Chapter 2: The Red Moon
Lumin watched Raheel as she ate the raw piece of meat. He remained silent until she finished and returned inside to her room, where the dogs slept.
He remembered what had happened to him six months earlier under the orange glow of the gas lamps—when he found a large white dog resembling a massive wolf sleeping in front of his house.
He decided to go back to the inn and rent an apartment for one day instead of going to Lomet, the owner of the hunting club, and asking him to hunt the wolf.
Because Lumin's home was close to the northern forest, this was not the first time predatory animals had appeared near his house. These incidents did not happen daily, but they occurred every few months, which had taught Lumin how to handle such situations. Instead of attacking the dangerous creatures and putting himself at risk, he should leave them and return in the morning; the animals would go back to the forest on their own.
Four years ago, he had nearly killed a small wild boar, but because of his lack of experience, he failed to finish it off, giving the boar the chance to escape into the woods.
People who had seen the scene from their windows spread details of the fight, which made Lomet, the owner of the shop and hunting club, take an interest in Lumin and decide to include him in his team.
Lomet's guards protected the northern side of the village and killed the wild boars that came to attack the village after Lumin had fought one of them.
Lumin noticed the white dog looking at him with tears falling from her eyes. He wore a look of astonishment—throughout the 19 years of his life, he never imagined seeing such a scene before his eyes.
With a sudden movement, the dog ran toward Lumin and pounced on him.
Lumin fell to the ground with the massive dog on top of him. At first, he tried to resist, using his previous experience from the hunting club in Flansia, and pushed it away from him.
For two reasons, he did not cry out for help: he did not want rumors to spread about him again as they had before, and he was confident in his ability to survive this situation.
Before he pushed her away, he noticed she was not trying to attack him. He assumed she was one of the noble dogs kept by aristocrats.
He decided to trust his assumption and stopped resisting the dog. He looked at the dog, weeping on his chest, then looked up at the sky.
After remembering what had happened a few months ago, he lifted his face toward the sky through the window and said, "How beautiful the night skies are…"
Once he confirmed that Raheel had returned to sleep, he decided to go to his room and rest.
A creaking sound echoed in the room. He reached into his trouser pocket, took out a small key, and opened the door to his empty, unfurnished room.
He lay down on the floor and placed his hands over his head to sleep.
Lumin woke early in the morning and went down to the ground floor to wash. It took him 30 minutes to clean up. After putting on his brown coat over his black outfit and slipping into black pants, he returned to his room on the first floor.
He took his red scarf from the ground and wrapped it around his neck. He looked at his room and found it completely empty, with only a few clothes scattered on the floor.
The room had not been empty six months ago, but due to mysterious circumstances and his sister's transformation into a dog, he had been forced to sell his red bed and his furniture—like the table and chair—to buy a dog house for Raheel.
The money from selling his furniture was not enough to buy the house for the full 13 gold coins, so he was forced to sell all the furniture in the house except for the guest room's couches and the wooden table. In the end, he had managed to get 15 gold coins. He bought the dog house and placed it in her room late at night so no one would notice his sister's strange transformation, saving the remaining money to buy meat for Raheel.
He had written the book Trash of the Count's Family as a source of income—to earn enough money to buy meat for Raheel and to pay for dinner at the inn.
After locking his room door with the key, he opened all of the house doors except his parents' room.
He left the house and locked the front door with the key. His 55‑year‑old neighbor, Virjal, was watering two rose bushes in front of his house when Lumin passed by.
Virjal looked at him and said, "Good morning."
Virjal then turned to Lumin and asked, "Hello, Lumin. Have you found any clues to her whereabouts?"
Lumin remained silent for a moment before saying, "I'm going to the church now."
Virjal wiped his forehead and raised his finger to the sky, saying, "May the moon help you."
Lumin nodded and walked toward the center of the village, to Razawin Street and the Red Moon Church.
After Raheel's mysterious transformation six months ago, Lumin had tried to hide the truth of her change by spreading news of her disappearance across the nearby villages to aid in the search. He contacted the church and the authorities to look for her.
His sister had previously been a member of a group interested in mysteries. They discussed ancient history and past eras, formed their own theories about the first era, and opposed what the Red Moon Church taught about history. Lumin had hidden this from the church so he could search for them privately.
The group used to meet at a different person's house each week—seven people besides Raheel: two girls and five boys. Their leader was a large man over 1.87 m tall, with black‑brown hair like the original inhabitants of the Vagin Kingdom and a short black beard. His name was Litch Vin.
None of them had once visited Lumin's house after his sister's incident, so he thought they were to blame. He searched for them in the village for six months but failed to find them, until today when he decided to go to the church and ask them for help in finding the group members.
Because the Red Moon religion was one of the three officially permitted religions in the Vagin Kingdom, and because Razawin Church was the only one in Flansia, it held official records of all village residents.
In the first months, Lumin visited Razawin Church daily to maintain his pretense and urge them to search for Raheel. In recent months, he had visited once a week without a fixed day.
After some time, he entered the church and sighed, "Damn this."
He saw red lights mixed with yellow illuminating the hall, forming a breathtaking scene.
In the middle of the hall, under the dazzling red lights, stood a slender young man over 1.78 m tall with red hair flowing down his back and a green book in his hand, giving him the appearance of a living painting.
The young man noticed Lumin looking at him and raised his hand to greet him from afar.
Lumin raised his hand in return and greeted the deacon, whose name was Lanser.
Lumin then turned his gaze toward a passage on the right side of the church and walked there.
On his way, he met the deacon assigned to the northern district of the village, where Lumin lived. His name was Deker—short‑haired on the sides with a hollow in the middle, around 1.76 m tall with a slightly hunched posture.
Deacon Deker greeted Lumin respectfully: "May the moon bless you."
Lumin nodded and asked directly, "Sir, have there been any updates about my sister?"
Deker looked at Lumin, and the two locked eyes. The deacon spoke:
"After your visit last week, we conducted deeper search attempts and discovered traces of her in the Lansut Empire. We are in contact with Just Cathedral in the capital Trakis to collaborate with Oderina Cathedral in Texas, the capital of the Lansut Empire."
"You found traces? You only know how to lie," Lumin thought to himself before showing surprise and saying excitedly, "Really!! Can you go there directly? Isn't the Red Moon religion recognized in the Lansut Empire?!"
Deacon Deker smiled and explained the situation, noting the political tensions between the kingdom and the empire, which make the journey complicated without proper diplomatic channels.
Lumin wiped his forehead and raised his finger skyward, saying, "May the moon help us."
Deker did the same and repeated, "May the moon help us."
Before Deker walked away, Lumin asked, "Sir, where can I meet the priest?"
Deker replied that Lumin could attend Deacon Lanser's sermon and then go to his room.
Lumin thanked him and returned to the hall, sitting in one of the front chairs to listen to Lanser's sermon about the Red Moon and its message to believers in the heavenly world to support Zarmitchel in defeating monsters during the Era of the Covenant.
After the sermon, Lumin took three gold coins from his wallet and donated them to the church, despite feeling the loss internally; he gave the money to show gratitude.
The deacon watched him from afar. After Lumin left to the left side passage, he saw a beggar enter the church and gently advised him that breakfast was not yet served but he could listen to the sermon until then.
…
Lumin knocked on a door in the corridor and waited briefly until the door opened.
As soon as he saw the face of the one who came out, he recognized him—it was Don from the inn.
Don forced a big smile. "Your book is good… really good. I never imagined the First Era was like that."
Lumin replied humbly that he would try to write a better, greater work next time.
Don asked, "Will it be in the same world?"
Lumin paused before saying, "That's a matter for the future."
After a moment, Don checked the room before saying he had to leave because the priest was waiting for Lumin.
Lumin entered the room, which contained a large wooden table, two wool‑padded chairs in front of it, and one behind it, with a tall bookshelf in the corner filled with books.
Behind the table stood a priest wearing a white robe from his neck to his feet, with gray hair and a soft red cap on top, slightly taller than 1.75 m.
Lumin wiped his forehead and raised his finger to the sky, saying, "May the moon bless us."
The priest did the same. Then he gestured toward the chair in front of the table, inviting Lumin to sit.
Lumin spoke humbly, confessing his sins and seeking repentance. The priest opened one of his desk drawers and placed a small iron rod with a red orb on the table, saying that Lumin could repent now, and the moon would hear him and be the light to guide him through darkness.
With closed eyes and clasped hands, Lumin confessed that Raheel had been involved with a mysterious group who doubted the Red Moon teachings. He explained how he had kept the matter secret for fear of her being accused of heresy, imprisoned, or executed, and how he had forgotten the mercy of the moon in his fear.
The priest asked for the names of the group members, and Lumin described the leader, Litch Vin, and how he had searched for him without success.
After affirming that the moon had heard his repentance, Lumin thanked it.
The priest then spoke about Raheel's case, promising to pursue her records and push for cooperation with the higher authorities, believing she was a victim of heresy and that Lumin was a faithful believer.
Lumin raised his finger toward the sky: "May the moon help us."
Leaving the church, he spat on the ground and muttered, "You are not a group of heretics."
He raised his hand, and soon a small gray carriage drawn by two horses stopped.
He got in and said to the driver, "Go to the hunting club."
The driver nodded.