Shut up, brave man! I don't want to atone for my sins to you!

An awkward silence filled the corridor. Ciel almost subconsciously grasped the hilt of the holy sword, but...

He can't.

He couldn't draw the holy sword against the person with the face of Rachel, even though he knew that the thing under that face was most likely a so-called "fake".

What's more, now they have signed a contract with this "fake thing" and become allies.

Charles had no choice but to lower his eyes and commanded in a cold voice that seemed to keep people away:

"Please make way."

As he said this, he was already prepared to be pestered by the pastor.

The reality was far beyond his expectations. The pastor did not pester him. On the contrary, after he gave the order bluntly, the pastor turned around and made way for him.

After a brief moment of surprise, Charles did not hesitate at all and quickly walked past the priest, intending to leave.

But the moment his hand touched the door, he heard the pastor's voice behind him:

"...Ciel?"

The sound reminded people of the remaining snow that was about to melt under the scorching sun. It was no longer as clear and pleasant as the chirping of birds, but rather a thin and light sound that was heartbreaking.

Charles couldn't bear to hear this.

He was a little annoyed, so he subconsciously raised his head and looked at the fake thing, wanting to scold her and warn her not to use Laci's face and voice to do this kind of thing again, otherwise...

He would literally draw his sword on her.

But before he could say anything, the pastor whispered:

"If, one day you have to make a choice..."

"If you had to choose between me, the priest, and her, the witch, who would you choose?"

Charles was stunned.

He didn't understand why the priest asked him such a question out of the blue. It was obviously... just like shooting an arrow first and then drawing the target. The priest should know it well. If one day he really faced such a choice, he would choose the witch without hesitation.

Because he knew that the witch was the real Rachel.

Obviously, the pastor knew this as well as he did, so he immediately revealed a strange and obscure smile.

"But what if..." She stared into the hero's iron-gray eyes and told him, "What if I told you that the witch and the priest... are both Rachel?"

Ciel frowned.

"What do you mean……"

he asks.

The minister did not answer—she merely shook her head, and turned away, and went into her own room without looking back.

"..."

Charles didn't know whether he should stop the priest or not. This brief hesitation made him lose the best opportunity to stop the priest.

"Click."

The door of the pastor's room closed, which was like a kind of announcement that he had missed a crucial opportunity.

Charles stood in front of the priest's door, staring at the door handle, which seemed to him as hot as a red-hot iron, and the door connected to it became a secluded path leading to a dangerous place.

After hesitating for a long time, the brave man finally gave up the idea of ​​entering the pastor's room.

If Rachel knew he was alone in a room with that fake priest, she would probably be angry.

As for what the pastor meant...

The priest is a replica of the witch, and the witch should also know what the priest knows.

So if you want to know, just go and ask the witch. If the witch doesn't know either, then find a good time when both of you are present at the same time and ask the priest in front of the witch.

After thinking of a proper way to deal with the situation, the brave man turned around, left the pastor's room without any reluctance, and walked towards his own room.

After he left, the pastor who had been clinging to the door seemed to have lost all his strength and slowly collapsed to the ground.

She had a strange smile on her face.

——That was probably because she felt very clearly how much Charles loved her...how much he loved Laciel?

But she felt sad.

——That’s because Ciel rejected her as a priest and fell in love with her as a witch.

After the sadness, a new emotion is quietly born, which is a mixture of the pleasure of revenge and a kind of morbid psychology close to self-loathing and even self-abandonment. It is twisted and despicable, and cannot stand the light like a damp and dirty rat in the ditch.

"He will regret it," the priest thought cheerfully, "when he learns the truth."

Then, heavier emotions overturned her like a huge wave, so she bit her lip, hugged her knees, and lowered her head.

"Haha... I'm really not a good person."

As she thought about it, she grinned silently like a clown with oil paint on her face, and that expression looked like she was both crying and laughing.

Then, she curled up her petite body like a frightened little hedgehog and slowly closed her eyes.

And so, the pastor sat on the floor, leaning against the closed door, and slowly fell asleep.

I don’t know if she will have nightmares again tonight.

……

No one knows whether the pastor lady had a nightmare, but the brave man certainly did not have one.

Because just as he lay down on the bed, someone knocked on his door.

"Tuk-tuk-tuk-"

The silence of midnight was broken by a knock on the door. Charles opened his eyes instantly and reached out to grasp the hilt of the holy sword beside his pillow.

"Who?"

He asked as he silently climbed out of bed.

But at the same time, his exceptionally strong perception had already helped him to initially ascertain the identity of the person knocking on the door—

Neither a witch nor a priest.

Who could that be?

Charles became more alert.

At this moment, the knocking on the door stopped, and was replaced by a slightly hoarse male voice that Charles had heard more than once.

"It's me," the person outside the door also answered in a low voice, "Crazy John."

But it’s already so late, what does Crazy John want to do by coming to the house?

Charles never let his guard down. He gripped the holy sword tightly, ready to attack at any time, and slowly walked to the door.

"What do you want from me?" he asked through the door.

After a moment of subtle silence, Crazy John outside the door replied:

"I want to know whether you and Miss Witch have already met His Majesty."

Ciel frowned, not understanding why he asked this, but nodded.

"Well, actually, we just came back from the palace not too long ago."

"Then..." Crazy John's speech speed increased, and his tone was obviously a little excited, "Have you and Miss Witch found out the truth?"

"..."

Charles was silent for a moment and shook his head:

"No, not yet. We haven't found out the truth."

A slightly disappointed sigh was heard from outside the door.

But before Crazy John finished sighing, Charles suddenly said:

"——But we found the right path to the truth."

Mad John's sigh suddenly stopped, and then he complained to Charles helplessly:

"You are a living hero, why do you want to tease an old man like me whose heart is already overwhelmed? Mr. Charles, if you have anything to say, please tell me directly, instead of deliberately saying half of it like this, it's scary."

However, Charles did not respond to Crazy John. He still refused to open the door and still held the holy sword tightly.

"So," he asked directly, "you came to visit me so late at night just to ask me if we have found out the truth about Diesel's abnormality?"

"Yes," Crazy John replied quickly, "that's right."

But Charles' subsequent response was much faster and more resolute than his:

"In that case, your wish should be fulfilled now. It's late, so it's time for you to go back to bed."

"..."

Crazy John outside the door was silent for a moment after hearing this, then he smiled bitterly.

"Well," he said helplessly, "I have to admit that I have other intentions..."

The old man paused:

"——I want to know what exactly is the path to the truth that you mentioned?"

This time it was Ciel's turn to be silent.

After a long time, he asked softly:

"I need a reason...why should I tell you this?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Crazy John outside the door spoke out the answer that he had been holding in his heart for a long time and had prepared long ago:

"Because I am a citizen of Diesel! This is my country!"

His voice became sonorous and powerful, no longer the usual mild, slick and playful tone.

He seemed to have guessed that Charles would ask this.

But Charles couldn't feel any ill will towards Mad John because what Mad John said was right.

This is indeed his country. He has the right to know the truth and also the right to take the path that leads to the truth.

So, he told Crazy John:

"The emperor gave us a letter, a letter written by the second investigator who arrived in Diesel. Through that letter, we learned that the truth about all the anomalies in Diesel is hidden in the wishing well."

"And if we pass through that wishing well, we might be able to see... the real Diesel."

This absurd yet seemingly reasonable truth made Crazy John fall silent again.

After a long time, Charles finally heard the old man's slightly self-deprecating, dazed and desolate murmur through the door:

"The wishing well...it turned out to be that wishing well...why have I never thought of it in all these years..."

There was another long silence.

Finally, when Charles almost thought the old man had left, the hoarse and deep voice sounded again outside the door:

"Mr. Brave, I would like to ask you..."

"When you embark on that path to the truth...when you decide to go through that wishing well...can you...I beg you...can you take me with you?"

[To be continued]

-

66. Entering the Well

In the end, the brave man agreed to Crazy John and agreed to take him into the wishing well in the Wishing Square.

If the information that Ivan Thorne obtained at the cost of his life is accurate, then after crossing the wishing well, they will see the real Diesel.

"But if the real Diesel is hiding in the well, then where are we now?"

Ciel couldn't help but think as he hung the holy sword and its scabbard around his waist.