The Secret Code of Monsters.

Chapter 30: The Court

When he came out, Roland was silent.

The strange feeling on his wrists and arms still existed, making him feel uncomfortable all over.

Enid seemed to have guessed what had happened. She smiled and said goodbye, then led him straight out of the church.

"You probably won't be here for a long time."

Roland was just a little uncomfortable.

He did not want to think ill of an old and venerable bishop, nor did he dare to believe that some of the things he had guessed were not only written into the doctrine of mortal sins, but were also openly ignored.

And Enid just kept saying over and over that he wouldn't be here often.

Nothing else.

"You should have turned around and licked him just now."

"Maybe he'll die of pleasure."
-
I'm afraid he and I will have the same idea.

"…Ugh, you're disgusting."

Roland curled the corners of his mouth.

He could sense that Enid seemed to feel sorry for what he had gone through.

It was obvious that there were many things about the Holy Cross Church that she had not had time to tell herself.

Maybe she would prefer to see it with her own eyes?

"I heard some noises, ma'am."

"Everyone who is recorded in the Golden Book will hear it." Enid was not surprised by what happened to Roland. "That is a protection for believers. You will understand it when you learn about the strange objects."

Strange things...

Just now, the flames that devoured the sound...
-
Did you do something?

"I am the only one who can speak inside Roland Collins' head."
-
What an unexpected reason! You and my uncle are becoming more and more like each other.

"The same to you."
-
You have an uncle too?
"..."

Leave the church and get on the carriage again.

The sanctuary where hymns could be heard from time to time gradually faded away, leaving Roland in a trance.

In the past, he always measured distances with his feet.

Since when did it become a habit to take a horse-drawn carriage wherever you go?

"Maybe one day I won't be able to adapt to this luxurious life anymore."

Enid sat sideways with Roland, and the gentle but wintery wind blew across her cheeks, blowing away her frown.

“It’s easy for people to get used to good things, but hard for them to adapt to bad things.”

Roland admitted that she was right.

Who doesn't want to live a good life?

"The Inquisition will allow you to continue to live in luxury." The woman looked at Roland's hands on his knees. The long-term pressure, crushing and moving of the medicine box made the bones on the back of his hands protrude. "Besides, what is this?"

"You will become more and more prosperous, Roland."

Her words were much gentler than the wind blowing when walking slowly. Roland wanted to thank her in a businesslike manner as usual, but he found that she had already turned her head away and was staring at the pedestrians passing by on the side of the road.

"I should say at this point: Sister Bat, I don't want to work hard anymore!"
-
Please address Enid as 'Ms.'

"Ms. Bat, I don't want to try!"
-
Shut up.

After the two people stopped talking, the only sounds that filled their ears were the sound of wheels and horse hooves.

Roland felt that Enid's mood seemed to have become a little worse.

The entire journey was speechless.

She didn't speak until they were in the West End.

"Your uncle should hire someone to help." She suddenly mentioned Pushou Collins out of context, her deep, hoarse voice mixed with the wind, like the rustling of dry branches in winter.

"He got a hundred pounds, and he makes you do heavy work every day, doesn't he?"

Roland could hear the dissatisfaction in these words.

To be honest, he thought that Pushou Collins was good enough to him.

Even when he was carrying heavy medicine boxes and grinding herbs, he still had to learn to classify the herbs by touch and smell before going to bed every day - some of the herbs had a lot of thorns, which left holes on his hands at the beginning.

But it's good enough.

Roland was very satisfied.

But he couldn't tell Enid, "Uncle is good enough for me." Because Enid was also very good to him, very good.

He didn't know why he couldn't say that.

I just had a vague feeling that I couldn't praise Pushou Collins in front of Enid.

It's just a feeling.

"Some people are naturally cunning."

"I'm just about to quit this job, ma'am." Roland ignored the floating words and pursed his lips: "He is very happy that I can find a decent and well-paid job. He always praises you and says that you--"

Enid became interested: "What about me?"

"He said you were a good person, kind, elegant, and intelligent. He said he had never seen a woman as good as you." Roland did his best to speak well of his uncle.

In fact, what annoyed Puhu Collins the most was Enid.

He always thought that this unmarriageable and immoral woman had done something to Roland.

He also claimed that if they met again, he would definitely question her.

"Uncle told me to repay you in the future."

Enid looked at Roland with a half-smile: "Wait until you become a ritualist, Roland. I hope you won't be embarrassed by what you said today."

"…Miss?"

Enid didn't know if it was because of Roland's words, or... something else, but in any case, her mood became much brighter.

She directed the driver to turn into another road. The horse, exhaling white breath, shook its head and sped up at the driver's shouts.

"We're almost there."

Roland knew that the increasingly quiet sound in his ears meant that they were getting deeper and deeper into the West District.

It is strange that only the Inquisition is in the West District of Holy Cross.

“…because the Holy Cross is a general term,” Enid said, “even though we all surround the All-Father and Servant, there are some differences.”

The Holy Cross at the top is a big concept.

Below it is the "Church" that performs works of mercy throughout the country, the "Inspectorate" that works with the state to maintain order, and the "Tribunal" that handles special and major incidents.

Although they have the same beliefs, the rules they follow are very different.

Perhaps, it is not the Inquisition that is in the West, but the Church and the Inspectorate that are in the East.

"It sounds a bit complicated." Roland wisely told himself not to ask any further questions.

"It's not complicated," Enid rubbed her temple. "The Inquisition is responsible for a simple matter. I said before that we are all a group of pure people."

Enid is like that.

If all members of the Tribunal are like this.

"Then Roland Collins will be able to harvest a group of evil bats."
-
To be honest, I prefer the whales that Miss Nina once mentioned to bats.
-
They seem very cute.
-
If I lived in the ocean, I would often see these big guys.
-
I don’t know if the ritualists can live in the sea.

"whale?"

"The kind that sprays water?"
-
It seems to be possible.

"There are also some on land, so why is it so strange?"

Roland didn't understand.

Suddenly, he remembered something very important and blurted out: "Madam, we seem to have forgotten...?!"

"Ok?"

"Purification."

Enid smiled, looking at the anxious boy lovingly, and stretched out a finger from her sleeve, tapping Roland's forehead: "Don't you feel it?"

"In the Temple of Mercy - oh, that hall with the white elephant pillars. I saw you sneak in when you left. It's a purification ritual set up by the Immortals. It's been running for forty years."

"When you go in, that ritual is complete."

Roland was surprised: "That's what you said——"

"Yes, the designer and builder of that church spent forty years creating this miracle on earth, using it as a ritual object to open the door to immortality—"

"Christopher Ryan."

"The purification ritual set by that lord will never stop unless the entire church is destroyed."

When mentioning this immortal, Enid raised her two thin eyebrows and her words were full of awe.

"The Great Road begins with one ring."

“And those who reach the Ten Rings will be called Immortals by us.”

"It took him only forty years to push open that door..."

immortal person.

Literally, someone who is incorruptible in body or soul?
Roland thought about the first time he met Enid.

Those flames are as sharp and surging as thorns.

Will the immortal be more powerful than Enid?

"Some?" Enid laughed. "We are not comparable, Roland. Immortals can hardly appear in the waking world. They either accompany the gods and servants, or travel through the sleeping world..."

"They can no longer be called 'human'. I mean, in every sense of the word."

Roland was silent.

Ten rings mean immortality.

So the so-called waiter...

"The waiter and the immortal are different again."

It seemed that Enid didn't want Roland to understand the 'servants'. She tapped her thigh and spoke vaguely: "...they are 'things' that 'comply with the rules' and are 'recognized by the rules' and serve the gods. To a certain extent, they are not much different from the gods."

"If you are curious, you can apply to look up a name in the library—"

"The Golden Sister."

Having said this, she suddenly leaned forward and rang the bell.

The court is coming.

The carriage turned a corner and a hideous building gradually approached.

Yes, Roland thought that elegant, gorgeous, and spectacular were not enough to describe the appearance of the building before him.

Ferocious, most appropriate.

The building is painted in gray and black. The extreme Gothic corners and stone line patterns make it look like a giant beast hiding in the darkness, ready to devour its prey.

As soon as the horse's hooves came to a stop, Roland got off the carriage first, holding his cane, without waiting for Enid.

"It's not polite and gentlemanly enough."
-
I don't want to be carried out of the car again, that would be too embarrassing.

"You could have expressed it with words instead of behaving so disrespectfully."
-
In words? -
That's even more rude.

"Won't."
-
Tell me.

"'If you hug me again, I'll put my face under the horse's butt.'"
-
I really shouldn't have expected anything from you.

Roland walked forward with a smile on his face, stretched out his arm, and let Enid hold him with one hand while he held up his skirt with the other hand and stepped out of the carriage.

"You look like a real person now." The woman straightened his hat with a smile: "Come on, follow me."

Inquisition.

It's very quiet here.

'Only more ruthless means can fight against evil.'

He saw words carved on the stone slab above the door.

It was warm inside the building.

Adequate lighting.

The walls, like the majestic church before, are outlined with various intricate lines, and it looks like a story about punishing evil.

Or real history.

They met very few people along the way, and everyone was in a hurry.

Compared to the priests in the church before, the executors of the Inquisition were more or less solemn and murderous.

Enid took Roland into her office:

In the deepest part of the building.

There is only one path and a room with purple carpet.

Roland estimated that it was about ten times as big as the ones in his uncle's pharmacy?

Maybe fifteen.

The ceiling and walls were a mixture of black and gold, with oil paintings and some swords that looked well-maintained hanging on the walls.

On the slate of the fireplace was an irregular row of short, thick candles.

There are piles of books on the table, and...

Two hand-sewn white rabbit dolls.

When Roland came in, Enid happened to react: she instantly increased her speed and passed Roland in an instant, so fast that it even stirred up a gust of wind.

He walked to the desk, opened the drawer, and swept the two sewn dolls into the drawer.

Bang.

Close it.

Roland: ...

"..."

After she finished all this, she turned around and suddenly remembered...

Roland is blind.

"really."

Roland: ...indeed.

Enid: "Ahem... I just saw two moths."

"I was different. I saw two little white rabbits."

Roland nodded awkwardly and walked into the room with his cane.

"I will introduce a colleague to you. He will work in the Supervisory Bureau and you will be under his charge. We are far inferior to the Supervisory Bureau in handling 'miscellaneous matters'."

After giving the other person a casual jab, Enid smoothed down her scattered hair and tucked them behind her ears.

"From today on, I will give you an item with the criterion of judgment. You must carry it with you at all times, especially when you sleep. This will enable you to locate your coordinates more accurately and enter the kingdom of the Father of All Things... rather than other gods."

"Finally, I have to teach you a lesson. You are missing the most basic knowledge."

Roland: "It sounds like a lot of things?"

"Quite a lot, because you are missing a whole world of knowledge."

(End of this chapter)