There are those in a difficult situation.
And I have the ability and evidence to solve it.
What would you do?
"Ah, I should add a premise."
By the way, it's about an enemy.
Apparently, my ancestors had a really bad relationship with them.
I originally only knew that much, but now that I’ve been called an evil god because of it, I’m twice as upset.
"I'm too lazy and don’t want to stand out."
If there were any benefit, I would move, but the only thing to gain now is ssing with the Elder Council.
Even in this free ti, it’s a dilemma.
I rolled left and right on the bed, thinking.
At that mont.
"Huh?"
A disturbance was felt from far outside the window.
"I’ll say it again. You cannot et the young lady without an appointnt. This is the final warning."
As I got closer to the main gate, the guard's voice beca clearer.
I puffed out my chest, feeling like I was being treated well. Heh!
"Please, I beg of you. At least give us a response. Our lives and deaths... Ah!"
The person arguing with the guard spotted .
He was a very suspicious-looking young man.
Like I did during the harvest festival, he wore a robe and pulled his hood low, hiding his face.
For now, he didn’t look like a dark sorcerer.
"Miss Siora, you cannot approach. Please step back."
"What’s going on?"
As I moved closer, the young man imdiately acted.
Thud, the sound of him kneeling was loud.
It was a stone floor, so I wondered if his knees were okay.
"Please, just help once!"
"Who are you?"
"I… I am..."
He hesitated for a mont before pulling back his hood.
And then, to my surprise!
"Wow, really plain."
"…Yes, I am just an ordinary follower of the Recanon Church."
"Didn't you just get interrogated at the temple?"
"The priests were all taken away, and only the common followers remain."
I nodded and examined him again.
Poor quality clothes, rough skin.
He didn’t make eye contact much and kept shaking his hands, but I didn’t think he was lying.
I squatted down and t his eyes.
"When did you see and co asking for help?"
"That day, when you wore the lion mask and ca to watch the puppet show? The rumors about you and the two of them have spread throughout the capital."
"Aha. So."
"If by any chance, the noble lady still has the holy water that you received at that ti..."
"Did you co to ask for it? Normally, I wouldn’t et you."
"I was desperate. I was afraid that all the priests would be executed."
Hmm, that makes sense.
Even though it was a false accusation that I passed out the poison, they wouldn’t let anyone live.
If it wasn’t for the religious issue, they would have dragged him to the Imperial Palace’s investigation office and sentenced him to death by now.
Even with a religious trial, the result wouldn’t have been different.
"If you just give that holy water, I will be eternally grateful and will quietly leave."
Should I just give him the holy water?
I glanced at the young man still kneeling and the guard.
If I let him in, rumors would spread about him being a heretic.
"Just get up and talk."
"No, I’m in a position to beg, so I’ll speak like this."
"What? Just because I feel sorry for you, doesn’t an my chances of helping you increase."
"That...!"
"It actually makes them drop. Oh, right now it dropped by 5%. 10%, 15%—"
"I... I’ve gotten up!"
The young man quickly stood up.
Just hand him the vial.
Right when I was about to make a decision, a loud sound interrupted .
Four white horses were pulling a luxurious carriage.
On the outside of the carriage, there was a clock pattern with white sand inside it.
And the person who got off the carriage was…
"Hmm? Looks like there’s an appointnt."
It was Cruello.
He ca by carriage, what a surprise!
The guards, startled by the unexpected visit, alternated their gaze between and Cruello.
I asked in place of them.
"Your Majesty, what brings you here?"
"What do you an, what brings here? I ca to flatter you."
"That's not sothing that suits you, Your Majesty."
"Th-the White Desert Duke, Your Majesty."
How infamous must he be for even a commoner, who would never normally et him, to recognize him?
The young man gritted his teeth and trembled violently.
I’m proud of you, Cruello! Your presence is truly overwhelming.
"Shall we go inside and talk? If it's alright, it would be best to bring this friend along as well."
A follower of Recanon?
Since there was soone to take responsibility for him, I didn’t bother refusing.
Of course, I didn’t forget to add one more thing.
"If sothing bad happens, it’s Your Majesty's responsibility."
***
We moved to the reception room.
A low-ranking follower of Recanon, Cruello, and .
When you think about it, it's truly a strange combination.
I left them to themselves, and I went to grab the holy water from the incident.
"Here, this is the holy water I received."
I lifted the bottle to make it visible.
The clear liquid sloshed around.
Joel—the na of the follower—looked at the tip of my fingers with desperate eyes.
"So, what do you plan to do with this?"
"The poison was probably swapped by soone. If it’s the holy water you had, there’s no reason the temple would doubt it, and they will recognize the truth."
It doesn’t sound that simple.
But even though he spoke like that, Joel’s expression was dark.
"I don’t even know why the priests were taken. They all used divine power, so their good intentions should have already been proven."
"Doesn’t the current temple have different goals?"
Cruello interrupted in a disinterested voice.
Ah, that’s true.
Recanon is the god of discipline and restraint.
It’s a sect that would punish things like late rising or gluttony, with a different set of values than the people today.
That’s Recanon’s “goodness,” the standard for being able to use divine power.
By the way, Pebula’s creed is “naturally,” so there’s no real difference with today's ideas.
"How would distributing poison to the people be considered good by any standards…?"
"Well, I wouldn’t know, I’m not one of their followers. You might be hiding sothing, too."
Cruello spoke coldly.
Knowing who’s behind it, his acting is excellent.
Joel might be trying to probe whether he was recruited by the Elder Council.
But since I didn’t call him to interrogate him, I returned the conversation to its flow.
"Actually, I think I understand how the holy water beca poison."
"Really!?"
"I could help, if you answer just one thing for ."
"I’ll answer anything! Please, ask."
"Who is the evil god from 'Moromoro’s Sacrifice'?"
Cruello burst out laughing.
But I’m serious.
Although it might be self-justification, as a follower of Pebula, it’s a very important issue.
"Is the story based on real events?"
"Eh? Why are you suddenly talking about a play…"
"Hurry!"
"I... I don’t know much. The priest who wrote the puppet show script is currently being interrogated."
"Of course? So, who else?"
"Other than the priests, no one would know. We only study the current teachings..."
This is useless!
I sighed loudly and leaned my back against the chair.
Pebula, this person doesn’t know.
Then shouldn’t the person involved give an answer?
But my god remained silent.
Am I even worse than an animal?
I felt like I wanted to vent my frustration on the world, but instead of tornting an innocent person, I opened the vial of holy water.
And I showed Joel the bottom part of the seal.
"There’s sothing black on it, right? That’s the poison."
"Eh?"
Over ti, the poison naturally blends in.
It’s plant-based poison, so I couldn’t detect it with just my senses.
"But it’s holy water. The peak of regenerative power shouldn’t be contaminated with poison..."
"It’s possible because it was weak. It may have lasted for a while, but as the poison increased, it got contaminated."
"Then... how did the noble’s bottle remain unaffected?"
"The pocket of my robe was narrow. My maid has an obsession with that sort of thing, so she stored it in a box with a hole in it."
It was originally a potion storage box.
Though it wasn’t intentional, my divine power likely helped nourish the holy water without realizing.
Joel’s expression brightened, as if he thought it made sense.
"So, then we can prove the priests' innocence!"
"We can also prove the thod of the cri."
"Eh?"
"Who else could have applied the poison inside the cork? It’s obvious it was soone on the inside."
If it wasn’t them...
Could soone have snuck in, opened the holy water bottle, applied poison to the cork, and then escaped without being caught?
The Elder Council might have the ability, but why would they bother?
It would be far easier to recruit an insider.
I wasn’t trying to undermine him, but Joel didn’t seem like the kind of follower who worshipped the god of discipline.
If the overall faith level is like this, it wouldn’t be difficult to lure out an immoral person.
"Moreover, no one would listen to the words of an ordinary follower."
"Then... what should I do?"
"You know soone influential, right? Saint Mamic?"
The person they say was symbolically set up by the temple to embrace heretics.
Though the power was handed to her intentionally, why couldn’t it be used for our side?
When I think of the Harvest Festival, Recanon used it quite well.
However, Joel’s face twisted.
"She’s not a follower of Recanon. She has no affiliation with our sect."
"Eh?"
"She suddenly appeared with Recanon’s sacred artifact and claid to be the descendant of Saint Moromoro. It’s clear the temple created her using Recanon’s na."
"Oh. So, the artifact is fake?"
"It doesn’t seem like it’s fake... The temple says it was authenticated."
"A miracle? What power does it contain?"
"Even the priests don’t know. I’ve heard the records have been erased..."
The more I hear, the more it seems Mamic is legitimate.
Could these guys be the fake ones?
"Anyway, since she’s with the temple, she won’t help us."
"But didn’t they say Mamic was the one distributing the holy water at the puppet theater?"
"Th-that’s! We were also frustrated at being used without a choice..."
Wow, they’re using divine power even after scamming people?
...I thought to say that, but I swallowed the words.
It’s not because I feel guilty.
"Still, she used Recanon’s na to beco a saint, right? We should et her."
"I tried for a long ti, hoping she’d et , but she never agreed."
I nodded at Joel’s frustrated voice.
He does seem like he has sothing to hide.
But even though he avoided before, the situation is different now.
If Recanon gets falsely accused of poisoning, it will negatively affect the person who beca a saint because of it.
What should I do?
It’s starting to intrigue .
The person who wrote the script for the puppet show is also being questioned by the temple, so maybe I should visit and check out the sacred artifact in the anti?
"Then, let’s et her."
"Your Majesty? Did you just say 'we'?"
"You’re going with , darling. Your eyes have already changed."
I instinctively touched my eyes.
He’s reading !
"Y-you’re really helping ?"
Joel stood up abruptly, bowing at a 90-degree angle.
"Thank you, thank you!"
I guess I can’t back out now.
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