Vol 1 Chapter 7 (1/2)
ULTIMATE a.s.sa.s.sIN SYSTEM: CHAPTER 7 – FOR WHOM WAS THE BELL RUNG?
At dusk, there was a knock at the front door of the Little Stone Village chapel.
Seconds later, Father York who was wearing a black robe opened the door and stepped out. A man wearing a thick dark overall appeared, his face obscured by a large brimmed hat. Father York had seen many wearing similar clothing before. They were often people who had come to ask for G.o.d’s forgiveness and did not want others to recognise them.
When the man spoke, the content was exactly as Father York had antic.i.p.ated.
“Father, I’m sorry to disturb you so late at night. The sins in my heart would not stop tormenting me, thus I could only find you to confess.”
“Ha ha, no problem. The Light G.o.d will always welcome you here, and so will his servants.” said Father York gently while opening the door.
The man nodded, and he prayed in thanks. He then reached out to lower his hat further and walked inside the chapel.
“Okay, you may begin.” Once inside the confession booth, Father York spoke.
This so-called confessional booth was actually very similar to a carriage. In front of the booth was a window that allowed people to communicate to the outside area, with only a black piece of cloth separating the two. This was also to help keep the anonymity of believers.
“Father, I am guilty!”
“Everybody in this world is guilty. As long as you wholeheartedly confess, G.o.d will forgive you.”
These bland cliché lines were mechanically spoken by Father York, who had probably said it dozens of times everyday. But he couldn’t seem to concentrate, because he was still too busy thinking about the noise he had previously heard in the dungeon. Could it be that he had misheard? Or could it be just some noise a rat made?
“Well… does that mean that even you have sinned, father?”
“Ah, of course. Everyday I repent about the fact that I am not better able to spread the graciousness of G.o.d to everybody.” Father York answered full of sincerity.
The breath of the man inside grew heavy… What? Are you ashamed by difference or something? Father York quietly thought.
“But right now I want to commit a crime, and I cannot stop myself.”
“Then you must sincerely beg for forgiveness, beg the G.o.ds to grant you the strength to control yourself.”
The man inside asked, “But I want to know, if I really commit this crime, would G.o.d forgive me?”
“If you repent with all your heart, G.o.d will definitely forgive you.”
“Phew… Praise G.o.d!” The man suddenly breathe in relief.
“Praise G.o.d!” Father York stood up. Finally, he could finally get rid of this confusing so-called sinner. He was deciding whether or not to go rest or continue the “entertainment” session he was having earlier. Hm, let’s go teach those little girls another lesson, that feeling… it was incomparably wonderful.
“Father.”
“What?” Father York’s mind was still deep in his fantasy as he automatically answered.
“Thank you for the bread.”
“What…!?”
Phoos.h.!.+
The dark coat on the man who had come to confess moved slightly, revealing a loaded crossbow. Right after that, the bolts were fired, and they were heading towards…
Phoosh, Phoosh, Phoos.h.!.+
The black cloth covering the confession booth was quickly pierced with several holes, following which the sounds of wood cracking and breaking resounds.
“Hoh… Hoh… Hoh…”
As soon as the sound of the arrows ended, the man in the black coat began to breath heavily, as if he was out of breathe. Lifting up the brim of the hat, he wiped the sweat on his forehead. This was of course Tang En.
Tang En held his crossbow as he opened the door of the confessional booth. Father York’s two eyes were still wide open, with blood streaming down his body. The killing arrow lied at his heart, covered by both of his hands. That wound had taken his life.
“My sins, G.o.d may forgive. Yours however, I don’t know if your “Boss” will forgive…”
—
Three thousand meters to the East of Little Stone Village.
A squad of knights fully covered in holy armor marched forward slowly. The reason their speed was slow was not because they had weak horses, on the contrary, their horses were pure bred, exceptionally strong and solid. The reason for their current pace was the extravagant carriage at the center of their formation.
The small window of the horse carriage suddenly opened, revealing an ancient face full of wrinkles but still br.i.m.m.i.n.g with intelligence. The knights stationed nearby hastily approached the carriage.
“Bernie, how long until we get there?”
The knight did not dare to slack. He respectfully replied, “Sethman sir, we are about an hour away from the Little Stone Village chapel.”
“Hm, this d.a.m.ned road. I hope it won’t break my carriage.”
Bernie quickly inspected the carriage and yelled out, “Don’t worry sir, your carriage is not damaged at all.” Dammit, with this kind of speed, if it was damaged in any way that could only be the works of ghosts.
“Good!” Sethman sighed in relief inside the carriage and continued, “Tell me a little about the chapel at Little Stone village.”
“Yes sir!” The knight named Bernie seemed to had already gathered a lot of information. He quickly spoke, “Little Stone Village chapel, around a thousand in believers. The manager is York, a low-level cleric. His area of responsibility includes the small village, its farm and the surrounding four farms. These five farms all belong to the local Knight’s fiefdom.”
“Five farms, a thousand believers… Un, this York is a definitely a talented individual!”
Bernie nodded in agreement, he continued, “Last month, York had sent a request letter for a promotion, right now he is currently being inspected. Sir, should we…”
“Let’s go see him first. If he’s someone with a brain, then we will promote him. Bernie, when we are at the village wake me up, I want to grab some sleep. Ah, I’m already so old, this body also isn’t very good anymore.”
Bernie quickly replied, “I understand. You have already been through a long journey, please take care of yourself.” You’re old? Last night you were still playing around with the two nuns…
Sethman of course did not hear the silent curses inside Bernie’s mind. He nodded approvingly and shut the carriage window. Suddenly.
Bong, bong, bong…
“Huh? This is the church bell.” Sethman was dumbfounded.
This place was south of the Kingdom, so there was no need to equip it with an alarm bell like the ones at the northern frontlines. The ringing of bells at this place was without a doubt the bells of a church.
“That’s right. Based on the direction of the sound, it came from Little Stone Village.”
Sethman became furious, “Is this York s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g around? Why is he ringing the bells at this hour?”
The bell of the church was not something that can be rung without reason. Only during the weekly prayer or big celebrations, or when G.o.d descends will the bell be rung.
Bernie could only throw his hand in the air. He really didn’t know what was going on.
“Speed up. Let’s go see what’s going on!”