12 O’Clock Marionette

Chapter 23

There are those in a difficult situation.

And I have the ability and evidence to solve it.

What would you do?

"Ah, I should add a premise."

By the way, it's about an enemy.

Apparently, my ancestors had a really bad relationship with them.

I originally only knew that much, but now that I’ve been called an evil god because of it, I’m twice as upset.

"I'm too lazy and don’t want to stand out."

If there were any benefit, I would move, but the only thing to gain now is messing with the Elder Council.

Even in this free time, it’s a dilemma.

I rolled left and right on the bed, thinking.

At that moment.

"Huh?"

A disturbance was felt from far outside the window.

"I’ll say it again. You cannot meet the young lady without an appointment. This is the final warning."

As I got closer to the main gate, the guard's voice became clearer.

I puffed out my chest, feeling like I was being treated well. Heh!

"Please, I beg of you. At least give us a response. Our lives and deaths... Ah!"

The person arguing with the guard spotted me.

He was a very suspicious-looking young man.

Like I did during the harvest festival, he wore a robe and pulled his hood low, hiding his face.

For now, he didn’t look like a dark sorcerer.

"Miss Siora, you cannot approach. Please step back."

"What’s going on?"

As I moved closer, the young man immediately acted.

Thud, the sound of him kneeling was loud.

It was a stone floor, so I wondered if his knees were okay.

"Please, just help me once!"

"Who are you?"

"I… I am..."

He hesitated for a moment before pulling back his hood.

And then, to my surprise!

"Wow, really plain."

"…Yes, I am just an ordinary follower of the Recanon Church."

"Didn't you just get interrogated at the temple?"

"The priests were all taken away, and only the common followers remain."

I nodded and examined him again.

Poor quality clothes, rough skin.

He didn’t make eye contact much and kept shaking his hands, but I didn’t think he was lying.

I squatted down and met his eyes.

"When did you see me and come asking for help?"

"That day, when you wore the lion mask and came to watch the puppet show? The rumors about you and the two of them have spread throughout the capital."

"Aha. So."

"If by any chance, the noble lady still has the holy water that you received at that time..."

"Did you come to ask for it? Normally, I wouldn’t meet you."

"I was desperate. I was afraid that all the priests would be executed."

Hmm, that makes sense.

Even though it was a false accusation that I passed out the poison, they wouldn’t let anyone live.

If it wasn’t for the religious issue, they would have dragged him to the Imperial Palace’s investigation office and sentenced him to death by now.

Even with a religious trial, the result wouldn’t have been different.

"If you just give me that holy water, I will be eternally grateful and will quietly leave."

Should I just give him the holy water?

I glanced at the young man still kneeling and the guard.

If I let him in, rumors would spread about him being a heretic.

"Just get up and talk."

"No, I’m in a position to beg, so I’ll speak like this."

"What? Just because I feel sorry for you, doesn’t mean my chances of helping you increase."

"That...!"

"It actually makes them drop. Oh, right now it dropped by 5%. 10%, 15%—"

"I... I’ve gotten up!"

The young man quickly stood up.

Just hand him the vial.

Right when I was about to make a decision, a loud sound interrupted me.

Four white horses were pulling a luxurious carriage.

On the outside of the carriage, there was a clock pattern with white sand inside it.

And the person who got off the carriage was…

"Hmm? Looks like there’s an appointment."

It was Cruello.

He came by carriage, what a surprise!

The guards, startled by the unexpected visit, alternated their gaze between me and Cruello.

I asked in place of them.

"Your Majesty, what brings you here?"

"What do you mean, what brings me here? I came to flatter you."

"That's not something that suits you, Your Majesty."

"Th-the White Desert Duke, Your Majesty."

How infamous must he be for even a commoner, who would never normally meet him, to recognize him?

The young man gritted his teeth and trembled violently.

I’m proud of you, Cruello! Your presence is truly overwhelming.

"Shall we go inside and talk? If it's alright, it would be best to bring this friend along as well."

A follower of Recanon?

Since there was someone to take responsibility for him, I didn’t bother refusing.

Of course, I didn’t forget to add one more thing.

"If something bad happens, it’s Your Majesty's responsibility."

***

We moved to the reception room.

A low-ranking follower of Recanon, Cruello, and me.

When you think about it, it's truly a strange combination.

I left them to themselves, and I went to grab the holy water from the incident.

"Here, this is the holy water I received."

I lifted the bottle to make it visible.

The clear liquid sloshed around.

Joel—the name of the follower—looked at the tip of my fingers with desperate eyes.

"So, what do you plan to do with this?"

"The poison was probably swapped by someone. If it’s the holy water you had, there’s no reason the temple would doubt it, and they will recognize the truth."

It doesn’t sound that simple.

But even though he spoke like that, Joel’s expression was dark.

"I don’t even know why the priests were taken. They all used divine power, so their good intentions should have already been proven."

"Doesn’t the current temple have different goals?"

Cruello interrupted in a disinterested voice.

Ah, that’s true.

Recanon is the god of discipline and restraint.

It’s a sect that would punish things like late rising or gluttony, with a different set of values than the people today.

That’s Recanon’s “goodness,” the standard for being able to use divine power.

By the way, Pebula’s creed is “naturally,” so there’s no real difference with today's ideas.

"How would distributing poison to the people be considered good by any standards…?"

"Well, I wouldn’t know, I’m not one of their followers. You might be hiding something, too."

Cruello spoke coldly.

Knowing who’s behind it, his acting is excellent.

Joel might be trying to probe whether he was recruited by the Elder Council.

But since I didn’t call him to interrogate him, I returned the conversation to its flow.

"Actually, I think I understand how the holy water became poison."

"Really!?"

"I could help, if you answer just one thing for me."

"I’ll answer anything! Please, ask."

"Who is the evil god from 'Moromoro’s Sacrifice'?"

Cruello burst out laughing.

But I’m serious.

Although it might be self-justification, as a follower of Pebula, it’s a very important issue.

"Is the story based on real events?"

"Eh? Why are you suddenly talking about a play…"

"Hurry!"

"I... I don’t know much. The priest who wrote the puppet show script is currently being interrogated."

"Of course? So, who else?"

"Other than the priests, no one would know. We only study the current teachings..."

This is useless!

I sighed loudly and leaned my back against the chair.

Pebula, this person doesn’t know.

Then shouldn’t the person involved give me an answer?

But my god remained silent.

Am I even worse than an animal?

I felt like I wanted to vent my frustration on the world, but instead of tormenting an innocent person, I opened the vial of holy water.

And I showed Joel the bottom part of the seal.

"There’s something black on it, right? That’s the poison."

"Eh?"

Over time, the poison naturally blends in.

It’s plant-based poison, so I couldn’t detect it with just my senses.

"But it’s holy water. The peak of regenerative power shouldn’t be contaminated with poison..."

"It’s possible because it was weak. It may have lasted for a while, but as the poison increased, it got contaminated."

"Then... how did the noble’s bottle remain unaffected?"

"The pocket of my robe was narrow. My maid has an obsession with that sort of thing, so she stored it in a box with a hole in it."

It was originally a potion storage box.

Though it wasn’t intentional, my divine power likely helped nourish the holy water without me realizing.

Joel’s expression brightened, as if he thought it made sense.

"So, then we can prove the priests' innocence!"

"We can also prove the method of the crime."

"Eh?"

"Who else could have applied the poison inside the cork? It’s obvious it was someone on the inside."

If it wasn’t them...

Could someone have snuck in, opened the holy water bottle, applied poison to the cork, and then escaped without being caught?

The Elder Council might have the ability, but why would they bother?

It would be far easier to recruit an insider.

I wasn’t trying to undermine him, but Joel didn’t seem like the kind of follower who worshipped the god of discipline.

If the overall faith level is like this, it wouldn’t be difficult to lure out an immoral person.

"Moreover, no one would listen to the words of an ordinary follower."

"Then... what should I do?"

"You know someone influential, right? Saint Mamic?"

The person they say was symbolically set up by the temple to embrace heretics.

Though the power was handed to her intentionally, why couldn’t it be used for our side?

When I think of the Harvest Festival, Recanon used it quite well.

However, Joel’s face twisted.

"She’s not a follower of Recanon. She has no affiliation with our sect."

"Eh?"

"She suddenly appeared with Recanon’s sacred artifact and claimed to be the descendant of Saint Moromoro. It’s clear the temple created her using Recanon’s name."

"Oh. So, the artifact is fake?"

"It doesn’t seem like it’s fake... The temple says it was authenticated."

"A miracle? What power does it contain?"

"Even the priests don’t know. I’ve heard the records have been erased..."

The more I hear, the more it seems Mamic is legitimate.

Could these guys be the fake ones?

"Anyway, since she’s with the temple, she won’t help us."

"But didn’t they say Mamic was the one distributing the holy water at the puppet theater?"

"Th-that’s! We were also frustrated at being used without a choice..."

Wow, they’re using divine power even after scamming people?

...I thought to say that, but I swallowed the words.

It’s not because I feel guilty.

"Still, she used Recanon’s name to become a saint, right? We should meet her."

"I tried for a long time, hoping she’d meet me, but she never agreed."

I nodded at Joel’s frustrated voice.

He does seem like he has something to hide.

But even though he avoided me before, the situation is different now.

If Recanon gets falsely accused of poisoning, it will negatively affect the person who became a saint because of it.

What should I do?

It’s starting to intrigue me.

The person who wrote the script for the puppet show is also being questioned by the temple, so maybe I should visit and check out the sacred artifact in the meantime?

"Then, let’s meet her."

"Your Majesty? Did you just say 'we'?"

"You’re going with me, darling. Your eyes have already changed."

I instinctively touched my eyes.

He’s reading me!

"Y-you’re really helping me?"

Joel stood up abruptly, bowing at a 90-degree angle.

"Thank you, thank you!"

I guess I can’t back out now.