North Tivian, Church District, within the Judge.
Inquisitors Anleifusi walked quickly along the stone corridor, wearing light armor over his inner clerical robe. The helmet he usually wore had been removed, revealing a neat, upright, and serious face with a brown buzz cut.
Anleifusi walked forward along the corridor. Everyone he passed bowed their heads in greeting, while Anleifusi's gaze was fixed on the far end of the corridor, where a man dressed in a white coat, appearing like a doctor, was standing.
"Captain Anleifusi."
The man who looked like a doctor bowed respectfully upon seeing Anleifusi and spoke. Anleifusi nodded and said in a deep voice.
"Have the inspection results from the people in the Historical Scripture Department come out?"
"Yes, they have. Based on multiple inspections, we have confirmed that they have collectively contracted Spirit Sight related to the ""Lamp"" and the ""Cup"". Fortunately, the severity is light, and they will recover after a period of treatment."
The man who looked like a doctor replied to Anleifusi. After hearing this, Anleifusi couldn't help but murmur.
"All of them have problems... Hmph, the impact caused by the otherworld villains is immeasurable. This time, the report information was completely accurate."
After speaking, Anleifusi looked at the doctor again and spoke.
"Then what about the reporting Sister? How is her inspection?"
"Completely normal. That Sister was not affected by any Spirit Sight. Her mental state is very clear." The doctor replied to Anleifusi. Listening to his words, Anleifusi was silent for a moment, then spoke.
"I understand. You may go back. Immediately arrange for the Spirit Sight cleansing treatment for the personnel of the Historical Scripture Department."
"Yes."
After a simple reply, the man who looked like a doctor slowly retreated. Anleifusi continued to walk forward, finally reaching an iron door at the end of a corridor. On either side of the iron door stood two guards dressed similarly to Anleifusi but in a simpler style. They also nodded slightly in greeting upon seeing Anleifusi.
Without saying much, Anleifusi opened the iron door before him and entered a small, dim room. There was a small table, behind which sat Vanya with an uneasy expression. On the other side of the small table stood an old Sister with a weathered face.
Anleifusi reached back and closed the door behind him, then sat down in front of Vanya. After gazing at her for a moment, he slowly began.
"Sister Vania Chafilun, we are very grateful for your report today. We have already inspected the Historical Scripture Department, and the secret transmission observation instrument there has indeed been maliciously tampered with as you said. The members of the Historical Scripture Department have also suffered mild Spirit Sight contamination. The work of the Historical Scripture Department has now been suspended, and the contaminated personnel have all been sent for treatment."
Listening to Anleifusi's words, Vanya was slightly startled, then spoke with a sigh of relief.
"Hoo... Have everyone been sent for treatment? That's great. Holy Mother bless, nothing terrible happened." Vanya said with a devout expression, while Anleifusi continued in a deep voice.
"Something terrible did happen. Deacon Kirk, the primary subject of your report, has disappeared. We conducted a thorough search of the Historical Scripture Department and his residence but could not find him."
"What... Deacon Kirk is gone? How could that be... He was still there when I left..." Listening to Anleifusi's words, Vanya said in surprise, while Anleifusi continued with a serious expression.
"According to the information gathered from questioning at the Historical Scripture Department, Kirk left there ten minutes before we arrived and has not returned. We believe he may have gotten wind of something and fled in advance. He is probably no longer in the Church District, and it seems he took a secret transmission belonging to the library with him. His whereabouts are now unknown."
Anleifusi said in a deep voice, while Vanya began to ponder in her heart.
'Deacon Kirk... He's probably already become Miss Dorothea's puppet... I hope she can keep her promise and return the Church's secret transmission after reading it...'
Vanya thought this, and then Anleifusi spoke again.
"Kirk's disappearance is very suspicious, Sister Vanya. Think carefully, have you disclosed any information about Kirk's problems to anyone else?"
"Uh... Well, Captain, after I discovered that Deacon Kirk might have a problem, I was very scared and didn't dare to tell anyone at all. It wasn't until today, when I saw Kirk attempting to enter the library using our joint letter, which might cause bad things to happen, that I finally decided to report it. During this time, I haven't discussed related matters with anyone else."
Vanya said this. After listening to Vanya's words, Anleifusi's expression became even more serious. Since Vanya, the reporting person, hadn't told anyone about Kirk... then how did Kirk get wind of it and escape in advance?
Such questions lingered in Anleifusi's mind. He thought there were three possibilities. One was that Kirk's original plan was to escape after stealing the book from the library, and Kirk's disappearance was just him acting according to his original plan. The second possibility was that Kirk had some Extraordinary item that could predict danger, and he fled based on the item's warning, but the possibility of this situation was not high. Extraordinary items related to divination and prediction involved the ""Lamp"" and ""enlightenment"", which were very precious and not something a middle-level Deacon like him, who was only Black Rank, could possess.
As for the third possibility, that was very serious. Kirk was likely tipped off by someone else, which is why he ran away. But according to Vanya's description, she only contacted the Judge when she reported, meaning the information could only have come from the Judge.
If that were the case, this matter would be very serious. An otherworld within the Judge of otherworld. If such a problem occurred, it would have to be reported to the Holy Mountain, and a large number of people would be implicated when dealing with it.
'It seems an internal review is needed later...'
Anleifusi murmured in his heart with a serious expression. Then he looked at Vanya again with a sharper gaze and continued.
"Your report has cleared a hidden otherworld danger for the Church. This is your merit, Sister Vanya. But before officially confirming your merit, there are some things I need to confirm with you.
"Everyone in the Historical Scripture Department has suffered mild Spirit Sight contamination due to the tampered instrument, but why were you the only one unaffected, and you even detected the existence of Spirit Sight and realized Kirk's strangeness... Can you explain these things?"
Anleifusi said seriously. Listening to his words, Vanya swallowed a mouthful of saliva, then spoke with some embarrassment.
"Uh... This might actually be related to my personal habits. When we in the Historical Scripture Department work, we all pray after studying the secret transmission for a period of time to eliminate the effect of Spirit Sight.
"As for me, I often feel a bit tired when studying. Compared to studying, I prefer to give thanks to the Holy Mother, so compared to others, I occasionally pray a little more and occasionally study a little less... So throughout the day, the impact of Spirit Sight on me might be a little less than on others..."
Scratching her head, Vanya said with a somewhat awkward smile. After hearing Vanya's words, the corner of Anleifusi's mouth slightly curved up, and he understood with a light chuckle in his heart.
'Saying it so indirectly, it actually means being too lazy at work, right? Using more prayer to be lazy, so the Spirit Sight impact is much less. It's a bit interesting.
'However, this Sister prefers praying to studying the secret transmission, which also indirectly proves her piety.'
Anleifusi thought this in his heart, and at this time, Vanya was also continuing.
"Because of my habits, the Spirit Sight I came into contact with might be less than others. In the evening, when I was eating with a colleague in the cafeteria, we talked about studying the secret transmission at work, and I felt that her speech was a bit problematic, so I realized that she might have been contaminated by Spirit Sight..."
Gentle reminder: The website is about to be revised, which may cause the loss of reading progress. Please save your "Bookshelf" and "Reading History" in time (screenshots are recommended). We apologize for any inconvenience caused!
"Afterward, I found a few more colleagues and found that they were all in the same situation, so I felt that our instrument had a problem and its anti-Spirit Sight ability had weakened. But the problem is that our instrument was clearly collectively inspected and repaired yesterday, so the instrument's problem is likely caused by the inspection."
"From that point on, I realized someone might have tampered with the instrument, and there were people with ulterior motives within the Church, but I wasn't entirely sure, so I never spoke out. I just prayed even harder in the time that followed, pretended to be studying when I was reading the secret transmission, and closed my eyes when I looked at the instrument... It wasn't until Deacon Kirk acted too abnormally this morning because of the joint letter that I started to suspect him..."
After Vanya finished speaking, she fell silent with a restless heart. After listening to her words, Anleifusi thought in silence for a long time, then spoke.
"Sister Vanya, I have sent people to investigate your background and recent situation, and found no issues. Combined with the fact that the situations you reported are all true, and no problems were found in the examination of you, your words have sufficient credibility.
"Observant, calm in the face of change, devout and firm... I am very glad the Lord has such an excellent servant like you, and very glad you are one of us."
Anleifusi said seriously, and Vanya immediately responded humbly.
"Not at all, as a servant of the Lord, I am far from excellent, there is still much I need to do..."
"You don't need to be humble about this matter. I said before, Sister Vanya, your report this time has cleared a hidden danger for the Church. For devout believers who have made contributions, the Church will not be stingy with rewards... Sister Anlei, I have finished asking my questions, it's your turn."
Saying this, Anleifusi looked at the old Sister who had been standing in silence for a long time. She looked at Vanya with a smile and said.
"Sister Vanya, the Archbishop is already aware of your matter. As a reward, the Archbishop has specially permitted you to be promoted to Intermediate Deacon."
'Promotion...'
Hearing the old Sister's words, Vanya blinked her eyes in disbelief. She had originally thought that if she could just get through this safely without being discovered, everything would be fine. She hadn't expected that this time she could actually gain a chance for promotion due to her merits.
"Th-thank you very much for the Archbishop's grace. I will definitely continue to dedicate myself and fulfill my duty to the Lord in the future."
Vanya said her thanks with her hand on her chest, and the old Sister nodded and continued to reply.
"Mm... I hope you will continue to work hard. By the way, since your ecclesiastical rank is being promoted to Intermediate Deacon, correspondingly, your Extraordinary rank will also be promoted to Black Earth Stage. You now need to choose one path from the paths of the Three Saints to be your promotion route. After you have made your choice, we will prepare the corresponding ceremony for you and help you accumulate the remaining Spirituality."
"Paths of the Three Saints?" Hearing the old Sister's words, Vanya asked with some confusion, and Anleifusi on the side spoke up.
"Heh, stay at the Historical Scripture Department, don't read until you're foolish. When you reach the Black Earth Stage, Extraordinary need to choose supplementary Spirituality to determine their future path. And the Paths of the Three Saints are the three optional paths for our Church's Extraordinary to be promoted."
Anleifusi explained, knowing very well that most of the Extraordinary in the Historical Scripture Department were tool-people used to operate instruments and study secret transmission, and it was extremely difficult for them to get a chance for promotion. Many people stayed there their whole lives at the rank of Apprentice, so many were not very clear about the Church's internal Extraordinary advancement model.
"Sister Vanya, to be promoted to the Black Earth Stage, you need to choose one path from the three paths by selecting supplementary Spirituality to be your future promotion route, and these three paths happen to correspond to the Three Saints."
"If you choose'Silence' as your supplementary Spirituality, then you have chosen the path of the Saint Father. If you choose'Shi' (Stone) as your supplementary Spirituality, then you have chosen the path of the Saint Child. If you choose 'Cup' as your supplementary Spirituality, then you have chosen the path of the Holy Mother."
"Unless there are some special circumstances, we will all choose our path based on our main faith. So, Sister Vanya, can you tell me which of the Three Saints you primarily believe in?"
The old Sister spoke in a gentle tone, and Vanya, after a slight pause, spoke.
"Since I was young, I have followed the teachings of the Holy Mother."
...
North Tivian Church, Green Shade Town, No. 17.
At nighttime, inside the study, Dorothy sat upright before her desk, seriously flipping through the secret transmission obtained from Kirk, a secret transmission that was originally stored in the Church library, which Kirk had painstakingly stolen.
Dorothy frowned as she looked at the text on the pages. She found the secret transmission before her very difficult to read, the reason being that this secret transmission was not written in prite language... at least not entirely.
The language used in this secret transmission was very close to prite language, but there were differences. Many words were extremely ancient, and Dorothy had only seen these words when reading ancient Prit documents in the Crown University library. However, this was not a purely ancient prite language article, because it also mixed in another language. Dorothy had some impression of this language; it was empire language.
In the poems of the Light King, and in the messages beside the mirror moon statue, Dorothy could see empire language. And at this moment, in the ancient secret transmission in Dorothy's hand, there were also many letters that were empire language. This seemed like a case of mixing ancient prite language and empire language.
No, it cannot be called mixed use, because the two languages in the secret transmission were not written separately, a section of ancient prite language here and a section of empire language there. The two were completely mixed together, as if the writer of the secret transmission was writing them as a single language.
Facing this situation, Dorothy, filled with confusion, also had a hint of speculation emerge in her heart.
"Perhaps... this is one language."
Looking at the series of phonetic letters on the secret transmission, Dorothy murmured, saying that the consistency shown between ancient prite language and empire language in front of her indicated that they seemed to be one language.
Or more accurately, prite language evolved from empire language, and this secret transmission was written during a certain period in this evolutionary process, which is why there is a situation where ancient prite language letters and empire language letters are mixed together.
"Prit script... evolved from Empire script? So... Prit was once the Empire referred to by empire language? The Empire created by the Light King?'"
Suddenly, such a thought surfaced in Dorothy's mind. However, she didn't rush to confirm it, but instead took out another book from beside her desk and opened it.
Inside this book was also a pile of phonetic letters. Although it wasn't prite language, there were many similarities between the letters used.
This book was a foreign book, a dictionary from Farano, a neighboring country separated from Prit by the sea, located on the Main Continent. Dorothy had borrowed it from the library, thinking she could learn some foreign languages to get new Dragon Roars.
Observing carefully, both Farano script and Prit script were phonetic scripts. Although there were differences between the letters, there were also many similarities, and even many words were similar, clearly indicating that they were two related languages.
And comparing Farano language with the empire language in the secret transmission, similarities could also be found... even the different letters in Prit script and Farano script seemed to have prototypes in empire language.
This means... if Prit script evolved from Empire script, then Farano script might also have evolved from Empire script. Empire language is the common ancestor of prite language and Farano language, two modern major languages.
"This means... Ancient Prit was not the Empire, but a part of the Empire... and Farano on the Main Continent was also once a part of the Empire..."
Dorothy murmured like this, then she looked towards the world map with three continents hanging on the side of the study, and focused her gaze on the Main Continent.
From the knowledge she had recently gained in the library and the news she had gotten from reading newspapers, it seemed that the various countries across the entire Main Continent all used more or less similar phonetic scripts. So, could it be that the languages of all these countries evolved from empire language?
Could it be that this entire continent was once under the rule of the Light King, and was the territory of the Empire he created?