For a few days after that, Shiro and I conducted our investigation while living at the church headquarters.
The day started early for the congregation. We were woken up by the sun and gathered in the cathedral.
We listened to readings from the scriptures by senior members of the church, prayed, then ate breakfast.
The meals were plain. Hard bread, vegetables, and fruit. Fermented milk.
Then each of the new recruits were put into various “teams” and did their rounds helping around the grounds.
The church was apparently composed of these teams with the high priest at the top. There was the missionary team, the maintenance team, the accounting team, and so on.
Apparently, they put you in certain teams based on your disposition, but I often got sent to the cleaning team. The headquarters, having been recast from the Nippon Budokan, was so huge that there were never too many people on cleaning duty.
We devoted ourselves to our chores during the day, had our meals, and returned to the cathedral at sunset for more readings of the scriptures.
The same thing, day after day. I followed along faithfully.
Trying not to do anything suspicious, I put on a normal, harmless face and acted like the high priest’s words were still controlling me from the back of my head.
At first, I sometimes sensed the high priest coming to check on me. But after a short while, he stopped coming.
It seemed he was too busy every day working on increasing his ranks as much as possible.
On the side, we were steadily working on our own investigation.
<<Shiro. The high priest just went to the penance chamber. Stay on your toes.>>
<<Okay. I’ve already finished searching this floor. I’m coming back now.>>
Shiro and I communicated the high priest’s location and other points of interest through telepathy.
Our coordination was super smooth, and in just three days of our investigation, we were able to conclude some new facts.
I made sure to thoroughly communicate these to Tsukasa and get her opinion on them.
<<Those words he wrote on the back of your head…I think they’re supposed to be a syllogism.>>
<<Basically, it logically means that the high priest’s judgment is equal to God’s judgment, and therefore is the only absolute justice. It justifies all the high priest’s decisions as correct.>>
<<What is written in the scriptures? “It is a sin to question the scriptures;” the “origin of the world” according to the high priests… I see. He’s made it so everything he says is judged as correct.>>
<<I think the way it works is that he makes you drink that medicine to lower your intelligence, then imprints the words on your head, which then makes you want to read those scriptures compiled by the high priest himself. The more you read it, the more you’re indoctrinated into his way of thinking.>>
<<Obviously, we can’t let him get away with brainwashing these people and controlling their minds. No matter how much you try to excuse it by calling it religion, it infringes upon personal rights and the right to freedom of thought. Brainwashing is an illegal act, and it’s even possible to sue him for compensation if the brainwashing forced the victims to buy something or tricked them into performing labor.>>
<<The high priest must have made it a rule to keep your cap or hood on around others so that you can’t see the words on the back of each other’s heads. That must also be why you have individual showers in your rooms; people would see the words if you used a public bath.>>
<<I’d guess he’s earning trust to use the Power of Words in the penance chamber. He must be cautiously using the Scales of Judgment in a closed-off space. I bet members who have been fully brainwashed are the only ones allowed in there.>>
<<What details do you have about this “penance”? So those who commit the sin of questioning the high priest are subjected to confinement and lashing… How antiquated. It’s not befitting of this kingdom. That must be why he’s hiding it. It’s barbaric.>>
<<And the little fox… I feel bad, but I don’t think we’ll be able to save her any time soon. I hope she’s not being subjected to some kind of strange mind control.>>
<<You don’t need to worry about me, Akky. I’m always somewhere conspicuous. And I’m making progress on my investigation of the building collapse. I’m more worried about you two staying safe.>>
<<So did you find Lyra yet?>>
My sister’s words supported me in ways that the high priest’s never could.
After talking to her, I started to think: How could anyone become the “only law of absolute justice”? It was too convenient.
The feeling of uncertainty in my chest disappeared and was replaced with a budding sense of strong determination.
I continued to put on an obedient face toward the high priest but worked harder than ever behind his back to find a way to bring him down.
On the fourth day, amid the crowd of faces in the cathedral, I found Lyra Boucher.
On the fifth day, Shiro trailed Lyra all the way to the deepest level of the basement.
That night, me and Shiro were in my room after lights-out.
“Specifically,” she said, “I am a member of a race called the Inugami.”
“That’s pretty crazy that you finished training at age six and worked for the royal family ever since.”
“It is fine. Beast hybrids can walk just a few days after they are born. If not, they wouldn’t be permitted to live.”
Having spent the last few days together in this small room, we had started talking about our backstories.
“Master, you said your parents remarried when you were age three. That is even younger than when I completed my training.”
“It’s not a big deal. I hardly even remember it.”
“Hmph.”
While she was still expressionless, Shiro’s fluffy tail was wagging restlessly back and forth.
It looks like you can tell a lot about Shiro’s mood from the way her tail moves.
I had been too concerned with facial expressions and almost forgot about body language.
“Tell me more about you, Shiro.”
I genuinely wanted to hear more of her stories. The way she told them was easy to understand. And the more I heard, the more I understood exactly how amazing Shiro was, and the more I came to love this world.
“But my stories are boring.”