Chapter 1755: Chapter 1755

"You let the two deer that came to help you take my Gnawing Worms in your place. They died horribly, and you found your chance to kill me. Does that, or does that not, mean you believe your life is more important than the lives of two deer?"

Sigrid stood in the rain, biting her lip so hard Jenkins worried she might draw blood. Having pieced together what had happened, he considered what to say to help his cousin. But just then, a strange sound emerged from the darkness beyond the shallow creek.

Straightening up, he peered into the gloom. Two four-legged animals were slowly approaching, their hooves making a strange, muffled thud on the pebbles. Jenkins couldn't identify the creatures; their bodies were in an advanced state of decay, their fur completely rotted away. In the downpour, he could even see white maggots ‘swimming’ through the putrid flesh.

A wave of nausea washed over Jenkins, forcing him to look away. His only reaction to the two bizarre creatures was pure disgust. But when Sigrid heard the sound and turned her head, her face instantly went deathly pale. Her body began to tremble uncontrollably. Not even during the worst parts of their mirror-world adventure had she shown such terror.

He dropped the pebble he had just picked up and moved to Sigrid's side. After shooting a harsh glare at the corpse, he took her other hand:

"It’s all right. Remember, this is a Mysterious Realm. We came here to deal with Nolan’s Children of the Mist. This is all an illusion. Those can’t possibly be the same two deer from back then."

"Yes, those can’t possibly be the same two deer from back then."

The corpse repeated Jenkins’s words with immense malice, which only seemed to heighten Sigrid’s terror.

The two deer-like creatures continued their approach toward the shallows, the sound of their steps now audible even over the rain. Jenkins’s expression darkened. He pulled his cane from thin air and thrust it into the pebble beach before him. The stones gave way to soft sand beneath, allowing the cane to stand upright.

"So, answer me, Sigrid Capet. Do you regret saving your own life at the cost of others? And do you believe your life is more noble than that of an animal?"

The corpse posed the questions again. There was no urgency in its tone, but that very calmness made Sigrid’s anguish even greater.

Jenkins couldn't tell if the streaks on her face were raindrops or tears. He began to speak:

"There’s no such thing as higher or lower."

Not giving anyone—or any corpse—a chance to interrupt, he spoke in a rapid torrent:

"I said it before: nature is a cycle, nature is balance. Even if our souls and intellects differ, in the grand scheme of the material world, what are any of us but a mass of flesh that absorbs and transfers energy? We are all just a part of nature, a single link in a cyclical chain. There is no noble or base. The strong devouring the weak, the fittest surviving—these are merely the fundamental rules that maintain nature’s equilibrium."

He squeezed Sigrid’s hand, feeling a slight pang of guilt for once again using unreasonable reasoning to persuade someone:

"Can you tell me why sheep eat grass, why tigers eat sheep, and why we can eat tigers?"

In truth, Jenkins had never heard of anyone actually eating a tiger, but he trusted she understood his point.

"Because that is nature. It is the cycle. It is the balance. Are sheep more noble than grass? Are tigers more noble than sheep? No. It’s simply the rule. Without it, the food chain—I mean, the cycle of energy and the transfer of matter... something like that, anyway. This cycle would collapse, and the rules that have governed the material world since its inception would be broken. From an individual perspective, we might say humans are superior to animals without intellect. But from the perspective of our species as a whole, we are all the same—just a part of nature."

A sudden bolt of lightning split the sky, and Jenkins neurotically glanced up again.

"But why did she arrogantly use the lives of deer to save her own?"

"Because she wanted to live. That is the base, fundamental instinct of any living thing. It is the sin—or perhaps the very meaning of existence—that all life has carried since birth. Are you satisfied with that answer?"

The corpse released Sigrid’s hand and fell silent. The thunder that followed the lightning finally rolled across the sky. Amid the deafening crack, Sigrid threw her arms around Jenkins’s neck and hugged him tightly. The sudden embrace left Jenkins at a loss, and he wanted to remind her that with a hug that tight, his cat was still in his pocket.

In the end, Chocolate wasn’t hurt. The cat simply squeezed through the gap between them, hooked its small claws into Jenkins’s coat, and climbed onto his shoulder. Reminded by Chocolate’s presence, the golden-haired young nun released Jenkins. Judging by the redness of her eyes, she had truly been crying.

"I’m not very good at comforting people..."

Jenkins said, a little embarrassed:

"But this isn’t worth crying over. It was a long time ago, after all, and I’m sure you’ve regretted it. When we leave this Mysterious Realm, you can pray to the Righteous God, the Spirit of All Things and Nature. Or, if you don’t mind, you could pray to the Lord of Blossoms, too. They will give you guidance."

Sigrid nodded, wiping her face self-consciously. The heavy rain had done a good job of hiding the traces of her tears, but ladies are always mindful of their appearance: ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novel·fire.net

"What you said made sense. This is my sin, and I must face it."

If she weren’t so kindhearted, and if she weren’t a follower of the Spirit of All Things and Nature, she probably wouldn't have cared so much about this.

"I think I can handle it now. But what you said about survival of the fittest... it’s just so cruel. I believe the world is a gentle place. We don’t have to think of it so harshly."

"But that is part of the rules. It isn't harshness; it's precision and order."

Jenkins nodded. Seeing that her spirits had lifted, he resumed burying the corpse. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the two rotting deer at the edge of the darkness had vanished completely. As he continued his work, he called out to the elf on the opposite bank:

"You didn’t mention this Mysterious Realm would throw something at us. Those deer just now..."

"Even if you hadn't startled them, they would not have approached you. They were merely indescribable things drawn forth by the lady’s troubled thoughts. If she could perceive nature with the same clarity as you, and held no lingering attachments to her past, this surely would not have happened."