While Jonathan was driving his car, he glanced at the time and sighed, knowing that despite his complications, the world had to keep moving forward without stopping. Something curious, yet very overwhelming.
When he arrived at the church, he turned off the car engine and got out. Upon entering the main building, Jonathan looked at the altar of the great hall, which was illuminated both by natural light and by the numerous candles around it, and as he walked toward the altar, he removed the black gloves that covered his hands.
He still believed that spending so much time in this place was a great headache, not to mention that as time passed, he felt himself becoming even more involved with the feelings of others.
When he reached the altar, Jonathan looked at the statues and sighed deeply, closed his eyes, and began to say a prayer.
But for some reason, every time he came to this church, things happened suddenly, so when he was preparing to offer a prayer, his cellphone began to ring.
Upon hearing the ringtone, Jonathan instinctively walked toward a private room where he answered the call.
"It's a surprise that one of my three main mentors is calling me. Is something wrong, Master?" In this life, Jonathan had three main mentors in his doctrine. The first was Gabriele Amorth, who taught him about the general matters of exorcism, being one of the great exorcists of the Vatican and the principal exorcist working alongside the Pope.
When Gabriele Amorth heard the sarcastic words of his brilliant student, he sighed and said, "Jonathan, I've heard that you've been doing a lot of work lately…"
Jonathan was a little surprised. "How does the Pope's own exorcist know about my little jobs in this part of the world?"
"Haha, you'd be surprised by the news that circulates about you and your performance…"
…
Vatican Headquarters.
In a room filled with shelves of thick, ancient books, a robustly built priest with an emotionless expression gazed at the scenery through one of the thick windows while smiling as he listened to the voice of a boy he had been instructing since he was five years old.
"The reports you've sent about your work to the Church of Healing also pass through the Vatican. After all, despite our differences, we still have to stay informed about their work."
When Jonathan heard this, he smiled, remembering those times when he trained for more than ten hours, four of which he spent with Gabriele Amorth, who was his instructor in exorcism simulations.
But due to Gabriele Amorth's age, he no longer had the strength to continue facing evil spirits, and there had been much talk about his well-deserved retirement.
"I've heard that you're not having a very good time. How big are the problems?" Gabriele asked in his deep voice.
Jonathan thought for a moment and said, "Well, it may sound serious, but it's not that bad…"
"Well then, consider taking things more calmly."
"Let me see, when have you finally considered retiring from exorcisms once and for all? You're already a bit old. You have the opportunity to retire, so if I were you, I'd take it," Jonathan asked with a slight smile.
"It's not the time…"
"You know I can take care of the cases regulated by the Vatican…" Jonathan wanted to be left alone, but it was not his intention to push his mentor to abandon what he was most passionate about. "Did you call me just to ask me this?"
"Of course not." Gabriele, who had called Jonathan, did not do so for such useless things in his view. "I want you to supervise Priest Esquivel, who has just finished his training. I've heard that Father Doug's progress, an ex-convict, is perfect, and they are about to grant him his license as an Exorcist Priest, so I thought it appropriate that you have a new assistant, given that the workload in your area keeps increasing."
"Is that priest going to perform his first exorcism?" Jonathan did not immediately refuse; instead, he wanted to know the general situation.
"Precisely. Since that priest is young, I thought you should supervise his first exorcism and consider whether to keep him by your side or discard him. I know what you're doing with that school of outcasts, so the Vatican will express its support."
"This isn't within the scope of my responsibilities, is it? Gabriele, you should know my purpose. I don't do this for myself, but to stop all evil at once…"
"If you want to eliminate evil once and for all, then you should have more assistants…"
"I work better alone. You know that the levels I handle are higher than the common ones, and many could die…"
Gabriele began to feel annoyed by Jonathan's stubbornness. Despite the fact that he was one of the best Belmonts to have existed in the last fifty years, his solitary work would end up consuming him greatly.
That was why the Belmont family wanted Jonathan to find a partner.
"Jonathan, I'm getting old if I don't do it now… But I trust you. By the way, Priest Esquivel should be arriving at the place where you operate."
Upon hearing the words coming from the cellphone, Jonathan suddenly seemed to sense that someone was entering the church. He continued answering the phone and left the room toward the altar in the main aisle.
As soon as he stepped out, Jonathan saw a priest in training dressed in a priest's robe and carrying a backpack, cautiously walking between the rows of pews on both sides of the church.
"What a damn headache… Fine, just this once. I don't want you filling me with inexperienced youngsters, or they'll start dying like flies when they get involved in my work," Jonathan said as he hung up the call directly.
In fact, he was busy. After obtaining the information about the mafia, he would begin to carry out a certain justice for Harry's death, so things could get very out of control.
After the call was cut, Gabriele, who had been smiling knowing that his tricks had worked, froze when he realized the call had been ended.
"That boy, doesn't he respect his mentor?"
…
Meanwhile, Jonathan was surprised that Priest Esquivel was so young. After all, it is not common to see men so young in this kind of work.
However, for now, Jonathan did not need to understand why this young man wanted to be an exorcist. After all, many had their own stories, just like Rafael, who wanted to avenge his family.