Beneath St. Selena's Church, in the guard room outside Chanis Gate.
Leonard Mitchell leaned back in his chair, his legs propped on the edge of the desk. His eyes were vacant and unfocused.
Even after treatment with ritual magic, his complexion remained terrible, like that of someone whose severe illness had only just been eased, with no sign of recovery yet.
At that moment, the experts sent by the Holy Church were rearranging the seals beyond Chanis Gate. The loss of St. Selena's ashes had divided their opinions. Some hoped to make up for the missing power with a new sacred artifact, while others believed there was no need for such trouble. After all, sacred artifacts were exceedingly rare and precious to the entire Church of the Goddess of the Night. Their proposal was to lower the status of the Tingen City Night Watcher team, transfer the items with living characteristics or difficult-to-contain properties to the Tranquil Church at headquarters or the Backlund diocese, and leave behind only the easy-to-guard portion.
They intended to send a telegram requesting that the Pope convene a meeting, where the archbishops and senior deacons would vote on the matter.
Leonard felt nothing at all about these disputes. He felt as though he had become a living corpse—without pain, sorrow, excitement, or exhilaration. He was abnormally numb, unwilling even to face other people, wanting only to remain alone in a corner.
At times, a question would flash through his mind: why had the "murderer" taken only Klein's Beyonder characteristic, leaving behind Captain Dunn Smith's?
Having personally witnessed Klein's head being blown apart by a cane, then waking to see the Beyonder characteristic on the captain's corpse, Leonard finally realized that he was nothing more than an ordinary person.
Other than screaming for the old man