C160
"What the hell does that mean…?"
The judge, upon hearing Liena's surprising declaration, seemed baffled.
"What, what did she just say?"
"Did she say she's a saint?"
"A saint? How absurd."
"Has she lost her mind?"
The same sentiment echoed among others gathered in the outdoor courtroom.
Fortunately, the hostility was less than expected thanks to Liena's divine power, but they weren't foolish enough to believe everything she said.
The judge instructed the police officers to check if it had been determined that Liena had a mental problem.
"Please, securely restrain the defendant so she can't interfere until the trial is over."
It was then that the inspector carrying the rope and gag was about to approach Liena.
"Excuse me, but I also want to say something!"
Cardinal Morton suddenly stood up and shouted loudly.
"Liena is a Saint. I saw it with my own eyes."
The surroundings were in uproar. It was a completely different reaction from when Liena spoke.
The influence of the temple, or Church of Miella, in the Asteroth Empire was enormous.
All imperial citizens were believers of the Miella religion, and naturally, pagans were discriminated against.
In the Church of Miella, these were the words spoken by a cardinal who held the highest position among the priests, excluding the Holy Father.
Though it may seem foolish, you have no choice but to listen.
Cardinal Morton stepped out, politely glanced at Liena, and then spoke to the judge.
"Therefore, I request that this trial be halted."
"W-what are you talking about! Cardinal!"
"You know very well. The fact that the Saint, a noble messenger spreading the word of the Goddess, has absolute immunity."
As Saints are people of the Goddess, they are not punished by human laws. It was common sense in this world.
Furthermore, those with immunity included the emperor, the empress, the crown prince, and the prince.
"I believe the saint is innocent and was part of a conspiracy. But even if that weren't the case, one should never commit the disrespect of daring to bring a Saint to trial."
"No, that's true, but…"
The judge hesitated with a perplexed expression and then pointed out the most significant issue of this situation.
"How can a defendant be a Saint? Saint Arsia is alive and well with both eyes open!"
That was why no one believed Liena's words and the question everyone wanted to ask at that moment.
There already existed a saint in this world.
Saint Arsia. Over ten years ago, the current Holy Father found a girl in a rural village and brought her into the temple.
Because she spent most of her time silently praying inside the main sanctuary, she was not talked about often, but many revered her.
In "Return and Walk Along a Path of Flowers," only her name was often mentioned, but halfway or at the end of the story, Liena conflicted with the temple and quickly rose as a character.
Cardinal Morton seemed rather grim.
"Yes, I know. There can't be two saints under heaven. Therefore, my remarks now will be extremely disrespectful to Arsia."
"Then why…?"
"But as I said before, I confirmed with my own eyes that Liena is a saint."
He spoke resolutely, as if he were a devout priest.
"I'm sorry, Arsia, but I can't bear to ignore the truth, what I saw with my own eyes."
Shortly after, Morton quickly pulled out a palm-sized stone from his pocket and showed it to me.
Judging by the patterns engraved on the exterior, it seemed to be part of a fallen sculpture.
"This is a piece of the 'Verification Gate.'"
"If it's the verification gate… Isn't it a sacred object ?!"
Many people, including the judge, stared wide-eyed at the stone sculpture.
Verification Gate. It was literally a verification gate. If a person can open the gate, they are a messenger of the Goddess.
The saint was the only person who could open the gate located deep within the main temple.
It is said that each generation of saints leaves prophecies about the next saint before dying.
Then, the priests bring candidates who fit the prophecy and open the verification gate.
However, sometimes the subject of the prophecy is so broad that it is physically impossible to bring so many people to the main temple.
For example, even if there was a prophecy that the next Saint would come from a certain city, it was not possible to call all the children of that city to the grand temple.
To prepare for such times, priests in high positions receive pieces that have fallen from the Verification Gate.
Though the accuracy is low, it was possible to determine whether they were a saint or not by looking at the sculpture.
"This piece glows when touched by a saint."
The cardinal said and handed a piece of the relic to Liena with a courteous gesture.
As Liena held it proudly, at the moment the stone piece began emitting a bright blue light.
The light was so large and clear that even people sitting at the back could see it with the naked eye.
In an instant, the courtroom became as noisy as a marketplace.
"Is that woman truly a saint…?"
"Then, what about Arsia?"
"If what the cardinal said is true, Arsia must be false."
"Nonsense! What a wonderful person she is!"
"But the relic glowed."
"Wait a moment, there's no way a saint commits fraud."
"I don't know. How the hell did this happen?"
People were confused.
"Something happened."
Isaac, who had been drinking his drink behind me, spoke in a very serious tone.
"It would be a big problem if Liena were accepted as a true saint."
Roland cursed softly.
"Damn it! There must have been some kind of curse that made the sacred object shine. Just wait. Because it will definitely be revealed to be a lie."
"Well. Is it really the case? If she really is a saint, it would be better for my father and me to flee as fast as possible."
"Why us?!"
"Think about it. Basically, people firmly believe that a noble saint could not do anything wrong. That's how high the status of the Saint is. Besides..."
Instead, I spat out the following words.
"There's the wave of monsters."
A great disaster in which monsters flood and attack the human kingdom approximately every hundred years.
Although there have been no signs yet, the time for the monstrous wave to occur is approaching.
Experts predicted that a monstrous wave would likely erupt in the second half of next year or the following year.
Isaac muttered.
"The harder the times, the more people trust in the Goddess. Moreover, the temple also has a relic for anti-monster attacks that only the Saint can operate."
His tone, which had always been tinged with joy, became more serious than before.
"If it were an act committed by the Saint, even if it wasn't a fraud but serial murder, wouldn't people pretend they didn't see it? Regardless of justice, in the end, life is the most precious."
According to ancient literature, more than a million people died across the continent during the last monster wave. The number of wounded must have been tens of times greater.
This happened even though the saint of the time took an active role and used her power. What would happen if the saint were absent?
Even if it were the emperor, it would have been difficult to insist that the saint be sent to prison in these circumstances.
Moreover, the trial could not continue ignoring the possibility that the accused is a Saint.
I saw the emperor's seat. He clearly seemed annoyed by the unexpected situation.
Since this happened in front of so many people, he couldn't bury it.
Roland finally must have realized the gravity of the situation and urgently shook my hand.
"Viscountess Lucibiu, do something!"
That's because when Liena gains power as a saint, whoever was hostile to Liena would also be in danger.
"She can do it, right? Find out that she's not a saint, but a witch!"
"Wait. It's not me who should step forward now."
"Well, then who is? No, isn't the viscountess in more danger at this moment? Why is she so unconcerned?"
I wasn't very unconcerned, but I was calm. Because...
"I hoped it would turn out this way."
Liena became a saint. It was a possibility that Liena herself had already examined once in the novel.
The definition of a saint was that she was chosen by the goddess and given part of the goddess's power.
Liena, who was brought back to the past by the goddess and could exercise blessings, was one of them.
However, when Liena realized this fact, Arsia had already been declared a saint.
Liena asked Miella if she chose Arsia, and the goddess replied as follows.
"No, I have never done that."
Liena became even more convinced that she was a saint and thought about revealing that fact to the world.
But there was a problem. Becoming a Saint certainly brought great power and honor, but the restrictions it entailed were also significant.
First of all, the temple interferes with her actions in all cases, and she would have to leave her family to distance herself from the secular world, and economic activities were impossible due to its philistine nature.
Even marriage was forbidden by law.
Of course, such a life could not have seemed good to Liena, who lived a very free and rich life as a princess of Cassius.
"Moreover, Mikhail was also by her side."
After much deliberation, Liena gave up her position as a saint. She said she had no intention of being bound by the old temple.
However, the current situation was different for Liena, who had lost everything, including Cassius and Mikhail.
The only path left for her was to become a saint.
"Liena, I still wanted you to be obediently imprisoned."
Unfortunately, contrary to her expectations, in the end only despair would await her.
I looked at the seats where the people near the temple were sitting.
The atmosphere was extremely confused, as if even they were surprised by Cardinal Morton's arbitrary actions.
But there was only one person, one unmoving person.
The person, whose face was not visible due to the hood, jumped from their seat.
"I simply cannot tolerate the current situation."
Although she didn't shout anything, everyone focused their attention on her as if they were hypnotized.
Finally, when she removed the hood, exclamations of surprise erupted from all sides.
"Oh my God! Arsia!"
"She's Saint Arsia!"
A beautiful woman with long, fluttering purple hair looked at Liena.
"I am the only Saint in this world. But how dare you pretend to be a Saint and deceive countless people?"
Arsia said coldly.
"You will have to pay for that sin with death."
This was the move she had prepared.