I Pity You
I Pity You
"Tudel. Do you still harbor doubts? We examined even his memories and soul. The Silence Order could find no malice or blemish whatsoever in the Saint's soul."
Gerson, the High Priest of the Silence Order, addressed Tudel.
"You, who were the most suspicious, viewed his memories directly. If there had been even the slightest cause for doubt, you would have presented it immediately. Were there any such sights? Was there a single moment, even one memory, that could serve as evidence that the Saint is a worshipper of the Evil God or a servant of demons?"
The witch Tudel floundered.
Breaking out in a cold sweat, she rolled her eyes around.
This wasn't how it was supposed to go.
This couldn't be happening.
Her expression was filled with a determination to paint me as the villain somehow.
"Speak!! Tudel!! As you have claimed, were there memories in Saint Amael's mind of worshipping an Evil God or a demon!! Were there, or were there not!!"
At Gerson's booming voice, Tudel shrieked and jabbed her finger at me.
"Does this make any sense??? Does it make any sense, I ask!! The idea of a saint without holy power is utterly impossible!! This is a fraud!! A fraud, I tell you!! A fraud!!"
At this childish obstinacy, all the followers of the Lilia Order erupted in unison.
"That woman has finally crossed the line!!"
"Her disdain for the Order of Grace has reached its zenith!!"
In particular, the bald elder Yodel had completely turned into Mozgus.
The way his eyes had rolled back completely and he was spewing fury with a crimson face was a sight that could be used right now as a panel in a certain berserker manga without any issue.
But Tudel persisted in her stubbornness.
"No!! I wasn't wrong! He's clearly an Evil God worshipper! Can't you all see? How cunningly he has deceived you? He has no holy power!! No holy power at all!! Has there ever existed such a saint before? No!! He's a fraud!! A fraud, I tell you!!"
At those words, Gerson, his face thoroughly hardened, approached her and began to explain.
"The Healing Saint was recorded only in the Scripture of Grace and had never once appeared before, Witch Tudel. Therefore, it is only natural that he differs from the saints known thus far."
"But the holy power!..."
"Saints and Saintesses are not beings who must assume the forms humans desire. They should appear in whatever form the god who sent them wishes. If the Goddess of Grace wished for a saint without holy power, then even if he lacks holy power, is it not right to call him a saint?"
At those words, Tudel appeared to have nothing left to say. Trembling uncontrollably, she stared down at the floor.
Gerson glared at her for a moment before continuing.
"How can inadequate humans comprehend the will of the gods!! How could chosen saints and saintesses manifest only in forms that fit human standards!! Obsessing over proof of divinity is solely the act of frauds! A true saint is accepted naturally the moment one lays eyes upon that being!! Was that not exactly the case with Saint Amael!!"
The followers of Lilia raised both arms and shouted.
"Right!! Those words are truly righteous!!"
"Though he bore neither stigmata nor holy power, he healed the poor with greater humility than anyone else and raised the sick, just as recorded in the Scripture of Grace! Did the words, 'When the saint comes, you shall know him,' not come to pass exactly?!"
"Indeed!!"
Once again.
Everyone in the court began to applaud.
Gerson looked at Tudel.
"Only you reject the Saint's divinity. It is your freedom to further insult Saint Amael, but......."
Gerson calmly gazed at an elderly man who appeared to be the Magic Tower Master.
"The Pantheon will not overlook this matter. I trust you know what it means to insult a saint officially recognized by the Pantheon."
"In the days to come, you will all regret not heeding my words!! Everyone will pay the price for accepting that fraud!!"
Tudel struggled desperately until the very end.
Even if one washed their eyes out and searched, there was now no one who sympathized with her statements.
Even as everyone stared at her coldly, Tudel was glaring at me.
At this point, I grew a little curious myself.
I carefully descended from the defendant's seat and walked before Tudel.
People naturally made way for me.
Tudel was glaring at me, her expression devoid of anything but venom.
I quietly bore her gaze for a moment, then posed a question.
"Why do you denounce me so vehemently? Why do you try so hard to tear me down?"
No matter what crazy stunt I pulled, people called me a saint.
There was no longer any way to avoid the heavenly punishment of the Goddess Lilia.
The world was maliciously debuffing me.
I was already on edge, so there was no way the witch before me, blatantly screeching at me, could look favorable.
I was grateful when she filed the accusation and lawsuit, but it all went to ruin anyway!!
I'm still the Saint!!
Fuck, my mood is already shit, so what the hell is that venomous glare?
It pisses me off!!
"I know your true nature. You are just a lucky fraud."
That's the correct answer.
But that doesn't answer my question, does it?
[Activating Skill Absolute Hypnosis!!]
"Answer my question. Why do you try so hard to tear me down? Speak only the truth!"
At my words, Tudel opened her mouth, seemingly about to spew venom with a sneer.
"Because only if you're a fake saint will that fucking bitch Erpa fall into ruin........Urk!!"
Tudel clamped her hand over her mouth in shock.
But there was no way I'd let it slide.
You're already under hypnosis.
Since I'd rested very well for two months, my mental energy was brimming, and my aim was very precisely executed.
"Don't move. Don't even try to run. Keep talking while looking straight at me. Only the truth! What did you mean by saying it was for Erpa's ruin?"
Tudel's mouth opened on its own.
With a horrified and shocked expression, she began to continue spilling out the truth.
"Just what I said. You healed Erpa. Therefore, if you were branded a fake saint or an Evil God worshipper and condemned as a heretic, Erpa could become an Abomination once more."
Everyone has schemes and plans.
But the moment they blurt those schemes and plans out loud.
Sometimes, humans become so very ugly.
As the truth poured forth unchecked, the faces of the mages and witches of the Magic Tower contorted. High Priest Gerson of the Silence Order too.
And the followers of the Lilia Order.
The Supreme Court too. The Senate too. And everyone else present.
All frowned with distaste.
Tudel's face showed she wanted to flee.
But, caught in my hypnosis, she couldn't run away. Frozen in place, she was spilling every single story hidden inside her, down to the last trivial detail.
"Why are you so determined to bring about Erpa's ruin?"
"Because I can't stand the sight of her!! Because she's superior to me! It wounds my pride!! So I even resorted to human experimentation, striving to become a greater witch than that wretch, but to think it would all be exposed! If things hadn't gone wrong like this, I would still hold the position as the next Magic Tower Master!! I'm not someone who should be ruined like this!"
Well, well.
You were a more unsightly person than I thought, huh?
After finishing her words, Tudel desperately shook her head, her face pale.
"N, no!! Th, this is....... Th, the Saint must have used some sinister trick....... I, I!!........"
No one said a single word to her.
"It is deeply shameful that such a being was once affiliated with a magic tower. She has already been expelled from the Magic Tower on charges of attempted murder and thesis ghostwriting. She is someone unrelated to us."
Magic Tower Master Oergen had declared a severance at a speed faster than light, and the witches and mages of other towers were also nodding in agreement.
Suddenly, the atmosphere had become an interrogation of the witch Tudel rather than a heresy trial against me, but no one seemed to find this situation abrupt.
No.
Rather, they were watching the situation with expressions that seemed to say they were dying of curiosity.
Why?
Because High Priest Yodel of the Lilia Order was now approaching Tudel, wearing a ferocious, murderous visage that would make even Mozgus concede a point.
Just around the time I subtly released the hypnosis cast on Tudel's body, High Priest Yodel arrived before her.
"W, wait a moment....... I, I'm........ I'm........"
"The Healing Saint. Not only that, but the very first saint granted by the Goddess since the founding of the Order of Grace—you exploited and insulted him, dragging his name through the mud for your disgusting selfishness?? Could there be any greater blasphemy than this!! High Priest Gerson!!"
Gerson approached Yodel along with the masked and black-clad priests of the Silence Order.
"Speak. High Priest of the Order of Grace."
"The witch before our eyes is the true heretic!! The Lilia Order formally requests a Pantheon heresy inquisition against the witch Tudel!!"
"Conveniently, everyone is present. As you have all also witnessed the scene firsthand, it seems permissible to omit all the various tedious and time-consuming procedures. Therefore, we shall proceed immediately to a vote. Those who believe that the witch Tudel's actions just now constitute blasphemy against the Order of Grace, please raise your hand."
The Supreme Court.
The Senate.
The Magic Tower.
And all those belonging to the Pantheon.
Every single one of them raised their hands in unison.
Tudel's face decayed into despair.
"Aaaah!! J, just a moment. No! I, I didn't mean it like that!! I, I just preferred to be certain!! Please don't do this!!"
As she was babbling incoherently.
Erpa cautiously approached her.
And she uttered a single, cutting remark that was right on the mark.
"I pity you. Tudel."
At those words, Tudel's face contorted.
With demonic fury etched on her face, she shrieked.
"Get lost, you fucking cunt!! You goddamn bitch! Die! Die! Someone like you should never have been born!! I curse you!! I curse you!! Die!! Die, I said!!"
"Drag her away! Sever the mana circuits throughout her entire body and imprison her in the most foul and filthy dungeon for the rest of her life! This is for the crime of blaspheming against the saint of the august Pantheon!"
At Gerson's command, the clergy of the Silence Order cast miracles upon Tudel.
Instantly subdued, she was swallowed by shadows and vanished from the courtroom.
And that was the end of it.
The long, drawn-out heresy inquisition had finally concluded.