In the Confessional

The robe looked very familiar to Theus. After all, just a few days ago, he had watched helplessly as a priest clad in the same robe, his body covered in mechanical contraptions, killed him.

Stay calm, Theus. Take a deep breath.

Theus showed nothing on his face. He gave the priest a slight nod, then looked at Troy.

"This is Brother Kaeschi." For some reason, Chloe sounded a little stiff. She moved closer to Theus and whispered in his ear, "He suffered a head injury some time ago and can't speak. Sometimes his behavior is a little odd, too."

Sounds like a traumatic brain injury. No wonder he couldn't handle the church's affairs. Theus nodded in understanding.

That didn't matter much, though. He wasn't really here to learn doctrine. He just wanted to find out the Church's attitude toward nonhumans, so he only needed the priest to recommend some books.

Chloe looked at the two men with concern.

Theus gave her a restrained smile, stepped forward, and held out his hand. "Hello, Brother Kaeschi. I'm the lawful lord of this land, the Empire's Border Count. You can call me Theus."

He deliberately slowed his speech.

Brother Kaeschi paused as if considering his words, then slowly smiled. He pointed to his mouth and waved his hand.

He was probably trying to say that he couldn't speak. Theus thought nothing of it and shook his hand.

The next moment, Theus lowered his head. The corner of his eye twitched, and he discreetly pulled his hand back.

Connor, standing to one side, frowned and glanced at Chloe. She had introduced only Brother Kaeschi to Theus, without introducing Theus to the priest. Among nobles, that was very impolite.

But Chloe had always been a little careless, and she was only an ordinary nun. It seemed too harsh to hold her to noble etiquette.

Connor wasn't unreasonable. He didn't think Chloe had done it on purpose, so he had no intention of reprimanding her.

Hm?

Connor suddenly noticed that Chloe had clenched both hands into fists. She seemed a little nervous.

Oh, she was probably worried that Brother Kaeschi would embarrass himself in front of Theus. The old butler didn't think much of it and looked away.

Theus had composed himself, too. He turned and smiled at Chloe. "This is a place where people can confess, right?"

"Yes! Of course. I'll take you to the confessional." Chloe relaxed, came over, and led Theus to a room inside the church. As they passed Kaeschi, she casually ushered him through another side door.

Theus nodded to Connor, then followed Chloe away.

The two of them wound their way down the corridors until they reached a door.

Chloe gestured for Theus to go inside on his own, then headed for the room next door.

Theus opened the door. The room wasn't large, but the door was unusually thick—perhaps specially designed that way, since most people who came to confess had secrets they couldn't share with others.

He touched the heavy door and looked inside. The room was empty, with only a hard wooden chair in the middle. Judging by how worn it was, it had been there for many years. A small opening in the wall was covered by a wooden panel.

With a swish, the panel was pushed aside, and Sister Chloe's voice came from the other side.

"You may begin your confession."

Once the door closed, the room grew dim. At some point, a rather faint candle had been lit. The room was small, and one candle was just enough to illuminate it.

A faint incense scent lingered in the room. Theus spotted a small censer in the corner, though it held nothing but some ash.

The cramped room, the muffled voice coming through the opening, the heavy door, the soothing incense—all of it made a person feel at ease, ready to slowly let the secrets in their heart spill out.

The wooden chair creaked twice as Theus sat down. Its armrests had been worn smooth, and they made him think involuntarily of the old furniture back home.

The confessional really was cleverly designed. Each detail was unremarkable on its own, but together they seemed to produce a chemical reaction. For a moment, Theus almost felt as though he had returned to his childhood, lying in his grandfather's rocking chair and lazily watching the birds outside the window in the breeze.

Theus sighed inwardly.

What a pity. If he were an ordinary person, he might really have thought this was just an ordinary church.

Theus's gaze gradually sharpened.

Strangely enough, it seemed that the supernatural forces in this world had all gone into hiding for some reason. The ordinary world and the supernatural world were completely separate.

Even though he had deliberately searched, his previous Descent attempts had still turned up nothing. It was only his last death that had barely revealed a corner of the supernatural world to him.

But after accidentally encountering the supernatural and crossing that threshold, he had discovered that clues to it were everywhere. Ordinary people simply couldn't see them.

For instance, just now, he had shaken Brother Kaeschi's hand...

A handshake was basic etiquette, and when he had shaken hands with that somewhat wooden Theus, he hadn't felt anything unusual.

But...

Theus gently closed his eyes. He still needed to verify something... If anywhere in this room was likely to reveal it, it would be...

He reached toward the opening in the confessional wall.

"Ah!? Please don't put your hand through! Y-you can speak from over there!"

Chloe's panicked voice came from the other side.

Theus ignored her.

Through the Symbiotic Pact, the Banshee's power surged into action. Several words appeared in his mind at once.

Ebony, copper, inscription: #￥%@&

Just as he thought!

Ebony and copper were materials used in the confessional's walls. That "inscription: #￥%@&" must be some kind of supernatural entity.

As for why its name wouldn't appear, it was probably because he understood too little about this kind of supernatural inscription. He could see the inscription's exact structure in his mind.

Layer upon layer of complex threads twisted together to form a three-dimensional object, like the inner workings of a mechanical watch—intricate and delicate.

And just now, when he had shaken Brother Kaeschi's hand, the components of "Brother Kaeschi" had appeared in his mind.

Silver, steel, obsidian, #￥...&, tin, *&, shell, @#￥, %￥..., #￥@#...

There were dozens of materials, and he couldn't identify more than half of them. Among them were also several things like "inscription: #￥%."

Theus couldn't be certain what they all were. The one thing he could be sure of was that Brother Kaeschi's composition contained absolutely no flesh and blood.

He was a sophisticated machine, operating in a way Theus couldn't begin to imagine.

Brother Kaeschi definitely wasn't human.

At the time, Theus had used all his strength to suppress the shock in his heart and keep himself from crying out.

Now it all seemed to be falling into place. Theus felt he understood a little more about the Candlelight Society. This must be their supernatural power.

But why... did something still feel vaguely wrong?