Emperor Has Returned

Sina Solbein entered the courtroom.

The court room walls were tilted slightly inwards. This symbolized the emperor looking down from above.

The soaring walls reached an enormous height before connecting at the top. The height of the ceiling signified the church’s authority and power.

When the defendant sat on their seat, it was said if they snapped their head upwards, a ray of light through a small gap at the tip of the roof could be seen. This signified the emperor’s compassion.

‘However, to this day, not a single defendant had yet seen this.’

Anyone who walked into the courtroom as a defendant was prohibited from lifting their head.

Likewise, Sina had her head down towards the ground as she walked in.

Unlike a hearing, a trial was conducted whenever the case involved any heresy. A trial was stricter and harsher therefore, it was feared amongst all defendants.

In the past, when Sina had participated in trials, she’d tried searching many times for the window that signified the emperor’s compassion. But only at the defendant’s seat, the angle allowed them to see the window, so she’d always failed.

Once she sat down, bishop Rieto opened his mouth.

“Sina Solbein.”

“Top knight of the Blue rose Order.”

“Mother, served as the royal guard, honorably discharged due to injury.”

“Graduated with an outstanding grade at the holy city of Torra’s Paladin school.”

“Records suggest that you quarrelled with priests on a frequent basis.”

It was a brief summary of Sina’s life till now.

Bishop Rieto’s words implied, was ‘this’ the reason for your expulsion from the capital despite your excellent grades and ancestry?

Feuds with priests was not a small matter. In times when people would argue back, some districts handed out execution. They’d claimed going against the church was going against the emperor.

“As you probably know, Tantil’s colosseum is not your typical place.”

“What happened there a few days ago certainly wasn’t an ordinary incident.”

“Especially when considering it was the emperor’s birthday!”

It’d seemed the 134 dead and 289 injured were of insignificance to him. The mood of the city was on ice and everyone was trembling in fear and yet he looked as if he didn’t care.

“According to your report, you are the only one who made contact with the suspect and survived!”

“And you counterfeit a warrant to conduct an illegal search!”

“I’ve also got information that you and the murdering suspect established a friendly relation during your visit!”

It looked as if soldiers who’d seen Sina with Juan during that night had survived.

Anticipating how her actions would be reflected, Sina gave a good thought then carefully opened her mouth.

“Bishop nim.”

“Shut your mouth!”

Before she had a chance to speak, she was rained down upon by the bishop’s words.

“Disgusting!. You reek of heresy!”

“Sacrilegious! You dare try to justify yourself, in my presence? In my court trial? Are you questioning my judgement?”

“As an agent of the emperor, this blasphemy cannot be ignored.”

Dumbfounded at the situation, Sina felt as if she was back in her days at the holy city of Torra. When she repeatedly protested against a fanatical priest’s sophistry.

But this situation wasn’t the same as back then. If she opened her mouth again, the situation would not be salvageable.

“I already know about your immoral conduct!

“And how you failed to become a paladin due to your lack of faith!”

“Also the fact you disregard your superior’s orders!”

She wanted to argue that these points were irrelevant to the pending issue, but stopped herself and silently continued listening.

No one would think this felt like a fair trial. From the beginning, the case was clearly heading towards one direction.

All she could do now was hope that 1/100th of the good rumours about bishop Rieto was true.

“I need a sacred purification! Find me the hottest of purification!”

“It’s been too long since I’ve felt it.”

“Burn it all!. I want to burn it! Until my face is distorted and limbs are shrivelled!”

Shouting the words so fast, everytime Bishop Rieto turned his head at each sentence, his bones cracked.

To the point where it seemed as if his neck would break. Then suddenly, Bishop Rieto lifted his head and shouted.

“The suspect is a sinful seed. And instead of capturing the sinful seed, you wasted that opportunity by helping normal seeds!“ As a knight, are you not aware that anything related to the emperor is your first priority? You should be ashamed!”

Alright. Sina had enough of being silent.

“Is it a shepherd’s role to herd your flock of sheep towards a cliff’s edge in order to chase a wolf?”

“Stop spreading your sacrilegious foul stench over my holy court!”

“The suspect spread sickness over our land and is a plague that will exterminate our livestock!”

“The emperor didn’t rise to kill the wolves. He stood up to protect his sheep. Being a shepherd, our knights’ order will act accordi……”

Jjjacckk! A skin crackling sound was heard. Sina felt a sharp pain explode on her back.

Bishop Rieto was accompanied by a paladin who held a whip in his hand.

He stood by, ready for another whip at a moment’s notice. Sina’s back was ripped apart, her white skin was exposed and blood was trickling down.

‘I’ve done it again.’

Sina faulted herself for not staying quiet. She remembered having a similar dispute with a priest during her knight training.

Bishop Rieto glared at her with roaring eyes.

“That’s enough. I’ve heard enough from you.”

“I’ve just received the emperor’s message.”

“Keep this fool in a solitary cell. The verdict will be determined later.”

*****

“Was it that difficult to stay quiet?”

Ausrey asked in a giggling tone.

“I’ve said the same thing to myself more than a hundred times. But if I had restrained myself all those times, I would have already died from mental stress.”

Ausrey was applying medicine over the wound that had formed on her back due to the whipping.

Unsure of what was embedded on the whip, her skin was in a right mess. It took quite a while to just stop the bleeding.

“This is good ointment but it looks like the scar is going to stick.”

“Arguing against a bishop…. it’s a miracle I was left with only a scar.”

“The young ones at the Order might fancy it.”

“If I stay as a knight that is..”

“I can’t imagine Sina nim working at a farm. You would use a sword to plow a field and cut the fruits off a tree.”

“When I was young, my father taught me how to work at a fruit farm. Thinking back, maybe after he’d gotten to know my personality, he’d prepared early on just in case… Well…. the scenery isn’t going to be bad, so it can’t be all that bad right?”

Sina chuckled. There was no sign of laughter from Ausrey.

They both knew that it wouldn’t end with a simple discharge from her Order.

The doctrine trial didn’t give out such lenient punishments. Either one was completely innocent or completely guilty, the consequences were either severe or nothing….it was one or another.

There were many reasons for bishop Rieto to suspect Sina, thus she wasn’t given a chance to properly justify herself. Not the main culprit but certainly enough to suspect her as a perpetrator.

In seriousness of the case, they would need someone to put all the blame on. Top knight of an Order wasn’t a bad target.

If she survived this ordeal, she would be half dead.

“Ausrey.”

“Yes. Sina nim.”

Ausrey’s voice was a little strained.

“If I cannot continue my knight activities, track down that child named Juan. You are the only other person who’d seen Juan’s true self. He must be found.”

“Find him…..then what?”

“He’s not like what the rumours suggest. While he’s not an ordinary child…..there’s something about him. You can’t get rid of him nor catch him. I feel, whether he would bring about calamity or salvation on our people could depend on you and me.”

“Ignoring our top knight nim’s overestimation in my abilities, do you really think I am capable of doing this?”

“Right. I wouldn’t say I could trust you with this task confidently….So best scenario is if I go with you….”

Sina emitted a dry laugh. The laughter echoed through the prison cell.

And at that moment, the sound of someone coming from the prison hallway could be heard. Sina suppressed her pain and put on her clothes. The person who came through the door was the paladin who had whipped Sina.

Ausrey glared at the paladin but he didn’t give any attention to it. The paladin’s face, hidden behind a cotton armor, looked down at Sina and spoke.

“Sina Solbein. Here’s your verdict.”

Sina panicked. Yes, trial verdicts were determined faster than hearings.

Even when taking into account it was bishop Rieto making the judgement, taking less than one hour was an anomaly. She felt an uneasy feeling rush over her.

But to her surprise, the written verdict was one where she nor anyone else could have foreseen.

*****

Juan had silently climbed up a tree and was alertly looking around.

A stag on guard was inspecting its surroundings with innocent eyes.

Subtly, its eyes were bloodshot. And its deformed looking horns were covered in leaves and vines. A reasonable target.

In a flash, Juan turned his body around and jumped down, piercing it in the back of the head.

His dagger went right through the area where the cervical met the skull. The stag fell flat on the ground before it even could let out a whimper.

“Hhaaa.”

He felt that was enough concealment training for today. Concealing himself from wary animals inside the forest was completely different to concealing himself at the Colosseum where it was filled with noise and the smell of blood.

Considering it had been a long time since he had to completely conceal himself, it didn’t take long for Juan to adapt and remember the techniques. Before his ascension to the throne, Juan had to be extremely proficient at hiding his body.

Juan figured, until he’d fully recovered, it was a good idea to keep himself concealed.

‘I should eat.’

Juan’s body was essentially made out of only mana. With enough mana, his body didn’t need food but to reduce the sense of emptiness in his stomach and to reduce the mana being used to function his body, it was a good idea to eat.

However, Juan didn’t want to simply fill up his stomach.

Juan grabbed Taltere’s dagger and cut the stag’s main artery. Immediately, streams of blood gushed out.

Juan moved his mouth over the cut and started drinking. The look of a boy drinking a stag’s blood in the middle of a forest was a disturbing sight.

After drinking a significant amount, Juan started to feel mana flow into his body.

‘As expected, there’s a lot of mana.’

Like he inadvertently absorbed a creature’s mana at the colosseum, he was using the same method to replenish his mana.

Although not as much as a creature, the beasts in the area possessed a respectable amount of mana. While it wasn’t of sufficient quantity, it supplemented him enough to continue his training.

When Juan filled his stomach up as much as possible, he lifted his head.

His gaze directed at a tower that could be dimly seen in the distance beyond the forest.

‘The light is most likely coming from there.’

The Gray tower.

It attracted many beasts to the surrounding area and sometimes changed them into creatures.

The Gray tower was where mana randomly gathered. The probability of encountering a dangerous beast increased as you headed towards it.

Juan didn’t have thoughts of going there right away. For now, his destination was the capital.