[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-notes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies":3,"chapter-notes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies-notes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies-chapter-356":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Notes on Kraft Anomalous Studies",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2283834,4467,"Chapter 356: The Secret Letter","notes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies-chapter-356",356,"\u003Cp>To the respected brothers of the Order and the Grand Master of the Knights, greetings and prayers be with you…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Roughly crossed out】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To my friend, the self-proclaimed devout:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I am pleased to hear you have reached the land entrusted by the Heavenly Father. Once, we marched side by side on the battlefield; now, our paths have diverged, each of us far apart, with letters hard to send. The sorrows and joys of this mortal world cannot but stir deep emotion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though our beliefs differ, as Saint Simon said, “Not every builder lays his foundation on the same ground, yet no matter the stone’s origin, the pillars ultimately uphold the Heavenly Father’s dwelling among men.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Having taken up this position, you inevitably bear its responsibilities. I hope that while you are absorbed in your medical pursuits, you do not forget to cleanse the altar and the holy emblem.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ordinary people cannot distinguish faith from its symbols. If the leader no longer prays, the people will believe the god has departed and begin to fear. When the gospel no longer echoes before the monastery’s gate, the very aid born of faith becomes the heaviest burden.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To walk past the altar without making the sign of the cross, to speak always of mechanism rather than the Holy Spirit—this is no trivial matter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What difference is there between a faithless order and a monastery abandoned by its faithful, and a castle occupied by a band of mercenaries?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I write this not to demand your sincere conversion to the Lord—that is a private matter between you and the Supreme Will—but your every action, amplified by your position, will eventually return to you, like an echo in an empty valley, inseparable from your shadow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No fool gains the position of professor; you naturally know how to choose. If handled well, the advantages of your status will far exceed your imagination—I trust you have already felt this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Brother Raymond is a reliable assistant. You should listen more to his counsel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for official matters, that is enough. Too much preaching grows tiresome. I placed this at the beginning of the letter so you won’t skip straight to what you want and waste my ink.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beyond faith, I turn to what you mentioned in your letter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though troublesome and circuitous, with the help and guidance of a willing professional, I gained access to some fragmented records.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A recent transfer of duties gave me a moment to organize these long-delayed findings—I hope I have not been too late.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As per custom, we consulted the parish archives preserved in Dunling. Thank goodness for this transfer; otherwise, accessing documents outside our jurisdiction would have required considerable effort.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I must admit, even from the perspective of someone not involved in record-keeping, the preservation of documents relating to the Priell region—and indeed the entire northern mountainous parish of Westmin—is deplorable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sources of these documents are complex and fragmented, appearing unorganized; not a single record can fully reveal their former entirety.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially after hearing that this impoverished parish once produced scholars renowned for their scriptural expertise and textual analysis, the dissonance in its impression grows sharper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This dissonance deepened further upon deeper examination.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some documents submitted to Dunling show pages of differing age and material, suggesting large portions were rewritten. Yet, because they bore the seal and personal signature of the then-abbot, no one questioned them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On scrolls submitted by local church individuals and forwarded by the monastery, many have been scraped and altered. If only one or two bore such marks, one might excuse it as careless writing—but together, the proportion is too high.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You know, after those events, one naturally grows wary of vague pasts. Precisely because of this, we cross-referenced the documents more carefully and found their gaps far exceeded our expectations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even records of key parish decisions and senior appointments contain gaps. By the time the monastery was abandoned over twenty years ago, all trace vanished: no one, not even the abbot, returned to Dunling to report, nor were they reassigned elsewhere.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It can be confirmed that Dunling never issued any order for their departure, nor any hint suggesting such.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There is reason to suspect someone deliberately erased these records—the motive is obvious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If I must offer advice, I suggest you begin your inquiry with these people. Such a number cannot vanish without leaving traces across every step of their journey, nor could they have avoided using their status to stay at churches along the way or demand other conveniences.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Twenty years is indeed long, but you may still try. After all, they would stand out like brown bears digging for food in snow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for the monastery, these are all I could uncover. Yet, I have attached some additional material whose relevance remains uncertain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was made possible by the “professional” I found—a monk specializing in heraldry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the course of his research, he enriched his own studies—this was part of the payment I promised him. Of course, he fulfilled his promise and shared all his conjectures.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Neither of us is an expert in this field, so I will only summarize the conclusions broadly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In short, attempting to trace the heraldic relationships among the parish’s families reveals an extremely slow and highly conservative, monotonous evolution of their emblems.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This is typically caused by geographic isolation; poor transportation makes long-distance travel difficult, and marriages occur mostly within small, localized circles. The mountainous terrain and scarce arable land leave little land available for development, so families refuse to divide estates among younger sons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, the combinations and variants of these emblems are exceedingly rare, usually confined to a few neighboring, closely connected families.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Logically, this should produce strong regional distinctions in heraldic styles, with vast differences between areas divided by terrain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet the opposite is true: numerous shared elements appear across family emblems from different regions—even those separated by great distances and never intermarried—bearing similar features: predominantly gold and red hues, identical ancestral mottos, uniform or binary layouts, and recurring motifs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This phenomenon cannot be attributed to accidental coincidence or stylistic imitation. From a historian’s perspective, it is treated as significant evidence: suggesting that a powerful family once existed here, with widespread branches and numerous vassals who perpetuated its emblem.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to the specialist, this is a monumental discovery that would greatly support his pursuit of a higher degree—he had never heard of such a fallen great family ever having existed here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While he continued delving into deeper records in pursuit of his degree, I wrote this letter, hoping it reaches you in time to offer warning or insight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for the specific meaning of these revelations, only you can determine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Written at the Cathedral of the Holy Mother, at the waning of the year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Father Green, Sub-Inquisitor, sends you greetings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s it? Did Gelin  just grab some lowly archivist to fool me?” Kraft finished reading, lit the letter, and released it just before the flames licked his fingers, letting the ashes be swept away by the night wind through the window.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’d rather see what Kup brought me as local specialties.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>??The author was struck by a strange virus, causing a delay in updates.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>?(*\u002Fω＼*)\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>?ps: Also, please check out my friend’s novel, “Secret Transcendence Begins in the Void Spirit Realm”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>?(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1218,"2026-06-20T02:15:56.940Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","2c49a100586f806857b1c48da6c9183ba375e5098e5892c394b5c95d91898b5d","notes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies-chapter-357","notes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies-chapter-355",406,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fnotes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies-cover.jpg"]