Chapter 155: The Tin Knight and The City of Scales (15)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 155: The Tin Knight and The City of Scales (15)
The plan for the Holy Vampire Emergency Drop Operation (named by the Tin Knight) was simple.
Required items: One large sack, the kind used for grocery shopping. Fallen leaves and straw for shock absorption. One special gem shield sold by the regicide Franka. One immortal who won’t die even after some rough handling. One Tin Knight, which might be useful to have in every home.
Procedure:
1. Transfer the immortal’s mana into the Tin Knight. This is not an essential step, but it allows for a more efficient use of surplus resources.
2. Empty the contents of the large sack. Various items will spill onto the floor, but this is a necessary expense in an emergency.
3. Place the immortal inside the sack. Add a generous amount of leaves and straw as well. Of course, this won’t do much for shock absorption, but it provides psychological comfort.
4. Tie the opening of the now-full sack. If tied too loosely, it will come undone during the drop. If tied too tightly, it will be inconvenient to get out of later. Use your own judgment to tie it with the appropriate amount of strength.
5. Take the sack and drop down from the wall, maintaining a certain distance from it. (Ignore any questions from inside the sack, such as, “Couldn’t we have just prepared this on the ground before jumping?”)
6. After a sufficient running start, use one of the shield’s three gems to launch yourself high into the air with a powerful burst of mana.
7. Once a certain altitude is reached, use the shield’s second gem to perform another mid-air jump.
8. It would be great if you could cross the wall together like this, but it’s difficult with the Tin Knight’s heavy body. Therefore, release the sack in your hand at the right moment.
9. Roughly calculate the coordinates of the city center, the height of the wall, the angle of the shield, the intensity of the mana discharge, and so on, using pure instinct. The Tin Knight can do it.
10. Using the shield’s final gem and the Tin Knight’s own mana, strike the sack containing the immortal with all your might. The recoil will cause the Tin Knight to plummet to the ground, but it’s okay because he’s the Tin Knight.
11. The sack will trace a sharp parabola, flying over the emerald wall and eventually landing in the center of Justitia.
12. Nice shot!
Note: Good children should not try this at home. In fact, it would be terrifying if you could.
*
The citizens and travelers of Justitia were civilized people, endowed with reason.
They may have been swept up in a bit of mass hysteria, but that alone was not enough for them to conceive of the insane operation the Tin Knight and Sophia had just carried out.
Therefore, they could only stand frozen in a daze.
‘Did that just fall from the sky?’
‘A sack? Huh? …A sack?’
‘I think I heard a terrifying noise when it fell, so why is it perfectly fine?’
‘There are leaves on her clothes. Did she use those for shock absorption? No, there’s no fucking way that would work. Is she insane?’
Even the members of the Lion Duke’s bloodline and the Justitia guards, who had been in the middle of a bloody swordfight, stopped and stood frozen. Amidst it all, Sophia, the very cause of this entire situation, casually glanced around with a perfectly composed expression and demeanor.
Seeing a group of people huddled in a corner of the square with rings of light floating above their heads, a smile formed on Sophia’s lips.
At a glance, she looked no different than usual, but for some reason, Adelaide felt a sudden chill.
“Oh my, it seems this is a party for insiders only. Seeing as no one is answering.”
“No, that is not the case.”
The Lord responded to Sophia’s words.
Even in this crucible of chaos and madness, the Lord never lost his benevolent and leisurely smile.
As the Lord and Sophia stood facing each other, the onlookers felt a strange sensation.
Perhaps because their outward dispositions and atmospheres were so similar, the two of them looked like siblings, or a distorted mirror image.
“The light of the scale is fair, and its balance is impartial. It is somewhat of a mystery how you entered, but… now that you have set foot inside, you too can prove your own innocence.”
“I can? That makes it sound like I have a choice.”
“Of course. Not proving it is also your freedom.”
“And the price of that freedom?”
“You will find out in due time.”
“Hmph. Fine. In that case, could I get an explanation of what sin I must confess, and what this situation is?”
“Of course. Repentance begins with the recognition of sin.”
The two’s attitudes and conversation were so natural that the people around them didn’t dare to intervene.
Even the guards, who should have been protecting the Lord, couldn’t bring themselves to stop Sophia, despite knowing she had gotten within arm’s reach of him.
“—So, you’ve sealed the entire city to catch those who committed a crime and are trying to flee. Is that the story?”
“You understand perfectly.”
“So the others are just caught in the crossfire? Have you considered any compensation for them?”
“Of course. For those who prove their innocence, we plan to show our sincerity, however small it may be.”
“And for those who fail to prove it?”
“They will have to pay the penalty or the value corresponding to their sins.”
“This all started as a response to an assault, so why is the trial for ‘all sins committed in this city’? Wouldn’t it have been enough to ask if they ‘cooperated with or condoned this incident’?”
“Hmm.”
The Lord paused for a moment.
Adel thought he was feeling abashed, having realized his mistake, but that was only half the truth.
“It is because I have realized my own shortcomings.”
It was true that the Lord was repenting for his mistake.
However, the ‘mistake’ the Lord was thinking of was something entirely different from what Adel imagined.
“The city, this Justitia, has been stained with chaos. People have emerged who doubt the absoluteness of the scale, and lawbreakers who seek to exploit the loopholes in our rules have run rampant.”
“The beginning of it all was none other than you. A few words you let slip carved distrust and arrogance into people’s hearts. Like a whispering serpent.”
“At first, I was furious with you. Then, I was disappointed in the people. But eventually, I realized. The one who was most lacking was myself.”
“If I had governed this city properly, how could people be swayed by a mere few words?”
“If I had truly established the authority of the scale, how could lawbreakers run so rampant?”
“I realized the many deceptions I had been telling myself. The rules of the Kingdom of Heaven, the complex entanglements of earthly ties, the limits of manpower and ability—all the things I had turned a blind eye to, using them as excuses.”
“It was wrong to punish only the sins that were brought to light. Such a mindset was insufficient.”
“My sin was allowing the arrogance of thinking that as long as you don’t face trial, as long as you aren’t caught, as long as you can just run away, everything is fine.”
“Therefore, I will now cast aside my sloth. From this day forward, everyone in Justitia, without exception, shall confess their sins to the scale every morning and prove their innocence.”
“This city will be reborn. It is all thanks to you.”
His words were not sarcastic or mocking; they were filled with sincere gratitude and emotion.
Realizing this, Adel felt a wave of dizziness.
The Lord, smiling gently before her, looked like something else wearing human skin.
Sophia asked again.
“Is the scale truly that magnificent? Are you so certain that the scale’s judgment can never be wrong?”
“I know what you are trying to say. You’ve been spouting a great deal of nonsense in the square. However, that is a human perspective.”
The Lord raised both arms and spoke as if declaring to everyone around them.
“From an ant’s perspective, most of what humans do would seem meaningless, foolish, and like madness. We humans are the same as ants. Even if the judgment handed down by the Lord seems unjust and irrational from a human point of view, it is simply because we are lacking and cannot comprehend its true meaning.”
“Aha, so you mean we should just shut up and follow the verdict, whether we get it or not. Is that it?”
“I can sense your resentment and dissatisfaction in your words. I understand. It is only natural for the lacking to envy the great and deny their will.”
It was truly an invincible logic.
No matter what one said, no matter what one pointed out, the conclusion was always, ‘That’s just because you don’t understand the will of the Great One.’
It was also a convenient argument.
There was no need to think, no need to doubt; one could simply rely on that absolute standard.
Among the people of Justitia, some felt revulsion at the Lord’s words, while others felt a sense of comfort.
The latter group was larger by proportion. Those who felt revulsion were in the process of dying, or were already dead.
Hearing the Lord’s words, Sophia slowly nodded her head.
“Those are truly impressive words. I understand. In that case, I shall receive my judgment. If I pay a fair price, will my sins be forgiven?”
“That is correct.”
Forgetting that she was even in disguise, Adel almost stepped forward.
She had already seen, several times, what became of those whose value was weighed by the scale.
But Sophia’s gaze stopped Adel in her tracks.
Her reddish-pink eyes crinkled, as if she were about to play a mischievous prank.
Sophia walked up to the giant scale made of emerald.
And she confessed.
“O, scale. I shall confess my sins, so I ask that you pass judgment.”
“I denied the absoluteness of the scale.”
“I denied the belief that the scale is always right.”
“Instead of telling people to ‘believe,’ I encouraged them to ‘doubt.’”
“Is this a sin? If it is, what is the price of my sin?”
The scale did not move.
The two pans on the left and right did not even stir.
The eyes of the people around them widened.
“O, scale, I revere you.”
“O, scale, I scorn you.”
“O, scale, did I lie?”
This time, too, the scale remained silent.
Its body, which had always trembled when a lie was told, was still and quiet.
For the first time, the Lord’s perpetually relaxed face stiffened.
“O, scale. I condemn your frivolity, raising and lowering your pans at every single word a person speaks.”
“O, scale. I condemn your arrogance, claiming to be able to reveal all the world’s truths merely by uncovering lies.”
“O, scale. I condemn your incompetence, for though you are a being connected to the Great One, you are used as a mere tool.”
“O, scale. I condemn your stinginess, for you do not hesitate to take from the sinner, yet you do not offer a single trifle to those who have suffered because of sin.”
“O, being who was not fair, but was wished to be fair, and strived to be so. Can you judge your own sin?”
“O, scale. To pass judgment, are you truly innocent?”
The two pans of the scale were designed to move only within a certain range.
The white pan, from horizontal to up.
The black pan, from horizontal to down.
To prevent the white pan from going below the horizontal, and the black pan from rising above it.
The scale’s balance was held firmly in place by chains.
Now, for the first time, they began to creak.
The Lord, his face pale, shouted.
“Stop at once! All you have to do is confess whether you are guilty or not and receive judgment for it! How dare you, how dare you!!”
With a smile that was surprisingly cold, bewitching, and cruel, Sophia replied.
“—You said that lowly beings cannot understand the judgment of the Great One, didn’t you? Would the ignorant ant please keep its mouth shut for a moment?”
The Lord screamed something.
The guards rushed toward Sophia, and the members of the Lion Duke’s bloodline moved to block them.
With a final, screeching groan, the chains finally snapped.
In a reverse of what happened when it weighed someone’s sin, the scale’s black pan rose up, and the white pan went down.
Crack.
A fissure appeared on the scale.
Like a broken formula, when an error that should never have occurred happens.
Like a child writhing, forced to face a shameful truth it had ignored.
Like a strict judge, passing sentence without forgiveness, as if not even it was an exception.
Beneath the emerald light that was splitting, crumbling, and scattering into dust—
—Hubris (ὕβρις) smiled.