Chapter 197: The Mercy of God (2)

“Chief, I have returned.”

“I see. The Spiral fairy, Peophe.”

“Yes. You remember me.”

“Of course. Since you were born a year ago, no other fairy has been born.”

Peophe felt dejected.

The youngest of the seventy-two hierarchies of fairies.

The reason Igirin remembered her was only that.

Fairies had female form and could not reproduce.

To maintain the species, they could only wait for the birth of a new individual.

Peophe had been the first in almost ten years.

“What happened with the case of the fugitives? Were they Kanya and Lena?”

“Yes. I heard their confession and they cooperated with the investigation.”

“And the verdict?”

“A reduction of one year for both.”

“One year?”

Igirin’s face showed displeasure.

Peophe swallowed.

She did not doubt her decision.

But as a beginner, she could not be sure that it had been a correct judgment.

“You are young, but you are still an executor of the law. I must respect your judgment. Even so, I want to ask you something. Was there external pressure?”

“No. It was my decision.”

She had been threatened by Shirone, yes.

But she could not call it external pressure.

She understood that an excessive sentence was irrational, which was why she imposed one year.

Igirin looked at her with suspicion.

A reduction of only one year for escaping to Purgatory had never been imposed before.

For a fairy barely one year old, it was an unusual ruling.

“Did nothing else happen? I heard that heretics entered following the faithful.”

Peophe hesitated.

Strictly speaking, those accompanying Kanya were not heretics, but a Nephilim.

But if she told everything from the beginning, a different interpretation of the events might arise.

And that was not what she wanted.

“I did not see any heretics.”

Igirin waited for her to add something more.

The situation required additional explanation.

But Peophe said nothing.

Igirin sighed and waved her hand.

“Very well, you have worked hard. You may withdraw.”

“Yes. Rest well, Chief.”

Peophe bowed and withdrew.

When the door closed, Igirin looked up into the air.

Then she asked her subordinate, the fairy of Truth, Mer.

“What did you perceive?”

“Peophe told the truth. But she does not seem to have told everything.”

“I imagined as much. What could have happened? She is still at a stage where she should be learning more. I am worried that she is developing such a strong judgment at such a young age.”

Igirin rested her chin on her hand, thoughtful.

“Investigate the humans who entered Heaven following the faithful. At the meca headquarters there will be detailed records.”

“I depart immediately.”

Mer replied and left through an opening in the ceiling.

Igirin crossed her legs and rubbed the space between her eyebrows.

Zone 73 was known for being quiet, free of incidents.

And yet humans who were neither faithful nor heretics had entered there.

Her intuition, forged over three thousand years, evoked a name.

“Adrias Miro…”

***

“Ugh… I almost died of fright.”

Peophe walked toward her house with her body exhausted.

She had lived a whole year; she should be used to it.

But every time she saw Igirin, her body inevitably tensed.

Especially on days like today, when she had to make decisions on her own initiative.

“Ah… being an executor of the law is also hard.”

“Haha! What is hard about dealing with the faithful? If it is difficult for you, it is because you are incompetent.”

Peophe frowned when she heard the voice behind her.

When she turned around, she saw the three fairy sisters approaching with mocking smiles.

Before Peophe’s birth, they had been the youngest.

Fairies had no blood relations, but since they had been born around the same time they were called the three sisters.

“Good afternoon, seniors.”

Peophe forced a smile.

The three frowned even more.

They had not always had that face.

Fairies, born from concepts, easily reflected their emotions on their faces.

Any fairy who spent ten years being the youngest would end up like that.

“We already heard it. One year of punishment? You let yourself be manipulated by a human. We do not even need to see it to know.”

“No. I truly thought it was the right thing.”

“Oh really? Then it was a truly stupid judgment. From today you are officially a naive one. You had better not expect the faithful to respect you.”

The three fairy sisters covered their mouths and laughed loudly.

Peophe became furious, but she could not show it.

If she were marked by her direct superiors, she would suffer for her entire life.

And her entire life meant at least ten thousand years.

All she could do was endure.

When another younger fairy was born, they would stop bothering her.

“Anyway, do it well. Before, they would not even have allowed someone like you to be an executor. Since lately no concepts are being born, they are giving you this opportunity. Squeeze more out of the faithful!”

“I am doing it.”

“Doing what? What do you know, you who have barely been alive for a year?”

Peophe closed her mouth.

They had barely passed ten years, yet they still lectured her.

In a hierarchical society like that of the fairies, someone one year old had no voice.

“Understood? They must fear us. Only that way do the faithful obey. Make sure something like that does not happen again.”

After delivering the threat, the three left.

Peophe felt as if she had aged ten years in an instant.

For a moment she believed she could even confront them.

Of course, only in her imagination.

“Ugh… I am exhausted. I want to go home.”

With her limbs limp, her flight wavered.

***

The next morning.

The central plaza of district 73 of Shamayin, where the Liquor of Anecdotes was expected, was agitated since early morning.

The meca checked the devices.

The nor checked the spells incorporated into the ritual.

When the kergoinos began the rehearsal with the selected ones, Shirone’s chest tightened.

A rehearsal for a ceremony where people die?

How insignificant did the god of Heaven consider human life?

When the preparations were finished, the selected ones said goodbye to their families.

Among them was Kanya’s mother.

“Mom! Mom!”

Lena’s tears would not stop.

Even the brave Kanya was now only a daughter who had to say goodbye to her mother.

When the moment of the ritual approached, Kanya took Epines and Corpin from her chest.

“Drink it. It will help you.”

Shirone knew what it was.

After understanding what the Liquor of Anecdotes really was, his heart became even heavier.

What could stimulants or sedatives do in a situation like this?

In truth, he did not know.

If even the brain dissolved to become a giant, it was impossible to know how their consciousnesses were transformed.

Perhaps it was better than nothing.

For a father or a mother, there is no greater comfort than the remedy that their child brings them.

When everything was ready, the faithful formed a circle around the statue.

It was the same as what Shirone had seen in the memory.

The difference was that now there were ten selected ones.

According to Kanya, the one who executed the Liquor was the oldest person in the district.

Being the oldest meant having continuously received life extension.

He was the most faithful of the faithful.

This time as well the executor was a kergoino.

A robust young man, although he was one hundred eighty-seven years old.

He belonged to the kergoin nobility and would soon achieve immortality to ascend to the Third Heaven, Shehakim.

“From now on the Liquor of Anecdotes will be executed! Let the selected ones step forward!”

The ten stepped toward the glass spheres.

If they said they were not afraid, it would be a lie.

To dissolve in a strange substance in order to merge with others was, for a human, a deeply disturbing death.

“Mom! Mom!”

Kanya tried to run, but her father held her.

Although the mother heard her daughter’s voice, she did not turn around.

Everyone did the same.

The selected ones smiled for their families.

The families hid their pain for the selected ones.

Shirone did not consider it beautiful.

He did not know what value the Liquor had for the faithful, but accepting such magic was already a mistake.

The selected ones undressed and entered the spheres.

They sat on the cold glass and closed their eyes to pray.

Shirone’s indignation exploded.

What were they praying for?

What god could they praise, if he led them to death?

“This is murder. I cannot allow it.”

He finally said it out loud.

It was the conclusion he had reached after thinking all night.

He had to stop the Liquor of Anecdotes.

If you understood that it was murder, anyone would do the same.

Shirone walked toward the statue.

He had to stop the ritual before they died.

Tess grabbed his arm.

“Shirone, wait. I am furious too. But this is not our world. In every country its own law is followed.”

“I do not know who said that, but it is only a human idea. Kanya’s mother did not commit any crime. She cannot die like this, under any circumstances.”

“And what can we do? Even if we stop the Liquor, her life expectancy ends today. Risking ourselves will only put us in danger.”

“No. She may not die today.”

“What?”

The Liquor was carried out even in the face of doubts because Ra dominated life expectancy.

If they were going to die today anyway, they obeyed.

But Shirone had said that the law was wrong.

If the Liquor contained a flaw, the faithful were being deceived.

It was a fraud.

And if that was so, the situation could still change.

“Inject the vital fuel! The Liquor of Anecdotes begins!”

The executor gave the order.

The kergoinos hurried.

Once the liquid began to rise, there would be no second chance.

They did not know when the disintegration would begin, but before that would come suffocation.

When a kergoino approached the device, Shirone shouted.

“Wait! I cannot allow the Liquor of Anecdotes!”

All eyes turned toward him.

It was easy to see him, alone in the middle of the plaza.

But they did not understand his words.

Shirone looked at Arin.

She sighed and stepped forward.

She knew Shirone’s cautious personality better than anyone.

If he had made a decision, he would not step back.

Arin expanded her Spirit Zone.

Mental magicians were experts in tentacular techniques, but for a crowd it was enough to expand the domain.

Shirone repeated his words.

The meaning penetrated the minds of the faithful.

It was an ability similar to that of the fairies.

But the content could not be ignored.

Hostility appeared in their eyes.

Considering Ra’s ritual evil was clearly heretical speech.

The executor exploded.

“With what authority do you say it cannot be allowed? Are you not a faithful? Do you wish to die without the chance to be reborn?”

“I am a Nephilim.”

Silence immediately fell.

Even in the original world, the immortal function was not something attainable for just anyone.

In district 73, it was the first time they had seen a Nephilim.

The executor was also bewildered.

He had faithfully fulfilled Ra’s will for one hundred eighty-seven years.

That age was his medal.

But before a Nephilim, it was worth nothing.

The Nephilim was a descendant of an angel.

Although he could not intervene directly in the law, his existence was different from that of the faithful.

“A Nephilim… why do you feel rejection toward the Liquor of Anecdotes? This is a law established by God.”