Chapter 33: Hunger of knowledge
The curator turned silent at Jaden’s question, and the world seemed to come to a standstill just because of that one question.
According to the memories of the mayor’s son, Nightshade City only bowed to the reverence of knowledge instead of a god, but then why does the church have a mural of the birth of the gods? This question was plaguing his mind the most, and then there was that short paragraph within the map.
Their fall began long before the brilliant sparks could apprehend. The covetous mortals, once graced by the moon, succumbed to the yearning of impossible wonders. Their envy shattered the calm, only for them to fall into the game of possibility.
’Once graced by the moon... which meant the Nightshade City being blessed by the Moon God of Tranquillity, Illusion, and Reflection.’
No matter how he looked at it, Nightshade City was no illusion city... no, it was something else.
Jaden’s question felt like a gunshot within the empty arcane library. The curator placed down the reports he was reading and heaved a sigh.
"Why do you ask?"
A thoughtful expression appeared on Jaden’s face as he answered.
"As far as I know, we never believed in any god... then why is the mural of gods fashioned on its inner walls?"
The curator nodded at his answer and replied.
"That is a great response; however, why do you believe the mural to be anything more than knowledge? We are the children of knowledge, our hunger goes beyond our beliefs... and the knowledge of the first beings is like a treasure to anyone... who would not be interested in the divine?"
’This... I didn’t think of it like this...’
Jaden believed that Nightshade City did believe in a god at some point in time, but something had happened which made it the way it is now... However, he could not prove his words without mentioning the words he read in the map.
Even so, he didn’t give up and continued one way or another.
"Then why is it a mural and not a simple record like everything here?"
The curator simply gave him an amused smile as he answered.
"We search for knowledge not to record it into parchment or paper and fashion them into books, we search for it to find the truth of creation... It doesn’t matter if we bow to the divine or not, but we dare not disrespect them. We may deny bowing to them, but we do not deny them."
He then picked up the parchments before him and stacked them together as he stood up from his chair.
"Now, if you have no other questions. You may leave."
Jaden gave him an absent-minded nod as he clenched his fists and cursed inwardly.
’How do I get the answers?’
However, just as he was about to leave, his eyes fell on a parchment on which the curator was writing something a few moments ago. He looked at the parchment with a raised eyebrow.
Turning around, he looked at the curator who stood at the far end of the library. He picked up the parchment and hid it in his attire as he exited the arcane library with his measured steps.
As soon as he stepped near the enormous gate, it creaked and opened by itself.
The guard who had accompanied him a few days ago stood there and added in the same flat manner.
"Follow me."
Jaden didn’t reply and gave him a slight nod as the two of them began walking towards the exit gates of the church.
Their steps echoed within the empty white walls of the church. As they walked, Jaden let out a question.
"Have there been any cases of civilians disappearing out of nowhere?"
The guard halted his steps and turned to look at him, his eyes glinting with a strange light, before he answered in his usual demeanour.
"It is a normal occurrence... they just run away from the city for better lives in other places."
Jaden nodded at his answer and mumbled.
"I see..."
The guard then added with a stoic expression, which Jaden found quite unusual, but didn’t point it out.
"You should not worry about it... Lord Jaden."
"I just wanted to know, nothing else." Jaden lied through his teeth with a faint smile.
The duo continued their steps, and a few moments after, the golden light of the evening sun fell on Jaden’s face. He looked at the statue of the founding father of Nightshade City with inspecting eyes before he left the church and walked towards the nearby carriage stop.
Reaching the carriage stop, he waited for a few moments and took a carriage to the mayor’s mansion. The carriage passed through the evening crowd of the city and moved towards the far end in the western district, where the mayor’s mansion was located.
The carriage soon stopped before the iron gates of the mayor’s mansion. Jaden stepped out of the carriage and paid the carriage charge before entering the gates.
The guard standing at the gates opened his lips to greet him, but seeing the serious expression on Jaden’s usually smiling face, he stopped.
’Did things not go well in the arcane library?’
’...It is for the better, I guess.’
The maids had a similar reaction, and Jaden also ignored all of them as he made his way towards his room.
He pushed open the door leading to his room and hurriedly closed it as he breathed heavily.
"I hope I am wrong... Please..." he muttered with a grave look as he took out the parchment with something written on it by the curator and the map of the drainage system.
He placed the map on his bed and spread it. Holding onto the parchment, he scanned the words written into both of them... a few moments passed while scanning them, and then the parchment fell out of his hand.
His expression turned dark, and his breathing turned heavy. He took a seat on the bed as he mumbled.
"It’s the same handwriting..."