Almost half a day after Nathan had fainted upon entering the strange church, he opened his eyes with startled.
Unlike before, when he had woken up confused and with his thoughts scattered, he now knew very clearly where he was and what he had experienced earlier in the day.
His body ached terribly, his muscles not prepared for all the running he had done, and that was taking its toll.
Nathan stood up awkwardly and walked over to one of the chairs in the church and leaned against it.
'So... how am I supposed to get out of this place?'
Looking around, Nathan realized that the church was very similar to those that existed on Earth. A central aisle surrounded by dozens of rows of chairs on either side, an aisle leading to a strangely empty altar.
Nathan slowly approached the altar, leaning against the chairs, although he was tired, the hours of sleep had helped him, and he had mysteriously not had any nightmares.
Perhaps it was because he was so tired, or perhaps it was simply because his mind was in chaos at the moment. In any case, Nathan had calmed down a little. But that didn't stop him from shaking every time he remembered the screams of that child... that monster.
When he arrived at the altar, he noticed that there was a small fountain filled with crystal clear water next to a luxurious silver cup on a table covered with a white tablecloth.
'Water...'
His throat was dry, his lips were beginning to crack, and his stomach was constantly rumbling with hunger. He hadn't eaten for less than a full day, but everything that had happened had left him completely hungry and thirsty.
So, without hesitation, he crouched down in front of the well and began to drink the strange and mysterious crystal-clear water.
Nathan drank and drank until he was full, then he took his head out of the well and sat on the ground in silence.
He was waiting for something to happen, it was definitely an eye-catching place, which basically enticed him to drink the water from the fountain. But no matter how long he waited, nothing happened, leaving him somewhat dazed.
Leaving the fountain, Nathan began to walk towards the back of the church. He knew that the people in charge of the church usually lived in a room at the back of the church, and fortunately Nathan found a door behind the same statue that was above the door outside the church.
Nathan didn't pay much attention to the marble sculpture either, it was just a woman in a long dress that covered her whole body.
He assumed she was just a goddess that the people of the village worshipped, just as they worshipped their own gods on Earth.
Nathan approached the door and opened it before peering inside.
Inside was a modest room, a single bed, a wooden bucket, a wardrobe, and a desk with a book on it.
It was quite empty, but just like the church, the room was spotlessly clean, without a trace of dust.
Nathan knew that there were no people in a realm, so it was impossible for someone to keep the church clean.
At first, when he saw the boy for the first time, he was very confused, thinking that he was a human. But after everything that had happened, he was absolutely sure that this child was nothing like a human.
He was a monster in the body of a child.
So, he was sure that there was a strange power that kept the church clean and safe. Not just from possible natural disasters, but from the time itself.
Nathan stood in silence for a few seconds before deciding to approach the desk and pick up the book.
It had a brown leather binding and a string that prevented it from being opened. Moving the string to one side, Nathan opened the book carefully and glanced at the first page, only to find that he could read nothing.
Not only did he not recognize any of the letters in the book, but the book was handwritten, not printed as he had expected.
Nathan spent a few minutes looking through several pages of the book. Somehow some of the letters looked familiar and strangely familiar.
He thought about it for a few minutes until an idea came to him.
"Ahh... These are the same letters that were written on the walls of that room"
As soon as Nathan said this, the book began to light up, forcing him to close his eyes. Nathan let go of the book and it fell to the floor as he carefully took a few steps backwards.
He did not know what was happening, but he walked away from the book rather than holding it.
The letters in the book began to separate from the paper and float a few centimeters above the book before returning to the pages they had come from.
Nathan watched this with caution, not sure what was happening, so he waited until the phenomenon had passed before he approached the book again and picked it up carefully.
Looking at the book again, he noticed that something had changed. The words were the same, but now there was another row of glowing, ethereal letters floating above the pages. The new letters were in his mother tongue, so he could read them clearly.
It was as if the book had translated for him, knowing which language he could speak.
"What kind of strange magic is this?"
Nathan knew about many different kinds of powers, but they were usually focused on combat, not miscellaneous things like translating texts from other languages.
He turned to the first page to start reading the book once and for all. However, when he read the first sentence, a sour expression appeared on his face.
Ignoring the strange tone in which it was written, he continued reading.
"Winter number 25 of the Yeroal era, day 26 of the fourth month... I came to this forgotten village because of... ah... because of my lady"
Nathan paused for a moment to comprehend what he had read. What he first thought was an important book seemed to be the diary of the person who lived in this room.
"All the villagers looked at me with bitterness... But my faith in my lady keeps me going!... even the village chief is uncomfortable with my presence"
Nathan felt ashamed just reading, but perhaps the story of this pervert would help him escape from the realm. So, he swallowed his sorrow and read on.
"Winter number 25 of the Yeroal era, day 15 of the fifth month... I have been here for almost a full month, and I can imagine why UMMM... my lady... sent me to this place"
"There have been several disappearances, especially of farmers and hunters who work outside the walls. They saw me as a prime suspect, but several disappearances have occurred while they were watching me, so they had no choice but to take me off the list of suspects... THANK YOU, MY LADY!"
Each paragraph gave Nathan more information, but after reading almost 10 pages he realized two things. The first was that the man or woman who wrote this book was too... fanatical about this mysterious lady.
The second is that most of what he wrote was... to put it simply, too sexual.
"I can't wait to get out of this city, I want my lady to flatter me... to undress me... to touch me with her delicate hands while we kiss and..."
Nathan felt he shouldn't be reading this... but he could skip over important information, so he had no choice but to continue.
He tried to read through all the racy information as fast as he could until he reached the last part of the diary.
"Winter number 25 of the Yeroal era, day 4 of the seventh month... the son of the village chief disappeared last night"
"Winter number 25 of the Yeroal era, day 20 of the seventh month... after missing for 16 days, the son of the village leader returned... only... that something is different. I could only see him from a distance... but something feels... wrong. Please, my lady... bless me with your divinity"
Nathan swallowed as he read on, the more he read, the more he noticed that the style of writing had changed. The person had stopped writing paragraphs and paragraphs of obscene relations with his lady, and he had stopped mentioning her from time to time, as if he was too tense while writing and just concentrated on recording what was happening.
"Winter number 25 of the Yeroal era, day 30 of the seventh month... now... after several months I understand why my lady sent me to this village. I must kill this being... the son of the village chief"
"Winter number 25 of the Yeroal era, day 2 of the eighth month... the wife of the village chief died. I went to bless her death in the name of my lady... there I saw the child. His eyes... no... they were not eyes... it was an infinite emptiness"
"They tried to hide it, but I could see it, I could see the marks of strangulation on the woman's neck... and I don't know if it was my illusion, but the child's hands were... no... they were stained with blood, but it seemed that no one saw it but me"
Nathan turned the page and noticed that there was only one page left before the end of the diary... the last part of the page was no longer written in ink... but in blood.
"Winter number 25 of the Yeroal era, day 5 of the eighth month... the village chief hanged himself... most of the people in the village left... or died. But how...? Did they...?"
That was the last part written in ink, now there was only one last paragraph written in blood. Nathan had to work hard to make out what was written, mainly because the handwriting was terrible, considering it had been written in a hurry.
"I'm sorry, my lady, I couldn't finish him... I'm wounded... but at least I'm safe at home. I couldn't do much to him... but I understood... that his eyes are the key... his words call you... under no circumstances should you look at it... then and only then... my lady will survive"