As one of the 12 children of the Grand Bishop of Imperial America of Unio Vera, it was an inherited obligation for me to be a missionary and exorcist. I belonged to the Romanus family. And I performed through my gratitude, love, and loyalty towards the family. The family had given me a life, love, and a place beyond my comprehension and gratitude. So I faithfully fulfilled each of my duties without any means of complaint.
It was a daily occurrence for me to come across the most uncanny, unnatural, and eerie entities. Though, it would be a lie if I said I actually didn't enjoy the duty of exorcism, but the lack of faith behind any of my actions haunted me more than any entities, that I had ever encountered. I sought answers I didn't have, and I wished to make the people I adored happy. Nonetheless, even if I didn't have much care for the people I saved, I delighted in their smiles, and there, too, was this unimaginable guilt I felt for abandoning them.
And that day, as I was returning home, I had sensed something off from a few kilometres away. The feeling was disoriented, because I didn't sense something malicious, not something evil, but a desperate, a desperate vengeful crying soul, in the drought of misery and utter dread. The soul, not human anymore, was desperate, vengeful, and in despair. And its victim, who was emitting an unimaginable amount of bad omen, along with their negative thoughts, inflamed an embittering fury over me. It wasn't anger in a spiteful sense, but a sensation of uncontrollable anger, it felt off, very off. The potential manifestation of the danger this man's omen alone possessed was above ordinary. I wasn't panicked rather intrigued, for I personally wouldn't be much affected if that man lived or died, however, as my duty as an exorcist, I couldn't let such an event go unnoticed and unpunished. Though, my care for humanity was rather complicated. I did my best not act selfishly. And it would certainly haunt me if I didn't save him, knowing the potential consequences. It would haunt me, if something happened to that man, and I was the reason he died. It was selfish of me, but I couldn't yet fight it, I couldn't truly care for people out of pure obligation. The intriguing anomalies igniting annoyance amongst its victims were what drove me to be excessively laborious.
So I changed the course of my car and drove towards them. Driving through abandoned slums, and entering the infamous rural desert. So, to be cautious, I had sent a message to my agency, and had them track my location. There was always a hearing device and camera attached to me, though they didn't have access to that. And I also possessed a mechanical glove, which I could use to send signals via sign language at any given moment.
When I reached the peak of their presence, I got out of my car, and stepped closer, trying to observe as an audience. Thankfully, I didn't feel the presence of any other human at a long distance. The presence of regular humans are more faint, unless in a conflict or so. Us exorcists were major targets for criminal organisations, people who were of a different faith, people who held grudges, entities who deliberately set up trap, even with humans to catch us. Even though, those were very rare occurrences, such instances have been captured through centuries, as long as our institutions have existed.
I looked around, trying to understand the atmosphere and everything altogether. The air was moist, the area was poor and isolated, being located a few kilometres from the capital city. No wonder such events occurred here so often, yet went unnoticed. It didn't take much time before I felt that the ghost had noticed me, and began to approach me.
He stank, the scent screamed of alcohol, desperation, addiction, and lack of faith. I was a bit disgusted because of his presence. I looked around for the potential of other people, and other threats, however, there didn't seem to be any at a long distance. The area was too large to set any booby traps, and they wouldn't know who would arrive, where they would arrive, or even arrive at all. While the search for utterly mundane things may seem excessive, the sheer pettiness and absurdity of the means people go to make a point is probably beyond ordinary human comprehension.
After concluding that there wasn't anything where I stood, I cautiously started to sprint towards them, jumping over a few old, hollow, and empty buildings at a time and soon my gaze finally met his. He looked at me, scared, spiteful but intrigued, dragging his victim along with him, with some marbles in his hand. In his eyes, I saw unresolved catharsis, perhaps a wounded, confused soul.
The ghost looked at me and began to yell,
"Damn you people, where are you when we actually need someone?" He yelled, looking up and down at me, and the person in his hands.
"What have I done? Why is it that you emit so much desperation and you thirst for revenge? What's your deal with the man in your hands?" I said as I observed his movements, and the man with him.
"The ma-?" The man in his hands recognised me and started to yell for help desperately. He was begging, urging, and making futile attempts to break free, which simply annoyed the anomaly even more. And before I could utter another word, the ghost tried to slice the man's fingers, but I pulled out a gun and shot the ghost's hand. The ghost screamed in agony and let the man go, fussing over his hand. I rushed towards them, tackled the ghost, and picked up the man to protect him further. The ghost, seemed scared, he tried to play the injury off and tried to speak with confidence, however, his voice betrayed him, the sweat on his body betrayed him, and the facade of confidence betrayed him. Though, he was able to quickly heal from his injury.
"I hate you all, you people are all fraud. You guys are never on time… Ah! Oh! My hand!"
I had thought about killing the ghost there then, I could have done it the moment I had seen him and I could have prevented any further waste of time. But, I didn't, my judgment shouldn't be made so recklessly and upon impulse. And it was a risk my intuition told me to follow. For I knew nothing of what the man had done, for the ghost to seek revenge. The truth was, I sought to understand perspective, to understand justice, to not only perform due to responsibility, but learn, learn about people, the world, and God. If, the tasks I did, the guilt I felt at times, the obligations I had, the facade of justice I had adapted — I wished to unveil if any of them had any inherent meaning.
"Are you okay?" I asked the man, analysing him, checking his wounds. He nodded, there were bruises all over his body and he was covered in dust. He also had lots of stuff in his pockets falling everywhere. From a distance I had thought, that this man was middle-aged. However, to my further inspection, I looked at the man properly, in reality, to my horror, he was actually young, very young, around 17-18, the same age as I, yet he stank of alcohol and cigarettes. He had a beard stubble, receding hairline, white hair follicles, his face was pale and dry, and his skin was like a rotten harvesting field. My face tightened as I observed him more, I wasn't furious, nor was I disgusted — but disappointed. What are the responsibilities, what are the circumstances that brought such a young person to throw their life away like this? His clothes were surprisingly elegant, and he seemed to possess some sort of wealth. A watch in his hands from Rolex, though his hands were too fractured to capture the royalty of the watch. Poor man's wound had turned into a darker, uglier rose colour and his position seemed uncomfortable. He moved around, trying to find comfort, weeping and putting his other hand around the fractured one.
I looked at the ghost and talked further with him, "From now on, leave this man alone," I demanded.
"NO! WHY?"
"You are well aware of why. It is now I, who decides the events that unfold further. I will place my verdict fairly. Why are you haunting him? What's going on?"
"Quite prideful aren't you?" The ghost said bitterly. He dropped to the ground, and collected the marbles, pulling some more from his pocket too.
"You seem strong, I am going to die am I not?"
"Maybe, maybe if you allow me to exorcise you and you accept grace. It won't be as brutal as you are imagining,"
"Grace? Are you kidding me?"
"Why would I? I have no intentions of killing you, you don't even pose a threat. You seem like a vengeful spirit,"
"Blah— blah,"
"Ah! Very well! Trying to act like that won't get you anywhere. Your fate is sealed. I recommend you comply to exorcism, so I don't have to exorcise you against your will,"
"Listen, it is undeniably true that you are stronger than I. B— but what man of God, what man of virtue are you if you simply kill me, or exorcise me against my will…? The ghost said trembling, his voice shaky, almost a sly smile behind it. The man, whom he had dragged, had stopped crying and was weeping silently, looking at his finger.
"Your voice and your presence seem to betray you. You speak with confidence, but I can only sense cowardice, fear, and… and disappointment? But, very well, you have spoken the truth. You sure do know how twisted around with your words. I accept your words and you shall be judged fairly,"
"How do you plan on judging fairly? And why should I comply with anything to begin with?"
"Fair enough, you see, from my observation, this man, whom you targeted doesn't seem like any ordinary man. His clothes, his watch, his emotions, your emotions, the marbles. Everything leads me to believe, that you have some sort of debt related to him,"
"Oh… you aren't exactly wrong…"
"You may have no point in playing or doing anything with me. This man, however, is in my protection right now, and you are knotted with him. I need to know further about what's going on, and what casino you people are associated with,"
"WHAT! CASINO? HOW DID YOU KNOW?" The ghost was confused, and so was the boy.
"Well, when I saved this boy from you, I also investigated this boy, I saw a casino ticket fall out of his pocket. Now I didn't know what brought him to do such things at all young age, but the burden of the stress is very evident on him… and YOU!"
The ghost seemed surprised and taken aback, "Me?"
"Yes! You! You don't seem like an old spirit, observing you, you still retain most of your human features, how old were you?"
"My age? I was…"
"He was 18!" The boy yelled.
"18? That's ridiculous, what are you two people doing in casinos, you know casinos are illegal right?" I said looking at the boy. The boy looked at my face and turned away. I knew I had to learn from him in the future. Even though, there's sorrow behind his eyes too, there was guilt.
"That's irrelevant, we needed money, and we got it,"
"And what did taking dangerous paths bring you?" Ironic coming from me, "You are now dead, God knows what will happen to you, you are vengeful and haunting a man. Everything you owned is gone. So what was even the point of wealth and risks?," I said looking at the ghost.
"SO WHAT? So what…?" The ghost cried, "At least… at least,"
"At least what?"
"This man, he is a scammer, he was a friend of mine and we used to play games in the casino together. This man, however, wished to play against me one day and won unfairly. I had bargained with him, reasoned with him, and even showed proof to him that he had bribed the referee. And without admitting that he is guilty and returning my money… HE MURDERED me! He is a MURDERER!"
"Murderer?" I raised an eyebrow looking at the boy, my eyes darted with more suspicion as my deductions became more evident.
"INDEED HE IS!"
"YOU FORG — FORCED ME TO KILL YOU. YOU THREATENED ME. I HAD WON FAIRLY. YOU WERE GREEDY, YOU WERE THE ONE WHO PRESSURED ME, WHO PLAYED ON IMPULSE AND KEPT PLAYING AND PLAYING DESPITE LOSING," the boy shouted, desperate and crying.
"WOW! Now you are lying. You are lying to get sympathy, don't trust this man!!" the ghost countered even more aggressively.
"And… and the proof you are talking about, what proof? You just believe anyone? Seriously?"
"Oh! Come on, I'd rather trust a prostitute, a promiscuous husband than yours. You meant to tell me you had won so many times?"
"Be quiet," I yelled at both of them,
"Murdered? It appears both of you are wicked," I said looking at the boy, "And I will deal with you later,"
The boy tried to move and run, but I pulled out my gun again, grabbed the boy and aimed it straight at his head, "p..pl — please, do — don't… hurt, hurt me, please,"
"Shut up, stay here till others come, don't move or say anything unless I tell you to do so," I said as I looked towards the ghost.
"What were you doing with him? And what is he even doing so far from civilisation, in a sketchy area?"
The ghost kept staring at me and didn't answer. The boy, whom I had pointed the gun towards started to speak, "H— he, I—I, had a feeling of being watched. Everything felt restless, as if someone was always trying to find a way to harm me. Scared, trying to ease myself, I tried to drive away, to be alone, and he, out of nowhere appeared in my car,"
"In your car?"
"Yes! He then forcefully grabbed the handle and made me crash. Though, I wasn't injured that much, he, then started to pull my hair, and told me to play with his marbles,"
I looked at the ghost, the marbles were still in his hands, and he was fidgeting with them. I focused on those marbles. Some unique marbles were emitting a bad omen. The presence of it seemed almost forced.
"Were you per chance gambling?"
His eyes opened wide and he aggressively started to nod his head to agree. "Interesting," I commented. It was my first time to come across a ghost, haunting the orchestrator of his murder, by telling them to gamble. It was always quite amusing to learn about and discover the absurd reasons some anomalies emerged and their motives. This one in particular, had lured and tortured his killer, begging to prove that he was undeserving of death and his killer had cheated.
In my mind however, "What sort of circumstances forced such youths to the paths of treachery? I wonder how many more abandoned cases there are that our society was the cause of. At times, life forces someone to make two impossible choices. Are any of them truly more evil than the other one for doing what they did? Both of them speak of betrayal, it's as if the very society and humans who were supposed to protect them, are the ones who harmed. And yet, they would go on being blamed for the consequences of matters they didn't create or wish to engage in first place. Would I ever find definitive answers for such questions? What would be justified in this case? Is the anomaly inherently deserving of death and exorcism? Must I protect and cover the boy because it's a human testimony? Why are most of our actions so selective, shallow, and narrow-minded? If I hadn't found them, what would have prevailed of the ghost? Even if his lack of wishes for redemption is low, I will give him the dignity of choice. And for that boy, he will have to face faithfully and take accountability for each of his actions. One of them has died, so I can't let the other one ruin themselves more. How privileged I am when someone my age struggles to feast on a grain of rice. How privileged I am to question and rationalise my feelings and philosophy, while someone struggles to even dream!"
I started talking to the ghost, even though he had seemed to be ignoring me for some time, "I will not exorcise you against your will, and I will take this man's place in whatever you are trying to do. I am guessing, you are trying to prove that you could have won against him, and manifested to haunt and gamble with him. Fine then! I will do that, I will take his place and duel with you fairly, and so you can fulfil your human will. You, however, must explain everything to me in between, and if you can defeat me, I'd let you go and gladly let you take my life and give you the dignity of winning. But, if you lose, you will accept grace and let me exorcise you,"
"That… that doesn't sound very bad," the ghost said rubbing his chin, his eyes lighting a bit, though his legs shook, and he gulped loudly, trying to calm his breathing.
"So what's your proposal? How do you wish we would deal with it? Do you wish to comply now? You have a chance for escape, to find peace and even if you lose, I will not treat you harshly. Don't make me do anything otherwise, I truly don't wish to,"
"It is very simple," he answered.
I raised an eyebrow and added, "Continue,"
"But before that,"
"Hmm?" I murmured.
"What do you think? Ierapóstolos? (Title for a missionary) Was it a fair judgment?"
"You're forcing him to gamble to prove that you are capable of gambling?"
"YES!"
"Maybe…," I shrugged. The boy looked at me with confusion. Though, I was rather more amused and taken aback being refereed as a missionary. He had recognised me! Who I was, but to boldly exclaim it, it only got more interesting. I knew that it would only get more entertaining.
"What do you suggest we do? Gambling, murdering, scheming — oh! All of you! You are so far astray from light! Who do I even sympathise with? It is unfortunate that he, that man, wasn't as innocent as I thought he would have been," I lied. I never expected the boy to be innocent. To have such luxury items, yet an aged body of an old man. That boy was possibly involved in many crimes, and could potentially lead us to more underground operating black markets. And
I didn't even care about light, nor preaching, but it was a duty for me to do so, it was the means to understand them, to see their spark ignite by my flint, so it was all a facade I put on.
"You both have sinned and you both must be cleansed of your sins. After I deal with you, I will take care of your victim and bring him to the necessary care,"
"Shut up!," the ghost objected. "I am not here to listen to your insufferable theological rant and spread of "light". Let's quickly get to the point, and see if your light can affect me. If you wish to deal with me, faithfully, then partake in what I am about to offer you,"
"Very well, it is as you say, so what do you suggest that we do?"
"Come here, near me and I will explain it to you,"
My eyes focused and sharpened upon him with suspicion, I had observed that place and there didn't seem to be any trap. I didn't sense anything else and the man with him seemed like an ordinary man too. Though, there was always a chance of both of them working together, to plot against me, against the missionaries, but I wasn't scared at all. There was nothing in their body language to suggest that, even if they were deceptive performers. If anything, this was the opportunity for more actions, for thrill, for discovery!
"You see, I have many marbles with me, over a 100. We are going to gamble, the game this man failed to win when he had to play faithfully against me," he started to explain hurriedly, almost excited and proud.
"What do we do with the marbles?"
"We will each be given 50 marbles at the beginning of each round. Each round will contain 6 games, and the first to win two rounds wins. There are two primary roles, and the roles switch each game,"
"What roles?"
"The picker and the guesser!"
"The picker? And the guesser?"
"Yes! The picker is a person who picks out a number, P, under 50, and buys that number using their currency, the marbles. The marble costs are equal to the number they choose. Then the guesser must guess what number the picker had picked, G, simultaneously. The guesser receives their own marbles, and must use those marbles as a currency to guess,"
"So, a picker must pick out a specific number P and use their marbles to convey that. The marbles are given at a set amount and when they pick a specific number, they must use the marbles to purchase that number. And the same goes for the guesser guessing too?"
"Yes, the guesser uses their marbles as currency to guess too. But, the picker has another task too,"
"What is it?"
"There will be spread universal marbles in the ground to be used for estimating by the picker for the guesser's number G. Let's call this estimation E. There will be more than enough marbles there to be used. The marbles must be used by the picker, and the picker uses them to estimate the guesser's number G. Everyone must make all the estimations, guesses, and pickings simultaneously within a given time frame,"
"The picker picks a number, called P, the guesser guesses the picker's number, called G, and the picker must estimate the guesser's number, the estimation called E. But, are the estimating marbles free to use?
"Yes, the universal marbles are free to use. After that, we evaluate based on who was closest to their respective estimation. The guesser's estimation about the picker's picking number, and the picker's estimation about the guesser's number. Whoever is closest wins marbles,"
"How many?"
"We subtract the distance of both estimations and add that amount of marbles to the winner, taking from the marbles on the ground. If you don't have sufficient marbles to buy any numbers or lose all your marbles, that round ends and the other person wins. The goal is to have more marbles than the other one by the end of each round and win two rounds total. Having the same amount of marbles by the end of a round equals a draw,"
"Oh! Quite complicated, but that's interesting. Then do we reverse the roles, repeat, and play on?"
"Yes! Yes! You are smart!"
I started to think, "if the game began with 50 marbles. The common ground and likely safe pick would be around 20-30. If someone tried to bait using larger numbers, then they'd lose marbles even if their estimation is more correct. If in the first game, the picker picks a ridiculous number, such as 8, and estimates the middle. And the guesser guesses 25 or 26, that round is pretty much over for them. If the picker originally has 50 marbles, then they sacrifice 8 marbles to pick a number. 50-8=42. And their guess is 25 is free via universal marbles. Now if the guesser had 25, to play safe as it was the first game. They are doomed for the entire game. They would have only 25 marbles next game. While the picker would receive way too many marbles. The distance from 25 to 8 is 17, so 17 marbles for the picker. 42+17 is 59. How can someone with 25 marbles possibly go against someone with 59 marbles just in the second round? And the roles have reversed, so the new picker with 25 marbles must sacrifice more marbles they don't possess to bait, but the sheer difference is too much to play conservatively or even close the gap playing boldly. The estimation range for the new guesser is too narrow, and they can easily exploit,"
"If I had 59 marbles, and my opponent had 25 marbles. I would not expect him to sacrifice more than 12 marbles. If, let's say, the opponent played 15 marbles the next game as the picking number and estimated 12 as my guessing number, it would still be a loss for him. It would be foolish to play anything over 10 marbles, since if my enemy spent more than 10 marbles, even if he wins the game, the recovery would be too low. If I played around 12 or 10, then he would be closer to my number. I would be off by 3 or 5, and he would be off by 0 or 2, but after deduction. He only has around 3 marbles. Considering that he has already spent 15 picking, he basically has nothing left. 25-15+3=13. And I have 59-12=47. He, then must guess, and he wouldn't even have sufficient marbles to guess, as the highest amount of marbles he can use for guessing is 13. I simply need to pick my guessing number as something absurdly high, such as 30, and make my estimation around 8. And that round is over,"
"But, on the other hand, if he goes low, let's say 5 for picking and 12 for estimating. Then I would pick around 12 anyway. 59-12=47. And 25-5=20. 5 to 12 is 7 and 12 to 12 is 0, so he would receive 20+7=27 points. Still recoverable. Then, I would be the picker. He has already seen me play boldly and may expect something on the lower mid-end. Even so, he is pretty much doomed. Half of 27 is around 13.5 or 14 for convenience. He can't spend more than 27 for guessing. If I pick a number, let's say bet everything on 47, and make an estimation around 14. Then even if he anticipates my move and uses 27 marbles to guess, he would still be way too off, as compared to my estimation. The picker is always at an advantage, and especially the first picker. The game itself is flawed, nonetheless, those marbles aren't normal. I doubt if that boy can feel that, but if he did, he'd know something is wrong about the marbles, perhaps the ghost is cheating! If the ghost is cheating, that boy was robbed out of the game from the beginning,"
I started to talk with him, slowly, thinking and analysing even more, "While I do appreciate your explanation and your pride over this game. I don't like the rules that much,"
"What do you mean you don't like the rules? What's wrong?"
"Well, it will be a disaster explaining it. I do have one request for you, let me add a few rules to make it more, let's say interesting,"
"Are you trying to play some tricks? What do you want to add? Dang…" the ghost looked at me with worrying look, his eyes drifted and it felt as if he was thinking about something.
"To put it simply, after the first game, there is a huge chance the guesser has almost no way of playing properly. I propose, that we both also receive 25 marbles after each game to keep the game going. And make it, so that we can never use more than 50 marbles for anything,"
He hesitated for a bit, but inevitably agreed, I knew it stung him, but there was something
exceptionally off about his face, his body, his motivation. Even though, his ego was hurt, he wasn't in worry of losing the duel. Even with changed rules, he had some sort of card in his hands.
"Though, there are even more extra rules I wish to add,"
"What are they?" The ghost questioned irritated.
"I want to make it more interesting, and not cluster around the same numbers. How about we cannot repeat picking numbers ever again throughout the entire match, by any side,"
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" The ghost laughed nervously, trying to bluff.
"I am sure, you don't need to worry about me making rules which would sabotage my own-self. Hand me over the marbles,"
He handed me over 50 marbles and laid the other marbles on the ground. He was hurrying, his hands shaking, dropping a few marbles here and then. I didn't sense any aggression from him, but, I was cautious, very cautious.
I bent down and took a marble from the ground and while slipping another one of the marbles in. Though, he was presumably busy counting the marbles and not observing me. The moment I picked up a marble, his gaze shifted upon me. "That's some pretty marbles you have," I said as I observed them, the one in my hand, the 50 marbles he handed me. It felt murky, heavy but looked unusually pretty.
"Are these marbles some sort of ability? Does he have some sort of ability to control these marbles or magically guess my marbles?" That would be quite ironic because he was the one who was yelling about getting cheated on, and now if the ghost himself was a fraud, that would make the whole ordeal more thrilling. I looked at the man, whom I had saved and he didn't dare to be, sitting there restless, watching. Quite odd, that the marbles didn't affect him at all.
The ghost was staring at me, his expression almost blank, he didn't say anything for a few seconds before clutching his fist and saying a small, "Thanks," before scrambling around where I had bent down.
"I already gave you 50 marbles, put them back,"
"Oh! You saw I took two?"
"Yes, I have sharp eyes,"
"That's quite interesting,"
"Interesting? How so?"
"Nothing, nothing. Here are your marbles!" I said as I handed him the marble I had in my hand.
"Other one too,"
"I know," I put my hand in my pocket to pull out the marble, but I didn't actually pull it out but broke it. Then I stared at him, my eyes widened and empty, anticipating and analysing his next reaction. He was rather annoyed and defensive, cleaning the marble I had put back and growing impatient. However, I concluded from one of my theories, that he couldn't feel the marble being broken. As far as his reactions told me, that was the leaning idea, however, I didn't let go of the idea that he could have tried to deceive me with his demeanour too.
"Oh God! I broke your marbles," I said dramatically as I pulled out the marble. It had turned into dust by my force, and they were actually physical objects. As I took them out and laid them out for him, I observed that the marbles didn't have anything inside of them, nor were they suspicious. But, the omen had divided partially inside each fragment.
"YOU DID WHAT? YOU SON OF A WH—," he tried to grab my collar.
"I am sorry," I said coldly. He let go of me and tried to collect the dust off the ground, tears forming in his eyes.
"I think your marbles are too precious to you for us to use them for gambling. I suggest, that we use the stones and pebbles lying around here,"
His reaction changed, his eyes widened, and he tried to laugh my suggestion off, raising his hands, trying to plead and budge off my idea, "No! No! That isn't necessary, my apologies for that reaction earlier. I— I…,"
"Fine, stop sweating it,"
"I am not sweating!"
"Very well…"
"What do you mean?"
"If I do catch you rigging the game, then I will take on everything from there on, and God will be with you, he will be the judge and your fate will be sealed,"
"Are you threatening me? God, light, judge, CAN YOU STOP?" He violently hissed with a darkened expression.
"Who goes first?" I said casually dodging the questions.
He didn't push any further and insisted on going first, which I again rejected. He started scratching his arm and murmured something in his breath. I looked at him, with amusement, with mocking eyes. I knew he wanted to attack me right there and then.
I rubbed my chin, looked down at the marbles and him again, and said, "Very well, I am going first," he nodded and didn't argue.
"I am going to step back and do my own guessing, you step back and do whatever you wish, tell me when you have decided, and come back,"
I jumped back and started to think, "Trying to play anything risky within the first game would pose a huge risk as I didn't know what kind of players he was. Ultimately, it didn't stop me from getting any thrill,"
I picked 25 marbles as my picking number. And then I went back to the ground to pick up some more marbles as a guessing number. He was standing in a distant, counting his own marbles, I wondered if he could watch me or something, I had searched thoroughly for any suspicious objects watching. The only thing that oozed were his marbles.
I picked 25 marbles for my guessing of his guess and yelled at him to come forward. He impatiently walked forward, his hands shaking, and his face a malicious grin, he was thrilled, as I was, for some unknown reason. My eyes widened and I told him to show his hands. He opened and — 25 marbles.
"Hmm… not unexpected," I thought. But, I acted surprised deliberately. I made my eyes widen a bit and looked at him thoroughly and made vaguely obvious what I was doing.
"How do we evaluate again? I asked even though I clearly knew the rules.
"We simply measure who was closest to their desired guess, and whoever was closest gets the same amount of marbles, their opponent gets the same amount of marbles as their respective guess. For this case, we are both on similar distance, so this game ends in a draw with only 25 marbles for each side,"
"So now, it's your turn to pick a number. Go on, I will be waiting,"
"Yes!" He stepped back and went on his way.
"Which number should I guess? 25 isn't available for me anymore, the choice should be closer to 25. Unless, this man, plays something absurd, which I am guessing he is going to. I have 3 rounds, even if I sacrifice this one. I will understand who he is, and how he is,"
Time passed, and the ghost came back, smiling, with his own batch of marbles. He was quick, very quick and then he revealed.
"I picked 5 marbles and my estimated marbles were 20! How much do you have? Oh! 24! How bad of luck!"
"Hmm… I lost that badly? That's funny, I wonder what he thinks of me right now. Quite interesting. This person saw that I was playing it safe, and took a risk to exploit it just in the next game. Going anything over 25 marbles to catch opponents off guard wouldn't be the most effective planning. I can only estimate such threats within early numbers. I wonder if he will continue to play like this, or adapt again to exploit me," I thought.
Then, I consciously clutched my fist, hardened my expression, and started to look around without any apparent reason right in front of him, "That.. that's bad! Dang! But, now how many marbles do you get?" I purposely questioned in a reluctant voice.
"You were 19 marbles away from my pick, and I was only 4 marbles away from your guess. We are simply going to deduct the distance and add the marbles to the person who won. 15 being in this case, added to mine. I spent 25 marbles last game. Got 25 again. So 50, 50-5=45. Now I won 15 marbles so 60 marbles!"
"60 MARBLES?" I screamed out as if I was really surprised, and I fixed my stance as if I looked distressed.
And in my thoughts, "After spending 25 marbles in the first game, I gained 25 in this game again, bringing my marbles to 50, then I spent 24 marbles to guess and lost. Thus having 26 marbles now. He, on the other hand, had 50 marbles, which he spent 5 on picking, bringing him to 45 marbles, and after winning he gained 60 marbles. This round is pretty much over for me,"
"Now it's your turn to pick again! Take your time," he grinned and ran away jumping.
"26 marbles, I will gain 25 marbles this game again, so now I have 51 marbles. He should be around 85 marbles now. He knows I am playing safe, however, he could also anticipate a move similar to his. This is going to be a Zugzwang at this point. Very well, I know what to do,"
The time to show our marbles came, and I had picked 26 marbles and guessed 24 marbles. AND LO AND BEHOLD! HE HATH CHOSEN, 27 MARBLES, HOW IRONIC, HOW ABSURD!
"Ah! Oh! This looks like another win for me!"
Said the ghost as he seemed to be celebrating his win again, clutching his hands and gulping, look at me.
"What's his power? Can he mind-read? Be able to sense the marble? Control the space? Has secret eyes? Feel my guesses? Manipulate luck? I should check something," I thought as I flooded my brain with information, "483^3=112678587,63838448×4837447=308815108762256,3747471+473737=4221208,38474×383848×393838=5816265729879776,37373^3=52200406214117,79293-374747+38384=-257070,4737/3883+3737×3-8373^2=5502684401074.219, 7347+3737383-373747+37374=3408357," no change in his demeanour, I concluded that he couldn't read minds. If such overloading of information, under such a few seconds didn't change anything in his conscience, then he probably doesn't know what's in my mind.
"It appears to me that I am pretty much doomed," I sighed looking down, to appeal exhausted and defeated to him.
"Oh! Are you?" He smiled nervously.
"It is as you say" I replied looking at his eyes.
Now, it was his turn to pick. I didn't even bother counting his marbles anymore, nor did I bother making the calculations anymore since I decided to throw the entire round anyway. All I required, was to gain more intel about him. But, a lingering thought always pondered, even a slight chance, of him faking his own languages, such as mine. So I started to observe the marbles and tried to fuel my suspicions. Was he cheating? Could I test something?
I crushed 10 of them and put their dust all in my hands. However, there weren't any actual marbles in my hands. So my guess for his number remained 0. So even though, my hands were filled with marble dust, which oozed omen, there was actually nothing within my hands.
Which should reveal if he is able to sense the marbles, or is connected to marbles somehow. If he is aware of the marbles directly, which I doubt, then I must do something else.
So came the time for him to reveal his marbles, I observed, that it appeared to me he was enjoying it more than ever. I wondered, if he could sense me breaking any of the marbles, but it wasn't relevant whether he could sense the marbles or not, the game was in my fate from there on.
"So what's your picking marbles?" I asked nonchalantly now.
He seemed a bit confused at the sudden change of my demeanour, "It's 20, what's your guessing number?"
I opened my hands, and there was nothing but the dust of the marbles that flew away, and the ghost was in shock, his hands shook and rage engulfed his body, he began to turn red and yell at me,
"What?" He was taken aback, his eyes opened wide, staring at the dust and my empty hand, and then he started to argue,
"You are ch-cheater too, why did you break the marbles? You can't just have 0 marbles as your guess. THAT'S CHEATING! Why did you break my precious marbles?"
"Show me your guessing marbles," I yelled.
"Um— uh!" He was hesitant and didn't bring his hands forward.
"SHOW ME!"I yelled.
It was 8 marbles! He had won again, and I had lost more marbles. But, it wasn't something of sorrow, I had won the entire battle. I HAD WON! Even though, there were no marbles in my hands, he still felt the omen of 10 marbles as dust within my hands. Oh! He thought he was cunning, so cunning! But, he was not. He picked 8 to not appear suspicious about my 10 marbles, but there weren't any marbles in my hands to begin with. The fact that he chose 8 and seemed so defensive about the marbles gave me every piece of information that I required!
The atmosphere around us started to change. It was getting gloomier, darker, and shrinking every second. the boy in the distance horrified started to look towards us. I smiled and said, "You see, I am not comfortable playing with your marbles,"
I threw the rest of my marbles on the ground and crushed them. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" I cut him off and said, "According to you, if I have no more marbles left I have lost the round right? RIGHT?"
"Y-yes…,"
"Very well, you have won the first round. But, now, the following game shall take place in an exorcism shrine,"
"Exo- exorcism shrine? What do you mean?"
"Do you object to playing further? Isn't this what you wished?" I looked at him with my eyes, with a neutral but giggling expression.
"You see, as exorcists, it is our duty to ensure that when we cleanse a soul without killing it, the cleansing takes place fair and square. For you to be cleansed properly, I must make sure that you have agreed to the cleansing taking place, or at least your vale is aligned with the cleansing. Don't worry, I will not kill you, I am only here to bring you light, and to free you of evil. Do you comply?"
The ghost gulped but agreed regardless. And as soon as he agreed, everything around us finally shifted and we were taken into a closed room with a singular lantern hanging from above. There was a small table and two chairs.
"Take a seat," I urged as I sat down. He too, took a seat.
"We aren't going to be using your marbles anymore. This place is an exorcism shrine. Everything that takes place here is the ultimate declaration of who is defeated and WHO IS CLEANSED?"
The ghost, now crying, shaking, and visibly scared, fidgeting his fingers, started to question me, as he looked around, desperate for his marbles, "How is it fair? C-could you… (coughs) explain? Explain what's going on? Where are my marbles?"
"Very well, but, have patience,"
"HOW?" He objected.
"You seemed way too cowardly for someone taking so much pride in torturing a human. Where is all your confidence now?"
"That's not what I ask-"
"SHUT UP! Ierapóstolos aren't simply missionaries or exorcists fighting entities with chants. There are many more things in this world, that you are ignorant of. You asked for fairness, you manifested in the sake of fairness, and the soul must be judged fairly. And this shrine is where it happens. It's the shrine of justice! The home of God! The confession of the sinner! And the cleansing of the wicked! We will continue playing, except that the observer, the marbles, and everything else would be given by this domain, under God's will,"
"And my marbles?" He questioned, his voice small.
"They are outside of this shrine, we are now within the procession of an exorcism ritual, the shrine simply manifests in the physical reality and takes the people within it to the realm of justice. Everything that takes place within this shrine, manifests according to the given circumstance and the sinner,"
"This is ridiculous! I never agreed to it,"
"You don't need to agree to anything, my dear,"
"My dear? You piece of-," he tried to jump at me. But the shrine itself put him in a seat again. "What's going on?"
"The exorcism shrine is an ability we exorcists part of the American Imperial Union Vera possess. It creates a field, where the exorcists and the anomaly partake in a fair duel, with a chance of exorcising righteously. I could have exorcised you, or even killed you right away, but that wouldn't be righteous of me or beneficial for your soul. Grace and salvation come from God, I can free your soul and you might end up in hell. The least I could do is impose a shrine to make you admit your sin and defeat by engaging in a fair duel. The duel here manifested as a diagram of your psyche, and the game that will follow mirrors your own past and the nature of the game you were supposedly playing fairly,"
He was sweating, desperately trying to find an escape, he looked around, scared and confused, "Where is that man?"
"The man who killed you? He is a human, this shrine doesn't work on humans. Only you and such as you,"
"Is this it for me?"
"Is it? If you win in the game now, then I lose the authority to exorcise you and I am the one condemned. If you are so sure of your righteous gambling and winning fairly. Do it here, right now. You have won one round, come on do more!"
He sighed and asked me, defeated, "Where are the marbles? Or whatever we are using to estimate? And why should I trust you? How do I know you aren't cheating?"
"Very well, I make an oath to you upon my faith that this game will be faithful and I hold no authority of cheating. This domain is of God's will, and I am simply his servant. If the curse of yours was duel-based, then the manifestation and logic of this place would have been different. I am simply what you wish you had,"
He looked down, and didn't wish to gaze at me, with a low voice he asked, "Where—where…are…the marbles?"
"We don't need them anymore. We can pick the numbers in our minds now, the universal marbles, the deduction, the reveal, everything will be done by the shrine. But we get one minute to think before the outcome of each game. When 30 second passes, the first game of the second round shall begin. So… go on!"
I was the picker, I knew he knew that I played conservatively and modestly. 5,20,25 and 26 are gone to be used as a pick. Naturally, going much over 25 wouldn't bring me any benefit, so he should anticipate my numbers to be around or under 25. I rubbed my chin, looking at him, he seemed stressed, sweating, fidgeting, looking at me, while pretending he wasn't looking.
"Would he expect me to play a bold move? I can't precisely say that," I thought. Picking something closer to 25 and picking something closer to 5, both had their advantages and disadvantages. He couldn't be sure if I would play modestly or boldly. He claimed that he had won fairly against his killer, but could I trust his story or judgment? No! I couldn't. But, if he is somewhat good at gambling, as he claims, he could pick something safe. Given that he played boldly yet didn't pick exact numbers tells me he is somewhat cautious, yet overconfident. So a safe spot would be! Oh!
And the time to reveal our numbers came, I had picked 1 as my picking number and 15 as the estimation of his guess. And I watched his face drop pale, even though his dead, withered body was already pale and his eyes widened in horror as he saw my numbers.
"Yo- you CHEATER! How did you know my numbers? How did you guess that I had guessed 15? You garbage. You liar. You cheater!" He kept yelling, trying to get up, begging and screaming. His eyes filled with anger and tears. I didn't say anything further and pointed at the clock and time, now it was his time to pick and estimate. He started to panic, make rattling and unease sounds, and he looked at me with fury before ramming his head against the table.
"My points = 50-1=49, after pick. His number 50-15=35. 49+14=63 points for me after the first game. 35+25=60 for him at start of 2nd game, 63+25=88 for me at start of 2nd game,"
The clock ticked, time passed, and I looked at him with a smile. The smile he bitterly and shamelessly tried to look. The time to reveal the numbers came again. The ghost's picking number 30, estimation number 10, my guessing number 30.
"60-30=30 for him, 88-30=58 for me. I was off by 0 and he was off by 20. So 20 more points for. 58+20=78. 30+25=55 at start of 3rd game for him, 78+25=103 at start of 3rd game for me,"
"B-bu-but… how?" He cried, his voice getting higher and almost nothing came out further.
"Come on! It was pretty evident that the following games, played by me, would be conservative or consistent. So, I simply did something you wouldn't expect. 10? You seriously expected me to expect you to play something moderate? Just because picking high ranging number costs so much doesn't mean they can't be used for baiting. And you, at this point, aren't even playing to win,
You are simply trying to outmanoeuvre me,"
Time passed, I got more and more thrilled by the game, and I looked at him, each moment, he was desperately breaking down and banging his head.
3rd game began, and I was the picker again,
"He has 55 points and I have 103. He would expect me to go high. He probably thinks that I will estimate that he'd play conservatively, plausibly under 25. Fine then, I know what to pick again! I know you are going to take this gamble!"
"My picking number is 50," I said, and I saw a tiny spark of light in his eyes, but then I coldly followed with, "And my estimation is 36," his face drained of colour again.
He gasped, sighed, and looked down, "I..,"
"What I? You admit defeat? You cheater!"
"I am not! I am… not. Please,"
"I know that you cheated. That you did the very same thing you sought closure over, that to prove yourself, your ego, you would go the same path as your murderer. How are you any different? You are entitled, overconfident, and think the world revolves around you. You thought I was scared right? When you had won outside the shrine? You talk about justice about getting murdered, but then you do the same thing to your murderer. You were GAMBLING. What's anything righteous or fair about them? Then you rig your own game, the very game you took so pride in winning faithfully, and was the main motivation that drove you to propose a fair duel to prove your innocence,"
"I didn't mean to rig the game, I…" he objected, crying, trying to negotiate.
"Please! Just shut up! You are just like everyone. You repeat the very sins that stained you. What did you benefit from it? What did you benefit the world? Even yourself? Did winning without sincerity even have a meaning? Accept that you are a hypocrite, and you are a sinner,"
"PLEASE STOP," he cried out, covering his ears.
I sighed, "Fine," I said. He slowly turned to face me, his hands covering his ears.
"I give up, I don't wish to play anymore,"
"Really?"
"Y-yes, I am sure,"
"Very well,"
"What will happen to me so on and forth?"
"I don't know. I am not God, I can't tell you what happens after death,"
"THEN! Th-then what was…what was all of this even for?"
"I have told you," I said looking at him annoyed, leaning back.
"Indeed, indeed you are guilty of sin and of mortal sin. However, you still must be cleansed, your soul must be free, and sent to the afterlife for God to judge you. I am not a judge, I am a nobody. I am simply here to redeem your faith, to let your soul go. I could have killed you, but that strips you of your dignity to be exorcised. I could have exorcised you directly, without the shrine, but that strips you of your free will and the chance for redemption,"
"Redemption?" He questioned, his eyes red and watery, his voice getting weaker and weaker.
"Yes! Redemption! Do you, at this very moment, have no lingering thoughts about your actions? This ordeal and your afterlife? Do you?"
"Y-yes I do, I am scared, very scared,"
"You should be, you should be,"
"Oh!"
"You don't have faith, nor do you fully regret anything. But, whatever you are as of now, is exponentially better than what you were, allow me to exorcise you and cleanse you properly. Let faith take you where you belong and God be your judge,"
"God? Huh?"
"Yes! God," I looked at him, with a small smile, and my arms crossed.
He smiled, almost unexpectedly, and began to speak, "I wonder where your God was when I had cried for him, when I had sought him, when I had been betrayed. Maybe I am a liar, I am a liar. I had won faithfully against my killer. But, look, your God, instead of punishing him, instead of you people of God, the supposed missionaries are doing nothing to him. I am turned into a ghost, being tormented and inevitably erased,"
My eyebrows tightened and my facial expression became more neutral, "So even at your death, you are going to decline grace?"
"Yes! I am a coward, I am a so-called "sinner", and ultimately I am deserving of nothing. But, the least I could do to respect my human will, and the fairness of my fate is to reject corrupted occupations, corrupted people, corrupted God like yours,"
I stood up, and told him, "Very well then, I am not going to waste anymore time with you. It was fun to play the games with you while it lasted, but ultimately you chose the path of nothingness,"
He smiled even more, "This feels like I am crying, I am sad. Yet, I have accepted everything, go ahead, do as you wish. Send me to nothingness. I don't care anymore,"
"Fine then," I smiled as I grabbed his neck and started to cast a spell on him. He struggled somewhat, but then calmed down, closed his eyes, and let go of his hands from mine. With a final action of goodbye, I said the chanting line which let his soul go, "Shlama Akh," and let go of his neck.
"I am jealous you get the privilege to talk with God, and about your fate, about justice, and your responsibility," I whispered to myself.
As his soul started to perish and ascend unto the firmaments, he spoke his last words, "You… you are like… the angel of death, not an exorcist, but death. You are fond of killing… aren't you?"
And he was gone. My eyes widened and I tried to reach out to him again, but the shrine had vanished and so had he. I didn't say anything further and stood there trying to look for him. Everything surrounding me became exceptionally quiet. My eyes again drifted towards the injured boy from earlier, now in a deeper uncomfortable sleep, possibly after whining for a long time. The injured, lying boy had stopped breathing heavily. He was there resting, sleeping, snoring. There wasn't even any wind, anywhere, the silence of that evening was blood-curdling. I looked down at nothing. I needed to help that boy, properly investigate him, and bring him to trial. I breathed steadily, sometimes letting out a huge sigh. I looked around trying to find the signs of people. But, everything felt exceptionally lonely, too lonely, very lonely. I looked back at the ghost's position again and tried to gently ease myself, in a slow and low voice, "I am not an angel… I am not — I am not death. I would never kill a human, nor do I delight in it. I… you are wrong… maybe. You were a spirit, and I exorcised you, that's all. That wasn't killing, was it? It's not…,"