Chapter 283

Chapter 283: Official Paperwork

Every day before noon, Vanna walked across the courtyard of the great Cathedral in Pland. She followed the little path between the flowerbeds to the sanctuary. The path was one hundred and three steps long. From the sanctuary entrance to the statue of the Goddess took another twenty-seven steps. Ever since she had become this city’s Inquisitor, these step counts had become part of her life.

She knew everything inside this Cathedral. She knew every floor tile from the courtyard to the sanctuary as well as she knew her own hands.

In all the days and nights that had passed, she had never imagined that this short stretch of road could feel so hard and so long.

The sanctuary doors opened, and the too-bright sunlight was left behind her. After her eyes adjusted to the dimmer interior, Vanna saw two figures standing before the statue of the Goddess in the center of the room.

Light from the high stained glass windows shone down and spread a soft glow over the statue of the Goddess. Archbishop Valentine and Pope Helena turned their eyes at the same time. In the sunlight, their gaze fell upon the Inquisitor who was walking into the room.

“You are here,” Helena said with a small nod. “One minute later than we agreed.”

“Sorry,” Vanna said as she stepped forward. She bowed her head slightly beneath the statue of the Goddess, then looked at the Pope. “Handing my work over to my subordinates delayed me a few minutes.”

“Never mind,” Helena nodded lightly, then glanced at Valentine. “I have already spoken with Bishop Valentine about your situation. He will help you with the handover and arrangements for your duties. You do not need to worry about the city-state. Your uncle has also received the news. He understands the Church’s decision, but I still hope you will talk with him later and ease some of his worries about the future.”

Even though she believed she had made plenty of mental preparations, Vanna’s heart still gave a little jump when she heard the Pope’s words.

A feeling rose within her, something between dream and Mortal Realm, leaving her dazed for a moment. She tried to grasp that feeling clearly and finally found that all of her emotions were summed up in a single sigh: ah, it really happened.

But then she felt confused again, and even a bit absurd. She looked at the Pope in front of her and could not help saying: “You really are going to send me onto the Vanished – of course, I am not doubting your decision, I just suddenly feel that… this is not a matter to treat lightly. At the very least, we should understand Captain Duncan’s attitude. Would he really allow a high-ranking priest to board that ship so casually?”

Vanna felt her wording was a little messy, but she forced herself to sort out her thoughts and went on: “Yesterday it all happened so suddenly. Only after I went back did it strike me that something was off. The Vanished is not some ‘open zone’ that one can just enter at will. How do you plan to…”

“Ah, you finally thought of this question,” Helena said with a smile, shaking her head. “I thought you would only remember to ‘ask for directions’ when it was time to depart.”

Vanna’s eyes widened in surprise. Then she saw Helena take out a rolled parchment sheet from beside her and hand it over with a bright, amused smile.

Puzzled, Vanna accepted the roll and carefully opened it. Her gaze swept over the words written on it, and her expression grew more and more interesting.

“To the servants of Goddess Gamona of the Deep Sea Church… We hereby accept the transfer of one member of your staff required for duty, to be temporarily assigned to a combat post aboard this vessel… In-post treatment will be equal to that of a first-class crew member. The wages and all related expenses for this person will continue to be borne by your institution, to be paid in the following manner…

Captain of the Vanished, Duncan Abnomar, signed at Visions–Pland, December 19th, 1900.”

Besides the handwritten signature at the end, there was also a striking red seal.

Vanna: “…”

The young Inquisitor looked a little stunned. She lowered her head to look at the Personnel Transfer Acceptance Letter in her hands, then raised her eyes to the Pope in front of her. After glancing back and forth several times, her gaze fell on Bishop Valentine.

“Don’t look at me,” Valentine said with a blank face. “I didn’t expect this either.”

Vanna felt her lips tremble: “The signature on this…”

“It’s real,” Helena said calmly. “The seal is real as well. If you go to the City-State Archive and search, you can even find records from a century ago, when the Vanished came to resupply at Pland Harbor. They bear the same seal and the same signature.”

Vanna listened in a daze. She opened her mouth, as if she still had a whole bellyful of words she wanted to say, but Helena spoke first and cut her off: “You have to admit, this is very reasonable.”

“I…” Vanna raised a hand and pointed at herself, then lifted the parchment sheet in her hand. After a long pause, she finally squeezed out a sentence: “But isn’t this a bit too reasonable?! And when did you…”

“Just yesterday,” Helena said in all seriousness, though a trace of joy hid in her eyes. “Captain Duncan and I discussed your onboarding process in detail. We have always felt this should be a formal, contract-bound personnel transfer. For that, we needed proper paperwork to file.”

The female Pope paused there. Seeing the tangled expression still on Vanna’s face, she spread her hands with a smile: “What else did you expect, Vanna? How else were we supposed to send you to the Vanished? Pile up some bonfires, draw blasphemous symbols all over the floor, then tie you to a stake and send you over as a sacrificial rite? Like certain dark heretics who tie up maidens in damp caves and offer them by sacrificial rite to Subspace?

“Vanna, we are the orthodox Church. We follow proper procedure.”

Vanna’s mouth twitched. She realized that at the start she truly had not thought at all about the details of this “handover”. Now that Helena reminded her, she could see how reasonable the document in front of her was. Yet because the process was so reasonable, the whole thing felt even more uncanny.

All of her anxious guesses about the future were shattered in that instant. She even started to suspect that on the Vanished she would see a rich staff meal, and after the formal dinner there might even be a barbecue on the deck…

This was the Vanished, after all. The Lost Home.

Every bit of that strangeness in Vanna’s eyes was clear to Helena.

“All right. Now that you have seen the document, I trust you have let go of your last bit of worry,” the Pope said with a smile. “Go and rest now, and make some preparations before you set out. There are more detailed notes on the back of the document, including the exact time and method of handover. You can read them when you go back.”

And just like that, Vanna was sent out of the sanctuary in a daze.

After the young Inquisitor left, the sanctuary became quiet. After two full minutes, Valentine finally broke the silence: “In fact, I’m very curious.”

Helena turned slightly: “Curious about what?”

“What exactly has happened that made you suddenly decide to send Vanna onto the Vanished?” Valentine asked, his expression a little serious. “I understand the reasons you gave. They do hold up. But the whole thing still feels… a little rushed to me. You seem eager to establish contact with that ‘Captain Duncan’, and you did not make enough preparations beforehand. What happened?”

“You are a perceptive man, Valentine. You always have been,” Helena said quietly. She looked at the old Bishop who had been loyal to the Church for so many years, then sighed. “This matter will not remain a secret for long. Telling you now will not change anything.”

She paused for a moment, then spoke slowly: “Do you remember the ‘warning’ that Captain Duncan sent not long ago through Vanna?”

“‘Warning?'” Valentine frowned slightly, then quickly thought of something. “You mean the one about Visions 001…”

“The Elven city-state of Lightwind Harbor near the border has recently sent disturbing news,” Helena said with a nod. “The ‘Sea Witch’ Lucretia delivered a gift to them. Can you guess what it was?”

Valentine froze. Thinking of the details hinted at in the Pope’s words, he faintly realized the truth. His expression changed at once: “Don’t tell me… something really fell from the sky?”

“A fragment of a glowing glowing orb that fell from above,” Helena said. “It is pale gold, a geometric body even larger than the Storm Cathedral. We do not yet have solid proof that it is a piece that broke off Visions 001, but…”

Helena did not go on. She only shook her head.

Valentine listened in stunned silence. After a long time, he finally squeezed a few syllables out of his throat: “…Goddess above.”

“Our world is going wrong, and things are worse than we imagined. The Vanished is so far the only voice that has given the civilized world a warning – and that warning has now been confirmed,” Helena said slowly. “This is Captain Duncan actively showing goodwill. No matter how terrifying that ship once was, we must give a reply now. After all… what is about to fall is not just one city-state, but the Sun above our heads.”

“…Can Vanna really carry out this task?” Valentine had set aside his earlier doubts, only to pick up a new worry. “She is actually a somewhat rash person and not very good at… careful, delicate human dealings. If we are sending an envoy ‘aboard’, she is not the best choice.”

“We are not the ones who pick the best candidate, Valentine,” Helena said, shaking her head.

She turned around and quietly fixed her gaze on the holy image of the storm Goddess Gamona.

“The ones who play the game decided the pieces’ places from the very beginning.”