章 21: Quest Prolonged
"O' the holy Divines, till how long we, the denizens of your heavenly realms above, have to endure all these torments of ours? I beseech your sacred wisdoms, my divine lords..."
So was the prayer of Father Gregor, one of the bishops serving Cardinal Esteban and the one who was currently in charge of the parish as well. At the very site of last night's brutal incident, where an unknown creature had butchered two among his flock, Gregor stood silently, gazing upon the scene of butchery with troubled heart. This was not, at all, a simple matter of his pathetic servants getting killed, but rather something that had to be dealt with seriousness. It had only been 4 weeks since the day of Glen-gohr's defeat, and yet there proved to be another havoc waiting to happen upon this cursed land. Alas, two peasants had got ripped apart pieces to pieces, just as Glen-gohr would have done to its preys; this would definitely stir up the people with fear and chaos, should the rumors ever go into their ears.
Father Esteban should be contacting him within a few minutes. The initial reports had already been made to the Cardinal briefly after the incidence. According to the aides of the Cardinal himself, he had not seemed irritated, if not furious, but rather troubled-even mournful of the news. He had then requested for a moment in solitude, all by himself, seeking wisdoms of the Divines on the matter. Still, no one knew, including Father Gregor, what he would bring unto the loyal servants upon returning from his prayer. Would they be comforted for their loss, blamed and then chastised for their follies, locked up in the underground prison, or even executed by the holy decree of the church of 3-Divines? In what future should they be seeing each other, now that the possible wrath of Father Esteban was imminent?
While caught up in his own thoughts, one of the apothecaries under his command approached. She bowed briefly in respect of her superior, and gave reports on the bodies of the deceased.
"May the blessings of the Divines dwell among your concerned soul, my lord. I draw near unto you with our findings that might be dreadful, yet of the most certainty in their nature, to any ears able to hear them."
"Then I shall brace myself and be willing to confront any of the hardships they will put on my soul. What shall it be?"
"Aye, my lord. Apparently, as you might have well expected, the victims were confirmed to have been killed by, literally, the fangs and talon of some foul creature, not by swords or bolts made with human crafts. Some of their bodily remains-this, too, is what you have heard from our initial reports-were gone missing, presumably consumed by the beast itself. Still, to make the whole matter worse, my lord, there is yet another finding that shall disturb you even more."
"I am ready to face any of uncomforting truths thou shall bring upon me. Enough with testing my patience; out with it." Urged Gregor.
"Yes, my lord-your wish is my command. The point here, is that we have discovered a 'pattern' among the mutilated corpses. Considering the way their bodies were torn apart, ripped, and cut, it is certainly following some structured pattern, crude but yet tangibly vivid."
"A pattern?"
"Yes, my lord. The assault, so long as we could tell, was hardly that of some mindless brutes, but rather a skillful one just as any swordsman would do with his or her sword. However, what made us astonished with fear is that, not only was it conducted in a disciplined manner, but it surprisingly resembled the way Glen-gohr had butchered its victims."
"Glen-gohr, thou said?"
"Aye, Glen-gohr, the terrible beast of past. We are sure of it-I am hereby afraid to tell you, for there had been numerous corpses mutilated by the hands of Glen-gohr, and we too had examined them for so many times as much. Whenever we think back of the way it had slaughtered its preys, and the very tools of destruction it had wielded unto the innocent, we see almost the same in our recent event last night. At present, we still do not know its motive behind all this. Nevertheless, we are confident to tell you that the culprit was somehow mimicking the methods of its predecessor."
After the reports had concluded, Father Gregor dismissed her without any further instructions. Glen-gohr; to anyone on this land such was the name, even now, that harbored every aspect of horror one could ever conceive. Yet, the nightmare was recurring once more, now that it became certain there dwelt the brute's successor amidst the land's wilderness. The entire population would again be agitated, or even consumed with terror should the things be treated without delicacy afterwards. Yes, it was no longer a matter on whether Glen-gohr had actually revived among the dead. Its heir appeared, and in anytime soon, it would possibly go rampant as well, slaughtering the land's inhabitants just like Glen-gohr had done a few weeks ago. If so, the terror shall reign over the dominion once again.
Deep inside such concerns, the Bishop's comm-link rang subtly. It was a transmission from the Cardinal himself. Father Gregor then turned on the projector, and it soon visualized his superior's image. There, he had taken seat in his private office, looking weary and thoughtful at the same time.
"Greetings, Father Gregor. May the blessings of 3-Divines-our mighty lords in cosmos above-be upon you. Time is precious here, so let me be straight to the point, my child; I wish to hear what you currently have to say about our latest 'incident', after all those hours I allowed you for further investigation. Both the plain facts and sensible assumptions would do, yet I do prefer the former for the sake of soothing my impatient nature. Now, pray tell me what you have found."
"Aye, my lord. Our priests and apothecaries have confirmed that this was the doing of some vile beast, cunning and yet ferocious as well, rather than the visceral work of a madman. Tools of butchery be crude claws and fangs, however, our assailant proved to be skillful in its way of tearing the victims, just as a fine swordsman would do when cutting his or her foe with a blade."
"Nevertheless, what concerns me greatly is this: the method by which it kills the people, the pattern its brutality has shown so far-they are all similar to those of the terrifying beast, Glen-gohr. By considering these, I fear that, my liege, this would revive the same terror our land just suffered, especially among the commons, possibly harming your glorified name and authority."
After his subordinate's reporting, Father Esteban remained silent for a moment. Shortly after, he opened his mouth again and said to the Bishop.
"Very well, Gregor. My mind and will alike are set firmly, now that I have perceived the nature of the event through your words. While I was at my prayer alone, seeking the holy wisdoms of our heavenly lords, I was given a message, a divine revelation that had awoken my slumbering soul. At first, I too was confused, doubting whether the message had truly came from the Divines above. Yet, my child, from what you have just told me of the incident, I now have a conviction that those were the words of our divine lords themselves."
The Cardinal gave a short pause. Then, he continued as the following.
"They, alas, had told me to let the barbarians stay here for a while longer. We might be in need of their strength and prowess once more, considering the nature of our latest event. In order to discuss the matter any further, You, as one of my closest confidants, shall come to my office as soon as possible, and make sure to delete all the automated recordings of our communication hitherto."
With an image of Father Esteban faded, so was the end of the transmission.
週次パワーステータス
-- 推薦
ランキング 
-- 推薦
チケット