Rhodes Island does not exist.

“We’re pretty close to the truth.” Skadi nodded. “The only thing you haven’t figured out yet is who the killer is.”

“Piece it together,” Skadi said. “Although you lack a lot of necessary evidence and clues right now, you might as well think about it yourself before I tell you the answer. After all, you seem to be someone who uses your brain to handle most things.”

"Since you put it that way, then I have no choice but to accept your unreasonable request for the time being." The doctor smiled wryly and began his reasoning.

“First, we can assume that when the Cardinal arrived in the outer square of the courthouse, there was no one around to witness his presence,” the Doctor put forward his first hypothesis.

"Why do you think so?" Skadi's tone remained calm, as if she were guiding rather than questioning.

"Because when I arrived at the suicide scene, there was no one around. However, when I was surrounded by the people who arrived later, I saw some ordinary guards dressed differently from the Punisher Army, and..."

The doctor calmed his thoughts and offered another argument.

“During the time of the cardinal’s suicide, the torture and murder inside the courtroom were also taking place simultaneously, and the doors to the courtroom were locked from the inside out, indicating that the courtroom was under active lockdown at the time—they voluntarily stayed in the courtroom, rather than being forced to stay inside.”

"So that means?" Skadi asked.

"Before leaving, the Cardinal ordered everyone to remain inside the courtroom and not move around. In a religiously superstitious environment like Iberia, no one would disobey his orders and would obediently remain inside until their death. Furthermore, I can find another argument regarding the claim that there was no one in the square just now."

"explain."

"When you were talking about the bubble-blowing punishment before, you mentioned something, right? You said, 'Many spectators really enjoy the crisp sound when the upper and lower jaws come together, calling it an instrument from heaven. So, when the church tries blasphemers who commit crimes with evil words, the courtroom is often packed with people.'" The Doctor said, looking at Skadi's back.

“Yes, I did say that,” Skadi nodded.

“The crime Levini committed was blasphemy, blasphemy committed with words,” the doctor said. “Therefore, the courtroom must have been packed this morning, with all the residents near the square acting as spectators—after all, who would stay outside and loiter when a play that everyone loves is being shown in a free theater?”

“That’s right.” Skadi acknowledged the doctor’s reasoning. “Now that you’ve reached this conclusion, can you also determine who the murderer is?”

"..." Faced with Skadi's question, the Doctor fell silent again.

Because he had no knowledge of the murderer whatsoever.

Of all the people who appeared in the whole incident, he only knew one bishop of the Cathedral of the End of the Sun, and not only did he have an alibi, but his actions were also driven by the cardinal.

No, no, no, the problem isn't with the alibi.

Where does it appear?

Hold on.

Skadi just mentioned Agor, who also appeared in the case, but Agor never actually appeared.

What is the bishop's race?

The doctor suddenly remembered.

A feather fell from the bishop's body yesterday when he was following behind him.

This means that his race was not Agor, but Liberi.

“Religious turmoil—have you heard of that term?” Skadi asked, noticing the Doctor’s troubled thoughts and pained expression.

"No, I've never heard of it. After all, the locals don't talk to me." The doctor shook his head.

“Now I’ll tell you,” Skadi said. “One of the reasons the Agors were ostracized and expelled by the Iberians was this so-called religious upheaval.”

"But they're gone now, aren't they?" the professor asked.

“That’s right. Thanks to the rapid response of Iberia and Lateran, the religious unrest was just unrest and did not turn into war. And thanks to their subsequent large-scale expulsions and genocides, the suppressed religious unrest has turned into the peace and stability we have now.”

“So you could say that 95 percent of Iberia today is made up of Liberians,” Skadi shook her head. “The rest are some foreign races and a very small number of Agors.”

“And these Agorians naturally include the Cardinals, right?” the Doctor said.

“Indeed.” Skadi nodded. “In fact, there is a deeper reason why the Cardinal was able to become a Cardinal in Agor’s capacity.”

"Because in the fight against the Agors, many of the contributions were made by the Agors themselves."

Chapter 102, Chapter 101: Deep Sea Tales - Part 37: Places of Sedimentation

A salty, fishy sea breeze blew in.

The doctor returned once again to the place he had mistakenly entered that morning.

The sea remained calm.

Shattered jade crashes against the shore, the green waves gradually die.

“I’ve heard about an event here called the Great Tranquility.” The professor stood on the edge of the seawall, gazing at the deep blue sea. “How long ago did that happen?”

"What is the Great Tranquility you've heard about?" Skadi didn't answer, but instead responded with a question.

“I…don’t know.” The doctor shook his head. “Because there are actually two versions I’ve heard, and I don’t know which one is correct.”

“Tell me about it.” Skadi took the greatsword off her back, casually stuck it in the sand beside her, and then stretched.

"The first possibility is that many ferocious beasts and monsters emerged from the sea and killed everyone here."

"The second possibility is that they go mad, see each other as the most evil monsters, and then kill each other."

Although the story he heard from the gray-haired woman was the second one, he also used the first one, which the woman had already rejected, as a possibility and told it to Skadi.

"So which one do you think is true?" Skadi looked at him.

"I don't know." The doctor bit his lip. "I've been receiving so much information lately that I'm starting to lose the ability to distinguish between what's true and what's false."

“Then don’t worry about whether it’s true or false, just believe what you believe.” Skadi walked up to the Doctor, her red eyes flashing with an eerie light. “Which one do you believe? The first or the second?”

"If I had to say... I'd be more inclined to believe the second one."

After a moment of contemplation, the doctor finally calmed down and made his choice.

"Ah, is that so?" Sensing the Doctor's tone, Skadi nodded slightly. "It seems you're not such a complete outsider after all."

"Actually, both of these stories exist."

She looked away from the doctor's face and turned to face the sea.

“The first story exists in the church’s narrative, but the second story… I’m afraid only the Agorians, whose bodies and minds have already belonged to the deep sea, could tell it,” Skadi said.

"And what about you? Which one do you believe in?" the doctor asked.

“I believe both,” Skadi replied. “And I also believe that neither story is the whole story, but only a part of it.”

"This……"

"Alright, stop standing on the embankment. Didn't you want to know the truth about what happened today? Let's go to the chapel and talk about it slowly."

As she spoke, Skadi drew her greatsword from the sand and descended the steps of the embankment.

The Doctor, carrying the still unconscious Levini in his arms, followed closely behind at a leisurely pace.

-

The smell of decay lingered.

The doctor returned to the dilapidated little chapel once again.

The only difference from the morning was that the gray-haired woman was no longer among them.

"Are you looking for that woman?"

Skadi took the greatsword she had just put back on her back, leaned it against the corner of the wall, and then casually found a chair to sit down.

"Yes, do you know where she went?" the doctor asked.

“She went back.” Skadi leaned back in her chair, her gaze briefly drifting towards the sea outside the door before returning to the room.

"Going back? Going back means..." The doctor probably guessed.

“She returned to the sea,” Skadi said. “Because she had achieved her goal and completed her mission, there was no point in her staying here anymore, so she went back.”

"Like those infected people whose brain lobes and white matter have been removed?" The doctor recalled what she had once told him.

“No, there are still some differences.” Skadi shook her head. “But you can think of it that way.”

"And what about you?" The Doctor looked directly into Skadi's red eyes. "Why did you appear before me? And why did you rescue me and say you would tell me the truth about what happened today?"

"There are many problems, but they are reasonable."

Skadi wasn't annoyed by the doctor's numerous questions; she simply nodded slightly in understanding.

“But we need to answer these questions in order. Let’s start with what you most want to know,” Skadi said, glancing up at the Doctor.

"Then the first question: why did you appear before me?" the Doctor asked. "Just because we bumped into each other at the Gate of Saints? Or was even that chance encounter a pre-planned event?"

“It was indeed a chance encounter, and my decision to help you was also because of this chance encounter,” Skadi nodded. “But there are also inevitable events.”

"what?"

“The fact that you and Levini will be imprisoned and await trial was a preordained inevitability,” Skadi said. “Or rather, Levini’s imprisonment was inevitable sooner or later, and you were just one of the chosen… random unlucky ones.”

"What's going on? What a loser!" The doctor was stunned.

He had imagined many scenarios for the cause of this incident, but none of them matched Skadi's "bad boy" comment in front of him.

“Levini’s current predicament… is not an accidental event.” Skadi looked out at the sea. “It’s a conspiracy that was planned long ago.”

"Whose conspiracy?" the doctor asked.

“Agor’s plot,” Skadi replied.

“Agor?” The doctor frowned. “Why Agor? He didn’t even show up in this incident, did he?”

“Of course I have.” Skadi shook her head. “Wasn’t that cardinal who died in front of you Agor the one?”

“But he’s already dead,” the doctor retorted. “Are you suggesting he was the murderer who caused all of this, that it was all his conspiracy? But why?”

“No, I never said that.” Skadi shook her head again. “But who says the person who does the deed is necessarily the murderer? Didn’t you understand that when you were arguing about the cause of his suicide?”

"...That's true." The doctor sighed.

“Do you remember what I told you before? In the fight against the Agors, many of the contributions were made by the Agors themselves,” Skadi said slowly.

"You also said that religious turmoil turned into the peace and stability we have today thanks to the expulsions and genocides from Lateran and Iberia."

“Mm.” Skadi nodded.

"So that means... all the encirclement and massacres against Agor were instigated by the Cardinal, and it was precisely because of these deeds that he became a Cardinal?"

The doctor slowly uttered a sentence that, if overheard in the city, would lead to his arrest by the court.

-

Thank you segment.

Thanks for the razor blade and spicy snacks, thank you.

Chapter 103, Chapter 102: Deep Sea Tales - Thirty-Eight: Decaying Compatriots

If an Agor were to rise to power by betraying the lives and souls of his fellow citizens and become the cardinal of the Iberian diocese, he would likely find no peace in the nights of the rest of his life.

Of course, this doesn't refer to feeling guilty, but rather to a genuine nightmare taking hold.

“This is the history of the current cardinal… or rather, the rise to power of the former cardinal,” Skadi sighed. “After the Great Tranquility, in order to quell the religious unrest that arose from it, he expelled fifty percent of the Agor from Iberia, arrested forty percent of them, and carried them all to a mass execution in the suburbs of northern Iberia.”

"The walls of the execution site, having absorbed too much of the flesh and blood of the Agorians, have become a blood-red, chaotic mess. No matter how much you wash them, you can't completely cleanse them. Therefore, this wall was later called the Wall of Flesh and Blood, a monument etched with the suffering of the Agorians," Skadi recounted in a calm tone.

"But you don't sound very sad, or rather, it's as if your feelings haven't changed at all from the beginning. Is it because you've gotten used to it?" the doctor asked curiously.

“No, it’s because I’m in charge of killing these Agors,” Skadi said.

"Kill... them?" The doctor was somewhat surprised. "I thought they were your compatriots."

“Only normal Agorians are my compatriots,” Skadi shook her head. “Or do you think I should throw you back into prison and wait for them to execute you?”

"What does this have to do with Agor... No, no, wait, what do you mean?" The Doctor seemed to finally understand something. Everything he and Skadi had mentioned in their conversation was now forming a coherent connection in his mind.

“Ah, that’s right.” Skadi turned her gaze to the Doctor. “Essentially, this is a revenge drama by the Agorians against the Cardinal, and Levini is the scapegoat they had already chosen.”

"And what about me?" the professor asked.

“You were a necessary condition for making her a scapegoat,” Skadi said. “After all, to make her commit a crime, there first needs to be a victim, right?”

"But since you knew this was going to happen, why didn't you stop it before it happened?" the doctor asked a rather impolite question.

“Why? Because the hidden killer will only be exposed after the incident.” Skadi shrugged. “Before that, I can only observe everything by blending into the crowd on Judgment Day.”

"So, you mean you were there when the chaos took place in the trial hall?" the doctor asked.

“No, the courtroom isn’t so easy to sneak into.” Skadi shook her head. “I can only stay until the trial officially begins, after which I’ll blend into the ranks of the guards to find the Punishers.”

"So, have you observed the murderer?" the doctor asked again.

“Although it’s hard to be sure, countless clues point to the same person, so it can only be him,” Skadi sighed. “Who do you think it is?”

"You mean the bishop of the Sunset Cathedral?" the doctor guessed at first, then looked puzzled. "But he's Liboli."