Chapter 34

— Objection?

All three heads turned their gaze to me at once. The judge tilted its head.

— Hmm? A guest from Zone 2?

— It’s not your turn.

— Yeah, not your turn

Despite their beastly appearance, their eyes weren’t wild. They carried the calm weight of intelligence and dominance.

I quickly scanned the scene—Gidehme and his guardian still hadn’t stepped through the portal. The hostage hadn’t vanished yet either.

‘I couldn’t save everyone… but I can’t just sit back while a kid gets dragged down for an adult’s mistake.’

— Outsiders from another zone cannot interfere.

Luckily, I knew this monster well.

More precisely, I knew the common traits of aberrations born of intelligent evil gods.

‘Don’t forget to act scared.’

I pretended to tremble slightly and raised my hand halfway, as if hesitating.

“B-but what if I take responsibility for that hostage… and the boy?”

Gidehme might be a troll, but from the way he acted, he clearly tried to save someone.

But his guardian had likely been manipulating him from behind the scenes, sacrificing others in the process.

He probably intended to survive alone.

‘And when they got out, he would’ve pinned the blame on the kid. Said it was all Gidehme’s decision.’

I could see it without needing to hear it.

‘I’ll give him this, though—he was quick to figure out the rules and had the guts to act. But…’

A holy knight who uses others’ lives to secure his own survival? That’s not okay.

‘I have to save them.’

I glanced at the snot-covered Gidehme and shrank back, pretending to tremble even more.

“I-I’ll take responsibility…!”

“…Nemesia.”

A quiet voice came from right behind me—Daddy had moved closer without me noticing.

It’s okay, Dad. It’s me. Your little Pope?

I sent him a quick look to reassure him before turning back.

— How noble!

— How holy!

— A sacrifice! What a beautiful word!

— How long has it been?

— A thousand years?

— Five hundred!

The dog heads murmured among themselves before reaching a decision.

“What the—why can’t I move?!”

The knight who had been desperately trying to drag Gidehme into the portal was suddenly bound tightly in place.

— Very well. By the rules, we’ll allow the exception!

— Permission granted!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

With no gavel, the judge simply pounded the desk with its fist.

I turned to Gidehme. Our eyes met.

“Y-you get outta here. Leave everything to me!”

He flinched.

“Go on!”

Damn, pretending to be scared while yelling is harder than I thought.

But there was a spark of something earnest in Gidehme’s eyes. He opened his mouth to say something.

“B-but what are you going to do…?”

“Can you save that person?”

He couldn’t even look at the hostage. Tears and snot continued to stream down his face.

I subtly pointed to the judge with my finger.

“Then can you promise she won’t get hurt while you’re dealing with that?”

“…N-no…”

I gave a shaky, lopsided smile.

At this point, I probably looked like someone terrified but forcing herself to be brave.

“Right? Admitting your limits is also part of being a candidate.”

— Yawn. Are we done talking?

— Aww, it was getting good!

— I hate tearjerkers!

The judge pointed beside Gidehme. A red portal appeared.

— You, red. You, blue.

Gidehme looked back at me again. I nodded.

“Go.”

The boy reluctantly shuffled toward the portal on shaky legs. He paused and glanced back.

“T-that person…”

“I know. I’ll do everything I can.”

That should be reassuring enough, right? After thinking for a moment, I added—

“I’ll take responsibility, even if it kills me. Okay?”

“…!”

Gidehme tried to say something, but the red portal swallowed him whole.

“W-wait, Candidate! Damn it, I’ll follow—!”

His guardian rushed forward in a panic.

— Nope.

— Rules are rules. You go through the blue.

Just then, a rotting, decomposed hand reached out from the blue portal and yanked the holy knight inside.

“Ugh—what is that?!”

The man’s face paled as terror twisted his features.

‘Guess he saw something.’

Probably the face of one of the hostages he sacrificed.

“No, no, I didn’t—Damn it, please! Save me! Agh! AAAAAHHH!”

Screaming, the man was dragged into the darkness.

Silence fell over the room.

“…Wow. A holy knight acting like that, huh.”

The voice came from beside me—it was none other than Usher.

“Don’t you agree, Candidate?”

Before he could say another word, I was suddenly lifted off the ground.

I found myself tucked in Daddy’s arms, glaring over his shoulder at Usher.

“Garrick—ah, the knight who got dragged just now—he had a bit of an inferiority complex toward Sir Derek. They were always compared because of the similar names.”

Usher twirled his finger beside his head, as if illustrating mental instability.

He snickered.

“But still, how dare he! Instead of protecting his candidate, he turned the boy into a puppet. I bet he even made sure to provoke you back in the Room of Miracles. Pathetic, isn’t it?”

“…”

I didn’t answer.

Because I was still caught in the ‘brainwashing’—that is, the rule that I had to answer Usher’s questions.

Fortunately, the situation soon gave me an excuse to keep my mouth shut.

— Ladies and gentlemen, the final recess is over. The trial in Zone 2 will now resume. Please brace yourselves.

The ground began to shake.

* * *

A moment later—

A courtroom identical to the one in Zone 1 formed around us.

There was a short break before the next trial began.

“…Will she be okay?”

The one who spoke was the female holy knight now part of my group.

Her name was Laura.

She cradled her Pope candidate in her arms—who was currently fast asleep.

“Hrmm~ I think she’ll be fine. I mean, our esteemed candidate wouldn’t have jumped in without a plan, right?”

The man wrapped in layers of bandages chimed in instead.

He had introduced himself as a priest under a cardinal—his name was Antonio.

‘This damn spy… even his name’s fake.’

[Faction: Royal Spy]

I knew exactly who he was.

I forced myself not to look at the faction tag above his head.

I gave both Laura and Antonio a quick bow.

“S-sorry…! I acted on my own…”

Since I was still in Daddy’s arms, I bowed as deeply as I could.

“Careful—!”

Suddenly, I nearly slipped off. Daddy caught me just in time.

It was dangerous, sure, but I think it got the message across.

Both Laura and Antonio looked genuinely surprised.

‘From their point of view, I just added another hostage to the rescue list by stepping in.’

“I’m really sorry. I mean it. I’ll accept any punishment once we’re out of here. Or if you want compensation, just say the word.”

They deserved an apology. Not that I planned to stop at just saying it.

‘I’ll make it up to you with express home delivery.’

“N-no, please, don’t! Candidate… you shouldn’t be bowing to us!”

“Mmngh… Mommy…?”

Laura panicked and shuffled awkwardly.

As a result, the Pope candidate in her arms stirred awake.

“We wouldn’t even be alive if Sir Derek hadn’t helped us. It’s all right, really!”

“Haha, agreed. I heard Sir Derek was trapped in a cave, but judging by his performance, I’d say he was training in there! So cool~”

Antonio followed up with a chuckle.

As he stroked his chin—

A sharp voice cut through the air.

“But… the candidate doesn’t seem nearly as frightened as she was in the Room of Miracles. Just my imagination?”
 

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Translator: Japchae