Answering God's Call - Chapter 26

The voice muttering something like, I heard it somewhere, it’s roughly like that, or maybe not, sounded far from ordinary. It was sudden enough that he asked a name he already knew, and now he was going on about exorcism out of nowhere.

Surely not. The moment a look of doubt crossed Tatyana’s face, Ruslan, wearing a solemn expression, introduced himself to Samuel Gilmore.

“I may not look it, but I’m an exorcist priest.”

“Y-You, what part of you even looks like….”

Not just a priest, but specifically an ‘exorcist’ priest. With that oddly detailed setting, Gilmore sensed something had gone very wrong.

“Don’t judge by appearances. That’s prejudice.”

“No, but are you saying I’m an e-evil spirit right now?”

“Of course. I can tell at a glance.”

“You lunatic, what do you even know!”

“I’ve learned the basics of exorcism, so I know enough.”

“Are you, are you insane? You’re not even a real priest!”

Without answering, Ruslan slowly took a deep breath and rolled up his neat sleeves, revealing his forearms. It wasn’t to show off his firm muscles, but closer to a preparatory motion to make movement easier. Realizing what he was about to do, Tatyana’s face turned blank with disbelief.

Good grief. It’s the end of the world.

Without realizing it, her gaze grew restless as it brushed over Ruslan’s shoulders and waist hidden beneath his priest’s robe. Ruslan had confidently said he could handle his part, but Tatyana, who knew better than anyone how much blood he had lost yesterday and how serious his injuries were, couldn’t help but worry about his exorcism.

She wasn’t worried.

She absolutely wasn’t worried that after losing a considerable amount of blood yesterday, the wounds that had only just been stitched up might split open and start bleeding again. It was just that if they reopened, she would have to stitch them again, and that would be annoying. Her lips moved slightly as she debated whether she should at least try to stop him out of courtesy.

Honestly, she wanted to stop him. But the inexplicable anger settling over his skin was heavier than she expected, and Tatyana couldn’t bring herself to actively restrain him. Watching his broad back in silence, her lips curled inward along with the unresolved hesitation.

This is really getting on my nerves.

Frowning, Tatyana crossed her arms firmly, as if to say do whatever you want, exorcism or not. In the meantime, Ruslan took out the alcohol he had packed instead of holy water and muttered quietly.

“…Branch Chief Hawkins instructed me to extract Natalia Makarov’s whereabouts and information about the leaked classified materials and their transaction from Gilmore. While I’m at it, I thought I’d also play the role of an exorcist priest.”

Only then did Tatyana understand his sudden exorcism ritual and nod. Finally thinking she didn’t need to stop him, the stiffness in her back eased slightly.

Soaking his hands with alcohol, Ruslan splashed it over Gilmore’s face. Like sprinkling holy water to drive out a demon, the way he flicked the alcohol looked fairly convincing.

Perhaps because he had spent over a year holed up in a church, he moved naturally, even drawing the sign of the cross. Then he took off the cross necklace hanging around his neck and wrapped it tightly around his hand. At a glance, it resembled a set of knuckles worn to strike someone effectively.

…He’s going that far?

Tatyana’s eyes widened as she watched with feigned interest. Realizing this wasn’t a joke or a simple threat, Gilmore’s face slowly turned pale.

“Th-this isn’t right…!”

“The basics of exorcism are physical force. What you might call holy violence.”

“…Holy?”

I’d never in my life heard that there was such a thing as holy violence. Gilmore asked blankly, but Ruslan ignored him as if brushing off the vile temptation of an evil spirit.

“So from this moment on, Mr. Samuel Gilmore, whenever I ask a question, think of it as God asking, and answer accordingly.”

“….”

He said he didn’t like violence inflicted on a defenseless person. He was very serious about it. He said that unless they did it together, beating someone alone really bothered him. He didn’t look bothered at all.

It seemed like the evil spirit was on this side after all…. Tatyana scratched the bridge of her nose as if things were taking a strange turn.

“If possible, answer truthfully, in a way pleasing to God, something good to hear. Think carefully before you answer.”

“….”

“If not, you’ll really go to hell.”

As if asking whether he understood, Ruslan raised his firm fist.

***

Was it because he didn’t want to be treated like a demon, even if it was an exorcism performed by someone who hadn’t even received priestly ordination? Or because Ruslan’s so-called holy violence, the basis of exorcism, was so holy that it felt like he was truly possessed and in agony.

Whatever the reason, Samuel Gilmore spilled information to every question Ruslan asked the moment he began the exorcism in earnest.

He spoke so smoothly, as if reading from a script, that it made one wonder whether the information was even reliable. In any case, no matter what he babbled, they had no intention of accepting it at face value without cross-checking.

After steadying his ragged breathing, Ruslan dragged a chair over with a scrape and sat down again. Tatyana discreetly watched to see if he would clutch his injured shoulder or waist, or grimace from the pain pressing in, but nothing stood out.

Was it because she had stitched his wounds well, or because Ruslan moved skillfully to avoid aggravating them? The fresh metallic smell of blood didn’t rise to the nose. Meanwhile, Samuel Gilmore, who had been exorcised, had completely lost the arrogant, sullen, unpleasant look on his face.

Good grief. Now it really looks like he’s been exorcised.

For now, what happened at Jennifer Fleming’s house wasn’t different from what they had inferred. Because his spending had grown at some point and his excessive luxury had become too much, Fleming suspected his embezzlement and began investigating on her own, eventually uncovering signs of a leak of classified information.

Sensing Fleming’s surveillance and investigation, he tortured her to eliminate the evidence, and in the end killed her. At that confession, Ruslan and Tatyana only swallowed a light sigh.

He insisted it was never his intention to commit murder from the beginning, that it was merely an accidental incident that happened unintentionally, and his claim remained consistent as he poured out his lingering sense of injustice, but no one believed him.

The route of the leak of classified information was simpler than expected.

Under the pretext of budgeting and allocating operational funds, he accessed past operations and related materials, then passed around the cover identities and overseas business sites of the Military Intelligence operatives who had carried out those operations. It was the operations that had ended, not the existence of the operatives and those sites.

The more they heard, the more absurd it became, but this was nothing.

The process by which he siphoned off the list of those defecting from Lubyanka this time was even simpler, and even sloppy.

‘…The list of the political prisoner from the Cherkubo Gulag and the Military Intelligence officer who applied for asylum, I photographed it with a camera from another employee’s desk….’

‘Cameras are completely prohibited unless you’re a technical researcher or someone with prior authorization, both for use and possession.’

‘I stopped by the office under the pretext of delivering a research budget planning report….’

‘So you just slipped a camera? You’ve really done it all. What’s the name of the political prisoner from the Cherkubo Gulag? Didn’t you even check a single name while taking the photos?’

‘I’m not like you. Rather than the classified content, the money I’d get from selling it mattered more, guhk!’

It was absurd, but it was also true that unless it was classified at a level that violated security clearance, there weren’t many restrictions on accessing materials in the archives. She wondered what kind of reaction the Military Intelligence Directorate would have if they knew this had played a part in Samuel Gilmore steadily siphoning off classified information.

‘Did you know Rebecca West was a Lubyanka operative named Natalia Makarov?’

‘…I really didn’t know that, but Rebecca, no, that woman introduced me to a Dochen construction businessman who frequently visits Lytton….’

Natalia Makarov was an intermediary. A stepping stone that connected double agents ready to sell out their country with those who needed classified information.

According to Samuel Gilmore’s claim, he hadn’t been handing over Military Intelligence secrets from the very beginning when he first met Makarov.

While continuing secret meetings behind his wife’s back, she casually suggested that he meet a young Dochen businessman, one of the major clients involved in a municipal civil engineering project, saying he seemed to want advice from an intelligence agency regarding international affairs related to business, and that he could comfortably decline if he didn’t want to. He accepted that trivial proposal without much thought, and that was how it started….

On Samuel Gilmore’s face, as he talked about making quite a large sum by gradually passing on increasingly bold and sensitive classified information for the sake of a modest settlement for his wife and a fresh start with his young, beautiful lover, there wasn’t the slightest trace of guilt or regret. Whether or not he repented was none of her or Ruslan’s concern.