Since the police had already found the killer and believed they had uncovered the truth, the case was considered closed. According to general procedure, the innkeeper still needed to go to the police station to give a statement, but when Shade expressed that he needed to speak with the owner, the chief immediately stated that the statement could be done tomorrow.
"It's like this: I want to learn a bit about the local fire-worship traditions."
After seeing off the police and the killer, and once the body had been carried away on a stretcher, the anxious innkeeper, Mr. Thales, ushered Shade to the backyard of the inn. As it was the only place currently devoid of people, the two held their conversation beside the chicken coop.
"Oh, that~ I thought it was a tax audit... ahem, I mean, no problem at all."
Mr. Thales visibly relaxed.
"I believe in our Lord, the [Lord of All Things]; this is a faith passed down from my forefathers. As for fire-worship, I suppose that can be considered a part of the faith of the Lord of All Things, after all, fire is a part of nature."
"But I want to know if there are any strange legends regarding fire-worship in this area? I am actually a writer..."
The bearded shopkeeper clearly didn't believe him. He thought for a long while before saying hesitantly
"There are, indeed. I heard my parents mention it when I was a child. It is said that beneath Mount Sicar, there is a giant creature capable of breathing fire. A long, long time ago, it protected the ancestors who lived on this land."
*How many messy things are actually beneath Mount Sicar? Could this be the Ancient One that sealed the mountain peak passage? Breathing fire... a dragon?*
Shade thought to himself, then asked hesitantly
"What was that giant creature?"
"I wouldn't know that."
Mr. Thales shook his head, but added
"My father mentioned that before the Church of Nature established itself in Midhillburg, our ancestors believed in and worshipped fire. Later, the ancestors accepted the faith of the Church of Nature, acknowledging that fire is a part of our Lord. Even so, that era of primitive fire worship left behind certain symbols and records, which were accepted by the Church of Nature as part of its own. Now, in the Midhillburg region, some natives whose ancestors lived here write specific symbols on their kitchen walls to pray against fires; this is considered part of the local architectural style and folk custom."
What Mr. Thales described was the process of religious fusion in the Mount Sicar region. If studied carefully, it would be enough to write a decent thesis such as *A Study on Primitive Fire Worship and Religious Fusion in Midhillburg*.
Unfortunately, Shade was not a folklorist.
"May I visit the inn's kitchen?"
"Of course, this way please."
He led Shade into the kitchen, where Shade indeed discovered some ancient or modern scripts related to "fire" on the walls, but these held little significance.
He wanted to ask Mr. Thales a few more things, but the innkeeper suddenly slapped his forehead.
"I remember now! My father left behind a red stone and told me to bury it under the kitchen floor. He believed it could ward off fires."
"No, no, there's no need to dig it up."
"No digging required. I don't believe in such superstitions, so I never buried it."
Mr. Thales said with a smile, then rummaged through the warehouse alone and found an irregular, roughly circular red stone. It didn't look like a ruby, but rather some kind of crystalline substance.
"I'll give this to you, as a thank you for helping settle the trouble with the police," Mr. Thales said, though Shade still insisted on paying.
"If you look at it against the sunlight, you can sometimes see beautiful patterns inside. It's probably some kind of optical phenomenon," Mr. Thales reminded him.
Shade took the stone and held it up to the sun. After repeatedly adjusting the position of the stone, he finally saw a vision within the red gem—
It was a giant bird with wings spread, soaring through the air.
Slightly surprised, he lowered the stone.
"This doesn't look like a pure-blood dragon. Could it be—a Phoenix?!"
It was already 3:30 PM by the time he left the inn. Shade prepared to wait for Priest Augustus at the intersection of Oak Street and Punjab Street. With his hands in his pockets, glancing left and right at the empty carriages parked along the street, he turned his gaze toward the distant Mount Sicar.
*Is there a Phoenix in that mountain? In the local traditional fire-worship, is the flame they worship actually it?*
It probably wasn't a god, just an exceptionally powerful Ancient One.
"How interesting. Just how many secrets are hidden within this mountain and this city?"
At 4:20 PM, Shade successfully met Priest Augustus at the intersection. Worried that the Church might have sent someone to tail the priest, Shade gave him a cautious nod from a distance and then turned first to walk toward the first alleyway on the left side of Oak Street.
Unexpectedly, the old priest immediately caught up.
"Oh, why are you walking so fast? Do you really think I'm a young man your age?" the priest asked. After Shade explained his concerns, the priest immediately shook his head.
"Rest assured, I haven't aroused any suspicion. After all, am I any different from the other missing persons?"
Since the priest put it that way, Shade relaxed.
The two first sat in a small roadside tavern for a while, where the priest told Shade about what had happened after he led the missing persons out of the [Interstice of Life and Death] yesterday. Then came dinner time, and Shade unceremoniously requested that Priest Augustus treat him to a meal at a restaurant in the city.
Shade had braved immense danger to venture deep into the [Interstice of Life and Death] to rescue the priest, which had deeply moved Priest Augustus; treating him to a meal was naturally no problem.
The old priest, who was quite familiar with the city, eventually chose the Mountongus Restaurant located at the foot of the mountain in the south of the city. This restaurant was situated in the southern suburbs, in a somewhat remote location, built against a cliff face. The restaurant used a pure wooden structure, with stairs and dining spaces cantilevered off the rock wall. Aside from the relatively spacious first floor, every other level consisted of small rooms, with the size of the rooms determined by the protrusions of the cliff. At the other end of the rooms were large windows made of several panes of glass; from a room on the third floor, one could barely overlook a small portion of the city.
The terrain here was very high and outside the urban center, and combined with the high prices, those who ate at Mountongus Restaurant were all wealthy. People dressed in formal wear and gowns moved through the restaurant under the glow of gas lamps. In comparison, Priest Augustus in casual clothes and Shade, who had no clothes to change into, looked quite inconspicuous.
The culinary style of Midhillburg integrated characteristics from the North, the South, and the mountain regions, forming a style distinct from the typical Northern cuisine of Tobesk or the seafood cuisine of Coldwater Port. During the current autumn, the price of mountain produce was exceptionally low. Game that would command a high price in Tobesk was still not cheap here, but at least both Shade and Priest Augustus could afford it.
This might also be because the capital region itself had an inflated price premium.
During the meal, Shade told the priest about what he had seen that afternoon and remarked on how many Carsonric people there were in Midhillburg.
"Actually, there are plenty of foreigners in Tobesk as well; it's just that most of them aren't within your sphere of activity. As for Midhillburg, most foreigners who come here are merchants, so you see them often," the old priest said cheerfully. "I heard the Bishop of the local cathedral mention that at least twenty percent of Midhillburg's permanent population are not nationals."
"Oh, that number is quite exaggerated."
"After all, it is one of the largest cities on the eastern border."
The old man stirred the thick soup in front of him with a spoon.
"If these people knew what was beneath our feet, I fear Midhillburg wouldn't be as bustling as it is now."
Shade tapped his foot. Priest Augustus shook his head and lowered his voice.
"Regarding the [Interstice of Life and Death] and the potential outbreak of a Death Shock, it currently seems impossible to evacuate the citizens of this city in advance."
"Why? For potential political and economic impacts?"
"Of course not. Because... having a prosperous metropolis exist above the [Interstice of Life and Death] is itself part of the seal. The Interstice connects to true Death; therefore, there must be enough living people on the other end to form a—"
"—Balance," Shade said, understanding the priest's words.
"Then, is that place really... Unknowable-grade?" he asked again, as the [Spiritual Cult], a non-orthodox church, had only speculated.
The priest nodded cautiously.
"The Interstice itself contains three passages to be considered a complete Unknowable-grade."
The [Desire] that Shade had encountered in the basement of the Aurora Mansion in Coldwater Port was also Unknowable-grade. At the time, [Desire] had not shown any combat capability. Thinking back now, even if it had been sealed by divine abilities for hundreds of years, the opponent's power could absolutely not be as simple as what Shade had seen.
"What does the Church plan to do now?"
Shade also lowered his voice, using a knife to cut the steak on his plate.
"Behind that door, in the open area before the waters, a crimson-gold bonfire is burning. Until that bonfire is extinguished, the door at the foot of the mountain will not have any problems. And when that bonfire goes out, I will feel it."
That bonfire was the external manifestation of the "Tree's Kiss" sealing the Gate of Death. Because it was Shade's Mystery Lock, he could vaguely know the general situation even if the two were in different worlds. Furthermore, his occult ability [Gate of Death] could open a crack at any time, allowing Shade to glance "over there" to confirm the burning state of the bonfire. Thus, he could obtain information on the status of the passage at the foot of the Interstice mountain at any moment.
(End of Chapter)