We walked downstairs, Zenius gave Yehessy his last words before we actually left her with Francesca's corpse.
"Face the truth. Don't run or hide."
The words sounded quite meaningful, which didn't match the cold look he had when he said that.
"Is that based on your experience?" he turned his head, "what you said earlier," i continued. He stared ahead with no intention of answering, i wondered by how his eyes trembled slightly as if he had faced the same thing.
"Um.. how did your book know?" i asked, changing the topic because he seemed to put a big wall between us now. His face became less tense and looked at me, "Locker is more detailed than Keeper, if Keeper is the main ingredient then Locker is the spice, someone like her wouldn't be included in Keeper."
"What happens if she dies prematurely? if more than that she becomes a zombie, if less?" i asked curiously, the feeling that was suffocating me from seeing the fallen head no longer filled my mind, i feel safe when i'm near this man.
"Then someone will take her place."
I squinted, confused. "You mean that even if Yehessy killed Francesca, she would still kill other people for the same reason because at that case Francesca still has some life left?" i don't even know what i'm saying. "Yes."
"The lifespan of others will be affected if even one person dies prematurely?" he nodded, i looked forward, my feet stepped through the snow which was thicker than before.
"That's why recorders are very sensitive about their work, nothing less or more."
"You didn't seem to know when they were interrupting us in the theater part."
"I didn't become their recorder when i killed two clowners at the theater incident because they were not directly involved in the incident. There is a spirit from the soil division who take care of it, Francesca's incident is my job because she killed part of the story, if you only kidnap or intercept them it is considered not part of the story." I nodded even tho my brain was now spinning fast because this information was quite difficult for me to understand.
"Then... Orchid?"
He looked into my eyes.
"That means that what happens to him in the future will be replaced by someone else so that the Keeper continues to run as it was."
I shuddered, whoever that person was, i felt sorry for having to die to replace him.
"Oh, look, it's not wrong for me to believe you."
I looked at the corpses covered in blood with shapes that were no longer suitable for display. I feel nauseous now. The surrounding snow had become a pool of red ice and their belongings were scattered in a mess, the wolves had already left and it wasn't too late to eat them because they all still 'looked' like humans.
Zenius had taken out his locker and quill and was walking slowly around while busy moving the tip of the pen across the pages of his book. I took a breath, this isn't the first time here i've seen dead people but to be honest they were brutally torn apart, i think Francesca would cry if she saw this. Wait. As a human, i should have a higher level of empathy and sympathy and emotional feelings than spirits, how could i have just realized that i was too calm when i was trapped in this situation.
"You're not working?" Zenius' voice interrupted my thoughts, i immediately took the Keeper and immediately opened the last page of the explanation about this incident, i then stamped it and put it back into my long coat pocket.
"After this, shall we go straight back?" i asked. "Do you have any other plans?" he asked back. I shook my head.
We were silent for a moment.
I stared at the snowflakes falling to touch the sleeves of my long coat, the cold air around me began to penetrate between my clothes, i then looked up after feeling a gaze.
"Your face looks messy," commented Zenius.
"Are you feeling emotional now?"
"Do spirits have emotions?" i asked and he nodded, "we were created equal to humans."
"How do you feel every time you work like this?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "How do you feel about what happened earlier?" i asked about Francesca who was killed by her own partner. He understood and his expression changed.
It seemed he didn't like my question. He looked at me sharply as if he was ready to shut my mouth if i opened it again and repeated the same question.
"..."
I fiddled with the end of my hat string awkwardly because he didn't look away from his sharp gaze but also didn't seem interested in answering the question. I smiled awkwardly and my eyes found light from my sockets, "oh! T-there's a new story," i immediately took out the Keeper and opened the page, i felt nervous.
I could hear that man snorting and the sound of Locker coming out.
[Quarry Residence Serial Murder]
"Quarry? where is it?" my question made Zenius look at me after he seemed to be looking at the list of victims, "That's area III, the mansion belonging to the ruler, Duke Quarry."
"Hm it says here the party is next week, looks like they gave us travel time."
"Yeah, it looks like we have to get ready and in there an accident killed a lot of people," said Zenius.
I nodded, Zenius turned his body and stepped away towards the hill, i looked at his back from behind, it looked vast and fragile at the same time.
***