North Tivian, Church District.
At noon, the sunlight shone on the spires of the buildings in the Church District. Inside the work hall of the Historical Scripture Department, a group of priests and Sisters had just finished their morning work and were about to go to the dining hall for a meal.
"Vanya, let's go to the dining hall together," Sister Aurora said as she passed Vanya's workstation, greeting Vanya, who was still sitting in her seat. Vanya shook her head and replied.
"You go ahead. I still have a little something to finish recording here. I'll be right there afterward."
Looking at Aurora, Vanya said with a smile. Aurora also nodded and spoke.
"Alright then, I'll go first. Off to eat roasted meat."
Saying this, Aurora left the hall with the other personnel. In the empty hall, only Vanya remained.
Seeing this, Vanya sat properly in her seat, closed her eyes, and carefully sensed her current mental state. After sensing it, she began silently praying to Aka, asking for divine grace to cleanse the Spirit Sight.
After finishing her prayer, Vanya slowly opened her eyes. Then she began to carefully sense the changes before and after the prayer.
'It seems there really is a change. I was indeed infected with Spirit Sight from the secret transmission I read this morning...' Looking at her hands, Vanya thought with a serious expression, then she turned her gaze to the large instrument beside her.
'According to Miss Dorothy, there should be a problem with my instrument, the protection is incomplete, so the Spirit Sight leaked out... But the instrument was just inspected the day before yesterday. Could it have been broken during the inspection? After all, there were no problems before the inspection.'
Frowning, Vanya thought this way. Afterward, she decided to first inform Dorothy of the confirmed situation.
Next, Vanya took out her Holy Book, opened the communication with Dorothy, and then picked up a pen and began writing on it, informing Dorothy of the results and guesses she had confirmed that morning.
After a brief wait, Dorothy's handwriting appeared before Vanya.
"There is indeed a possibility of it being broken during inspection, but if that's the case, your instrument should be an isolated incident. Can you confirm if your colleagues' instruments also have this situation?"
'My colleague's instrument... It seems Aurora also seemed a bit strange...'
Looking at Dorothy's response, Vanya suddenly recalled that when she had dinner with Aurora last night, Aurora had also suddenly taken out her locket to remember her mother. She wouldn't usually do that; it was a bit strange.
"One of my colleagues might have a problem. I can't quite confirm the others yet." Vanya continued writing on the Holy Book. Not long after, Dorothy's response appeared on the page again.
"You can find an opportunity to subtly test your other colleagues to see if they have problems. You can use topics related to the secret transmission's theme to probe. By the way, do you know what themes the secret transmissions they are reading have? Where do they come from?"
"This time, we are interpreting several secret transmissions from a single series. Our study tasks are arranged by Deacon Kirk, the head of our Historical Scripture Department. As for the origin of the secret transmissions, it is said that they were collected from the hidden market."
"They are all from the same series... In that case, you can subtly probe your colleagues about topics related to the content of this series of secret transmissions."
'Subtle questioning? Regarding the issues with this series of secret transmissions... I can start with topics like mother, Holy Mother, meat, etc...'
Looking at the words that came from Dorothy's response, Vanya thought this way, then wrote on the Holy Book again.
"Alright, I'll try it during lunch and in the afternoon."
Then, Vanya closed her Holy Book and got up to go to the dining hall.
...
Time flew by, and soon another day had passed. As the sun set in the sky, the day faded, and night arrived.
After finishing a day's work, Vanya hurried back to her dormitory from the dining hall. After closing the door, she sat down at her desk, then took out her Holy Book, opened it, and eagerly wrote down words on it.
"Miss Dorothea, Captain, you might be right. Today, I subtly questioned three colleagues and found that their answers all seem to have problems. Just like my symptoms yesterday, they have all felt a sense of longing for their mothers recently, and they all seem to be more interested in meat. One of my colleagues even said directly that the more he looked at the statue of the Holy Mother, the more it resembled his own mother. They might all have been infected with Spirit Sight like me."
With a hint of worry, Vanya finished writing on the paper. After a while, Dorothy's response appeared again.
"This means that the issue of the instrument being damaged is not just your problem. Your colleagues' instruments could also be damaged. Currently, multiple people might have been infected with Spirit Sight. The inspection you conducted the day before yesterday has issues. This might not be an accident."
Looking at Dorothy's response, Vanya immediately felt a little anxious. She immediately wrote back to Dorothy.
"This matter is very serious, Miss Dorothea. Thank you for Captain's reminder. I will immediately report this situation to the Deacon, asking them to repair the instruments and help others cleanse the Spirit Sight."
Vanya's handwriting sank into the page. Soon, Dorothy's handwriting appeared again. This time, her writing was slightly messy, as if she was writing in a hurry.
"Don't rush! The situation you've encountered this time is very likely not an accident but someone doing it on purpose. Reporting to the Church now would only alert the enemy, making them vigilant again and hide, while you yourself might be exposed to them."
Dorothy's words appeared before Vanya, as if her voice was echoing in her ears. Seeing this paragraph, Vanya was startled, and then she indeed realized that her previous thought had been a bit rash.
"Sorry, Miss Dorothea. I was rash just now... Now is indeed not the time to report the situation to the Church."
Vanya wrote down new words, and Dorothy's response also arrived quickly.
"It's best for you not to act rashly now. Wait patiently. If someone deliberately damaged the instruments to infect you with Spirit Sight, then he must have some purpose. To achieve this purpose, he might contact you in various ways, perhaps trying to guide those infected to do something."
"So, just wait patiently now. Pretend to be infected and keep waiting. The mastermind will naturally come knocking. If no one shows up, it won't be too late to contact the Church then."
'Wait...' Looking at the words Dorothy wrote to her, Vanya nodded thoughtfully, then wrote back in response.
"I understand."
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...
For the next two days, Vanya followed Dorothy's instructions, and everything in her life remained as usual. Every day, she prayed and went to work to study secret transmissions just like before, with no difference.
The only change was that Vanya found the atmosphere around her workplace starting to become increasingly strange. Her colleagues occasionally stared blankly at the Holy Mother, sometimes mixing in their own mothers' names when praying to the Holy Mother. When gathered together for discussions, their topics were also related to the Holy Mother and were increasingly developing in a strange direction.
Under this slightly changed environment, Vanya became more and more worried, but she still did not show any signs of being out of place. When talking, she also echoed the other party's topics.
Just like this, Vanya was silently waiting under Dorothy's suggestion, and this wait finally yielded results on the morning of the third day.
On the morning of this day, Vanya woke up early as usual. After finishing her morning prayer in the Church, she had a simple breakfast in the dining hall, and then walked directly towards her workplace.
Vanya entered the work hall of the Historical Scripture Department as usual. After pushing open the door, she found that the hall was currently noisy. Her former colleagues, the priests and Sisters, were gathered together, talking to each other about something, bustling about.
'What happened?'
Seeing the situation before her, Vanya felt a wave of doubt. Immediately, she walked forward, wanting to listen carefully to what those people were discussing.
...
"How are they gone? We clearly haven't finished studying them yet..."
"Yes, yes, they suddenly disappeared when we came this morning."
"Could they have been stolen by someone? It's really frustrating. We need to report this to Deacon Kirk..."
...
Before Vanya's eyes, the priests and Sisters of the Historical Scripture Department were continuously discussing. Their expressions were tense, even somewhat flustered. Witnessing all of this, Vanya couldn't help but furrow her brows slightly, then walked forward and patted Sister Aurora, whom she knew.
"So many people are anxious. Did something go missing?"
Vanya said to Aurora. The other party also turned her head, saying with a somewhat anxious expression.
"They're gone, they're gone... Vanya, the batch of documents about the Holy Mother that we were studying has suddenly disappeared. We clearly haven't finished studying them yet..."
'That batch of secret transmissions is gone?'
Hearing Aurora's words, Vanya felt extremely surprised. That batch of secret transmissions from a single series was the source of Spirit Sight for these people. Vanya had been vigilant every day, but she didn't expect them to suddenly disappear now.
'That batch of secret transmissions is gone... No wonder everyone is a bit flustered now.' Vanya thought this way. She knew that after being infected with Spirit Sight, there was a dependency on the secret transmissions that hadn't been finished. Spirit Sight would lure readers into obsession.
Just as Vanya was pondering who had taken those secret transmissions, the hall door opened again, and Deacon Kirk, wearing a priest's robe, walked in from it. The priests and Sisters who were originally discussing heatedly immediately surged forward together upon seeing this scene, gathering before Kirk.
"Hmm? Everyone, what's wrong?"
Seeing the subordinates gathered before him, Kirk's expression showed a hint of doubt. He spoke, asking the crowd before him. One of the priests stepped forward and said respectfully.
"Deacon Kirk, the batch of documents we were studying has all disappeared this morning. Captain, do you know where these have all gone?"
"You were studying that batch of documents these past few days, were you? Last night, I already had the library staff take them for sealing. I looked at your records, and the classification and definition work for this batch of secret transmission documents is almost complete, isn't it?"
Deacon Kirk said calmly. After hearing his words, the group before him began to speak excitedly.
"Deacon Kirk, the study work for that batch of documents is far from complete! We still need to continue studying them..."
"Yes, yes... There are still many parts we haven't read, Deacon Kirk. Why didn't you consult with us before putting them in storage?"
"Our work is not finished yet, Deacon Kirk. Now is not the time for them to be put into storage and sealed."
The crowd began to speak noisily before Kirk. Almost everyone expressed dissatisfaction with the secret transmissions being put into storage. Facing such a scene, a hint of awkwardness appeared on Kirk's face.
"Everyone, our job is not to study the entire secret transmission documents, but just to determine the general content to facilitate classification and labeling. In this regard, the related work for this batch of documents is already done."
Spreading his hands, Kirk spoke to the crowd in a helpless tone. The crowd, who had already been affected by Spirit Sight, were clearly not satisfied with this answer. They only wanted to get back the secret transmissions they hadn't finished studying.
"Deacon Kirk! We believe this batch of documents has significant research value. Many contents within them have important reference value, allowing us to gain a deeper understanding of the current Holy Mother classics and serving as a good supplement to some missing parts of the classics. Therefore, we strongly recommend taking back that batch of documents and continuing to study them."
"Yes... Now is not the time to put them into storage. These aren't some otherworld documents; they're quite serious, alright..."
"This batch of secret transmissions about the Holy Mother is the most valuable document I've seen in recent years. After finishing the research and compiling them after removing the Spirit Sight, they might be directly added to the Holy Mother's current Holy Mother classics. Putting them directly into storage is truly a great loss."
Before Kirk, a group of priests and Sisters spoke passionately to Kirk. It seemed as though the entire Historical Scripture Department supported retrieving the secret transmissions that had already been put into storage and sealed. Looking at the bustling scene before him, Kirk also sighed helplessly.
"Sigh... Alright, alright. Since everyone values that batch of documents so much, I'll find a way to get them back. However, it's not easy to take out books that have entered the underground library. Even I need sufficient reason to get permission to enter."
The troubled Kirk pondered for a moment where he stood, then glanced around, and finally returned his gaze to the crowd before him.
"How about this? I'll draft an application form right here and now, applying to enter the library to search for and borrow the relevant secret transmissions. After I finish writing it, all of you will sign it. This application form will represent the wishes of everyone in our Historical Scripture Department. That way, it will have enough weight. With this application form, I will also have a sufficient reason to go to the library and look for the books with you. How about it?"
...