"Forget it. The rat-kin's gone for good, nothing you posess is missing, everything's back to normal. Why don't we just take a sit over there?", aksed Sigfrid, pointing to the bench he had been sitting on.
"Religion, as you might understand, requires faith. Faith in a predetermined conception: the ancient Morakians treated their body as a prison, an anchor... I hope it's clear for you. They placed the Soul, as an individual entity, over the Body. According to their believes, the Soul can, furhter, the Soul must after Death leave this "prison" and pass on to different planes."
He stared at his own drawing for a moment, sort of admiring it. Bathing in his own wisdom? Not really. He was just really proud of this exact piece, it took him almost a year of research to figure out.
"Yes, dear lady, I spent a fair amount of time in Ketra. A magnificient place - but only a shadow of its past, I'm afraid to say. The history I told you proves this all too well. Ketra's recent habitants stick only to the minor traditions and practices; most of which have a pretty solid base, but it's not everything."
He laughed silently for a short time. It looked quite strange, this voiceless chuckle. Nothing frightening, just remotely weird.
"The cornerstone of a Utopia is Man. But Man without Knowledge is powerless. If the citizens of Ketra knew about the importance of the southern tower, they may not have torn it down, they may not have caused a mayhem of fire.
I might seem an idealist... To a certain extent I am. But I know that a perfect society is not a mere system. It's the state of mind of its People."
What does he personally gain from his studies? Science and the search for knowledge made up Sigfrid's life. They and afternoon-naps. So this is what he answered:
"Each single piece of Knowledge, no matter how tiny, is like a breath of fresh air for me. This is my life. Most of these studies are for me. They need to be refined, cleaned and poured into a new form - a form that can be understood by everyone, not just me."
He closed his precious book.
"And, oh, to all stars above... All these things about religions of long-gone people. All these bastions, left to us by long-dead, no longer moving hands of old masters... They never cease to amaze me. I have a thirst for this kind of thing. I cannot live without them."
He sat down on the bench and kept silent for some time. He enjoyed the Sun. What were those ideas?..- he couldn't remember. Maybe later. Also, the young lady raised some fairly interesting issues.
"The towers of Ketra were just a part of a bigger, wholer system of defence. While they stood, their arcane, silent, hidden powers didn't let great fires to happen. Of course, they had nothing to do against the other side of Human Nature: all things dark, all the intriques, theft... The towers stopped the fires but not the arsonists."
He glanced up at the Sun.
"A Utopia is impossible. The world is not a piece of clean paper."
He once again flipped his book open, now on an empty page. He produced a long piece of coal and placed it firmly on the paper. His hand moved slowly, slowly, and soon a circle appeared. Then he divided into two parts with a single line.
"This is a utopy. A utopic city plan. People live in the right part. People die in the left part."
His hand made a nervous movement, and the coal left a few chaotic marks in the circle.
"This is nothing you can imagine to be in the world we live in. And honestly, I don't want to live in this world. But improvements can be made. Not in the direction of a two-sided circle... of course. Better homes, cleaner water, healthier people - this would be better for everyone, and with Knowledge, we can reach these "idelas". See?"
Sigfrid let out a deep sigh.
