The church altar was, as it had been and as it seemingly always would be, standing withered in the emptiness. Basked in the lamp's glow, only the dust covered candlestick reflected the light.
He could not see the God he should serve--he thought on how what Sunako had said was correct. If one believed that justice was the justice determined to be common in the human world, then the Shiki should be eliminated. Shiki hunted people. That was bad and that made the Shiki an enemy. In order to eradicate evil, they had to hunt the Shiki, that was simply a religious crusade necessary to uphold justice. And yet Seishin struggled with that. There was no mistake that Shiki were the enemy of people but could it really be said that in hunting people Shiki were thereby evil?
Seishin's conscience whispered to him. This isn't their sin. Nao and Shuuji didn't exactly wish to be transformed into Shiki did they? Much less to become Shiki specifically in order to slaughter. Was it something that could unequivocally be condemned as a sin, that while it was antagonizing, it could still be judged as evil?
He knew that he would be in the minority for thinking this. A God that did not have a large number of followers could not be called absolute. But justice that was defined by its adherents was not justice to Seishin. A God who would punish those without sin, without hesitation, was not God. --At least, not to Seishin.
The empty church, the empty altar, even if there were a priest there would be no God here. There was only a faithful adherence towards one's decision. There was no doubt that the recluse who built these ruins resonated with Seishin. He couldn't help but come here in order to affirm to himself that he was not alone in the world.
Even kowing that much, he did not know what it was that he should do. The village was falling prey to disaster. While he was hesitating thusly the victims went on multipltiny. Those who rose up as Shiki bore no sin but nor did those victims who were losing their lives to the Shiki. He couldn't affirm them being unreasonably attacked by another. Affirmation and approval were the same thing. That said, he couldn't approve of it, and somebody did have to stop this calamity. And the only ones who could do that were those who had realized the truth of the matter, only Toshio and Seishin.
Seishin let out a heavy sigh, head dropping as if with that breath he'd let out all of his power. Behind him was the clatter, the small sound of the door opening.
"Good evening."
Seishin wordlessly turned to look behind him. 'It' which took the form of a little girl came into the small shrine the same as she always had, taking very light footsteps towards the nave of the church.
"....Are you depressed again?"
Mm, Seishin nodded.
"You still haven't been able to make up with Dr. Ozaki?"
"No. It's something else."
Sunako tilted her head. She sat down on the nearby bench. She was close enough he could reach out and touch her. Seishin suddenly wondered why he had been safe all of this time. Sunako could have added Seishin to the line of victims at any time. It was possible she was refraining on purpose. Just as Toshio arbitrarily chose which to save and which not to save, it felt as if Sunako too was arbitrarily determining who to kill and who not to kill.
"Are things going so badly in the village?"
"That's right. It's terrible."
How terrible, Sunako said, her voice sounding to Seishin as if it were almost tinged with true compassion.
"Toshio is deadlocked. No, he was being deadlocked I guess I should say. While it looks like a plague is spreading, there's no means to counteract the plague. It might be a new strain of a plague but it has points where it's not like an plague to it. So he can't counter or cure it."
"That really is terrible. But you used the past tense didn't you?"
Seishin nodded.
"It's not just the plague. Lately, there've been many leaving the village. The inhabitants leave things vague and disappear. The person cooperating with us from the town hall also disappeared. It's hard to see as anything other than disappearances."
".....That's strange. But, it has nothing to do with the plague, does it?"
"Normally you'd think it wouldn't. Those who've died of this plague have quit their jobs right before dying. The people who commute from the village for work, almost without exception, resign. Even this would normally be unrelated to a plague."
Sunako frowned faintly.
"....These isn't a normal situation. These aren't normal moves or resignations, and since all of these confirm to a pattern, we can only assume something there's something abnormal behind it. That's what Toshio concluded. If you assume the existence of something unusual, the situation makes sense. ---So it was past tense."
Sunako gazed heavily as Seishin. A pathetic silence fell. In that moment. All that he could hear echoing through the church in that moment was his own quieted breath. And that was likely all there was.
Sunako averted her gaze, then looked up. Her white face wore a smile free of any malice.
"Something unusual?"
"....Abel."
Sunako's smile faltered for only a brief moment.
"That really is unusual."
"Something made to kill by others. Something that's killed, buries, and yet rises from the grave. ...A Shiki."
Sunako lowered her head and let out a giggling voice. "I'm surprised. That Dr. Ozaki was such a romantist, I mean."
"This is something more prosaic. It's a decisively brutal reality. It's merciless and inorganic."
"....Oh?"
"I think that you are a Shiki...."
Sunako looked up, smiling. "Really, Muroi-san is such a romantist!"
"Am I?"
Yes, Sunako said standing up. In an instant Seishin stiffened. His breath held, he watched Sunako from behind as Sunako turned her back and went towards the nave of the church. Sunako walked, and then stopped walking to turn around.
"Say, Muroi-san, where do you think it was that Cain was ostracized from?"
Seishin tilted his head.
"The other day, I suddenly thought of this. When God made Adam and Eve, he made the Garden of Eden for them to live in. But Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden when they took the forbidden fruit. So Cain was born on that land they were banished too, wasn't he?"
"And chased out to the land Nodo east of Eden...."
"Right? So where was Cain?"
"Probably still Eden. The plot of land called Eden had a garden within it, and Adam and Eve were banished from the garden. But it was still within Eden."
Sunako shook her head.
"That isn't what I mean. The Garden of Eden was paradise, right? Since Adam and Eve were banished from paradise for their sin, wouldn't Nodo be a penal colony outside of Eden? I wonder what there was outside of the penal colony."
Seishin blinked.
"The blessed land and the desolate land. Paradise and a penal colony---if the world was split into these two parts, then outside of the penal colony must be Paradise, musn't it?" Sunako smiled from far away. "Isn't it interesting? Cain was driven from the penal colony for his sin, meaning he was banished to paradise. God might have regarded Cain as a madman and sheltered him away in paradise then quite possibly, yes? Or if that weren't so, as judgment for killing a sinner in a penal colony, his sin was forgiven and he may have been called back to Paradise."
Seishin started to stand.
"The one who killed those who should be punished within a penal colony, isn't he a murderer? Or is he a just man?"
With a small laugh, Sunako turned around. Without leaving time for him to call to stop her, she slid out through the slanted doors.
Seishin stood at a loss for words.
Now he thought on it as mysterious.
(Paradise, and the penal colony surrounding it.)
Did the wasteland exist around the hill or did the hill exist within the wasteland?
(The one who killed sinners was...Did the high ramparts enclosing the foot of the hill denote the terminus of God's order, That sin was...)
or instead did it note the boundaries of God's miracle?