- To escape?! Listen, this is illegal! I may have extra problems that are not needed, not at all.
- David, do you have a family?
- No.
- And I have, my wife and daughter are in another city, I’m only here for a part-time job. Maybe you can help, huh? I helped you, now you owe me!
- Are you trying to put pressure on debts and pity? And you are a skilled manipulator.
- So will you help me?
- I doubt it, it makes no sense to me.
- ... it’s clear. What else to expect from a marksman ... you are all so inhuman, rude, like crackers!
- How did you get me! Ugh... I'm definitely going to regret this. What is your name?
- Femir de Sade.
- Femir, if you want me to help you, first offer a plan on what to do.
- I have a sword and a set of tools at home, including a file. Bring me both of these items, and consider that I need nothing more from you.
- Okay, give me the address.
Femir gave the address of his house, where he lived while performing his duties as a guard. David went there. The door in the house was locked and there was no key under the mat. Therefore, after looking around, David climbed into the house through a window on the second floor, falling a couple of times. There was nothing particularly valuable in the house, mostly there were working documents, some passes to be processed, in the closet there were four sets of the same dress uniform and a bed near the window that David climbed into, there was a cabinet on which there was a sword, and next to it there was a small framed picture nearby depicting a woman in a nun's uniform holding a child wrapped in blue swaddling clothes. In the drawer, there was a diary and the set of tools, among which was that same old, half-rusted file. Grabbing it and the sword, David went to the place where Femir was sitting.
- Did you bring it?
- Yeah. By the way, I wanted to ask, what are you going to do after you get out of here?
- I’ll run to my house, quickly collect all my things and escape from the city through the back doors.
- Okay, here, take the sword and file. I only advise you to keep the file in a dry place and lubricate it regularly so that it does not rust later.
- I don’t care about your advice, but thank you for helping, goodbye!
David, without saying goodbye to the guard, went further to the church, but with the relief, because the person would not disappear in the noose, as was destined to happen. Approaching the church building, the guy was called out from somewhere to the left. David turned and saw a gardener trimming the bushes and giving them a kind of pyramid shape.
- Guy, have you decided to visit the Father for prayer?
- Father?
- Don’t you know our ruler? He is law, order and the caretaker of the temple.
- Yeah, I’m going to him, so what?
- Can you pass him something?
- What exactly?
- This is the nomenclature that was supposed to be handed over to Father, but he was not there, so they passed it on through me. But now I have a lot of work to do and I don’t have time to go and look for the Father at all.
- But you have time to explain all this to me?
- At least everything shows that I’m at my place of work, and not just anywhere else. Well, will you bring it in?
- Yes, give it to me.
Having taken this document, David entered a building in which the magic of greatness reigned, he had never felt before. Having passed through the entire wide hall, filled with benches for parishioners, the guy saw an old man in white in front of the statue.
-Who entered our sacred house? I haven't seen you here before.
- It's no surprise, I'm new here.
- What kind of paper is this in your hand?
- Oh, I’m looking for Father, can you tell me where I can find him?
- Ha-ha-ha...! You made me laugh, boy. Usually everyone knows me by sight, even newcomers.
- So it turns out that you are the Father? Then this paper is for you, from the gardener.
- Thank you for passing it on. So why did you come?
- I wanted to pray, and then see how it goes.
- A wise decision, my son.
The old man put his hand in his pocket, pulled out a small piece of paper, walked up to David and handed it to him.
- This is a prayer for beginners. The first time you can read it with a paper, but then it’s better to just memorize it. You need to pray near this statue.
- Thank you. Sorry for asking, but doesn’t it bother you that I…well, have marks?
- You behave more than decently, in this case the marks are not so important. You pray, and I’ll go away, I have some business, you know.
The father went to the exit, and after the closing of the door he disappeared. David looked at the piece of paper handed to him:
“Do not forget your children in their terrible moment
Give us your kindness when there is no salvation
Hear our prayers, if you are inclined to it
Give us our daily bread, clean water, and warmth in the house
Protect from various illnesses, from unkind people
May you and your face be glorious, O Great One!”
- And THIS is what they call prayer?! Sounds more like some kind of extortion, although it’s not for me to judge...
David clearly did not want to read something like that, even considering that he was alone in the room. He was more interested in the statue that the locals prayed to. He saw the god several times, but never saw his specific features, and in this statue there was at least some specificity, even considering that the face remained without obvious emotions and was just a dumb piece of granite. Examining the statue, David began to walk around it, peering at every wrinkle in its shape, slightly admiring the work of the master who created it. Examining the back of the statue, the guy noticed something strange: on its left shoulder was a six-pointed star, the main symbol of the church. And David became curious. Nearby, in the corner, there was a ladder and they decided to take a closer look at the star, since it stood out too much in the entire work. Dragging the ladder closer and resting it on the statue, he climbed onto it and began to carefully examine the symbol, which seemed to be forcibly squeezed out of the statue’s body. The guy got suspicious and tried to push the star in, and surprisingly, it moved! At first it was quite difficult, but after that it penetrated inside more and more easily. When she climbed all the way inside, something clicked inside and a small door opened at the back of the statue's head. The inside of the head was empty, but something red was peeking out a little from the hole. David reached inside, trying to get something. He pulled out a thick book, about three inches thick. Taking the book under his arm, he began to descend the stairs. When he descended to the ground, David sat down on the floor, leaning on the statue. It was a red book, decorated with gold curly patterns in the form of a grapevine. On the front of it was written: "Multi-Border Volume of Magic."
- “Multi-Border Volume”? I remember God said that this book contains knowledge about all the spells that exist! Maybe its knowledge will be useful to me? But...what did he say? “Do not infringe on sacred artifacts”? Okay, I'll look at a couple of spells, I think he won't be offended.
David opened the book approximately in the middle and began to read from top to bottom.
"A way to increase mana reserves to the limit"
This was followed by some incomprehensible, completely unrelated words and symbols:
“Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start”
- What the hell is this, what kind of joke?!
David turned the page, there were other spells on it:
"Freeze" - "Down Right A"
"Hand’s Harpoon" - "Left Left A"
"Improved regeneration" - "I D D Q D"
David turned all the pages of the volume until he reached the end; there was another, more adequate entry: “And I warned you not to take this book. Now turn around...”
- You, what are you doing?!
- Me...well, I’m reading...
- Do you even understand what you’re reading and what you’ve picked up?
Near the exit stood the Father with several people in similar church uniforms, armed with swords, while David stood near the statue, looking for an escape route, however, unfortunately, they were not observed.
- Well, a book, a magic book, to be precise.
- This is our national treasure, and you took it with your unclean hand, marksman!
- You said that the mark is not important...
- You changed my mind with your action. Not only did you take the “Multi-Border Volume” without asking, but you also helped a criminal who was awaiting execution to escape!
- What are you talking about, I didn’t help anyone!
- Don’t be a fool, there are witnesses who saw how you communicated with de Sade through the bars, and then also brought him a sword with a file. Since he escaped, you will take his fate upon yourself.
Immediately, a crowd of armed men rushed towards David. He threw the book away and tried to escape by a roundabout route near the benches, but it didn’t work out. Several people attacked him, thereby immobilizing him. When David tried to free himself from this trap, he was stunned by a blow with the back of the hand to the neck, where the carotid artery lay. Then he did not feel anything, there was darkness around him, he did not see anything, and could not say a word, but he heard a voice that spoke to him, without waiting for a response.
- What a disgrace... I warned you, but you didn’t listen to me. I didn't want to do this, but I have to. You are like a child who doesn’t understand anything in this world, but you are not a full-fledged child either, that you need to be taught everything from scratch. I need you to learn that stealing is wrong. You will be executed, hanged in a noose, you will die - I will resurrect you in prison, you will be hanged again, or another, more sophisticated method of execution will be used. And this will continue until you realize your mistakes and lose the will to fight. And when this will happen, I myself don’t know. Death by strangulation is a very painful thing, but you will get used to it with time.
David woke up. Around him were damp gray bricks, forming a room designed to contain especially dangerous representatives of the human and not-so-human races. The only window was covered with thick bars, which would take 3 hours to polish with a file, and this is too much time and the criminal would not be able to escape unnoticed. It was the same on the door to the cell: thick bars and a door locked with a key. A guard in a blue uniform stood nearby, armed with a halberd. David examined himself; he was wearing his previous clothes, but weapons, currency and jewelry from the cobalt cave were seized during the arrest. He stood up and walked over to the bars, next to which stood a guard.
- Sorry, I have the right to a lawyer!
- Who do you have rights to, idiot? Why do you need a liar, have you gone mad? It’s okay, your problems will disappear soon.
- Lawyer, not a liar! A person who can justify my actions.
- Imbecile. No one is going to justify you. In the noose and that's the end of it.
- Shift change! – a voice was heard from the distances of the corridors.
- I have to go, another guard will come here soon, so you won’t get bored.
David sat down on the floor again and raised his head, looking up at the ceiling. He didn't try to come up with an escape plan or anything else, he was just waiting for a resolution that might never come.
- Damn, I wanted to become a priest, what a shame...
- It’s funny, no one in the past has ever thought of such a crazy plan.
- Who is there?!
David heard a vile, groaning voice from somewhere in the corner. But there was nothing there except a shadow, looking ominously at the frightened captive. The shadow had an ever-changing figure, transforming in the image of first one person, then another, in the end it took on the outline of David’s body, after which it began to slowly flow towards him, looking into his eyes with a smile spreading from ear to ear.
- I am the one who can help you, wanderer.
- How can an ordinary shadow help me?
- Oh, I’m not just an ordinary shadow, I’m something more. I can easily get you out of here...
- You clearly want something from me in return, am I right?
- Naturally. I need a container.
- For the food, drinks or anything else?
- I need a container in the form of you.
- In what sense, me? I’m not going to give myself to you, go look for another body!
- I need exactly your body, the body of another world.
- How did-
- -I know that you came from another world? You are distinguished by a special smell, and also by these marks under your eyes. Symbol of sadistic essence...
- You mean these god marks?
- God? Did you take this demon's words for the truth? And you are dumber than others.
- Others?! Wait, can you tell me everything in order, who are you, what this “demon” is and who are these “others”?
- I’ll answer the first question first. I am Malice. The anger of past another world comers who fell into this inferno. By the way, by another world comers I meant those “others” you asked about in the third question.
- What about the second one?
- This story will be a little longer...
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