MPBAGS Chapter 21

She was an exceptionally pure white existence. With her eyes closed, one would truly believe she was a statue. That pale coloring contributed no small amount to making Evangeline Rohanson seem like something otherwordly, beyond the realm of humanity.

The series of movements from picking up the teacup from the table to taking a sip appeared natural at first glance, but somehow felt like a staged scene.

"...I would like to help you."

It was the moment Gabriel finished speaking.

Evangeline Rohanson, who had been savoring the tea's aroma with a bored attitude, set down her teacup. As if representing her mood, the cup was placed down without care, clattering as it struck the saucer. The tea rippled as if it might overflow, then regained its center and settled.

As the surface of the tea became calm, silence immediately flowed.

Everything around seemed to quiet down as if reading Evangeline Rohanson's mood. Birds stopped their flight and fell, flower petals refused to sway in the wind and formed buds again.

When the grandly performing orchestra stopped playing, nothing remained in the world but the sound of heartbeats.

"Help. Me?"

Evangeline asked Gabriel back as if looking at the most foolish thing in the world.

When Evangeline opened her mouth, all kinds of sounds burst forth at once, as if releasing held breath.

The clock hands began moving again, and the ticking of the second hand and heartbeat sounds could be heard in syncopation. The clock's second hand was particularly slow. Gabriel soon realized it wasn't that the clock was slow, but that his own heart was beating fast.

"Yes. To you, I dare to, myself."

The words wouldn't come out properly. With each word he uttered, his breathing became labored.

"How foolish. Not knowing your place."

Evangeline Rohanson sighed.

Though the indoor lighting couldn't possibly flicker, the light seemed to change direction, casting Evangeline Rohanson's shadow over Gabriel.

"I have no interest in you."

Anger flickered in her previously indifferent eyes, and her red lips twisted as she spat out contempt. As the respectful honorifics that had maintained outward courtesy disappeared, her tone of looking down on people became clearly apparent.

Gabriel affirmed this.

Does a human take interest in ants crawling around in swarms in a garden? He should rather be grateful for her mercy in not crushing them to death out of boredom. Even if she trampled and crushed the ant colony, it wouldn't be a sin since she wouldn't have noticed.

Evangeline was angry because a worthless ant had entered her house.

"I am simply curious about you."

Even though the direction was negative, having drawn emotion from Evangeline Rohanson was quite encouraging. It felt like witnessing an impossible flower blooming from a withered, skeletal dead tree.

When Evangeline became angry, the table trembled as if resonating. The teacup on the table shook. Just when it seemed like it might collapse, the trembling stopped.

Evangeline sipped her tea again as if she had never shown any fierce expression. However, even while moistening her throat, her gaze remained directed at Gabriel.

Fortunately, it seemed she wouldn't remove the mask of Evangeline Rohanson just yet. When Evangeline appeared to calm down, the maid who had seemed about to faint nearby let out a sigh of relief.

Gabriel continued with his explanation.

Gabriel looked at the Rohanson estate. It was a gloomy mansion that didn't suit the midday afternoon. Despite having quite a few servants, it was strangely quiet and devoid of any signs of life.

Only the cherry blossoms blooming luxuriantly in one corner of the garden were particularly red. Gabriel quietly gazed at the cloth fluttering from the weeping cherry tree branches and the pale white feet hanging limply.

"Captain, you're late?"

Raphaela, who had been waiting in the carriage parked outside the Rohanson estate, greeted Gabriel. Raphaela looked at the cherry tree Gabriel had been observing and added:

"That's really a big tree. Are cherry trees normally that large?"

As Raphaela said, whatever fertilizer they had used, it was an unusually mature tree.

When Gabriel looked again, the doll hanging from the cherry tree had disappeared. Had the scene he just witnessed been a mistake caused by looking at the drooping petals?

The illusion of Evangeline Rohanson hanging herself—how absurd.

Perhaps it was because of the strange story he had heard before coming. While gathering information about Evangeline Rohanson, he had heard from a priest who claimed to have witnessed the dead Evangeline come back to life.

He had examined the temple records, but there was no record of Evangeline's funeral. When he went to find the priest who had supposedly conducted the belated funeral service, the man had already committed suicide by hanging himself in his home.

There was no suicide note either. Since his residence had already been cleared out, no information could be obtained. The only thing he heard from people around was that the dead priest had secretly given sermons to the families of suicide victims and embezzled money from the temple.

Gabriel boarded the carriage with Raphaela. The carriage began rolling toward the Grand Temple.

"What about Michel?"

"He's still not coming to his senses and just standing in front of the painting. I'm worried he might enter the painting at this rate."

People's reactions to Jim Nopedi's painting were divided into two extremes. Some, like Gabriel and Raphaela, found it ominous, while others called it an angel and revered it as sacred.

The knight who had examined Danau Blue's corpse with Gabriel last time was the latter. He believed without a doubt that Danau Blue was an angel and stood blankly in front of Jim Nopedi's painting that had been donated to the temple.

The black canvas hanging in the pristine white temple couldn't help but stand out. Even the visitors who came to pray at the temple acted as if they had lost their minds after seeing the painting. Gabriel and a few others suggested that the painting should be removed, but their proposal was rejected.

To Gabriel, they seemed no different from being possessed by demons.

"Did you gain anything useful?"

"Useful..."

Still, he had obtained a small hint from his conversation with Evangeline Rohanson. Evangeline had taken not Danau's corpse but only a paper copying the pattern. The important thing wasn't Danau Blue but that pattern.

"Lady Rohanson said that pattern was a summoning circle."

"How did she know that?"

"It seems it originally belonged to her. Danau Blue had stolen it."

"Really? Then what does it summon?"

Gabriel briefly recalled the earlier conversation.

"She said it was an angel."

"An angel? Then the paper we found is the right one?"

Raphaela shuddered and rubbed his arms as if getting goosebumps.

Danau's remains, currently stored in the temple's repository, were kept in an ossuary. There was no need for separate cremation as the entire body had been burned, crumbling at the slightest touch. During the process of collecting the remains, they found a particularly white piece of paper.

How could a mere piece of paper not burn when even bones were incinerated? Wasn't it just like Evangeline, who had no soot despite claiming to have escaped from the fire?

When they restored the torn pieces like solving a puzzle, they found the pattern that had been called a summoning circle and letters with holes. Although the exact original text couldn't be deciphered due to missing pieces throughout, there was one sentence—one perfectly restored sentence.

["Revere and worship. Welcome the angel of light who will descend to earth after circling the land."]

"It seems to summon an angel."

If so, what was born from that ominous pattern would resemble Evangeline Rohanson. It would be ominous rather than sacred, cruel rather than merciful.

"Then is what people are saying really true? That Danau Blue was blessed?"

"That can't be. First, let's say that Danau Blue was judged for trying to offer sacrifices to summon demons, and let's keep what we know about that paper between us."

Raphaela nodded at those words. If the problem was with the pattern rather than Danau Blue, the situation would progress just by dealing with that painting.

A summoning circle... He had heard of something similar before.

If it was a summoning circle that called forth something to grant wishes, such sorcery had flourished more than ten years ago. When exactly was it? Gabriel wasn't certain since he was young at the time. He had heard that about twenty years ago, sorcerers were arrested and a large-scale purge was carried out.

It seemed he would need to go to the library when he returned to check the records from that time.

"Raphaela. Do you happen to know anything about sorcery..."

Just as he was about to ask, wondering if Raphaela might know, the carriage suddenly lurched.

*Screech.*

The carriage, which seemed about to topple over, barely regained its balance and came to a stop. Outside, they could hear the coachman trying to calm the excited, rearing horses.

"What, what's wrong? Captain, are you okay?"

"Are you alright?"

Fortunately, since the carriage quickly regained its balance, neither of them was injured.

"Hey! I thought you said you could drive well?"

"Sorry, sorry. A cat suddenly jumped out in front of us."

When Raphaela burst out of the carriage door to protest, the coachman bent over apologetically, looking flustered.

The coachman's face turned pale when he saw that the passengers were carrying swords. He worried they might harm him, saying he nearly caused serious injury. It was just a cat, not a person, and he was sure to be scolded for not just running it over.

But very fortunately for the coachman, Gabriel was someone who thought it was better for him to get hurt than to hit someone with the carriage. Anyone who had seen a friend crushed by a carriage before their eyes as a child would probably think like Gabriel.

"My subordinate and I are unharmed, so it's fine."

Only after Gabriel reassured him that it was okay did the coachman breathe a sigh of relief. Only after raising his head from his ground-level apologies did he seem to realize that the two were holy knights. The coachman spotted the emblem of the Sun God Rahel on Gabriel's clothing and secretly praised how temple knights were indeed different.

After Raphaela got back in upon hearing the apology, the carriage slowly began moving again.

"Captain. I think my heart fell out."

Raphaela was still making a fuss, seemingly not over the shock yet.

Gabriel pondered while listening to his whining. Was it just a coincidence that the carriage nearly overturned precisely when he brought up the topic of sorcery?