Another small group of Sun Heretics sneaked into Cold Harbor on a smuggler's ship and was caught, now imprisoned in a church near the port area.
Fanna returned from the underground prison of the church to the lounge on the upper level, where the regional bishop, responsible for this church, was already waiting in the room.
“Judge Fanna,” the slightly thin regional bishop greeted the young judge, “May the waves protect your soul.”
“May the waves protect your soul,” Fanna replied, returning the greeting. She walked wearily to a nearby chair. “This is already the second batch of Sun Heretics thrown into prison just in the port area, isn’t it?”
“Yes, we caught a dozen people three days ago—they were trying to kill a civilian when they were spotted and stopped. Now this is the second batch; they were holding a dark ritual in an apartment building that alerted a meter reader,” the regional bishop nodded, a hint of worry in his eyes. “I can’t believe so many cultists have infiltrated without us noticing… Luckily, we found them early, or their dark rituals could have harmed many people.”
“Prande is a transportation hub on the Endless Sea, and everything has been calm for the past four years, which has made many people complacent,” Fanna said. “However… it’s hard to say whether our discovery is early or late. Those Heretics who arrived earlier may have already been operating in the shadows for some time, only recently revealing themselves.”
The regional bishop glanced at the judge’s expression and hesitated before asking, “I’ve heard that other regions have also caught quite a few people?”
“Yes, almost every district has,” Fanna didn’t hide the truth. “Now, almost every church’s underground prison is filled with captured Sun Heretics, ranging from a few to dozens… but most are just the lowest-level lackeys, moving around the city to gather information. They haven't received much training, so they’re easy to catch… The real high-ranking clerics haven’t been found yet.”
Fanna’s tone turned serious as she spoke, her face showing a hint of concern.
Since the Heretics started searching for “Sun Fragments,” the authorities in Prande and the church quickly reacted, launching a citywide secret hunt and actively encouraging citizens to report and investigate. The results of this series of actions have been significant—
In a very short time, many cultists who hadn’t managed to escape were caught, filling the underground prisons of various churches. Their numbers nearly equaled the total number of cultists discovered in the city over the past four years.
However, so far, those captured are just scattered lackeys, at most some low-level clerics who had just received blessings and were carrying “mass-produced holy artifacts.” The true higher powers are still hiding in the shadows.
This left Fanna feeling increasingly restless.
“Every day we have results, but we still can’t catch their ‘core.’ It gives me the feeling that the situation is still worsening out of sight,” she said to the regional bishop. “With so many cultists active in the city, there must be a high-ranking commander behind them, but this ‘commander’ has yet to show themselves.”
The regional bishop pondered for a moment before speaking slowly: “According to the current interrogation results, these lackeys only follow orders from the ‘messengers,’ and these so-called ‘messengers’ are a group of low-level clerics. They listen directly to the voices from the offspring through imitation sun masks… Do you think a Sun Offspring might already be hiding in the city?”
“A Sun Offspring hiding in a human city? Honestly… it doesn’t seem logical,” Fanna frowned. “While they have great power, they also leave obvious ‘signs of existence.’ Their filthy, foul aura can’t be hidden… There are churches and patrolling guards everywhere in the city, so there shouldn’t be any ‘blind spots.’”
“So it’s just a guess,” the regional bishop shook his head. “I know it’s hard for a Sun Offspring to hide in a civilized society, but those low-level ‘messengers’ do carry sun masks with them. Even if they aren’t directly controlled by the offspring, they must still have some connection to it… After all, mass-produced holy artifacts are still holy artifacts, and those cultists have to consider the cost of their actions; they wouldn’t make meaningless arrangements.”
Fanna curled her fingers against her chin, suddenly speaking as she thought: “I looked at yesterday’s interrogation records. Those Heretics were mainly inquiring about the extraordinary event that happened in the city eleven years ago… They believe it’s related to the Sun Fragments?”
“It seems so,” the regional bishop nodded. “Although we don’t know their source of information, they seem convinced that the Sun Fragments caused the ‘Chemical Plant Riot’ in Prande eleven years ago… I remember you were also…”
The regional bishop suddenly stopped, noticing the prominent scar on Fanna’s left eye. He lowered his head slightly, “I’m sorry, I misspoke.”
Fanna instinctively raised her hand to touch the scar on her face but quickly smiled and shook her head. “It’s okay, it’s just a scar. You’re right; I was a witness to that riot. There’s nothing wrong with mentioning it.”
“Those cultists were also involved in that riot. Among the hundreds of saboteurs captured afterward, many were Sun Heretics,” the regional bishop said solemnly. “But now the Sun Heretics infiltrating the city are inquiring about the truth of the events from eleven years ago… It’s as if they really don’t know what happened here back then. Don’t you think that’s strange?”
“Either the Sun Heretics in Prande acted on their own eleven years ago, so the cultists from other cities are unaware of the truth, or… the appearance of the Sun Fragments in Prande was just an accident, or the work of some third-party force, and those Heretics involved in the riot were just pawns,” Fanna said lightly. “According to the interrogation records from back then, the ‘saboteurs’ who were captured were indeed in a confused state. Their madness didn’t seem intentional; it felt more like they were influenced by a powerful force.”
“Chasing after twisted and bizarre things, driven mad by strange powers, becoming fuel for the chaotic fire, and finally abandoned in the ashes…” The regional bishop sighed. “What a tragically sad life.”
Fanna didn’t respond for a moment. She quietly stood up and walked to the window of the lounge.
Through the window, she could see the situation in the port area from afar—the complete lockdown of the port had ended, and many docks and piers were back in use. However, one pier still maintained the highest level of lockdown. The beautiful and brand-new steamship “White Oak” remained quietly docked at the end of the pier, undergoing continuous monitoring and a daily purification ritual as planned.
The crew of the White Oak had been moved to the central cathedral—having had close contact with the Lost Home, they were now under the highest level of surveillance.
The church’s underground prison held the Heretics following the Black Sun, while a ship that had encountered the Lost Home was docked in the port, and a group of sailors who had met Captain Duncan were staying in the central cathedral… Just thinking about it was overwhelming.
The sun was gradually setting, but it wasn’t yet time for day to turn into night. The regional bishop lit a few oil lamps in the room ahead of time, and the flickering flames reflected on the glass window.
Fanna withdrew her gaze from the port area. “I heard that the out-of-control notice for Anomaly 099 has been sent to the port area?”
“Yes, it just arrived this afternoon. Do you want to take a look?” The regional bishop said as he pulled out the neatly folded document from his belongings. “I’m not sure why it was a bit later than expected.”
“Let me see it,” Fanna reached out to take the document, reading it by the light of the setting sun by the window while explaining casually, “A delay is normal—after all, the out-of-control situation of Anomaly 099 is quite special. It broke free from its seal during a direct encounter with that ghost ship.
The bishops of various cities must carefully weigh the wording and information in the notice to avoid creating too many ‘pointing connections’ with this document that is about to be distributed to all shipping routes… Otherwise, instead of helping the captains avoid risks, it could end up linking them to the Lost Home.”
In the dim light of the approaching sunset, the oil lamp closest to Fanna suddenly flickered. Accompanied by her unintentional mention of the “Lost Home,” the flame in the lamp emitted a faint crackling sound.
(End of Chapter)