Resetting Lady - Chapter 188

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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His story – II

Three days of ash for atonement.

Four days of water for prosperity.

The first day is the sin offering.

The second day is the guilt offering.

The third day is the absolution offering.

For sins committed unconsciously, sins committed through weakness, sins committed through ignorance, atonement sacrifices are offered with grain offerings, but the scale of the sacrifice varies according to income and status.

Those who covet others’ possessions, those who defile sacred objects, those who make false oaths must confess their sins and repay damages tenfold, offering blood sacrifices on the day of ash.

This is according to sacred law, separate from the laws of each government.

* * *

Blood flows at festivals.

Not only this country but also the nations beyond the White Mountains share common traits. With only a single mountain range separating them, not endless seas or deserts blocking everything, their races, languages, and religions are inevitably similar.

Religion split into denominations, each pointing fingers at the others as heretics, yet their god’s name is the same and their sacrificial methods are very similar.

The common trait of this world’s religions.

Every country offered many sacrifices.

They were sacrifices where blood was shed.

Female sheep, female cattle, and white mares. After the sacrifices ended, they became food for the people. Sacrifices became festivals, but their essence was to atone for people’s sins. Blood shed by livestock dying to atone for countless people’s sins.

Especially when great events occurred like a king’s new ascension or great victory in war, blood flowed down creating rivers.

A thousand years ago, that blood was shed by humans.

It was a very old story. So old that the original texts were difficult to find.

Ancient people committed sins.

Under one language, one culture, one god, people developed rapidly and became corrupt. They enslaved each other, began using each other as food, and harbored hatred.

Humanity’s sins became so deep that the angry god tried to destroy the world.

Earthquakes occurred, tsunamis struck, and plagues began to spread.

People went mad, endless droughts continued, and prophets foretold humanity’s end.

“Now God will not forgive mankind.”

People trembled in fear and sought solutions. Hoping their god would not completely abandon them, they sought out mages and priests, crying out to make God look back at them.

And they began honoring forgotten sacrifices again, praying to God. They burned their most precious possessions, but that did not satisfy Him.

“Find and offer what would most satisfy God.”

People pondered what that might be, and eventually began finding righteous people to offer to God.

“We offer this righteous person here, please forgive our sins.”

But God was not satisfied with the righteous.

There were too few righteous people who met God’s standards. So people began capturing and offering children.

“We offer these sinless children here, please forgive our sins.”

But God was not satisfied with children. Those who knew nothing had built nothing, so they were far too insufficient.

People despaired. Wealth, the righteous, children – all were insufficient for God. As they killed each other to perform sacrifices, the number of people began to dwindle.

“Then do You intend to destroy us like this?”

People gathered and prayed day and night for a hundred days, wailing.

When people’s tears and lamentations continued, God turned His heart and sent them one woman.

“Here I send a woman who is without sin yet not ignorant.”

And the destruction stopped.

* * *

Squeeeak!

Even rabbits scream. Even docile-seeming animals make sounds never heard before when faced with the terror of death. Whenever he heard such sounds, Dulan had to stop his body several times. Sometimes his nerves were so grated that he couldn’t even sleep.

But that only lasted once or twice. When the number of animals he killed became uncountable, he grew accustomed to that too. He had to get used to it anyway. This act was something he would have to do for the rest of his life.

Slaughter begins with subduing. Strike the head with a hammer to knock them unconscious. Some animals die from this, but life is tougher than expected, so usually they just faint.

When it comes to sheep or cattle-sized animals, knocking them unconscious with strikes requires considerable strength. Dulan succeeded with rabbits and young lambs, but still couldn’t succeed with cattle. He would need more time to kill skillfully.

“….”

Once the animal quiets down, blood is then drained from the neck. When he first started, he didn’t know better and tried to cut the throat. Blood splattered everywhere and made a mess. Severing the neck with one stroke was only done to condemned prisoners.

Once the blood was drained, the strength seemed to leave and convulsions subsided. Using drugs would be easier, but using drugs on sacrificial animals was taboo. Also, this entire process had to be done by a priest, not a butcher.

“Damn.”

Dulan swallowed a groan. During the skinning process, the rabbit seemed to open its eyes.

Bang again. If it’s still moving, bang once more.

Dulan looked down at the meat convulsing under the hammer. This time it was definitely dead. But he had struck too hard, making it look horrible. Dulan frowned and changed what he held to a narrow, sharp knife for the next task.

Originally, draining the blood would be all he needed to do, but Dulan personally handled all the work that followed.

Because he didn’t want to waste the meat like this. He wanted to use the carcass more efficiently. During actual sacrifices, animals with blood drained are burned whole with organs and fur, but there was no need to do that even with practice animals. That would be wasting meat.

After draining blood, the skin is removed. Since it’s not being burned, it could be skinned more cleanly. Now remove and discard the organs. The organs are boiled and given as food to hunting dogs. The remaining meat is cut in half lengthwise then washed with water.

And what follows is the realm of cooking.

Only after Dulan mixed spices and medicine with the meat could he wash the blood that had splattered on his face.

At first, he had felt nauseous.

The bloody smell and disgusting organ shapes induced vomiting just by looking, and his hands trembled. The animals before his eyes kept moving or screaming, showing with their whole bodies that they were still alive, their rejection of the death soon to come.

“I won’t eat it.”

The meat offered to Karen was wrapped in various spices, making its original form unrecognizable. Watching her push away with her hand the meal that had taken painstaking effort, Dulan grimaced.

“…Why don’t you have compassion for the animals. They died for you.”

“You eat it then. Oh, you can’t because it’s soaked in medicine, right?”

“Mm.”

He would need to work harder to mask the taste of the medicine.

Karen looked down at the dish then glared at Dulan.

“After eating the dishes you bring, my head always feels foggy.”

“Oh my.”

His young god seemed displeased with the offerings the priest brought. Dulan picked up the meal he had put his heart and soul into making. If he left it now, Karen would throw that meal into the trash.

Dulan eventually gave up on the offering. Since the god wouldn’t accept his devotion, there was nothing he could do.

“Then, then you can just starve.”

“I’ll have meals without medicine.”

“…Well.”

“I won’t eat what you give me! Bring something with nothing added!”

But you’ll forget that soon too.

Dulan looked down at Karen throwing a tantrum while muttering to himself. And the next day’s Karen, who couldn’t remember refusing the meal, silently put into her mouth the very meal she had rejected the day before.

The time Karen spent throwing tantrums wasn’t long either. The time she could remember was gradually shortening, and as Nancy whispered, Karen began to feel distance from herself and others. She felt awkward looking at the Lord and showed courtesy, and began to feel uncomfortable with the maids’ service.

Soon she’ll forget everything.

“Miss thinks she came from a better world.”

Nancy told Dulan.

“A place like paradise. People live helping each other, families are perfect, and there are many friends. There, rank or status doesn’t matter, people live according to individual capability, and even the most incompetent don’t starve. Is that good enough?”

Like a god descending to the human world.

Dulan didn’t find Nancy very trustworthy, but that was sufficient. Karen would gradually distinguish between the world and herself and live blindly for only one value.

That was what Catherine had wanted.

To find more perfect love.

* * *

Karen lives again.

Like Catherine.

After Dulan swore to cooperate with the weeping Catherine, Catherine taught him various things. From history and theology to things like cooking. Catherine didn’t say how many years she had lived, but she had clearly lived much longer than her appearance suggested.

And her mother was the same. Her grandmother too. Because they enjoyed far more time than others, they were rich in various knowledge and shared such knowledge with their children. What Catherine spoke of were stories related to Catherine’s history, stories about the saintesses who became offerings. Stories not found in history. Theology spoken directly by the offerings.

But now memories would not be passed down. Karen’s memories would all be erased. And she would be isolated from the world.

She wants that. Catherine was disgusted by the fate given to her.

“Such stories aren’t needed anymore. Karen isn’t livestock. She’s finding love. Not to bear children… choosing only true love.”

Dulan looked at Catherine and thought of the animals he had killed. She resembled the large eyes of female cattle. It wasn’t just the eyes that resembled them. In the end, their essence was no different from cattle or sheep. They were unblemished offerings that God had given to humanity. Things like their personalities were merely accessories.

What mattered was permanence. Repeated death.

I hate that.

Catherine hated the repeating fate. God had placed a yoke of repeated death upon them. The only way to escape that yoke was to give life to the next generation’s offering.

I’m not livestock.

But what could she do? Without bearing children, she couldn’t escape from that yoke. Catherine didn’t know a way to completely break free from that yoke. However, she at least wanted to prevent Karen from having children as a means to free herself. She wanted to love completely.

Knock, knock.

“…Yes.”

The sound of knocking on the door was heard. When Dulan answered, the person they had expected appeared. It was Karen’s mother, Catherine.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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