Embers of Embers

Chapter 18
Many times the great detective will make mistakes. He is also a human being, and human beings are destined to make mistakes.
The painted glass is not meant to illuminate the hall. The light scatters through the glass into colorful light and falls in this closed room. The joyful music seems extremely distant here, and a faint white mist rises, carrying a soothing incense. .
The man on the sofa lowered his head towards the wall, as if he was praying, and the dark cross on the wall was moving strangely, as if it was a visual error, filled with life.
“The layout of the room is nice, like a church.”
It was a guest from afar, dressed in black and wearing a hat and a beak mask.
This comes from the clothing worn hundreds of years ago, when the Black Death ravaged the entire Yernweg and the surrounding kingdoms. The doctors at that time were dressed like this. The beak mask was actually a gas mask, and the slender beak was It's made of silver and stuffed with herbs that filter viruses.
That dark age has passed for a long time, but people are still taboo on such clothes. Doctors at that time were very powerful. In order to control the epidemic, as long as he pronounced you sick, you would be isolated, and your home would be burned to the ground by the knights. In the end, you You'll be placed in a pit with other sick people, they'll throw in fish oil and firewood to burn you and the disease itself, and then cover it all up with dirt.
He looked more like the God of Death than a doctor, and his whole body exuded an ominous atmosphere.
"Yes, it was built based on the church in the small town in my memory. That church was not very big, and dozens of people could fill it up."
Sabo slowly raised his drooping head, the light of the hall fell from the painted glass behind him, he was against the light, his figure was pitch black.
"I thought you Vikings all believed in the god Odin."
The disease doctor slowly sat down. Opposite Sabo, there seemed to be eyes watching under the dark lenses.
"No, when the steel ships and artillery stepped into the northern seas, the so-called gods were already dead. We rushed forward, thinking that we could have a place in the Hall of Valor, but in fact there was nothing. Dead is dead. Floating on the cold sea, dying meaninglessly."
Sabo's voice was flat, as if he was telling an unrelated story.
"That was probably the last time I went to sea. I lay on the debris on the deck and floated to Inverg. It was a church priest who saved me. The church I woke up in at that time was probably like this."
His eyes wandered back and forth in this narrow darkness, as if he refused to forget that Sabo had always been here.
"That's a very damn Inlveg man, really crazy. When he saw me waking up, the first question he asked me was if I was interested in learning about the Gospel Church."
Sabo said and laughed.
"I'm a Viking, and he actually asked me if I was interested in the church."
He laughed wildly, but no matter how loud his laughter was, the faint music would eventually bury him, and the place was as quiet as dead water.
"What about the ending of the story?"
The doctor's voice was strangely neutral, with an iron tone, which seemed to be because of the disease mask.
"Valkyrie did not come when I was dying, and the Hall of Valor closed the door to me, so I wanted to try to betray, maybe in this way the noble god Odin would pay some attention to me, an ant."
"I accepted the baptism and lived until now without any retribution, or even any nightmares. I was able to get along well, but it was much better than when I was a pirate."
Sabo felt that everything was so ridiculous and nothing. The things that everyone had been obsessed with for many years seemed like a bubble.
"I think I get it."
The disease doctor was silent for a while, and then said.
"Do you think God...is useful?"
"You mean saving the world? Doctor."
"Probably. In fact, sometimes I am also confused. I have dissected many corpses. People are so complex and beautiful. Every organ has its own function. Under the heart's ups and downs, blood surges...even the brain It’s a literal miracle.”
The doctor looked at his hands and felt his breathing. Everyone pursues miracles, but they never thought that their own existence was a miraculous thing.
"Sometimes I wonder, humans are so mysterious and complex. Can the so-called God really create us? But without the so-called God, how did we appear?"
Sabo thought for a moment and raised a finger.
"One silver lion coin. The so-called god is so cheap that he is only worth one silver lion coin. I think you have seen those people out there, those 'hangover' people."
He said disdainfully, but sadly.
"As long as one silver lion coin can buy a hallucinogen, and one hallucinogen can allow them to enter the kingdom of heaven for three days, as long as one silver lion coin, they can say goodbye to this damn world and indulge in their own Sweet dreams until you need your next hallucinogen."
"The so-called entering the kingdom of heaven is nothing more than that, isn't it?"
The doctor thought for a while. He liked to think, but sometimes thinking was meaningless, boring and useless.
The distant music continued to rise, and the sweet laughter came faintly. There was only a wall of glass between the two, but the gap was so huge.
"The time has come for sacrifice, Sabo."
The doctor finally said this. He didn't want to make small talk, but he just didn't know how to say it. After all, death is a sad thing.
"I am clear."
Sabo didn't seem surprised by the so-called sacrifice, and his eyes had never been calmer.
"Doctor of the epidemic, you are here to announce my death, aren't you? Just like the Black Death hundreds of years ago, in fact, the doctor has no ability to cure. He can only identify those patients, and then kill them to eliminate the epidemic. Isolated in that area.”
"According to your teachings, you will go to heaven after you die."
The doctor tried to comfort him, but as if he heard some joke, Sabo's voice paused for a moment, and then he laughed vigorously, as if he heard some big joke.
"The Hall of Valor is so ridiculous, and Heaven is so ridiculous. You know I don't believe this."
He was baptized but did not believe.
The doctor didn't seem to expect Sabo to answer in this way. He is obviously a dying person, but he has an unimaginable calmness towards death.
The doctor's voice paused and he continued.
"The Sacred Coffin has been separated from the Old Dunling. It is now in a safe place, but the pursuit of the Purification Agency is still not over. According to information, the Towards Dawn was launched ten days ago, and now no one knows its location. , it may be over the coast, or it may be right above our heads, and the Qianlei artillery is aiming right here."
"What do you need me to do?" Sabo asked.
"Diversion of attention, we need to buy more time to transfer the sacred coffin."
"In other words, the bigger the riot, the better?"
The doctor nodded in affirmation.
"Yes, as long as there is a chaos purification agency, they will definitely find a way to solve it. They don't have many manpower, so they can delay it as long as they can. As long as the coffin of the Holy God is separated from Yin Erweg, all the sacrifices will be worth it. "
As he spoke, the doctor took out his suitcase and opened it to see rows of syringes, with hot blood rolling in the transparent glass.
It was like Pandora's box. Sabo's breathing became tense as soon as he opened it. There was a rare disorder in his eyes as he stared there.
It was an unspeakable feeling. People lived in the air but never felt the existence of air. But when the suitcase was opened, a restless and boiling heat filled the room, as if something escaped from it. everywhere.
"The technology derived from the cult, the purified secret blood, can lead to hell and open the kingdom of heaven. Doctrine has never been a sharp blade. The cult essentially relied on it to cultivate a group of monsters, and then started fighting Win the war of faith.”
The doctor's voice was calm, as if he had been exposed to it for a long time and had become accustomed to this strange feeling.
Looking there, Sabo's voice trembled.
"Are they all prepared for me?"
"Only one."
"Saab, this is an opportunity to change your destiny. If you are really strong enough, one chance is enough. If that's all you have, giving you several more chances will be just a waste."
The doctor's words were rare and cruel. He stood up and walked under the painted glass. Through the glass, the prosperity of the hall came into view.
"I heard this used to be a dueling ground."
"Yes, Old Dunling was established by the Romans, and this tradition will always be passed down in some crack. During the Glorious War, the lower city did not exist, and it was just a wasteland. Life was not easy, so everyone Gather here to open an underground gambling game."
Sabo still didn't get up. He sat on the sofa from the beginning, quietly reviewing the past.
"At that time, rich people would bring some useless prisoners of war. They were slaves. At that time, the economy was not good, and many poor people would go to the arena with weapons for their livelihood. Fighting here."
"But it was usually the Invergians who won. Although it was an underground duel, in order to encourage the people at that time, the Gallicans would be stabbed before going on the field. They fought with wounds, and their lives were at risk from the moment the floodgates were opened. Entering the countdown.”
It was a bloody age, when the enemy came from behind the Baishio Strait, the weapons of the two sides were still large ships and swords, but in the history of nearly a hundred years of war, weapons have been continuously upgraded, from flintlock guns to long-range artillery, from steam Ship to Zeppelin.
"But this kind of duel no longer exists. After all, in a civilized society, everyone likes dance parties to socialize."
Sabo smiled.
"Whether it's the duel arena or the dance party, they only provide a place for socializing. The big families discuss the distribution of interests at the seats. The girl chooses her husband, and the boy chooses his wife."
The doctor did not reply, but quietly stared at the crowd below. They wore masks and no one knew anyone. This was a tradition among nobles. It was like a tacit understanding of the heart, maintaining the last hypocritical lie.
"It looks like you've been prepared beforehand."
"Those noble nobles should never have come to this dirty lower town, let alone wearing masks. Regardless of their identities, the official and the family will deny that they died here. This is a shame."
Tonight's ball was a trap from the very beginning, and they would be Sabo's funeral objects, for that grand long-cherished wish.
"I will satisfy you doctor, as I have been doing since I was born."
Sabo took away a syringe from the suitcase. This was the first time he stood up. His figure was so stooped and short, but the shadow he cast was extremely ferocious.
(End of this chapter)