Jimmy was a bit flustered, as James had described it as something so serious that it had to be kept confidential from everyone, which seemed a bit dangerous.
Jimmy, "Why do we need witnesses? Isn't this a matter for the priests? Why do we have to be involved?"
James, "I don't know, all I know is that when the priest notifies us that witnesses are needed, we send a reliable police officer. It should have been Cage who went, but, um, since you're still here, it'll be you. I think you have the strongest heart in the police department."
Jimmy, "Apart from Cage, how many people have participated before?"
James, "I'm not sure about that, the records we have show 3 people, but the other two are no longer at the police station. Look, Cage participated once and was fine, so you will be too, don't worry. Since there are records, it means that this is how it has been done before, and Cage is all right, right? Taking him as a reference, you'll definitely be fine."
Jimmy nodded. "Alright, I'll leave work early today and head over after dinner."
James, "Yeah, try to head there as early as possible. This is the first time in three years, and even I want to see it."
Jimmy, "Okay, if there's nothing else, I'll head out now."
James nodded, stood up to open the door, and after Jimmy left, he closed it again.
Jimmy returned to his seat, his heart still not recovered. His heart rate had quickened when he guessed about the priest performing an exorcism. A long time ago, he remembered a disappearance case in the western part of Little Stone City in a marshland. Cage had mentioned that several people had disappeared in that place, which was very strange, and he had told Jimmy to drop the case.
Initially, he thought Cage just didn't want to bother with complex cases, but now, if Cage had participated in a priest's exorcism three years ago, that would explain it.
If the Exorcism Ceremony was real, then Cage must have seen something, and due to confidentiality, he hadn't spoken to anyone about it.
There may indeed be strange occurrences in the marshland area, and the disappearances there are not simple cases of disappearance. Cage, knowing some things ordinary people do not, had requested himself to abandon the case and stay away from the marshland.
That was Cage's initial warning to himself, and also a protection for himself.
Jimmy was quite troubled; he had only learned how to load a revolver from Roland, who claimed that it could kill a demon, but Jimmy had no idea how to do it.
This time, participating in the priest's Exorcism Ceremony, he had to learn some skills no matter what.
Jimmy was unable to clear his head all day, constantly thinking about exorcisms, demons, and souls, without any clue, which only made his headache worse.
At 6 PM, Jimmy clocked out, changed into casual clothes, grabbed some food from next to the police station as dinner, then drove back to the police station and took his car to Father Royte's church.
Jimmy parked his car in the church's parking lot and approached the church's front door. Today was indeed unusual; normally, the church doors would never be closed, but now they were completely shut, and from the side window, there were no lights on inside.
By activating his Heart Eye and looking toward the church, he saw a person sitting at the door. He knocked, the person inside got up, opened a door to let Jimmy in, and then closed the big door again.
The one who opened the door for Jimmy was a Monk Apprentice, who after closing the door, led Jimmy to a room at the back of the church. Jimmy was familiar with this place as he had been here several times before for confessions.
Today was a bit different, as in the middle of the room, there was a single bed with a person whose hands and feet were tied to the head and foot of the bed. This person was covered with a white cloth, and Jimmy couldn't see the face, nor could he tell if it was someone he knew.
The Monk Apprentice continued toward a door on the side, with Jimmy following him; this door led to Priest Royte's resting room.
Priest Royte stood in the resting room, facing a small cross hanging on the wall, bowing his head in prayer.
He was not wearing his usual black clerical outfit with a white Roman collar but a robe Jimmy had never seen before, which looked somewhat like the cloaks worn by priests in ancient times on TV dramas.
After the Monk Apprentice brought Jimmy in, he left the room. At that moment, Priest Royte stopped praying and turned to look at Jimmy.
Now Jimmy could see Priest Royte's outfit clearly; it was a coat-style robe with a row of buttons down the middle, a wide belt at the waist for cinching, with the cloak extending to the upper arms, and he had seen a hood on the back before.
Priest Royte, "Jimmy, it seems James really thinks highly of you, indeed choosing you to attend the Exorcism Ceremony."
Jimmy, "Good evening, Priest Royte. I just received James's notice today; I still don't know anything."
Priest Royte, "Don't worry, your presence is just a formality, merely to bear witness."
Jimmy, "Then, Priest Royte, is there anything you need me to do?"
Priest Royte, "We will start the Exorcism Ceremony at 9 o'clock. You can go to the church to pray first, and we will notify you when it begins."
Jimmy, "All right, Priest Royte."
Jimmy nodded to Priest Royte and turned to leave the resting room.
Jimmy hadn't even memorized the Bible, so praying was completely pointless for him. He just sat on the bench to rest, waiting until nearly 9 o'clock when the Monk Apprentice he had seen earlier came from a side door to call Jimmy over.
Jimmy entered the room where the confessional was located; the single bed had been moved, its head facing a cross with several candlesticks placed around, and the candles lit up. The lights in the room were turned off, now illuminated only by these few candlesticks.
Jimmy stood far back with the Monk Apprentice, while Priest Royte stood by the bed, with an Old Bible in his left hand and a wooden cross in his right. The cross was not the small kind that Priest Royte usually wore around his neck but about 20 centimeters long.
An hourglass was placed under the cross facing the head of the bed, with only a bit left. It seemed that the sand would soon fall to the bottom.
As the last of the sand fell, Priest Royte, holding the Bible in one hand, began to mutter prayers under his breath. As he slowly recited the prayers, the person on the bed began to twist, and the white cloth covering them started to undulate unnaturally as if something was trying to burst forth from underneath.
Jimmy activated his Heart Eye, because the room's light was limited by the few candles, affecting his vision. Instead of struggling, he decided to use the Heart Eye to observe, since it was all in black and white anyway.
Once the Heart Eye was activated, Jimmy's heartbeat also began to accelerate. Previously, he had only seen the white cloth moving, but now in the state of Heart Eye, he could see smoke-like substances enshrouding the single bed, not dispersing but concentrating within the range of the bed.
In the black-and-white vision, the smoke became denser and began drifting upward. Priest Royte finished the prayer, waved the cross in his right hand, and placed it horizontally above the head of the person being exorcised. As the cross touched down, the smoke in Jimmy's view suddenly gathered downward, forming a human-shaped cloud of smoke, then shot up to collide with the church's roof, shattering like glass, and gradually dispersed.