When Andras first learned that Ex was Berith, the first thing that came to mind was whether he had actually used a Demon Contract Scroll.
It simply didn’t make sense for Ex to suddenly appear as a demon one day and announce that he was Andras’s subordinate.
Andras had been suspicious at first, but Ex had proven that he could uphold his end of their agreement, so those suspicions had gradually faded.
‘Not that I ever trusted him completely.’
But if she changed the premise and assumed that ‘Ex never used the Demon Contract Scroll in the first place,’ then everything fell neatly into place.
That was why Andras had called in the guards and ordered them to retrace Ex’s movements, searching every place where the contract might have been hidden.
And eventually, they found it.
‘Keeping something this dangerous instead of getting rid of it… How remarkably foolish.’
Andras inwardly sneered at Ex, who was still glaring at him from across the courtroom.
She had no idea what Ex had intended to do by keeping the contract, but whatever scheme the boy might have had, none of it mattered anymore.
The moment that contract was discovered, Ex was finished.
Even Darius, who had defended Ex until now, looked utterly devastated.
Watching someone’s faith in another person crumble before his eyes was always a delightful sight.
‘Yes. Doubt him more. Doubt each other. Close your ears and cover your eyes. The less you trust one another, the more there will be for me to take.’
Beatrice continued her speech.
“Why do you suppose a Demon Contract Scroll was found in Ex’s room? A student who supposedly resolved the Great Mansion Incident should never have possessed something like this in the first place. Its very existence is an affront to the Goddess.”
At the mention of the Goddess, the murmuring among the citizens grew even louder.
Whatever Ex’s intentions might have been, there was no reasonable excuse for an ordinary student to possess a Demon Contract Scroll.
People believed that merely keeping an object connected to demons could corrupt one’s faith and rot the soul.
For that very reason, cursed objects and anything associated with demons could not be handled freely unless one was a clergyman officially authorized by the Theocracy.
And an object like that had been found in the room of Ex, who wasn’t even a priest.
“Ex, when the Great Mansion Incident was resolved, I hear you gave all the credit to someone else. Isn’t that right? Even if the person you gave it to was the daughter of a count, wouldn’t you say that was an excessive amount of humility? An achievement of that scale could have earned you a noble title. You could have become a nobleman yourself. Was there really any reason for you to turn down an opportunity like that?”
“…”
“I believe there was. I believe you gave away the credit because you couldn’t afford to let your name become known, or because you wanted to avoid attracting unnecessary attention. You surrendered your accomplishments because fame would have been inconvenient for you.”
Just as Andras had said, Ex had indeed handed over the credit because he wanted to avoid becoming famous.
At the time, his purpose had been to stay out of Darius’s sight.
Now, that very decision had become a weapon in Andras’s favor.
“If you were a demon worshiper all along, and if the Great Mansion Incident was something you ‘deliberately’ allowed to happen so you could earn the Imperial Prince’s trust, then your decision to give away the credit makes perfect sense. After all, if a demon worshiper could gain the confidence of someone at the heart of imperial power, throwing the Empire into chaos would become that much easier. If I’m wrong, then by all means, explain yourself.”
Ex didn’t answer.
He simply stared at Beatrice in silence.
‘What is it?’
Beatrice found herself increasingly bothered by his unwavering gaze.
‘What are you preparing?’
By this point, any ordinary person would have shown some kind of reaction.
Anger.
Fear.
Desperation.
Anything.
Yet Ex simply stood there.
‘Is he… waiting for something?’
There was nothing Beatrice could think of that could overturn the situation now.
Even if Darius, whom Ex had drawn to his side, made one last desperate struggle, it wouldn’t change anything.
“Who examined that contract and officially certified that it was a Demon Contract Scroll?”
Sure enough, Darius finally forced out a rebuttal, his face twisted with strain.
“I have received no report that the Imperial Family examined any such object. Where was it examined, when was it examined, and by whom?”
There weren’t many people capable of authenticating something like a Demon Contract Scroll.
Even within the Imperial Family, such work was entrusted only to a handful of high-ranking clergymen recognized by the Holy Empire.
Besides, a Demon Contract Scroll was the kind of object that could get its owner executed the moment it was discovered.
There was no reason it would be designed so poorly that anyone could identify it at a glance.
Beatrice’s accusation would only hold weight if the person who examined the contract truly possessed the qualifications to do so.
“Unless its authenticity was certified by someone of at least an Inquisitor’s authority from the Holy Empire, it must be examined again.”
That was the weakness Darius had chosen to attack.
The fact that something resembling a Demon Contract Scroll had been found in Ex’s room was one matter.
Whether it was actually a Demon Contract Scroll was another.
‘If it truly is one…’
Then the situation would spiral completely out of control.
Darius had already made extensive preparations based on the information Ex had given him about the future.
“Of course I had it examined by someone trustworthy. Just as you suggested, Imperial Prince, I entrusted it to an Inquisitor from the Holy Empire.”
“What…?”
Darius couldn’t believe his ears.
The Chairman had once told Beatrice that he intended to invite an Inquisitor to the Empire and side with her.
Naturally, that had been a lie.
In reality, he had only been considering whom he might invite. Whenever Beatrice pressed him for progress, he had used Darius as an excuse, claiming that the Imperial Prince’s interference made it difficult to proceed.
‘I’ve been keeping track of every movement from the Holy Empire…’
Yet despite Darius’s disbelief, Beatrice calmly called for the Inquisitor who had supposedly already entered imperial territory.
“Bishop Andersen.”
At her summons, a man dressed in black priestly robes rose from among the citizens.
He was tall, with an iron mask covering his face so completely that only his eyes remained visible.
Every inch of his body was wrapped in layers of clothing, leaving not even a trace of bare skin exposed.
The sight was strangely unnatural.
His very presence carried a crushing pressure, inspiring reverence and fear in equal measure.
Andersen slowly walked forward.
“Thank you for your invitation, Imperial Princess Beatrice. Thanks to your generosity, I have been given the opportunity to behold the lands of the Empire and witness its festival for myself.”
“The Grand Festival is a meaningful occasion for believers as well. Even if it required some effort, it is an honor to have a bishop such as yourself attend.”
That brief exchange was enough for Darius to understand exactly what had happened.
He immediately turned a vicious glare on Beatrice and exploded in fury.
“Imperial Princess, you dare smuggle an official of the Holy Empire across our borders?! You brought an unauthorized foreign clergyman into the Empire without permission and allowed him to participate in a trial of this importance?!”
It was true that the Church of Deuslute was the state religion of the Dritania Empire.
That didn’t mean the Empire surrendered its affairs of state to the Holy Empire.
When the current Emperor, Darius’s father, had still been in good health, he had drawn an unmistakable line on that issue.
Darius had followed his father’s example, continually blocking interference from the Holy Empire and refusing to surrender even the smallest measure of imperial authority.
And now, Beatrice had shattered that balance.
Even beneath Darius’s furious condemnation, Beatrice merely smiled with complete composure.
“I merely welcomed Bishop Andersen as one believer receiving another. There is no need for such anger, Imperial Prince.”
“Very well. If your loyalty lies with the Church rather than the Imperial Family, then I will gladly strip you of your imperial status exactly as you seem to desire…!”
“Shouldn’t we finish this trial before that?”
Andersen stepped forward.
He clasped his hands together as though in prayer, bowed his head toward Darius, and offered him the formal greeting of a believer.
“It is an honor to meet you, Brother Darius. My name is Andersen, a humble servant of the Goddess. In my homeland, I have been entrusted with the undeserved position of Inquisitor.”
Because of the iron mask, Andersen’s voice came out with a harsh, unnatural rasp, like metal scraping against metal.
Worse still, the greeting he had just given carried a very deliberate implication.
He was not acknowledging the man before him as an Imperial Prince.
He was addressing Darius merely as a fellow believer.
It was practically a provocation.
“You seem to have forgotten whose soil you’re standing on, Bishop. Remember that imperial law can have you thrown into a dungeon, and choose your next words accordingly.”
“And yet, you will do no such thing.”
“What would a bastard like you know to spout that nonsense so freely…?!”
“Because you have a matter far more important to attend to.”
Andersen’s eyes turned toward Ex.
“What matters now is the judgment of this trial and the truth about that boy. Wouldn’t you agree?”
It was the crowd that agreed with him.
The citizens who worshiped Deuslute accepted Andersen’s words without question simply because they came from a bishop.
Meanwhile, the nobles and government officials who witnessed Andersen’s appearance had already begun calculating what his presence meant and which side would benefit them most.
Andersen took his place at the witness stand and looked directly at Ex.
The cold, heavy gaze from behind his iron mask seemed almost physical in its weight.
Even Ex, who had remained calm through everything thus far, couldn’t help tensing slightly beneath it.
There was no telling what Andersen was thinking.
The bishop clicked his tongue softly and shook his head.
“How unfortunate. To watch a servant of the Goddess be lured astray by the temptations of demons, and then to be the one forced to prove his fall… It is a cruel and painful duty for me. Nevertheless, for the sake of justice, I shall testify beneath the name of the Goddess.”
Andersen placed his right hand over his chest.
Holy light began to seep between his fingers.
Then he made his declaration.
It was the ‘Sacred Covenant,’ a sacred art that could only be invoked by clergymen of at least a bishop’s rank.
“I personally examined the object discovered in Ex’s room and confirmed that it is indeed a Demon Contract Scroll. Should my testimony contain falsehood, I swear before the Goddess that my faith and all the divine power born of that faith shall be offered up as tribute.”
Just as Andersen declared, the Sacred Covenant carried a terrifying restriction.
If the speaker knowingly uttered a lie beneath the covenant, every trace of divine power they had accumulated throughout their life would vanish.
It was not a restriction imposed upon another person.
It was a vow born entirely from one’s willingness to sacrifice oneself.
For clergymen, it was one of the most powerful means available to prove that their words contained no deception.
To ordinary citizens, someone wagering all of their divine power on the truth appeared as the very embodiment of noble self-sacrifice.
Few would dare question the testimony of someone willing to risk so much.
“Th-Then what they found in his room really was…?”
“You mean it really was a Demon Contract Scroll?”
“My Goddess…”
The people believed.
That was all.
Andersen’s covenant had completely shifted the momentum of the trial in Beatrice’s favor.
She did not waste the opportunity.
Beatrice turned toward the crowd and began appealing directly to them.
“The truth has now been established through the testimony of Bishop Andersen. The object discovered in Ex’s room was indeed a Demon Contract Scroll. And yet the accused still refuses to explain why he possessed such a dangerous object. Surely the truth must be something so dreadful that he cannot even bring himself to speak it aloud.”
From this point on, it no longer mattered what was true and what was false.
Once people gave up on thinking for themselves, they became foolish creatures who simply accepted whatever was declared by those standing above them.
Andras understood that better than almost any other demon.
“The accused intended to plunge this Empire into chaos from the very beginning as a demon worshiper. His schemes have failed until now only because the Goddess watched over us, and by Her grace, the truth has finally been dragged into the light today. It is a terrifying thought.”
A hideous demon invoked the name of a holy Goddess.
He used devout believers as his tools.
And through them, he seized control of the crowd.
“I do not believe the criminal standing before us was evil from the very beginning. But once someone abandons the Goddess’s guidance and leaves the protection of Her grace, we know of no way to restore them to what they once were.”
Even Darius could say nothing now.
The momentum of the trial had already turned against him, and worse, a seed of doubt had begun taking root in his own heart.
His reason screamed that something about all of this was wrong.
Yet his throat refused to move.
No words came out.
“I believe this sinner must be returned to the embrace of the Goddess. And there is only one punishment worthy of that purpose. The evil that has taken root in his soul and heart must be purified.”
Beatrice extended one hand.
Magic gathered above her palm, erupting into a fiercely burning flame.
Then she shouted.
“Purification through fire! Death at the stake! That is the only fitting end for the criminal who deceived us all and spread his lies among the people!”
That was all it took.
“Burn him!!!”
“Burn the demon!!!”
As though answering Beatrice’s declaration, the citizens began shouting with her.
Like ink spreading through clear water, the madness infected them one by one.
Soon, dozens of voices were crying out for Ex to be burned alive.
“Burn him!!! Burn that bastard!!!”
“Burn him before he kidnaps my child!!”
The citizens had already been living in fear because of the recent rumors that demon worshipers were kidnapping people.
Now that fear became fuel.
And fear burned easily into rage.
“It seems the Imperial Princess’s argument is quite reasonable.”
“I will stand in support of the Imperial Princess.”
The nobles and government officials watching the frenzy also began reading the room and quietly deciding where they should stand.
There was no reason to cling to Darius, who had fallen silent.
The one worth supporting now was Beatrice, the Imperial Princess who had the backing of the people.
“…”
Only one nobleman, his fedora pulled low over his face, watched everything in silence without offering an opinion.
“Then I shall deliver the verdict.”
The Magistrate responsible for passing judgment glanced nervously at the silent Darius, then slowly reached for the gavel.
“The verdict for the accused, Ex, shall be…”
The enraged citizens gradually quieted themselves.
They wanted to hear the strike of the gavel.
They wanted to hear the Magistrate condemn him.
The courtroom fell silent.
And in that silence, just as the Magistrate raised the gavel.
“…Hm? Does the accused wish to make a final statement?”
Ex lifted his bound hands high into the air.
As if to say he still had something left to tell them.
The Magistrate glanced toward Beatrice for permission.
She looked at Ex with open ridicule and spoke.
“He must be frustrated after being struck mute. I suppose there is no harm in giving him some paper and a pen. His restraints are blocking both his mana and internal energy, so he won’t be able to try anything anyway…”
“I don’t need paper or a pen.”
The words of Beatrice, an Imperial Princess, were cut off without the slightest hesitation.
Yet not a single person present criticized him for the disrespect.
“I’ve listened carefully to every word all of you have said. I haven’t missed a single one.”
With the exception of Darius and Beatrice, everyone present was hearing that unfamiliar voice for the first time.
And it was coming from the very center of the courtroom.
“So from this point on, you’ll listen to me.”
The owner of that voice was Ex.
“Now it’s my turn to speak.”
–TL Notes–
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