< 82. The Hell of Distrust (10) >
"Gedwick, we received another petition from Dimension #77-102. It's quite stern in tone. The destination dimension #22-189 has already issued a landing permit a long time ago, so they are demanding an explanation for the delay in the committee's approval."
Upon hearing the report from his subordinate, the Kavait leader, Gedwick, gazed at the hologram for a moment before speaking.
"Dotes."
"Yes, Gedwick."
"Can you guess why we are obstructing the travels of those three-eyed isolationists?"
Dotes pondered briefly.
The meticulous superior sometimes posed questions to test his subordinates' sense of duty. Knowing that his answer might influence Gedwick's highly subjective evaluation, Dotes chose his words carefully.
"Dimension #22-189… I understand that a confidential mission has recently been assigned to the prisoners of that dimension, which is referred to as 'Earth' locally. I can't confirm the details within my authority."
"Continue."
"The timing of the mission assignment is quite precise. An emergency message was sent to the Earth prisoners the day after the so-called 'Heretics' Inquisitors' from Dimension #77-102 requested approval to leap to Earth."
"Continue."
"The purpose of the Heretics Inquisitors is to penalize the priest of the dimension branded as heretical while also retrieving the body of the archbishop of the Earth diocese they are believed to have secured."
"Continue."
"The committee's delay in approving the leap is interpreted as an attempt to sabotage the Heretics Inquisitors' efforts. It's expected that the mission was assigned to the prisoners to intercept the priest or the body while the Heretics Inquisitors are unable to set foot on Earth. Was I correct?"
"That's mostly right. To be precise, the committee is not interested in the heretic priest but in the corpse."
Dotes showed a relieved expression, but Gedwick was still not satisfied. This was something anyone with a sharp ear could deduce. Gedwick decided to delve deeper.
"Then why are the Heretics Inquisitors so obsessed with the corpse of their own kind who died abroad?"
Dotes shifted his eyes and replied.
"Religious or cultural reasons, perhaps?"
It seemed Dotes hadn't grasped the full picture. Did he have no connections with the committee's high-ups apart from myself?
While subtly evaluating the internal network of his direct subordinate, Gedwick kindly explained.
"The official pretext is twofold. They claim that since the deceased was canonized, the body must be enshrined in the main dimension. At the same time, the deceased held a high status, so they need to retrieve his 'seed.' Fortunately, the head of the corpse is intact and undamaged."
"I'm sorry, but I didn't quite understand the second reason."
What could they possibly need to retrieve from a deceased person, and what does it have to do with the head?
Gedwick displayed a hologram and said,
"Here's what an average member of their species looks like."
"They really have three eyes."
"That's what everyone calls it for convenience, but actually, the one in the middle isn't an eye."
"What is it, then?"
"A reproductive organ."
Dotes hesitated momentarily at the unexpected answer.
"······Is that so?"
"This species' skull contains various organs in addition to the brain. It's not uncommon for evolutionary mechanisms to concentrate crucial parts in one place. In any case, the seed of this species is inside the skull. Even after the individual dies, the seed can still be recycled, much like a plant seed."
"So, the Heretics Inquisitors will use the head…"
"They will entrust the head to an undertaker before interring the body, who will open the skull and extract the seed. The family receiving the seed will then pass it to a high-ranking noblewoman agreed upon in advance for a posthumous marriage ceremony. After all, marriages among those nobles are more about combining family assets than the desires of the individuals. Sometimes, the person's life or death doesn't even matter."
"That's quite bizarre."
"As I said, that's only the superficial reason. It seems the High Council doesn't believe this excuse."
"Why is that?"
"The High Council ordered the retrieval of the priest's head not to disrupt any noble family's marriage, but for some other reason. There must be another motive."
"I see. You suspect there is another reason and want to obstruct it."
"Exactly."
After a brief pause, Gedwick added.
"And the fact that Dimension #77-102 is such a special case is one of the reasons I speculate this."
Dotes, seemingly waiting for this moment, asked the question he had struggled to understand.
"Why have the High Council been neglecting that dimension until now?"
"Clarify your question."
"It was strange that they unilaterally closed the dimension, but the committee hasn't done anything about it. They haven't sent immigrants or enforced trade."
"They refused."
"Even so, to just let it be…"
"So what should be done? Should we forcefully push them into resuming relations with overwhelming firepower?"
Dotes thought for a moment and shook his head.
"No, that's not the committee's way."
The ancient races comprising the upper echelons of the committee were a mere handful compared to the entire multiverse.
While their technological prowess was unmatched, using sheer force to suppress undesirable entities without proper justification would result in significant losses. Moreover, it would likely provoke the dragons, who had managed to maintain a peaceful relationship only after the declaration of the end of the war.
Therefore, the committee preferred to dominate other dimensions with money and technology instead of starting wars. This often began with indebting the other dimensions. They used the talent known only to the committee to incur external debts.
"That dimension also built a terminal and engaged in trade for a time, so they must have incurred debt with the committee. We would notify them under the pretext of emergency collection or credit evaluation, and if they refused, we would use that as an excuse to apply force…"
"No debts."
"What?"
Dotes couldn't comprehend his superior's statement.
"Dimension #77-102 repaid all its external debt in full just before the lockdown decades ago. They calculated compound interest and prepayment fees meticulously and repaid every penny."
"······That's impossible!"
According to the lending system designed by the committee's top financial engineers and future planners, such a thing should be impossible.
"They also paid in full with tangible talent."
"?!"
An explanation about the source of funds was provided.
Before the establishment of the committee, some talent was sealed and discovered throughout dimensions. While a substantial amount evaporated during the extraction process if the handlers were inexperienced, a minimal amount was still circulated.
The residents of Dimension #77-102 explained that they had gathered and paid with the currency collected from that era on a global scale.
"Could it be?"
Dotes felt uneasy.
"Yes, the High Council is suspicious. Perhaps they discovered another method of extracting talent that we don't know about?"
"······That seems plausible."
"It's still just a suspicion, so we can't act aggressively. Even if we wanted to be forceful, we must be mindful of that repulsive giant reptile. And suddenly lifting the lockdown and showing suspicious movements means we should naturally intervene, right?"
"Indeed. Especially since it's related to talent."
"And the timing of their movements is very suspicious. It's precisely as this cycle is approaching…"
"Pardon? What cycle are you referring to?"
Gedwick realized he had misspoken. Dotes was affiliated with the committee but was not one of the ancient races.
"Nothing at all."
Gedwick kept the next words to himself and buried them deep within.
Soon, the time would come when the depth of sleep of 'them'—now dormant—would grow shallower. This fact made Gedwick uneasy.
"······Then we'll take our leave."
"Please see yourself out."
The Frankfurt police, responding to the report, searched the Dreamland building but found nothing suspicious. Moreover, even the rats that had been scurrying along the building's walls had dispersed and disappeared, leaving no further grounds for investigation.
However, after the police left, Min-jun remained hidden within.
The priest who had been guiding them changed his expression and opened a secret door that the police had missed—a passage leading to the basement.
Beyond it appeared the secret chapel that Ha-eun-seong had witnessed as it passed through the wall. Min-jun quietly followed.
As the priest reported that the police had departed, the interrupted service resumed.
'Ha-eun-seong must have been horrified by this scene.'
Having already seen frightening scenes in the Jenkins lair, Min-jun found it repulsive but not enough to make him faint.
Moreover, the grotesque scene, smeared with blood and filth and unlike an exorcism, soon ended and moved to the next stage.
Min-jun concealed himself in a corner and kept a watchful eye on the priest at the pulpit.
'He's the one!'
He couldn't afford to make a move and abduct him immediately. This service seemed to be attended only by 'hardcore members,' as an intense divine energy emanated from all those present. It would not be wise to cause a disturbance in such a situation.
'I'll have to wait until the service ends and then abduct him.'
As Min-jun contemplated this, the bishop at the pulpit spoke.
"Now, everyone, please take out your 'Book of Asif.'"
'?!'
Min-jun flinched momentarily. The unexpectedly familiar term had slipped out of an unexpected person's mouth.
They took out a scripture with a blank cover. Min-jun recalled what he had read from Cassie's investigation materials.
'The scriptures of that order are differentiated between what an ordinary believer sees and what a priest with divine certification sees. The latter is a sort of secret scripture that even members cannot access without qualification.'
The presence of the word "Asif" in such a scripture name made him uneasy, but…
'It must be a coincidence.'
The Earth's cultural sphere alone is filled with homonyms. But what about the entire multiverse? The word "Asif" must be used in various meanings by different races.
Under the unseen gaze of Min-jun, the bishop began to murmur a prayer.
He led with:
"Finally, in your dream, we dream of you."
The priests chanted in response:
"Finally, in your dream, we dream of you."
Only then did the bishop unfold the scripture, which had no title, and began to read.
But it wasn't in any Earth language.
'What is this?'
Min-jun unconsciously strained his ears. It wasn't a language he knew, but something buried deep within him responded to the strange melody and phonetics.
As he fell into deep concentration.
Eeeek!
A sharp pain.
It felt like his head was being pierced with an awl.
'What is this?'
He thought it might be a mental attack, but the pain gradually subsided.
The bishop began translating the alien text into German and reciting it.
As he listened a bit longer, Min-jun was able to roughly understand the contents of the scripture. What they were reading was the oldest of their revered texts, a document from the early days of their sect. The bishop was talking about a prophet who had been the origin of their religion.
'A common repertoire.'
The prophet was said to have descended from the heavens. Before the people of Dreamland, he performed various miracles. These were the miracles the natives had most desired at the time: feeding the hungry, healing the sick, and resurrecting the dead.
'Resurrecting the dead with divine power would have been impossible. Unless he was accompanied by a dark sorcerer or something.'
Eventually, the natives came to serve the prophet and worshipped the truths he revealed as divine revelations.
The bishop read from the scripture as he translated.
"A commoner asked the prophet, 'Why have you chosen us to guide us?'"
"The prophet replied, 'Your people have the ability to achieve happiness and ecstasy without aid. Thus, you are a people who can dream while awake, and to reach bliss, you will need neither a handful of elixirs nor creatures fashioned from blood. Therefore, you are the most fitting to welcome the primordial race that dreams in dreams.'"
'Creatures fashioned from blood?'
The word "creature" listed as a condition for attaining ecstasy caught Min-jun's attention.
The bishop read the next sentence in the alien language, and again Min-jun's head throbbed, but it was more bearable than before.
"The commoner asked again, 'Who does the primordial race refer to?'"
"The prophet answered, 'Those who resided in Elahu-Praga before history was written, and who possess within their hearts the eternal spring of life, sleeping for ages without dying and creating anything through dreams are the great beings.'"
"The commoner asked again, 'What is Elahu-Praga?'"
"The prophet replied, 'Just as glass fragments shine in various colors under the sun, the meaning contained in these five syllables is more numerous than the branches of flowing streams on vast lands. I know all their meanings, but you, who lack intelligence, cannot comprehend.'"
"The commoner asked once more, 'How shall we call the prophet who has given us all this wisdom?'"
"The prophet replied, 'My true name was forgotten long ago, but today's beasts call me 'Asif,' the sinner who committed the greatest evil.'"
Min-jun's eyes widened.
< 82. End of the Realm of Distrust (10) >