An internal reference from Council of Elders, seemingly a rumor transcribed from a teleslate. The sender and reviewer are unknown.
Cleaner Myth (For Internal)
This manuscript includes a handwritten note from an unidentified person —
To Callictis: Recently, this conspiracy theory has been circulating widely on the teleslate, causing a significant amount of negative attention. We need to take action... but we must be careful not to overreact, as we don't want to give the impression that we are overly sensitive to such baseless rumors. Being too serious about nonsense could make some people believe there's some truth to it.
***
Dear curious readers, have you come across this rumor on the teleslate recently?
"The members of the Cleaner Order are highly skilled assassins. The way they pass on their techniques is by murdering their predecessors, extracting their spines made of mysterious metals, and using alchemy to transplant them into their own bodies. This allows them to inherit all of their predecessor's skills and memories. Sometimes, even their personalities are overwritten by those of their predecessors."
To investigate further, I interviewed an alchemy expert from Okhema. To my surprise, I received a shocking response! With her permission (name omitted as per her request), I will skip the pleasantries and share with you the most important part of our conversation!
Interviewer: Is it really possible to use alchemy to transfer human memories? Expert: Alone, alchemy can't do it. But if we consider the miracles of Oronyx... it's not completely without merit. The rumor you mentioned does have some truth to it. Interviewer: So you're saying that, whether or not the Cleaner Order actually does this, at least the method isn't entirely nonsense? Expert: Human skills, knowledge... they can all be considered types of memory. And with Oronyx's miracles, we may have a way to convert memories into a tangible form... though "spine made of mysterious metals" sounds unbelievable, bones or prosthetics could certainly serve as a medium for such miracles. Interviewer: So, with the help of alchemy and miracles, memories could truly be made eternal? Expert: In theory, yes. But only the memories. This method can't resurrect the dead. It's just a form of "substitution" at best. Interviewer: Sorry, what do you mean by that? Expert: For example, even if I possess my mother's memories and can recall stories of her honeymoon with my father... it doesn't mean I have become my mother. Interviewer: Ah, I see. Interviewer: But if there were an organization that valued not its members' lives, but their skills, secrets, or even emotional attachments like love or hatred... then using this method to pass on those qualities would make sense, right? Expert: Exactly. Interviewer: I see, thank you for the fascinating explanation!