Where the Storm Has Passed
Anxious glances darted back and forth across the courtroom.
With the king having stormed out on a sudden royal command, everyone wore the look of people who had no idea what they were supposed to do now. All that could be heard, every now and then, was the sound of people urgently whispering into one another's ears.
As for me, I could do nothing but stand there in the middle of the courtroom, my legs trembling beneath me.
Well. I think I poked the wrong hornet's nest.
The courtroom after the storm was suffocating beyond words.
It had been a gamble, yes.
I had to make the first move before Helena Castor could sway the king again. Prodding him was a fight worth walking into — though it wasn't as if I'd had any other option left.
And the gamble had paid off.
But I never expected the reaction to be this violent.
After that long stretch of grief, the emotion the king had finally shown was fire itself. Those flashing green eyes that had sent a chill down my spine were still vivid in my memory.
That look he'd given me.
A look impossible to describe — one that seemed to gaze past me, at something beyond.
Was the king angry at me? Or had his fury been aimed at something else entirely?
I had no idea.
"Haa..."
A small sigh escaped me, but the unease didn't fade. I'd saved my neck for the moment, but the future was what worried me now. What course of action a woken king might take — I couldn't begin to predict.
So what do I do now?
With an anxious heart, I tried to think through what I ought to do. Should I simply return quietly to the Southern Border? Or linger here at the royal castle until further orders came down?
Maybe I should just resign.
For the first time in ages, an impious thought crossed my mind. Of course, the Chief Director would never accept it in a thousand years.
Just then, someone spoke loud enough for the entire courtroom to hear.
"As you have all heard, a royal command has been issued."
Every head turned. It was the Minister.
Having barely recovered his composure, he raised his voice.
"These are the direct words of none other than His Majesty King Leo Castor himself. They must therefore be carried out without fail."
Before anyone else could make a preemptive move, Karton began to take control of the situation. He pointed to the letter resting on the judge's desk.
"This trial has been nullified. Accordingly, the prosecution shall immediately destroy all false evidence, including the letter of protest."
The prosecution's people merely stared at him, showing little reaction — so thoroughly rattled by the turn of events that they hadn't even conferred among themselves.
"Furthermore, be advised that malicious perjury, or the use of one's position to pressure the Central Office, may likewise be construed as defiance of the royal command. Proceed with caution."
At those words, I tilted my head slightly.
That wasn't in the royal command.
The king's command had concerned only the nullification of the trial and the false evidence. It had contained nothing whatsoever about attacks directed at me.
But the Minister paid no heed and pressed on without pause.
"Lastly, the Holy Church's pilgrimage."
He looked at Mohaim.
"Commander of the First Holy Knight Order. Where is the pilgrimage at present?"
"..."
But Mohaim did not answer. He simply stared into the empty crystal orb, his face still thick with shock.
"Your Holiness..."
There was no longer any conviction in the knight commander's voice. In place of the Church's resolute blade, there stood only a bewildered old knight, rooted to the spot.
"Sir Espirenche!"
Only when his own name was called did he come to his senses.
"Ah — yes. Minister of Foreign Affairs."
"The location of the pilgrimage. Where is it?"
"It is... currently near the capital. We intend to resume our departure as soon as the trial concludes."
Having heard of a departure that would now never happen, Karton spoke coldly.
"Send word to them at once. They have three days to leave this country through the Southern Border."
Then he added, briefly:
"You are no exception, sir. Go."
At that, someone from the prosecution finally rose from his seat.
"Minister, with all due respect, this is far too abrupt a course of—"
"Did I not say it was a royal command, Director of Inspection?"
The Minister cut him off sharply. Glaring at Pierce, he continued.
"That royal command you people live and die by."
The very tactics they had employed all this time — using the Queen to bend others to their will. Now he was returning it to them in full.
"You will follow it to the letter. As you always have."
With that, Director Pierce could offer no further objection.
"...So it would seem."
The moment the answer left his mouth, the Minister called for the judge.
"Then let us dissolve this assembly as well. Your Honor?"
"Y-yes, I'm listening."
"Declare the trial concluded."
Concluded. He was demanding a declaration of complete and final closure. There was no reason to refuse. The judge complied at once.
"...This court hereby declares that the present trial has been nullified by royal command. All materials shall be destroyed and expunged, and no appeals will be entertained."
The room fell silent as everyone listened. No one dared to interject.
And then came the final words.
"This... concludes the trial."
Crack. Crack. Crack.
The dry sound of the gavel echoed through the courtroom.
And that was that.
Thud. Thud.
One by one, people filed out of the courtroom, each carrying a complicated expression and an armful of worries about what was to come.
As I stood there watching them go in a daze, Hailin called to me from behind.
"Central Officer. Stop standing over there and come this way."
She beckoned from the defense's bench. When she saw me approach, she turned to the Minister.
"Well done, old man. A clean finish, I must say."
"Delay, and they'd no doubt have tried to interpret the royal command however they pleased. A preemptive strike was the only option."
At those words, a question I'd been holding onto earlier resurfaced.
"M-Minister, but... the command never said anything about not attacking me, did it?"
The king had issued exactly two orders: the nullification of the trial, and the expulsion of the pilgrimage. Looked at another way, that could invite suspicion of a stretch — or of my side twisting his words.
It was Hailin who answered.
"That depends entirely on interpretation."
"Pardon?"
"The royal command doesn't spell it out precisely, but the nullification of a trial carries considerable weight. It also carries the unspoken meaning: leave this innocent man alone for the time being."
While I was still struggling to follow, Hailin continued.
"Declaring that the trial never happened means the process itself was flawed. In other words, the royal house that convened this trial has admitted its mistake."
Oh. Oh dear.
Which meant the king had acknowledged the Queen's wrongdoing. Whatever the reason, it was tantamount to declaring that the blunder lay with the Queen's faction.
So that's why he said that to her back then.
Never again burden me with nonsense like this, Queen. Never again.
I turned my gaze toward the prosecution's side. Only two people remained who had not yet left the courtroom.
The Queen, and the Commander of the First Holy Knight Order.
Helena's eyes met mine.
The woman who had conspired with the Pope. The woman who had stirred up all this to have me killed. There were so many things I wanted to ask her.
Why, in the end?
What was religion, that she would go this far? Or had she joined forces with the Pope over some deeper design still?
I didn't know. And so, for the first time, I called out to her.
"...Your Majesty."
I bowed my head, brief as a greeting.
"..."
Instead of answering, she glanced briefly at Erzena standing beside me. There was something immensely complicated in that look. Then her eyes shifted to the crystal orb in Mohaim's hands. Reflected in the empty crystal, Helena's expression was twisted with something dark.
"For now..."
Those two words were all she offered. Helena Castor whirled around and swept out of the courtroom.
Click. Click.
Leaving nothing behind but the sound of her heels.
Watching her go, Hailin remarked,
"I imagine our Queen will be keeping quiet for a while now."
"You think so?"
"When her beloved husband himself said those words, she'd hardly dare defy them."
Then she added, in a tone of thinly veiled hope:
"I pray it's so, though. Then again, a showdown between her and His Majesty might be worth watching."
That was the sort of talk that would land someone in serious trouble if overheard.
"Though... there remains one problem."
I answered honestly.
"I don't think we have just one problem, Chief Director."
Things had grown far too large in scope. The trial alone had set off any number of incidents.
But Hailin shook her head.
"Not that problem. This one."
She pointed at the person standing beside me.
"...You mean her?"
It was Erzena Selaphe.
"We must decide Miss Erzena's disposition."
"Disposition... you mean."
In other words: did she, too, have to be expelled?
Just then, Mohaim approached us from across the room with extraordinary care.
"Central Officer."
"...Sir Espirenche."
"If it would not be an imposition, might I have a brief word with the Saintess?"
His voice trembled. The knight commander looked like a man still searching for an answer. He murmured, gazing at the pillar of light that still reflected Erzena's image,
"O Lord God..."
At the sight of him, the Chief Director and I both nodded.
He must have things left to say.
Erzena's current state must have left him with countless questions and shocks — not least everything concerning the Pope.
"Of course. We'll step aside for a mom—"
But before I could answer, Erzena spoke first.
"No."
At her firm reply, Mohaim faltered.
"Pardon?"
"I am not the Saintess anymore."
"What do you mean by that! With divine power this—"
She shook her head.
"Mohaim. I told you before, didn't I? I have already stripped myself of the title. I am now a woman who is no one at all."
"But still—"
"Your duty was to guard the Saintess. But there is no Saintess anymore. So your duty, too, is finished."
She was severing the tie, clean and decisive. Mohaim could only stare at her in a daze, but what came back was a blade-sharp refusal.
"We serve the same God, but I am no Saintess. So please — go back."
"...Then what will you do now?"
The most honest question of all. Erzena looked at Mohaim, and slowly opened her mouth.
"I will set the Church right. Starting from the very bottom."
She voiced the resolve she had made during the trial once more.
"I... see."
He seemed to have far more he still wanted to say. But in the end, he bowed his head and turned away.
Now was not the time to linger. He had to leave this country within the time the royal command had granted.
Watching Mohaim slowly recede into the distance, Hailin spoke.
"That is precisely the problem that remains."
"Pardon? Didn't we just resolve it?"
As she herself had said, Erzena was no longer a Saintess. So even though she belonged to the Holy Church, without the title it was ambiguous whether she counted as part of the pilgrimage at all. She existed in a gray zone now — a situation where obeying the royal command felt just as strange as defying it.
Then maybe she can stay here a little while.
This was the safest place from which to watch how things unfolded.
But the Chief Director shook her head and murmured,
"Hmm. Not according to the records, I'm afraid."
According to the records?
At that, I found myself recalling how Erzena had entered the country in the first place.
The royal command had forced me to grant her entry.
And there had been a record of it.
"...The entry registry."
Then I remembered exactly what I had written there.
[Erzena Selaphe, Saintess of the Holy Church]
I couldn't help grimacing.
"Damn it."
"However her status may have changed since, on paper she is still the Saintess — and thus subject to expulsion."
It was true. As long as that record stood, she remained the Saintess in the eyes of the law.
"And with the royal command issued, Miss Erzena must depart. Within three days."
So in the end, she had to leave, just like Mohaim. At those words, everyone turned to look at her.
After a brief silence, Erzena gazed at the divine power rippling around her and murmured,
"No, it's fine. It works out. I have matters to settle with the Pope anyway."
She looked toward the door through which Mohaim had gone.
"I suppose this is the path I must walk. If that is what God wills."
And just as she turned to go—
Grab.
Before I knew it, my hand had closed around her wrist.
"W-wait a moment, Erzena."
"...Yes?"
"Don't go."
"..."
At the sight of us, Hailin covered her mouth with both hands.
"Oh my. Oh my, my, my. Youth."
Ignoring her nonsense, I asked Erzena directly.
"What exactly do you plan to do, walking out there all alone?"
"What does anyone do? Set right what is wrong."
With a face full of resolve, she pressed on.
"The time has come to mend what the Pope has broken — the wrongs our Church has committed."
But I shook my head.
"It's far too dangerous."
Yes. Far too dangerous.
"Even knowing now what kind of man the Pope is, it will take more time for word to spread through the world."
If she acted at once, the gap in their bases of support would be overwhelming. Authority takes time to crumble — it almost never collapses in a single stroke.
And besides, there's no telling how he'll behave now that he's losing his foundation.
Corned beasts always go mad. A man stripped of his divine power might well use the ignorant and his loyalists to do something to her.
I can't let that happen.
Right now Erzena was burning with a sense of mission. However much God stood with her, going alone was far too dangerous. If she simply headed back south on a whim, the odds of things spiraling beyond anyone's control were far too great.
Her golden eyes dropped briefly to my hand, the one holding her wrist. Then she lifted her head again and met my gaze.
"Then what is it you wish me to do?"
The question came cautiously.
"Central Officer... do you wish me to stay here?"
Somewhere in her voice, a faint glimmer of hope.
"Oh my. Oh my my my my."
"Chief Director, quiet."
Dismissing Hailin's giddy teasing once more, I fell into a brief silence. How could I protect her? What options did I actually have?
I thought it through. A deposed Saintess. An expellee. The Pope's adversary. What condition would fit Erzena's situation right now?
Then, in a flash, a single answer came to me. The one way I could shield her without breaking a single regulation.
"Erzena."
I called her name.
"...Apply for temporary asylum in the Crossline Kingdom."