With a compromise in place, both sides tacitly took the opportunity to back down.
After reassurances and soothing words from the Church, the Council, and several people from Millennium Castle, the frightened villagers gradually calmed down.
As they looked at the village, with wisps of smoke still rising and scorched ruins everywhere, the painful memories of their destroyed homes and dead loved ones surged into their minds. Their hearts filled with grief, and the farming tools they had used to arm themselves slipped from their hands and fell into the mud.
Seeing how oppressive the atmosphere had become, Samael simply made a suggestion to Shiro Amakusa.
"Shirou, the village has suffered a tragedy. Why not have you, our newly appointed priest, hold a requiem mass for those who died?"
Shiro Amakusa no longer had the strength to argue over that mangled form of address. He could only nod helplessly and begin carefully preparing a funeral rite to comfort the dead and console the living.
Once fear had been dispelled and malice restrained, the softer, kinder side of human nature began to reveal itself.
The villagers who had dropped their farm tools gathered in small groups and followed Father Kotomine through the ruins, searching everywhere for the remains of the dead. Together, they carried them to the open ground before the church, tidied their appearances, and preserved the last shred of dignity they could have after death.
However, to prevent the spread of disease and ease the villagers' concerns, everyone ultimately decided after some discussion to use cremation.
With the villagers joining in, firewood and lamp oil were quickly prepared.
As night fell, the church doors slowly opened under everyone's watchful eyes. The newly appointed priest emerged in solemn black vestments, symbols of death and remembrance, holding a Bible as he