The atmosphere had become tense as Symen stood before Arthur and the others.
Everyone present was trying to understand who Symen really was and why he had come there. His words had raised questions in their minds, and none of them seemed willing to accept his explanation without proper evidence.
Symen remained calm despite the suspicious looks directed at him. He understood that his presence among these people was unexpected. From their perspective, he was a stranger who had appeared before them for reasons they did not yet understand. Naturally, they wanted answers before deciding whether they could trust him.
After a brief silence, Symen spoke again.
"If you don't believe me, then I can give you proof. I have a letter written by my grandfather, Sekonami Shinji."
His statement immediately caught everyone's attention.
For a moment, the people standing there exchanged surprised glances. They had not expected Symen to present something that could support his claims. Until then, they had considered the possibility that he was merely making statements without having anything substantial to prove them.
However, the mention of Sekonami Shinji changed the situation.
A letter written by his grandfather could contain information that would help explain Symen's identity and the reason behind his presence. Although they were still uncertain about him, they could no longer dismiss his words without examining the evidence he had offered.
Arthur, who had been listening carefully, looked directly at Symen.
"Can I see the letter?" he asked.
Symen nodded.
"Yes. You can read it."
He then turned towards his bag, which he had brought with him. Reaching inside, he searched for the letter. The others watched him carefully as he took it out. Their attention remained fixed on the document, and the atmosphere grew even more serious.
Symen retrieved the letter and walked back towards Arthur.
Without saying anything further, he handed it to him.
Arthur accepted the document and examined it. The letter had been rolled into a scroll-like shape, making it different from an ordinary folded piece of paper. Its appearance immediately drew his attention, although he was more interested in the contents than in its physical form.
He carefully opened the rolled letter.
Everyone waited as Arthur began reading.
The opening lines contained a direct message addressed to Symen. As Arthur's eyes moved across the words, he began to understand that the letter had been written specifically for him. The message suggested that Sekonami Shinji had anticipated that Symen would eventually discover and read it.
The letter began:
"Hello, Symen.
I knew that one day you would definitely read this letter. Now, I will tell you the whole story, or you could say the history of the Shinji family..."
Arthur continued looking at the opening passage.
The words were straightforward, but their meaning immediately raised questions. Sekonami Shinji had apparently expected this moment to arrive. He had written the letter with the knowledge that Symen would eventually read it, and he intended to explain the history mentioned in its opening lines.
For Arthur and the others, this was an unexpected development.
They had been questioning Symen's claims, yet the letter offered them something they could examine directly. It was no longer merely a conversation in which one person made claims and everyone else had to decide whether to believe him. Now, there was a document before them that could potentially provide the answers they needed.
Nevertheless, not everyone was ready to accept the situation so easily.
One of the guards, who had been observing everything from nearby, finally spoke.
"What if he wrote the letter himself?" the guard asked suspiciously. "What if this is just something he made up and is using to tell us all kinds of nonsense?"
His question interrupted the silence.
The guard's concern was not difficult to understand. Symen had arrived as a stranger, and the existence of a letter did not automatically prove that everything he had said was true. Anyone could claim that a document had been written by someone else. Without a convincing reason to trust its authenticity, the guard believed that they should remain cautious.
His words reflected the doubts that had been present among the group from the beginning.
If the letter had genuinely been written by Sekonami Shinji, it might contain important information. However, if Symen had fabricated it, then the document would provide no reliable proof at all.
The others listened to the guard's objection, waiting to hear Arthur's response.
Arthur did not immediately dismiss the question. Instead, he continued holding the letter while considering what the guard had said. He understood why someone might suspect that Symen had created the document himself. Under ordinary circumstances, such a possibility would have deserved consideration.
However, Arthur had noticed something that made him view the situation differently.
He turned towards the guard and answered firmly.
"No. This is not something that can be dismissed so easily."
The guard looked at him.
Arthur continued, his expression becoming more serious.
"The spiritual pressure is extremely powerful. Even I felt a slight tickle."
His statement changed the nature of the discussion.
Arthur was not relying solely on the words written on the paper. He was also referring to the spiritual pressure he could feel. According to him, its intensity was so overwhelming that even he was physically affected by it.
This was the reason he could not treat the letter as an ordinary document or casually accept the suggestion that Symen had simply written it himself.
The strength of the spiritual pressure had made a deep impression on him. Whatever the complete explanation might be, Arthur believed that something significant was involved.
The guard's suspicion had raised a reasonable question, but Arthur's response made it clear that he had his own grounds for taking the matter seriously.
For a brief moment, the conversation stopped.
Arthur looked down at the letter again. He had already read enough to understand that it was intended for Symen and that its contents concerned the history of the Shinji family. Yet the opening lines were only the beginning of the message.
There was still more to read.
Arthur then raised his eyes towards Symen.
"All right," he said. "Now I am convinced. But I still want to know something. Why are you here?"
His question was direct.
Even if the letter was genuine, and even if it contained important information, Arthur still needed to understand Symen's purpose. The document could explain the history of the Shinji family, but its existence alone did not answer every question about the circumstances surrounding Symen's arrival.
Arthur therefore asked Symen to explain why he had come there.
He also wanted to continue reading the letter so that he could understand its contents properly. Rather than making further assumptions, he preferred to examine the evidence available to him.
Symen listened to Arthur's question.
He did not object to the request to read the letter. Instead, he gave his permission.
"Yes," Symen replied.
His answer was brief and clear.
He allowed Arthur to continue reading, making it possible for everyone present to examine the document and learn what Sekonami Shinji had written. The letter remained in Arthur's hands, open before him.
The group once again focused its attention on the document.
Only moments earlier, they had been questioning Symen's identity and wondering whether his claims could be trusted. The possibility that he had arrived for reasons different from those he had suggested had made them suspicious of him.
Now, however, their attention had shifted towards the letter.
Arthur had acknowledged that he was convinced by what he had observed, particularly the powerful spiritual pressure he had described. Nevertheless, he had also made it clear that he wanted to understand why Symen was there.
Symen had agreed to let him continue.
With permission granted, Arthur returned his attention to the written message. The opening lines had established that Sekonami Shinji intended to reveal the history of the Shinji family to Symen. They had also suggested that the writer had anticipated this very moment.
Arthur prepared to continue reading.
The others remained attentive, waiting for him to proceed. The earlier doubts had not simply vanished from the room, but the discussion had reached a different stage. They now had a letter before them, and Arthur was ready to read further.
Once again, everyone focused on the words written by Sekonami Shinji.
And Arthur began reading the letter again...