Chapter 034
Ran slowly stood up, hiding his body behind the tree. The presence he sensed was by the back door of the house, which connected to the backyard.
'Damn.'
The intruder revealed himself quickly.
It was Zima. He strode in boldly, as if he had nothing to fear.
Ran felt awkward for no reason and cleared his throat.
"You were here."
"? What is it?"
The moonlight shone down, but it wasn't enough to dispel the thick darkness. The two stood facing each other at a distance where they could just barely make out one another's features.
Ran pressed his eyelids firmly with his fingers, worried Zima might notice if he sniffled.
"What do you mean, 'What is it'? Did you really think you could sleep soundly with such an irresponsible son?"
Ran couldn't reply right away.
Since when did you know Peco had joined the Revolutionaries, and is it really true? Why did you save me and punish Peco in my stead, and do you know everything has gone to ruin since you showed up??
Everything he wanted to ask was so jumbled up he couldn't even decide which question should come first.
So Ran kept his mouth shut.
"You did well, killing Bern."
"You were following me, weren't you? You must have known pretty quickly."
"You just beat me to it."
Zima's voice softened for an instant. Ran looked at him for a long moment. He couldn't say, "Either way, I thank you for what happened that day."
Something told him he shouldn't say that.
"What if I pressed you, asked why you killed Bern? Why just outright admit it?"
"And what about you?"
"That bastard insulted me."
"It was something similar for me."
Both of them knew without saying it aloud that this wasn't the whole truth.
Zima broke the silence.
"What I told you that day—I've come to hear your answer now."
Only then did Ran recall what he'd forgotten. A few days before returning to Gerinhild, Zima had confessed the true nature of the Vessel and made a proposal to Ran.
'Until the emperor returns, protect me and Emma.'
At the time, Ran had only thought of buying time until he could report the situation to Iscarang after returning. He hadn't given his answer, putting it off until Quersa's reply could come.
"Emma isn't some Vessel or anything. Just an ordinary child. She isn't anything special, not like you think."
Ran surprised himself with his own answer. He hadn't intended to say that, hadn't even considered it. Since coming to the mainland, he'd been cautious to the point of obsession about everything, but this was an impulsive statement betraying that habit.
"I know."
Ran felt a complex discomfort—on several levels.
"What? Then all those things you said before—were they all...?"
"Emma is but a decoy. Still, nothing I said that day was a lie. The Vessel is that important, so I've put it somewhere safe."
Rain barely finished before Ran advanced toward Zima with a threatening gait.
"It's because of these things about you that I couldn't tell you everything. Blame your own lack."
"? What did you say?"
"I was waiting for you to mature."
Ran stopped halfway. His earnest tone dropped like a weight on Ran's chest.
"I wanted you to see, feel, and experience more, to realize things for yourself. To become your true self."
"Don't dodge the question. Let Emma go right now."
"Hah, you little bastard..."
Zima glared at Ran intently. His eyes were as deep and dangerous as a sullen lake.
"Ran. Are you telling me that the life of one little girl matters more to you than the fate of humanity itself?"
Zima vividly recalled how calm Ran had looked when they spoke of the end times and the Vessel—a face bordering on indifference, nearly cold-hearted.
But now, Ran's gaze was even frostier than back then.
"Stuff like that—lofty words, I never cared about them. I only believe what I see with my own two eyes. What matters now is protecting the innocent child before me."
Ran looked ready to grab Zima by the collar at any moment. A smirk slipped onto Zima's lips, growing into a wide grin that flashed his yellowed teeth.
"Yeah. You're right. Good—very good. But sometimes, it's the right moment to stand by your convictions, and sometimes it isn't."
Ran stepped back, intent on hearing what else Zima had to say.
The situation was spilt water now. Only Zima knew about Bern's assassination for the moment. Since things had come to this, if he eliminated Zima here and now, it would tidy up loose ends.
He'd ended up owing a life, but by now, the lives he'd used and cast aside to survive were too numerous to count.
Dante, Zilla, Peco. And Zima, too.
Just one of many.
"The emperor seeks to become a god."
Ran frowned. Zima went on coolly.
"And wishes to save all of humanity."
Ran tried hard to hide his shock. It wasn't easy. His Adam's apple bobbed up and down several times.
Then it was Zima who drew closer, close enough to see Ran's eyelashes tremble faintly.
"In your eyes, is Lord Asriel that way too?"
"??."
"Relax. I'm just curious for your thoughts. Isn't it true you dismiss the apocalypse as fiction because you believe the Lord's blessing still fills this land?"
Zima snorted and stepped back again. In that time, Ran cooled his head and collected his thoughts.
It had started with the corruption of the mainland church. For quite a while he'd searched deep in enemy territory for the cause. The results were always unclear.
'Eradication.'
In the end, that was the only answer.
Quersa's purification of the mainland.
Ran's mission was to uproot the malignant weeds rooted in rotten soil. To get his hands dirty, his whole body filthy.
'To become accustomed to evil.'
Though doubt toward the divine had begun to bud within him, that wasn't the point.
As long as he did not outright deny the existence of God, that spark would remain.
"Are you saying you agree with the emperor pretending to be a god?"
"Is that how I sounded?"
"So you're using Emma as a smokescreen to deliver the real Vessel to the emperor?"
"Well, think a bit broader."
Ran laced his fingers behind his back, flexing them one by one. He considered a surprise attack.
"A fallen religion, an emperor who averts disaster with the Vessel. The glory of a bygone age and the hero of a new era. Who will humanity worship now?"
"??."
"I'm just doing what I have to do."
Silence fell over them.
Rather than answer, Ran asked a more fundamental question.
"Who are you really? What do you want?"
As always, Zima gave him a detached expression.
A voice came from behind him.
"? Mister."
Suddenly, Ran's eyes widened. Emma was peeking out from the half-open back door.
Zima's head turned that way, then back to Ran.
"I'm not so different from you."
* * *
Bern's death caused quite a stir.
Of course, before the news spread to the public, the Special Unit moved in to contain it.
'Th-this shit! What the hell is this? Was he killed in that short span?'
Felix was panicked. Ever since the elite lounge incident, Bern had ramped up his personal security. Dropping his guard for a moment was his downfall.
'I should have stopped him from chasing off the guards, no matter if it was for his 'mood'. Arrogant bastard. He died pathetically in the end.'
Felix bit his fingernails. As soon as Bern's assassination was made known, Felix holed up at Special Unit headquarters.
He already knew who the assassin was.
'It has to be Ran. He already suspects I was colluding with Bern.'
Felix figured Ran, Zima's right hand, would be coming for his neck next. His uneasy gaze kept following Ran's movements.
Meanwhile, Ran paid no heed to Felix.
He followed the standby order and fully cooperated with the Special Unit's internal inquiry about Bern's assassination. Though the incident at the end meant he had to endure a tough investigation, all it revealed was his empty, borderline-boring private life.
Clang, clang, clang!
Meanwhile, the repairs to the Grand Cathedral continued in full swing.
Ran volunteered for the repair work.
In any case, the inquisitors were grounded due to the indefinite standby order—they couldn't leave headquarters during working hours. This was much better than wasting time idly.
Ran carried heavy stones on his back and kept moving them. There were many workers onsite, but gradually, all eyes locked onto Ran alone. Silently and efficiently, he did the work of two men with ease.
"Is that guy really an inquisitor?"
"Come on, don't say something so ridiculous. Isn't that supervisor over there a clergy?"
"What, have you been living under a rock? I heard the port slaves saying so quite clearly earlier."
"Port slaves are demons, aren't they?"
"Exactly! They were gnashing their teeth like crazy."
"Why would an inquisitor come here?"
The workers began watching Ran openly now.
There were even looks of shock. Hardened construction men would often place bets on whether a rookie could last long at the site, but Ran shattered their expectations. Tall and skinny, Ran had been ranked as the weakest on site today.
But Ran was elsewhere mentally, no matter what they thought.
'Don't fool yourself into thinking you can clarify everything with your own eyes. Don't be arrogant enough to believe you can judge right from wrong perfectly.'
Zima's words echoed in his head.
This was why Ran volunteered for repairs. He believed that moving his body helped him think better.
'At least until the emperor returns, I need to watch Zima more closely.'
He also intended to keep a close eye on Emma.
He set down a brick-laden carrier, sweat dripping down. He even found this kind of physical training helpful.
'It's a little funny, fixing the church I broke with my own hands...'
Ran turned his head absentmindedly—and jumped.
"Ran. May I have a moment of your time?"
The woman before him had a bright voice but a chillingly cold appearance. She'd been standing there for some time, not arriving just now.
"? Officer Dergagne."
It was Tessa Dergagne, granddaughter of the former Special Unit Commander.
Ran quickly scanned the area, masking his surprise.
Tessa stood alone, unaccompanied.
"What brings you here? You must be busy."
Ran avoided her gaze as much as possible. Tessa was the sort of woman he hesitated to deal with.
"I heard you were close to the former Special Unit Commander."
"I wish. If that were true, I wouldn't have been suspected and nearly killed."
"Still, former commander Bern never doubted your abilities. Nor did the commander before him. What they had in common was their deep trust in Inquisitor Ran as a professional."
"Is that all you came here to say?"
Taking a deep breath, Ran dared to glance her way. She really didn't fit among the dusty chaos of a construction site.
Ran quickly averted his eyes again.
"I heard you were close friends with Peco. I'm sorry for your loss."
"I don't want to talk about that."
"Second general branch manager Zilla passed away last night."
The faces of Peco and Zilla—last seen—flashed before Ran's eyes.
He barely held his eyelids from drooping. He wiped sweat off his brow, disguising it as effort.
"I don't really care. You should get going. This isn't really the time or place for a friendly chat with me."
Tessa was heavily favored as the next Special Unit Commander. Only the formal appointment by the Grand Cathedral's bishop remained. She had the lineage, status, and ability.
Her voice was sharp as a blade against Ran's eardrums.
"Don't forget that I'm keeping an eye on you."
He'd once heard that a woman's intuition was frightening. Though there was no proof, he remembered vividly the passionate conviction of the person who'd said it—it left an impression.
Ran showed no reaction. He simply realized there was always a reason for commonly heard sayings.
"May I ask about your relationship with Brinhill's High Priest Ortolio?"
Tessa's sudden question made Ran's eyes widen.
High Priest Ortolio. One of the rare truly devout clergy Ran had met on the mainland. But also someone he'd hurt, inevitably.
"? I met him during the last joint operation with 1st Division."
"I see. He's sent an urgent letter to the Special Unit. He says he must see you—he has something important to say."
With that, Tessa turned on her heel. Her gaze went directly to one place.
Felix was watching the two of them from afar.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
Damn, it feels like no matter how many Special Unit Commanders he killed, they will just get replaced by another.
【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】