C103: Conspiracy of Winterin

Arnold ran his gloved finger lightly across the surface of an old leather notebook resting on the cluttered table.

Inside his mind, Izzy tapped her chin, leaned on the Theatre, preparing to study this secret chamber.

With Field Vision active, Izzy had already filtered the materials in the room, separating suspicious notes from irrelevant church textbooks.

She could have moved the books freely, but she must remember to put them back exactly as Arnold found them. Since what they were doing was essentially spying on another's secrets, they couldn’t risk Victor noticing that someone had moved a book, and suspicions could arise.

As for remembering the exact location of everything, Izzy left that to her young mind.

‘Yes, captain Izzy!’ Isa giggled brightly in the mindscape.

Controlling the male vessel, Izzy carefully opened the leather notebook on the table with the gloved hands.

The first visible title was written neatly at the top.

[“The Rite of the Moon Maiden”]

Below it:

[“The Rite occurs once every ten years. Each Rite, we choose a Moon Elf as an offering to Her Majesty. The entire process is overseen by the Moon Maiden. The Moon Elf shall bring forth the harvest, the blessing of the Moon, and pleasant dreams."]

She turned the page, and her eyebrows raised in surprise.

[“However, the true countenance of the Rite is not solely to receive the blessing. It is a process of ascertaining whether Her Majesty is still alive.”]

‘What?’

[“Only if Her Majesty is alive can the Moon Maiden possess strength sufficient to ward off the vile beast!" ]

A loud heartbeat thundered inside Arnold’s chest, resonating together with Izzy’s.

‘The vile beast, it hasn’t died! ’ An alarm flared in Izzy’s thoughts.

She had anticipated some secrets, but not to this extent!

This changed the whole new look she had of the forest!

‘I’ve just been very lucky all this time?’ Izzy had never encountered anything truly dangerous inside the forest.

‘Did my previous iteration get killed by it?’ That possibility was disturbingly plausible.

She continued to the next page.

["The existence of the Moon Maiden is essential to the village. And the existence of the village is essential to stop the beast from approaching the city."]

‘The Moon Maiden’s duty is to block the beast from reaching the city.’

That seemed about right. Izzy noted this crucial piece of information inside her mindscape.

[“The Rite is important. With the Moon Elf as an offering, we can establish a path, a connection between the Moon Maiden and Her Majesty, The Moon Monarch.”]

‘We? Why the sudden change in subject pronouns?’

It was as if Victor were writing to himself as a diary, rather than a general note description to remember.

[“We shall exploit this loophole. The greater the offerings, the stronger the connection.”]

[“If the connection is strong enough, even the Moon Monarch, in her weakened state, shall have difficulty forcibly cutting off the connection!”]

Arnold’s hands trembled. Inside the mindscape, Izzy felt a cold dread crawl down her spine.

She swallowed her saliva and, with trembling fingers, turned the page, continuing to read.

[“Unexpectedly, ten years ago, the Rite failed to meet its purpose. The Moon Elf died in the fire; the hag even sought to drag her own daughter down with her.”]

‘Ten years ago, Fire, A Moon Elf died.’

The writing grew more jagged.

Izzy steadied Arnold’s trembling hand and read the next entry.

[“Amanda refused to arrange another Elf to participate in the rite. Perchance she suspect something." ]

["Selfish wench! Does she not comprehend how vital it is to secure the connection? Had she heeded us, she would have been freed from that weakling! Why does she not understand!" ]

“!” Izzy stiffened.

Was this really written by the same gentle, composed Father Victor she had met? Or was it someone else writing this?

The tone certainly had become petty and venomous.

‘So much for holy decorum.’

This holy Father certainly cursed a great deal more in private than his pious public persona would suggest.

As expected, one could never trust his façade.

[“Fortunately, that muttonheaded rascal saved the girl on time.”]

["He was impossibly dense. He possessed not the slightest inkling that he had placed his own daughter upon the table. Why did Maria take his hand? It is complete nonsense!”]

‘Rascal. Maria. Daughter.’

‘Who?’ Izzy knitted her eyebrows. She used Arnold’s hand to turn another page, her face draining of colour upon seeing the next entry.

[“Mary. The next suitable Moon Elf.”]

Mary.

‘So the girl is actually the next Moon Elf.’ Izzy certainly had not expected that.

Who would have thought a random kid she met on the street was actually a significant one?

["The time is approaching. Amanda has at last succumbed to our control. Should Mary wholeheartedly consent to be the Moon Elf, then it is but a matter of time before we secure the connection with the Moon Monarch..." ]

Izzy swallowed.

The ink grew darker.

[“For our Lord take her place!”]

‘This…!’ Her breath hitched.

‘Our Lord?’

‘Who was that?’

‘What does it mean by “connection”?’

‘What is that “place?”’

Several questions flared through Izzy’s mind. Her thoughts spiraled, dread settling deeper in her chest.

She suddenly didn't want to turn the page any longer.

‘Why are we going from ritual description to this dark conspiracy all of a sudden!’ she screamed internally.

What if there was another, even darker secret lying in wait on the next page?

‘This is too much!’

‘Too much!’ Isa imitated her, her voice echoing Izzy’s horror.

Izzy had initially assumed this was simple corruption, where the greedy priest hid away his earnings and had fun with his money.

She had never, ever thought it would be something like this.

‘Just my luck…’

Why did she have to deal with this?

What was she supposed to do with this information?

Learning that the vile beast still roamed somewhere was unsettling enough. Izzy now strongly suspected that their previous iteration had died at its hands.

But the notebook did not stop there.

‘Should I just leave, pretend all of this never happened?’

‘Izzy?’

Izzy turned another page.

This time, there were no paragraphs of writing. Instead, the pages were filled with small portraits, they were carefully arranged across the paper, like a class album or a registry book.

It contained a great many faces. Izzy’s eyes widened when she recognized familiar faces.

‘Alex. Buster. Finley. Lera.’

They were all the children Isa had played with this morning. They were also the ones who had first approached Arnold to wave goodbye.

Across each portrait were two stark red diagonal lines, an X mark.

Beneath each image was a small note, written in red ink.

[“Sold to the Golden Trader.”]

‘Golden Trader? Who is that again?’

Izzy could feel goosebumps rising on the Male Vessel she was controlling.

‘No!’ Isa shouted in their mindscape, her voice laced with horror. But Izzy did not have the mind to comfort her.

She turned the page. Again, more pictures of other children came into view, each with a red cross on their picture.

And the same, identical note about the “Golden Trader” underneath.

[“Sold to the Golden Trader.”]

[“Sold to the Golden Trader.”]

[“Sold to the Golden Trader.”]

…

This old leather notebook had ceased to resemble a diary. It had become more or less a record. A kind of ledger.

She turned another page.

This time, the format changed.

There were no more red crosses, only large red circles drawn around certain portraits.

[“Suitable for the Moon Dancer role.”]

[“Suitable for the Moon Knight role.”]

[“Suitable for the Moon Maid role.”]

“...”

Once again, this notebook had become a catalog, like a morbid market book for a customer to choose their wares. Izzy felt a wave of nausea.

She turned the page.

Her gaze fixed on a long line of notes appeared under a particular portrait.

[“The damned golden little shit hates the little guy, even though he be better suited for the Moon Knight." ]

The picture showed a handsome little boy with black hair and tan skin. He smiled brightly, waved a little stick to the sky, unaware of everything happening.

‘…’

Izzy’s jaw tightened. Her gaze moved further, and finally reached Mary’s portrait, the little girl with the braided brown hair.

[“Suitable as the Moon Elf. Main ingredient for the ritual to secure full success.”]

‘Main ingredient.’

She had been dehumanized to be an ingredient.

‘Sickenly bastard.’

Next to Mary’s portrait was Vine’s.

[‘Alternative to the Moon Elf role, though prone to failure. That little shit ruined her purity before the Rite. Filthy bastard, ever governed by his base lusts!"]

“...”

And next to her portrait, the picture of Bennet, the handsome brown-haired boy…

Izzy frowned.

This boy… was the only one who did not have a note underneath.

*Clop.*

Suddenly, footsteps, the sound of boots striking on hard wooden flooring echoed through the puppet Isa had stationed in the church above.

‘Izzy, Someone is here!’

Izzy jolted as Isa shouted in their sharemind. She instantly connected herself to the mouse.

Through the mouse’s eyes, Izzy saw a figure walking calmly inside the church.

‘Why is she here?’

It was Madam’s maid.

Her short black hair swayed lightly as she moved. She clasped her two hands together, like an elegant lady maid; the white maid uniform stood out starkly against the church’s shadowed interior.

And the direction she was heading—

‘!’

‘Izzy, she is walking our way!’

The maid… was walking directly toward the shrine room.

If you find any errors (non-standard content, ads redirect, broken links, etc..), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible.