The Shepherds Are Dense – Chapter 561

Chapter 560
Necessary Evil
Controlled Fire
“…Student?”
Eivass narrowed his eyes slightly, looking at Cardinal Loki over his right shoulder.
Viness, who was perched on his shoulder, also narrowed her scarlet pupils in unison.
Cardinal Loki glanced at Viness, and the corner of his mouth, still bearing traces of stitches, curved upwards. “You are no saint yourself… is it befitting of the Moriarty name? Such a sinful surname…”
“What do you know?”
“A great deal.”
Cardinal Loki replied, “I know most of the secrets in this World, even more than you can imagine.
“Eivass… I reiterate, I do not wish to be your enemy. I know that if I fight you, I might be utterly annihilated, so let’s skip that step… Ask what you want to know directly, and I will answer truthfully.
“For instance… the fact that you, a Fragment of the Ring Heavenly Envoy, were recreated by your ‘grandfather,’ Jacob.”
— Unlike others, Eivass was referred to differently.
Not vaguely as a “Divine Entity,” but clearly as a “Fragment of the Ring Heavenly Envoy.”
Eivass’s heart sank slightly.
During the Ascension Ritual where he was almost taken over by the Ring Heavenly Envoy, Eivass had already been reasonably certain of his close connection to the Ring Heavenly Envoy. Now, this conjecture was merely being reconfirmed from a third-party perspective.
“…You still haven’t answered my question.”
Eivass remained silent for a moment before looking back at Cardinal Loki. “What did he learn from you?”
Hearing this, Loki’s smile gradually faded.
His hair, which reminded Eivass of the gradient flames of a gas stove, began to move in the absence of wind. Like frozen, stagnant flame textures, it reignited.
Loki slowly said, “From me, he inherited my most important Mystical Art—my Stellar Secrecy.”
“…Stellar Secrecy?”
Eivass murmured, “Astrology adapted to a Path?”
He remembered that Professor James himself had written several papers on astrology when he was very young.
His talent in mathematics and astrology was so high that Eivass once thought he was an Extraordinary of Wisdom and Adaptation. Given his fervor for astrology in his youth, it was quite reasonable for him to travel to the Holy Kingdom to study more profound knowledge.
“That is the original text of astrology, a method of observation born when the Second Sun shattered. The many secrets I know were revealed to me by the stars.
“—The stars told me that I would meet the inheritor of my destiny on that day. Immediately after, I encountered James Moriarty, who was seeking knowledge.
“At that time, he was about your age, not much older. Before that, he had never come into contact with Path Adaptation, nor was he even an Extraordinary. But as the stars foretold, he was intelligent and learned quickly… He mastered the essence after studying with me for three years.
“He learned astrology from me and would often stand here with me, observing the Holy Kingdom. Although he was not an Elf and had no worries about Amber, he would enthusiastically help others and preach Controlled Fire alongside my followers.”
“It sounds like there’s no problem,” Eivass interjected.
Cardinal Loki replied, “The problem is, for a Short-lived species… he grasped too many secrets, and they were too heavy. The matters he worried about far exceeded his capabilities. But that’s nothing… as an astrologer, one sees too much and can do too little, and will eventually adapt.”
“But he didn’t.”
“Yes, but he didn’t. The more secrets he saw, the more he wanted to interfere with the World. He read many books from the Thirteenth Ring and visited many teachers. His originally one-year study abroad was repeatedly extended, extended to four years… only after seeking true knowledge did he return to Avalon Royal Law University to complete his remaining coursework.
“At least at that time, I only thought he would bring change to Avalon.”
Cardinal Loki’s voice was rational and calm, as if reading a script, utterly devoid of anger, even without a ripple of emotion.
“When he left me, he was only twenty-four years old. At that time, he was enthusiastic, full of passion, and well-read, wanting to forge his own cause. The next time I heard news of him was twenty years later.
“—From what I understand, it was that Witch named Anna Kingsford who changed him.”
Cardinal Loki was not stingy with sharing secrets.
Perhaps it was because he wanted to show Eivass goodwill, or perhaps it was a common trait of all astrologers—knowing far more than they needed to know, they would talk endlessly once they started.
This was undoubtedly information that Eivass could never have obtained.
What Loki said also corroborated Eivass’s known intelligence—Moriarty’s extreme ideas of “preemptive death and necessary evil” indeed stemmed from Controlled Fire.
But from Loki’s tone… he seemed to think his own philosophy was perfectly sound.
“…You said he was pursuing you, and you would be involuntarily bound.”
“Yes.”
“Your involuntary binding meant stealing Freya’s secret medicine?”
Eivass questioned.
Regardless of whether Loki was the culprit, as the old man in charge of the surveillance room, he must have known who stole the “Tears of Time.”
Unexpectedly, Loki did not quibble or lie but frankly admitted, “Indeed.”
“…Is this also part of ‘Necessary Evil’? To be elected Pope, you intended to use the Tears of Time, and even murder a Bishop to force the Saintess into Amber?”
“So that’s what you think.”
Hearing this, Loki suddenly burst into laughter. “This is where you misunderstand me.
“—I care nothing for the position of Pope. All Cardinals are Shepherds; what meaning does the title of the shepherd’s head hold?”
“Are you not denying the attack on Pure White?”
Eivass asked.
Loki’s lips curved slightly, and he nodded gently, offering no reply.
Eivass pressed further, “Then what is your purpose? Or rather, if you were truly to succeed the Pope, what would you do?
“If you truly don’t intend to be my enemy, then you should be able to tell me the answer to ‘what I will do.’ You said you would answer truthfully.”
“—Controlled Fire.”
Cardinal Loki answered without hesitation, “I will promote Controlled Fire to save the Eternal Holy Kingdom; I will sever the Elven inheritance so that Elves can be reborn.
“As you know, the Elves’ longevity comes from the curse of Amber. If Amber were truly healed, Elves would lose their long lifespan, the Eternal Holy Kingdom would fall into chaos as a result, and eventually, it would gradually perish with the passage of time; the Church of the Nine Pillars God would also lose its foundation. I knew this earlier than Freya, even earlier than anyone else… When I became an Elf, I already knew the source of Elven eternal life.
“Although the name Eternal Holy Kingdom itself comes from the Eternal Saintess’s inheritance, not from the Pope—I prefer the Church of the Nine Pillars God to be the one that ultimately survives over the Holy Kingdom.
“Cardinal Loki stated slowly, word by word, “Because it was the Candlemaster who forgave my sins, not the Great Tree; it was also the Candlemaster who gave me new life, not the Pope.
“I am a believer of the Candlemaster, not a child of the Great Tree and Amber. What happens to Elves, or the Great Tree, is none of my concern. I only walk my own path.”
“…Preferring the Holy Kingdom over Elves; preferring the Church over the Holy Kingdom. Is that what you mean?”
Eivass understood.
Loki did not need to lie—he was indeed a Fifth Tier Devotee, and his will was very firm.
He only served the survival and interests of the Church of the Nine Pillars God… and the Eternal Saintess was the core inheritance of the Eternal Holy Kingdom, passed down through generations to succeed the Pope. In other words, these Popes had always been independent of the Church system.
What Loki wanted was not “for me to become Pope,” but “to prevent the Saintess from succeeding the Pope.”
He knew the principle of Amber, so he knew it could not be cured, nor should it be cured; the solution to alleviate Amber was “Controlled Fire”—he himself knew that severing the inheritance could not cure Amber, only reduce the probability of Amber. But this was the effect he desired.
—To control the flame that could bring light but also burn humans.
This flame was precisely the “curse of Amber” itself.
This was Loki’s Path of Devotion—for the survival of the Church and the Holy Kingdom, to have Elves who were destined to develop Amber die sooner, so as not to affect others.
This was precisely…
Preemptive Death.
(End of Chapter)