Satanas Chapter 8.3 - Ribs

“Yes, the path is not difficult. Because it will be on the path you wish to take. This is all I can say to you.”

The parting of his lips itself became a sound. Just like his lips that would not part, he could not lift the eyelids that had once lowered.

“You already know.”

“…”

“I have delivered all of God’s words. Go down, Bell-red.”

The hand grabbing his collar and the lips whispering by his ear are vivid even with his eyes closed.

“You must go now.”

With those words, Bell’s eyes flew open. The place where he opened his eyes was the middle of a snowfield, met by a frigid wind. His limbs are submerged in the snow as he stares at the sunlight reflecting fiercely. A rugged mountain range that has not yet even passed winter, and there, even the gasping breaths became thick white vapor.

There is no carriage, and no Gabriel. He wonders if it was a dream, yet the body he raises is lighter than before when it had wings. In the hair fluttering in the quiet wind, a faint scent of lily remains. The body, having shaken off the snow, steps onto the Manchurian land of the snowfield, its direction uncertain. And yet, as if it clearly knows its destination, the feet that sink deep into the snow leave footprints on the path without a compass. Holding onto only one person in his mind.

My heart is in a single bound, but without wings, the journey is long and arduous.

If someone were to ask me where I am now, please tell them this instead.

That I am walking without knowing rain, nor snow, nor day, nor night, nor season.

Then maybe he will wait a little less.

🦇

“ありがとうございます, お客様。(Thank you, customer!)”

The hem of the velvet cassock, drawing closer to the cathedral, fluttered like a black butterfly taking flight. The package that arrived yesterday under the name of the Russian legation contained only a few items. Among them, Bell’s belongings were just a black durumagi, a cape coat, and a pocket watch. Tadeo had clutched them and wept with his entire body for a long time.

Even though the weather had warmed, the chilly air remained. It was due to the last throes of the cold, jealous of spring. In a sudden gust of wind, the sides of the open-sided cassock flapped back and forth. Grasping the handle of the sanctuary door as if it were the hand of the savior, Tadeo looked back before opening it.

It had already been five days since a flock of crows suddenly appeared and took over the sky.

“Good morning, Sabina. Is there still no news from Father Stefano?”

“Good morning, Father. No, there is still no news. The matter you went to check on….”

“It was not so. I only got my cheek slapped for my trouble.”

Sabina gasped at his words, which he said as if talking about someone else, and Tadeo smiled faintly as he took off his worn leather gloves.

From the day the king left the palace, strange things began to happen in Hanseong. The reservoir dried up, swarms of rats visited the fields, and livestock died for no reason. Would humans not be the same? Everyone on the streets said so and trembled in fear.

‘This is all because the country is on the brink of ruin!’ 

The words they all said in unison spread like a trend. Exorcism rites became frequent in Hanseong, and the number of people seeking shamans increased exponentially.

“They wouldn’t send her to a hospital simply because she was a woman. When I said it wasn’t a spiritual illness but a physical one, they slapped my cheek without a second thought.”

“In a world where even showing one’s body to a man from another family is frowned upon… there would be no woman who would personally seek out a strange foreigner….”

“The night before last….”

“Yes?”

“The night before last, a man was suffering from a minor skin disease, and the Japanese shaman they called said his hand had to be cut off and seared with fire.”

A face unable to conceal its horror contorted. Tadeo blinked his weary eyes and continued to speak calmly.

“That man lost his hand… and it became infected and festered, so he might lose his entire arm. That Japanese shaman took three mals of rice and several bolts of silk.”

“…Good heavens.”

“Now… I don’t even know what a real demon is anymore.”

All he could do was wander Hanseong day and night, searching for a clue. Things were in such a state, yet there was no sign of the demons that were said to have emerged from the jar. Tadeo thought that perhaps they felt no need to deliberately show themselves.

Because a world where humans more vile than demons run rampant was clearly showing ‘just how cruel humans can be’.

“Did you get some sleep?”

‘Meet me at Jonghyeon Cathedral. Tadeo.’ 

Bell always appeared in a cruel form and inevitably woke him from his sleep. Feeling that it was like a warning not to break a promise, Tadeo did not arrange for separate lodging. He stayed at Jonghyeon Cathedral, waiting for Bell and being certain. That our promise would soon be kept.

“I am fine, Sabina.”

Even the smile on his answering face was gaunt.

“Um… this might be a bit much right after you’ve arrived… but there is someone looking for you, Father.”

Sabina said, stepping aside.

“Hello, Father. I have taken the liberty of visiting you so suddenly.”

The place his gaze followed, led by the voice, was the very center of the main road heading to the nave. A woman of noble stature slowly turned her body. Beyond her oval face, an amber hairpin inserted into her hair glittered dazzlingly in the shaft of light coming through the stained glass. Her hair, styled in a chignon with camellia oil, was the picture of elegance, and her jeogori and chima, which looked expensive at a glance, and the jangot she wore over them, overflowed with grace.

“Please save my daughter….”

Just as the head that had bowed with a Capello Romano at its chest was rising, a desperate voice was delivered.

A carriage belonging to Jonghyeon Cathedral came down the Myeongnyebang hill. However, the sound of the horse’s hooves, which had been heading for Jongno, came to an abrupt halt before even clearing a single city block. The curtain that had been fluttering by the window also stopped moving. Tadeo, who had been sitting across from her listening to her story, sensed something was amiss and listened carefully.

“どいて, どいて! (Move, move!)”

Clack, clack, clack, clack. The sound of military boots in formation was not heard from a distance. The shouting was also close.

“ここは朝鮮人一匹も通れない。(Not a single Joseon person can pass through here.)”

“This is the only way to get home, why are you blocking it like this! Open the way quickly!”

Tadeo, whose eyes met the demurely seated woman’s, raised his hand to ask for her understanding. ‘I will check.’ He stealthily drew back the curtain covering the window.

“もう一度命令する。 命令に従わなければ直ちに発砲する。(I will command one more time. If you do not obey the command, I will open fire immediately.)”

“Speak in Joseon words, speak in Joseon words! Why are you not letting us pass!”

The street was being completely controlled. The street was a sea of people, with two distinct crowds: the Japanese army dressed in new-style uniforms and the people in white jeogori. Tadeo was watching from a not-so-distant position through a thin pane of glass. He was engulfed in the feeling of having become a bystander in an instant.

“What is going on?”

The woman, who had been observing Tadeo’s complexion, also drew back the curtain. Her face, coming closer, looked out the window and asked cautiously. All the Joseon people were frustrated and bursting with anger. Men who had left their homes and women with baskets on their heads raised their voices, but the soldiers who stood firm, blocking the way with bayoneted rifles, had closed their ears and mouths.

“Well, I am not sure either….”

Tadeo, shaking his head, closed his mouth. Instead, his eyes widened as if they would pop out. As a man with short-cropped hair stepped forward, undoing his baeja, the Japanese soldiers standing in a line raised their rifles.

“もう一度言う。 退かなければ発砲する。(I say it again. If you do not retreat, I will open fire.)”

“Why are you suddenly aiming a gun! We are just trying to pass through our own land and you arbitrarily…!”

Bang!

Flutter, caw, caw. At the gunshot that echoed through the city, all the Joseon people were startled and fell to the ground. The flock of crows that flew up swarmed in the sky. The stark contrast between those who did not even blink and the wave of white that collapsed was stark. The scene seemed to show in detail the difficult situation Joseon had been driven into.

Tadeo was still a bystander, with a small pane of glass between them. The bullet that escaped the muzzle lodged in a chest, staining the white baeja red. His trembling jaw made his entire mouth, which would not open, quiver. The fist, clenched together with the cassock, was turning white on his thigh.

“Th-th-those crazy bastards!”

“誰だ。 発砲命令も下さなかったのに。 (Who was it! I didn’t even give the order to fire!)”

“で, でも この朝鮮人がしきりに…。 (B-but this Joseon fellow kept….)”

The bullet they fired had surely lodged in an unknown Joseon man, so why did it feel as if it had lodged in my own chest?

The pain that broke his ribs and pierced his heart gradually turned into a scorching heat, melting his lungs, burning his throat, and surging up to his head.

“五日前, 不逞鮮人が貴賓館に爆弾を投げた。 (Five days ago, a rogue Joseon person threw a bomb at the state guesthouse!)”

“…What on earth are they saying? I can’t understand a thing!”

“その結果, 大日本の皇国市民が殺害された。 (As a result, a citizen of the Great Empire of Japan was killed!)”

A soldier with a sword walked out and continued to shout something. Not a single one of them apologized for the hasty, accidental discharge. The Joseon people, who had no way of understanding the words, could only prop themselves up on the sandy ground and dart their anxious eyes around. The foreign power that had crash-landed into their peaceful lives soon led to oppression.

“今から朝鮮人たちは体の捜索を受ける。 (From now on, the Joseon people will undergo body searches!)”

“What do you think you’re doing!”

“Wh-where are you putting your hands!”

Screams erupted from all over. People were dragged away, regardless of whether they were children or the elderly. Women had their short jeogori grabbed whole, and had to endure the humiliation of having their breasts touched. Even when fingers dug into their crotches under their skirts and deliberately groped their private parts, anyone who resisted or fought back had a gun pointed at them.

“F-first… I will tell the coachman to move from this spot.”

As the eyes of the woman watching the situation turned red, Tadeo said in a trembling voice. He was about to open his mouth towards the coachman while looking ahead.

“Why, why are you doing this!”

The carriage shook violently. The commotion heard from the coachman’s seat was dragged down to the ground. Through the spokes of the wheel, the coachman, thrown to the ground, was sending a fearful gaze.

And then the carriage door was flung open.

“おい。(Hey.)”

“…”

“お前も朝鮮人だろう? (You’re a Joseon fellow too, aren’t you?)”

The body that had been pressed close to the window almost tumbled out of the carriage. Click, after the unintelligible words, a gun barrel was aimed without fail.

Caw, caw. For some reason, their cries felt sorrowful today.

“いい言葉を言う時に降りて来い。(Come down when I’m asking nicely.) あのきれいな起集年と。(With that pretty wench.)”

More intimidating than the small muzzle was the tip of the bayonet, which gleamed with a cold blue light even in broad daylight. The dark pupils focus on the blade that approached as if gouging out an eyeball would be nothing. The cruel weapon that trampled on the pride of a nation moved to the woman sitting across from him. At the leering mouth visible behind it, Tadeo could not hold back and stepped in front of her.

“I am a priest from Jonghyeon Cathedral over there. Everyone here cannot understand what you are saying, so if you could find someone to interpret….”

“この汚い朝鮮人。 すぐ下りて来い。 (This filthy Joseon fellow! Get down here now!)”

“Kyaaak!”

At the terrifying threat, the woman covered her ears and screamed. However, Tadeo held his head high and opened his mouth again.

“I cannot understand a single word you are saying.”

The words he uttered were not French, nor English, but the language of his motherland, the Joseon language.

“Agh…!”

His hair was grabbed. They wouldn’t pull weeds this roughly. That was Tadeo’s thought as he felt the pain of his scalp being torn off and tumbled out of the carriage. The crucifix hanging around his neck clattered onto the dirt floor he was thrown onto.

“朝鮮人たちは一様に”ご飯の味”だ。日本語ができないのが自慢なのか。(Joseon people are all so disagreeable! Is not being able to speak Japanese something to be proud of!)”

“Keuk….”

Before he could even prop himself up and lift his dirt-stained cheek. The man who stood trampling his disheveled black hair with a military boot aimed his gun and threw a tantrum.

Caw, caw. In the sky, a series of wing-flaps, almost like a seizure, continued.

“これは… どういう騒ぎなのか。(What… is all this commotion.)”

Just then, a voice was heard along with the slow sound of horse hooves. The voice was languidly drawn out, yet it commanded the crowd. That point resembled someone, and Tadeo’s heart sank with a thud. Even though the perfectly mellow voice, neither too low nor too high, was markedly different from ‘his’.

“お前はまた何をするやつだ。(And who the hell are you!)”

“Well, look at this. Someone pointing a gun at me.”

Joseon words?

Though the accent was awkward, it was clearly spoken Joseon language. Tadeo snapped his head up. The sun high in the sky shone down, and for a moment his vision turned white. Dimly, his eyes, gradually adjusting to the light, blinked countless times and slowly lifted the light that had swallowed the scene.

Muscles with just the right amount of flesh, creating rugged contours, and the brown fur covering them. Phrr, the hand holding the reins of the horse snorting steam was incredibly pale. The afterimage of the light receded in polygons, slowly revealing his form. A soft black jacket like the glossy fur of a fine horse, a jewel-adorned necktie, a stubborn, unfolded wing collar, and….

Golden hair and blue eyes that reminded him of Bell.

“Bell…?”

Like an arrow drawn on a bowstring changing its target, the nose, sculpted by an artist’s hand, turned towards Tadeo. The golden hair swaying beneath the pressed-down top hat is so brilliant, like summer sunlight shattering on the sea surface, that his eyes ache. If it weren’t for the short, slightly curly hair….

The peak of empathy, born from the intense pain that filled his lungs to the point he could not breathe. On his bare face, unable to even show shock, thick teardrops rolled down. At those tears, the man’s smiling eyes vanished.

“Who is the one in command here?”

The golden eyelashes, where the last rays of sun fell, sparkle transparently. His lips, which had a moderate amount of color, were a faint pink. A sense of dignity was even felt in the words that came from between his lips, and though he was merely holding the reins and sitting on the saddle, the overflowing elegance dyed the surroundings in silence.

“ほ, ほしさま?! (Ho-Hoshi-sama?!)”

The man who had been wearing a sword and spouting incomprehensible words took off his hat and ran over in a hurry. The man on the horse looked at Tadeo once more.

“When one comes to another’s country, is it not proper etiquette to speak that country’s language?”

As their eyes met, the glossy blue eyes curved pleasantly. The young gentleman with blond hair and blue eyes was transparent like glass, but when sunlight passed through, he sparkled with a splendid luminescence. Who indeed is this person who has stolen the light of the sanctuary, which re-creates celestial mystery? Tadeo could only stare blankly at the man who was nothing but a mystery.

“誰がお前のやつに頭をもたげろと言ったのか。(Who said you could raise your head?!)”

“Ut…!”

The military boot that had been on his head pressed down with renewed force. With the crushing force, fine grains of sand dug sharply into his pinned forehead. The fingertips wedged next to his small head scratched the rough ground, drawing blood.

“あの者の名前は何か。(What is that man’s name?)”

Hoshi, who was watching this, opened his mouth.

“え…? (Eh…?)”

“私に銃を構うあの傍若無人な言葉だよ。(I mean that audacious one who aimed a gun at me.)”

In the soft and gentle tone, there was a captivating power. The merciless force that had been applied vanished in an instant, and the eyes that had been following a line of crawling ants shot up. The face that had been smiling brightly had suddenly darkened. The once-pretty eyes became sharper than a wave breaking against a reef, and Tadeo swallowed dryly.

He was not the only one who was tense. The Japanese soldier, belatedly grasping the atmosphere at the stern expression, darker than a shade cast by twilight, straightened his posture. However, the eyes that had met his could not be torn away, as if caught in an inescapable current. Cold sweat trickled down his temples and the muscles around his eyes were twitching.

“ゆ, ゆ, ゆるしを…。(Fo-fo-forgiveness….)”

The gloved hand eventually dropped the gun.

“そんな決然とした顔で許しを請うなんて美しくないよ。(It is not beautiful to beg for forgiveness with such a resolute face.)”

“…”

“栄誉ある割腹だけが最も悲壮で美しい死である。(An honorable seppuku is the only most tragic and beautiful end.)”

Tadeo felt a chill run down his spine. He could not understand a single word. However, the face confronting the suffocating fear was dying, turning ashen. Soon after, the Japanese soldier even wet his trousers. He stood motionless the entire time the ground was being soaked.

Hoshi dismounted from the saddle with a graceful posture. As the slow footsteps approached, Tadeo felt his neck stiffening.

“I have committed a discourtesy. Please forgive me.”

Tadeo, who had been sitting like a statue, flinched. A delicate hand with fair skin was extended before him. The almond-shaped nails and long fingers made the dreamlike night at the state guesthouse overlap. The hand that emerged from the fluttering hem of the dopo came to mind, making his heart feel complicated.

Every morning, he would check the mark on his chest, taking solace in the fact that he was still connected to ‘him’. He had wished for the time, which was ebbing away like the tide, to recede just a little more slowly. Then one day, this man who had suddenly appeared before his eyes looked so much like ‘him’.

Tadeo thought of it as a warning.

“You have no need to ask for my forgiveness. If an apology is to be made, it should be the Japanese army that gives it directly to the Joseon people.”

The eyes this man has are the same as the eyes you have, Bell.

Eyes of the dawn sky holding the morning star, or the eyes of the ocean. Within them, seawater or the wind may ripple, but that does not make him you.

The dirt-stained black cassock rustled as it fell. The unaccepted hand remained in the air. Tadeo, straightening his back, simply gave a short bow to the man who was a head taller than him. The black cassock, not even brushing against his clothes, moves away. The blue eyes, which had been staring only at his own hand, belatedly followed him.

“I would like to escort you safely on your way, would you grant me permission?”

“I am grateful for your words, but I will accept only the sentiment.”

Tadeo politely declined while helping the coachman up. It was when he placed one booted foot to board the carriage.

“Why did you shed tears upon seeing me?”

A wind that had shed a layer of cold in the fully revealed sunlight blew.

“…I suppose I was sorrowful for being trampled without knowing the reason.”

The booted foot he had hurriedly put down had to be brought back down as the sleeve of his cassock was caught. Then the wind, which had only been brushing around them, dug in between them. His soft black hair was tousled, and the hem of his open-sided cassock fluttered.

“I hear it often. That I look a lot like someone.”

“You do not have a common face.”

“Is that a compliment?”

Tadeo clamped his mouth shut. He simply kept his gaze on the hand gripping his arm. At that, Hoshi smiled faintly and stepped back. ‘Pardon my rudeness.’ It would be reasonable to be resentful, yet his cheeks, which had a faint glow like a white porcelain cup filled with alcohol, plumped up. Even in that image, Bell came to mind, and Tadeo, who had been about to close the door, stared at him blankly instead.

“Is there something you wish to say?”

Hoshi, who received his gaze fully, asked, adjusting his top hat.

“…”

“Father?”

His eyelashes, heavy with turmoil, settled over his eyes. When he opened his eyes again after closing them for a moment, the black irises gleamed like the surface of lacquered furniture. Tadeo swallowed a sigh and opened his mouth calmly.

“I must pass through this road, and it is my hope that the innocent Joseon people, including myself, may also pass.”

“I will endeavor to do that as well.”

Pewter-like sunlight seeped into the face that answered immediately. His curly golden hair, parted, becomes disheveled. Tadeo did not look at him any longer and shut the carriage door.

“道を開きなさい。(Open the way.)”

The face that turned to give the order was quite cold. However, there was no way Tadeo, who was stiffly staring straight ahead, could notice the man who changed as if moving between sun and shade. At the words to depart, the coachman shook the reins.

The clattering sound of horse hooves continues. The soldiers lined up in a row part into two to clear a path, and the old carriage enters between them. Even after passing through that path, Tadeo only stared at the swaying curtain drawn over the window.

One fateful meeting disguised as coincidence is enough, Bell, with just you.

🦇

The carriage crossing the low Supyogyo Bridge traversed the stream that began in the valley of Bugaksan Mountain. Upon entering the so-called ‘Bukchon,’ where the main government offices, Jongmyo Shrine, and Sajikdan Altar were located, tiled-roof house complexes of at least eighty kans each stood in rows.

Among the prestigious sadaebu families of Hanseong who lived congregated in Bukchon, the house of Councilor Lee, which was said to have a bountiful harvest of children for generations, was a place where the sound of exorcism rites never ceased, day after day. They were no longer in a position to save face, even if the rumors circulating in the streets were to cross the walls in front of their house.

“The house is a bit noisy.”

“Surely you are not holding an exorcism?”

“Is there any other way? If I had heard the rumors about you sooner, Father, I would not have called for one. It is to the point where even His Excellency, who so opposed having a shaman enter a sadaebu household, gave his permission….”

The palanquin that had been sent back had arrived in advance, so as the great madam stepped into the courtyard, the servants came running out. It was because they had already heard about the atrocities of the Japanese fellows near Myeongnyebang.

It was a magnificent house that looked to be well over ninety kans. The upturned eaves were as beautiful as a woman’s eyelashes, but at the sound of chanting scriptures that ran rampant from broad daylight, Tadeo automatically frowned.

“It has already been five days. We have been holding exorcisms for five days. But there is no sign of improvement.”

“Five days…?”

“The shamans who came before fainted, and they ran away without even receiving their payment for the exorcism.”

“Then what about the shaman now?”

“He is a male shaman who only travels to famous mountains to offer prayers, and he said he came all the way to Hanseong because the energy of the eight provinces was all disturbed due to the Japanese fellows driving stakes into the ground. It seems he is quite skilled, as it has been quiet for the past few days.”

Ha, how absurd…. A disbelieving laugh almost escaped before he sucked it back in. The detached annex in the rear garden where Councilor Lee’s daughter was said to be kept, as if in quarantine. Standing before the small door that led into it, Tadeo could not close his gaping mouth.

“You have locked her up? Even though it is not certain.”

“Not certain! What do you mean by that! I am afraid lest it reach the wrong ears.”

As if tying a straw rope was not enough, they had attached all sorts of miscellaneous things, from Daruma paintings to talismans. Looking around with a rough estimate, the stone wall surrounding the rear garden did not look old either. One could tell just by looking at the roof tiles, which shone like new in this house that must have been passed down for several generations.

“Father, it is two lives. Two lives depend on you, Father…. Please, save my daughter and the grandchild in her womb….”

Her forehead, under the part in her hair where the sunlight streamed down, wrinkled sorrowfully. Finally, her throat choked up, and a delicate hand wearing a jade ring covered her mouth. The great madam, turning her head to compose her emotions, pressed her otgoreum and looked at Tadeo pitifully.

Ha… if you want to save a person, you should call a physician. Tadeo swallowed the words that were about to pop out of his mouth and opened it again.

“I will take a look first. Please open the door.”

“What are you all doing. Hurry up and open the door.”

The door was opened by a hand unlatching the bolt, and the backyard revealed itself. As the wind blew into it, it seemed to lead the steps that entered, taking the lead. The camellia flowers blooming in clusters were red and widespread, but the way they fell in showers was as delicate as if sprinkling fresh blood. Watching the shaman who sat behind a folding screen performing an exorcism with narrowed eyes, Tadeo stepped into the garden landscaped with juniper trees.

“Impurity of heaven, impurity of earth, impurity of the original house….”

Yooshin, who sat with his robes spread like an immortal sage chanting scriptures, slowly opened his eyes. The sound of footsteps that had been heard in time with the beating of the drum stops. The detached annex, trapped in thornbushes that were only missing roses, must have caught his eye.

What kind of expression would he have before that energy, which flaunted its existence by being utterly desolate even under a clear sky. Indeed, what kind of man was the one that woman was looking for.

“Dog, chicken, cow, horse, metal, stone, water, fire, earth, rock, person….”

The hand holding the drumstick propped itself on the mat as he slowly rose. The chanting, which had sounded like a wail as he intoned it like a song, ceased, and Yooshin turned his body around.

“…”

“…Why are you staring at me so intently?”

The changed flow of the wind swept past the wall and rustled the thornbush. The sound of the thorns rubbing against each other was eerie, and Tadeo glanced once at the annex. Still, the fixed gaze remained, and he furrowed his brow.

“The young lady’s words were true.”

Only when the swaying silver-white durumagi had settled did Yooshin open his mouth again.

“What was?”

“You will know when you go inside. The one who sought you was the young lady, and the one who asked the madam to call for you was me.”

What is this again. He keeps saying things that cannot be fathomed, so I can only remain still.

From his voice heard at a distance, I had guessed he would be of a high age. However, the shaman seen up close was a very young man. His hair, parted and slicked back with pomade gel, was so stylish that one would have believed him if he said he was a student who had studied abroad in Tokyo. He had such handsome features.

“Will you go in? Or, will you have a word with me before that?”

The choice Yooshin gave was difficult to make readily. As Tadeo only fidgeted with the brim of the Capello Romano in his hand, Yooshin, who glanced at it, let out a deflated laugh.

“Since there are watching eyes, how about we move over there.”

“I have not even answered yet.”

“You are curious. The things I surmise are correct ten times out of ten. How about it, am I wrong?”

The manner in which he strutted as if he had seen right through my thoughts, let alone his way of speaking, was offensive. After he finished speaking, Yooshin’s gaze was slanted away. It was directed somewhere over his shoulder, so Tadeo also stealthily turned his head. He could see the great madam standing outside the wide-open door, not even having taken off her jangot.

“Let me say this in advance, I do not believe what you say. Of course, I do not believe in that ‘god’ you serve either.”

The eyes, which had seemed only pretty, were for some reason cold, and the head that turned back looked at Yooshin, who was a few steps away.

“Where would be a good place to go and talk?”

The two heads passed under the cloud-shaped candlestick. Their steps, circling the tiered stone base supporting the annex and passing the corner pillars, were side by side for a while before going a little deeper and stopping. In the shade of the wall’s corner, as the scent of sun-dried earth vibrated, Yooshin suddenly spoke.

“She was originally the child of a butcher.”

“Pardon?”

“I mean the young lady in there. She was originally the child of a butcher, but this family had no children, so they adopted her.”

“And so?”

“But, she was clearly a boy. Then at some point, she became a girl.”

As he turned his body, rubbing the sole of his shoe, the sound of the dirt floor grinding against sand grains was audible. Tadeo was frowning.

“Are you telling me to believe that right now?”

“So I am saying she was originally a girl.”

“They adopted her without even being able to distinguish between a girl and a boy?”

“It seems they did not go so far as to take off her lower garments and check. She looked like a boy from every angle. Her voice, her mannerisms, everything. Just perfectly.”

Yooshin said, stroking the tip of his chin. He had a deep frown on his dark eyebrows as if he had opened his mouth after deep thought. That appearance, being so slick for his age, made him rather suspicious. What kind of trick is this now. Tadeo’s narrowed eyes swept over the railing of the veranda once.

“Is it not strange? That they would leave a butcher’s child, and a daughter at that, be.”

“What is strange about it. Surely you are not trying to say why did they not abandon her even after finding out she was a girl?”

“That is right.”

“You are truly an unbearable person.”

“For about eight years, they raised her preciously, thinking she was a boy, and then she had her first menstruation, and at some point, her belly began to swell. And that from a young maiden who had never even met a man. It is as if she was trying desperately not to be abandoned after having been hidden away so tightly.”

Yooshin was unconcerned even by words that bordered on curses. He crossed his arms, which had been stroking his chin, and took a bold step forward. The shadows drawn on the wall overlapped into one, and Tadeo took a step back. It was after that that the subsequent words, spoken after a pause, brushed past his mind.

“To my ears, it sounds like… they cannot abandon the daughter because of the child in her womb.”

“It is good that you are quick on the uptake, Father.”

Now we are finally getting somewhere. The smiling lips even laughed out loud. Yooshin stepped forward again with his Taesahye shoes. The shadow overlapped once more. He was unpleasantly close, with their faces especially near. When he looked forward again, the face, devoid of laughter, was right in front of his nose.

“What are you….”

“Look here, Father. I do not think that woman is an evil spirit.”

His eyebrows were furrowed just like before, but this time he looked quite serious. So Tadeo could not move his sealed lips.

“Why, is the ‘God’ you believe in not also a person born from the womb of a virgin?”

“…I know you are knowledgeable, but there should be a limit to imagination.”

“If not for that, then why!”

Tadeo flinched his shoulders at the suddenly raised voice. On the face that was thrust forward as if to press their foreheads together, clutching both his shoulders, he could even see a single strand of baby hair flowing down like a willow leaf.

“They would have thrown her out long ago, so why! Why have they locked her up in a solitary room like that, is what I am saying…!”

“…”

“There is no seed in this house. No seed to carry on the family line.”

Now Yooshin was speaking while shaking the shoulders he held.

“That madam cannot conceive. I thought I was called to cure a spiritual illness, but it was not that.”

“What?”

“That madam of this house does not care whether that woman lives or dies from a spiritual illness. It means that as long as the baby in that womb is saved, it is fine!”

“She clearly asked me to save her daughter.”

“She said so to me as well. She probably said so to every shaman. Why? Because the baby in that womb has to be born!”

“Then is it not urgent to call a physician first. Why are you calling me? And what do you mean that woman was looking for me!”

The lips placed right before him twisted and curled inwards. The lower lip, bitten by his front teeth, turns white. Tadeo, who saw with a side glance that the two hands placed on his shoulders were clenching into fists, roughly pushed Yooshin away.

“Let go and talk.”

“Father, I understand you think I am a crazy man, but you have to believe me.”

The pushed-back Taesahye shoes may have faltered, but they showed no sign of retreating. The pushed-back shadow overlaps again. The sun beating down on the crown of his head was so hot that he could feel in detail even the bead of sweat flowing down his sideburns. Yooshin, who had been thumping his own chest, pointed to the annex and dropped the final bombshell.

“There is no baby in that womb. There was nothing there from the beginning.”

“…You are a complete madman.”

“Because I saw it clearly with my own two eyes. That belly of hers deflating. What can I do when the Buddha I serve in my heart says so too.”

He said, repeatedly making a gesture of poking his own eyes with his spread index and middle fingers.

“She said she must meet the one who is walking without knowing rain, nor snow, nor day, nor night, nor season.”

“…”

“While asking me to call for you.”

His wide-open eyes turned to the lonely, temple-like annex. The booted feet that ran out of the narrow back alley strode up the tiered stone base. As soon as the feet, with shoes removed, stepped onto the slippery wooden floor, Tadeo mercilessly tore away the talismans and thornbushes blocking the door.

‘From Jonghyeon Cathedral, Moon Tadeo. It is you, isn’t it.’

His senses grew dull at Yooshin’s voice ringing in his head. Not even realizing that his hands, pricked by small thorns, were stinging, he threw open one of the door panels. Inside were things that had disappeared like the wind, without a name. The desolate, wandering wind, dried and crumbling rose petals, and vines that grew thick, casting a net. So enormous, yet what did they eat to grow so devoid of life?

The interior vibrated with the scent of roses that bewildered the mind, and the sound of footsteps treading on the dark, forest-like floor was hushed. What is the identity of this woman who knows of my existence despite having been confined for nearly five months? Tadeo gripped the bag of holy relics he had brought tightly in front of the door. And he opened the paper-screened window, through which the sprawling rose vines were visible.

“…”

There was the sound of a leather strap being grabbed, twisted, and stretched. The growth of life, happening right before his eyes. The rose vines, which reached to the ceiling and rested on all sides, were growing with a creaking sound. The floor, pierced by the stems of the bushes, shook, and dried mud trickled down from between the rafters and laths.

In that place, where not a single handful of sun could enter, a woman in the final month of pregnancy lay nestled in a nest. That nest was strikingly similar to the crown of thorns that the Roman soldiers had pressed deep onto Jesus’s forehead as He climbed the hill of Golgotha.

“…What is your identity.”

Are you merely a fragile human desperate for a helping hand? Or….

“What is your identity that you know me, and that you confine yourself with these things that resemble the mark in my heart.”

Are you Satan disguised as an angel? If not that….

The suffocating time passed in a flash. In the facial features set on a pale complexion, one could even feel transcendence, nonchalance, and finality. A cluster of clouds passing by covered the sun for a moment. The shade cast over them deepened a little more.

“Do not doubt.”

When distrust was swelling in the weighted silence, the woman’s mouth finally opened.

“Doubt is sometimes the most dangerous thing. Because it harms faith.”

“…”

“It was something that child, Peter, used to say as if it were a meal, so you would remember it, of course.”

🦇

At the same time, at Jonghyeon Cathedral.

Sabina, clutching his skirt, ran up the steeple stairs in a hurry. The closer he got, stepping on the stone stairs that spiraled and narrowed, the closer the ringing of the telephone became. When Sabina first heard the telephone ring, he had doubted his own ears. His two feet, which had been climbing one step at a time, were soon leaping up two steps at a time. The telephone, which had no reason to ring as there was nowhere for a call to come from, was a welcome guest in this sanctuary, where even foot traffic had become sparse.

“Yes, yes! I am coming, I am coming!”

Sabina shouted, pushing open the door to the bishop’s office.

“…”

However, before he could even step inside, all his movements stopped. The door that had opened slowly closes. Thud, Sabina slammed the door panel with his palm and opened his mouth.

“What… are you doing right now?”

The telephone that had been ringing so shrilly had stopped.

“Who are you? Who are you to be rummaging through the drawer of the former Bishop Peter.”

Instead, there was an uninvited guest. In the name of the Lord, there would be no uninvited guests or strangers, but it is a different story if it is an intruder.

A shabby yellowish-green wool coat, layers of old quilted jeogori worn one on top of the other, a slouch hat pulled down so low that the bridge of his nose was barely visible. The shabbily dressed man slowly straightened his back. His tall, slender frame was silhouetted against the sunlight. The man, who should have looked even more filthy, enveloped in dust floating like a sandstorm, even looks a little mysterious.

“Could you be that… person I’ve only heard about?”

“I asked who you were first.”

“…It cannot be. That person is a priest.”

Even though Sabina cut him off without hesitation, the man stubbornly said what he had to say. As he lifted his chin slightly, the dark shadow that came down to his cheeks receded, revealing two large, triangular nostrils. The English he spoke with a peculiar pronunciation made his nationality unclear. The clipped, strong accent was reminiscent of some country in Western Europe.

Who is he. A vagrant from the streets who has become Jean Valjean? Or….

“If you have no intention of answering, then leave. Before I call for people.”

“I know that no one will come no matter how loudly you shout here.”

“…What did you say?”

Is he a villain disguised as a vagrant?

It was when the ticking of the clock’s second hand was digging into his ears to the point of a headache. The man took off his hat. With his identity revealed, he looked even more like a vagrant. His shoulder-length, tawny brown hair was exceptionally thick, and the beard that covered his chin, philtrum, and sideburns was bushy. A large aquiline nose and deep-set eye sockets, thick double eyelids. However, his two eyes alone were somehow different.

The eyes, which exuded experience, held a forest that was dimly brightening.

“I am a priest who was investigating the ‘Rosicrucians (Rose Cross Order)’ with Peter in the South Sea.”

“This is the first I am hearing of it. I have not heard any explanation about you from Father Peter.”

“That is because I….”

“Do not lie. There, in front of the Lord’s cross.”

The words, cut off without any excess, gave birth to another silence. For some reason today, the leisurely flowing clouds covered the sun and showed no sign of passing. The man nodded his head and then opened his mouth again.

“Doubt is sometimes the most dangerous thing.”

“…”

“Because it harms faith.”

The reason Sabina became as mute as a clam could be found in the words that followed.

“It is what that friend, Peter, says as if it were a meal. How about it, will you believe me a little now?”

It was indeed what Peter had repeatedly emphasized. Faith is steel, trials are the harsh heat and hammer, and the cooling water is oneself. His philosophy, which had become a habit from constantly tempering himself, had not only influenced Tadeo.

“Peter, that noble and pure name. Why did Peter take the baptismal name Peter? He was a friend who knew himself better than anyone. He was a friend full of doubt and jealousy.”

“Do not insult the Father.”

“Listen more. Why does the inverted cross symbolize Peter? Usually, exorcist priests often encounter the inverted cross. Of course, I have never seen one. I am not an exorcist priest. Then why do demons use the inverted cross? To deny the Lord’s authority? Hmm, that alone is a little insufficient.”

Sabina’s expression grew more and more contorted. His frantic gestures, his seemingly rambling way of speaking, his voice that seemed to float in the air. All of these things made Sabina sigh automatically.

“Peter, the apostle of God, denied the Lord three times before the cock crowed after the Lord was captured. He not only denied but even hurled curses. If not for Judas, he would have more than become the symbol of betrayal.”

“I do not want to hear any more.”

“Still, listen. That is why Peter chose the baptismal name ‘Peter’.”

The hem of the skirt that had been crumpled in his fist dropped. The twitching fingers soon met the hand wearing a rosary ring and intertwined. Sabina, fidgeting with his fingertips, briefly recalled that eccentric Peter.

“Because he knew himself so well, he modeled himself after the Peter in the Bible and controlled himself. He is a truly wonderful friend.”

“…”

“Now! Since I have given you faith, you must do something for me too.”

Startled by the sound of clapping hands, Sabina blinked his eyes wide.

“The painting that Peter had. Where is it now?”

“What if I do not want to tell you.”

“Would it not be too late to regret after the cock crows?”

Jurgen said, rubbing his heavily calloused hands together so hard they could start a fire. Ho, ho. His face, warming his cold hands by blowing on them, is guileless. As Sabina’s lightly fluttering eyelashes brushed away the dust, the sunlight that seeped through the skylight, dressed in colorful clothes, settled in its place. After hesitating, biting his lip, he soon turned his steps towards the bookshelf.

“I do not even know who you are!”

Contrary to the hand scanning the bookshelf, a nervous voice shot at Jurgen. At those words, Jurgen shrugged his shoulders.

“I just explained everything!”

“We have not even exchanged names.”

“Feel free to call me Jurgen.”

“So you were German. Like Father Stefano.”

Sabina reached his arm up to a spot about two heads’ height above him. His fingertips barely touched, so he had to lift his heels as well. The envelope that had been placed in the narrow gap between the books came into his hand.

“Stefano? Who is that again?”

“It is a Rosary… anyway, there is something like that. You found the painting Father Peter had.”