The bishop awoke once again in the same place.

“.......”

“You’re here.”

It was a dream in which the red evil spirit hovered above the lake where the Moon should have been.

“I welcome your visit.”

“I don’t know why you keep summoning someone as lowly as me.”

“Because you saw me.”

“Then my sin must be great....”

She had taken in something she should never have seen.

“I shouldn’t have let my gaze be stolen.”

She had been momentarily entranced by its splendor. Perhaps the blood-like wings were too stimulating for eyes grown used to white. Perhaps the golden blood flowing so gracefully from its broken head had seemed beautiful.

‘If I had been a more perfect being, could I have avoided this?’

Since first encountering the evil spirit, the bishop had met him again and again. In her sleep, and always when she went to see the Moon. As a bishop, she could not ignore the Church’s doctrine. It was truly a troubling matter.

The bishop asked the question she had asked many times before. Like throwing a mere pebble into a vast lake—meaningless.

“What is it you want from me?”

“I want to see you enraged.”

“...That won’t be easy.”

Even as the Saintess, raised most preciously, reached the end of mystery, she only despaired. The bishop had spent half her life serving the Moon Sect. Even if broken or collapsed, she had never learned to raise her voice.

“So, you seek entertainment?”

How fitting for an evil spirit.

“Do you wish for me to reach ruin? Do you want the bishop of the Moon Sect to fall? Would you be pleased if I forgot my place and acted disgracefully? Is that it?”

“I’m not satisfied.”

“Has my soul already ended up in your hands?”

“What I hold in my hand is your Moon.”

“.......”

Her eyes caught the second hand, holding something pure white.

“...What does my teacher call me?”

“Nothing at all.”

“I already knew I was that insignificant.”

“You’re not disappointed.”

“He doesn’t understand humans....”

“Is that so.”

Above the lake, pale toes touched the surface.

“Why are you so frightened? Am I that terrifying?”

“I’m afraid you’ll let me ruin everything.”

“Ruin it, yes. Ruin it. That, perhaps, is where we can begin our conversation.”

“You’re urging me to talk with an evil spirit.”

“You’re already speaking with me. You see me, hear me, and question me. Now, look at me. Lift your head. Don’t disappoint me.”

“As a priest... I’ve long since been disqualified.”

“Then what is sin? Shall we speak of it, you and I? Do you not wish to speak with me? I’ve waited so long for you, and yet you’re so indifferent....”

His voice grew more natural. The once imposing tone, filled only with authority and curiosity, now carried sorrow. Decorations that had made no sound now softly clattered.

“We could be friends, you know.”

With its shattered head, golden blood, and six arms, the mysterious being imitated a person. It made nonverbal gestures, expressed emotion with its half-face. A hollow breath escaped her.

Still just an evil spirit.

“...How long must I be your plaything? You must have found me laughable, failing because I couldn’t let go of mere affection. No—someone as pathetic as I, who couldn’t even fail properly due to lack of ability... this lowly wretch... how could I possibly amuse you?”

Her voice flowed gently.

“I am but a pitiful human incapable of such things. I accomplished nothing. Nothing at all.... I simply held a position. Did you think I’d make a good toy?”

“You seemed to rage, but you don’t.”

A gold-braceleted hand lifted the bishop’s chin.

“Have you given up? Resigned yourself? Are you hesitating?”

“I’ve already done all of those.”

“Beast, grow angry. Explode. Rage.”

The voice was kind, as if handling a newborn beast.

“Only rage unites beast and human.”

The bishop interpreted the meaning.

“...You mean to say that one who cannot rage has less worth than a beast. But humans are creatures of intellect, O god. How can you equate a beast that cannot endure with a human?”

“Was being born human ever such a great privilege? It wasn’t. In my eyes, they’re all the same. A human... yes, a human must hold either conviction or malice to be worthy of being called one.”

“Then is my conviction unworthy of humanity...?”

“Who called it conviction? Who dared?”

The evil soul whispered.

“No one should call it conviction.” “You were pushed into that seat.” “Did you think it was your choice?” “To your eyes, there seemed no other options.” “Small beast who sees nothing but the ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) ground.” “Small beast who knows only one kind of sky....”

It whispered again.

“Pitiful thing.”

Though her chin was released, the bishop still looked up at the god.

“...Ha, haha....”

A laugh escaped.

“...I know your wisdom....”

“Did you dream?” “A sweet dream?” “You must’ve liked it.”

“Yes. It was so sweet. I dreamt a dream. Of how, how I might become a star beside the Moon... If I dream just a few more times, I feel I might understand....”

“But you don’t fall asleep easily.”

“It left me hollow.”

She still didn’t know what exactly had left her so empty.

“Since the Saintess rose to her position, I’ve continued researching. That child... she’s so strong and beautiful... but she was abandoned by her family, full of loneliness... she hates being cold, hungry, and alone. I found her in the alleys of winter’s slums....”

She had stayed by the child’s side, pondering, researching. Even if it birthed another tradition others called a vice, she had wanted to do it. Perhaps it wasn’t so bad, she thought. A noble act of shaping another mystery.

“Why do I feel so hollow? Like something’s been blown open... or blocked entirely. I feel like I’ve done everything wrong, but I don’t know what. I don’t know if my thinking was right. I don’t even know what to fix.”

“Why is that?”

“...I don’t know. I don’t know the answer. Maybe because something I worried about so much was solved in an instant? Or because the help came not from my teacher, but from an evil spirit? I’m scared... scared it won’t be as helpful as I thought it would be.”

It felt like being trapped in a swamp.

“I even felt wronged.”

“And why is that?”

“.......”

“Because you love.”

Poor thing.

“Because all you know is how to love.”

You don’t know the method.

“You don’t even know what you did wrong. Not something else—you were wrong, and you don’t even realize. You’ve committed countless sins. You smell so sweet and nutty. If I chewed you up just like this, I think it would amuse me. Such pure and foolish sin... it’s heartbreaking and beautiful....”

“...Since I’ve already done things that seem stupid, let me ask something equally stupid. Do you practice cannibalism?”

“If I wished it, I would.”

The evil spirit whispered.

“Did you mistake what you saw for justice? Did tragic sacrifice look like noble sacrifice? You have both eyes, don’t you—so why did you see it that way? You thought the floor was the floor, the ceiling the ceiling. You never even thought to go past the walls.”

“I did my best... as a bishop, as a priest of the Moon... what I was supposed to do....”

“You’re a hollow puppet stuffed with love, and that’s why you can’t do anything right.” “If you hadn’t loved, you might have had conviction.” “If you had known how to love, you might’ve been human.” “But you didn’t.” “In the end, you couldn’t even hold malice.”

“If there’s no way to escape you, then tell me what I must do. Shall I join your game? Become your puppet and act in your play? Would you be pleased if I lay flat like a beast?”

“Become human.”

“.......”

She didn’t know if that was even possible anymore.

“...I’ve grown old and hideous. I could never become the kind of human you want.”

“You don’t know how to love, how to rage, how to think. You’re no different from a newborn beast. But you can still become human. Now, explode.”

“Explode what?”

“Explode.”

The evil spirit laughed.

“What you love is in my hands.”

“...Will you take her?”

“Fate is already decided.”

“Don’t do this, please... that child... she loves the Earth. She cherishes her family. How can you take her away without letting her achieve the one thing she’s longed for her whole life?”

“Whether you become human or stay a beast, it changes nothing.”

“Give her back...!”

Even to herself, it felt sudden.

Had something been injected into her? Brainwashed? Was her mind breaking? Her hands trembled, and her breath caught.

“She is the Moon’s child! She may be nothing, but she’s someone I’ve watched with my own eyes! She doesn’t even know how to smile—how can you take such a precious soul?! She’s given her whole life...!!”

“That’s right.”

“.......”

“You’re doing well.”

“...Ah.”

“That emotion is called ‘rage.’”

Only then did her head go numb, and realization dawned.

“...You planted rage in me, and lied?”

“I am an evil god, am I not?”

“...What is it that you... really want from me... I truly don’t know....”

“It’s funny. And amusing. Isn’t that enough?”

No divine being would go to such lengths just to toy with her for amusement. There was no need to show such an ominous and mysterious form. Then why?

“Your Moon is truly boring.”

“...My teacher would never say such a thing.”

“Look. Isn’t he saying it?”

The evil god raised the Moon, which he held in his second hand, to his face and mimicked him like a puppet show.

“So very boring, my disciple. Come play with me.”

Like a child’s fickleness. A divinity that could lie. As he mimicked the Moon in an innocent voice, fear surged. Their teacher was just a plaything to this red evil spirit.

As he lowered the Moon slightly, the lips of his half-face curled.

“What are you hesitating for? Why so self-blaming? Listen, friend. The sect you built by devoting yourself was rotten from the start. Giving one bedroom to a mischievous god now won’t change anything.”

“...Are you saying our sect was completely rotten from the beginning?”

“The world is rapidly progressing. Improving. Humans don’t even know what they truly want, yet they patch up fragile dimensions bit by bit. When so much has become more affluent, do you think the Moon Sect... could refrain from forcing sacrifice?”

He spoke of a terrifying future.

“You will stand at the guillotine not by choice, but by coercion.”

And be offered up.

“Not as noble sacrifice, but as living sacrifice.” “Why? Because that’s all you know how to do!” “That precious tradition built upon noble sacrifice—do you really think your descendants can ignore it?” “And who will stop you then?” “You’ve locked your doors and hidden in the shadows alone.”

“.......”

“Listen, my young friend.”

He spoke with gentle affection.

“How long did you truly believe you could call it noble?”

The bishop could not answer.

“.......”

It would be a lie to say she’d never thought of it. And yet—

Even so—

“...Then... why...”

Her breath choked.

“Why did my family have to die like that...? My family who died without even having their names known in this world... those precious ones who gave me strength and protected me—why did they have to go to the cold, lonely Moon...?!”

Having learned, this time she raged by her own will.

“Ah, I made it that way. I did it. I could’ve stopped it. I could’ve protected them! I could’ve grabbed them and begged! If I’d done that, maybe they wouldn’t have become the Moon! But I didn’t—I was stupid. I always did the wrong thing. I had no qualifications, no ability, no perfection... just full of flaws, stubbornness, and incompetence...!!”

She raged at herself.

“Was it all just meaningless death? No—surely not. They became part of the teacher, that must be true. But I’m afraid they’ll remain as villains who demanded sacrifice from their descendants. My incompetence has ruined so much. If only I’d been wiser. If only I’d been more perfect!!”

It was unbearably painful.

“Why... Ah. It should’ve been me who died... I... this worthless thing should’ve died. They should’ve lived, and I should’ve become the Moon. If only I had finished my research a little earlier—how much better it would’ve been. Then... I... at least... at least....”

“My little friend.”

The evil god asked in a voice tinged with laughter.

“What is it you want to do?”

“...I want to turn it back....”

“Turn what back?”

“Everything I missed, ruined, and failed.”

“Shall I help you?”

“Please take this wretched hand and guide me. I will offer everything.”

“Even your family?”

“If I was not just misguided but wrong—then the only one untainted in the Moon Sect is the Saintess. We sinned and called it noble. So much is corrupted. A barrel filled with spoiled wine—please, smash it.”

“I like you.”

He promised an end.

“The evil customs of the Moon shall end with you.”

Is that what you want?

***

“.......”

Aram crumpled her face into the pillow she was hugging tightly.

“......?”

Where... am I?

She was at an amusement park.