214 – EP.9 Asking in Your Eyes-1
***
Even though she was in the room where she had lived for several years, she did not feel at ease.
It wasn’t because of the investigation that would be happening to her soon. The news of the saint’s execution shook her to her senses.
Harvest Festival is a major holiday in the religious community.
It was a day to harvest the seeds sown in the spring in the fall, cook them deliciously, share them with each other, and give thanks for God’s grace.
But where was the joy that should have come from sharing food and stories, and a heavy silence fell over the entire church.
“The saint is the devil?”
Maria muttered with an ecstatic expression on her face.
It was clear that he had been framed.
It was clear that an evil devil had laid the blame on the saint.
The entire church is playing to the devil’s tricks.
Executions are not carried out during the Harvest Festival.
The fastest execution would be at noon the next day.
If we had to get him out, it was right to do it today.
Maria looked out her window.
The moon had risen before she knew it, and she had to make up her mind.
She got out of bed and walked around her room.
“No.”
I am confident that she understands the saint better than anyone else.
His voice.
I don’t think that soft voice calling my name has changed.
“No.”
His eyes.
I don’t think the kind eyes that look at me when I wake up in the morning have changed.
His smile.
I don’t think that smile, like the comfortable spring sunlight that makes you smile just by looking at it, has changed.
His body temperature.
His warm body temperature felt through his small palm did not change.
His body type.
His sweet scent is no different from before.
Nothing has changed. That much was certain.
But, are you saying you’re possessed by the devil?
Are you saying I am being deceived?
“No!!!”
Screaming sharply, Maria hit the desk in her room with her fist, creating a crack in the center of her desk and splitting it in half.
Paper, pens, inkwells, etc. Jumped up from the impact and fell disorderly on the floor.
Maria looked at her own fist.
She walked with long strides and stood in front of the door.
I am now confident that I will be able to wrench open this solid door.
I heard footsteps running this way from outside.
Maria took a deep breath and placed her hand on the doorknob.
But until the moment when she put strength into her hands, Maria did not find a clear answer to her question.
[Why is he a saint?]
***
The Holy Knights and Inquisitors who were running to Maria’s room were hit by the door that flew off with an explosion and tumbled down the hallway.
A noise unbecoming of the quiet Solar Qishia spread.
“A criminal attempts to escape!!”
It was the cry of a paladin who was still holding on to his spirit.
His alarm was short-lived, for the criminal kicked him in the jaw, knocking him out.
Maria headed to her basement, passing the spectacle she had created.
When Mary arrived at the interrogation room where criminals were kept, she was able to easily find where the saint was.
She was in the deepest part of the prison, where the church’s biggest criminals were imprisoned.
“It’s here!!”
Did you find out about it through the commotion above?
In the hallway leading to the interrogation room, numerous Holy Knights and Inquisitors were waiting.
Maria, who was confronting those in her way, extended her fist to her side.
With the sound of something exploding, a small hole appeared in the wall.
I took out a gray brick from the construction materials that were interlocked there.
“Everyone prepare for battle!”
Her paladin holding her shield stood at her lead, blocking her.
It was impossible to reach the place where the saint was without clearing them away.
Maria stretched her arms back and stamped her left foot.
The bricks were shot in a straight line.
– Empty!
With a dull screeching sound, the leading paladin is pushed forward and begins to fly away.
Unable to absorb the momentum of the stone, he became a thrown object that flew away with the stone, and everyone who was standing by, relying on his shield, was shocked.
Maria ran inside, trampling those who were still conscious among the fallen.
***
“Saint!!”
Maria tore the door open, and the figure of the saint standing in chains came into the musty prison.
“……”
The saint’s condition was not good at first glance.
Mary hugged the blood-covered saint.
A terrible bloody smell mingled with his fragrant body odor.
“Saint! I have come. Open your eyes.”
“Sister Maria.”
Her saint, who had her eyes closed, slowly called to her.
“You’re awake. Come to your senses. We have to get out of here.”
Mary said, tightening her strength on the chains that bound her saint’s hands.
“I won’t be able to solve it.”
The saint bowed in fatigue and declared.
As he said, the chain did not budge.
Maria pulled on her chains again and again as if she couldn’t believe it.
Where has all the strength that came from her coming here gone?
No matter how hard she tried, her chains showed no signs of breaking.
“Sister Maria, look at me.”
Mary’s head turned at the call of her saint.
“You shouldn’t be here now. Run away.”
“How can I run away, leaving behind a saint!”
“Sister Maria, you can’t save me now.”
“What do you mean? Please wait a moment, I will take this chain…”
Maria raised the rusty sword lying in her interrogation room and tried to strike it at her chains.
“Maria Loen!!”
The hanging saint squeezed his strength and screamed.
Maria stopped at that.
The saint looked into Mary’s eyes and said.
“The execution is tomorrow at noon.”
“There are people trying to save me. When the execution started, they caused a commotion, and the people waiting decided to save me.”
“Who on earth?”
He was a saint without much support.
Is there anyone who can help him?
“These are the people who took you in while staying away from you.”
Maria’s brow furrowed.
“Sister Mary, don’t you believe me? A saint does not lie.”
Even though he was exhausted, the saint smiled. He had a face that showed confidence that he would not die.
“But…But….”
“Believe. You must believe.”
The saint emphasized faith.
“There is absolutely no chance of the two of you getting out from here. We have to wait until tomorrow, tomorrow.”
Her saint persuaded her, and her persistent and sincere persuasion shook Mary’s heart.
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“Then really, at the square tomorrow?”
Maria asks as if to confirm.
“That’s right. Once the rescue begins, Sister Maria can help them.”
The saint tells Mary what to do.
At her persuasion, Mary let go of her chains that had held her.
She clattered and her chains shook.
“Now, go now. Before the crowds come!”
When the saint shouted, Mary turned around and began to run out of the dungeon in a huff.
Maria leaves Solar Lucia, throwing the crowd of people against the wall.
Unlike in her interrogation room, the hands she used to swat people away contained a power that transcended common sense.
The main gate of Solar Lucia.
Under her full moon, someone blocked her alone.
Maria, who had been running with all her might, stopped.
“I was waiting for you, Sister Maria.”
“Chief judge.”
Inquisitor Lumen.
The peak of the Inquisitor, who had brought hundreds of sinners to penance, stood before Mary.
Maria tensed her body, preparing for the fight that would follow. Because she knew very well that she was not a person who could be defeated by attacks.
“The Inquisitor betrayed her faith for personal reasons. Or was he really deceived by the devil?”
– Tong
The head of her weapon touched her floor and she made a sound.
A huge axe, that was Lumen’s weapon.
Maria checked her own condition.
Her body was riddled with minor wounds from her escape from Solar Lucia, and she did not have any decent weapons.
“Take it.”
Lumen threw something of hers at her.
A huge greatsword tied in dirty cloth.
This is Maria’s weapon.
The heavy greatsword flew through the sky and fell at Maria’s feet.
Maria silently unsheathed the cloth of her sword.
Her huge great sword revealed its body.
Maria held her sword with both hands and took a deep breath.
I remember the dance hall at night with the saint.
“Are you ready?”
Lumen asks, Maria’s green eyes look straight at Lumen.
“Yes.”
As soon as Maria finished speaking, Lumen disappeared from her sight.
As the silver object rushed towards her, Maria raised her sword and prepared for the coming shock.
But there was no shock.
Before she knew it, Lumen came crashing in next to her and hit Maria’s hind leg.
“Pfft!”
It seemed like the center of gravity was tilting, but then it fell backwards.
“So, can you explain to me why you are a saint?”
Lumen’s calm voice is heard above her head as she passes by.
“…….”
Maria kept her silence in response to the unanswered questions from the moment she left her room.
“I see.”
As if Lumen understood, she pulled the hand that was not holding her ax behind her.
She then threw it in her face.
“You have to see it with your own eyes to believe it.”
[After all, faith is like air; it is something that realizes reality without seeing.]
Looking at the fingers of her lumen towards her own pupils, Mary recalled the words from her Bible that she had long ago copied on her paper.
– Puuk
With the feeling of something soft digging into her, a pang of pain struck her brain.
“Quaaah!!!!”
A sharp scream came out of Maria’s mouth.
She rolled around on the ground, clutching her face.
Her bright red blood gushed out between her palms covering her face.
Lumen, in her silver armor, looked down at her with her emotionless face.
Her white fingers were accompanied by mysterious green eyes.