Monocle

After an indeterminate amount of time, Luke gently opened his eyes, still feeling the nagging headache; his gaze swept around him again to be entirely sure of where he was.

After a quick glance at the scene, Luke exhaled and, rising from the rotting bench, walked back to where the broken glass lay.

Standing in front of the shards, he bent down and picked one up carefully so as not to hurt himself, then looked at the bullet wound in his temple, which had healed completely.

Only a scar remained.

He reached out to press his left breast and felt his racing heart exude tremendous vitality.

Then he touched his exposed skin. Beneath the slight coldness, there was a fluid warmth.

"The restorative effects that transmigration brings?" Luke curved the right corner of his mouth as he muttered under his breath.

He let out a small smile and looked back to where he had awakened when he transmigrated into Gray Benedetti's body.

Fixing his gaze on the wooden pillar, where he had regained consciousness, Luke saw a large pool of blood reflecting the crimson moonlight.

How can a person survive after releasing so much blood?

He found it hard to believe he was still alive after seeing the pool of blood. Luke sharpened his gaze when he saw something metallic glowing next to the column of firewood.

He approached the wooden column and leaned over, grabbing the metal gleaming in the pool of blood. He saw a brass revolver and a sealed wooden box.

A revolver? A box? Luke was shocked. He recognized the two objects.

At that moment, he realized something as he looked at the brass revolver on the floor. Several conjectural thoughts popped into his mind.

Could it be that Grey committed suicide?

Remembering the temple wound he had a moment ago, that was the guess he came to, but another question arose in his mind.

Why would Grey kill himself?

Luke couldn't believe that Grey had killed himself, based on the memories he obtained, which were primarily fragmented, like broken glass.

In all his recollections, he saw no indication that Grey wanted to commit suicide. Although his family's financial situation was not good, he never intended to take his own life to lighten the burden on his family...

And Grey loved his life too much to do something like that. Besides, Luke can't be sure that Grey took his own life; he lacks too much information to have a clear answer...

Pushing aside his thoughts, Luke exhaled a small sigh, bent down, and picked up the bloodied brass revolver and the sealed wooden box.

He placed the revolver in his waistband and looked at the sealed wooden box. The wooden box, of modest dimensions, appeared to be made of an aged type of wood with a finish that suggested age.

The surface was covered with intricate symbols engraved with precision and detail. Among all the symbols, one stood out for its complexity and brilliance: It is a grayish-white disk. The surface of the disk was divided into twelve segments. There was a black needle, like a clock.

However, the segments were not evenly distributed in the disk. They were of different sizes and extremely incongruent.

Despite the enigmatic appearance of the box, the opening turned out to be surprisingly simple. By gently pressing the center, a hidden mechanism activated with a soft click, releasing the lid.

A monocle rested inside the box on a bed of black velvet. The glass of the monocle was flawless, without a single blemish or scratch, and its black bronze frame displayed delicate engravings that reflected the same mystical iconography as the box's exterior.

As Luke lifted the monocle, he felt a shiver run down his spine, as if the object emanated a strange energy.

The monocle seemed to have been carefully placed there and then sealed. As he held the monocle, Luke couldn't help but think of Grey's death.

Could Grey's death be related to this box?

He believes that the death may be related to this mysterious box that had a monocle inside, and more questions arise in his mind.

How did Grey get this mysterious box? Who gave him this box? Did he steal it? Did he find it?

Could it be that this monocle could be some important item?

His mind is full of questions surrounding the mysterious box with the monocle inside and how it got into Grey's hands. Despite his questions, he can't come up with any answers, as everything related to the monocle and the mysterious box seems to be shrouded in mystery.

Luke looks at the monocle, not knowing what to do with it. At this point, he has two options: The first would be to put the monocle in its box and throw it in the sea, avoiding much trouble, or keep it until he has more information about the object and then think about what to do with it.

After looking for half a minute in silence at the monocle, Luke makes an unknowing decision and decides to keep the object because he does not know what kind of benefits it can bring him in the future or what problems he will have.

Before putting the monocle back in the mysterious box, he puts the monocle on his right eye to see how it fits.

At that instant, he felt an abnormally sharp pain in his head, losing strength and control of his body, falling weakly on the wet ground full of weeds. The pain he is feeling is three times stronger than when he woke up in Grey Benedetti's body.

After a minute, the sharp pain in his head subsided, allowing Luke to regain strength and control of his body.

Luke leaned against one of the rotten wooden benches, his breath coming in short gasps as he carefully sat down and closed his eyes so that the pain would go away completely.

…

After a few minutes, Luke opened his eyes, and the sharp pain in his head completely disappeared.

With a trembling hand, he removed the monocle from his right eye and picked up the mysterious box from the floor. He put the monocle back on the velvet and closed the box.

Luke gets up from the wooden bench and gives the place a glance. He starts scanning the surroundings to see if he can find anything else he can find.

He walks over to the wooden ambo and sees some yellowed leaves stained with blood. Luke grabs the yellowed sheets, but the text is illegible due to the place's blood and dampness.

He exhaled softly and fixed his gaze on the entrance of the church as he found nothing besides the brass revolver and the mysterious box with the monocle inside.

Seeing that he had nothing to do in this place, he headed towards the church door to leave this place.

Standing in front of the worn and cracked wooden door, he saw the wrought iron hinges, adorned with intricate gothic designs, were rusted and covered with a green patina that spoke of decades of moisture and disuse. Parts of the metal had rusted so badly that they seemed about to disintegrate at the slightest touch, and the screws that once held them firmly in place were now loose and bent.

At the top of the door, a semicircular stained glass window with a religious design was almost entirely opaque with accumulated dirt and dust. One could barely distinguish the image of a holy being, its features blurred and ghostly under layers of cobwebs and grime. Cracks in the glass formed a chaotic pattern as if a giant spider had spun its web over time.

The base of the doorway was overgrown with vegetation; moss and small plants had found a home in the crevices of the wood, taking every opportunity to reclaim what nature had lost to man. The thin but tenacious roots of vines twined around the edges, lifting the stone slabs of the threshold.

Luke finished looking at the door. He put his hands on the weathered wood and pushed them hard to open it.

The rusty hinges made a metallic noise as the door slowly swung open to reveal the outside. Once the door fully opens, he sees a thick fog bound to the point where the outside seems to disappear.

Seeing this thick fog that seems to hide everything, Luke closes the old door again and sits on one of the rotting wooden benches until dawn.