“Wh, what is this!”
Everyone in the conference hall jumped to their feet at the Emperor's scream.
Fortunately, there were no casualties as the crack ran through the middle of the conference room, but everyone was shocked by the sudden turn of events.
They didn't even think about evading the attack and just stared at the cracks in the floor with their faces turned pale.
It wasn't a bolt from the blue, but a crack like this appeared in the imperial castle that had remained unshaken for over two thousand years since the founding of the nation.
It was at that very moment that everyone was speechless in shock.
Squeak. Squeak.
An unpleasant noise broke the silence.
"What?"
“What is this?”
The managers, who had been looking around with puzzled expressions, turned their gazes toward the ceiling.
The giant chandelier that had been lighting up the conference room with its grandeur just a moment ago was now swinging precariously.
“Why is it like that...”
Of course, the impact was enough to split the floor, so it was natural that the chandelier would be hit as well, but even taking that into account, the movement was too excessive.
“What is this, ominous? As if it’s about to fall.”
It was at that very moment that one of the nobles muttered to himself.
Thud, thud, thud, thud.
It seemed as if there was a sound of something being ripped off, and then one side of the device that had been fixed to the ceiling suddenly came off.
It only took a moment for the chandelier, which had lost its balance and tilted to the side, to fall to the floor, unable to support its weight.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!
Sharp fragments crashed down like lightning here and there, accompanied by a loud noise.
The managers, lost in thought, ran to the door without saying a word.
“Get out of the way! I’m telling you to make way!”
“I, I’ll go out first!”
“Oh my, follow the order, follow the order! How can those who are called nobles be so undignified! How can you cry out for your own life in a moment of crisis? What a disgrace!”
“What? Disgrace? Even you, trying to save your life, pushed in with your feet first, and don’t forget that! My two legs are on the verge of being torn apart, what a lesson!”
“What? What did you just say!”
“Oh, be quiet! Let’s argue after we leave the conference room!”
“That’s right. Then let me go first! I have a lot of family to depend on!”
“Oh, who doesn’t have a family? I have a wife as big as a bear and three daughters as big as a wolf!”
“Hmm? A wife like a fox and a daughter like a rabbit?”
“Oh, that’s important now! The important thing here is that I can never die! So, everyone get out of the way!”
There was no complete chaos.
“This, this is so impudent! Can’t you see the luggage in your eyes? Hurry up and take care of the luggage first! I’m telling you to open the road right now and let the luggage out first!”
The Emperor, who was sitting in the highest seat and was the last to arrive at the gate, shouted with a furious expression on his face.
“Oh, Your Majesty’s life is not the only important thing! Please follow the order!”
“That’s right! If you’re in last place, then you should just roll your feet and wait like you would in last place!”
In a life-or-death situation, no one remained loyal.
.
.
.
After the uproar had passed, the Emperor and his officials gathered in the relatively undamaged annex building to receive reports.
“The entire capital was hit by the earthquake. From the capital’s border area to the central area near the imperial palace, no town was untouched. A quarter of the capital’s buildings were damaged, and the number of casualties is said to be close to 500,000. The roads were also completely destroyed and collapsed, leaving no place untouched.”
“What, five hundred thousand?”
The Emperor cried out in horror.
The other managers also had their mouths open in thought.
“500,000 is the largest number of casualties from a single disaster!”
“Plus, a quarter of the capital city buildings collapsed. It’s going to cost an astronomical amount of money to repair them all!”
“Oh my, it seems like the disaster is getting worse.”
“That’s right. The incident in the past where the roofs of all the buildings in the capital city were punctured by hail seems like child’s play.”
The annex was filled with chaos, and the emperor rubbed his throbbing forehead.
Various disasters had swept across the empire over the years, but this was the first time their aftereffects had reached the imperial capital.
Even as countless citizens of the empire were writhing in pain, the Emperor, who had been living comfortably, hidden inside the sturdy castle, could not calm his shocked heart.
Thankfully, he got through this without any injuries, but he never knew when something like this could happen again and threaten his life.
'Yes, now is not the time to be questioning the source of that power.'
The Emperor, who had been licking his dry lips with his tongue, soon gave an order with a determined expression.
“Bring me the saint and the daughter of the Mushikan right now!”
I stood in the middle of the street, looking around with a blank expression.
A road that is broken, twisted, and bizarrely twisted.
Buildings that collapsed so badly that you couldn't even guess what their original form was.
The beautiful trees were uprooted and rolling on the ground.
A statue of a baby angel in a fountain, spewing water like blood, with its head blown off and looking grotesque.
A mixture of emotions played as background music over the gruesome scenes.
The screams of a young man wailing in agony while trapped under the rubble of a building.
The sound of a child crying for his mother, clutching his bloody foot, probably from stepping on a shard of glass scattered on the floor.
The sobs of a middle-aged woman who has lost her only livelihood and is now on the floor with a face full of despair.
I was blankly staring at all of that, took a step forward, then flinched and stopped again.
I felt like I had to do something, but I had no idea where to start.
No one is not desperate, no one who is not in pain, so who on earth should we reach out to first?
As I was hesitating like an idiot, a voice that seemed to burst out of nowhere pierced my eardrums.
“Save me, save me... Here, here is my child. I’m okay, I don’t care if I die, so please just save my child, just save my child, please, someone... !”
A young woman who appeared to be in her early 20s was lying under the rubble of a building, pleading with passersby.
With her forehead broken and bleeding, panting as if she would suffocate at any moment, she was begging only that they would at least save her child, that she would be okay.
It was at that very moment that I, biting my lip at the heartbreaking sight, hurriedly took a step forward.
“Saintess!”
From afar, a knight came galloping on horseback. Judging from his attire, he was a knight of the Imperial Guard.
He ran, avoiding obstacles in the street, and before he could even think of getting off his horse, he spoke.
“His Majesty is looking for you! You must enter the palace immediately!”
“Right now? But right now I...”
I was about to say that we need to help those affected by the earthquake.
“He said that it was a much more important task than saving a life that was dying right in front of you.”
No, what could be more important than saving the lives of the imperial people in this situation?
I couldn't help but feel astonished, but seeing him say something like that, it seemed like something big was definitely going on.
In the end, I left the rescue of the victims to the knights who had come with me and quickly headed to the imperial palace.
As I entered the audience room, I saw hundreds of nobles lined up on both sides.
They looked at me absentmindedly at the sound of my presence, but as soon as our eyes met, they avoided eye contact and turned their heads away.
I paused for a moment at the unnatural behavior, then walked towards the Emperor and Crown Prince sitting at the head of the table.
But before that, a woman had come and was guarding the seat.
Although her face was not visible, anyone could tell that her flowing, pink hair was Melina's.
'Why is she here...'
I felt a bad sense of uneasiness squeezing my chest, but I tried not to show it and lowered my head.
“Did you call, Your Majesty?”
“The Saintess raises your head.”
The Emperor solemnly commanded.
When I carefully raised my head, the Emperor spoke with a dark expression.
“I heard you were on the scene just before. You must have seen the situation in the capital city through the eyes of a Saintess. What do you think?”
“...It was so horrible that I can’t even list them all with my own mouth.”
As I spoke, recalling the scene I had seen a moment ago, the Emperor nodded as if he understood.
“Yes, I heard the story too. Everyone who saw the scene firsthand said it was the worst disaster to ever hit the empire.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. This is my first time experiencing a disaster of this scale.”
“Yes, if such words come from the mouth of a Saintess who has toured disaster sites throughout the empire, then it must be really serious.”
He let out a deep sigh with a complicated expression and suddenly blurted out something out of the blue.
“So now I have no choice but to make a decision.”
He looked extremely determined as he clenched the armrests of the throne and chewed on each syllable.
“If you say decision...”
As I asked him this unconsciously, my body suddenly froze.
The nobles who couldn't even look me in the eye.
The Crown Prince remained silent with a stern expression.
The Emperor, who was unusually long-winded and rambling.
And Melina, who took the seat before me, even though she wasn't qualified to be here yet.
'No way...'
I froze at something flashing through my mind.
As expected, words came out of the Emperor's mouth that were exactly as I had expected.
“I wish to restore the status of Melina, a temple servant who received revelations from the goddess Hethel, from slave to commoner, and appoint her as a Saintess who protects the empire.”
Everyone in the conference hall jumped to their feet at the Emperor's scream.
Fortunately, there were no casualties as the crack ran through the middle of the conference room, but everyone was shocked by the sudden turn of events.
They didn't even think about evading the attack and just stared at the cracks in the floor with their faces turned pale.
It wasn't a bolt from the blue, but a crack like this appeared in the imperial castle that had remained unshaken for over two thousand years since the founding of the nation.
It was at that very moment that everyone was speechless in shock.
Squeak. Squeak.
An unpleasant noise broke the silence.
"What?"
“What is this?”
The managers, who had been looking around with puzzled expressions, turned their gazes toward the ceiling.
The giant chandelier that had been lighting up the conference room with its grandeur just a moment ago was now swinging precariously.
“Why is it like that...”
Of course, the impact was enough to split the floor, so it was natural that the chandelier would be hit as well, but even taking that into account, the movement was too excessive.
“What is this, ominous? As if it’s about to fall.”
It was at that very moment that one of the nobles muttered to himself.
Thud, thud, thud, thud.
It seemed as if there was a sound of something being ripped off, and then one side of the device that had been fixed to the ceiling suddenly came off.
It only took a moment for the chandelier, which had lost its balance and tilted to the side, to fall to the floor, unable to support its weight.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!
Sharp fragments crashed down like lightning here and there, accompanied by a loud noise.
The managers, lost in thought, ran to the door without saying a word.
“Get out of the way! I’m telling you to make way!”
“I, I’ll go out first!”
“Oh my, follow the order, follow the order! How can those who are called nobles be so undignified! How can you cry out for your own life in a moment of crisis? What a disgrace!”
“What? Disgrace? Even you, trying to save your life, pushed in with your feet first, and don’t forget that! My two legs are on the verge of being torn apart, what a lesson!”
“What? What did you just say!”
“Oh, be quiet! Let’s argue after we leave the conference room!”
“That’s right. Then let me go first! I have a lot of family to depend on!”
“Oh, who doesn’t have a family? I have a wife as big as a bear and three daughters as big as a wolf!”
“Hmm? A wife like a fox and a daughter like a rabbit?”
“Oh, that’s important now! The important thing here is that I can never die! So, everyone get out of the way!”
There was no complete chaos.
“This, this is so impudent! Can’t you see the luggage in your eyes? Hurry up and take care of the luggage first! I’m telling you to open the road right now and let the luggage out first!”
The Emperor, who was sitting in the highest seat and was the last to arrive at the gate, shouted with a furious expression on his face.
“Oh, Your Majesty’s life is not the only important thing! Please follow the order!”
“That’s right! If you’re in last place, then you should just roll your feet and wait like you would in last place!”
In a life-or-death situation, no one remained loyal.
.
.
.
After the uproar had passed, the Emperor and his officials gathered in the relatively undamaged annex building to receive reports.
“The entire capital was hit by the earthquake. From the capital’s border area to the central area near the imperial palace, no town was untouched. A quarter of the capital’s buildings were damaged, and the number of casualties is said to be close to 500,000. The roads were also completely destroyed and collapsed, leaving no place untouched.”
“What, five hundred thousand?”
The Emperor cried out in horror.
The other managers also had their mouths open in thought.
“500,000 is the largest number of casualties from a single disaster!”
“Plus, a quarter of the capital city buildings collapsed. It’s going to cost an astronomical amount of money to repair them all!”
“Oh my, it seems like the disaster is getting worse.”
“That’s right. The incident in the past where the roofs of all the buildings in the capital city were punctured by hail seems like child’s play.”
The annex was filled with chaos, and the emperor rubbed his throbbing forehead.
Various disasters had swept across the empire over the years, but this was the first time their aftereffects had reached the imperial capital.
Even as countless citizens of the empire were writhing in pain, the Emperor, who had been living comfortably, hidden inside the sturdy castle, could not calm his shocked heart.
Thankfully, he got through this without any injuries, but he never knew when something like this could happen again and threaten his life.
'Yes, now is not the time to be questioning the source of that power.'
The Emperor, who had been licking his dry lips with his tongue, soon gave an order with a determined expression.
“Bring me the saint and the daughter of the Mushikan right now!”
***
I stood in the middle of the street, looking around with a blank expression.
A road that is broken, twisted, and bizarrely twisted.
Buildings that collapsed so badly that you couldn't even guess what their original form was.
The beautiful trees were uprooted and rolling on the ground.
A statue of a baby angel in a fountain, spewing water like blood, with its head blown off and looking grotesque.
A mixture of emotions played as background music over the gruesome scenes.
The screams of a young man wailing in agony while trapped under the rubble of a building.
The sound of a child crying for his mother, clutching his bloody foot, probably from stepping on a shard of glass scattered on the floor.
The sobs of a middle-aged woman who has lost her only livelihood and is now on the floor with a face full of despair.
I was blankly staring at all of that, took a step forward, then flinched and stopped again.
I felt like I had to do something, but I had no idea where to start.
No one is not desperate, no one who is not in pain, so who on earth should we reach out to first?
As I was hesitating like an idiot, a voice that seemed to burst out of nowhere pierced my eardrums.
“Save me, save me... Here, here is my child. I’m okay, I don’t care if I die, so please just save my child, just save my child, please, someone... !”
A young woman who appeared to be in her early 20s was lying under the rubble of a building, pleading with passersby.
With her forehead broken and bleeding, panting as if she would suffocate at any moment, she was begging only that they would at least save her child, that she would be okay.
It was at that very moment that I, biting my lip at the heartbreaking sight, hurriedly took a step forward.
“Saintess!”
From afar, a knight came galloping on horseback. Judging from his attire, he was a knight of the Imperial Guard.
He ran, avoiding obstacles in the street, and before he could even think of getting off his horse, he spoke.
“His Majesty is looking for you! You must enter the palace immediately!”
“Right now? But right now I...”
I was about to say that we need to help those affected by the earthquake.
“He said that it was a much more important task than saving a life that was dying right in front of you.”
No, what could be more important than saving the lives of the imperial people in this situation?
I couldn't help but feel astonished, but seeing him say something like that, it seemed like something big was definitely going on.
In the end, I left the rescue of the victims to the knights who had come with me and quickly headed to the imperial palace.
As I entered the audience room, I saw hundreds of nobles lined up on both sides.
They looked at me absentmindedly at the sound of my presence, but as soon as our eyes met, they avoided eye contact and turned their heads away.
I paused for a moment at the unnatural behavior, then walked towards the Emperor and Crown Prince sitting at the head of the table.
But before that, a woman had come and was guarding the seat.
Although her face was not visible, anyone could tell that her flowing, pink hair was Melina's.
'Why is she here...'
I felt a bad sense of uneasiness squeezing my chest, but I tried not to show it and lowered my head.
“Did you call, Your Majesty?”
“The Saintess raises your head.”
The Emperor solemnly commanded.
When I carefully raised my head, the Emperor spoke with a dark expression.
“I heard you were on the scene just before. You must have seen the situation in the capital city through the eyes of a Saintess. What do you think?”
“...It was so horrible that I can’t even list them all with my own mouth.”
As I spoke, recalling the scene I had seen a moment ago, the Emperor nodded as if he understood.
“Yes, I heard the story too. Everyone who saw the scene firsthand said it was the worst disaster to ever hit the empire.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. This is my first time experiencing a disaster of this scale.”
“Yes, if such words come from the mouth of a Saintess who has toured disaster sites throughout the empire, then it must be really serious.”
He let out a deep sigh with a complicated expression and suddenly blurted out something out of the blue.
“So now I have no choice but to make a decision.”
He looked extremely determined as he clenched the armrests of the throne and chewed on each syllable.
“If you say decision...”
As I asked him this unconsciously, my body suddenly froze.
The nobles who couldn't even look me in the eye.
The Crown Prince remained silent with a stern expression.
The Emperor, who was unusually long-winded and rambling.
And Melina, who took the seat before me, even though she wasn't qualified to be here yet.
'No way...'
I froze at something flashing through my mind.
As expected, words came out of the Emperor's mouth that were exactly as I had expected.
“I wish to restore the status of Melina, a temple servant who received revelations from the goddess Hethel, from slave to commoner, and appoint her as a Saintess who protects the empire.”
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