Krafft's Anomaly Notes

Chapter 387 Silver Emblem
"What exactly are we looking for?" Brother Kanther urged his horse to trail at the back of the group, his exhaustion so palpable that he was practically pressed against the horse's back.

After several days of riding, his horse's hooves and boot soles were covered in dry mud mixed with stubble, and his robe was covered with a thick layer of dust resembling mountain mist. He carried less and less, yet he felt himself growing heavier and heavier.

Traversing scattered settlements nestled among rock walls and forests in pursuit of some indefinable goal was almost unbearable even for a traditional knight like Benny, let alone a monk without specialized training.

The physical burden is secondary; the mental torment is far more painful.

It's like being forced to read an extremely dry, incomprehensible, and lengthy monograph, with each page turn bringing a strong sense of disappointment, thinking, "Why isn't this the last page?"

“I’m not sure either,” Kup replied without turning his head, reining in his horse to slow down and turning onto the dirt road leading into the village.

Similar conversations have been repeated many times, and the topic is brought up almost every time a new settlement is visited.

Brother Kanther wanted to complain, but seeing Yvonne quietly riding past him, he chose to keep quiet—an adult can't be inferior to a girl, can he?

On the other hand, even Benny thought she was a good candidate for military service. She was taciturn, physically fit, patient, and good at enduring hardship. If gender were disregarded, she would probably become a knight that a commander could not refuse.

Of course, Yvonne was unaware of what others thought of her; she was pulling back the bridle, which was becoming increasingly uncontrollable, and forcibly turning the horse as it ran.

From a certain perspective, this can be considered a kind of riding talent. As long as you can control your mount, both strength and skill are acceptable.

The black warhorse she had personally chosen submitted to its master's will, turned sharply and rushed into the village, startling chickens and dogs running wildly along the roadside.

Its excessive speed propelled it forward for quite some distance, past the hastily dodging Kup, before finally coming to a stop at the church entrance.

This was quite a dangerous situation for a novice, but she was clearly no ordinary novice. After coming to a stop, she easily dismounted and looked at the church built of irregularly shaped stone bricks in front of her.

They arrived at perhaps the wrong time. The sun was setting, the church doors were open, and it was time for evening prayers. Most believers choose to pray in the last light of the day, and the priest might not have time to receive outsiders.

The four men tied up their horses and quietly entered through the gate. The rows of rough wooden chairs were empty, and there was no preacher in front of the altar, but hushed conversations could be heard from deeper inside.

As a matter of courtesy, Brother Kanther went first and tapped lightly on the back of his chair to signal that someone had arrived.

The conversation immediately stopped. Several villagers followed the priest out, who nodded to the visitors, mouthed "please wait a moment," and then turned to give the order:
“There is no need to worry. You should go back and rest in seclusion, and continue to pray as usual. The Lord will protect the devout and prevent them from being deceived by the devil.”

After speaking, he touched the foreheads of each of them with the newly lacquered wooden holy emblem, then broke off a short candle from the altar, handed it to the mother holding her child's hand, whispered two lines of prayer, and saw them out.

The figure in the white robe maintained the prayer gesture until the believers had gone far away and disappeared among the gray stone houses, then slowly breathed a sigh of relief.

He raised his hand to stop the group from having a bellyful of questions, and closed the door. "No rush, let's talk inside."

The church is not large and has a compact structure. Leaving the main hall, passing the confessional which has not yet been cleaned, there is a reading room that also serves as a changing room.

A long table occupies most of the space, and behind the cabinets is a narrow staircase leading to the second-floor storage room.

After the group hung up their robes and sat down at the long table, the priest served them his homemade medicinal tea, which smelled incredibly bitter.

"May the Lord's peace be with you. Please excuse the simple hospitality." He sat down opposite Brother Kanther and took a sip of tea.

"Please understand that people are in a state of panic lately, and I am also extremely busy. It is not that I am intentionally neglecting my duties."

"This year has been a very eventful one. Not long ago, two fellow believers came to visit. One of them suddenly fell ill, and a few days later, an accident happened in the village. The silver badge that my teacher left me also just happened to be damaged."

“It has not been easy for you to stay here for so long. The Lord knows this and will surely take care of you,” Brother Kanther comforted him. Maintaining such a small chapel is already difficult, and if an accident were to happen, the prestige built up over two or three generations could be ruined. The pressure on the priest could not be small.

"Sigh, perhaps God is testing me?" The priest ruffled his thinning hair, feeling a deep sense of gloom about the future. "By the way, do you all have something important to discuss with us?"

“Oh, no, not at all.” Kup continued, using his prepared explanation to obscure his purpose. “Actually, we just came from the monastery. The abbot wanted to understand the current situation in the parish, but the brothers who came before us had an accident, so it was our turn.”

"This time I'm not here to disturb business, just to look through some old books, ask about recent situations, and write a report to take back."

"What kind of accident were you referring to? Could you elaborate? If conditions permit, the monastery would also like to offer some assistance."

The priest said sadly, "Please thank the dean for me, but I'm afraid outsiders can't help with this."

"Oh, it's perfect timing that Sir Benny is here too. It seems you've come to the right person. He's probably already told you about the madness."

"Just last week, the eldest son of the basket maker's family on the east side of the village fell ill, and then the blacksmith fell ill too. Illnesses that we used to only experience once every few years have come one after another, and now there's no one to repair my farm tools and my holy badge."

"Fortunately, we were on guard and managed to stop them both, but now no one dares to go out alone. I don't know if there will be another one. If this continues, the entire harvest season will be disrupted."

Before the priest could finish speaking, Benny excitedly interjected, "You don't know this, but His Excellency the Dean is deeply favored by the Holy One. I personally witnessed him perform miracles to cure madness—without medicine. For mild cases, he only needs to touch the skull; for severe cases, he can open the skull and remove the mad stone..."

“Sir Benny, calm down, calm down.” Cooper quickly interrupted him. “Miracles don’t come without a price, and they also depend on the patient’s condition. If possible, let’s go see the patient first.”

A light shone in the priest's eyes, but it quickly died down. "Good, good news! If only it had come sooner."

"What does it mean?"

"Both patients died soon after falling ill. I did their last prayers. Their symptoms were very similar to those of the monk named Dominic: severe vomiting and delirium. But they were called by the Lord within a few days." The priest bowed his head and stroked the lacquered surface of the emblem, as if marveling at the arrangement of fate by the Supreme Will.

"Perhaps that brother was indeed protected, and was saved after enduring so many days."

"You mean, in this short period of time, in such a small village, there have been three cases, including Brother Dominic, and the latter two were particularly serious?" Kup's expression changed, realizing that something was wrong.

[A concentrated outbreak?]

"Please think back quickly, do these three people have anything in common, or have they been in contact with anything?"

The monk, the basket weaver's son, and the village blacksmith had no similarities in their identities and their daily activities were unrelated.

“That doesn’t make sense. They probably haven’t even met. Brother Dominic only stayed for a day; Dave’s son twisted his ankle and is resting at home, and I had to go and apply the medicine; the blacksmith hardly ever leaves his forge, so how could…”

His muttering abruptly stopped as the priest noticed Kup and Yvonne staring at him. He snapped, "You suspect me?"

Nothing is more hurtful than this kind of suspicion, accusing clergy of betraying their faith and murdering their colleagues and believers.

Kanser quickly jumped in to smooth things over: "No, no, no, there must be some misunderstanding. Cooper, you didn't mean that, did you?"

“We’ve known each other for a long time, there’s no way the priest could be involved,” Benny chimed in.

“Of course, we don’t suspect you.” Kup’s gaze traveled down the neck and stopped at the man’s chest. “But please recall if you have anything unusual on you that happened to be in close contact with any of the three people?”

Some... I'm having writer's block (∧｀)