Capítulo 1383: Chapter 1383: Moonlight, Soul, and the Young Lady

Shard stood up, but instead of walking towards Mr. Lathis, he approached the restored pulpit. He came under the Holy Emblem, placing his hands on either side of the platform, looking like a judge under the Holy Emblem, gazing at the soul beneath the moonlight:

“Ston Osenfort is the second candidate, your daughter, Miss Ciris Lathes, is the third candidate.”

He paused for a moment, then asked:

“I’ve already informed you of the rules regarding The Chosen and the candidates. So, may I ask, is there a scenario where your daughter must be killed, and must die in front of Ston Osenfort, to prevent that individual who has signed a contract with a demon from becoming The Chosen?”

“Yes, such a scenario exists, and it is also related to their plan.”

Mr. Lathis said, and Shard narrowed his eyes:

“I see, so that’s it, I understand now, so you are actually…”

He didn’t finish his sentence, but gazed at the soul, and all the questions he had when meeting the Guardians before could now be answered:

“You are even more impressive than I thought.”

“From your deeds, the truly impressive one is actually you.”

Mr. Lathis said calmly, looking at Shard beneath the Holy Emblem:

“An ordinary soul cannot guard this land, we have just done what we should. Compared to the Chosen you described, you are more like…”

“No, I’m not.”

Shard took out a crimson gemstone and a key from his pocket:

“You recognize them, don’t you?”

Mr. Lathis nodded lightly:

“Originally, I thought it would be Ciris who would eventually find that place… but it’s fine. Four gemstones can open that cemetery, and the key can open the door deep within the cemetery. That door… leads to the heart of the land in the Randall Valley, the legendary Heart of the Earth is right there.”

Shard didn’t show a smile, he had already guessed:

“What are the conditions to enter that door?”

“Sufficient ‘weight’, sufficient understanding of the Earth.”

Therefore, Shard still needs to continue enhancing his “Healing Aura”, but he doesn’t necessarily have to wait for the appearance of the black mud source to try. Once he has obtained the remaining three gemstones, he can try at any time.

“Don’t enter that door before you defeat the demon, or it will cause disaster.”

Mr. Lathis warned again.

“I understand, if I’m not mistaken, you people should usually be right beside the Heart of the Earth, right?”

Shard asked, but Mr. Lathis did not answer:

“The Guardians appeared early in this Era. It is meaningless to explore the appearance of the first Guardian; we all voluntarily protect this land, we are the same. And that cemetery was built in the Fifth Era. It was the people of that time who discovered the door and therefore built the cemetery as the second guard before the door. If possible, please do not destroy the cemetery, for the owner of the grave is also a person worthy of respect. The first Guardian was also an ancestor of the Granger Family, and he entered the depths of the Earth because he knew of the cemetery owner’s deeds.”

“The owner of the grave, Mr. Fred Lehman, is my friend, just like Sister Perry from the Fifth Era.”

Mr. Lathis closed his eyes:

“I understand.”

Shard squinted at him; Mr. Lathis slightly lowered his head to pray again. Shard actually had many questions he wanted to ask but found that for most of them, he had already guessed the answers:

“Where should I go on Tuesday to prepare? Can the True God Church be notified?”

Then under the moonlight, a transparent Light Trace converged into a map, indicating the location, which was quite close to the old cemetery of the Granger Family:

“You can let the Church participate, they can lighten our load. If this source of pollution is not handled well, both the earthquake and the petrification plague will accelerate.”

“Alright, you guys be careful too, on Tuesday, maybe that demon… I don’t know all the contents of the Chosen One Ceremony yet, but you can start preparing. Spring leaves, flowers, fruits, autumn flowers, stones, souls.”

“Okay.”

Thus the two fell into silence again. Shard didn’t know if the other was also as contemplative as he was. He only knew that maybe by Tuesday, he would be able to fully confirm the truth of those Guardians.

Suddenly they both heard sounds coming from the church courtyard, boots stepping on the snowy ground, gradually approaching the steps of the church.

“Then we will meet on Tuesday.”

Mr. Lathis said, but Shard stopped him:

“Don’t you really want to see her? Even if she blames you for putting all the responsibility on her, you should see her. At least, praise her for doing well all these years.”

Mr. Lathis said nothing.

“Or, to thank me for also purifying this land, meet with her.”

Mr. Lathis nodded slowly:

“Alright.”

Thus, on this night, the young golden-haired girl came to the Church of the Forgotten, and upon opening the church doors, she saw a familiar face standing under that beam of heavenly light, and saw Shard leaning forward under the Holy Emblem from afar, looking at her.

Ciris Grand Lathes froze there for a moment, not even noticing when her small bag thudded to the ground.

A moment later, she hurried into the church, and because her steps were so hasty, she unexpectedly stumbled and fell under that beam of moonlight.

She didn’t get up but sat there, covering her face and softly sobbing. Mr. Lathis looked down at her with an expressionless face, and after a moment’s pause, he spoke:

“You’ve done very well over the years.”

The sound of crying suddenly grew louder, the spirit nodded towards Shard above, then slowly sank into the ground.

In the empty silent church, only the man behind the pulpit and the crying girl remained. It was cold here, and it was quiet too; the edge of the moonlight illuminated Miss Lathis’s skirt hem but could not light up the sad soul within the body wrapped in the dress.

(Mia running…)

“So, that’s why you hugged Miss Lathis last night and stayed at the Church of the Forgotten until one in the morning, only to come home and nearly get scratched by your house cat?”

On Saturday morning, on the first floor of the Abundant Land Inn, Luviya was smiling, holding a soup spoon, as she spoke to Shard, who was holding Mia opposite her.

“Miss Lathis was really crying hard at the time.”

Shard explained, taking a bite of buttered bread:

“For the first half hour, she held onto me and sobbed, then started to speak of the hardships she’d endured over the years. Starting from eleven, she began to rant about her father being irresponsible, leaving the Order to her… actually, it wasn’t a rant, just some colloquialisms in her words.”

Shard said, and when Mia nudged him, he tore off some bread to feed it. Last night Dorothy didn’t come to Shard’s home, so the cat was left alone until it saw Shard at one in the morning. When Shard came out of the hidden wall, he happened to see Mia lying with a grumpy face on the basement stairs looking at him:

“Fortunately, Miss Benanis noticed that Miss Lathis hadn’t returned so late. Knowing that Miss Lathis had gone to the church to get something, she went directly there to find her, which ‘rescued’ me. Otherwise, Miss Lathis might have stayed in the church all night. My shoulder was soaked from her tears at that time.”

“Was Miss Lathis really just crying while you held her?”

Luviya asked doubtfully.

Shard was somewhat embarrassed:

“Well, actually, she was lying in my arms… and for some reason, while I was consoling her, she suddenly kissed me. You have no idea how awful Miss Benanis’s face was when she entered the church and saw us kissing in the dark. She was probably really mad at me…”

“She shouldn’t be mad at you.”

The purple-eyed girl muttered.

Shard sighed emotionally:

“In my opinion, Mr. Lathis is truly irresponsible. When he disappeared, Miss Lathis was still a teenage girl. If it hadn’t been for meeting Miss Benanis later, she would have had an even harder time.”

“Mr. Lathis must have had his reasons for doing so. I think it might have been due to encountering something more important.”

Luviya rested her face on her hand and said:

“And based on your description, last night his attitude towards Miss Lathis was clearly abnormal; what father treats his daughter like that?”

“By Tuesday, there might be answers. I’m going to see Miss Benanis later, and it’s better to let her notify the church about the location of the big trouble that will happen on Tuesday.”

Shard said, and Luviya urged him:

“You’ll have to go there too, so warn the witch not to get too close to the church.”

“I understand.”

Shard finished the last piece of bread and looked around:

“What did the association say about last night’s earthquake?”

“The nature of the Earth is decaying.”

Luviya lightly said what was a terrifying sentence:

“The association had determined this earlier, but last night’s earthquake was just the final proof. The association headquarters has already sent two Twelfth Ring Diviners to assist the Sun and Earth Church in conducting investigations. Currently, it is believed that the frequent appearances of ‘Crazy Earth’ phenomena are the First Stage, the occurrence of the Petrified Plague and small-scale earthquakes are the Second Stage. Following this should be unpredictable Third and Fourth Stages, each stage marked by a large-scale earthquake. In the Fifth Stage, Crazy Earth will spread to the whole Material World, ushering in widespread unrest—a series of plagues, poor harvests, and unforeseen earthquakes that will destroy the foundation of our civilization. While it may not directly lead to the world’s demise, it’s still considered a milder apocalypse.”

Shard sighed:

“The previous instances were only regional events, but this time they’ve directly escalated to a global scale… I see. There’s a meeting this afternoon, so I won’t stay long in Randall Valley. I’ll visit Captain Stone Osenfort mentioned on Sunday, then head to the Granger Family’s old cemetery on Monday, and resolve the matter the Guardians mentioned on Tuesday.”

He put down his fork:

“When Iluna arrives next week, maybe the pressure will lessen a bit. But it won’t last too long; the Sparse Star Month is already in its latter half, early spring is close.”

“Spring huh…”

The purple-eyed girl tilted her head, looking at her lover across the table:

“It feels like it’s been ages since the spring of 1853. This winter has been so long. Once I’m back in Tobesk, I can take off my winter clothes. Can I grow some flowers at No. 6, Saint Delan Square? Besides you and your cat, there’s no other life in that house; no spiders or mice, it’s too dreary. Oh, don’t worry about caring for the flowers; I’ll visit them regularly to water them.”

She smiled at Shard, and he felt she had another meaning:

“I’ll visit to water them often.”