Evade The Hero and Flee!

Chapter 301

Side Story – Memories of a Certain Princess (52)

“I will speak on behalf of this guy. Yes, that’s right. This guy is a very evil fellow.”

Ast is evil. That cannot be denied. 

That was the evaluation of Renia and I who spent the longest time with Ast.

Not only me, but the magicians who acted with him, the soldiers who trained under him, and even the saint who met him for the first time evaluated him like that.

Perhaps all the soldiers of the Merdeah Kingdom think so too.

“That cannot be denied.”

Those who have been with him for a long time. 

Those who first met him.

And even those who have never met him think of Ast as an evil existence.

What must be admitted must be admitted. 

If I don’t admit this, an unavoidable weakness will occur.

The enemy will continue to attack that Ast is an evil existence, and I will only defend and be defeated.

Saving Ast is the top priority now.

I have to eliminate the saint’s justification for killing Ast.

“Now that even Your Highness has acknowledged it, is it okay to kill him now?”

The saint was glaring at Ast with very sharp eyes.

Anyone who saw her would believe he was the sworn enemy who killed her parents.

“No. That’s not it.”

“Why not?”

“It’s true that Ast is an evil guy, but that’s not a reason to kill him.”

Punishing criminals was not the job of the Religion. The state where the crime was committed punishes them. 

“Ast is evil but he hasn’t committed a crime yet. There is no reason to kill him.”

And I was part of the ruling class of the state.

I had every right to judge and execute crimes.

“There is no reason to judge someone who is not guilty. Rather, Ast has made many great contributions to the state. Contributions that even raising his peerage would not be enough.”

“You don’t have to raise it for me!”

“Now is the time to stay quiet.”

I glanced back at Ast shouting urgently.

“Yes.”

Ast is not stupid.

Because he knows that I am the only person who can save him now, he nods his head quickly unlike usual at my words.

“Anyway, he is not guilty. That is the empire’s judgement.”

Hearing my words, the saint bit her lip and glared at Ast.

What Ast has now is not a crime but a suspicion. 

Judging that was my right, not the saint’s right.

The rights the saint has are to punish the sinners decreed by God, to punish those associated with evil gpds, and to investigate dangerous individuals who could threaten the balance of the world. 

And Ast is included in none of these.

“He is….”

After staring at Ast for a long time, the saint did not waver.

“He is guilty! Of a very big crime!”

Even at my words, the saint did not waver.

As if she had a very firm belief, she shouted that Ast was guilty.

“What crime?”

At this point, I wondered if he really was guilty.

Without revealing it, I met the saint’s eyes and did not avoid them.  

“What reason does the Religion have to definitively determine Ast is guilty?”

I make no effort to hide that I am very uncomfortable.

It will become a very unfavorable relationship with the empire if she babbles nonsense.  

That was expressed indirectly.

However, even at that attitude, the saint did not falter, and

“It’s because of this.”

She held up the weapon Ast had made called the bat.

“This is a magic weapon that should not exist in the world! It can be called a weapon of the evil god to the extent that it would be believable. It is an incredible evil object.”

Again… That thing again.  

What kind of grudge does she have against that thing that a saint makes an expression like that?

“What the hell is that?”

I’ve heard Ast talk about that weapon before.

However, that explanation did not contain enough to make a peace-loving saint determined to kill someone.

In addition,  

“Ugh….”

“Ah….”  

“It’s okay. Don’t be scared. Don’t be scared. Don’t be scared.”

As soon as the saint held up that weapon, the holy knights around her trembled.

It looked as if they were terrified.  

Holy knights are knights who serve God.  

If ordinary knights exist to protect their master, holy knights exist to protect the world according to God’s will.

God is always with us.  

That’s what the holy knights who say that are said to not know fear.

No matter how sinister the monster or evil sorcerer the enemy is!

No matter how evil the army of evil god the enemy is, there is no reason to fear as long as God is with us!  

That was what the holy knights said, but looking at that spectacle, it seems it was just a groundless rumor.

“The moment I got hit by this, I realized. Why there was such a report submitted to the Religion. This could only be a weapon that an apostle of the evil god would have! And the creator  who made this is clearly an apostle of the evil god!”

The saint’s words were full of confidence. To the point where I thought ‘Why is she acting like that?’

What had happened to the saint was that she hit herself with that weapon. 

And just that was enough to completely change a person.

“As expected, you still don’t believe me.”

Did I show my doubt too much?

“Of course.”

But I couldn’t help it.

If it was the Religion of Peace, it was an order that was quite active. 

Even a small tavern in a small village would have several fights happen in a day.

Then how many fights must be happening across the continent? 

At least tens of thousands, no hundreds of thousands of fights could be happening right now.

And stopping that was the Religion of Peace’s goal. 

To mediate as many fights as possible and create peace, that was the Religion of Peace’s ideology.

“People who were preaching peace suddenly changed. With just a wooden stick. There’s no way I can easily believe that.”

Conversely, their change could also prove Ast’s guilt. 

The knights who until yesterday said Ast should not be killed changed their actions a day after seeing that stick, so there must be something about that stick.

If this was a small country, Ast would have already received a conviction.

“I see.”

The saint nodded as if to say I had a point.

“Then….”

Did I imagine the dangerous look that flashed in the saint’s eyes for a moment?

With a sharp aura like a beast stalking its prey, the saint said.

“Your Highness!”

“It’s alright, Renia.”

No matter if she is a saint, I am the empire’s princess. 

There’s nothing she can do to me….

“Don’t tell me, you…”

“Saint, please stop!” 

“Stop this at once, Saint! Your opponent is the princess of the empire!”

“Grab her! Block her with your body before she does anything!”

“But, but the Saint is holding that evil weapon in her hands…!”

Seeing the knights’ reactions, it seems she was some crazy bitch who could do anything.

“Renia, looks like I’ll need your protection.”

“Understood.”

Seeing the knights’ actions, Renia brought her hand to the hilt of her sword.

She had not directly been threatened yet so she hadn’t drawn her sword, but the moment the saint made a move, Renia would immediately act.

“Uwaaaaaaaah!”

“Gahk!”

“I’m alright. You don’t think I would do to the princess of the empire what I did to you gentlemen, would I?”

One of the knights who had been circling around the saint, trying to stop her, rolls around on the floor screaming a bizarre shriek.

“Ah…”

Another knight who had dodged the saint’s attack looks at her with terror filled eyes.

“Don’t tell me…”

“Yes, that true.”

What are they talking about?

A short exchange of question and answer between the saint and knight.

From just that, the knights seemed to understand as they shouted with pale frightened faces.

“Run away!” 

“Where to!”

Seeing the knights run away in all directions, the saint declaratively said,

“This is the proof!”

It was bullshit but it was persuasive.

Seeing with my own eyes the saint, who had been trained as a knight, get floored by one blow, I had thought.

Ast made another freaky weapon, huh. 

Even the saint couldn’t withstand it so I understood why the regular soldiers had changed like that.

But seeing dozens of knights collapse like autumn leaves made me change my thoughts.

Ast really made a weapon worthy of him.

One hit, and another hit.

As I watched the expressions and screams of the holy knights change every time they were hit, I began to think that it might be difficult to persuade the saint. 

“I did not hit hard. Even ordinary villagers would say it hurts, but I hit them to a degree they can endure. Yet the holy knights are screaming and collapsing from this weapon. This evil power that penetrates even the protection of the holy knights! Unless one is a black sorcerer who has received the protection of the devil or an evil god’s apostle, there’s no way such a weapon could exist!”

Certainly… If the holy knights were not acting collectively, then it would not be strange to call that weapon which pierces even the protection of God an evil god’s weapon.

“….”

As I shut my mouth, the saint seemed to gain the upper hand and continued her offensive.

“If you think we’re acting, you can bring people you can trust, or prisoners….”

“S-saint!” 

“We are the Religion of Peace! The Religion of Peace!”

“Experimenting on prisoners instead!”

As the saint beat the holy knights, the priests who hadn’t been able to say anything just watched with their mouths agape. But at the saint’s words, they seemed to regain their senses and shouted in unison.

“Now is the time to sacrifice the small for the whole. If more of these evil weapons are created, the world will be in crisis!”

The saint held strong conviction in her actions and declared proudly. 

“We must eliminate that evil person before more of these weapons are created.”

At the saint’s very confident words, the priests shut their mouths.

“This is not an ordinary cursed item. Even my prayers cannot lift its curse. Think about it, everyone. That even a saint’s prayers cannot lift its curse! Just how many sacrifices do you think were made when this was created!”

Sacrifices… there were some. 

The sacrifice made when a tree branch is torn off.

“Now, you evil one, speak! How many offerings were there to create this evil weapon! The devil’s body? The soul of a pure maiden? If not that, then the blood of a young child?”

The things the saint spoke of were all things prohibited on the continent, as using any of them would make one a public enemy.

“I have seen what lengths evil black sorcerers will go for their immortality. So I’m certain that to make this weapon, you used sacrifices on the same level, no, even more than them!”  

The tide had turned. 

Not only the priests near the saint, but even the holy knights who had fled from her earlier began glaring at Ast.

The saint’s words were full of conviction.

As he received their stares, Ast lifted his head with a calm expression.

“Would you like to know? What it took to create this?”

“Yes, I think I can guess, but I’ll give you a chance to say it from your mouth. What did you use to make this weapon?”

It was over now.

With that expression, the saint looked at Ast.

Her tone had changed as well, as if announcing his condemnation.

Seeing the saint like that, Ast lowered his head.

“Hmm….”

His body began to tremble.

“Are you afraid? That your sins will be revealed? That is the way of the world. However dark it may be, the light shall be shed! As long as God exists, there are no eternal crimes!”

It was over.

Everyone here except three people probably thought so.

And those three were obviously me, Renia, and Ast.

“It was made… With World Tree.”

“Huh?”

The confident expression of the saint shattered.

“W-what….?”  

Murmurs began around us.  

Ast’s words had that much impact.

“What the hell does that mean?”

When the voice of a bewildered saint was heard through the surrounding murmur,

“That… It was made from branches of the World Tree given to me by a high elf.”

“That’s a lie!”

“If it seems like a lie, wouldn’t it be okay to send an official letter to the elves?”

Ast, who was shaking and laughing, shouted more confidently than what the saint had said before.

It was the moment when the tide turned.

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