Episode 84

Footsteps were heard. Bubbly. In the dark woods. It was the sound of Listralfo fleeing.

'Right, it was. I said……. It happened that night.'

In Merha's field of vision, the situation was slowly being properly grasped. Listralpo stood among the people like a ghost. People gathered in a circle, looking at the floor.

'Why does no one know? He's over there.'

Listralfo opened his mouth slowly.

'Do you remember? What happened in this I've been wandering for too long. You took care of me, raised me, why did you stab me? Why, I trusted you.'

Said Ristralpo, standing among the crowd like a ghost.

“This guy! Go away I am the high priest of this country. Listralpo is obviously dead! If he were alive, he would be a ghost!”

“How do you know that?”

Someone asked.

It was a low yet beautiful voice, like the voice you would hear when you were judged in hell.

Merha crawled on the floor and approached Listralpo.

“Who is that person?”

“Isn't it Merha High Priestess?”

The people's murmur grew louder.

“You must have died here. That it was a wound I couldn't live with. If only your brother hadn't run away to get attention.”

Merha hesitated. But even he couldn't help the secret leaking out of his mouth.

Merha cried out and recalled the events of that night several times.

“You must be dead!”

Pod. A golden light flashed in front of my eyes. Merha finally came to her senses. The people's murmur grew louder.

“You killed Ristralpho?”

“So you're saying this corpse is real?”

“Who is that person? Maybe that person…….”

It sounded like a scream. Merha broke out in a cold sweat.

“No, what I just said…….”

“That person. High priest Merha, right?”

“At first I thought it was some kind of beggar.”

When someone whispered, Merha looked back at her own face. He was wearing one of his boots and one of his boots was off.

'I can't do this. What's going on? What happened to me?'

At that moment, Merha met Lucerne's eyes. Lucerne and his wife stood elegantly attired against the background of a beautiful mansion glistening with gorgeous gold.

Blonde beauty. Lucerne's wife, Elisha, was smiling at her.

People dressed in colorful costumes like scattered butterflies. The smell of alcohol and sweet food. Sparkling magic stone lanterns and elegant statues.

And when he came to his senses, he suddenly realized.

'How do you know that?'

That voice just now belonged to Lucerne.

'What happened to me?'

It didn't take Merha long to realize what she had done. Earlier he seemed crazy. Aside from seeing the vision of Ristrapo…….

I couldn't stop my mouth. Unbeknownst to him, he confessed everything and was blowing.

'Obviously, when the guy riding the horse put his hand on my body. Right. It stung under his fingernails then.'

Merha looked down her own fingers. There was a bloodstain on the second finger of his right hand.

'The face of the guy who rode me on a horse earlier……. How was it?'

A face I can't remember. The mind that was coming and going. Merha realized.

'You have been subjected to confession! On the way here, someone smeared me with a saliva with confessional.'

Lucerne's interrogation skills were quite famous. He had a confession that could subdue anyone.

'This was all a trap. It was the number of Lucerne!'

Where did the trap come from? Merha's head spun around. Lucerne is slowly approaching.

“Oh, uncle.”

Lucerne spoke kindly and raised Merha to her feet.

“I heard rumors that you went crazy.”

He whispered.

“I have a fondness for raising you, and it really hurts my heart to see you like this. Do not worry. Because Listralfo is dead.”

“Hee!”

Lucerne threw his face into the pit. Beneath it was the corpse of Lystralpo, his eyes wide open.

“Look closely, and make eye contact. You have to remember. He said that the famous prophet he had been caring for had returned as a corpse. Isn't it your uncle's job to check the body?”

When Lucerne pulled Merha up again, he was trembling like an aspen tree. Like an idiot Ah, ah. He was only making noises.

“The wall is smaller than it looks. When I was raised as a child, he was truly a giant-sized person.”

Lucerne clicked his tongue.

“Everyone. Looking at High Priest Merha's reaction, it seems that this is Listralpo's corpse.”

“Are you saying this isn't a prank made by the general?”

A nobleman summoned up the courage to ask.

“I also just bought this land, where is the time to build a place like this. And besides, are there madmen who play with the deaths of saints?”

When Lucerne gave a quick answer, the aristocrat who had asked the question stuttered and stepped back. Elisha, who was slowly watching the scene, spoke affectionately.

“Lucerne. The high priest's mind and body are not normal. You can't shock someone like that.”

She said affectionately.

“Are you okay, High Commissioner?”

Merha jumped up from her seat.

“Let go, let go!”

The nobles who saw Merha whispered.

“What the hell happened?”

“The high priest must be really crazy! Look at your eyes.”

As Merha struggled, people avoided him and moved aside.

“Call the doctor. I need to get my evidence! I've been on a bad drug Because of that drug, I was speechless. Someone, some goddamn thing, spit me some bad medicine, so.”

Merha pointed at Lucerne.

“You are doing this to me. Will be punished The headmistress will not forgive you. No. Everything I just said was a lie……. It's a lie. Everyone. I am the high priest, the high priest!”

As Merha shouted, her face turned brown for an instant, and she grabbed her neck on the spot and fell slowly.

“Kyaaaaah

“Call the doctor!”

Someone shouted. That was the last voice Merha heard before she lost consciousness.

*​ *​ *​

“I'm sorry I ruined your debut prom, Elisha.”

Lucerne smiled and said. But he wasn't smiling.

“Are you serious?”

“No.”

After thinking for a moment, Lucerne said. Elisha nodded her head as she looked at the people gathered in a circle watching the body of Ralpo, the collapsed Mer Hawar.

“It's a pretty good banquet. It would be nice if it could go on every night if possible.”

“How deep is the grudge against our family. Do you hate Merha too? As much as Jacob?”

Elisha looked at Lucerne with her strange eyes.

“It's like your enemy. Because he is the one who bullied you as a child.”

Elisha didn't think much of it, but for some reason, Lucerne didn't move.

There was a lot of noise around them and they were talking in whispers, so Elisha didn't even know that the situation in Lucerne was strange.

“Ah, the magistrates are here. Go ahead and meet me, Lucerne.”

“…… Okay.”

Lucerne moved slowly after her as her Elisha took the lead.

*​ *​ *​

It wasn't until the security guards arrived that the place was cleared. And the mayor of Yurif, who avoided difficult work and aimed for a thin and long public life, accepted this incident crying and eating mustard.

And the next day, the shock that started in Yurif swept the capital in an instant.

At that time, people who donated money to the memorial service of Listralpo, the collections of Listralpo during his lifetime, and people who attended the biggest event, the bone fragment auction, rushed to the temple.

“How are you going to do this?”

“For some reason, they said that bad luck would continue after taking a piece of Lystralfo's bone into the house. Money invested abroad has plummeted. I'm going to sue!”

“When I heard it, so did I. My parents' health is getting worse! The bone fragments belonged to the wrong person. Where is this scam!”

It was also shocking to discover the body of Listralfo, who had been given a splendid funeral eight years ago.

What made matters even worse was that Mer Ha appeared at the scene and cried out that she had killed Rist Ralpo. Without witnesses, the matter would have been curtailed.

But that night was the night of a grand ball. There were too many witnesses.

In the end, the Temple Heresy Inquisitors stepped forward and took over Merha's personal affairs in Yurif. Then she detained Merha in her temple prison and started her investigation.

It was truly an event that shook the empire. To think that High Priest Merha, who was the supporter and protector of Listralfo at the time, was suspected of murdering Listralfo.

Evidence was found everywhere, as if it had been woven. The tattoo marks on the body and the appraisal of the holy power of the first-class priests. A closer examination of the corpse revealed that the corpse of Ristrafo was genuine.

In addition, half of a ticket for a performance at the Juryv Theater, which was performing at the time, was found in Listralpo's pocket. The date on the ticket made it clear that Listralfo's death had been eight years ago.

“It is nonsense that I killed Lystralfo. I was drugged!”

Merha kept repeating the same words, but no drug substance was detected in Merha's body.

And even if it weren't for a self-destruction at the ball, there was no way Merha would escape her charges. At that time, Ralpo had died in an accident, and it was he who came to collect his body.

Eight years ago, Merha couldn't handle the excessive divine power of Ristralpo. He testified that he died of a fever.

But it turns out that it was all a blatant lie. In addition, a considerable number of people from the temple leadership were involved in this work.

“No, you mean you didn't even properly examine the body?”

“It means that High Priestess Merha, who was from the Cartier family, said at the time that she would directly manage everything. The verification of the corpse and the preparation for the event were all conducted by people from the agency established by High Priestess Merha!”

It was something to be proud of. About 50 priests were implicated in one day. All of them were Merhapites in the temple.

Given the situation, people's eyes naturally turned to Gunner. Overnight, Gunner became the next leading candidate for the Grand Pope and carried it on his shoulders.

'You rode the rope well.'

People shuddered at Lucerne's terrifying numbers. Lucerne used a trick to get rid of his uncle and raise his own personnel to the position of the great pope. No one in the capital could not guess that fact.