no longer be described as mild.
“You should think carefully about what you’re planning to accuse me of,” said Odenrick, “because when the words are spoken it’s going to be difficult to take them back. I’ve learned to forgive, but I have a hard time forgetting.”
“I’m not afraid of you,” replied Eric.
And in the same moment as he said that, he knew that it was true. He was not afraid. Here sat an idiotic penguin with the power to let his beloved wife and his biological twin live. And the power to force them to die. What did Eric have to be afraid of, what more was there to lose?
“I’m not afraid,” repeated Eric, “because I know who you are, and your power consists of your secrets.”
“You think you know what power is,” said the archdeacon, “but you know nothing.”
The penguin got up from his chair, and Eric was happy that the large desk stood between them.
“The worlds where you move, where the struggle for material advantages is carried on with more or less criminal methods,” said Archdeacon Odenrick with all of his breath support, “and here I include your fancy corporate directors; that’s only the lobby. You’re so occupied with comparing yourselves with each other that you don’t see it. That someone has granted you the arena in which you fight, and that as long as you restrict yourselves to it you’re left in peace. But if you start searching for doors that lead out of there, then comes the punishment. Hard and merciless. And that, my upright friend, is power. Which you’ll continue to experience, but never taste.”
The penguin remained standing behind the desk. He looked down at the bear, and his breathing was excited. Just then he was a demonic figure, but Eric Bear still felt no fear.
“Power,” repeated the bear, nodding to himself as if he’d understood something. “Of course. That is a motivating force.”
The penguin didn’t let himself be provoked. “It’s a matter of managing it. I’ve striven for it, I’ll gladly admit that. And the reason is that I want to make use of it. Otherwise it would be meaningless. And I’m good at making use of it. Because I understand that I am a temporary servant.”
“I know what you can do,” said Eric, nodding.
“You know nothing,” answered Odenrick slowly and with such contempt that it surprised Eric.
“You’re wrong there. I know a great deal. And I won’t hesitate to make use of it.”
“I certainly believe that,” replied Odenrick, sitting down in his chair again. “You’re good at that. That’s the way you got yourself a wife.”
That was a punch below the belt, and it was just as intentional as it was painful. Eric had intended to follow through his train of thought, but completely lost the thread. The past returned to the present with violent force, and Eric was unprepared. Despite the fact that the archdeacon’s provocation was completely obvious, he couldn’t refrain from reacting to it.
“That’s bullshit,” he said in a loud voice, “and you know it.”
“Oh,” the archdeacon smiled, “there seem to be several of us here who know a few things, and who should be able to make use of that.”
“Teddy knows,” said Eric. “He’s always known.”
“And your lovely wife?” asked Odenrick amiably. “What, exactly, does she know about how the whole thing happened those days before you got married?”
“She certainly recalls that the esteemed Archdeacon Odenrick conducted the ceremony,” said Eric. “I’m sure of that. And she recalls how the archdeacon spoke with us the day before. She can probably recall the entire conversation, she has a good memory.”
This didn’t make the archdeacon’s smile any less condescending.
“But does she know that it was your idea? Does she understand that Teddy—”
“Teddy was the one I was thinking about the whole time, and you know it!” screamed Eric.
“Do I know?” sneered Odenrick. “Do I know?”
“And I know that the clothes you send to the Garbage Dump are actually the Death List!” continued Eric in the same overexcited tone of voice.
He was still sitting on the very edge of the armchair. But the reason was not respect or humility. The bear was like a pumped-up muscle only waiting the chance to be used. By revealing that he knew how the Death List was sent to the dump, he had gotten the archdeacon to fall silent. Without himself being aware of it, Eric’s upper body slowly started to rock back and forth.
“I want you to remove two names from the list,” Eric said with