Although the hunter kneeling on the snow surface was now under forced control, Shade still pretended this was the first time he had heard of it:
"You must mean the major case of Earl Winslet's youngest son disappearing in 1819. The newspapers said the earl's youngest son was indeed found by a Hound, but the other child never appeared."
"That child made a wish to the Tree, so when the Tree demanded payment, he had to remain here. I raised him in the forest. But perhaps because his soul was injured when it was forcibly recalled, he became an utter villain. He was cruel, vicious, ill-tempered, and deeply hated this forest.
"He was not allowed to leave, but he longed for the outside world, so he did everything he could to blaspheme my faith. In 1829, when that boy was eighteen, he seduced a woman from the city and lay with her before this Temple. I killed him. I killed my adopted son and buried him here as well."
Shade took a deep breath. This development was indeed beyond anything he had expected.
"Since that tree asked you to raise him, weren't you punished for killing him?"
"It merely told me to send that woman back to the city. Later, I heard that she gave birth to a child a year later. Somehow, I suddenly understood then. The purpose of raising that child, the purpose of everything, might only have been to let him, when he turned eighteen... I am guilty, but O God, why have You never answered me? I know that You have already departed, but why have You never shown me even the slightest mercy?"
The hunter no longer struggled, though tears still streamed down his face.
Shade's expression turned cold as he considered a possibility.
"What