Chapter 95

Chapter 95: Infiltration

Another small group of Heretics of the Sun who had slipped in from Cold Harbor on smuggling boats had been dragged out and locked in the cathedral near the Harbor District.

Vanna came back from the dungeon beneath the cathedral and stepped into the lounge off the upper sanctuary. The regional Bishop in charge of this cathedral was already waiting in the room.

“Inquisitor Vanna,” the slightly thin Bishop greeted the young Inquisitor with a bow. “May the waves protect your soul.”

“May the waves protect your soul,” Vanna replied, then walked with somewhat tired steps toward a chair at the side. “In the Harbor District alone, this is already the second batch of Heretics of the Sun thrown into the cells, isn’t it?”

“Yes. Three days ago we caught more than a dozen,” the Bishop said with a nod, his eyes tinged with worry. “They were trying to kill a citizen when they were discovered and stopped in time. Now this is the second batch. They drew a meter reader’s suspicion while holding a dark ritual in an apartment building.

“We never realized that so many cultists had infiltrated…” He shook his head slightly. “Luckily we found them early. Otherwise, who knows how many people their dark rituals would have killed.”

“Pland is the main hub of the Boundless Sea, and everything has been calm for the last four years,” Vanna said with a nod. “That made many people’s nerves go numb.

“But… we still don’t know if we discovered this early or late. Those Heretics who arrived ahead of time might have been active in the dark for a while already. They only exposed themselves recently.”

The Bishop glanced at Vanna’s face, hesitated for a moment, and then asked: “I heard other districts have caught quite a few as well?”

“Yes. Almost every district in the city-state,” Vanna answered without hiding anything. “Right now, the underground cells of almost every cathedral are holding captured Heretics of the Sun. Some cathedrals only have a few. Others have dozens.

“But most of them are just the lowest-level lackeys, moving around the city-state to gather information. They haven’t had much training, so they expose themselves easily.

“We still haven’t found any of the real upper-level priests.”

By the time she finished, even Vanna’s own tone had turned unconsciously grave. A faint uneasiness showed on her face.

Ever since the hunt for the Heretic cultists seeking the “fragments of the Sun” had begun, Pland’s authorities and the Church had reacted at once. They launched a sweeping hidden search all across the city and urged citizens everywhere to report suspicious behavior.

The results of this wave of action were impressive.

In a very short time, a large number of cultists who had not yet had time to react were exposed and captured. These bloodstained cultists now almost filled the underground prisons of the various cathedrals.

Their number was nearly equal to the total number of cultists discovered within the city-state over the last four years.

Yet up to this moment, all those arrested were only the ones running around at the bottom. At best, they included a few low-ranking priests carrying mass-produced sacred relics who had only just received a divine blessing.

The true high-level powers were still hiding in the shadows.

That was what made Vanna feel faintly irritated and uneasy.

“Every day we have results, but we still can’t grasp their ‘core,’” she said to the Bishop in front of her. “It gives me the feeling that the situation is still getting worse somewhere outside our sight.

“With so many cultists moving inside the city-state, there must be a high-level commander arranging everything behind them. But that commander still hasn’t shown up.”

The Bishop thought for a moment, then spoke slowly: “According to the interrogations so far, these lackeys only follow the orders of ‘Envoys.’ These so?called Envoys are a group of low-level priests. They use imitation masks of the Sun, and through a Listening Rite, they hear the voice of the spawn of the Sun directly…

“Do you think it’s possible that a spawn of the Sun has already slipped into the city-state and is hiding here?”

“A spawn of the Sun hiding in a human city-state? Honestly… that doesn’t quite fit with how things work,” Vanna said, frowning. “They might have great power, but they leave obvious traces behind. Their foul, filthy aura can’t be hidden.

“There are cathedrals and patrolling Guardian squads all over the city-state. In theory, there shouldn’t be any blind spots.”

“So it’s only a guess,” the Bishop said with a slight shake of his head. “I also know it’s very hard for a spawn of the Sun to hide in civilized society.

“But those low-level Envoys really do carry the masks of the Sun with them. Even if they are not directly controlled, they must be in contact with the spawn of the Sun to some degree.

“After all, mass-produced sacred relics are still sacred relics. Those cultists also have to think about the cost of their actions. They wouldn’t make arrangements that are totally meaningless.”

“I read yesterday’s interrogation records,” Vanna said, touching her fingers lightly to her chin as she thought. “Those Heretics are mainly asking about the supernatural incident that happened in the city-state eleven years ago…

“They think it has something to do with the fragments of the Sun?”

“That’s how it looks now.” The Bishop nodded. “We don’t know where their information came from, but they seem very sure that fragments of the Sun were what caused the ‘great chemical plant riot’ in Pland eleven years ago. I remember you were also…”

The Bishop suddenly stopped. His eyes fell on the striking scar around Vanna’s left eye, and he lowered his head slightly. “Forgive me. I spoke out of turn.”

Vanna lifted a hand without thinking and brushed her fingers over the scar on her face. Then she smiled calmly and shook her head. “It’s fine. It’s just a scar. You’re right, I was also there when that riot happened. There’s nothing that can’t be said about it.”

“There were cultists involved in that riot as well,” the Bishop said in a low voice. “Afterward, among the rioters who were arrested, more than a hundred were Heretics of the Sun.

“But now, the Heretics of the Sun who infiltrated the city-state are asking about the truth of what happened eleven years ago again… As if they really don’t know what happened here back then.

“Don’t you think that’s strange?”

“Either the Heretics of the Sun in Pland acted on their own eleven years ago, so the cultists in other city-states don’t know the truth here,” Vanna said quietly, “or… the appearance of fragments of the Sun in Pland eleven years ago was only an accident, or the work of some third party.

“The Heretics who took part in that riot were only being used as tools.”

She added calmly: “According to the interrogation records back then, the ‘rioters’ we captured were all in a confused state.

“Their frenzied runaway state didn’t look like it came from their own will. It looked more like they had been pushed into madness under the influence of some overwhelming power.”

“…They chased after twisted, eerie things, only to be ruled and driven mad by that eerie power,” the Bishop sighed. “In that dazed state, they became fuel for the fire of chaos, and in the end they were thrown aside in the ashes.

“It’s a truly pitiful kind of life.”

Vanna did not answer at once.

She simply stood up in silence and walked to the window of the lounge.

Through the glass, she could faintly see the Harbor District. The full lockdown there had already ended. Many of the piers and jetties had gone back into use. But Pier One was still under the highest level of lockdown.

That beautiful, brand-new steamship, the White Oak, still lay quietly at the end of the pier. As planned, it was under non?stop surveillance and underwent a purification ritual once every day.

The crew of the White Oak had been transferred to the central cathedral. As people who had made close contact with the Vanished, they were now under the highest level of watch.

Heretics of the Black Sun were imprisoned in the dungeons under the cathedral. A “Homecoming Ship of the Lost” that had encountered the Vanished was moored in the harbor.

And a whole group of seafarers who had come face-to-face with Captain Duncan were staying inside the central cathedral…

Just thinking about it was enough to give someone a headache.

The sun was already sinking, though it was not yet time for day and night to trade places. The Bishop lit several oil lamps in the room ahead of time. The wavering flames were reflected faintly in the window glass.

Vanna withdrew her gaze from the Harbor District. “I heard the notice about Anomaly 099’s runaway state has already been sent to the Harbor District?”

“Yes. It was just delivered this afternoon. Would you like to look it over?” the Bishop said. As he spoke, he took a folded document from his robe. “It arrived a little later than we expected, for some reason.”

“Let me see it.”

Vanna reached out and took the document, then began to read it by the fading light at the window. At the same time, she explained casually: “Being a little late is normal. Anomaly 099’s runaway was very unusual. It broke out of its seal during direct contact with that ghost ship.

“The Bishops of each city-state had to think very carefully about the wording and implications in this notice, so that the information it points to stays under control.

“Otherwise, a document that’s supposed to help captains avoid risks on the sea might end up creating too many ‘connections’… and link them to the Vanished instead.”

In the dim light of the approaching sunset, the oil lamp closest to Vanna suddenly flickered.

As the word “Vanished” slipped out of her mouth without a thought, the flame inside the lamp gave a tiny crackling sound.