“Eve…Do you agree?”
Yagine, bewildered, looked to Eve. Eve sighed and looked to Col.
“Col. This is about appearances.”
“Appearances?”
“The tax collectors take up arms in anger and break into the cathedral. The doors open; they pour in. But afterward, after some sort of miracle, they take the archbishop to the port and openly escape by boat. How do you think people on the outside would interpret that?”
“…”
He froze in shock.
“It’d just look like they took the archbishop as hostage and escaped, wouldn’t it? The king would fear the breakdown of the settlement talks and frantically chase them to the ends of the earth. He needs to prove that the Kingdom isn’t to blame, you see. And on the other hand, how do you think the Church would approach this?”
After Eve brushed him off, Yagine answered painfully.
“The pope…would see the acts caused by the Twilight Cardinal and judge that he would no longer be able to stand idly by, and he’d actively start a war with the Kingdom in order to turn the situation around. Then…he would certainly want to light that spark before the Kingdom can extend an obvious hand of reconciliation.”
And then what would happen if he received a report that the tax collectors in question were on the same ship as the archbishop from the cathedral?
“There’s no doubt he would sink that ship. I’d do it. The dead tell no tales. The Church would put the ship under themselves, then say with a straight face that the Kingdom did it. It’s all about appearances,” Eve said in an easygoing manner.
“And yet,” Yagine added, turning to look at Col apologetically.
It was almost as though he was sorry for being unable to help Sharon and the others.
“You want me to open the door and get on the boat as you suggest, like it’s nothing?”
Even if there was more to it, Col doubted that the hate in Sharon’s eyes was an act.
“As for your safety, at the very least, I can—”
“No, Twilight Cardinal. That is not what I mean.”
Yagine suddenly stood and spoke with a tragic spirit, as though he was pleading to God.
“I don’t care if they rip me to shreds. But what if they don’t? I doubt they would approve of leaving me whole and getting on a boat with someone like me at the same time! I can imagine it—they would stand before me, stare at me without a hint of either anger or compassion, and then shove me into the underground passages. Then they’d seal it off and just wait for the king’s forces to come!”
Sharon was cool and rational. She even had the eyes to stare quietly at the scales as she stood beside the raging flames of hatred.
Say that the cathedral doors opened, Sharon found them, and Col proposed that she use the archbishop as a shield to get on the ship and escape. This was Sharon, after all, so she would likely realize the possibility that they would be left stranded at sea in a terrible situation, targets of both the Church and the king, just like Eve and Yagine said.
And then what would happen?
He could easily imagine it.
This was Sharon they were talking about—she would let the archbishop escape, and they would remain alone in the cathedral.
Then they would accomplish their roles as decoys.
“You cannot open that door, Twilight Cardinal.”
Myuri stepped before Yagine and growled.
Yet, Yagine stepped forward, as though he had not spotted wolf Myuri at all.
“You cannot open that door. As long as the door stays closed, there are still solutions. If we open the door and let the tax collectors inside, that would give definitive proof that they broke into the cathedral. If that happens, then the only measure the king can take is execution. After beheading the rioters, he might negotiate with the papal office to ask they wipe this all from the records. We must keep the door closed to save the tax collectors. If we do, then we still have the option of me defending the tax collectors…no, my sons and daughters with my own hand! That is the only sliver of hope we have left!”
It was much too rational to be a made-up story for self-preservation.
And yet, could he just abandon Sharon and the others after all this? Even though the ship that might save them was just down the passage?
Perhaps it was true that Yagine would defend Sharon and company, but the question was how useful it could be. Since the king was worried about Heir Klevend’s civil war, he had to inform the tax collectors all over the Kingdom about this policy so that the same problem would not repeat itself.
There were plenty of reasons to cut off the tax collectors’ heads.
“But then…we…”
Col was unable to continue or breathe very well.
Yagine looked at him.
His expression was that of a friend who shared his pain.
“The reason we just could not confront our sons and daughters was because we were afraid that it would become the cause of war. If word somehow got out that we spoke with them, then one could even say that the cathedral would suddenly fall.”
And that was why they planned what they did, because they figured that looking like cowards was much preferable to the great tragedy that would be war between the Kingdom and the Church.
“Twilight Cardinal.” Yagine inhaled deeply, then exhaled. “That wolf is a nonhuman, is she not?”
Col was startled.
Yagine knew about Myuri. He had a dangerous card in his hand.
Yagine’s clear blue eyes gently gazed at Col’s tense expression.
“I knew it. I’m Sharon’s father,” Yagine said, looked to Myuri, and dropped to one knee. “Those are the eyes of one who wants to bite me.”
A growl rumbled in Myuri’s throat and she lowered herself. It was to show that she would leap at him at any time, and it was not an act.
“I see you heard the story from Sharon, and you must think of me as cold-blooded, that I unilaterally dumped my wife. But please allow me to speak. The relationship between a man and a woman is complicated—”
“It’d sound more convincing if you weren’t the archbishop,” Eve interrupted, and Yagine smiled dryly.
But Col understood. Indeed. That had to be right.
Yagine’s selfishness as a priest could not have been the only reason for the deterioration of his relationship with Sharon’s mother—there had to be several reasons.
“Well…I am a priest, and that was one cause; that much is for certain. We were considerate of each other’s positions at first, but over time it grew complicated, and by the end we were hurling abuses at each other. It was an ugly breakup. I was naive and a fool. That hasn’t changed, though…”
He did not seem like he was lying. It was clear that Myuri, her stance lowered, was desperately trying to stimulate her own anger by growling.
Perhaps it was true that Sharon’s mother decided she would never associate with humans again.
But naturally, the possibility it could be a common reason, one gained from a marital relationship between two normal people, did exist. Just because it was a romance between priest and nonhuman, that did not mean it always had to be special and miraculous.
“Twilight Cardinal.” Yagine stood, smiling softly; gripped the crest of the Church that hung around his neck; and slowly bowed his head. “Thank you for getting angry, grieving, and coming this far on behalf of my daughter. I give you thanks from the bottom of my heart.”
Col was not sure what he should say to the man before him.
He thought perhaps everything he had done until now was pointless, that all it was going to do was throw the world into chaos.
“By the way, Eve. Will you help out with assisting the people who Sharon wants to save?”
“Can I take payment from the vault?”
“Of course—I don’t mind. We’ll say I took it.”
“Can do. I’ll get their attention by lighting up your ship and finding myself a fishing boat in the meanwhil
e. It’ll take care of their living expenses for the time being.”
Yagine nodded.
“There should be a hardworking pastor teaching reading and writing to the children at the orphanage. He would be a great asset to your company.”
It was just when Eve smiled wryly in response to what he said they heard the hum of voices coming from outside the room and down the hall.
“Brother.”
Myuri, perhaps thinking there was no need to hide who she was anymore, called out.
“Is it Clark?”
Myuri nodded, so Col whirled around and went into the hallway. He came face-to-face with Clark just as he appeared in the aisle from the nave.
“Your Eminence!”
“Clark!”
He then immediately turned around and acted as though he was doing his best to calm someone.
And then silhouettes appeared, as though ignoring his attempts to restrain them.
They were children, holding wooden sticks and pots in hand.
“You’ll have to face us!”
“Hey! That’s not going to happen! They’re not the enemy!”
Clark was desperately trying to calm the bloodthirsty children. Col was so relieved, he felt as though his knees would give way.
“I’m sorry. They insisted they come along and would not listen to me…I told them to wait in the public wheat granary.”
“It’s all right.”
“And…what on earth is going on? Where are Sharon and the others?”
Col tried to inform Clark of the situation in response, but his brain was barely functioning.
And it was much too painful to leave Sharon with nothing but the oh-so-faint thread of hope and tell Clark and the rest to run.
“Well…”
“Clark, was it?”
He heard Yagine’s voice from behind him.
“Your Grace!”
“If you want to do anything to help Sharon, then the best thing is to follow our orders without question. We will arrange for your safe escape and so that you may live on.”
The information was so sudden that Clark could only stand there frozen in place, his mouth half-open.
“Are these the children from your orphanage?”
Regardless of Clark’s reaction, Yagine smiled at all the children he was trying to save, and the children looked back at him with eyes filled with hostility.
Yagine barely seemed to mind and stayed smiling.
“Eve here will take care of your living expenses for the time being. But I’m sure you must be anxious about the future, so I’ll give you a letters patent.”
As though finally swallowing what had been caught in his throat, Clark’s Adam’s apple moved as he gulped before he spoke.
“Please wait, Your Grace. I have no idea what you’re talking about…And I am a simple pastor. What would I do with a letters—?”
“You will no longer be a pastor,” Yagine said, a hint of mischief in his voice, and extended his hand as though giving the sacrament. “Under the patronage and marvels of God, and in the name of Fras Yagine, archbishop of the Rausbourne diocese, I name you as abbot of a new monastery.”
“…What?”
“I give you a letters patent for the construction of a new monastery. Run your orphanage from there. The Church will not find fault with a monastery. I’m sure Eve will donate a great sum of money for the operating costs.”
They turned around and Eve, leaning against the wall, arms folded, scrunched up her face in displeasure.
“If you teach those brats how to read and write and make useful people out of them, then I’ll pay.”
Yagine was not someone who was content to simply sit and contemplate—he was someone who had made his way through the world.
“Now, let us prepare. We can’t flee hardship by parting the sea like in the scripture, but escaping by going underground is rather similar,” Yagine said particularly cheerfully, clapping his hands. “What is it now? God speaks of timeliness. Without the right actions, the right time, and the right place, they can turn into misdeeds.”
Clark and the children could still be saved now.
Overwhelmed, Clark nodded in response to the archbishop, and while he was slow, he gave orders to the children.
“What will you do, Twilight Cardinal?” Yagine asked, and Col was at a loss for words. “Personally, I would like you to stay in the city and reason with the king or somebody on Sharon’s behalf. You have someone from the royal family backing you, isn’t that right?”
“That’ll be Hyland. She’s an illegitimate child, but she’s proven herself. She’s got a lot of friends inside the Kingdom.”
When Eve explained as such, Yagine smiled, relieved.
“I see. That’s great. Speak of me as unfavorably as you wish, and say that Sharon and the others ultimately had no choice but to rise up. I won’t deny it, and I’ll report the same to the pope.”
That was how it had to be.
A voice piped up right when Col was about to slowly nod in defeat.
“Sharon isn’t escaping with us?”
It was Clark.
“They’re staying in the city…? But they’re right there!”
While the children stood in shock, Clark rushed over.
“Clark, I—”
“Your Grace! What are you thinking?! Please open the door! We can still save—”
Clark held fast onto Yagine, gripping his collar, and Eve’s guards wrestled with him, trying to peel him away.
Col had been through the same conversation just a moment ago. All he could do was look at Clark as he yelled, knowing it was fruitless.
Col had been persuaded by logic, and he had nodded.
But Clark loved Sharon. He had probably rushed through the underground passages full of hope.
How terrible was the despair of being pulled away from her with only a single door between them?
Perhaps he shouldn’t have called Clark over?
As he considered all that, some rough fur brushed up against his dangling hand.
“…”
Myuri looked up at him with her red eyes.
The sun rose in the east, rivers always flowed downstream, and mountains never moved.
Her silent, wordless eyes told him as such.
“Your Grace!” Clark yelled as he collapsed in the middle of the hall.
Col could claim he had made the right choice.
But people did not live on logic alone. If everything could be solved with logic, then things would never have devolved this far in the first place, and people were not that smart.
Col recalled when he had Sharon ride on his shoulder in bird form, walking around town dressed as a noble.
People mistook him for someone of high standing and opened the way for him out of fear.
Arugo had said the world was made up of so many of those kinds of layers, and that this cathedral was as massive and palatial as it was precisely because of those human qualities.
Did doing the right thing always make one right?
That couldn’t be true.
Not only were humans imperfect, but so was the world itself.
Poor souls would always end up getting crushed beneath this warped milling stone they called life.
Yagine was trying to persuade Clark as he sat on the ground in tears, and Eve was commanding her guards to begin preparations to escape.
Myuri stood beside Col, there to support him until the end.
This was one of many endings.
The only thing that did not satisfy him was how selfish he himself was.
“Stand now. You will be the abbot of a monastery from now on. Stay dignified, lest you lose your followers.”
Yagine urged Clark to stand, who did so with unsteady feet.
“P-please, just one last time…let me see her…”
Clark murmured, but Yagine shook his head. It was a slow but firm gesture.
“You cannot. If we open this door, it may lead to war. E
ven if I announce to the soldiers that it would not, how much would they believe my words? The tax collectors have risen up together with weapons in hand. That can be for nothing but storming the walls. It is sad, but when an evil man clasps his hands in prayer, our human eyes only see a pious act, and the opposite is true, too.”
Clark closed his eyes and hung his head.
“Besides, the Twilight Cardinal will be on your side. I’m sure you will be able to save them.”
No matter how he thought about it, there was no way he could give a clear answer.
But did Col have any other choice but to respond like this?
“Yes, of course.”
Yagine’s weary smile seemed to be telling him he could not turn white into black, and it had a hint of ruefulness, as if he could tell what Col was thinking.
How many lies could he feed Sharon and the other tax collectors? Could he denounce Yagine as evil and claim they had no choice but to come to the cathedral?
Even though he knew that was the only way to save them, it was at this crucial moment that he wondered if lying was the right thing to do.
If he acknowledged that, it would also mean acknowledging to a certain degree that it was fine for the Church to deliberately overlook all the vices and evils that had been going on within its organization.
More importantly, there was no guarantee that he would be able to save them even after all that.
It was so stupid.
It was so irritating how people prioritized ceremony and looks over being able to tell each other their true feelings, which made Col want to hate this imperfect and stupid world that God had created.
“Now, it may be a thorny path, but this, too, is a trial of God.”
The only salvation to be found here was how Yagine was setting an example for Clark’s future.
Clark and the others should be able to safely escape, at the very least, and there was no need to worry about their livelihood in the future. The other tax collectors escaping by boat could also take shelter in the monastery. Just like Myuri’s fantastic dreamworld, it would be a kind of sanctuary for them, an inviolable place.
And because of that, there were times the tyranny reached an extreme in those places. Col had visited a monastery like that on his travels with Lawrence when he was a child.
Wolf & Parchment: New Theory Spice & Wolf, Vol. 4 Page 26