Chapter 25: Chapter 25: The Queen's Benevolence
On the triangle of justice, a fat figure was hanging.
His mouth and ears were blocked, his eyes were covered, his legs were spread and tied to the top of the triangle, his hands were bound together, and his entire body was hung upside down at the apex of the triangular structure.
It looked like he was making an inverted triangle at the top of the triangle.
Presenting such a scene on the triangle representing Astaria's justice, one had to say that Aurola had a rather good sense of black humor.
Owen went from struggling silently at the beginning to now being on his last breath in less than ten minutes. His blood gradually flowed back, accumulating in his brain, making him feel more and more drowsy, his head swelling more and more, as if someone was constantly pouring water into it.
Now, he could hardly even make a whimper.
Aurola sat below, surrounded by knights, quietly appreciating this scene.
Although the crowd was a bit frightened by her cold and cruel actions, no one expressed any dissatisfaction.
Because this was also what they wanted to do. Some people were even applauding and cheering, sending beer to the knights on guard around, but it was not accepted.
However, soon, three figures in black approached.
"Move aside, let me see Her Majesty!"
"Sister Helen, you have no right to do this."
"You have no right to do this! Let me through quickly!"
"..."
Marika didn't say anything more. She stood like an iron wall in front of Helen, Iris, and Aquiluna, staring at them coldly.
"What's the noisy commotion? What happened?"
At this moment, Aurola walked out from inside, looking around at everyone, then locked her gaze on Helen in the middle.
Helen was momentarily stunned by Aurola's indifferent golden eyes, but she quickly recovered, clenched her fists, and said to Aurola:
"Your Majesty, I am Helen Rylan, the 13th Magitech Armed Nun. Please allow me to stop your current wrong actions!"
"...Wrong actions?"
Aurola raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms in front of her chest.
"It seems you have a lot of opinions, huh? Very well, come in then."
Aurola signaled to Marika, then turned and walked towards the tent.
Helen and the others followed closely behind, but their gazes never left Owen, who was hung up there.
Her palms gradually began to sweat. Just from that brief eye contact, Aurola had already given her considerable pressure.
But... she couldn't back down yet...
...
Inside the tent, Aurola sat on the main seat, examining Helen standing in front of her.
"Your Majesty, please let Priest Owen down immediately. He's about to die!"
"Of course I know he's about to die. That's exactly what I want."
"You! Your Majesty, according to the church's regulations, only the church can judge church personnel. You have already overstepped your authority. Please stop now!"
"...Judge?"
Hearing this word, Aurola let out a light laugh.
However, her light laugh had no warmth at all, a cold laugh.
"Since you mentioned judgment, let me ask you, do you know what judgment the high priest who caused the plague in White River Town a few years ago received?"
"This..."
Helen was instantly stuck. Regarding the news about that high priest, she hadn't had time to investigate after hearing the old bartender's story.
"Let me tell you. That high priest was called Elwin. The church's punishment for him was to remove his high priest status and send him to the capital's atonement center for atonement... Sister Helen, tell me, have you heard of an atonement method where one does business while living in a mansion and playing with women in the middle-class circles of the capital?"
"..."
Helen looked at the contemptuous smile on Aurola's face at this moment, her eyes trembling incessantly.
"He almost killed thousands of people, and this is the judgment your beloved church gave him. Satisfied?"
"I... But, you can't prove..."
"Ah, can't prove it... Marika, show her... No, read it to her, read it to everyone."
"Yes."
Marika took out the scrolls and began reading them one by one.
"Owen Norland, current head priest of the Astaria Church branch in White River Town, has obtained illegal profits totaling 138,572 gold coins through a series of methods such as 'repairing the church', 'praying for blessings', 'accepting believers', 'distributing holy water', and 'faking healing magic'."
"Forty percent of these funds were used by him to bribe upper-level church members, and almost all of the rest was spent by him at the illegal organization 'Boy's Paradise'. According to the investigation, Owen consumed there 1,223 times in five years, purchasing 32 boy courtesans, of which 17 died from various sexually transmitted diseases, wound infections, and malnutrition, and 5 are missing."
"In addition..."
"That's enough."
Aurola interrupted Marika's narration, then looked at Helen.
"Sister Helen, these are all traceable evidence of crimes. With your abilities, it wouldn't take much effort to investigate. So, what judgment would these charges receive in the church?"
"...Lifelong revocation of church membership, lifelong ban from entering the Astaria Church, and death by burning at the stake. The ashes need to be purified by holy light and smeared on the Wall of Sinners."
"Yes, how cruel."
Aurola said lightly.
"In comparison, you see, I'm just hanging him upside down and waiting for him to die on his own... Don't you think I'm very merciful like this?"
"But! Your Majesty, even if the charges are true, it has to go through strict church investigation and evidence collection before a verdict can be reached. How can you arrest him so quickly and use private punishment..."
"Did you consider strict evidence collection and investigation when you arrested my Lister?!"
Aurola interrupted Helen's words. Her aura instantly erupted, sweeping past Helen's face like a storm.
When she came back to her senses, those golden pupils were already staring at her like a lion waiting to prey.
"When I wanted to kill this damned person, you came running like a hunting dog; and when Lister was taken away by the Demon Lord, where were you? Sister Helen?"
"I..."
"This is the true nature of you and your church, Sister Helen. In the name of justice, committing despicable acts, accepting what benefits me without hesitation, indifferent to what is of no use to me."
"No, it's not like that..."
Helen's denial was as pale and powerless as a child's sophistry in the face of Aurola's questioning.
"Relying on Astaria's divine arts, you monopolized the medical resources of this continent, doing all kinds of despicable and shameless deeds, interfering in national politics, threatening resource isolation, forcibly levying taxes, and plundering the people's fat."
"Do you know? In areas under church jurisdiction, the taxes paid by the local people to the kingdom are less than 30% of what they pay to the church. Nearly 50% of their hard-earned daily income is taken by your church to 'serve Astaria'."
"And what's even more disgusting is that less than 20% of your priests have truly learned healing magic and holy light magic. The vast majority of desperate and sick people bring their last savings to your churches, only to buy a fraudulent priest's nonsensical chatter and holy water diluted with low-quality alcohol."
"People like Owen, there are thousands of them on this southern continent poisoned by you. They are the bloodsucking parasites on the backs of the people lying on this continent, only draining and exhausting everyone."
"And you, Sister Helen, look at the equipment on your body, think about every piece of bread you eat, every bed you sleep in. Do you think... what's the difference between you and them?"
"..."
Helen's eyes had already begun to become increasingly dazed. She held her head and kept backing away, constantly muttering why and how this could be.
"Sigh... Holy Light Enlightenment."
Behind Helen, the light of Astaria's divine arts flashed, and Helen finally came back to her senses from her confused state, now drenched in sweat and panting heavily.
Aquiluna patted Helen's shoulder, then walked up and bowed slightly to the cold-eyed Aurola.
"Long time no see, Your Majesty."
"...You want to argue with me on her behalf, right?"
"No, no, not at all."
Aquiluna waved her hand with a smile.
"Helen is a newly promoted nun. She still has a lot of room for growth, and your words... are also a kind of growth for her. So, apart from a few remarks, I don't think there's anything inappropriate."
"..."
Aurola looked at this purple-haired, purple-eyed nun with a bit of surprise for a few more glances, then frowned slightly as if remembering something.
"Name."
"Aquiluna Faye, 7th Magitech Armed Nun, Your Majesty."
"...Do you know the Flower Countess, Annriel?"
"Ah, that lady at the forefront of the fashion circle in the royal capital. Even though I'm in the church, I've heard a bit about her."
Aurola looked at Aquiluna, whose demeanor was impeccable, and showed a pensive expression on her face.
"You look a bit like her."
"Is that so? Then it's my honor."
"..."
Aurola took a few more deep looks at Aquiluna, then withdrew her gaze.
"Now I want him dead. Do you have any more objections?"
"If what you said is true, Owen certainly deserves to die. However, Your Majesty, considering the future impact, I suggest you hand over his corpse to us for disposal, to avoid any rumors that might affect the friendship between the church and the Kingdom of Saint Viliana. After all, Priest Owen died under our autonomous judgment."
"...You're very familiar with these matters, but I've never heard your name before. This is very strange."
"Your Majesty, I don't like to be prominent among the crowd, so it's normal that you haven't heard of me."
"Heh... I hope so."
While the two were talking, there was a commotion from the crowd outside. It turned out that Owen, who had been tied up all along, finally stopped moving. Blood flowed in reverse from his mouth, nose, and eyes, dripping onto the white triangle.
Aurola took a glance, then withdrew her gaze.
"Take him away. I can trust you this once."
"Thank you for your tolerance, Your Majesty."
Aquiluna walked over and snapped her fingers, then Owen's corpse fell into the prepared sack. Aquiluna used invisible magic arms to carry the sack and walked towards Helen's position.
"Let's go, little Helen. You almost made a big mistake, you know?"
"A-Aquiluna... The Queen, she's not afraid..."
"She's looking forward to it, Helen."
Aquiluna's tone still sounded so casual, but now it seemed a bit different.
"She's long been unhappy with the church sucking blood like this on her turf and has been looking for an opportunity to eliminate our influence here. If she wants,Lister's matter could instantly become the fuse for an eruption. At that time, she would directly announce that the church wrongfully killed Lister, followed by a bloody purge. You know?"
Aquiluna looked into Helen's eyes as she said this, her pupils still reflecting the enchanting purple light.
"And you almost lit that fuse just now."
"..."
"Well, but don't worry too much. She still has some reservations after all. The money the church has plundered over the years is not all wasted. If a real fight breaks out, it's hard to say who has the upper hand."
"So... she doesn't really care about Lister's life or death... right?"
Hearing this question from Helen, Aquiluna was stunned for a moment, then laughed naturally.
"Well... who knows?"
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone