Chapter 217

Chapter 217: The Devout’s Doubt

Heidi suddenly let out a strong sneeze, startling the young monk who was taking notes across from her.

“Are you all right?” The young monk looked at the Miss Psychiatrist in front of him with some concern. “Are you feeling unwell? Any sense of something unusual…”

“I am fine. It was probably just the cool wind on the square just now, plus all the anxiety before. Now I have caught a chill.” Heidi waved her hand before he could finish, rubbing her nose as she spoke. “Where were we?”

“We were at the part where you saw two Mortal Realms overlapping over the city-state while you were in a state similar to Soul Departure, and how the arrival of the Vanished caused one of those Mortal Realms to be stripped away and annihilated.” The young monk glanced at what he had just written and flipped back through the earlier pages. “You also mentioned that you had a crystal pendant, and that you sensed the crystal pendant might be the key.”

“The pendant is already broken,” Heidi said after thinking for a moment and nodding. “My father got that pendant from an antique shop, but I suspect neither my father nor the shopkeeper knew anything about its special nature. It was just a free gift, even with the glass workshop’s label on it.”

“In other words, an item that had extraordinary power but hid its true form, and by chance entered the Lower City and ended up in your hands,” the young monk said as he kept his head down and wrote. “Could you tell me about that antique shop and any detailed features of the pendant? This may help us grasp a fuller picture during the follow-up work. After all, extraordinary items often have the power to tug on fate. Your meeting with it may not have been an accident.”

“Of course, no problem.” Heidi nodded at once and began talking about what she knew. After she had finished explaining the general situation, she hesitated a little, then could not help asking: “Has everyone… come back?”

“From what we know at the moment… yes.” The young monk nodded. “Although almost everyone remembers a scene of the city-state being burned by flames, everything has now returned to how it was before the disaster. The explanation given for now by the Archbishop and the Inquisitors is an historical corruption disaster of Mortal Realm invasion level, but the detailed information still has to be made public.”

He paused and then added: “But your case is the most special. Almost no one remembers how the disaster ended, yet you saw the key process. That is why your testimony is crucial.”

“I understand.” Heidi sighed softly, then seemed to suddenly think of something. “Should I maybe send word home first to say I am safe? It looks like I will not be able to go back right away…”

“We have already sent someone.” The young monk smiled slightly. “You do not need to worry.”

“You have already notified them? Good.” Heidi thought for a moment and nodded slightly. “Then let us go on. What do you need to ask next?”

“All right. Next question. Do you remember any specific details about that ghost ship that floated between the two historical tracks? And when you recall those details, do you experience any mental confusion, or any hallucinations of hearing or sight?”

…

Vanna came to the great cathedral.

This wide, sacred place seemed especially quiet at that moment. Aside from the necessary guards at the entrance, the hall held only Bishop Valentine, standing silently before the holy statue.

Vanna’s footsteps broke the quiet atmosphere in the great cathedral.

Valentine turned his head. He had already removed the splendid robes and crown he wore only at special times. Now he only wore a plain long robe and a soft cap. Aside from the staff in his hand that marked him as the city-state’s bishop, he looked no different from an ordinary old man.

Vanna came to stand before Valentine, her expression calm. “Order in the Cathedral district has been restored. The garrison units are returning to their posts one by one to help restore order in the city-state. The high-ranking priests have already gone to the main factories to soothe the steam cores. At least before nightfall, we can make sure the dusk Bell will ring as usual, and the gas supply for the whole city will not be interrupted.”

The old bishop clearly let out a breath of relief. “You have worked hard, Vanna.”

“It was what I should do,” Vanna said calmly. “Even after the corruption faded, the lingering mental and cognitive chaos is still having an effect. Untrained ordinary people can hardly wake up from that disaster all at once. Even City Hall is a mess right now, so for now the professionals can only take over order.”

Valentine nodded, then reminded her: “After nightfall, besides ensuring the gas supply, we also need to increase the number of night patrols in every district. They must carry enough consecrated lanterns and incense, in case something slips in through the veil of night. We have just gone through a Mortal Realm invasion. The Mortal Realm foundation where Pland sits is in its most fragile state. We also need to check every nightfall Sanctuary World in the city one by one. Some citizens may still be so frightened that they have locked themselves inside. Once the holy oil in a Sanctuary World runs out, those panicked refugees will become a big problem.”

Vanna nodded. “I understand. I will go arrange it in a bit. Tonight I will personally lead a team to inspect the key areas.”

“…Just leave it to your deputy,” Valentine said, looking at the young inquisitor in front of him with some concern. “Finish what you have on hand and then go rest. You are still hurt.”

“My injuries have almost healed since I returned to the great Cathedral,” Vanna replied at once, looking the older man up and down. “Your injuries earlier were worse than mine…”

“How could that be the same?” Valentine kept a straight face. “I have already recovered from the historical corruption. You, on the other hand, actually fought your way through the entire city-state twice in and out of the Veil. I can see how weak you are right now.”

Vanna said nothing. She only turned silently, lifted her head, and under the glow of candles and gas lamps, she quietly let her gaze rest on the statue of the storm Goddess Gamona.

The great hall fell into a brief silence until Valentine broke it. “What are you thinking about?”

“I am wondering how I should write the second half of this report.” Vanna sighed. “When Her Eminence the Pope wants to know about this disaster in Pland, how are we supposed to explain to her how all of this ended?”

Valentine’s expression also became rather complicated.

“In a way… well, we do not even need to say in a way.” The old bishop struggled for a long time, then could only sigh just like Vanna. “The fact is that the arrival of the Vanished extinguished the historical corruption brought by the Ender and stopped the birth of the Black Sun that was about to appear in the mortal world. Even though we do not know what that ghost captain’s purpose was in doing all this, there is no doubt…”

The old bishop stopped. After nearly half a minute of silence, he finally spoke in a low voice. “Pland survived because of the coming of the Vanished.”

“Perhaps he came for the Sun fragment.” Vanna had many thoughts in her heart, but she did not say them all out loud. “Do you still remember that ship, the White Oak? That ship faced the Vanished head on and finally got away intact, with only Anomaly 099 taken. Perhaps Captain Duncan’s goal was much simpler than everyone imagines.”

“Stealing away a Sun fragment is not the same as stealing an Anomaly,” Valentine said, shaking his head. “But you are right. This is indeed the only explanation we can think of for now. If Her Eminence the Pope wants an answer, this is the only one we can give her. The rest is to report everything that happened here truthfully and see what conclusions the priests of the great Storm Cathedral can reach.”

Vanna gave a quiet hum in reply, then turned back again, her gaze once more settling on the statue of the Goddess.

“Your heart is still very unsettled.” After knowing her for many years, Valentine could certainly sense that something was wrong with Vanna’s state. “Vanna, we have already discussed the affairs of the city-state and the Church. What else is shaking your resolve now?”

“I… I am fine.”

“We have known each other for many years,” Valentine said, shaking his head. “Although by office you and I are equals, in daily life you have always treated me as an elder you can trust. I can see that something has been off with you ever since you came back. What exactly happened?”

Vanna was silent for a while. She looked up at the veiled Goddess, then after a moment lowered her gaze and looked at her own body.

Dante Wayne’s words still seemed to echo in her ears.

In the great fire eleven years ago, in that source of the flame the Enders had used to open the historical corruption, her uncle had actually failed to rescue her.

That fire was the beginning of the historical corruption, the dividing line between the true history and the false history. The people who died that night had truly died. Only after that fire did Pland’s destruction and its survival split into two completely opposite world lines.

In other words, she, a person who had died on the night of the fire, was never supposed to have survived.

It was Subspace’s divine blessing that had let her live until today.

The crazed shouts of that Ender atop the bell tower still rang in her ears:

“You will undergo true resurrection, and you will be born only to die again…”

She had already undergone true resurrection.

But she had not been born only to die again.

The appearance of the Vanished had cut all of that off.

Now she was still standing here in one piece, breathing the air of the mortal world and feeling the warmth of the living.

Even the storm Goddess still bestowed divine blessing on her, using the sea wind’s gentle power to heal all the wounds on her body left by the earlier battles.

This even made Vanna feel, for the first time in her life, a confusion related to the Goddess.

Did the storm Goddess truly not care about the fact that she had survived only because of Subspace’s divine blessing?

And as that doubt stretched and spread further, the things it led Vanna to think of made her shiver even more.

If what that Ender and Captain Duncan had said was true, then at this very moment the whole city-state of Pland had already been soaked in the Vanished’s flames. Every person in this city-state, even the land itself, had already become blasphemous heretics.

Yet the divine blessing still remained in the great Cathedral. Every Deep Sea priest in Pland still received answers to their prayers to the Goddess just as before.

For the first time in her life, Vanna began to doubt the faith she had always held.