In the Confessional

This robe was very familiar to Theus; after all, only a few days ago, he had watched helplessly as a priest wearing the exact same robe, his body filled with mechanical constructs, killed him.

Stay calm, Theus, take a deep breath.

Theus did not let his expression betray him. He gave a slight nod to the priest before turning his gaze toward Chloe.

"This is Brother Kaeschi." Chloe's tone was inexplicably stiff. She leaned in close to Theus and whispered in his ear, "He suffered a head injury previously and can no longer speak. Sometimes, his behavior can be a bit strange."

Sounds like a traumatic brain injury; no wonder he couldn't preside over church affairs, Theus thought, nodding in understanding.

However, this didn't matter much. He wasn't really here to study any doctrines; he just wanted to know the church's stance on non-human races and have this priest recommend some texts.

Chloe looked at the two of them with a worried expression.

Theus offered a subtle smile and stepped forward, extending his hand: "Greetings, Brother Kaeschi. I am the legal lord of this territory, a frontier count of the Empire. You may call me Theus."

He deliberately slowed his speech.

Brother Kaeschi paused, as if pondering his words, then slowly revealed a smile. He pointed to his own mouth and then waved his hand.

He was likely trying to express that he couldn't speak. Theus didn't think much of it and shook his hand.

The next moment, Theus lowered his head, his eyelid twitched, and he then withdrew his hand without a trace.

Connor, standing to the side, frowned and glanced at Chloe. She had only introduced Brother Kaeschi to Theus, but had failed to introduce Theus to him, which was a very rude gesture among the nobility.

But she had always been a bit careless, and she was just an ordinary nun; it would be too harsh to demand noble etiquette from her.

Connor was not an unreasonable man and felt that Chloe hadn't done it on purpose, so he had no intention of blaming her.

Hm?

Connor suddenly noticed that Chloe's hands were clenched into fists, and she seemed somewhat nervous.

Oh, she must be worried about Brother Kaeschi making a fool of himself in front of Theus, the old butler thought, not dwelling on it further as he withdrew his gaze.

Theus also adjusted his expression, turned his head, and smiled at Chloe: "This is where confessions can be heard, right?"

"Yes! Of course, I will take you to the confessional." Chloe breathed a sigh of relief, stepped forward to lead Theus toward a room inside the church, and as she passed Kaeschi, she casually pushed him toward another side door.

Theus nodded at Connor and followed Chloe away.

The two walked along the corridor, winding through several turns, until they arrived in front of a door.

Chloe signaled for Theus to go in alone, then headed toward the room next door.

Theus opened the door. The room was not large, but the door was surprisingly heavy, perhaps specially designed; after all, those who come to a confessional often have unspeakable secrets in their hearts.

Touching the heavy door, Theus looked into the room. It was empty, with only a hardwood chair placed in the center—judging by the wear, it had been used for many years. On the wall, there was a narrow opening covered by a wooden board.

With a rustle, the board was slid open, and the voice of Sister Chloe came from the other side.

"You may begin your confession."

After the door closed, the room grew dim. A slightly faint candle flame was lit at some point; the room wasn't large, and a single candle was just enough to illuminate it.

There was a faint scent of incense in the room. Theus saw a small incense burner in the corner, though it only contained some ash.

The cramped room, the muffled words coming through the hole, the heavy door, the calming incense—all of these combined made one feel relaxed and willing to slowly spill the secrets hidden in their heart.

Sitting on the chair, the wood creaked twice. The armrests had been worn very smooth, making Theus involuntarily think of the old furniture back home.

This confessional was indeed cleverly designed. Even though these were all unremarkable things, when combined, they seemed to trigger a chemical reaction. At this moment, Theus felt as if he had truly returned to his childhood, lying on his grandfather's rocking chair, lazily watching the sparrows outside the window in the breeze.

Theus sighed inwardly.

It was a pity. If he were an ordinary person, he might have truly believed this was just an ordinary church.

Theus's eyes gradually sharpened.

It was very strange; the supernatural in this world seemed to be hidden for some reason, and the ordinary world was completely separated from the supernatural one.

Even with Theus deliberately searching, his previous [Descents] had yielded nothing. Only his last death had barely unveiled a corner of the supernatural world for him.

And once he accidentally touched the supernatural and crossed that threshold, he discovered that there were clues to the supernatural everywhere; it was just that mortals couldn't perceive them.

For example, just now, he had... shaken hands with Brother Kaeschi.

A handshake was just a basic courtesy, and when he shook hands with that somewhat dull brother, he hadn't felt anything strange.

But...

Theus gently closed his eyes. He still needed to verify something... If there was any place in this room that was most likely, it would be...

He reached his hand toward the hole in the wall of the confessional.

"Ah!? Please don't reach over here, you, you can just speak from over there!" Chloe's panicked voice came from the other side.

Theus ignored her.

Through the Symbiotic Pact, the power of the Banshee surged forth. Several terms instantly appeared in his mind.

Ebony, copper, inscription: #￥%@&

As expected!

Ebony and copper were the materials used for the walls of the confessional, and that "inscription: #￥%@&" must be some kind of supernatural entity.

As for why the name could not appear, it was likely because his understanding of this type of extraordinary inscription was too shallow, even though he could see the specific structure of the inscription within his mind.

Complex threads coiled and knotted together to form a three-dimensional creation, resembling the movement of a mechanical watch—intricate and exquisite.

Just moments ago, when he shook hands with Brother Kaeschi, the composition of "Brother Kaeschi" had appeared in his mind.

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

Of the dozens of materials, he could not identify more than half, and among them were several entries like "inscription: #￥%".

Theus was not sure what they all were; the only thing he could be certain of was that the composition of Brother Kaeschi absolutely did not include flesh and blood.

It was a precision machine, operating in a way he could scarcely imagine.

Brother Kaeschi was definitely not human.

At that moment, Theus had used all his strength to suppress the raging storm in his heart, preventing himself from crying out on the spot.

It seemed everything was becoming clear; Theus felt he had gained a bit more understanding of the Candlelight Society, as this must be the source of their extraordinary power.

But why... did he have a faint feeling that something was not quite right?