Chapter 124: Travel Records and Rituals

The evening breeze traveled across the second floor of the library, making Jarre's hair billow in the air. Jarre pulled the curtains down to keep the sunlight out, then he rubbed his aching eyes and wrists. "It's getting late, Roy," he grumbled. "We've been looking the whole afternoon! I'm just a normal guy! Can't you give me a break? I'm not as strong as you witchers!"

"Keep it up, lad!" Roy bellowed. He was still as energetic as ever, without so much as a hint of lethargy in his voice. "The sooner we find it, the sooner I can save Letho from that bastard. And you told me you saw the seven deadly sins in a travel record this morning, didn't you? Let's skim through all the travel records, then. I'm sure we can find it there."

"Dammit! I should have copied down all the books in the library! Before, I would have known where I'd seen that damn concept right away!" Jarre yelled and went back to the search.

For a while, the library was filled with nothing but the sound of flipping pages. A long, long while later, Jarre was only holding on by a thread of consciousness. His eyes were red, and tears were starting to stream down his cheeks. Even so, he was still skimming through the pages, then he noticed one particular book, and his eyes widened. "Come here, Roy!" He slammed the table and shot up. "I found it!"

"Good job, lad. "Van Zeron's Travels to the South."

Jarre cracked open the yellowed cover and underlined the sentences with his finger. "Van Zeron, born 1168, died 1239. A proselytizer of the Temple of Melitele. Traveled to Nilfgaard in 1215 and ventured the south for ten years before coming back to the temple and authoring this book. This book details the life of the Nilfgaardians, their culture, and their beliefs. Page thirty-nine. Nilfgaard."

Roy huddled closer and read along.

'Today, I arrived at the capital of Nilfgaard, the City of Golden Towers. This magnificent city that sits beside Alba is the beating heart of Nilfgaard's empire. To the locals, only those who live in the city and its vicinity are true Nilfgaardians. Everyone else in the empire is not afforded this status.

'Yaruga is situated right beside the city, and with the biggest harbor within the city's jurisdiction, it lent a great advantage to it, making it the economic hub of the south. The City of Golden Towers is also the south's cultural and religious center. The headquarters of the south's biggest religion is situated in the city.

'Nilfgaard's biggest religion's origins started in 1207, which is seven years ago. The king back then was Fergus var Emreis, and he made a radical change to the empire's policies and religions. Most religions were banned and criminalized, save for one — the Great Sun. And thus, Nilfgaard's biggest religion was born.

'Fergus var Emreis decreed the Great Sun to be Nilfgaard's official religion and installed himself as the church's great priest. He made the clergymen the empire's officials, effectively merging religion and governance. A smart move by Fergus, since it centralized power and brought the empire's people together.'

As a proselytizer, Van Zeron introduced the religion of the Great Sun extensively.

'Glory be to the great sun. Praise the sun! ~ Nilfgaardian hymn.

'The Great Sun thus rose to prominence in the south. While the temple of Melitele employs the system of matriarchy, the Great Sun sees its system led exclusively by men. The great priests and ministers are all men, of course. Those men believe that the sun is the giver of all life in our world. They believe that the sun is a giver of life and humanity's protector, but at the same time, the sun is cruel and destructive.

'While Melitele preaches tolerance and acceptance, the dark side of the Great Sun is the total opposite of this. By chance, I found out about a hidden doctrine of the Great Sun. Fergus wrote down the seven deadly sins in a hidden book as a deterrent for the church's core members. The seven deadly sins are: greed, gluttony, sloth, wrath, envy, lust, and pride. Every year, the church secretly picks those who have committed the seven deadly sins from the death row inmates to perform a sacred ritual known to few on.

'They sacrifice the flesh of the sinners to appease the great sun, to pray for its cleansing of sins and the birth of all things good. They believe the sun will grant them their wish. There must not be a drop of innocent blood spilled by any partakers of the ritual, or the purity of the sacrifice will be tainted. Since most of the religion's believers are men, they usually ask for partners.

'A nice intent, but the sacrifice is inhumane. They might have sinned, or at least that's what the believers say, but that's no reason to kill. If they keep this up for a prolonged period, I believe a disaster will soon come for them.

'(Afternote: as expected. It is the year 1236, and fortunately, I have a semblance of sanity left. I have heard about the news of a usurper taking over the throne of Nilfgaard. Ever since then, the Great Sun lost its dominant status in the empire.)'

***

"The Great Sun?" Roy wondered about the religion for a bit, while realization struck Jarre.

"No wonder we didn't find anything in the northern religions. The seven deadly sins originated in the south, and it involves a secret ritual. The religion only lasted for thirty years and waned after the emperor's fall. This is probably the only record about the Great Sun among all the books here."

"No," Roy muttered. "The Great Sun is making a comeback." Fergus var Emreis was Emhyr var Emreis' father. Fergus was killed by an usurper, but Emhyr avenged his father a few years ago, killing the usurper and taking back his throne. Thanks to him, the Great Sun made a comeback in the empire.

Hamlet, witcher version. Really? Roy thought that it was possible for a Great Sun extremist to be hiding in Ellander, since the religion was making a comeback, and the empire was moving north with its conquest. "Logically speaking, the higher vampire is a remnant of the Great Sun. According to the records, he's killing the sinners who have committed the seven deadly sins as a sacrifice for his god. The killer's a tall, male, higher vampire, and the believers partake in the ceremony to pray for the woman they love. This might be the killer's motive. And it's not a coincidence that the bodies were found near the castle." Roy had a solemn look on his face, much to Jarre's confusion. "There's a woman in the castle whom the killer likes, and he's showing his love for her through bloodshed. But killing seven people over a servant would be a bit too much. That means the lady must be of high status."

"Does King Hereward have any daughters?"

Roy's sudden question made Jarre jump. He thought about it for a moment and stammered, "N-no. His majesty has no children. D-did you get something, Roy? Please don't scare me like that. I've pulled an all-nighter. At this rate, I think I'm gonna faint."

Roy ignored his complaints. "I see." He remembered reading Hereward's relative succeeding his throne after his death. If Hereward had a daughter, he wouldn't have let that guy take his throne. "If he has no daughter…" He frowned. "Then why did the killer do this? The woman must be a coveted one." Nilfgaard's Great Sun, sacrifices, palace, woman. Roy had an idea who the killer liked, but the thought made him shiver. I-it can't be…

"And the killer beat Letho." It's probably a higher vampire. He had a suspect, but he hadn't been sure about it, until now. The guy's stats looked normal at first glance, but since higher vampires could shapeshift just like cursed ones, they could hide themselves from Observe. Roy suspected that the guy's hidden identity was a higher vampire, and now that he found out about the killer's motive, it was time to take the fight to him.

"Jarre, give this to Mother Nenneke if I don't come back by tomorrow night."

The road ahead was dark and dangerous, but Roy had to press on, for Letho needed his help. He took a deep breath and checked his alchemy supplies, and he shot up.