Lucky Coin

Eve looked at the coin before her. She had never seen currency like it and didn't know whether it belonged to some country or was simply a commemorative coin. She looked somewhat flustered, but soon she composed herself, her eyes sharp as a blade.

The blood of the Phoenix family ran through her veins, a source of strength she could rely on. Eve knew very well that she couldn't be afraid. She was destined to appear in the Hall of Honor as the Duchess of the Phoenix, the undying bird. This wasn't the end.

"May I?"

Eve picked up the coin and asked Lorenzo. This was a gamble between him and Sabo; for now, she was something like the dealer.

Lorenzo nodded, then spoke to Sabo.

"No mind games, no cheating, no tricks that could give either of us an unfair advantage. This is pure luck. I like it."

"That's great, then."

Sabo nodded too. He was glad Lorenzo had agreed to what seemed like a rather absurd wager.

"One side is a shield, the other a battle-axe."

"I choose the shield," Lorenzo said at once. He didn't look at Eve, keeping his eyes fixed on Sabo.

"This coin must be pretty old. I remember this currency was discontinued."

"Yeah. The Viking Kingdom of Nobido issued it over a decade ago. You know the Vikings made their fortune as pirates, so they had all kinds of currencies. This was the first one that unified the Vikings, but you don't see many around anymore. Most are in collectors' hands."

Sabo spoke with some nostalgia. As he talked, Eve tossed the coin into the air. It spun and soared, gleaming like a silver-white sprite in the light.

"It must mean something to you. A memento of home? You don't look like a collector, and you wouldn't have held on to it for so long otherwise. Right?"

Perhaps that was what it meant to be reminded of the past by an object. Like soldiers who had left the battlefield but still looked at their medals of honor from time to time.

"I don't miss that icebound place. Being born in that hellhole was a mistake. I kept it only because it was the first thing I won at a gambling table. I lost my first finger for it. It's my Lucky Coin."

As he spoke, Sabo rubbed his left hand. His little finger should have been there, but all that remained was an empty space and a scar from a wound that hadn't been treated properly.

"Back then, I still had four fingers. I beat that bastard, but he was a coward too, so I killed him. I think it was my first time killing someone. It feels great to hold your own fate in your hands."

There was excitement in his voice. The deformed man's past was far more extraordinary than anyone might have imagined.

The coin fell, and the girl swiftly caught it in her hand before covering it on the table. It was a childish game, yet now it felt unbearably heavy.

"Reveal it."

At Lorenzo's words, Eve slowly lifted her hand. The battle-axe was showing. Lorenzo had lost.

"Who are you, really?"

Sabo rubbed his scar, his gaze full of yearning. It seemed he genuinely wanted to know.

"Lorenzo Holmes, a detective."

Lorenzo answered directly, but Sabo shook his head firmly, apparently dissatisfied.

"I want to know who you were before you came to Old Dunling. Who are you, really?"

Like Shrike, he was curious about the mysterious detective's past.

After a few seconds of hesitation, Lorenzo said,

"A priest."

Even Eve, standing nearby, looked bewildered. It was hard to imagine anyone associating this lunatic bastard with a virtuous priest.

"A priest? A priest of the Gospel Church?"

Being a priest wasn't unusual. A hundred years ago, the world had belonged to the Holy Gospel Papal State. Through their doctrines, they had dispatched countless priests to countries across the world, secretly controlling them all in the name of faith. But as steam technology rose, faith sank to rock bottom. Firearms and airships had freed everyone from the shackles of belief.

Sabo laughed as he spoke, but didn't press the matter. Instead, he said,

"This time, I bet on the battle-axe."

Eve tossed the coin. It rose and fell, but neither man watched it spin in the air. They kept their eyes on each other, their voices calm even as they remained at daggers drawn inside. Once again, the battle-axe landed face up. Sabo had won again.

"Why did you come to Old Dunling?"

"Because this is Old Dunling. The world's most technologically advanced city, the City of Hope, the City of Steam. Its roaring machines have left the old age behind forever.

"People in Florence all say it's a wonderful place. Compared to a faith as insubstantial as a dream, gold lies buried everywhere there. Opportunities and wealth are all around. The city is open to everyone. Once you come here, you can start a new life."

Lorenzo spoke calmly, as though telling a story that had nothing to do with him.

"True enough. The Church's influence is fading. To consolidate their rule, kings have used firearms to destroy one church after another. This isn't a hundred years ago, when you priests could live comfortably for the rest of your lives just by collecting donations."

Sabo found it amusing. Lorenzo seemed no more than a gold-seeker who had come to Old Dunling for the city's name.

"I never thought a butcher like you used to be a priest. Aren't you afraid of divine punishment?"

Countless people had died in the Red River Massacre. Its brutality was enough to make even butchers shudder, and it had all been done by the detective before them, who had once been a priest.

"If divine punishment really existed, your place would've been struck by lightning and turned into a sea of fire by now."

The band had stopped playing long ago. They, too, had inhaled the hallucinogen. Faces twisted, they clung to one another and danced grotesquely. The same was happening on the dance floor. People tore at their clothes and skin, their fair bodies covered in dozens of bloody wounds. Like beasts, they let out meaningless howls and whimpers. Human civilization had been utterly cast aside.

"Maybe the gods are just waiting to settle accounts with us after we die. Your turn first."

"Still the shield."

"Why pick the shield again? You've already lost twice," Sabo asked, puzzled.

"You've beaten me twice, so your luck's run out. The Goddess of Luck won't favor anyone. Now she'll let me win it back." He was brimming with confidence.

Eve lifted her hand. It seemed Lorenzo had been right: the shield was showing this time. He had won.

"What exactly was that cargo?"

That was what Lorenzo most needed to know. The mysterious cargo was behind everything that had happened tonight.

"The Sacred Coffin. They say those people dug it out of a shipwreck in the Ice Sea. A lot of people have died over it."

"The Sacred Coffin? What is it?"

Lorenzo had never heard of anything like that, not even in theology.

"I don't know either."

Sabo answered honestly. "It's like a pronoun. Like the god in the Gospel Church. Do you know what it actually is? A person, an object, or something else? Like the Holy Grail in the doctrines—it's just a stand-in for something that can't be spoken of."

"People can't describe something like that, so they honor it with a sacred and noble name."

As though something had stirred, Lorenzo sensed something strange.

The coin was tossed again, spun, then fell.

"Shield or battle-axe?"

Eve asked this time, since neither man had spoken first.

"Shield."

Sabo suddenly spoke. This time, he chose Lorenzo's shield.

When Eve revealed the coin, it was just as Lorenzo had said: the Goddess of Luck favored no one. The battle-axe was showing, and Lorenzo had won again.

But this time, Lorenzo didn't rush to ask a question. He took out his pocket watch and checked the time.

"Do you have something to do next?"

It was the middle of the night. Even if there was something to take care of, it would have to wait until morning, and there was still a long time until dawn. Sabo wondered what Lorenzo was waiting for.

"Yes. So this will be my last question."

"Winning and then walking away isn't very sporting." Sabo's gaze turned cold. The worst thing at a gambling table was to win and run. Gamblers weren't good people, but that made someone a lowlife even among gamblers.

"Please understand. I don't have a choice."

Lorenzo rose as he spoke and walked to the edge of the platform. It offered a fine view; everything was laid out below. The revelry from earlier was gone. Beneath them lay one miserable body after another. The hallucinogen had completely numbed their nerves. They couldn't even stand now, and lay on the carpet with chaos in their eyes.

The lofty nobles looked like lowly beggars. Stripped of their honor and dignity, they were like wretched livestock penned behind a fence.

"What do you usually do with these people?"

"Is that a question about the wager?"

"Of course not. I'm just curious... You'll indulge my curiosity, won't you?"

Lorenzo smiled kindly at Sabo, as though he really were just curious.

"It's simple. We send them back the way they came. We take our guests to luxurious hotels in the Inner District. After they've slept off their exhaustion, they wake up in soft, clean beds, with the wonderful world of Old Dunling waiting outside. Everything from last night will seem like a dream, gone in a flash."

"Sounds like a lovely ending, doesn't it?"

"Not bad," Lorenzo said, nodding in agreement before asking his final question.

"What about those people? The crew of the Silver Fish. They transported the Sacred Coffin, along with the men who stopped me that day. Where are they?"

That was Lorenzo's last question. He hoped to get an answer. Just as before, Sabo didn't hide a thing. He was so frank that Lorenzo was beginning to think he was one of their own.

"They're all dead. Even the ones who aren't might as well be."

Sabo answered at once.

"They're all dead?"

Lorenzo could hardly believe it. Then, as if he'd realized something, his eyes narrowed. He asked,

"Did you kill them?"