~Chapter 122~
The Manager whispered in terror.
“So… this isn’t just a normal blackout. This is the princess’s…”
Ssssssssst!
At that moment, a strange sound came from the darkness. It was like thousands of bugs slowly crawling upward…
The Manager, frozen, slowly turned his head.
“Aaaaah!”
Hundreds of bloody hands covered him in the pitch-black darkness.
The bishop slowly looked around the lobby.
People were gathered in small groups, talking quietly or getting ready to spend the night. Northern nights were cold. Inside the theater, there was no wind, but the temperature was low. So everyone sat close together to share warmth.
But whenever the bishop met someone’s eyes, they quickly looked away. He could feel their discomfort.
It made sense. Everyone here had watched him nearly die on stage. If he’d actually died, maybe it would have been easier. But now that he’d survived, it was awkward to meet face-to-face.
“Bishop, please join the rescue team.”
A guard who had stepped away returned and spoke. The bishop nodded when he saw the group of knights nearby.
“Um, Bishop. Will you come this way?”
Just then, a girl spoke to him.
She was about sixteen, with brown hair and green eyes. The bishop thought for a moment, then spoke.
“Lyla, right?”
“You remember my name?”
Lyla blinked her big eyes in surprise. The bishop smiled at her innocent face.
“Of course. You came to every service until last month. But…”
He looked at her with concern.
“Are you okay?”
“Ah…”
Lyla fiddled with her clothes and answered awkwardly.
“When I was escaping the theater, I fell down and people stepped on me a little.”
“Oh dear, that could have been serious.”
“Yes, but some people helped me, so I survived.”
“That’s good… but what about your cheek? That doesn’t look like a bruise from being stepped on.”
“Ah, this…”
Lyla touched her red, swollen right cheek.
“My dad hit me. He said I tried to do something foolish.”
“What?”
The bishop’s face became serious. Lyla lowered her head and said,
“I’m sorry, Bishop. In the theater, I… wanted to help, but couldn’t…”
Tears filled Lyla’s eyes. The bishop suddenly understood. Lyla’s father had called her “foolish” because she wanted to save the bishop on stage. He hurried to comfort her.
“No, you don’t need to apologize. Actually, it’s good you didn’t act. You could have been in danger, too.”
Lyla paused at his words.
“That’s what my dad said, too. …Was that the wise choice?”
The bishop couldn’t answer right away. Lyla looked at him, then reached out her hand.
“My parents are over there… If you need to go to the knights, you don’t have to worry about me.”
The bishop looked down at Lyla, then said,
“No, let’s go to your parents together.”
He asked the guard for permission to talk with the girl a little more. The guard nodded and promised to stay close.
Lyla noticed the bishop was limping and held his hand to help. The bishop said, “Thank you,” and walked slowly with her and the guard.
“It’s a funny coincidence. I was wondering how you’ve been since you stopped coming to church, and now we meet here.”
Lyla hesitated and replied,
“My dad is friends with someone in the theater staff.”
“…Cambiata?”
“Yes. My dad’s boss is a VIP here, but I don’t know much more.”
“I see.”
“Yes. But I don’t like Cambiata.”
“I can tell.”
Lyla giggled a little.
“People say such strange things. Even today—during the show, everyone yelled at the Eshafes for not helping Normals and for hurting people, but when trouble came, they all demanded the princess get rid of the beasts for them.”
“That’s true.”
“So they must know—mental-type Eshafes are kind and can’t say no to helping. But why do they make these shows just to criticize them?”
“…That’s a good question.”
Lyla sighed.
“I’m a Normal too, but the things the Eshafes did in the show looked more like what Cambiata and the Normals do. But if I say that, my parents just tell me to stop talking nonsense. They say, ‘The nail that sticks out gets hammered down.’ Maybe I am foolish, just like they say.”
“You’re not foolish, Lyla.”
The bishop answered gently.
“You have sharp insight. You noticed something even adults miss.”
“But you said earlier that going along with things was the wise choice.”
“…I didn’t really mean it that way.”
The bishop smiled, a little embarrassed.
“If you had tried to help me in the theater, it could have been dangerous. Cambiata is a scary group.”
“…I know.”
Lyla was also scared. The theater was full of madness. She’d watched the crowd enjoy violence like entertainment and realized she could easily become a target.
But when Act Two started, she realized everyone there was just as afraid.
When the real bishop appeared on stage, the audience was shocked. Maybe some people really wanted him dead, but most thought this had gone too far. The bishop was a Normal like them and hadn’t done anything to deserve death.
But no one tried to stop it.
Cambiata killed even Normals who went against them, without hesitation.
People thought it was safer to stay quiet. She understood. But she also wondered…
“But if you’d shown courage then, you could have been a hero.”
Lyla looked at the bishop with wide eyes.
“When I was dragged on stage, it was wise for everyone to stay still. Anyone who acted alone would have been targeted and hurt. But if everyone stood up together, things might have changed. …A group of wise individuals can still become a foolish crowd.”
Lyla blinked slowly.
She wondered what would have happened if everyone had stood up at that moment.
Even Cambiata couldn’t hurt the entire audience. Maybe they would have let the bishop go and tried to escape trouble themselves.
“If you had acted, it wouldn’t have been a smart decision. You’re young and powerless against them. You would have been hurt, for sure.”
“…That’s probably true.”
“But because of one person who isn’t wise, everyone else becomes wiser.”
Lyla paused.
“If a kid like you had shown courage, maybe others would have realized it was wrong. People who do that become heroes in society.”
“…”
“The more we respect heroes, the wiser society gets. If we ignore them, society grows foolish. That’s why I built the Church of Life. People think I only care about Eshafes… but I truly cared for this city, Greymoss.”
“Bishop…”
Lyla listened closely and nodded.
As the two walked, they finally reached Lyla’s parents. Her father’s face turned hard when he saw the bishop.
“You…”
There was clear annoyance in his voice. Lyla’s mother quickly reached out to her.
“Lyla, come here.”
“Mom.”
“Hurry!”
Her mother pulled Lyla away from the bishop.
Her father glared coldly at the bishop and said,
“Why are you with my daughter?”
“Dad, wait.”
“Lyla, be quiet!”
Feeling the tension, the bishop tried to explain carefully.
“Sorry. Your daughter just helped me because I was hurt.”
“Is that so?”
The father answered with a sneer.
“You didn’t fill her head with nonsense, did you?”
“We didn’t have any special talk.”
“Everyone here knows you’re a fraud.”
“Dad!”
Lyla struggled, trying to stop her father.
Slap!
Suddenly, her father slapped Lyla on the cheek.
“How long are you going to act like this?!”
At his shout, Lyla shrank back. The bishop looked at her with worry.
Lyla glanced around. They were standing in the most crowded place in the theater, and everyone was watching as if it was a show.
She remembered what happened on stage.
The bishop said if even one person had shown courage, things could have changed. But was that really true? If she’d acted, would others have followed?
“Dad, if I had gone up on stage, would you have helped me?”
“What?”
Her father only replied with a stern look. Tears filled Lyla’s eyes.
‘It’s too much…’
She lowered her head—and suddenly, all the lights in the theater vanished.
“What’s happening?”
“Another blackout?”
“It happened before too…”
People started murmuring in confusion.
At that moment—
Ssssssssst.
A creepy sound came from the darkness, like countless things crawling down the walls.
