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Laughter.

Thomas wore a cheerful smile.

A bright laughter that only those without a shred of shame could produce.

It was the kind of laughter often described as ‘sunshine-like.’

And that made it all the more strange.

Why was Thomas acting this way?

How could he smile like that while binding William tightly?

“Strange.”

William finally realized the sense of incongruity.

Just as a heated stone begins to cool, his anger subsided, and together with it, the reason that had been rampaging within him calmed down, allowing him to think.

And when he was finally able to think a little—

He became aware of the absurdity of the situation.

“Am I still dreaming?”

William recalled a possibility while looking at Thomas, who wore an amiable smile.

The possibility that this was a dream and he hadn’t yet escaped from it.

“Come to think of it, there are evil spirits that keep someone trapped in a dream… So am I still under attack by an evil spirit?”

It is said that crafty and strong evil spirits can drive a person crazy by forcing them into dreams.

A dream within a dream.

A repetition of dreams from which one cannot escape even after waking.

A dream in a dream.

“Now that I think about it, there are more than a few strange points.”

Once he began to ponder, everything felt suspicious.

The place.

The clothing.

Thomas’s strange demeanor.

When scrutinized, each of them was indeed odd.

“It’s also strange that I’m in a church.”

He couldn’t clearly tell if it was a church or a cathedral.

But the scenery strongly resembled the place where those who believe in Jesus frequently came and went.

“I was sleeping in a luxury hotel.”

William had just been sleeping in a hotel.

Moreover, it was the finest hotel befitting his status.

Furthermore, he had a large number of bodyguards stationed around and his loyal summon creature right by him.

As the time of the prophecy was drawing near, his clan had even sent special talents to assist with his protection.

In a security detail so tight that it would be difficult for even a one-man army to breach, he had been sleeping soundly…

However, suddenly finding himself tied up in a church?

That made no sense.

“And what’s with the suit?”

The suit was equally perplexing.

Before he fell asleep, he always wore comfortable clothing.

Of course, the definition of ‘comfortable’ varied from time to time.

When he had slept with a woman, he would either be naked or wearing only his underwear, and when alone, he typically threw on whatever fit from his day outside or even just slept in his pants. Sometimes, he’d even worn the robe provided by the hotel.

But whatever happened, he always wore clothing that was comfortable for sleeping.

Always.

But this suit?

It was an outfit devoid of any hint of comfort.

No wrinkles were in sight, meaning it had been pressed with great care, and there was no lint either.

It seemed it had been made of an extremely fine fabric.

It even had the faint smell of new clothes.

Without a doubt, he wouldn’t wear something like this to bed.

No matter how disoriented or fatigued he may feel!

Absolutely not.

Sleeping in an uncomfortable new suit?

That would be a horrifying ordeal.

And adding to that, shining shoes, a necktie that felt like it was choking him, and even a tie pin?

Oh my, no.

Even if he were on drugs, he wouldn’t don such an outfit for sleep.

He might even unconsciously throw off or tear the suit apart.

“And Thomas is odd too.”

But the most bizarre thing was Thomas’s behavior.

Having known Thomas for quite some time, he could tell.

This was not the kind of thing Thomas would do.

The Thomas he knew was a kind-hearted fool who got flustered by any child and would give away his possessions to homeless people and poor believers.

But if he were just a fool, he wouldn’t be hanging around with William.

Thomas was a fool, but he was different from other priests.

He was strangely worldly and overflowing with tolerance compared to others.

In contrast to those priests who, as if having a masochistic streak, would lash their own backs with iron whips in penance, or fanatical zealots who only prayed each time they met, there were many such people.

And among those who expressed anger with fiery eyes upon breaking doctrine, there were even priests who, claiming to deliver divine punishment to criminals who had committed terrible acts against children, ended up imprisoned after attempting to learn strange black magic.

In a place teeming with such people, Thomas felt oddly out of place.

He believed in God, but did not regard it with solemnity.

He gave, but not for the sake of preaching; it looked more like self-satisfaction.

Unlike other priests fixated on asceticism, he was positive about desire and wouldn’t refuse when believers offered him fine wine or food.

“Right. He half-drank the £30,000 wine I brought him in one sitting, using the rest for coq au vin…”

He was strangely unpretentious yet bold.

He could carelessly spend money or expensive items but had no material greed.

Moreover, while he did engage in tedious sermons and intellectual discussions, he never forced William to change or showed any rage.

Yeah.

That was the kind of person he was.

A bit odd yet harmless.

A person who did not irritate William’s nerves.

A person who was tolerable to be around.

Such a person yet…

Was acting this way?

“That can’t be possible.”

William was certain.

The Thomas before him was a dream.

A trick of the evil spirits that sought to drain his mental strength.

This conviction was unwavering.

There was no way a fool, someone who would panic at the slightest discomfort experienced by others, would do such a thing.

He wouldn’t tie someone up in a church and muzzle them while smiling so casually.

William’s conviction further solidified when he heard Thomas’s words, spoken with a smile.

“Sir, it seems you think this is a dream.”

“Pfft.”

William chuckled derisively from between the muzzle.

“You’re asking that question at a time when I’m doubting? Even a child would notice this is a dream, you foolish evil spirit.”

William scoffed.

The evil spirit, so foolish for posing that question to him.

If it were going to ask such a question, it should have done so when he was panicking, right?

Asking it the moment he began to have doubts was no different than announcing, “I’m the evil spirit, and I am currently up to no good in your dream!”

William lamented his inability to raise a dismissive finger while restrained, hoping that his expression conveyed the message somehow.

But Thomas, receiving such derision from William, did not grow angry.

He was not flustered or perplexed.

He simply smiled like sunshine.

“You may think that way. But soon you will realize.”

With that, Thomas turned away.

Then he sat back at the pipe organ and began to play.

—-!!

A colossal sound that seemed to compress the space itself.

The grand, majestic sound echoed through the church.

And with that sound, the performance began.

A performance that was both imposing and holy.

The kind of music that often filled the air when one visited a church.

“Asperges me Domine hyssopo et mundabor, Lavabis me et super nivem dealbabor. Miserere mei Deus secundum magnam misericordiam tuam—–!”

Thomas sang loudly while playing the pipe organ.

Singing so loudly that his voice wouldn’t be drowned out by the organ.

He used his body like a resonating chamber, amplifying his voice, which began to swell, riding the melody of the pipe organ.

“Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto, sicut erat——–”

Majestic, holy, and faithful.

The sounds produced by the instrument humans are born with were filled with love.

It was a response to the love shown by God.

A desperate expression of human emotion to sing their love for God.

A sound imbued with the effort to reach the lofty heavens.

“———– in principio et nunc et semper et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.”

Thomas’s voice lowered.

It was low and heavy, as if it could sink into the ground.

Because of that, his melody appeared more like a desperate struggle.

Despite fated to sink, reaching upwards to the heavens.

Struggling to show God the love they held within their hearts.

Always yearning for the celestials and loving the celestial beings, his song bore the obsession akin to madness.

“Asperges me Domine hysopo et mundabor, lavabis me et super nivem dealbabor.”

The voice that emerged from Father Thomas’s throat flowed through the pipe organ.

And it flowed, clashing and dispersing, amplifying while lingering in the air.

Then, with a holy sound as its end, his fingers slowed down.

At the moment the performance reached its conclusion, his fingers moved again.

This time, it was a sound that seemed to crush the space, rather than a melody.

It was holy yet forceful, faithful yet bordering on coercive, grand yet violent.

“Ostende nobis Domine misericordiam tuam.”

And within that forceful sound, Thomas opened his mouth.

It sounded as if he were speaking to someone.

And in response to that sound, a voice echoed right beside William.

[ Et salutare tuum da nobis. ]

No.

Describing it as beside was not accurate.

Not beside, but from William’s right shoulder, a voice emerged.

As though someone existed right on William’s shoulder.

“…!”

Startled, William turned his gaze toward the source of the sound, and there it was—a mouth.

A thin, slender vine sprouted a flower, and instead of stamens and pistils, the flower had a human mouth.

The flower vibrated as if its thin stem was the throat and vocal cords, with the central mouth moving its lips as if it were a real mouth, flicking a tongue made of congealed blood to make sounds.

It was a nightmare-like appearance.

“Domine exaudi orationem meam.”

Thomas readily embraced the sound from that nightmare-like existence.

As if this was right, as if it was only natural.

Casually reciting the next prayer, and the flower produced sound as if doing what it was meant to do.

[ Et clamor meus ad te veniat. ]

Thus, they both prayed.

In the midst of a horrifying air that pressed as if by unseen hands.

“Dominus vobiscum.”

[ Et cum spiritu tuo. ]

“Oremus-”

And at the end of the exchange, they both spoke in unison.

“Amen.”

[ Amen. ]

 

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