Now that there were no more injured to heal, the two slipped outside to hang out in the garden. They sat on a bench behind the hospice and stared up at the sky, enjoying the scent of the grass.
Most surfaces in Galdorssia were either paved with stone or hard-packed earth. The church was one of the few places where grass was allowed to grow, and this created a sense of peace around it.
“I heard a rumor that you made another big splash despite being bronze badges,” Ada said as she exhaled smoke.
“Well, when you’re as talented as I am, trouble has a way of finding you, I guess.”
“I’m sure it does.” Ada decided to share a piece of advice. She made it sound like she was just making conversation. “Still…you should try to keep your nonhuman friends out of sight.”
Ada’s expression remained level, but her tone of voice was a little flinty.
“So people are talking about that, too, then?”
“I’ve gotten to the point where, as far as I’m concerned, anything goes so long as you’re helping people. But not everyone in Galdorssia thinks that way. Look over there.” Ada gestured with her cigarette.
She was pointing toward the orphanage. Specifically, toward a young woman outside who was hanging up laundry.
It was Leela, the priestess who had previously been stationed at Guadhari Village. She had returned to Galdorssia once Guadhari was destroyed by Rotraud, and she now helped out at the orphanage. When Psycho and the others first met her at Guadhari, her smile had been blinding. She wasn’t smiling anymore.
“Leela, right? Poor girl.”
Psycho stared at Leela, remembering everything that had happened at Guadhari Village. When she noticed Psycho staring, Leela nodded and then quickly hurried inside.
“Seeing me probably brings up things she’d rather not remember.”
Psycho had not failed to catch the glimpse of fear on Leela’s face.
“Leela hasn’t smiled once since returning to Galdorssia. Not that I can blame her. The village she was stationed at was razed by the man who was essentially her first crush. It would be more concerning if she was walking around with a grin on her face.”
“It’s a little more complicated than that… There are probably other reasons she doesn’t want to smile anymore.”
“Other reasons…?”
“It’s complicated.”
After Rotraud, smiles probably no longer held the same meaning for Leela that they once had. They were the sneers of the powerful as they trampled the weak.
“Well, whatever.” Ada took a drag on her cigarette and breathed out the smoke. “Either way, ever since the incident with Rotraud, I’ve had a bad feeling I haven’t been able to shake. It’s like the ground beneath Galdorssia has grown soft.”
“That’s because order here is maintained through a sense of moral duty and responsibility. ‘Those with power have a responsibility to serve as a shield for those without.’ That’s the problem with Galdorssia. They try to keep things neat and clean. But the ones who aren’t normal, the ones like Rotraud who don’t fit in, grow resentful. That resentment has to come out somewhere.”
Rotraud’s atrocities had not come about for no reason. He was incompatible with Galdorssia’s beloved creed, and his doubts had reached a breaking point. There was no room in Galdorssia for misfits.
“I can’t disagree with you there. But I don’t think Galdorssia is completely in the wrong, either. Things have been going well for you until now, after all. You’ve managed to keep yourselves safe doing things the way you have.”
Ada stared off into space, past the smoldering tip of her cigarette.
“I worry about Leela. Humans are weak. They need something to cling to. Humans, monsters, as long as you’re helping people, I don’t think it really matters. But when you choose the wrong thing to adhere to, it can lead to terrible results. I’ve heard there’ve been gatherings lately. Of people who feel unsafe or who are dissatisfied with Galdorssia. I wish people would steer clear of those dubious groups; that’s all I’m saying.”
“Can’t you do something for her? Isn’t that what the church is here for?”
“Leela has to come to grips with what she went through for herself. Now isn’t the time for outside meddling.”
“I don’t know. Even if that’s true, what’s over is over. How long should people keep dragging around baggage? Instead of obsessing over something that can’t be changed, it would make more sense to focus on what can be done in the here and now. And if anyone else doesn’t like your way of doing things, just knock them out of the way and carry on. You’ve got to make your own place in the world.”
As Psycho spoke, she unconsciously fingered the tattoo encircling her wrist. Ada noticed the movement.
“People are different. Not everyone is as strong as you are. And besides, thinking about things once they’re over isn’t always a bad thing. You remember the faces of the people you’ve killed, don’t you, Psycho? You wouldn’t do that if it didn’t mean something, would you?”
“I only do that to remind myself that they’re the past, and I’m still here.”
“If you say so. That seems like a lot of discipline, though, for someone so willing to desecrate the dead. The average rank-and-file soldier doesn’t show that level of self-regulation.”
“I have my own way of thinking about things.”
Psycho stared off into the distance. She began speaking in a torrent.
“Mankind stands atop a foundation of death. Everything we know, from the food we eat to the peace we enjoy…”
…From the busy everyday lives that pass before our eyes to the unseen histories of the past…
“The ground beneath us is carpeted in death. But the dead have no mouths. They can’t boast of holding us up, nor complain about the weight beneath our feet. Have you ever heard the dead speak? I know I haven’t.”
The dead had no one to confide in, except perhaps God.
“So, then…why shouldn’t I use the dead? I mean, it’s not like they’re going to complain!”
“Bwah…hack hack!” Ada choked in surprise. “And here I thought you were about to say something deep. That’s what I get for expecting inspiration!”
After her breathing was back under control, Ada glanced softly in Psycho’s direction.
“Anyway, you may be walking down a dark path, but you’re not such a bad person after all.”
Ada smirked.
“I told you to knock it off with that sappy shit already,” Psycho said, looking away.
“Still, you’re traveling around with creatures who aren’t even human and desecrating the dead… If it wasn’t for Falmeyr, you’d probably be in the dungeons already. Be careful with that stuff, won’t you?”
“Desecrating the dead…? What do you mean?! I’m linking them to the future!” Psycho proclaimed, proudly. “So if you hear anything else about what I get up to, just don’t go telling Reverend Sourpuss, you hear?”
“All right already.”
“Don’t go telling what to whom?”
“I just told you, that b—!”
Psycho and Ada turned around, coming face-to-face with the Reverend Sourpuss herself.
The two immediately set off running.
The head priestess chasing wayward priests was one of the church district’s most famous sights. But the head priestess was surprisingly fast on her feet. Her quarry rarely escaped her for long.