Chapter 365

Chapter 365: The Child Sharing a Secret

Agatha knew that Bishop Ivan’s life had been near its end many years ago. Under those tight bandages, almost no flesh-and-blood body remained. What kept him standing here, aside from the sacred miracles bestowed by Bartok, was only a stubborn soul.

Few people knew what had really happened to this Bishop’s body. Even Agatha, as a Gatekeeper, only knew that it came from an “accident” many, many years ago. Bishop Ivan never spoke about the truth of that “accident”, not even in front of her.

Naturally, Agatha did not take the initiative to touch this secret.

Bishop Ivan’s mood was clearly heavy. He stayed silent for a long time before suddenly saying: “We are facing a crisis.”

Agatha nodded: “Yes, Bishop Ivan. I will do my best to find the truth and break the plots of those Annihilators.”

But Bishop Ivan shook his head: “No, you do not understand. The ‘truth’ of this crisis may already lie beyond our understanding and imagination, Agatha. The activities of those cultists may be one part of this crisis, but they are not all of it. I have a feeling…”

Agatha frowned slightly: “A feeling?”

“It is a similar air. It is like fifty years ago… Before that chaos broke out, the whole city was filled with a mood very close to today,” Bishop Ivan said slowly. “The city-state looked normal on the surface, yet strange details showed everywhere. It was as if we were suddenly living inside a dream where truth and lies were hard to tell apart. From time to time we would glimpse horrible scenes at the edge of that dream, yet the sad minds of Mortals refused to understand any of it. That kept us from seeing the reality right in front of us… Do you feel that? As if… distortion is right before our eyes, and we keep them shut.”

“I do not understand…” Agatha said, a bit unsure. “Do you mean cognitive interference? That this interference has already affected our judgment?”

Bishop Ivan did not answer her. After several seconds of silence, he suddenly brought up a topic that seemed unrelated: “Agatha, have I ever told you about the ‘last Queen’s Guard Corps’ from fifty years ago? Have I ever told you about the ‘Second Waterway’ deep under the city-state?”

“Second Waterway?” Agatha paused, and some information rose in her mind. “I know a bit about it. It was part of a huge underground system the Frostholm Queen built for the city-state. But when the Queen’s era ended, that unfinished project was abandoned. Now, because of heavy cave-ins and a lack of funds, it still lies abandoned down there. Most people do not even know it exists.”

“Yes, abandoned,” Bishop Ivan said with a shake of his head. “Only a Gatekeeper like you, or an old relic like me, still knows about it.”

“And what about the ‘last Queen’s Guard Corps’?” Agatha asked. “Why did you suddenly bring that up?”

“The last Queen’s Guard Corps was the unit that refused to surrender even after the rebels broke into the Queen’s palace. They used the city’s underground systems to fight on to the end,” Bishop Ivan said in a low voice, as if sunk in memory. “Their final stand was at the entrance to the Second Waterway. After that, they blew up all the connecting shafts and were buried underground. The reason I mention this today… is that I suddenly remembered a rumor from that time.”

Agatha’s expression grew serious at once: “A rumor?”

“It is said that when the shafts were blown up, the soldiers who were attacking underground suddenly heard strange sounds from deep below. In the ground that had already fully collapsed, the last Queen’s Guard Corps suddenly began to shout, as if charging at someone,” Bishop Ivan recalled slowly. “For a long time after that, people often reported hearing shouts and charges from deep under the city. In the end, a rumor took shape. It said the ‘last Queen’s Guard Corps’ had turned into a mutated legion in the depths. Every day they fought in the dark with boiling rage in their hearts. They were only waiting for the moment when the New Order, built by traitors, became most fragile. Then they would pour out from underground and settle the old accounts…”

Agatha’s face grew grim: “The New Order’s most fragile moment… Just now you said we are facing a crisis beyond understanding, and the city feels like it did fifty years ago. Do you mean this is the most fragile moment? That legendary Queen’s Guard Corps will pour out from underground? Do you think that rumor is true?”

“I do not believe that rumor. The Queen’s Guard Corps was wiped out long ago. I saw it with my own eyes. Even if…” Bishop Ivan stopped for a moment, as if something had come to mind, then shook his head. “Even if a few survivors did live for a time in the Second Waterway back then, they could not have lived to this day. A handful of living descendants would not be able to shake the rule of the city-state, even in the crisis we face now.”

Agatha did not speak for a moment. After more than ten seconds of silence, she suddenly said: “The legend of the ‘last Queen’s Guard Corps’ may be false. But it is true that there are large uncontrolled zones under Frostholm. What you fear is not the Guard Corps that vanished fifty years ago, but something else hiding in the Second Waterway?”

“We have been searching the whole city for a long time. We have caught quite a few Annihilators, but they are all small fry, and most do not have strong hiding skills,” Bishop Ivan said with a nod. “There is no way they alone could have created so many ‘replicas’, so much ‘elements’ and ‘corruption’ in the city, much less caused the disturbance on Dagger Island. Now it seems the ones we caught are more like stragglers leaking out of a large nest. By now, most parts of the city have been searched more than once. If there is any place we have not checked… it can only be the depths underground.”

Agatha thought for a moment and then said, not very sure: “But records say that most sections of the Second Waterway have collapsed badly. The tunnels are cut off from each other and form a dead web of passages. On top of that, there are toxic ‘corruption’ substances and wide areas of darkness. It should be impossible to live down there. Annihilators are still living people. Aside from the few priests who are turning themselves into Abyssal Demons, most of them still need the normal living conditions of Humans… How could they stay hidden in such a place for long?”

“We should at least look,” Bishop Ivan said slowly. “Start with the collapse points around the Boiling Gold mines.”

Agatha thought it over and nodded slightly: “Then we will need City Hall to cooperate. Protective gear, underground machines, professional engineers… the great Cathedral does not have these things in stock.”

“I will talk to them,” Bishop Ivan said with a nod. “Make a list of the people and equipment you need. I can find a way to get them for you.”

“All right. I will give you the list before noon,” Agatha said without holding back. “Before the people and supplies are in place, I need to have a good ‘talk’ with the Annihilators we have already caught and see if they can cough up anything useful…”

…

As night faded and the sky grew lighter, Vision 001 began to rise from the edge of the city-state. The splendid Sun Wheel climbed into the sky bit by bit. The double rune rings swept over the tall spires and roofs. sunlight brought warmth and drove away the cold that had built up through the night.

At the gate of Cemetery No. 3, the heavy carved iron gate creaked open. As it swung, it swept the snow on the ground and left two arcs like spread wings. The Old Caretaker, wrapped in a worn coat, stood in front of the open gate. He took a deep breath and looked at the now clear sky.

The sky was clear, but for some reason even this bright morning did not calm the restlessness in his heart. The Old Caretaker looked toward the city streets. The distant sound of carts and horses reached his ears, faint yet noisy, like the uneasy wind from last night.

Even the clear sky now looked almost fake to him.

He muttered a few complaints under his breath, then looked toward the slope before the cemetery.

The wrinkles on the old man’s face relaxed a little. But the next second, they all twisted back again, and his brow furrowed tight.

He had seen a small figure appear on the slope, trudging up toward him with great effort and energy. When the figure noticed his gaze, it even stopped on purpose and waved happily in his direction.

The Old Caretaker’s face went stiff.

He waited for her to come closer. Only when Annie began brushing the snow from her pants and boots did he speak, looking displeased: “You again. I had a whole quiet day yesterday and thought you were finally going to stay home for once. And now here you are again?”

Annie stuck out her tongue: “I wanted to come yesterday too, but Mother said there was too much snow on the road. She said we had to wait until the snowplows cleared the main street before going out…”

She did not wait for the old man to answer. She took out a small bag with practiced ease and held it out: “Biscuits!”

“…I eat biscuits every day now,” the old man said. He glanced at what she offered, his eyelid twitching, but still reached out to take it. “Thank Lady Belloni for me.”

Annie laughed happily.

The Old Caretaker gave the girl a sideways look: “Anything else? The cemetery is not open for visits today.”

“Nothing. I just want to talk to you,” Annie said with a grin. “Do you know? We have some new guests staying in our house. Guess who they are?”

A twelve-year-old child was really not good at holding back a secret.

“I am not interested,” the Old Caretaker said, feeling baffled. He waved his hand impatiently. “The house is yours. You can rent it to whoever you want. What does that have to do with me?”

“It is that tall uncle wrapped in lots of bandages and dressed in black!” Annie did not mind the old man’s answer. Her smile grew even brighter, and her tone held a strange pride. “The one who was at the cemetery gate last time… Grandpa Caretaker, are you all right?”