Chapter 154 The Archive

The archive was managed by an elderly clergyman, hunched over with sparse, messy white hair and a complex lens assembly of brass cranks and crystal lenses on his head. He also smelled of machine oil.

The old clergyman sat behind a dark, circular desk, studying a mechanical creation that looked like a Rubik's Cube with intense concentration through his lens assembly. With the aid of some delicate tools, he had disassembled the cube into a pile of parts, the light of the gas lamp shining on them, making them gleam.

As Vanna approached, her tall figure blocked the light from the side, and the old clergyman looked up, moving the lens from his eyes. He smiled when he saw who it was. "Oh, it's Inquisitor—what assistance do you require today?"

"Where are the records of various disasters and accidents in the city-state around 1889?" Vanna nodded to the old clergyman and asked.

"Disaster records from 1889?" The old clergyman muttered, tapping a spot on the wide, circular desk. A slight mechanical friction sound came from under the desk, and then a section of the desk retracted downwards, and a mechanical platform covered with cranks, number dials, and levers rose from within.

With the creaking of machinery, the old clergyman began to skillfully operate the delicate machine with the levers and number dials. After inputting the necessary information, Vanna heard the characteristic low roar of large machinery operating. She felt the floor beneath her feet vibrate slightly, and countless gears and linkages ran happily under the impetus of the steam core. Then, she heard a crisp "ding" from the mechanical device in front of the old clergyman, and a printed paper tape was ejected from the machine.

"Go forward along this path, turn left at the third bookshelf, turn right at the end. A bookshelf is already lit up; that's the row. The contents are mixed, all events that could be called disasters are recorded, including the smallest steam-related injuries. Ring the bell if you need help."

The old clergyman spoke as he handed over the strip of paper—he was holding it with a prosthetic hand. The brass palm and forearm had a delicate mechanical structure, and through a transparent window on the back of the hand, one could see the gear assembly ticking.

Vanna thought that he was probably a retired veteran of the Guardians—such veterans were not uncommon in the administrative departments of the Storm Church.

Their bodies were damaged, and they had proven their faith and loyalty with blood and sacrifice. The assistance of steam-powered or magical prosthetics allowed them to continue serving the Church, and various positions dealing with files and archives were the final destination for some of these veterans.

In a sense, this was of course a preferential treatment for the warriors. The relatively leisurely and well-off archive department was suitable for "retirement," but from another perspective, it was also an excellent "application of talent"—these veterans' bodies might no longer be suitable for continuing to fight heretics, but their wills were still strong, and the work of guarding books and archives...

...always required a strong will.

A trace of respect arose in Vanna's heart. She took the paper tape with both hands and nodded slightly. "Thank you."

"Remember to tidy up the books after reading, and don't touch the books that aren't in the catalog," the old clergyman waved his hand. "Many books here have been left for a long time, don't disturb them casually."

After speaking, he returned to his "work," ignoring Vanna.

Vanna didn't mind, and walked deeper into the archive with the paper tape printed with the book catalog. The bookshelves, so tall that they could be described as "magnificent," were neatly arranged on both sides of her, connecting one after another to the dome above, like rows of ancient guards, overlooking the small figure below. Bright electric lights and precisely positioned gas lamps alternated between the bookshelves, illuminating the place, leaving no darkness or shadows even between the deepest bookshelves.

Vanna found the bookshelf mentioned by the old clergyman—a row of small light bulbs lit up on the bookshelf, indicating the files that could be browsed by her.

The files were not placed low, but fortunately Vanna was very tall, and she could take the books down without a ladder, which made her relieved.

Running around with a ladder in such a huge library was not an easy task.

She gently

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took a breath, found the file on the bookshelf, pulled out the numbered file, and began to flip through it quickly.

What she was looking for was simple, that was the big fire eleven years ago, or the fire that was packaged as a factory leak accident.

In fact, this was not the first time she had investigated this matter—as an Inquisitor, she was already sensitive to all "unusual phenomena," including the things that happened to her. After knowing that only she remembered the fire in her childhood, she had privately investigated some of the materials of that year, but those superficial investigations did not yield any results.

At that time, she quickly put the matter behind her.

Because in any case, she was only twelve years old when she encountered the accident. She was neither a believer of the Goddess, nor did she have any outstanding intelligence. It was not impossible for a panicked child who had inhaled toxic smoke to have some wrong memories. She did not need to dwell on this matter too much, so after consulting some public files, she put the matter aside.

But now, she suddenly discovered that there were people in Pland City-State who had experienced the fire in her memory. The doubts and countless speculations that had been put aside suddenly surged up, and her "professional alertness" as an Inquisitor rang wildly in her mind.

It was precisely because of this professional alertness that she rejected Heidi's suggestion of "returning to the antique shop" at that time, and waited silently until today, running directly to this Goddess-blessed archive to investigate those original materials that were not open to the public.

The reason was simple, there was an aura of danger in this matter—erasing a fire sounded easy, but it actually involved the cognition and memory of thousands of people. Moreover, this event also involved a large number of cultists' sabotage activities in those years. If all of this was done by a "black hand behind the scenes," then this black hand would never sit idly by and watch someone notice this truth.

The memory remaining in her mind, the memory remaining in the mind of the girl named Nina... these "remnants" were very likely the black hand's omissions. The "person" hidden behind the scenes may not have discovered these omissions yet, but if he discovered them... she was not afraid, but Nina and her uncle, and the girl named Sherry, were all ordinary people.

So she rejected Heidi's suggestion at that time, and asked Heidi not to mention this matter again afterwards—on the one hand, it was because she did not want to startle the snake, and wanted to conduct an investigation in secret, and on the other hand, it was to avoid implicating the innocent.

Before mastering certain information, she must not show any attention to that antique shop that exceeded what was necessary. Window

Vanna's mood fluctuated as she slowly flipped through the files in her hand.

For some reason, while perceiving a shadow, she felt a sense of being spied on and watched by ubiquitous gazes. The terrible feeling of being watched by someone in the dark was really like a thorn in her back, making her feel a little irritable. {

She put down this file and picked up another one next to it.

At the same time, she was also thinking about what had happened in the city-state recently.

Many of the solar heretics currently active in the city have been arrested. It seems that the city-state's resolute actions have effectively deterred those heretics, or perhaps the channels through which they infiltrated have really been completely destroyed. In short, there are now far fewer solar heretics in the city, and the heretical detention centers under the major churches are full.

And the purpose of those solar heretics' activities in the city has long been ascertained.

Searching for the "fragment of the sun" that briefly appeared eleven years ago and may still be hidden somewhere. Fragment of the sun... the fire eleven years ago...

The scene of "illusion" that Heidi had glimpsed in the museum before.

Vanna's hand flipping through the file stopped. Some clues that had not attracted enough attention before suddenly connected into a line, and became more prominent as she began to re-examine the fire in her memory.

"There is a connection behind these events... the fire eleven years ago was definitely real..." The young Inquisitor

took a breath, and at the same time, her eyes inadvertently scanned some of the words on the file:

"...on x month x day, xx block, a vicious heretical worship incident, three households in their homes built

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altars, sacrificing blood and praying to some evil that has never appeared in the records, causing panic and nightmares to a large number of nearby residents. The sacrificial ceremony was reported and destroyed, but the clues remaining at the scene could not point to any known evil god or spirit.

"In theory, the sacrificial ceremony should not have produced any effect, and should be a blind attempt by ignorant fools for personal selfish desires, but the collective panic and nightmares of the local residents did occur. Subsequent investigations confirmed that the area was indeed affected by supernatural power at that time..."

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