The Sorcerer's Handbook

On the night of May 11th, at 11:46 p.m.

The Book of Gospel had little time left to complete its work.

The entire Funeral Agency gathered in the living room, waiting in silence for the first result to arrive.

”Daddy, what’s that outside?”

Ashe narrowed his eyes and looked toward the massive light screen in the city center. The moment he focused, his vision sharpened unnaturally, allowing him to see every detail on the screen from several kilometers away.

”That’s the city’s public announcement screen.”

Curled up in a red leather armchair, Annan wore pink-and-purple pajamas with a nightcap. She held a cup of hot chocolate milk, sipping it slowly like a cat. ”They’ve applied the Focus Miracle to it. No matter how far you are, you can see everything clearly. It’s only used during major holidays.

”And since this is the once-in-fifty-years Woven Festival, it certainly qualifies.”

Standing nearby, the meticulous butler Pankey added, ”It’s actually a relic from the past. Fifty years ago, the Book of Gospel wasn’t cheap or widely available. People relied on shared copies or public kiosks, so city-wide screens like this were used to broadcast information. Over time, they became tradition. But with how widespread the Book of Gospel is today, these screens are practically obsolete.”

”I like things like this,” Iger said, seated at the dining table as he idly swirled the ice in his glass. ”Outdated, unnecessary... yet full of history. That’s where their charm lies.”

Harvey sat alone in the far corner, quietly smoking a Catnip cigarette, looking almost isolated. Then again, with a coffin resting beside him, it was hard to tell whether he was the one being excluded or if he was the one excluding everyone else.

Ashe settled into another red leather armchair. Lys tried to sit beside him but found no space, so she reluctantly moved to the dining table instead.

Ashe, Lys, and Annan were all in their pajamas, while Pankey remained in his butler uniform as always. No one had ever seen him dressed in anything else. The real contrast, however, lay with Harvey and Iger. Both were fully dressed, right down to their boots. Only a few days ago, they had been lounging in slippers, and Iger had even gone barefoot once he decided the floor was clean.

The cult leader glanced around the room. ”Why are you two dressed so formally?”

Iger replied, ”The Revelation spirit warned me. Better safe than sorry.”

Harvey said, ”Same here. At lunch, I was so distracted I lost track of time. Then I saw Sangilf, Linda, Akli, and Susbia urging me to run—”

Ashe raised a hand. ”Question. Are you schizophrenic?”

Harvey frowned. ”No. They’re my friends... my comrades...”

Ashe cut in, ”Got it, the dead. So something might happen tonight? Should we—”

Annan said calmly, ”Don’t rush. The Dolan family has records of this. Every time the Woven Festival releases its rankings, the Prophecy and Fate Classes are affected. The outcomes tend to be extreme. They are either very good or very bad. I performed three divinations today. Two predicted good fortune. One told me to leave immediately or face disaster.”

Since a local said it, Ashe accepted it without question. Harvey and Iger, however, remained as they were, perhaps out of laziness or simply because they trusted their own judgment.

Ashe summoned his Book of Gospel. ”By the way, does checking future rankings cost points?”

Annan replied, ”Not during these hundred days. After the Woven Festival ends, viewing past rankings will cost points. Once the first ranking is compiled, your Book of Gospel will generate a bookmark. It shows which key figures will appear over the next fifty years.”

A familiar trope from online game novels flashed through Ashe’s mind. ”Can we stay anonymous on the rankings? Once we appear, we’ll attract attention. Isn’t there a way to hide our identities?”

Pankey shook his head. ”I’m afraid not. We still don’t know why the Omniscient Weaver holds the Woven Festival, whether it’s to shape the future or inspire the people. But one thing is clear. It isn’t designed for the Echoers’ convenience.

”They may wish to remain anonymous, but to the ceremony, they’re only instruments. The Book of Gospel doesn’t consider their preferences.”

Annan spoke again, almost as an afterthought. ”There are rare cases of anonymous rankings.”

Pankey’s expression stiffened before understanding dawned. ”That’s an exception among exceptions. It hardly matters...”

Iger’s sharp senses caught on. ”What are you talking about?”

Annan said, ”Among thousands of Gospel rankings, there’s only one where everyone remains anonymous. But getting on that list is not a good thing. It comes with no rewards.”

Ashe frowned. ”The murderers’ ranking?”

Annan shook his head. ”The Slaughter Rankings are one of the few lists criminals can enter. The competition is intense, but the rewards are generous. The risk, of course, is being hunted by the Red Hats. It’s a trade-off. But the one I’m talking about is the Unattached Ranking. It offers nothing. Instead of rewards, it brings only loss.”

Lys murmured, ”The Unattached... it sounds so pitiful.”

Pankey spoke from the side, his tone steady. ”The Unattached Ranking is the strangest list in the Gospel Kingdom. The only requirement for entry is to be entirely without ties.

”This list includes those forgotten by society, unwanted by others, and even those who have ceased to care for themselves. Their information remains hidden from the world, leaving them as the only record of their own existence.”

He paused briefly before continuing. ”In most cases, those who appear are minors under seventeen. No adults ever make the list.”

Iger frowned. ”Why? Because once they grow up, someone will need them?”

Pankey shook his head. ”Because they won’t live to reach adulthood.”

A quiet stillness settled over the living room.

Harvey broke it, exhaling a ring of smoke. ”Why? What happens to them?”

Pankey replied, ”No one knows. The only thing we can deduce from the list is that their names will suddenly disappear one day.”

Ashe suggested, ”Maybe someone finally needed them—”

Annan cut him off. ”The Book of Gospel hides their details, but it doesn’t stop us from checking why someone is removed. A very small number drop out of the ranking because they no longer meet the criteria. But most...” She paused. ”Most are removed because the target ’no longer exists in the Gospel Kingdom.’”

Ashe thought, No longer exists in the Gospel Kingdom... Then where did they go? It couldn’t be voluntary.

Having experienced cross-border travel, Ashe and the others knew how dangerous it was to move between kingdoms.

Leaving one’s homeland to start over in a completely different society was no different from transmigrating. Many nations executed outsiders to prevent infiltration. The Blood Moon Kingdom and the Gospel Kingdom were no exceptions.

Which meant there was only one likely conclusion. The Book of Gospel deemed them socially useless and granted them a ”restart” to their lives.

”Perhaps the Unattached are taken to heaven by the Omniscient Weaver, to live in bliss,” Annan said calmly.

Iger replied coldly, ”Or perhaps they fall into hell. It’s cruel. When the Book of Gospel declares them the most unloved children in the world, what must stir in their hearts?”

Annan glanced at him, surprised. ”I thought you believed in social Darwinism, Mr. Perskin. Isn’t your whole philosophy about letting nature weed out those who can’t keep up?”

Iger said, ”I do, but not the kind where some distant god passes judgment. Even if the road ahead leads to hell, they should walk it on their own. Not be bound and thrown down by a god.”

Annan tilted her head slightly. ”But don’t you think some of them lack the courage to end their own lives? Being on that list means they’ve already taken ninety-nine steps. The Book of Gospel merely pushes them through the last one.”

Ashe added, ”Exactly. By that point, they probably don’t want to live anymore. Like someone writing a messy, unfinished story, the Book of Gospel simply adds a final, messy period. For them, maybe that counts as a form of release.

”But the fact that they didn’t end things themselves means part of them still hoped for something better. If the Book of Gospel has so much power that it can act as their editor, then even without offering help, it shouldn’t rush their story to an ending.”

Harvey nodded faintly. ”Miracles aren’t meant to destroy the weak. They exist to shape the strong. Just like Necromancy. It isn’t about gathering death, but elevating life.”