Silent Temple

Early the next morning, Theus and his small group headed toward the residence of the Chief Clerk.

Conditions on the island were rather primitive; Theus had put a great deal of effort into renovating his own manor, but the living quarters for Alexei and his companions were far inferior.

Fortunately, there was no shortage of land on the island, and once the Imperial treasury paid up, simple wooden cabins were erected in short order.

Theus had not been stationed on Castel Island for long, and with the perimeter walls only just completed, the place looked a bit like a residential district from a later era at first glance.

Connor had already paved the way in advance, and since both sides were eager to cooperate, the subsequent events proceeded quite naturally.

Theus and his group brought some gifts to visit the Chief Clerk, Alexei, at his residence, and after exchanging a few pleasantries, they "happened" to run into a lady taking a stroll outside.

She was a relative of Alexei, so he naturally stepped forward to introduce her, and Theus took the opportunity to invite both of them to visit his manor, an offer the siblings accepted with pleasure.

Unfortunately, the Chief Clerk happened to be suffering from a cold and felt unwell, so Theus hurriedly sent men to escort him to a side room to rest.

Steward Connor led Alexei away.

And so, through a series of reasonable coincidences, Theus now found himself sitting in the parlor with Alexei's "sister" on two separate chairs.

Theus glanced at the door; a servant nodded at him before closing it tight.

Only then did Theus let out a sigh of relief, looking the girl sitting opposite him up and down.

She had pure white hair, and her eyebrows were white as well, as if frost and snow had congealed upon the branches.

Theus had heard of this; it was a unique physical trait of the people from the White Crow Duchy—unlike hair that turned white with age, the girl's long hair was not a faded silver, but a stark, intense, and pure white, like snowflakes.

She was much shorter than Theus, with a petite frame, yet she was bundled in thick outer garments, her scarf almost entirely obscuring her face, and she wore a hat to hide herself as much as possible from prying eyes.

She was currently removing her concealing layers, folding them neatly to the side, before standing up to offer a gentle bow while clutching the hem of her skirt.

"Hello, my name is Theus."

Theus extended his hand. This was a new habit he had cultivated, inspired by the monk Kaeschi; he now shook hands with everyone he met to check if they were made of flesh and blood.

The girl extended her hand expressionlessly and shook his: "Nora."

Despite being bundled up so heavily, Nora's hand was ice-cold. The power of the Symbiotic Pact manifested in his heart, and Theus sensed it—no issues, she was human.

Perhaps it was a natural constitution that left her hands and feet cold, or perhaps it was a characteristic of the Burier?

Speaking of the Burier, Theus narrowed his eyes. He still didn't quite understand what this title specifically entailed; Connor had given him a set of detailed documents, but after flipping through them, he felt the information was somewhat vague.

"I hear you come from the White Crow Duchy. I'm quite interested in the local customs there; could you tell me about them?"

Nora glanced at him, nodded, hopped down from the chair, and produced a strange metal sphere.

The sphere was covered in narrow slits, and a thin chain was attached to its top; it looked a bit like a Meteor Hammer, though far more delicate.

Theus had initially assumed it was some sort of mechanical device, but after searching his memory, he was surprised to find it was a portable censer.

Strange, why would a censer need to be portable?

Nora offered no further explanation, simply holding up the censer to signal him to look.

Theus cast a peculiar glance at Nora. Could the "silence" of the Silent Temple mean they literally didn't speak? From start to finish, the girl had been reticent, speaking only when absolutely necessary.

But how could they proselytize if they didn't speak? Theus found it somewhat amusing.

Pushing these scattered thoughts aside, Theus steadied himself and looked at the censer in Nora's hands.

The censer was exquisite and small, engraved with a white crow poised to take flight, but upon closer inspection, the crow had neither skin nor feathers—it was composed entirely of white bone.

It looked like a corpse buried in the snow.

As Theus watched the white crow, he felt an inexplicable sense of sorrow, as if he were watching a life slowly fading from the world.

Nora moved her hand, and a wisp of smoke curled upward from the censer.

A faint scent of incense, the dry fragrance of a woodland, like the snow of early winter.

Theus felt a moment of trance.

Suddenly, images appeared before his eyes.

It seemed he had arrived in the far north, far from the lush forests and flowers of the Empire.

Snowflakes drifted down, and he heard the cold wind howling in his ears. Turning his head, he saw a group of people not far away, their backs to him, gathered in a shadowy circle, staring at something.

They wore thick fur clothing, and messy white hair poked out from beneath their hats.

People from the White Crow Duchy?

The wind and snow roared, yet the people stood in silence, saying nothing, merely watching the front.

Theus leaned forward curiously to look.

There stood a newly erected tombstone; a thin layer of frost covered the rough stone, and behind the tombstone was a small pit containing a simple coffin.

Directly in front, a person in robes stood there, wearing a fur hat, with a thick book at their waist. The spine and corners of the book were reinforced with copper, and it hung from their waist by a chain.

Theus recognized the holy radiance upon them; it was a priest of the Silent Temple.

The priest held a shovel. The frozen earth of the tundra was as hard as mountain rock, yet the priest shoveled it as easily as if slicing through cake.

The frozen soil mixed with frost covered the thin wooden coffin, gradually forming a mound. The priest gently smoothed the mound with the shovel, set it down, and prayed in silence.

The people mourned before the tombstone, stood silent in the wind and snow, drank by the fire inside their homes, and brought back game from the woods. They lived on this land, and in the end, they were buried here.

Tombstones stood side by side; the living paused here, while the dead slept here for eternity.

The wind and snow suddenly intensified, obscuring everything in sight. Theus shook his head, and in a daze, he caught sight of a church.

It had no spire, no massive doors, and no beautiful stained glass; there were only cold, rigid, and thick stone walls.

The final image was the great bell atop the church, with a line of text engraved upon it.

"The wind and snow bury the past, the Silent Sanctuary never forgets."

Theus closed his eyes, sensing the series of images within his mind. The history of the Silent Sanctuary surged into his consciousness like a torrent, yet it did not feel painful; it was as if these memories had always existed deep within his heart, as if...

It feels like watching a movie, Theus sighed to himself. The overwhelming sense of heaviness and solemnity made the hair on his arms stand up and his scalp tingle, as if he had been struck by an electric current.

"Truly soul-stirring," Theus said after a moment of silence.