Chapter 47
Chapter 47
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: Abbot Manoli
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On the wooden table in the abbot's office, a few small books stood neatly arranged, and only a candelabra that could hold five candles was placed there.
Abbot Manoli lit two of the five candles using the oil lamp he held, then extinguished the lamp's flame and sat down in his chair.
Jade sat on the narrow wooden chair opposite him, so small it barely accommodated half his backside.
"Isn't it Father Jade, rather than Father Jeden?"
The abbot asked.
His kindly face looked stern under the candlelight. It was hard not to show his surprise.
'Looks like even lying takes stamina.'
Rather than pressing on with his hasty deception, Jade admitted the truth.
"How did you know?"
"I saw you once when I visited the Cathedral of Saint Vesta to see Father Daniel. He bragged about you so much that you stuck in my mind, and then there was that big incident three years ago, wasn't there? It got etched in my memory. I heard you were excommunicated over it..."
Jade just nodded without speaking.
"You're here now and using a different name, so there must be circumstances. I won't pry into the details."
The abbot continued as if he understood everything.
"This monastery, isolated in the desert,
becomes a space entirely separate from Rom, Pharens, or Glitten. Criminals fleeing here hide out, and even heretics who converted under the Devil's Temptation sometimes stop on their way east, but we turn a blind eye to them all."
Only then did Jade recall.
It was back when he was a copyist at the Cathedral of Saint Vesta. Monks and abbots from several monasteries had gathered for a doctrinal council. Daniel had stood Jade beside him and boasted to everyone.
'He's so clever, he absorbs every lesson instantly. He's already mastered the languages of three countries, and I'm teaching him a fourth. Of course, I know six myself.'
Father Daniel back then was infamous among the clergy for his eccentric interpretations of doctrine that bordered on heresy. For such a famous figure to loudly boast about his disciple like that, it was bound to stick.
Even back then, Jade had resented Daniel, but now he resented him even more.
"Truth be told, many of the brothers practicing here have dark pasts.
If we dug into everyone's history, no one would remain."
Manoli pointed toward the heavens once and continued.
"Isn't there One who will judge? We just have to accept them."
No matter how much he didn't want to think of it, Jade recalled Outis, who had tried to assassinate the emperor. He too was a murderer, but he had received forgiveness for his sins and come to the Monastery of Saint Santarimo.
Jade wanted to ask about him right then.
'What did he say about Doctor Lapis—called Teacher Rima—and Natalie, that couple? Did he repent his sins and live quietly, or did he boast about that moment?'
Unaware of Jade's piercing gaze, Manoli gazed out the window and kept talking.
"Everyone has their reasons, but if we fretted over every one, it would never end. I'll overlook that you have your own circumstances, Father Jade, and I won't ask where you're headed after leaving here. Rest easy tonight, and when the wind dies down tomorrow, I'll prepare your departure. Of course, you can stay a few more days if you wish."
Manoli's words were kind in content, but they sounded like they were demanding a confession. Jade couldn't find a proper retort and just kept nodding.
His fever still raged, leaving him unable to think straight. The bread he'd forced down earlier threatened to come back up.
"Thank you. More importantly, about Fa... Sister Soph, could I go see her for a moment? I'm worried."
Jade asked hastily, eager to escape the uncomfortable situation.
"You're speaking of the sister who came with you. If it's dinner, Phuol probably took it to her. You look pale—are you unwell somewhere?"
"Yes. She injured her throat a bit."
"Ah, in that case, tell Phuol."
"He's already seen it and said he'd prepare some medicine."
Manoli said with a pleased smile.
"Phuol is a reliable brother. In the past, he judged heretics and witches,
but now he's disillusioned with that life and lives in seclusion here. He traveled alone through many countries, so he has a wealth of knowledge on all sorts of things. If you've shown him the wound, you can rest easy."
Jade realized Abbot Manoli was lying. But he couldn't pinpoint which part. That only made him worry more about Saph.
He had mountains of things he wanted to say to her, and a hundred times more he wanted to hear. Why she'd come here, how they'd met in such a dramatic situation, how much she'd suffered getting here, how hard things had been until now... And had Father Daniel really passed away!
Jade half-rose from his seat, but Manoli stopped him.
"Ah, one more thing."
"Yes, Abbot."
"This is just a rumor, mind you. Heh, once you get old like me, even rumors become hard to take seriously."
He paused a moment before getting to the point.
"Is the rumor true that Jade brother received the Fourth Scripture that Father Daniel possessed?"
'So that was the point of the long preamble?'
Jade replied with a weary smile.
"I'm sorry, but I don't even know if Father Daniel had it in the first place."
Daniel enjoyed making precarious statements that skirted heresy trials, but he never even mentioned the Fourth Scripture.
As far as Jade knew, only two people were aware of the book's existence: himself and Saph.
"I see. Yes, of course. I was just checking. If such a thing existed, any cleric would want to see it, right?"
The abbot laughed as he spoke, but he couldn't hide his disappointment.
Jade hoped he'd be dismissed now, but the abbot smacked his lips and lingered in ambiguous silence, as if about to say something.
"Is there something you'd like to ask me?"
Frustrated, Jade asked first.
"Ah, if it's not too rude... might I take a quick look at the scripture you're carrying right now?"
Jade had half-expected such a request and was prepared, so he answered calmly.
"Of course."
Jade took the book from his bosom and held it out.
The abbot took it as if reluctantly doing a chore and flipped through it.
"This is finely bound. The print is clearer than any scripture in our monastery... As expected of a book made in the city—it's different in every way. Might I read it overnight? Praying with such a fine scripture would bring me great joy."
It was a request phrased to make refusal awkward.
"Go ahead. Just return it before I leave tomorrow. I'm quite fatigued now—may I retire?"
"Ah! I'm so sorry. Yes, yes, go rest!"
Having achieved his goal, Manoli finally sent Jade off with a beaming smile.
"The corridor is dark—take a candle with you."
"Thank you."
Jade took the candelabra and left the room, heading to his own.
The dark monastery corridor seemed to twist and wind.
'Where was my room again?'
Jade groped along the wall and walked slowly.
The wind still howled through the monastery interior. Whether from the noise or the darkness, it was even harder to get his bearings.
'Saph must be even more scared in this wind. I'll rest a bit in my room and then go to her.'
He finally found his room and entered, but Ruby was gone.
"Ruby?"
He called several times, expecting the red eyes to flash in the narrow room, but Ruby was nowhere to be seen.
"This guy seemed quiet for once—hope he hasn't caused any trouble."
He almost called for Phuol. It would be good to get treatment from him, but something felt ominous.
Jade could endure no longer and collapsed onto the bed. The fatigue of the past few days crashed over him at once.
"I shouldn't sleep..."
Jade mumbled that and fell asleep as if fainting.
No—he fainted into sleep.
'I haven't talked to Father at all. So much to say.'
Saph walked down the dark corridor.
The annex was a simple structure: a narrow straight corridor with stone walls on the left and four rooms on the right.
Saph entered one of the rooms and carefully removed her dust-covered outer garment. The clothes Kaf—no, Beyshuper—had torn to shreds had lost all form on the way here. Essentially, she'd been naked underneath.
'I need to get clothes first. Where can I find some?'
Saph stripped off the torn clothes and stepped into the corridor wearing only another outer garment, looking for a place to wash. As the bald monk had said, there was a well inside the building, and beside it a wooden bathtub.
'Heavens, a bathtub! Is the water usable?'
Saph dipped her hand in the tub's water and sniffed it. It had a faint earthy smell, but it was clean.
'I should probably ask permission. Water must be precious in the desert.'
Saph paced before the tub like a cat wary of newly discovered food.
'Did someone prepare it for bathing? But this is the guest building. Maybe guests can use the bathwater.'
A towel was neatly placed beside it. For some reason, seeing the towel made Saph unable to hold back any longer.
Saph neatly folded her clothes and set them aside, then slipped into the tub.
In the midst of days-long journey, the pleasure of encountering water made Saph tremble. But soon, worries resurfaced.
'I can't let my guard down. Maybe it wasn't my luck that let me meet Father Jade, but my misfortune. If trouble arises because of me, I have to protect him.'
Sitting in the tub for a while, Saph recalled the recent events.
'Beyshuper called me a demon. White horns... What is that?'
Her thoughts reached the warning from Vyphel in the black mirror, and she lost her initial joy, sinking into gloom.
'The journey hasn't even truly begun— I can't be scared. I have to protect Father.'
Saph poked her head out of the water, then startled at a sound from outside and dunked back in.
A man's thick voice came.
"Sister Soph, are you inside?" It was Phuol.
"Ah, yes, I'm here."
Saph quickly answered before he could open the door to check.
It wasn't fear of being seen naked—it was fear of him seeing the horns on her head. With her wet hair slicked down, the white horns would be even more visible.
"Don't be startled. I brought a towel in case you needed one for bathing. And dinner too."
Phuol said loudly from outside the door.
Saph replied loudly as well.
"There's already a towel prepared here."
"We always keep them ready for guests, so lucky it's there. But with no recent visitors, it's probably old—use this new one instead. I'll leave the meal in your room. And a candelabra too. Fourth room, right?"
"It was the first room when I came in."
"Then yes, the fourth room."
His footsteps receded after he spoke.
Saph finally exhaled in relief. She cautiously climbed out and peeked through the door crack.
No one was visible in the dimly candle-lit corridor.
'My torn clothes are in that room—hope it doesn't raise needless suspicion.'
Without time to dwell on the unease, Saph put her dusty outer garment back on. The fact that she wore nothing underneath nagged at her, but the horns worried her more.
'Has he gone? Probably. But just in case, I should hide them.'
Saph wrapped the damp towel around her wet hair. As an excuse for not having time to dry it.
Saph took the candle Phuol had left and walked the corridor. She moved like someone sneaking away, muffling her footsteps and breath. The fourth room's door was open, but no light shone inside.
'Good. He's gone.'
Saph held the candle to the door and opened it.
Phuol was sitting in a chair inside the room.