Episode 125. Solar(1)
“Saint! Saint! I have a quick question…!”
“Cornelia. Please close the door.”
“Acting mayor! No! “You must ask the saint!”
Thud.
The door closes.
The noise outside and inside are separated.
I say goodbye to things like the paparazzi that were constantly chasing me.
I plan to stay here at Brigham Manor for the time being.
“Saint…”
“I did it in the end.”
“Did you file a complaint?”
“Yes! That’s why the investigators stopped pestering me, but I just shook them off! That’s why I couldn’t answer anything they asked. I didn’t think about the specific process of the case at all.”
“······.”
Cornelia opens her mouth as if she is dumbfounded.
I understand that kind of reaction occurs.
That’s because I committed an unreasonable atrocity.
“Will the investigation… Proceed…?”
“It will progress. The saint’s speaking power is much stronger than we thought, right? It’s not even clear whether the incident actually occurred or not, but once the saint has pointed to a specific person, we have no choice but to begin an investigation to find that person.”
“Holy woman. But once the investigation is over, it will be revealed that this is all a lie.”
“I know. I will be accused of being a liar and the saint’s position will be greatly shaken. Still, it was something I had to do.”
“Ha······.”
At the sound of Cornelia’s sigh, her body flinched and trembled.
She truly feels sorry for Cornelia.
From Noble mtl dot com
How much has she been indebted to Cornelia so far?
This time, he even committed the false accusation she had so vehemently opposed.
Of course, there is a reason, but…
“Have you eaten your meal?”
“No······.”
“Come in. Don’t stand there like that. I’ll prepare dinner right away. Would you like to take my room?”
“Yes, yes. Thank you…”
Cornelia willingly lets you sleep without asking or questioning anything.
Her gratitude seemed to bring tears to her eyes.
I even remember that I said I didn’t like the original owner of this mansion because he was reluctant, and it seemed like he was trying to give me his room with no trace of the original owner.
The attention to detail is so warm.
Cornelia is so nice that I don’t know why she is so kind to a troublesome girl like me.
“I was going to apologize when we met…”
When I looked at the montage I drew, I laughed.
It really is a picture that looks exactly like Eugene.
I didn’t know I had this kind of talent.
My wish was to see this face again.
I wanted to face each other again and apologize.
But now I may have been wrong about that.
Even if we meet face to face, Eugene will just glare at me with an expression of utmost contempt.
My wish has now become impossible to achieve.
Because I ruined everything with my own hands…
“Come out to eat!”
“Yes.”
After burying her nose in Cornelia’s pillow, she trudged out and headed toward her dining room.
Cornelia was alone in the large dining room.
It seems like all the employees were bitten.
The meal begins.
The restaurant was filled with silence except for the sound of clinking dishes.
After a while,
Cornelia noticed her and parted her lips.
“Hey… Do I dare say something presumptuous?”
“Take it easy. Is there anything too presumptuous between us?”
“Saint. I think you have clearly crossed the line in this case. It is not another crime, but the attempted rape of a saint is a crime that deserves the death penalty. It can completely change a person’s life. Not only the saint’s own existence his, but also his. “I thought it would be too much of a nuisance… I thought it was beyond the topic…”
Cornelia was not speaking well, but at the last minute, she trailed off and avoided my gaze.
She must have been scared.
She is understandably scared when she sees me proceeding with an investigation into charges of attempted rape without any basis.
“He is someone who must be found at all costs.”
“What did you say you wanted to do to find that person?”
“She wants to apologize.” . .”
“That apology. I won’t accept it. Her hatred for the saint has reached its peak, so I won’t even hear an apology from her.”
“······.”
That is correct.
He was the one who left because he got tired of me bothering him.
But how surprised would you be if you came back and found out that you were being pursued for attempted rape?How much will she despise me?
How much will she hate me?
“Before it’s too late, call off the manhunt. Don’t you see? If you do it now, you can pretend it was all a mistake.”
“I can’t do that… I’m sorry. Thank you for your advice.”
“······.”
That was the end of our conversation.
Cornelia didn’t try to persuade me any further.
But I could see a strange sense of disappointment in her demeanor.
It was obvious what kind of disappointment it was.
She was disappointed in me as a person.
She was disappointed in the character of the Saintess.
The anonymous letter urging the suspension of the investigation that had probably been sent to the Vatican was also written by Cornelia.
Cornelia was clearly trying to help me.
She wanted to protect my reputation.
‘I should tell her… after all.’
Doesn’t Cornelia deserve to know?
As I thought about it, I hesitated for a moment.
“I’m finished eating.”
Creak.
Cornelia stood up, pulling her chair back.
I desperately grabbed her wrist.
“Wait a minute.”
“······?”
“I have something to tell you.”
She probably won’t believe me anyway.
But I have to tell her.
I was afraid that if I didn’t, my relationship with Cornelia would be ruined forever.
After clearing the table.
Cornelia and I went out onto the balcony.
A beautiful view of the city of Cologne spread out before our eyes.
“Where should I start… It goes back quite a long way.”
“Yes. Please tell me slowly, Saintess.”
“Do you know where I’m from?”
“Yes. Isn’t it Britannia? I understand that you came to the Holy Kingdom as a refugee during the Republican Revolution…”
“You know exactly. When I was a child. I lost my parents to the guillotine as the winds of revolution blew, and I embarked on a long journey of exile. But all along the way, there was a sickening stench in the air. When I asked what it was, the servants wouldn’t answer me, and they would blindfold me so I couldn’t see my surroundings. When you’re young, the more they do that, the more curious you get. So I opened my eyes and looked outside without the servants knowing. And there, in the distance, I saw a gentle hill and white smoke rising above it. I didn’t know what it was then. But when I thought about it later, I realized. What I saw that day was a mountain of corpses.”
It was a terrible time.
A time when all of Britannia was consumed by hatred and anger.
A time when good people like our parents were killed, their sins blamed on the wicked nobles.
A time when even the commoners who protected them were dying in the thousands.
It could be seen as a time of madness.
In contrast, the Holy Kingdom where we had taken refuge was a nation that operated solely on reason and rationality.
There was no exploitation of the people by nobles who became local rulers.
Nor were there any commoners stabbing nobles to death with spears.
In fact, if you look closely, the Holy Kingdom is far from an ideal nation.
But that’s another story.
“But later, I wondered. I knew that what I had seen was a mountain of corpses. But what was the white smoke rising above it?”
“Wasn’t it from burning the bodies… ?”
“I thought so too. But the smoke from burning bodies is black.”
“Yes?”
“Oh. It’s black. That’s what I’ve heard. But what I saw was a white that was almost transparent. I couldn’t figure out what it was, and time passed. And I was sent to the battlefield.”
“Are you talking about the conquest of Britannia?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
That’s right.
The war in which I destroyed my homeland, where I had taken refuge, with my own hands.
The war in which the Crusaders, led by the Order of the Holy Knights, conquered and ended Britain in just 10 weeks.
“One day. In the middle of the night, the Crusader camp was attacked by a night raid. The battle raged all night long, and by the time the sun rose, the entire area was covered with the bodies of enemy soldiers. But then I saw it again. White smoke billowing like a serpent above the bodies. Smoke that no one else could see, no matter how much I asked them, that only I could see.”
“Was it like a soul?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never seen such smoke from people who died in the hospital. I wonder if it only comes from the bodies of people who have a strong grudge. But why am I telling you this long story?”
She’s not really listening to me, after all.
She’s half-believing me.
I lifted my head to end the story.
Then the beautiful scenery of Cologne unfolded.
And in the middle of it.”That smoke right now. It’s blooming a lot in Cologne too.”
White smoke.
It’s thick like smog, billowing.
It’s been like this for a few days.
Why am I the only one who finds it strange?
“I’m saying it’s dangerous, but no one believes me. There’s only one person who believes me unconditionally, and that’s Eugene. I have to find Eugene.”
I have to find Eugene.
No matter what it takes.
Even if Eugene hates me······.
Otherwise, many people may die.
I have a bad feeling about this.
***
“Two weeks ago, the Vatican received a complaint from Saint Jill Dino. She said that a man named Eugene, a resident of the Holy Kingdom of Hameln, attempted to rape her but failed and ran away. The Vatican took this very seriously and launched a secret investigation······. But there are more than a few suspicious things about this. First, the fact that Eugene’s residency registration is relatively recent. And the fact that there are no witnesses. Of course, no one could openly contradict her because it was the Saint’s statement, but all of us cardinals, including the Pope, suspected that the Saint had made up a person and falsely accused him. But look at this. Now it turns out that he wasn’t a non-existent person after all?”
“······.”
Click.
Nicolas pulls a piece of paper out of his arms and hands it to me.
It’s not a drawing on paper, but a face that looks exactly like mine.
It’s my montage.
Come to think of it, it’s pretty well drawn.
Except for the nose, I would believe it if you said it was drawn after looking at me.
I didn’t know Jill’s drawing skills were this good.
“The Saint drew this herself. You. What is your relationship with the Saint?”
“What kind of relationship? I don’t even know her face.”
“Don’t evade me. Let me tell you again, I’m here to help you. So tell me the truth. Do you really have no acquaintance with the Saint?”
“Yes. I’ve never even been to Hameln.”
“Ha. What the hell is going on······.”
Surprisingly, it’s all true.
In this playthrough, I haven’t met Jill face to face yet.
I sent her a letter warning her about the assassination at the cathedral, but there’s no evidence that I sent it.
In other words, it wouldn’t be strange at all if I said that I had never met the Saint.
“Is there anything that bothers you? Have you ever done anything to earn the Saint’s grudge?”
“Yes. I’m just an ordinary wandering mercenary. I only hear about the Saint in the news or from hearsay, and I have no contact with her.”
“This is crazy. Why the hell would the Saint do this to a mercenary who has nothing to do with her······.”
I’m the one who wants to go crazy.
This crazy b*tch, I spared her life, and she repays my kindness with revenge?
I’m barely holding back my anger because there’s a cardinal in front of me, but my blood pressure is so high that I wouldn’t be surprised if my blood vessels burst at any moment.
‘She wasn’t that stupid to this extent······.’
Apart from being angry, I feel a sense of違和感.
Jill in the 1st playthrough was definitely a girl idiot.
Because I made her that way.
I made her a complete b*tch with a custom攻略法 just for Jill.
Just the fact that she sent spam emails all over the world looking for me is not something a normal person would do.
But as far as I know, Jill is a girl who knows how to keep her promises.
The Jill who really crosses the line is the Jill of the 6th playthrough who decided to invade Petersburg, not the Jill of the 1st playthrough.
‘Is there a reason?’
Is there a reason why she has to find me, even if it means putting me on the execution block?
For a moment, I have such a suspicion.
There’s no other way to find out.
I have to contact Cornelia.
Cornelia would know about Jill’s recent activities and whereabouts.
“I have no contact with the Saint. I understand for now. I’ll take care of it myself, so don’t worry. However, you must keep what happened here a secret and promise never to set foot in the Holy Kingdom again.”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t do that, Cardinal.”
“Excuse me? What do you mean?”
“I have to enter Cologne somehow. I have someone to meet and something to do.”
I have to contact Cornelia.
I also need to make sure that Cornelia is safe.
Cornelia would know about Jill’s recent activities and whereabouts.If Jill has some profound thoughts and has done such a thing, we need to find out what it is.
Besides, we must not forget to search for Belphegor’s main body.
It means we can never turn back from here.
“Do you have to enter by any means? Even if you are caught, you may be executed on charges of attempted rape of the saint?”
“Yes. It’s something I have to do even if it means risking my life.”
“What the hell is that······. Ha······. Things are getting really complicated. It was hard enough to take control of the checkpoint······.”
Nicolas took off his glasses, sighed deeply, and frowned.
Then he flicked his finger toward the door.
Soon the door swung open and a knight in full armor came inside.
“He is a trusted paladin. Wherever you go, you must accompany him and follow his instructions. He is the only one who can protect you in case of emergency. Do you understand?”
“What······.”
The paladin stopped next to us in a standing position.
Dazzling armor.
Shiny blond hair and blue eyes.
And a beautiful face.
The moment I met his face.
I froze stiffly.
“Hello. Deputy Commander of the Order of the Holy Knights. I am Solara Artemis.”
The one who appeared before me was none other than the paladin Solara.
Because he later fell and became one of the Four Heavenly Kings.