The Divine Auditor : Settling the Ledger of Souls

Chapter 3 – The Keeper of the Ledger

“I want to believe you... but I don't know who to believe anymore.”

Clara's voice refused to leave him. It echoed through the silence of the house that had long since fallen asleep, circling endlessly inside his mind. Elias closed his eyes, hoping the words would eventually fade.

Instead, Clara's face appeared before him, Not the woman who always greeted him with a bright smile outside his office. But the woman whose eyes had been filled with doubt. The living room ceiling was dimly illuminated by the streetlight filtering through the curtains.

The wall clock read 12:48 a.m. Its hands continued moving, Time, unlike his life, refused to stop. He slowly rubbed his face.

Today He had lost the company his father spent a lifetime building.nHe had lost the inheritance that should have been his. His name had spread across every news outlet as the prime suspect.

And now the woman he had wanted to protect more than anyone else had begun to question his words, A quiet laugh escaped him. It sounded more like the sigh of a man who had run out of hope.

“If I were in her place...”

“…I probably wouldn't believe me either.”

The words slipped out before he could stop them, Clara wasn't the problem, The circumstances were. Every piece of evidence pointed directly at him.

He rose from the sofa and walked toward the window. Outside, a light drizzle had begun once again.nThe wet asphalt reflected the streetlights in shimmering ribbons of gold that trembled beneath each raindrop.

The city continued moving, While his life had come to a complete stop. His stomach twisted with hunger.nOnly then did Elias realize he hadn't eaten since noon, Even son The ache in his chest was far stronger than the emptiness in his stomach.

He turned toward the kitchen, intending to pour himself a glass of water. His footsteps stopped as he passed his mother's bedroom.The door wasn't fully closed. Through the narrow opening, he saw her sleeping peacefully. Her face looked noticeably paler than it had only a few weeks ago.nThe blanket had slipped aside, exposing an arm marked by faded IV punctures. Several bottles of medicine were neatly arranged on the bedside table.nOne of them was almost empty Elias picked up the blister pack lying beside it, Only two tablets remained, His chest tightened again.

The doctor's words echoed in his memory.

«“Her treatment cannot be interrupted, Mr. Elias.”»

«“Even a slight delay could cause her condition to deteriorate again.”»

Carefully, he pulled the blanket back over her shoulders. She stirred slightly before drifting back into deep sleep. Elias stood there for a long time, quietly studying her face. The face that had always been his refuge. Now She had become the greatest reason he could not allow himself to give up.

“I'm sorry...” he whispered “I haven't been able to protect this family.”

He switched off the bedside lamp, whose light seemed far too bright, then quietly closed the bedroom door. Back in the living room, his eyes fell upon the brown envelope still resting on the table. The envelope he had almost forgotten. He picked it up and removed the ivory colored card once more. The words on the front remained unchanged.

17 Cendana Street

He turned it over, On the back, written in black ink that looked as though it had come from an antique fountain pen, was the same sentence.

«When every door has closed, come to the place where every debt is first recorded.»

He read it again, And again. It still sounded impossible.nBut his life had already become impossible, Within a single day He had lost almost everything. A bitter smile crossed his face.

“What else is there left for me to lose?”

Outside, the rain steadily intensified. Several minutes later, Elias grabbed the black jacket hanging beside the door, picked up his car keys, and slipped the card into his pocket.

If it was a trap At least he would finally discover who had been manipulating him. And if it wasn't Perhaps it was the last door still open to him.

---

The drive to Cendana Street took nearly thirty minutes. The farther he traveled from the city center, the emptier the roads became. Towering office buildings gradually gave way to tightly packed old structures lining narrow streets. Most of the shops had already closed.

Only a handful of small roadside stalls remained open, accompanied by the distant crackle of an old radio drifting through the night breeze. Finally, his navigation system spoke.

“You have arrived at your destination.”

Elias slowed the car, On the left side of the street stood an old white building. Its faded paint peeled from the walls. Cracks stretched across the weathered facade and into the window frames. The wooden door looked ancient. Beside it hung an old brass lantern casting a weak amber glow.

There was no signboard, No indication the building was still in use. It looked more like an abandoned warehouse forgotten decades ago. Elias turned off the engine.

For reasons he couldn't explain The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Every instinct urged him to leave.

Curiosity proved stronger, He stepped out of the car and approached the old wooden door. Just as his hand was about to knock

Creak...

The door slowly opened by itself, Elias instinctively stepped back. But what froze him wasn't the opening door, It was what lay beyond it. The crumbling building he had seen from outside simply vanished the moment he crossed the threshold.

“Impossible...”

The word escaped before he realized he had spoken, The hall before him stretched so far that its far end disappeared into the distance. Its towering ceiling rested upon black marble pillars intricately carved with patterns resembling twisting tree branches.

Above them, a massive domed skylight bathed the chamber in soft golden light. As though the sun still shone overhead despite it being well past midnight. Elias turned around. The old wooden door was still there.

Only the door, The cracked walls, The peeling paint, The rotten windows. Everything else had disappeared. All that remained was a magnificent chamber more worthy of a royal library than an abandoned building hidden in a forgotten corner of the city. Bookshelves rose toward a second floor, curving along the circular walls. Mahogany spiral staircases connected balconies on every side.

Thousands upon thousands of leather bound books rested neatly in place, as though each had occupied the same shelf since the beginning of time.

The air carried the scent of sandalwood Ink, Ancient parchment, Warm, Peaceful. It made Elias feel unimaginably small. His eyes wandered across the endless room.

It was far too vast, The building outside couldn't possibly contain even a quarter of this space.

“Am I... dreaming?”

“No.”

The answer came without warning, The voice was calm, Deep. Commanding enough that Elias instinctively lifted his head. At the center of the library stood a long table made of black oak. Behind it sat a silver haired man. He wore nothing more than a simple white shirt beneath a dark gray vest No robes, No strange attire one might expect from someone living in a place this mysterious.

If anything His simplicity made him even more difficult to understand, He continued writing with a feather quill, The scratching of ink against paper echoed softly throughout the immense silence, He neither greeted Elias Nor looked up. As though he had known all along that his visitor would arrive.

Several moments later, he gently closed the book before him, Only then did he raise his eyes, Gray eyes, Calm. Eyes that seemed to hold every secret mankind had ever tried to hide.

“Good evening, Elias Pratama.

Elias stiffened,“You...”

“How do you know my name?”

The man offered no answer, Instead, he stood and poured hot tea into two white porcelain cups, Steam curled upward.

“Please, Have a seat.”

“I didn't come here to drink tea.”

“I know.”

“Then why am I here?”

The silver haired man lifted one eyebrow.

“Because... you chose to come.”

“I came because I want to know who sent that envelope.”

“And?”

“I want to know what all of this is about.”

The man smiled faintly “Human beings.”

“No matter how many centuries pass...”

“they always seek the destination before understanding the reason.”

Elias exhaled slowly “If you don't intend to explain anything, I'll leave.”

He turned, After only two stepsn“If you walk out now...”

“…nothing about your life will be different tomorrow morning.”

Elias stopped.

“You'll still lose your company.”

“Your mother will still need her medicine.”

“And your name will remain ruined.”

His heartbeat quickened, Slowly, he turned back.

“Who are you?”

The man didn't answer immediately, Instead, he reached for an old black leather bound book resting on the table.

The cover was worn with age, Its surface was marked by delicate patterns that looked as though they had grown naturally rather than been carved by human hands.

There was no title, No author's name, No emblem. Only an endless shade of black that seemed to absorb the light around it.

He placed the book before Elias.

“May I ask you one question?”

Elias remained silent.

“What is mankind's greatest debt?”

Elias frowned“Money.”

The silver haired man slowly shook his head.

“That is the answer almost everyone gives.”

“And it is always wrong.”

He opened the first page, Blank.

The second page, Blank as well.

“A blank book?” Elias murmured.

The man smiled “No.”

“This book...”

“writes only for those it has chosen.”

He gently pushed it toward Elias.

“Touch it.”

Every instinct warned him not to, But curiosity proved stronger than caution.

Slowly Elias reached out. The tip of his finger touched the first page, the library fell silent.nSo silent He could hear his own breathing.

Then A single drop of black ink appeared at the center of the page, One drop, Then another. Thin lines began crawling across the blank paper on their own, Letter after letter, Until a name emerged.

ELIAS PRATAMA

Elias's breath caught in his throat, Before he could react The ink moved again. A new sentence slowly formed.

STATUS: ACTIVE MORAL DEBT

Elias frozen.

“What...is this?”

The silver haired man looked at him with a faint smile.

“I am the Keeper.”

“And beginning tonight...”

“you will learn that not every debt in this world can be repaid with money.”