Chapter 111 – 8. Prometheus (8)※
Empire.
Its correct name is the Sorby Empire.
It was a name that somehow reminded me of the Soviet Union.
As if even now, a bright red flag is fluttering somewhere, comrades in the revolution, stand up!! It was the same name that would resonate with the same slogan, but it was surprisingly ordinary if ordinary.
A country where all supernatural powers except divine power and aura are banned.
A country where non-human races cannot be recognized as citizens, and cannot even enter unless they are diplomats or similar.
That’s why Yuria was curious about what the empire would look like.
Surprisingly, crossing the border of the empire ended in vain.
After confirming that there were no heterogeneous people in the carriage and seeing that it passed so easily, Yuria looked at Cashwyn with a puzzled look, and Cashewwin just shrugged her shoulders.
“I don’t know. I’m new to the empire.”
“…”
“I, too, went back and forth at least to a foreign country, but I was a native of Selton, except for when I followed my older brother when I was young, that is, Roa’s father and teacher…”
“You seem to know pretty well about that.”
At Loa’s words, Cashwyn shrugged her shoulders.
“Well, among the people I met, there were people from the Empire and people who went to the Empire. I’ve heard quite a few things. What kind of country is the Empire? What to be careful about in the Empire?”
The Sorby Empire was red everywhere.
However, it was red in a different way from the reason Yuria thought it would be red.
Some of the buildings were made of ordinary stone, but most of the buildings were built with bright red clay bricks and wood.
There, something resembling reddish cement was reminiscent of the technology of Rome, one of the ancient empires.
It was such a look that made me wonder what it would look like if Rome had not perished and continued to advance its civilization.
Only then did Yuria see the floor and realized that the roads had a lot in common with Roman roads.
An empire very much like Rome.
Ironically, unlike Rome, which is polytheistic, the Sorbi Empire believes in only Thevenoa, the god of humans, as the only god. However, he did not reject other gods.
I just don’t serve.
The landscape of the Sorby Empire was a truly bizarre feeling.
If Selton or Gash are early medieval, if classified according to the 21st century classification method, this place feels almost modern beyond the Middle Ages.
However, it felt like a modern wind as if the industrial type name hadn’t happened.
‘It’s strange… ‘
The reason was different from YuRia, but Cashwyn and Roa seemed to feel similarly, but they were looking around implicitly without showing it.
Compared to the Shelton Kingdom we lived in or the Gash Alliance, where we had been living for quite some time, the city, which seemed to be more developed at a glance, seemed somehow intimidating.
In the eyes of Yuria, it was there after all.
Isn’t it a stone after all?
“I thought it sounded familiar, but was the mansion that Yuria built an imperial style?”
“Hmmm, I’m not sure, but I think our mansion is more amazing than this one?”
Big hum.
At the words of the two, Yuria admitted that she was wrong.
Not because it’s great… Was it because it looked worse than our mansion?
But.
According to Yuria’s own standards, her general architecture is far from satisfactory. She built it using the maximum technique among the structures possible with the technology of this age, and that’s for sure.
I live in a house with a multi-arch structure that is so complex that even Tondef can’t understand it properly, but Charlie catches my eye with the level of ordinary 2-3 complex arches…
YuRia, who was trying to get up from her seat, staggered and almost fell in front of her, but she was able to avoid falling thanks to her Roa who quickly reached out and grabbed her.
“Ah, thank you…”
“Are you okay? Are you having a hard time?”
At Roa’s words, Yuria just put on a sad expression.
It’s not like there’s anything wrong with her body, but since her spiritual body is tired, her physical body is also starting to be affected.
She didn’t want to cause Loa this much concern…
“Really… Is there only such a terrible way to get out of this?”
“… Sorry”
“That’s nothing to be sorry about…”
YuRia just lowered her head a little and let out a sigh at her sorrow.
Finding the temple was easier than she thought.
It was the largest and most splendid place on the highest point in the village, so we knew it without asking anyone, and we headed for the temple by driving a wagon.
* * *
“From here on, you cannot enter by carriage.”
There was still quite a bit left in the temple, but the guards blocked the entry of any more wagons.
In reality, not a single wagon was visible behind the guard, all were walking on foot.
“Then what should I do with the wagon?”
“It fits in a hotel or inn, or you can park it in a common settlement a short distance from here, but please be careful. If you have valuables in the wagon, I would recommend not to park it there.”
At the guard’s words, Cashwin sighed and looked around.
“I’ll have to start looking for a place to stay. I don’t know how long I’ll be here, so let’s try 3 days.”
In order to find accommodation as close to the temple as possible, the party had to wander around the streets for quite some time.
The party, who had been thinking for a long time considering the distance from the temple and the quality and price of the lodging, thought of YuRia, who seemed very tired, and found a high-end lodging, even if it was a bit expensive.
At Roa’s glance at her and her glance at her, Yuria quietly informed her of her height and her weight.
“139.2cm 39.1kg”
Yuria, whose dark circles were deeply sunken, might not even have the energy to speak.
“Really… Can you endure that punishment in this condition?”
“Haa… If you can’t stand that, you’ll die dreaming anyway…”
At YuRia’s words, Roa looked at her as if the disintegration of her body and her dream were different, but YuRia shook her head.
“As long as her height is not restored, she can survive even if her body is broken… Maybe Cashwyn knows. How much I’ve been broken and not died.”
Oh, Cashwyn? As she did, she remembered what Yuria had become in her past battle with the Winter Queen.
Yuria was alive, crushed and crushed to such an extent that it was difficult to recognize her shape, so that it could only be seen as a piece of her flesh.
Of course. She seems to have been able to sustain her life because of the power of the hibis flower that she had taken in large quantities, but considering that she was dying at the time, she was able to survive the worst condition even now. Is there?
“Yeah. No, a little more than that.”
At that, Cashew Wynn let out a sigh.
“Then, how long does it take to die from physical damage to the body?”
“If you turn it into ash or melt it, it will die. Or grind it completely.”
All of Yuria’s words were quite extreme.
“Is it non-maintenance?”
“No, really… I won’t die unless my soul is shattered to the point where it can’t recognize my body. Even if it does, I won’t die completely.”
At those words, Cashwin murmured and pondered for a moment.
“If you don’t think you can finish that punishment in time, then maybe getting rid of your body is the only way you can live?”
“It’s useless, even if I don’t have my body, the dream will continue. And in the end I will disappear.”
YuRia sighed softly.
“The world bizarrely twists what should have been done with a single, terribly terrible experience, and instead made it a dream, so that the punishment would continue as if it hadn’t actually happened.”
“So… If you proceed with the punishment in the temple instead, will this dream end?”
“I don’t know exactly… Maybe God knows. But maybe it will.”
At YuRia’s words, Cashwyn took notice of her and didn’t ask any more.
Okay. If I say more here, this is also a statement about the future.
After a while Cashew Wynn grabbed her quarters and hit her wagon, and we entered the room.
With Roa’s support, Delis followed her carrying her luggage instead.
I don’t know if the inn’s room is very good from YuRia’s point of view, but Roana Delis seemed a little surprised to see if it was better than expected.
“You look a lot stronger than you think.”
“Above all, the finish is quite neat. It’s a little high-class inn, but it’s not even for aristocrats, but it’s an inn for wealthy commoners and adventurers, but it’s this good… Compared to inns for nobles operated by the kingdom, this may not be enough in terms of dignity, but in terms of quality It’s almost on par.”
Cashwyn groaned and looked around.
“Looks like it’s soundproofed pretty well.”
“…”
At the mention of her soundproofing, Yuria let out a sigh of relief.
If it was before, if it meant that I would not be embarrassed to share her love with Loa.
It means that even if I scream in my sleep now, I will not be a nuisance.
If you do something wrong, you could be kicked out while sleeping for a long time.
“Let’s go to the temple soon. There’s still a lot of time left, so it’s better to get rid of it quickly. It’s best to finish while you have a little bit more stamina left.”
At Cashwynn’s words, Roa and Delis nodded bitterly.
Like that. Yuria rode on Loa’s back and headed for Thebanoa Temple.
* * *
A well-paved, straight road. Neat and well-organized buildings.
As a loa, the appearance of the empire, which was too neat to be called a village on the outskirts of the border, was quite interesting.
From what I’ve heard, there are no special products here, and there are no gwanggwang streets.
It was a village on the outskirts with nothing special except for being located on the border.
Nevertheless, the appearance of the town, which was maintained similarly to the capital of the kingdom, with less splendor, made Loa feel the power of the empire.
Where commoners live. If even the outskirts, which are not very special, are like this, what would a developed downtown look like?
Could this be the strength of the empire? Do.
“What does Yuria think of this place?”
“Well…”
While on the road, a wagon suddenly turned a curve, broke the outer wheel, and began to lean.
As the cargo on top of the wagon poured down and the rather heavy wagon collapsed and attacked us, Cashwin unconsciously used a defensive magic.
Quaang -!!
The wagon crashed over the barrier and made a rough sound as it slid sideways, and only after the wagon passed, Cashwin’s complexion turned pale because he had used magic.
“Ah, my…”
“Oh, mister?”
“It’s happened…”
Seeing the guards running from afar, Cashwyn quietly raised his hand.
“Catch them all!”
“Hey, wait!? It’s me who used the magic! Take me alone!!”
“Noisy! Send them all!!”
Seeing the guards surrounding his party, Cashwyn appealed to them again.
“One of the party’s life is in danger… It’s me who used the magic, please…”
“Mister…”
In response, the guards roughly restrained Cashwyn and arrested Delis and Loa as well.
YuRia, who is having a hard time even standing on her own, wondered if she was going to tie her up, but fortunately, as she saw Yuria being loaded onto a small cart brought from somewhere with only minimal restraints, Roa sighed in relief, but she was so worried about what to do now. It became.
And what will become of Uncle Cashewyn…
Coincidentally, the party who was dragged away by the guards thought it was fortunate that the place where the guards were headed was the temple, but they began to worry about how this would turn out.
Now that she was brought in as a criminal, will the temple really treat Yuria?
And what will happen to Mr. Cashewwin and themselves.
“Follow me”
In front of the temple, the guard handed us over to what seemed to be a paladin inside the temple, and then went back, and we followed the paladin into the temple.
Inside the temple, something unique was flowing.
Should I say pious? Or should I say that it landed heavily.
More than anything. Now that they were brought in so absurdly, they were in no position to say anything.
“I’m sorry… I stopped using magic…”
“No. If you hadn’t used magic at that time, we would have been seriously injured.”
“…No, it would have been better to get hurt there.”
Cashew Winn let out a sigh of relief.
“Please, give me a chance to defend…”
Roa and Cashwin, who followed the presumed paladin with a heavy heart, looked at Yuria on the cart he was pushing.
“Mister, what shall we do now?”
“I don’t know… But I heard that the heretic judgment in Tebanoa is very harsh…”
Through a long hallway When I passed through a wide empty lot and entered a building whose purpose was unknown, a person who appeared to be a high-ranking priest was sitting at a desk writing papers.
“What’s going on?”
“Heretics and their associates who used magic within the Empire.”
“You have good guts… You dare to use magic within the empire.”
Cashwin cringed in front of the priest and hesitated several times before opening his mouth.
“Boo, please. Please give me a chance to defend myself.”
“Advocate, yes, tell me”
“I had no intention of using magic at all. However, the wheel of a wagon turning a corner on the road broke and the wagon fell toward us, so I unwittingly used defensive magic. I hope you will take advantage of this.”
The high-ranking priest in front of him quietly rose from his seat.
“You don’t even know yourself. Are you that engrossed in heretical ways?”
“…”
Something seemed to have gotten worse.
“But that’s good. If one of you undergoes a purification ritual, I’ll let you go.”
Cashwyn became angry at those words.
I don’t know what the ritual of purification is, but it seems that there is no law to die.
“Go, thank you”
“Thanks… I wonder if you can say that after seeing what a purification ritual is.”
The priest sat down again and gave instructions to the paladin who was waiting.
“Take the sinners to the ceremonial hall”
“Okay. Now, follow me. I’ll guide you to the ceremony room.”
While following the paladin, the party began to worry about something.
I wondered if I could say thank you even after seeing what the ceremony was, because I thought that the ritual of purification was something out of the ordinary.
“Ah, mister…”
“…”
No way. Do I have to die
I think I was kind enough…
However, that thought disappeared after he arrived at the ceremonial grounds and saw them there.
A hollow statue of a bull made of bronze with firewood piled beneath it.
They hadn’t yet told me what a cleansing ritual was, but just by looking at it now, I could tell what it was.
“Choose. Who will receive the rite of purification?”
In fact, now they were telling us to choose one person to die as their representative.
“Uncle… This is…”
“…”
She thought she had to step in, but Cashwyn couldn’t seem to get off her feet.
It would be scary if I just died, but I would sacrifice myself for the sake of my children.
But this was too scary.
Being locked in a bronze bull and being roasted to death…
“Tea, I’d rather be beheaded or hanged…”
“The ritual cannot be changed. If God forgives, you will live. If you do not forgive, you will die. Decide now. Who will receive the rite of purification?”
Meanwhile, Yuria, who was lying on the cart, raised her hand.
“U-Yuria!?”
“Oh, no! Yuria, you…”
Yuria barely got up from the cart and she had firmly announced her intention to receive the ceremony herself.
“It’s okay… I won’t die from this…”
Yuria, who was staggering with her pale complexion, gulped and swallowed her saliva.
Are you okay. If it’s the suit’s protection ability, it won’t be anything…
“Okay. But you shouldn’t be wearing that artifact.”
“!!…”
YuRia flinched.
Shu, suit… Without?
“Yuria!!”
“It’s not Yuria, I’m the hippo! Even now, I’d rather…”
“Ceremonial applicants cannot be changed midway”
At those words, Yuria grabbed her by the collar and took a deep breath before summoning the suit inside her clothes to the other side of her space.
“It would be good to remember that resisting with magical power only increases the punishment.”
“…”
At those words, Yuria gulped again and swallowed her saliva.
Painkillers too. I can’t even use life support magic.
She had to endure only with her own bare body.
“It’s okay… As I said before, I won’t die at this rate, so you don’t have to worry.”
Roa’s heart sank even more heavily when she saw Yuria talking with an expression like a cow being led to the slaughterhouse.
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean it’s not painful!!”
“…”
Staggering in front of the bronze bull, YuRia saw her bite and the lid opened on her yellow bull’s back, and her breath began to quicken.
Are you okay…
Don’t die
I’m not dying like this…
But…
Swallowing her saliva, YuRia stumbled as she struggled to climb into her bull.
When Yuria went inside the bull, her paladin closed the bull’s lid and it was empty! And the sound of the ox’s lid closing echoed so heavily.
With a clunk, the bull’s lid was closed, and the paladin went to the furnace, took a torch wrapped in oiled cloth next to it, lit the fire, and approached the bull.
The fire did not catch easily, so there was silence for a while, and the loa begged again and again that the fire would not catch on very much like this, but soon the fire started to spread to the firewood pile.
The flames that started to catch fire quickly spread and grew in momentum, and when she saw the flames burning fiercely as she engulfed the firewood pile, Cashwyn fell to her knees with guilt that weighed down on her so heavily.
“U-Yuriaaaaase rate…”
Veo Ooh Ooe ―――
And at that moment, a very desperate cry came from the bull.
How many times how many times Continue…
