"Have you heard? The entire capital is in chaos due to a horde of rampant monsters."
"How could there be only one capital? The entire empire is in chaos."
"This all happened because the Saintess harbored rebellious thoughts and tried to kill His Majesty the Emperor?"
One of the guards clicked his tongue.
"His Majesty respected the temple and left it alone, so isn't that crazy?"
"No matter what, it's considered treason. You really have to be crazy."
"That's why she was imprisoned here without a trial. She was probably executed publicly in front of many imperial citizens, to show them what happens when you harbor rebellious thoughts."
"Of all people, the Saintess of the empire is being publicly executed."
Another guard shook his head, saying it was the end of the world.
"I heard that His Majesty the Emperor has already issued an imperial decree to bring forward the date of the Saintess's public execution."
"Isn't that tomorrow?"
"No. They say that an imperial decree came down this morning to execute the Saintess as soon as preparations are made."
'Today? Right now?'
Karina, who had been holding her breath and eavesdropping on their conversation, opened her eyes wide in surprise. Just before the guards turned the corner and discovered where they were, Karina used all her strength to grab Lucia and pull her hard. Luckily, the Saintess's body that had been stuck slipped out. Karina quickly took Lucia and hid in a narrow gap made of water where the wall and the ground met. The guards wouldn't have noticed them unless they bent down so deeply that their heads touched the ground.
"Because of that, they were short-handed to prepare the execution ground outside, so they even called in the guys on shift work?"
"What? So today we're working all day without shifts?"
"That's what it is."
"Oh my God! What the hell!"
As they walked away, the mutterings grew quieter and quieter. Only when the sound became completely inaudible was Karina finally able to let out the breath she had been holding.
"Whoa. I've been watching you for ten years."
The crisis was averted, but there was no time to delay.
'Are you saying that the Saintess's execution will be carried out today?'
Then there was really no time. The guards would come to get Lucia as soon as they finished preparing the scaffold. It was only a matter of time before they discovered that the Saintess had disappeared.
'I have to get out of here quickly.
Karina took Lucia and ran in the opposite direction where the guards had disappeared. After rescuing the Saintess, they went to the meeting point where they had agreed to meet up with Mikhail.
'You just have to go that far.'
As Karina was hurrying, she saw guards gathered in the distance, chatting. As soon as she saw that, she turned around and entered the narrow path between the walls. She turned around and circled around several times, avoiding the guards. After a while, she finally saw a door that seemed to be the main gate in the distance.
"I see the gate over there!"
Lucia pointed to the end of the road with her finger. The expressions of the two people who saw the gate brightened.
"Let's go!"
Karina followed the Saintess, pushing her and making sure no guards were following her. At that moment.
"Ugh!"
Karina bumped her face into Lucia's back, who had suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong? You have to go quickly..."
Karina's words did not continue. They were standing on a high platform that was much taller than a person, and there were quite a few people gathered below. When they looked around curiously, they saw a guillotine with a sharp blade hanging from it standing there.
"...!!"
They emerged from the gap in the wall and stood right on the executioner's scaffold.
'Crazy! We came in here on our own two feet!'
A look of despair appeared on Karina's face. The people who had gathered upon hearing the news of the Saintess's execution found Lucia.
"It's a Saintess!"
Someone shouted.
"...!"
Karina's shoulders jumped up at that shout, As expected.
"Huh? There's a Saintess over there!!"
The guards and the police came running towards them. It was a difficult situation.
'Even if Mikhail finds us and comes, he said he can't use magic properly here because of the barrier. It'll be hard to get through this crowd with magic.'
They had to come up with some other way of escaping. While Karina was racking her brain anxiously, Lucia's expression seemed calm.
"Ah, I can't help it. Is this really God's will?"
Lucia, who had been looking up at the sky with a regretful expression, clasped her hands together as if she had been liberated, and closed her eyes as if it was all over.
"If this is God's will, I will gladly obey it."
“...?!”
Karina looked at Lucia with a bewildered face.
'No, why do you give up so quickly on something that puts your life at stake?'
It wasn't something Karina should have said, but now was not the time to discuss such things.
"Saintess!"
"Saintess! Are you really plotting treason?"
"Isn't there some kind of mistake?"
"They're lying, right? Please tell me!"
The people as if they could not believe the Saintess's rebellion, pleaded and urged her to answer. Some of them even burst into tears.
'Ah, Lucia has been traveling around the empire providing medical services.'
As a result, many people actually received help from the Saintess. Perhaps because of this, it seemed that most of the people who gathered were people who came because they could not believe in the Saintess's betrayal rather than people who came to see the Saintess's execution.
'If I do this well, I might be able to escape from here.'
Karina swallowed hard. She felt like she could use her reputation as a saintly and self-sacrificing Saintess.
'Since it turned out like this anyway, I might as well give it a try!'
At that moment, Mikhail, who had figured out Karina's situation, was seen running. towards her from afar. Karina signaled to him with her eyes.
'Don't come and wait a moment. I have a good idea.'
Please, I hope you get my point across. Karina shook her head, hoping desperately.
"..."
Mikhail, who had stopped for a moment, nodded as if he knew what she was saying, then looked at her with sunken eyes. Then he quietly blended into the crowd.
'Thank goodness. I guess you understood.'
Karina took a deep breath, calming her trembling breathing and calming her nervously pounding heart.
'Because confidence is important in these things.'
She clenched both hands and opened her mouth resolutely.
"Listen up, everyone! The Saintess neither plotted treason nor committed treason!".
Karina's shout caused the crowd to murmur.
"Also!"
"Then that's right!"
The reaction was not bad. Karina continued calmly.
"The Emperor of the Empire has fallen into greed and has conspired with the Warlocks and sold the entire Empire to them! The angry God has sent down an oracle to punish the corrupt Emperor for the sake of the Empire!"
Karina asked Lucia to confirm what she said.
"Am I right?"
Then Lucia nodded her head with a sad face and a pitiful trembling.
"That's right. I simply followed the will of the gods to punish the Emperor who was eating away at the empire and using its people as sacrifices. However, I was unable to complete the gods' mission due to my shortcomings."
Tears welled up in Lucia's eyes. The Saintess must have truly despaired at not having fulfilled her duty, but she was certain that her pitiful appearance had moved the hearts of those who watched. Karina inwardly cheered and drove the wedge in.
"You heard? The evil we must punish is the greedy Emperor!"
As she continued to speak, people gasped in surprise.
"What is this?"
"In league with a warlock?"
"So are you saying that the Emperor has fallen?"
As the commotion among the crowd grew, the guards drew their swords and aimed them at Karina.
"Stop it! Stop talking nonsense!"
Among them, a man who was commanding the guards, perhaps of high rank, stopped Karina from speaking.
"It has been clearly confirmed that the Saintess attempted to assassinate His Majesty the Emperor! Stop fabricating the Incident to deceive and incite the people of the Empire!"
People were again looking around and panicking at the man's angry momentum.
"Are I lying? Everything I just said is true! Do you still not believe it when you see the hordes of monsters running rampant throughout the empire?"
Karina shot back sharply.
"The demons are running rampant, the people of the empire are anxious and dying, and yet the Emperor is taking no action!"
Karina, who had been speaking to the man, turned to the public and asked a final question.
"If the Emperor is not truly corrupt, how do you explain this situation?"
Then the crowd started to stir and commotion. Karina successfully elicited a reaction from the audience.
'Okay. Just a little more...!'
Hope was short-lived. The man frowned and snapped, saying it was nonsense,
"Nonsense!"
And he shouted at the crowd.
"Are you really believing what that 'wicked woman' is saying right now? She is a criminal who committed the heinous crime of killing her own father!"
The man raised his voice and swore at Karina. Only then did those who heard him recognize Karina.
"Ah! That red hair! Her Highness...! Oh, no. Isn't that Young Lady Milliner?"
"Lady Millainer, the daughter of Marquis Milliner who divorced His Highness the Grand Duke?"
"That's right, that's right!"
"...!"
Karina's eyebrows twitched as the situation flowed in an unintended direction. Come to think of it, she was currently wanted as the murderer of Marquis Milliner.
'I forgot that.'
The reason she hid and fled was not simply because she was wanted. The bigger reason was that the Emperor who killed the Marquis would not leave her alone either. In any case, Karina decided that she had to take this opportunity to clear her name of the false accusation of killing the Marquis.
"No, I didn't kill my father. It was the Emperor who killed my father and framed me as the culprit!"
Karina shouted in a commanding voice. The man thought that Karina was continuing to lie to avoid the situation.
"The lies are endless."
He snorted, openly expressing his distrust of Karina.
"If you don't believe me, prove it to me here and now."
Karina, not caring about the man's reaction, activated the earring artifact she had received from David. It was an artifact that could store and display what she had seen and experienced.
Wheeing!
With the sound of activation, a huge image appeared in front of the people. It was the image of the Marquis of Milliner, who had been attacked and was in chaos. The mansion was engulfed in a terrifying flame.
'Miss Karina.'
Then, the butler's voice flowed out clearly along with the vivid sound of the scene.
'Those wearing black masks raided the mansion. They killed the Marquis and set the mansion on fire.'
Those who saw the situation in the video and confirmed the butler's true nature were shocked.
"Oh my God. What is that?"
"The Marquis of Milliner is on fire!"
"Is that real?"
"What the heck is going on?"
'Tell me everything. I already knew everything."
'That, that's... the truth is...'
In response to Karina's questioning, the butler confessed all the evil deeds and wrongdoings the Marquis had committed so far. Those who saw this burst out in angry sighs.
"Oh my! You look like human garbage!"
"You pretend to be a proud nobleman, but you're doing such dirty things behind my back."
And when the imperial guard's mark, presumably dropped by the raiders, was discovered in the ruined Marquis' residence, the people's suspicion and confusion reached a peak.
"If that's true, then the Emperor killed the Marquis."
"Then is it true that he conspired with the warlock and sold out the empire?"
"Uh, uh...?"
The guards and the guards also looked confused, not knowing what was real. Karina quickly signaled to Mikhail, thinking this was the moment. Mikhail, who was in the crowd, did not miss the opportunity and shouted.
"Release the Saintess!"
Then, Selena and Hasten, who had been mixed in with the crowd, joined in.
"Release the Saintess!"
"Let her go!"
Then others followed suit and raised their voices, demanding that the Saintess be released.
"Release the Saintess!"
A strong public backlash followed.
"Let her go!"
People started throwing stones at the guards who were standing there dumbly, one by one.
"Yes, wait a minute. Everyone calm down..."
The atmosphere at the execution grounds quickly became chaotic due to the unexpected resistance. Taking advantage of the confusion, Karina grabbed Lucia's wrist and jumped into the crowd.
"Protect the Saintess and the young lady!"
"Stop him so he can't catch me!"
People made way for the two to pass. After they passed, they blocked the way again to prevent the guards and guards from following them. While they were struggling here and there, Karina and Lucia gradually got closer to the gate. They were naturally followed by Mikhail, Selena, and Hasten.
"Run away!"
Some people opened the gates to let them out of the castle.
"Thank you all!"
Karina and her party safely escaped the
execution grounds, expressing gratitude to those around them. Thus, the operation to rescue the Saintess ended successfully.
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