Treatise Of A Failed Knight-Chapter 275: Secret Files

"W-what... is that?!"

Seth gasps, right as I quickly take the page away from his sight.

"This is—!"

"Give it!" He reaches out for the document and yanks it from my hand. A crazed expression has taken over his usually calm face, so I decide not to resist.

He reads through the documents, breathing heavily as he does so.

"Where... did you find this?"

"Here..." I respond honestly. "Among this pile."

Seth flings the document aside, almost nonchalantly. I quickly catch it, reminding him that we have to leave everything as we met it.

Mishandling these documents will only leave evidence of our presence here.

"I understand..."

Although Seth says this, he absentmindedly flips through the pages of other documents, rapidly consuming the information therein.

A part of me wishes to stop him, or at least tell him to slow down.

But I know there is no point in doing so.

It’s already too late.

’Looks like the church had dirtier secrets than I expected. And they’re littered everywhere here...’

I sigh with deep disappointment and some regret.

’Should I have brought Seth here, after all?’ I wonder to myself. ’He would have been perfectly happy without knowing these things.’

No.

No, this is better.

I believe he deserves to know all of these things so he can make a more informed decision.

Besides, this is his life, not mine.

I ought not to control it.

"How ironic..." Seth’s voice echoes in the room, his tone ringing hollow. "I told you the Cathedral had no such secrets, but I always doubted those words. Still, how could I have expected such vile things?"

I can see disgust in Seth’s countenance, and I cannot blame him.

After all, this hidden area contains many documents regarding heresies, sins, and the dark history of the church. It also contains the atrocities that the church is still involved in.

Unsurprisingly, this includes illegal activities.

’They were even involved with the Dark Guild. I didn’t expect this...’

Although I have pretty much explored the Dark Guild archives, I have not encountered a single one tying the church to this criminal empire.

I thought this was good.

That the Church was clean.

But it just meant they approached things with far smarter methods.

’They use third parties to solicit the aid of the Dark Guild and also engage in transactions with them. Apostates, certain fringe religious groups, and even some cults... they are in cooperative relationship with the Church.’ Merely thinking about this causes my heart to sink.

Although this is no longer the case, I was once religious myself.

Watching my past worldview crumble before my eyes feels very unpleasant.

Just how much is Seth’s pain compared to mine?

I can only imagine it.

"Child Trafficking, Illegal Experimentation, Slave Trade, and a host of other things I was taught to be abominations... They are all here." Seth mutters quietly. "Do you think... Father Gerome was aware of all these things?"

"I..."

For a moment, I consider lying to him.

But what’s the point?

Seth might be gullible, but he is also a First Rate Scholar for a reason.

He is incredibly smart.

"Merely based on his position alone, chances would be very low that he didn’t know. Also, I didn’t want to tell you this, but I scoured his private residence and found undeniable links to this place in his writings. There’s no doubt about it..."

"... He knew," Seth mumbles.

A bead of tears falls from the side of his face, and I watch him wipe it off.

"You know... I always had my doubts about the faith. I also doubted the existence of any God or Gods. However, I still believed in what we were doing... in the actions of the Church—at least, to an extent. I believed in the people with whom I grew up. But now..."

Seth smiles and shakes his head.

"I have lost all my faith."

"Seth..."

"I don’t care anymore." He states calmly, dropping the scroll in his hands before walking towards the entrance and exit of the secret room.

"What does that mean?"

"I’m no longer interested in this case. In finding that man... In anything of the sort."

"...."

"It doesn’t matter if—"

"But what about the innocents?" I ask him calmly. "I am not trying to make your decision for you, but would you really let the innocents suffer because you found out Father Gerome is this awful person?"

"Are there truly innocents out there?" Seth turns towards me and smiles.

"... I don’t know."

For so long, Seth saw Father Gerome as the embodiment of goodness.

A truly innocent man.

If such a person could be revealed to be this vile, then how much more the less pious members of society? One can only wonder what kinds of skeletons exist in such people’s closets.

"Rather than make judgments on them and condemn them to death, or a fate worse than that, is it not better to try and see for yourself if they truly are innocent? If you make such a rash decision now, without knowing the truth for yourself, then you might as well turn a blind eye to the evils that you have the power to prevent. What would that make you?"

To be honest, I am not a selfless person.

I also would not condemn Seth for being selfish or choosing not to concern himself with the plight of others.

However, I would rather he be honest with himself.

Rather than tell me he would abandon the Professors he respects and all the other people suffering at the hands of the Enlightened Witnesses of Truth because he does not consider them innocent, I would prefer if he were honest in his motivation.

In the true reason behind his disinterest.

It’s the same reason he grew very interested in the case, to begin with.

—Father Gerome!

"Fine... I’ll help." Seth sighs deeply, changing his trajectory. "But I’m only doing this for the innocents who are suffering because of this."

"Fair enough."

Although I say this, my heart sinks in disappointment.

Seth is still not being honest.

Not with himself.

Certainly not with me.

He isn’t getting involved because I somehow managed to convince him of the good in others. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

No... His motivation hasn’t changed.

’You want to know, don’t you? Without a shadow of a doubt, you want to know if Father Gerome truly knew of these things? You want to face him and ask him all the questions that are piling up in your chest, don’t you?’ I narrow my gaze on the young man.

He can’t ask all of these questions if the Bishop is dead, which is why he wishes to find him.

Not for the innocents... but for the man who may very well be guilty.

’You want to know why...’ I smile at Seth. ’You seek answers.’

There’s nothing wrong with that.

I just wish he were more honest about it.

’Now that I have Seth on board with the investigation, I can only hope his Divination helps at some point...’

Unfortunately, we can’t wait for such an unpredictable thing.

Instead, the best thing to do is thoroughly search this secret room and also go through the Bishop’s belongings for as many clues as possible.

"We have eleven hours left. Let’s not waste any of it."