Felicia received the letter that Isabelle had left for her from the priest. The letter's seal had changed from the Wolverlope family crest to the Church of Fire's crest.
When they arrived outside the church, they were confronted by a man wearing a large full plate of white armor; he was a Paladin from the Wolverlope Church of Fire. It seemed like the "judgment" of these two sinners was over.
"Hello, little girl, did you just pray?" A man with a soft voice spoke from within the armor.
"How presumptuous, I am the earl's daughter! You should bow your head first,"
"oooh no, forgive me. But lady, I am the bishop's direct subordinate, and the bishop's position is equal to the earl, you know?"
At that moment, Felicia immediately started sweating. She forgot that Paladine was a direct subordinate of the bishop, which meant the paladin's commands were the same as the bishop's. As for Felicia, she was just the earl's daughter, not even the real earl.
'it is the reward for always being arrogant,' thought Allen.
Allen then came forward and covered Felicia with his hand.
"Do you have any more business with her?" Allen queried the paladin.
"Allen?" muttered Felicia, shocked.
The order Isabelle had given to Allen was to escort Felicia. When Allen saw Felicia's expression, he knew she was having difficulty dealing with this paladin, so Allen immediately covered her.
The paladin then laughed.
"Hahaha, sorry, lady. I was just messing with you a bit. After all, I'm just an ordinary commoner who has, fortunately, become a paladin." The paladin bowed to Felicia.
"Enjoy your time, my lady," and then he left.
Felicia let out a long sigh.
"Fyuuuh, Allen, thank yo—"
"What?" Allen asked because Felicia didn't finish her sentence.
"It's nothing!" yelled Felicia with a bright red face.
Outside, they could see the chariot that the paladin had used earlier. And there were the sinners, limping and unable to move. Their blood almost covered their cage, dripping down to the ground.
Felicia took a long look at them.
"What are you doing? Let's go quickly," said Allen, who saw the same look on Felicia's face as when he saw the judgment happen. It wasn't the arrogant face he was used to seeing.
Felicia didn't listen to Allen. She approached the two injured people.
"Rachel, my knife."
Hearing Felicia say that Rachel immediately protested,
"Wait, Lady! You shouldn't have to use your God's blessings to heal people like them!"
"Never mind, just give it to me."
Rachel took out a small knife from her pocket and handed it to Felicia.
Felicia slashed her palm, blood dripping, and then she surrounded these two.
"What is that girl doing?" the people who were passing by, stopped, seeing Felicia's actions.
Felicia's dripping blood grew into flowers and glowed.
"Now you're inside my garden."
The flower garden Felicia had created glowed, and the people around her were both amazed and confused.
The light slowly disappeared, and the two sinners were completely healed.
"Did… did she heals the sinners?!"
"What is she doing!"
"Wait, from her clothes, she looks like a noble!" After one of the people said that, the others immediately shut up. They didn't dare deal with nobles.
The woman and the man sinners looked perplexed and smiled. They checked their bodies and found they were fully healed and no longer felt pain. After that, they stretched their hands toward Felicia, intending to thank her.
"Lady... thank you very much-" they couldn't finish because they saw Felicia's disgusted expression.
"Stay away from me, and don't touch me, you filthy disgusting sinners!"
Their smiles disappeared immediately.
"I healed you because you looked so unsightly! Do you think your sins are forgiven with this?!... Allen! Cut off both their ears,"
Allen got carried away and unintentionally obeyed Felicia's orders.
He then went forward and cut off both of their ears.
"Aakh!" they shouted in pain.
Felicia then yelled again.
"That's the form of sin you've committed! You will forever be remembered as earless sinners!"
Felicia then turned around, leaving them alone.
But even so, they still bowed and said,
"Thank you very much, lady."
What Felicia did was not cruel to them. From the start, their ears couldn't hear anything because of their judgment, and their bodies couldn't even move. After they passed the judgment, perhaps their lives were ruined, they were paralyzed, and they were unable to do anything. Then they would have been forced to commit suicide because of that. But because Felicia healed them, they could continue living and atoning for their sins. The earlobe wasn't a big deal to them. In fact, it was really a tiny thing compared to the destruction of their lives.
"You are too kind, lady," said Rachel with a worried face.
Allen looked at Felicia in surprise.
'What exactly is this girl doing? Her words don't match her actions?'
Allen's perspective on Felicia shifted ever-so-slightly as his bewildered mind pondered the situation.
...
...
...
In the cold prison, he woke up.
It was a prison for criminals who had violated the kingdom's criminal code from tier 3 to tier 2.
It was located to the right of the Wildenhall royal castle. More specifically, this prison was in the underground area of the castle. It was also the most difficult place for people to escape and infiltrate. Plus, as the Whitmoon Festival neared, many people from outside were arriving, so the security around the castle was stricter than usual.
There was no mana in prison, and since there was no mana, there was no spirit either. The prison uses Clandestine flowers, which are purple toothwort flowers that absorb mana. These flowers were attached to the prison ceiling, and almost all parts of the prison had pots of these flowers. The soldiers on guard were mainly swordsmen, the vanguards, and archers, the supports that did not require mana to fight.
"I'll kill him... I'll kill him... I'll kill him... I'll kill him..." one of the guys inside the prison was always muttered inside. He was the redhead who wore the same armor from the last time he used to raid the Barkaley region's dungeon, Arthur Lambert.
Because of his actions in the dungeon, where he wanted to cut off Leofric's words and wanted to kill Allen, he was brought to the capital and imprisoned.
The prison was like a mine underground. The walls were rocky, and iron bars were arranged in a square to keep the criminals at bay. There were no other prisoners that he could see from there, as there were no corridors. If he looked out, he could only see the rocky walls and the winding paths on the left and right that led to nowhere.
In Arthur's mind, there was only vengeance and anger. He didn't even think about his sister at home, who was always waiting for him. Some soldiers had informed his sister about him, and now she was working alone for her life. At least for now, she might be able to survive on the ten sacks of weath she got because Arthur participated in the dungeon raid.
After Arthur woke up from his sleep, he felt frozen. The prison was always cold, and there were even some prisoners who died from the cold. But something was different on that day. Because it was the end of the water month and the start of the wind month, it shouldn't be this cold.
"Guard! Guard! I need a blanket!" The voice of another prisoner could be heard from the left hallway.
But there was no answer. Usually, if a prisoner were sick or shouting, it would also be answered by the guards' shouts. But there was no response at that time.
Arthur just stayed in the corner, hugging himself to keep from freezing. And without him realizing it, the screaming prisoner was no longer heard.
"!!!"
Silence, coldness, and tension. Arthur was startled by something. His heart was racing, but his blood felt like it had stopped flowing.
That "something" was…
a very creepy girl who was currently glaring at him from outside the bars.
"You have an incredible memory," she remarked, surprised.
Arthur thought that time had stopped; he couldn't take his eyes off the girl or move his body.
"Hey, do you believe in God?" she said again.
When he heard that voice, Arthur was silent. Usually, he would ignore the guards talking from outside the bars, but this time was different. That woman's voice was very soft but gripping. So gripping that a chill ran down his spine.
'This cold must be from this woman,' Arthur thought.
"Yahooo..." the woman said as she waved her hand with a beautiful but creepy smile,
Arthur couldn't move. Just by hearing her voice, he could tell that she was dangerous.
She has white, straight, knee-length hair. But her hair color is not just white; some strands are black. Her skin was as pale as snow; the walls of her eyes were black, while her pupils were white. She was wearing a long black gothic dress surrounded by red stripes. There was a rose that seemed to be stuck on her chest. She was wearing a black head covering that was clearly visible because her white hair was too conspicuous. Arthur had no idea what kind of clothes it was, as those clothes were not from that era.
'No...norttish?!' thought Arthur when he saw that woman. Only Norttish had white hair, but her hair was not only white; some strands were black. It was like the opposite appearance of the child he met inside the dungeon.
"So... do you believe in God?" the girl asked.
Arthur then replied with an angry face.
"There's no way I believe in God. If God really existed, he would have saved Mr. Waldo."
"Bubuuu! Too bad, God does exist. Only fools believe it doesn't."
"What?"
"Fufufufu God exists, you know? In this fiction, angels and demons exist. How could God not exist? But he indeed let your Mister dead. He was doing his work, writing this story like a madman."
"Wh-What are you talking about?"
Arthur was getting increasingly used to the woman's eerie existence, or it could be that the girl was forcing him to get used to it.
"Fufufu, but you're so funny, someone important to you dies, and you blame god, fufufufu."
Arthur approached the bars and walloped them, which made his fist bleed.
"WHAT DO YOU KNOW!!!"
"I know everything. EVERYTHING." Now the woman's smile grew wider; she was glaring at Arthur with a creepy face.
"About Waldo Barkaley's death, the reason why you're here, and also the fact that you abandoned your sister for revenge," the woman continued.
"I didn't abandon my sister!"
"The fact that you didn't even consider her while you were in jail shows that you abandoned her.
No, that is not accurate...
Perhaps since the day your Mister Waldo died, you've never thought about your sister again. All you think about is vengeance, vengeance, and vengeance. How cruel, how pitiful, how stupid, and how beautiful..."
"!!!"
The woman spun around like she was dancing, saying all those things happily.
"But that doesn't mean I don't like it. I admire cruelty, I admire all the diverse human traits, and I also admire human stupidity. The foolishness that humans often make creates interesting things that could entertain the reader. You too; I admire your foolhardiness and stupidity that kept you alive until now."
'This woman, what exactly is she talking about?'
The woman paused, turned her back on Arthur, and strangely, her head snapped up, looking at Arthur with that creepy smile.
"I chose you because your memory is the most interesting of the prisoners here.
What do you think? Do you want me to release you from here?"
Every day in prison, Arthur thought about how he could avenge Waldo. He wanted to get out of prison. He even thought of different ways to get out of prison. But it was still impossible. No amnis could be used, nor could his God's blessings be used there. He always wanted to get out of there, and then, after he got out, he would find Waldo's murderer and kill him with his own hands.
But at that time, when he felt he had a chance to get out of there and was asked a question by the woman, his answer was,
"No."
There was nothing right about that woman. She was the kind of woman who liked to manipulate others, and Arthur hated that. That was one of the reasons why he hated nobles and why he liked Waldo over other nobles. Waldo did not restrain him, nor did he intend to manipulate him.
'If I say yes, I'll be part of someone else's plan, which is annoying. There must be a price and orders that I must obey if I am released from here. It's like a contract with the devil!' he thought.
Then
*CLANK
Arthur, who had been leaning against the bars, now fell forward, out of the jail... The iron bars miraculously broke, and he was now outside, in front of the woman's feet.
The girl squats down, looks him in the face, and says
"I know everything you're thinking. Your body is now just like a page in a book to me. And the answer to your thoughts about me is: no. I'm not asking you to do anything."
After she said that, she held Arthur's face and brought his face closer; now, the girl's white eyes were only a centimeter in front of Arthur's face.
"The only thing I want right now is to see your decision. After you get out of here, what will you do? What magic and miracles will happen? Will you seek vengeance on your mister? Or are you going to go back to your sister's place and run away together as fugitives? Or maybe you'll be caught and killed right away. If I can, I want to see it all. All of your current actions are a source of pride for me, and I want to see what foolish things you can do."
She let go of Arthur's face and stood up. The woman then exited and said
"See you later. I have a feeling we'll meet again."
"Wait, who the f*ck are you?" called Arthur with heavy breathing.
The woman stopped and turned her head 180 degrees like an owl.
"!!!"
"My name is Kallen. Pleased to meet you."
She said this as she faded into the darkness.
Arthur then stood up. He realized he had been unable to move and had only been able to move on a few occasions. Like, that woman was completely controlled his body. Now his body was shaking violently, he was scared, terrified, and for some reason, he was like
want to commit suicide?
Arthur's body was very weak. The last time he ate was two days ago, when the guards gave him. His legs were still sore from the last dungeon raid.
Want to commit suicide?
"No, no, no, I won't do it. I have to avenge Mr. Waldo."
want to commit suicide?
"I must kill that kid! kill the kid who killed Mister Waldo. I will... I will definitely..."
Commit suicide?
When he reached the end of the hallway, he was shocked to see a lot of corpses scattered almost everywhere.
"UWAAAAAAH!!!!!"
Arthur shouted, falling. Then he threw up at the sight of them.
"Akh! What is this?! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!!!
They are the soldiers of the prison guard! What happened to them!"
When he looked again, it turned out that all of them died in the same way. Their hands held swords, some had bows, and all of them seemed to have stabbed themselves in the head with their weapons.
"DID THEY ALL KILLED THEMSELVES?!" shouted Arthur. He felt nauseous and disoriented as the prodding urge to kill himself kept repeating in his head.
"What the f*ck is actually happening? Is this that woman's God blessing?"
He quickly walked out, ignoring the corpses around him.