The Judgment (2)
“That seems like a perfect punishment for someone who insulted and demeaned the sacred wine of our goddess as if it were narcotics.”
“Oh….”
“His whole body has been tainted by a demon, so this will become a rite of purification.”
“That sounds like an excellent method. Yes, indeed. If we were to execute him carelessly, the demonic energy in his body would contaminate the royal castle. This is the right thing to do. Yes, this is definitely the right thing! As expected, you are a follower of Lee Kiyoung!”
For something I’d tossed out almost at random, the reaction was remarkably good.
When I thought about one of the punishments medieval witches had suffered—being tied to a stone and dropped into the sea—I’d figured there must be something similar here, but apparently that wasn’t the case.
They probably had their own methods, but in any case, Cardinal Basel seemed pleased.
Hmm. Not bad.
Ito Souta was different from Lee Seolho.
He was already completely cornered, yes, but because there was no telling what kind of stunt he might still pull, it was wiser to deal with him while the chance was there.
There was no need to wait for an execution date or sit around and watch.
As for Cardinal Basel, he was probably even more impatient than I was.
He must have seen and felt something.
Once you considered what was going to happen in the future, it was only natural that he wouldn’t want to wait even a single day.
“W-what….”
Of course, Ito Souta looked utterly flustered. Only a moment ago, he’d been glaring at me and spewing curses, so this change was almost funny.
He was finally starting to understand reality.
Idiot.
He’d been exposed to a curse, and yet instead of flattening himself and praying for mercy, he was still thrashing around like a lunatic. Pride could be strangely useful sometimes.
When he saw Cardinal Basel open his mouth in that booming voice, the color drained from his face all over again.
“Bring the bronze statue now! The bronze statue!”
“Yes!”
“Bring me a hollow bronze statue! One filled to the brim with sacred water!”
“As you command.”
I had to admit, his momentum was incredible.
I didn’t know what he’d been like in his younger days, but it was enough to make me think choosing Cardinal Basel as the one to receive the goddess’s revelation had been the right call.
I’d thought he was the sort of man who valued dignity and composure, but apparently there was a fiery temperament hidden under that surface.
Of course, I wasn’t complaining.
Cardinal Basel’s nature was flowing in a very favorable direction for me.
“Inquisitors, stand that demon worshipper up at once.”
“Yes.”
“We will proceed swiftly. In fact, I can hardly call this a trial. To ask whether a demon worshipper is guilty to begin with—is that even a question worth asking? This will be nothing more than a simple execution.”
“Damn it… damn it!”
“Now that the time for repentance has come, it is already too late, demon worshipper. Holy Knight Order, you may want to clear this disorderly hall.”
“Understood.”
“Make room for the statue to enter. Yes, this way. This way! Everyone here will serve as a witness to this execution. They will testify, as the eyes and mouth of the goddess, to what becomes of a criminal—a traitor to the divine.”
The more I watched him, the more I found myself oddly liking the man.
Choosing Cardinal Basel had been nothing more than chance, but men like him—people who would pursue their goals without looking left or right—were the sort you could always use again someday.
If Cardinal Basel ever rose even higher, then I, being on rather good terms with him, would be able to wield power with virtually no limits at all.
I should treat him well.
It might not be a bad idea to give him a few more bottles of the Holy Wine.
Not long afterward, the doors of what had once been the courtroom and was now the execution chamber began to open.
What seized my eyes was a massive statue. A statue of a man with enormous wings. I naturally knew who he was.
If I wanted to grow close to these people, I’d have to build up at least some knowledge of theology myself.
Larcel.
An angel who could be called the right hand of the goddess Benigore.
I couldn’t say whether dying inside a statue like that was a fitting end or not, but even at a glance the thing had been made beautifully enough to hold two adult men at once.
I had no idea what it had originally been used for, but since there was a door in the back, it looked as though it had also served as an instrument of torture.
Or perhaps it had simply been used to store things. Either way, that had little to do with me.
What mattered more was the sight of the priests pouring sacred water into the statue’s interior.
With movements so precise they looked rehearsed, they filled the inside with sacred water, and the whole scene somehow felt holy.
Needless to say, Ito Souta would not be seeing it that way.
“You crazy… you lunatics! You ignorant bastards! Cough….”
“…….”
“Lady Marlin! Duchess Catherine! Cough! Are you really just going to stand there and watch this madness? Chief Justice James! In this sacred courtroom—cough—an execution? Have you all lost your minds? Kasugano Yuno! Are you truly betraying your homeland right now?”
“What are you even talking about? This isn’t Earth, Ito Souta. We are citizens of the empire, belonging to the Free City of Lindel and Celia. If you committed a crime, you must be punished. This society is fair to everyone, and when it comes to crime, it is very equal indeed.”
“Lee Kiyoung, you… cough….”
“Then why did you do it? Why did you make a pact with demons?”
“I didn’t. None of this was me. It was all your scheme, wasn’t it….”
“People might misunderstand you if they heard that, Ito Souta. You know how it is—one wrong choice in a single moment can lead to consequences like this. You never should have made the goddess your enemy.”
More precisely, he never should have made me his enemy. The bastard probably understood what I meant.
“Goddess Benigore never forgives her enemies. She shows mercy only to those who bow their heads before her.”
“You… you…!”
“She absolutely does not forgive those who oppose her.”
“Cough… you….”
“You’ve come too far to repent now, Lord Ito Souta. I won’t lie to you and say you’re heading somewhere pleasant. After all the many sins you’ve committed, heaven is out of the question. In your next life, I do hope you’ll make better choices.”
I let the corners of my mouth lift just a little.
I was slightly conscious of the others’ gazes, but I wanted to return the favor for what I’d suffered in front of Kasugano Yuno’s room.
When he first struck me on the back of the head, he probably never imagined things would end up like this.
“Pfft.”
Just as he had laughed at me, I opened my mouth in a low voice, a quiet chuckle of my own.
Seeing him trussed up like that did make my chest ache a little, but this was, after all, cause and effect—a finish perfectly suited to a villain.
Cardinal Basel seemed to share my feelings, because I saw him speak with solemn gravity.
“Gag the prisoner so that his treacherous tongue cannot wag.”
“Yes.”
“You ignorant bastards! Don’t touch me! I told you to let go!”
He was struggling, but there was no way a man tied up that tightly could do anything at all.
In the end, all he could do was glare around him with a gag stuffed in his mouth.
He was probably cursing us in his head.
“Mmph! Mmph!”
Of course, Cardinal Basel was not shaken by such a stare. If anything, he met it with fury of his own and began speaking in a low, controlled voice.
“Verdict! The criminal Ito Souta, guild master of the Yamato Guild and perpetrator of the Lindel terror incident, not only caused deep suffering to the citizens of the Free City of Lindel but also, for the sake of his personal greed, created dozens of casualties. That is not all. In the imperial castle, he committed crimes so heinous that heaven itself would cry out in outrage, threatening and attempting to assassinate a guest of the Holy Empire. He is a criminal of the empire who violated the imperial treaty, which was meant to minimize conflict.”
“…….”
“However—”
“…….”
“The reason for sentencing Ito Souta to execution is not the one I’ve just named. He conspired with demons to devise a plan to rot away the Holy Empire from within, and in the Free City of Celia he trafficked in illegal drugs while committing crimes so vile they included slave trading and organ smuggling. In this sacred courtroom, he insulted the goddess Benigore’s holy water as narcotics and betrayed his oath to the goddess through false testimony.”
“…….”
“His refusal to submit to the inquisitors’ questioning shall be taken as proof of demon worship, and thus the heaven-cursing criminal Ito Souta….”
“…….”
“Is hereby sentenced to death.”
Once Cardinal Basel fell silent, the people around us began applauding.
It was, naturally, the correct verdict.
With his limbs bound tight and delivered onto the statue, Ito Souta thrashed as much as he could, but in his dying state there was hardly anything left he could do.
He seemed desperate not to enter that statue, writhing his body this way and that, but in the end his body was stuffed through the dark, narrow doorway.
“Mmph! Mmph!”
A small splash sounded from inside, and the statue shut.
There were a few dull thuds as he struck the walls from within, but little by little, very little by little, the sound began to die away.
What was he thinking in there?
Was he regretting it, or was he feeling wronged?
I decided not to bother thinking about it. He had tried to kill me, and I had paid him back in full.
That was all there was to it.
Thud—
I couldn’t watch the end with my own eyes, but well, this was not a bad result.
Thud—
It was just right.
Thud—
Of course, for a villain, it’s a little lukewarm…
Still, I supposed I was satisfied enough.
The pounding from inside finally vanished after a little while. It was a pitiful end, utterly unlike the brilliant life he had lived.
After exchanging perfunctory farewells with the people around me, I started walking away.
“You’ve worked hard.”
“Thank you for your effort.”
“Justice has prevailed.”
“You will receive the goddess’s blessing.”
That sort of formulaic chatter.
Some were offering prayers; others were gossiping about the bastard’s crimes.
Lee Jihye and Cha Heera seemed to have their own things to take care of.
This wasn’t the only day in the world, so I’d have time to speak with them later.
After lightly taking Jung Hayan’s hand and slipping out of the commotion, a voice soon reached me from the side.
The person who called out to me was a little unexpected, but the news itself was good news indeed.
“It seems the royal castle will be lowering the griffins.”
“Is that so? That’s welcome news.”
“Indeed, young man. And not only that. As Cardinal Basel said, it appears a number of rewards are already being prepared. To name the most obvious, there will be tens of thousands of gold coins and item distributions. A room will be made available for you at the royal castle, and you’ll be able to use all manner of luxury goods. You might even be granted a title… and the conferral of an official post from the Holy See is practically certain.”
“That’s excellent.”
“Are you pleased? Satisfied, perhaps?”
“Of course. This will be good news for you as well, Victor Hart. Everything has been settled without the war between Celia and Lindel that you were worried about.”
“War isn’t the issue. Innocent people dying….”
“Victor Hart. The members of the Yamato Guild are not innocent people. Ito Souta is, by every definition, a criminal who committed crimes, insulted the divine, and stands accused of demon worship as well. The same goes for everyone in the Yamato Guild. They were the hands and feet that carried out his orders. You need to be careful with your words.”
“…….”
“And let me say it again: if I had been the one forced to yield, I would not be standing here right now.”
“I understand your meaning well enough, and I’m certain there are circumstances I don’t know. But your methods are too extreme.”
“No, Victor Hart—you still don’t understand me. Once I decide someone is an enemy, I should not show them mercy. Mercy is an emotion the strong may feel toward the weak, not something the weak should extend to the strong.”
“Who would ever see you as weak? You’re not weak anymore.”
“That is how I feel about myself. Perhaps you will never understand me for the rest of your life, Victor Hart.”
“Nor will I, I think. I… don’t believe I can bring myself to like a young man like you.”
“And yet we can still get along just fine.”
When I smiled and said that, Victor Hart slowly nodded.
Not a bad reaction.
“What do you say? Would you care to share a drink with me? I happen to have some very fine wine.”
“Another time.”
“I’ll come see you soon.”
Victor Hart’s departing back came into view as he excused himself.
I was a little worried he might try to turn against me, but there was no hostility in his eyes.
Even in the Emperor’s faction, I was probably too valuable to discard, so from Victor Hart’s perspective, he had no choice but to stay close to me. Separate from that, the old man’s gaze was somehow irritating in its own way, but….
“Hayan.”
“Y-yes?”
“Want to have some wine with me?”
“I-I’d love to!”
Something so trivial didn’t matter. Today was a good day.
When I looked back over my shoulder, the statue stood there in silence, caught in my sight.
Thanks, bastard.