The grandeur of Central started to come into view as the train exited the tunnel. The train was descending from the mountain which bordered the Eastern provinces, and there I saw the market with the usual crowd. It spanned throughout the trade port, and was surrounded by towns. Two bridges extended outwards to the statue of the Holy One placed in the center of the port’s concavity. The Northern House was situated quite far away from this. 

“We have restrained Lukas Weber for a similar case.”

Heinrich revealed it to me in a cautious tone, aware of his case history. I was then reminded of a peculiar case which I had investigated.

“Sir, this is the eye-witness which saw the spirit. He does not possess any mana.”

At first, I believed that it was a made-up story. There had been no previous cases wherein a person could see spirits without possessing mana. The man looked middle-aged, and did not seem to be a resident of Central, most likely coming from a commoner upbringing in the Eastern provinces. He had sharp-edged hair in the front, with his smooth hair extending till his shoulders. He wore a jacket on top of a black cloth. 

The man looked horrified, with eyes constantly looking down on the floor. His eyelids shook with fear, his hands on the sides of his head, covering his ears partially. It felt he was not closing his ears completely out of paranoia. He must be scared of what the military might do with him.

“Relax. You will be sent free soon. I have a couple of questions to ask.”

I sat down on the chair in front of him, and he looked at me directly. He lifted his head almost mechanically, as if he was brainwashed to obey commands. His eyes did not blink once.

“What is your name?”

“Lukas Weber.”

He was unrelated to the service, most likely encountering the events out of pure accident. To begin with, spirits do not interfere with people who are strangers to mana, lest appear to them. It became unlikely that he saw an actual spirit. Most often, these cases are caused by bandits who cast psychological interference. Despite knowing all that, I feared to ask the main question.

“What did you see?”

“Would you believe it if I said I saw the Lord?”

I did not say a word.

“I saw a spirit descending from the clouds, from the Heavens above. And, there I saw all of time in one place, as if I was omniscient. I saw my future unfold right in front of me, I had felt that, at the least. While nothing of that sort happened in reality, it was definitely the future, and I could tell that with clarity. I felt the pain right here, in my ears, from the air shrieking. And, it did not shriek for help. It was mocking me.”

The man concluded with fear in his eyes. I could not shake it off, this look in his eyes that I saw. Despite all that he said, that glare gave the most credibility to his words.

“It mocked all of us! Oh, the Heavenly Lord has come to save us! He has come to make us free of this sin.”

“He has come to free me of this sin.”

The man stood for a moment, and fell to the chair, with his voice gasping.

I was about to laugh, and a smile did go through my straight face. The man was crazy enough, and I could not take him seriously.

“You may go now.”

The man did not move. He sat there, with stillness.

“You do not believe me, do you?”

“You must wake up soon.”

A second voice interluded in between. I felt a strange fear develop within me. Now, I felt there was relief in the man’s eyes, as he saw me feel the same terror, albeit briefly. The fear felt foreign to me, yet it was strong. It was fear from the unknown. I could tell this just from mere instinct.

“Friedrich, take him away!”

All the while it took him to exit, he was laughing with conviction in his voice. I tried to get up on my knees, supporting myself from the wall. I was shaking with fear, from something that I had not seen yet.

I felt I now knew what the man was saying, although I did not know its motive. The voice that interrupted in between felt a strong resemblance to the spirit I had met.

“Hermann, we have reached.”

The train had reached Central, this time safely. While exiting it, I felt relief now that the sights, which I thought was the future, did not happen.

“Who is there?”

Heinrich spoke with alertness in his voice. I too felt an ominous presence nearby. Some spirit was interfering with our minds. Darkness started to surround me, as I saw the two futures again. I looked around, and found myself surrounded by clocks all pointing to the hour of dusk, except one whose hands were still moving.

“And, there I saw all of time in one place, as if I was omniscient.”

I remembered the man’s voice, and I could relate to his experience now. I felt that the air was shrieking, and it mocked this futility of mine. After all, I could do nothing except watch this future branch out. I could do nothing about it. It was all done without my volition. It felt like the Heavenly Lord was punishing me, mocking me as I played this game of his. I knew I was stuck now in a limbo, unable to escape from time itself.

Then, I gazed as if I was looking through the mirror, through the image of myself.

“Hermann, are you alright?”

I woke up, lying on the floor. I knew that I must tread carefully. The spirits seemed to reside in every nook of time. I now knew that I was stuck in playing this game, and I must play it through to solve this mystery.