At Viève's first question, Charlotte's heart, which had only just relaxed after the battle ended, tightened again.
She was certain she did not know this cultist who also served as a City Hall official. At least, his face appeared neither in her experiences over the past month nor in the original Charlotte's seventeen years of memories. But part of her memory of the night she transmigrated was missing. If Julian blurted out "Charlotte Sauron" during the spirit channeling, she had no idea how she would explain it to Viève.
She could hardly say she was actually a transmigrator, and that everything that had happened before that night had nothing to do with her now...
The spirit floating above Julian's corpse remained silent for a few seconds, its expression indifferent. Only after seemingly searching his memories did he speak:
"Etienne Marceau... Luna LeMay..."
The first name was indeed Etienne, who had come looking for her as a sacrificial offering. But starting with the second name, Charlotte recognized none of them. After the fifth name, Julian slowly added:
"And the 'Supervisor.'"
Supervisor... was that a code name or a position? Charlotte turned to glance at Viève, who happened to look over at the same time and explained quietly:
"Luna was the Black-Clothed Woman who ambushed you at the Printing House that day, but these names don't include the other attacker."
The Gray-Clothed Man disguised as a beggar wasn't among them? Was he not part of the same cult as Julian, Etienne, and the others? But they had clearly been working together... Charlotte pondered for a moment but could make no sense of it. She could only commit the remaining names to memory.
If they had no more secretive means of communication to warn one another, a prompt strike by the Eternal Blazing Sun's Inquisition might capture a few more targets and yield more information.
After giving those names, Julian's spirit fell silent again, showing no desire to offer anything further. Yet whenever his translucent eyes settled on Charlotte, a trace of resentment still surfaced.
Spirits like this must retain their most extreme emotions from life, along with most of their memories. Otherwise, they couldn't answer questions. Unfortunately, my spirituality as an Arbiter isn't enough to perform this kind of ritual magic on my own, unless I prepare offerings or draw on an outside power, like those cultists... At that thought, Charlotte realized that this need for power might be what first led many cultists astray. She quickly reined in her thoughts and looked at Viève, who was also silent.
Viève wasted little time and soon asked her second question:
"Who is the 'Supervisor,' and where is she?"
That sounds like two questions... Charlotte paused, then realized Viève was taking a risk by combining two questions into one. If it worked, they could gain more information.
Julian's spirit showed no reaction to the form of the question and continued answering:
"She is a woman who calls herself the 'Supervisor'... Whenever we meet, I can never make out her face. She came to Sushit this January and told us to prepare a sacrifice, then left again. But she never said where she lived or where she was going."
After speaking, he did not disappear. Instead, he fell silent once more, waiting for the next question.
It looks like Viève's gamble worked. Unfortunately, the answer isn't worth much. All we know is that she's a woman, isn't local to Sushit, and clearly ranks above Julian and the other cultists... Could the cult also have local branches under a common authority, with the "Supervisor" never staying in one place for long and deliberately concealing her identity and movements so that capturing one member won't expose more of them?
As Charlotte reflected on this, she saw out of the corner of her eye that Viève had taken a standard-issue bottle of holy water from her pocket. She handed it to Charlotte and said:
"Open the bottle and wait for me to act."
After a moment's thought, Charlotte understood that the final question might be dangerous. Without asking anything, she took the glass bottle, pulled out its cork, and stood beside Julian's corpse with a firm grip on the bottle.
Viève raised her right hand, palm upward. A strand of brilliant light gathered in it, like a miniature sun held in her grasp.
Only after confirming Charlotte was ready did she speak, sunlight clasped in her hand:
"What is the being you worship?"
At the question, Julian's previously indifferent expression changed. A fervent emotion appeared on his face, and his vacant eyes lit up, as though the faith buried deep within him had been awakened:
"Of course, it is the Bridge of Light and Darkness, the Interstice of Black and White, the forever unfixed..."
Before he could finish the third part of the title, the light in Viève's palm suddenly burst forth, shooting toward Julian's hovering spirit in a concentrated beam. At the same instant, Charlotte splashed out the holy water. The clear liquid landed on the corpse, immediately sending up a cloud of white smoke.
Julian's voice cut off abruptly. His translucent spirit rapidly twisted and shattered in the blazing light, vanishing from the room. All that remained were the bloodstains on the carpet, the smell of burning candles, and the wind that briefly surged within the Wall of Spirituality before subsiding.
Only after confirming that no new abnormalities had appeared did Viève lower her hand, offer praise to the Eternal Blazing Sun for assisting with the ritual, and dismiss the Wall of Spirituality.
On the carriage ride back to Saint Roch Cathedral, Charlotte still sat upright opposite Viève.
The Solar High Priest had put her gray linen robe back on and wrapped her blond hair in a plain silk scarf. But after the battle and the spirit-channeling ritual, she no longer had the inconspicuous air of her maid disguise. Instead, she radiated a gentle warmth that put people at ease.
Jellen and Joel handled Julian's corpse, while the subsequent cleanup would be left to the public security personnel cooperating with the Church. This coordination spared the Purification-ers from wasting their energy on mundane matters and was already an established procedure for official Beyonders.
Of course, the Sealed Artifact dagger, which had strangely absorbed a large quantity of the dead man's blood, had also been returned to Viève. As captain, she would take it back to the Church to be properly sealed away and studied separately.
What a shame to lose such a fine weapon... Watching Municipal Square recede outside the window, Charlotte could not help asking quietly:
"What would have happened if he'd finished reciting that title?"
Viève glanced at her and answered:
"The Church has eradicated many cults. The vast majority simply invented nonexistent gods for people to worship so they could amass wealth or satisfy their own desires. Those false titles, or honorific names, are usually harmless.
"But a small number of organizations, deliberately or otherwise, have directed their prayers toward evil beings that genuinely possess power. Their corresponding honorific names, emblems, or even just an impression left in your mind can establish a connection between you and them."
Charlotte's heart tightened, and she pressed:
"What happens when that connection is established?"
"In mild cases, physical injury and mental confusion. In severe cases, corruption that leads to loss of control, or gradual erosion that turns you into a believer." Viève's tone was unusually stern, as though she feared Charlotte might not take this seriously. "That's why we generally don't combine spirit channeling with dream divination when dealing with cultists. Channeling spirits in dreams lets us see more details and ask more questions, but if you see something you shouldn't see or hear something you shouldn't hear in that state, you may not be able to withdraw in time."
So this is experience the Church has accumulated over a thousand years... Charlotte nodded slowly, committing that detail to memory.
The targets of divination, spirit channeling, and ritual magic prayers were best restricted to orthodox gods, especially the god one personally worshipped. Even if no revelation came, there would be no danger.
As for that "Bridge of Light and Darkness," it did not sound like any normal being. Something that demanded living sacrifices and indulged its followers' murders would never be a benevolent god, whether or not it truly possessed power at the level of a deity.
And based on the information they had just obtained, Julian should have belonged to a local group that included Etienne and Luna. Above him was a "Supervisor" who did not remain in Sushit for long. They could not yet determine whether that was a position, a code name, or a characteristic of some pathway, but if they caught the others, they might be able to keep tracing the organization upward.
At the very top of these cultists stood that evil being whose honorific name was incomplete... Viève would surely report it, putting the Eternal Blazing Sun Church's Inquisitions and Purification-ers in various regions on alert for similar incidents and helping locate the "Supervisor."
At that thought, Charlotte suddenly remembered something else.
Viève seemed to have prepared in advance for Julian's abilities. Her responses during the battle had been highly targeted, as though she already understood the abilities of that pathway. If so, why had she so readily chased a false shadow out the window?
Could it be that she wasn't fooled at all, but suspected I had ties to the cult and deliberately gave us a chance to be alone? Maybe Viève never even went far, and was hanging just outside the windowsill, listening... The more Charlotte thought about it, the more plausible it seemed, and a trace of resentment rose within her.
But then she reflected that she had only recently become a peripheral member and was directly connected to that sacrificial ritual. The Church could not possibly trust her completely. Giving her the Arbiter potion and a measure of freedom already counted as favorable treatment.
I still need to keep building trust... But elsewhere, with my father, my credibility has already hit rock bottom... She sighed inwardly, then recalled the instant of satisfaction and peace she had felt upon killing Julian. She realized that this moment, right after they had fought together and she had earned some credit, was an ideal opportunity to ask questions.
So she chose her words carefully:
"Ms. Viève, are there any techniques for mastering a potion's power?"
Viève's green eyes rested on her for a few seconds before half closing as she answered:
"No potion is named arbitrarily. Their names are the essential symbols left behind after generations of Beyonders explored, experimented, and drew conclusions. You can think along those lines about how to better master yours."
Without Henri's reminder and her father's remark about "acting as a Hunter," this answer might have sounded like ordinary advice to Charlotte.
But now she clearly realized that Viève knew a deeper answer, yet for some reason could not state it directly. She could only help Charlotte through indirect hints.
After a brief silence, Charlotte gathered her courage and asked:
"Does that mean I need to 'act' as an Arbiter?"
Viève's half-closed eyes opened again. She watched Charlotte quietly, neither confirming nor denying it.
To Charlotte, that was tacit confirmation.
Just as I thought, acting is the key to mastering a potion!
Roselle Gustav sat at his desk, the diary written in Chinese that only he could understand lying open before him.
He dipped his quill in ink and paused above the paper for a few seconds, then began a new page by the sunlight streaming through the window:
"March 16, Sunday.
"Just the day before yesterday, I became a 'Savant.' Through the potion's power, I actually recalled everything I'd learned before in its entirety.
"Every last bit of knowledge!"