In every situation, there's a need for calm.
This state of mind has always been what York pursued.
He didn't know if he had achieved it yet.
Hearing Gabriel's response, York hung up the phone, and he became unusually calm, unsettlingly so.
"Ernest is dead?"
York pocketed his phone and slowly walked towards his personal rest room.
As a priest, like Archipad before him, he had gone through the process of studying at the Seminary, interning, and becoming a priest.
Since the Seminary is like a school, there were peers, akin to classmates in school.
During his student days, due to his unfamiliarity with this parallel world, he kept a low profile and mostly kept to himself. However, he did interact with Ernest, the ever-kind-hearted man.
They weren't as close as friends in his previous life, but they were more than mere acquaintances. In essence, Ernest was his only good friend during his student years.
York entered his personal rest room.
Everything that needed to be put away was put away.
He sat down in his chair at the desk, sighed, and on a whim, opened the drawer to reveal layers upon layers of files and a lifelike photograph.
It was a group photo of fourteen young people, including himself and Ernest.
Standing at the back due to their height, they were both very eye-catching.
York's face was calm, devoid of any ripples, while Ernest beside him was beaming with a bright smile.
"You..."
Staring at the cheerful Ernest, York started to say something but then found himself at a loss for words.
At this point, Ernest's death must have been confirmed.
"Well, if there really is a problem, I'll solve it for you. If you indeed died at the hands of a demon, then I'll drag that demon from hell and make it suffer as revenge for you. This is to repay your kindness for bringing me meals in the past…"
After saying this calmly, York felt even more at peace. He gently put the photo down, pushed the drawer closed to keep the past sealed away, then leaned back in his chair to rest.
He knew that relevant documents would surely arrive today.
Time slowly passed in this state, seemingly in the blink of an eye reaching evening, too fast for a true sense of passage.
During this time, Erin had come to consult, but he sent her home early.
The reason was simple: until Erin learned how to use a gun, he wouldn't bring her early into the battlefield for supernatural events involving demons.
Demons, creatures that can't be killed, only banished back to hell, and very vengeful, are too dangerous. This is different from monsters that stay dead once killed.
At this time, the urgently sent documents from Gabriel also arrived at the Pluto Church.
"Thank you."
Nodding to the clergyman in front of him, York took the sealed document bag from his hands.
As always, the clergyman in a plain black robe, without any embellishments, nodded back and left silently, blending into the darkness.
York looked down at the sealed document bag in his hands and turned to enter the church.
The same spot.
Under the candlelight, York checked to make sure the sealed document bag hadn't been opened before he unsealed and reviewed the contents.
The first things he saw were several photographs.
Not of Ernest, but of a girl he didn't know.
Her face was haggard, her figure emaciated, as if she hadn't eaten for a long time.
"It seems this is the victim."
York briefly looked at the photos of the girl and placed them to the side.
The girl's appearance wasn't the most important thing. What mattered were the related reports and the details of Ernest's death.
However, as York went through the documents, his expression slowly knotted into a frown.
In his view, the event Ernest encountered was notable.
Meeting the victim.
Confirming whether the victim had physical defects or mental illness.
Ernest did these things very well, with detailed examination documents provided.
However, from the beginning, the victim, Emily, had fluctuating symptoms for a long time, from childhood to the present, which became more severe. This didn't fit the Church's definition of possession.
The reason being the span of time, lasting seven or eight years.
So, York wasn't surprised when he saw Gabriel's refusal of Ernest's exorcism request.
Given the history, such as the so-called trials, the Church had stricter requirements for exorcisms and other supernatural cases of possession.
Not everyone can afford the consequences or accurately identify whether it's a supernatural case.
If a priest doesn't have the bishop's approval, all consequences are on them, meaning the Church wouldn't back them if they performed an exorcism privately.
"So how were you so certain the victim was possessed by a demon, attacked by dark forces?"
York sighed, thinking of Ernest, and continued reading.
Eventually, his gaze stopped on a fresh document.
It was about the victim's behavior and mental state, including hospital reports and Ernest's judgment.
Behavior: Bizarre actions, immense strength, consuming spiders, rats, feces, etc.
Mental evaluation: The victim was aware of her issue, not fitting the definition of mental illness, so no mental problems.
Hospital: No obvious physical illness found, but suspected epilepsy.
"Taken together, it's quite compelling evidence, and then you happened to encounter trouble at this crucial moment?"
York's face remained calm as he read Ernest's process.
On the day Ernest prepared the documents, he received a call from the victim's parents about her suddenly worsening condition and strange howling, so he hurried over.
The final outcome was that Ernest started the exorcism without approval and, after some effort, successfully expelled the demon. The victim recovered and even looked healthier.
If everything had stopped there, it would have been a happy ending for all.
However, the next morning, the day after the exorcism, Ernest's fellow deacon found him hanged in the church.
"Hanged himself?"
York found the reason Gabriel felt there was a problem.
Like the Saint Cata Monastery case, suicide is absolutely forbidden in the Church, a cardinal sin against the faith.
"A devout man like you definitely wouldn't commit suicide without reason, severing the path to heaven."
York finally took out the last photo, staring at Ernest with swollen eyes, hanged but facing the image of Jesus.
"So why did you commit suicide?"
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