of wet ink.
Lu Li briefly raised the edge of his cloak, allowing the squire to see his black hair and face.
"My... my God..."
The squire began to gasp as if in the throes of an asthma attack, his body trembling.
"Please, please, forgive my earlier impertinence..."
His pupils contracted sharply:
"Your theory could be right! Please, wait here! I'll contact the captain at once! This could be a conspiracy targeting you!"
A commotion began at the outpost of the Order of the Radiant Knights.
A true commotion. The local residents and rchants had never seen so many knights erge at once to cordon off the area around the outpost.
"Please, tell
exactly what happened."
Vadin yro, a first-rank knight and the head of the outpost, stood in the center of the Order of the Radiant Knights' command post and asked with grave solemnity.
Lu Li recounted everything, from accepting the 6th level trial commission to his arrival at their outpost, including the images he had gleaned through mories of the Dead.
"The process was seamless, with nothing overtly suspicious. Without your ability, this would have gone completely unnoticed. If this is a conspiracy, it's a terrifying one... It's possible we're dealing with remnants of the divine Pantheon of Conspiracy."
Vadin yro could only hope the situation wasn't that bad:
"No offense, but are you sure the gatekeepers can be trusted?"
"Mm."
Lu Li trusted the Academy of Giant Trees and Professor Kris, who vouched for the gatekeepers.
It might have been a false alarm, but just in case, Lu Li and the two gatekeepers were placed under protection—effectively detained—at the outpost. They remained there until a reconnaissance squad of knights returned from Matilde Fay's residence.
"No traces of the Pantheon of Conspiracy were found. Seeds planted by the Church of Ignorance were discovered deep within Matilde Fay's soul. A secret room in the church contained a vile plan hatched by the bishop. Conclusion: The Church of Ignorance was creating its chosen ones, and Your Excellency Lu Li's involvent was purely coincidental."
The alert was lifted.
Everyone sighed with relief.
Lu Li politely declined Vadin yro's invitation for a social visit. Undeterred, yro expressed his hope that Lu Li might visit the Order of the Radiant Knights during the annual Tournant of Ten Powers in a month's ti, an event where senior students from the Academy of Giant Trees would be competing.
No one doubted that Lu Li could advance to the senior courses within a month. In fact, in Midnicht's underground bookmaking circles, the odds of Lu Li advancing to the senior courses in a month were 8 to 1.
Without giving a definitive answer, Lu Li returned to the Academy's encampnt and took the lift back up to the Trunk Level.
Lu Li had completed the commission, but he had failed the 6th level trial.
But rather than wait two weeks for the cool-down period to end, Lu Li had another option.
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