The sky is a melancholy deep blue.
Because it is close to the Bot Sea in the east, the monsoon in Celephis is always accompanied by the refreshing breath of the sea.
It's mid-summer, and the frequent rainfall makes people always carry umbrellas when traveling to prevent the nasty water falling from the sky from waltzing on their already sticky scalp.
In such weather, most middle-class families who do not need to run for a living choose to sip a glass of mellow red wine on a comfortable chair and feel the inner peace amidst the patter of rain.
In the third-floor room of the Requiem Church, Kane leaned over the ground and did push-ups with all his strength.
Next to Kane, a little brown-haired girl combing her sister's hair was looking at her sweaty brother with interest.
"Thirty, thirty-one, thirty-two...Brother Kane, brother Kane, you are so weak, you can't even do fifty."
He leaned on the wooden floor with his arms and took a few breaths, but Kane was not angry at Anna's words.
"Yes, my brother is not in good health, so he needs to exercise more, and he needs Anna's company even more.
Without Anna, my brother wouldn't even be able to make thirty-two. Anna is the source of motivation for him to persevere. "
Facing Kane's doting smile, Anna's baby-fat little face was stunned, then she quickly pouted her lips and turned her head away, lowering her voice a bit.
"Hmph! I'm not my brother's source of motivation..."
After a small retort, Anna handed the towel in her hand to Kane who sat up. Anna quickly regained her cheerful and naughty expression and stared at Kane intently.
"You didn't feel this strong when you were recuperating in bed before, but today I am very sure that Brother Kane, you have changed!"
With a thump in his heart, Kane tried his best to suppress his rapidly beating heart, but smiled calmly on his face.
"Then Anna, tell me, why has your brother changed?"
After looking up and down at Brother Kane in front of her again, Anna's little face showed some uncertainty.
"Unlike the boring gourd-like brother before, he has learned to say nice things to deceive girls, and more! Brother no longer feels as depressed as before, he is just like...well...how should I put it... Yes! It’s like a different person!”
"Kane! Anna! Come down for breakfast! Grandpa Herague is coming back today to perform the resting ceremony, so you two have to prepare early!"
Jessica's loud voice came from downstairs, and Anna stuck out her tongue and waved to Kane.
"I'm going down first~ Brother Kane, who is thin, remember to wear clothes~"
The renovated wooden door was closed by Anna. Kane pursed his lips and stood up, opened the door, and walked to the bathroom mirror.
A handsome but somewhat gloomy face appeared in the mirror.
"I thought that a serious illness could be an opportunity for personality change, but I didn't expect that Anna would see it at a glance. Is it so obvious?"
He patted his face, his brows softened, and the curve of his lips curled up.
The gloomy face became calm and supple, the corners of the lips turned down, and the muscles on both sides of the cheeks tightened slightly.
The gentle face in the mirror suddenly became a little colder and more childish and arrogant than a rebellious boy.
It's not difficult to look like someone who hasn't been beaten up by society. After all, Kane also lived through this in his previous life.
"I am Kane. I am a rebellious sixteen-year-old boy who is proud of the identity of the Constantine family and hates socializing and socializing."
"Gugu~Gugu~"
Kane suddenly turned his head when he heard the sound. On the bathroom window sill, the white-faced owl, which had always been invisible to dragons, flapped its wings and flew away.
"Bai Gugu? When did you come?"
Withdrawing his wary gaze, Kane sighed.
"No one really suspects that their loved ones are possessed by other people's souls, right? This is not a fantasy world where one can seize the body. I just want to be a stable psychological priest who can enlighten others."
…
In the church garden, Herage walked out of the tunnel, pressed the right eye of the bat stone sculpture, and the marble door behind him slowly closed.
Its wings fluttered and landed on the tall old man's right shoulder. The white-faced owl tilted its head and smoothed its feathers with its beak.
"Your grandson is possessed by an unknown demon. The real Kane is probably dead."
His body, which had never wavered before, trembled slightly. The old man's right hand held the silver staff tightly, but his expression remained calm.
"I will confirm whether he is dead or not."
The white-faced owl on the shoulder was still unwilling to give up, and his words were quite dissatisfied.
"I check the front door of your house every day, but you don't believe me?"
"I believe you. If he is really a strange demon, I will personally end his life."
…
Just before 8 o'clock, the rain stopped.
Kane, who ate in a hurry and put on the trainee priest's robe, walked out of the church with his younger brothers and sisters. Trainee nun Kelly, who had just finished washing the pots and dishes, followed Jessica and looked at her with some worry. Kane's face returned to its former cold expression.
Ramos greeted more than a dozen family members of the deceased with forms in their hands, while Fern and Taylor placed the corpse on the green lawn covered with a thick shroud in the cemetery early, waiting for Herague who had not yet arrived. Complete the resting ceremony.
"Family members, the preparations for the burial ceremony have been completed. Please follow me to the cemetery. After the ceremony is completed, you can choose further services or take the body away according to the package content."
Following Jessica, Kane found several young women among the deceased's family members wiping away tears and looking at him furtively. He couldn't help feeling that no matter in the past life or in this life, the appearance that was too outstanding would always be the same. It will bring you such and such trouble.
Occasionally, I also long to experience the life of ordinary people.
The cemetery in the north is not far from the church, and it only took more than 20 minutes for the people walking on the stone path to reach their destination.
Walking into the cemetery, dark cross granite tombstones were neatly arranged in the cemetery. Feeling the solemn atmosphere of death, the young Fris and Anna seemed a little embarrassed.
Thirteen corpses that had already been processed by the undertakers of the funeral home lay quietly on the shrouds, waiting for their true rest.
Generally speaking, the deceased will first try to be sent to the hospital for rescue. After the hospital declares that rescue is ineffective, the church will record the deceased.
After that, someone from the funeral home will take the initiative to contact the family of the deceased. After confirming whether to cremate or bury him, the funeral home's undertaker will make decent repairs to the deceased's appearance. Finally, the qualified priest will come to bury or cremate the deceased. Interment rites will be held before.
After the resting ceremony is completed, only the family members of the deceased who hold the certificate form issued by the church can bury the deceased's coffin or urn through the church's application.
Otherwise, once the church finds out that the family members of the deceased do not have a certificate form for the burial ceremony, they will face high fines. In serious cases, they will also face criminal imprisonment by the Inquisition.
In France, the power of the Inquisition was much greater than that of the police.
Even though everything in front of him was novel, Kane was still attracted by the old man standing outside the cemetery with his back to him.
This was the 'first time' for him to see his grandfather, whom he had never met before, but he found that he was just staring at him, with a vague pressure rising in his heart.
This 'grandpa' seems to be very simple.
"Wow, Grandpa Herage is still so scary!"
"Fris, do you feel like grandpa is unhappy?"
"Have it?"
"Stop gossiping, you two, be as serious as your brother Kane!"
Fourteen-year-old Anna and fifteen-year-old Fries communicated quietly, and Jessica patted the two children's heads, successfully making the brother and sister shut their unwilling mouths.
The old man holding the holy book turned around and glanced flatly at the crowd who dared not breathe. He paused for a moment on Kane's face, and then nodded to signal Fern and Taylor to retreat.
Walking slowly to the corpse, the old man's silver short staff tapped the stone slab on the ground, making a heavy hitting sound.
"Welcome everyone, thank the three gods. We are gathered here to bathe in the light of the three gods and witness the rest."
"grateful……"
"grateful……"
Inspired by the three gods, Herage opened the holy book and recited the prayer of rest revealed in the holy book.
"His Lamb rests in heaven, but on earth fools suffer because of strife..."
The family members of the deceased put their hands together in front of them, and everyone else lowered their heads and closed their eyes, listening to the scriptures spoken by the old man.
"...May all glory and praise be given to the three gods, and may the departed souls rest in peace, amen."
Recalling the 'plain' French words spoken by the old man, Kane opened his eyes and looked at the thirteen corpses that had never changed in any way. He always felt that there seemed to be something on the corpses that he could not see. Gone.
Shaking his head, Kane just dismissed it as an illusion.
After the ceremony, the old man took out the seal from his arms, and the family members of the deceased stepped forward to stamp the certificate with red seals.
After the shroud is re-covered, the deceased will go away when they should, stay when they should, and cremate when they should be cremated. Death will be more polite and moral than when they were alive.
"Kelly, take care of your brothers and sisters."
Jessica said something to Kelly, and then went with her husband Fern to deal with the customers who wanted to be buried in the church cemetery.
Ramos was responsible for accompanying the family members who wanted to remove the bodies for burial or cremation elsewhere, waiting for Taylor in the van to drive into the cemetery.
After the silent passengers get on the bus, they will be pulled directly by the truck to the parking lot outside the church to change vehicles, and then take a hearse from the funeral home or crematorium to be completely laid to rest underground.
Adults have their own things to do, and children have their own fun.
"I am the Lord Inquisitor! I declare you guilty! You are guilty, even if you run away, you are also guilty! The crime...the crime...the crime is not respecting the great Lord Inquisitor Fries! Death penalty! Death penalty for all!"
Gathered in front of the ant nest under the tree, Anna saw that she could not stop Fris from doing evil to the poor ants, so she had to pretend not to see it, turned around and whispered to Kelly.
"Sister Kelly, I heard from my classmates that nuns are really pitiful and cannot experience the pleasure of women in their entire lives. Is this true? What exactly is the pleasure of women? Sister Kelly, who wants to become a real nun, must know this, right? ?”
Avoiding the curious girl's probing gaze, Kelly's ears and neck turned pink at a speed visible to the naked eye, and she was speechless for a long time.
"Well! It's... it's... this... me, me too..."
"Sister Kelly, you don't know, right? No, no, no?"
"Ana, come here."
Kane, who looked cold, found that he could no longer remain silent. What kind of school was this, and what happened to Anna's classmates?
Is this something kids should be discussing?
"Brother Kane? I always feel that you have evil intentions? Is your face stuck with glue again? It's as stretched as tree bark."
"come over."
"oh."
Staring down at the cute little girl who was a head and a half shorter than him with a dull face, Kane couldn't help but sigh that the genes of the Constantine family were really strong.
Bending slightly, Kane looked at his somewhat timid cousin seriously and organized his words.
"Which classmate told you this? Male or female? What is your relationship?"
"It's...a female classmate named Sylvia. She is in the same class as me and is a good friend of mine."
Anna responded carefully, only feeling that the brother in front of her was a bit strange. Compared with that time in the morning, he was completely different. It was not appropriate to say that he was similar to the cold and gloomy style before he fell ill. Anyway, it was very awkward.
"Anna, let me tell you, good girls shouldn't discuss these issues, let alone use such issues to embarrass their sisters."
Kane said something extremely serious, but found that the little girl seemed a little unconcerned, and in turn began to question himself.
"I'm just curious. Is there anything I can't ask? The teacher also said in class that if you don't understand something, you have to understand it. If neither you nor your sister are willing to tell me, then I'll go find someone else, hum. !”
"Okay Kane, leave Anna to me, I will explain to her."
Although Kelly stepped forward in time to try to ease the atmosphere between the two, Anna still spoke reluctantly.
"I really thought you had changed. You knew it but refused to tell your sister. Kane, you are such a terrible brother! I hate you!"
Watching the aggrieved Anna run towards the church, Kelly glanced helplessly at Kane and quickly followed. Only Fries stood up from the roots of the tree blankly.
"Huh? Why did sister Anna and Kelly run away? Brother Kane?"
Looking at the 'brother' in front of him with complicated eyes, Kane found that it was simply unrealistic to say that he really recognized and accepted these relatives who had come to occupy 'Kane's body.
For me, the memories inherited from the original body are more like a damaged external hard drive of the computer. I can only read some important memories that have not dissipated from it, but I cannot receive any emotions from the hard drive.
Love for relatives, pride in family, dissatisfaction with himself, the feelings that 'Kane' once had are like a piece of pale paper to him. Give yourself a confusing sense of nothingness and nausea. (End of chapter)
