"He came to you of his own accord? Araya, is this some outdated joke?"
Magi were selfish creatures, and Cornelius Alba was among the finest examples. Just when they most needed a pawn, someone had volunteered himself-and an Executor of the Holy Church, at that. Had he not known Araya Souren had no reason to act against him, Alba would have thought it was some twisted trap.
"That is what happened. I have my doubts as well, but after meeting him, I chose to trust that man."
In pursuing the techniques of the Soul Archetype, Araya Souren had also developed superhuman perception. Though it had not reached the level of Mystic Eyes, the ability itself was by no means inferior.
Through even brief contact, Araya Souren could understand a person's essence and thereby obtain information about their origin. It was this ability that had allowed him to find pawns suited to having their origins awakened in Mifune City.
The instant he saw that man, Araya Souren was convinced.
That priest's essence was an incurable emptiness. He was mentally defective, yet had maintained his personality through the tempering of faith.
There could be no mistake. That man was a seeker.
However, unlike Araya, who had witnessed all the world's calamities and ultimately intended to seek salvation through a delusional obsession amid his pain and fixation, that man had never experienced happiness since childhood. He had no goal or conviction he considered worth pursuing, and so he had honed himself with self-punishing intent, hoping to find an explanation for happiness.
The two of them were similar yet opposite-two extremes that arrived at the same outcome by different paths.
The other man did indeed harbor some separate purpose, and had not even intended to hide it. But as long as that empty essence