Chapter 184[]
(March 19th, 2024)
Translated by Windvally[1]
The source of inspiration for the character - Padre Cali, I mentioned it in one of my reading & research diary post on my public Wechat account before, when I was preparing for COI.
He is the presbyter/deacon (the one that’s lower than Priest) who first tried to find a woman but ended up having an allergic reaction to perfume. He suspected he had contracted a venereal disease, so when he recovered, he hurried to confess to the Lord. After that, he decided to change his way of life and only play with young men instead.
Of course, the characteristic that I wanted to borrow was not focused on that part of him, but rather on his status as a presbyter/deacon, he does not have the authority to preach, teach, or officiate the Mass independently.
Therefore, when he later organized male-only crazy parties, he would always give sermons, teach, and officiate the Mass during the beginning segment of the party, while being stark naked. You can say his obsession with the authority of a priest has reached that kind of level.
Not everyone among the manipulated men was willing, and there were people constantly reporting him to the church. However, nobody believed in the report, and nobody was willing to conduct a thorough investigation.
Later, one time, a victim casually mentioned in a passing comment, that at the beginning of the party, there would be a segment where he preached, taught, and officiated the Mass. Not long after, this padre was arrested, but the charges had nothing to do with those young men. Instead, he was accused of usurping the rights of the priests and bishops, and of secretly performing the Mass, teaching, and preaching!
An outcome and reasoning befitting that of a dark humor.
Oh and hmm, the source material is <Montaillou>.
The End of Volume 4[]
(April 20, 2024)
Translated by Windvally[2]
Volume 4 Summary
The core symbol and meaning of the entire "Sinner" Volume were actually hinted at in Volume 1. This is why I've always said I'm very satisfied with many details in Volume 1, and the completeness of Volume 1 is also quite high. [TL Note: Completeness as in, was able to convey most if not all of the things that he wanted to write]
So, this Volume of "Sinner" has three layers of symbolism:
The first layer pertains to religious meanings and hidden plotlines [TL Note: Just think bible]. All humans in the world have sins, and the savior bears these sins. The volume started with Mr. K's prayer (2nd chapter of Volume 4) and ended with Mr. K's prayer. At the same time, Lumian's thoughts, emotions, and what he had experiences and witnessed are also completely different when comparing the beginning and the end.
The title of the last chapter "I have sin(ned)" can be seen as Lumian shouting on the inside - I have sinned, I have blasphemed against god. God is the sinner of Cold Village.- but I think there's no need to explicitly state it in the text; everything is conveyed implicitly.
[TL Note: Lumian's probably not really feeling he has sinned. It's more of a mock at the twist of fate. The Order had been great help to him, but now he discovered the "culprit(?)" related to the little lizard spirit. He would inevitably have thoughts of blasphemy against that god, and thus he would be considered to have "sinned"]
The lizard-like little elves are both a very specific imagery [a literal bona-fide spirit in the shape of a lizard] and a metaphor/symbolism. A broken-winged, sin-bearing dragon falls from heaven to earth.
Sin originates from the Lord, and sin also returns to the Lord. The Lord is the savior, as well as the sinner; that's the complete meaning of the first layer.
In the story, this is shown by the Aurora Order becoming a reliable ally, trustworthy companions in dealing with Outer Gods, and then comes the final scene.
As for why it's like this, I can't explain too much; it might spoil things. Let's just go straight to the title of the next Volume and the opening quote....
Volume 5: Demoness
Opening Quote: This kind of outcome/ending, do you accept it?
The second layer of "Sinner" is contrast. It contrasts those who have similar experiences to Lumian but made different choices. Their experiences, their evil, and their pain are reflections of sin. They are also the types of person that Lumian could have become as a sinner (should he made different choices). They are also part of the process of how Lumian's soul (cognition/will) becomes gradually complete (perfected).
The third layer of "Sinner" is superficial, scattered throughout this Volume are various sinners. Their stories also serve as lines that lead to the expression of the first layer, bringing out the idea that all humans have sins, and evil flows through the mortal world.
The structure of this Volume is both simple and complex.
It's simple in that each part is very clear and can exist independently.
It's complex in that - From Mr. K's prayer in the beginning, the Prayer of the Sea ceremony, the relevant events of Naboredisley, and the beginning and development of events related to the Mirror People, there is a clear hidden plotline - The Lord arranges everything, the Lord redeems everything, and the Lord bears all sins.
Similarly, starting from after meeting Father Montserrat and obtaining the umbilical cord of Omebella - the Hant Island demon incident, the hunt for Hisoka, and the Dream Festival incident may seem like three independent stories but are in reality one and the same.
The biggest problem with this Volume is that because of the need to write about conspirers, many events are written rather long. The pacing of reader's digestion of the chapters is relatively slow
[Due to this being web novel format, limited chapters per day], so the whole Volume story isn't very tightly packed. The experience of following updates is probably not very good, but reading it all at once might be more comfortable.
This also leads to a problem: the length of the entire Book 2 would probably be longer than what I expected. Although still not as much as Book 1, the differences aren't going to be too big.
Hmm, when I mentioned before during an interview activity that our little Klein will wake up at the end of June or the beginning of July, what I meant was that by then, we would be entering Volume 6, the initial awakening process, and you would begin to see Zhou Mingrui. I did not mean that the entire awakening process will be over by Volume 6.
To be honest, finishing Volume 5 in two months, even I can't say I am 100% confident in being able to do it. Because there were already quite a few planned events for Volume 5. Currently I'm not sure whether to postpone volume 6 or to write parts of the events planned for Volume 6 inside and in-between the events of Volume 5.
During the break at the end of each Volume, I now have to take care of my children. Even this summary was written during the break while taking the kids to a picture book class, so it's a bit rushed and not as detailed or comprehensive enough as I would liked. Please bear with me.
Hmm, this time the break still three and a half days, I'll resume updates at twelve o'clock on Wednesday (Beijing Time).
I've already mentioned the title of the next Volume and the opening quote, just scroll up. Thank you, everyone.
References
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