[CONTENT WARNING: The following chapter contains depictions of tragedy or violence that may be disturbing or traumatizing to some readers. Please proceed with caution.]
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I couldn’t bring myself to speak. I stood frozen, unable to step out of the carriage. I simply stared ahead, and I almost wanted to stop Reneben from getting out.
“…!”
But then, I saw a little girl stumble and collapse, and I had no choice but to move.
“…”
It felt like a long distance but she wasn’t far at all. The girl’s back was dyed black, in what I first thought was blood.
But it wasn’t blood. Her back itself was charred black and covered with deep whip marks, from which fresh blood seeped out.
Her face was even worse.
Half of her face was stripped to the bone.
It only took a second to take in the sight. The child writhed in pain, and I instinctively poured divine power into her.
I clenched my teeth and forced myself to speak, knowing that I couldn’t afford to show any distress.
“It’s okay. Easy now.”
It was really a good choice to wear my priest robes today. Even as she clung to me desperately, she seemed reassured rather than frightened.
As I slowly poured divine energy into her, blood stopped seeping out of her skin and new skin formed over the areas that had peeled off.
In the distance, I saw Reneben tending to a man whose foot was practically hacked off.
“You’ll be okay now.”
I didn’t think she needed any more divine power. Of course…I knew all too well that this wasn’t the end of it.
I got up quickly and moved to the next without even the frame of mind to look back at the child I had just helped.
…There were too many.
Even in a livestock pen, you wouldn’t find a stench like this.
A pile of corpses lay stacked in one corner.
The nauseating sight made bile rise in my throat, but I forced it back down.
With such weak and injured bodies, these people were hauling heavy loads or digging into the earth.
“…Hey, look at me. Can you open your mouth for me?”
My robes trailing on the floor became cumbersome, so I tore the side of my skirt as I crouched down beside a middle-aged woman, who was sitting on the ground.
I forced her mouth open.
Her gums were swollen and raw, and she had no teeth left. I knew it must be excruciating but I pressed down firmly on her gums.
My divine power could restore teeth. Things like severed limbs were beyond me, but for teeth…
Sure enough, though not fully, some of her teeth began to grow back. I also healed the torn flesh around her shoulder.
“Alois, stop standing around and gather everyone here. Bring those who can’t move themselves too…please.”
Now I understood what Alois was saying.
I had been naive. Even though I had braced myself for something horrific, this was beyond anything I could imagine.
A place so cruel and filthy that even slaves were treated better than this.
A place so vile that even I wanted to look away.
“Don’t cry. It’s okay, relax.”
It was hard to console the pitiful children.
There were those whose entire bodies were barely intact, and there were others whose lives were hanging by a thread.
If this was the sacrifice of the people that Alois spoke of, then I…
“Gather everyone. Even if I collapse, I am going to help them.”
I was this close to tossing the ornate jewels on my head and throwing away the decorative pieces adorning my robes.
* * *
It wasn’t that I couldn’t change the Empire with my own hands.
If I wanted to make them submit through unadulterated violence, I could have done that a long time ago.
But if I did it that way, things might look different on the outside but in reality, nothing would have changed. You can never know what is happening on the inside and that is why I took Alois’s hand.
Because he could see what I could not.
“Lady Emilone, people from royal palace are here.”
The knights who were clearly in charge of overseeing these people and ordering them around were visibly shaken. For a while now, they stood far at the edge, seemingly afraid to even move.
“…Maybe I should chop their heads off and send them to the king as a wake-up call.”
“…”
“I’m kidding. If we throw them in with the people, the people will vent their anger on them so just put them in carriage we came in.”
However, I didn’t want to push down my power and turn a blind eye to atrocities like this.
Even if I had to crush and trample my way through, I was going to drag the King of Vermont down from his throne. And once that is done…someone is going to have to take his place.
I clenched my teeth and wiped the sweat dripping from my forehead.
“This is already the fifth day. You should rest.”
Alois said calmly as he covered me with his coat.
For a moment, the rush of exhaustion tempted me to close my eyes, for even a second, but I shook my head.
Every time I lifted my head, I saw the endless masses of people. I couldn’t stop.
“Let Reneben rest for a bit longer. And what is the temple of the Vermont doing? Why haven’t they sent any aid?”
I was drenched in blood—not my own, but that of others.
This was nothing short of psychological torture.
The cries of the wounded were endless. Many begged to be treated first, while parents carried their children, pleading for help.
For five nights, without sleep or food, I had devoted myself to healing these innocent people.
Yet the line of those needing help didn’t seem to shorten.
“Lady Emilone, you have to rest and preserve your strength otherwise, you might not survive this if it becomes a prolonged battle.”
“Regardless of how I seem, I am that which is extolled as a child of God. Even if I don’t sleep for a month, I will be fine.”
A month…I’m not even sure this could be finished in a month. I had healed hundreds, if not thousands, every single day.
With help from the jewelry shop that Alois secretly operated in Vermont, we had some means of protecting the people treated.
I wanted nothing more than to get everyone out of this nauseating space.
But Alois once said that the victims were nearly the entire population of the kingdom.
There is no way this would be easy.
These people had long since lost the very foundation of their lives. The country itself was no longer performing its function.
…At this rate, this might really become a prolonged battle.
* * *
It was when I could no longer bear to breathe that I sent Reneben to the temple.
I had no idea how many days it had been since I last slept or ate, and my anger at the lack of support from the Vermont Kingdom’s temple was about to reach its peak.
“We greet…Your Holiness, the Saintess.”
Out of the pit of suffering came priests dressed in pristine white robes and paladins with gaunt appearances.
Their faces were twisted with anguish and when they saw me, their shoulders trembled as if they were shamed.
“…I won’t ask why you’re late. You know what needs to be done, do you not?”
Despite everything, this was still a temple of a kingdom, and it had a considerable number of priests.
My vision blurred and I blinked a few times to clear my sight.
Every single priest wore an expression of guilt and something I couldn’t grasp, and their faces looked like herbivores that were being chased.
But they didn’t need to be told twice and quickly got to work. I exhaled heavily, focusing straight ahead.
“Lady Emilone, you need to stop now.”
Alois grabbed my shoulder and gently pulled me back. That small motion was enough to make me stagger.
“Look at this. You barely have the strength to stand.”
“Alois, let go.”
“I refuse.”
“Alois.”
“I won’t repeat myself either. Aid has arrived, and now it’s your turn to rest.”
The cold expression on Alois’s face stopped me in my tracks. I had never seen him look so cold, a chill that I never thought existed.
“…But—.”
“You might be the Saintess, but you are still human. If you collapse, think of the lives that will be lost during that time.”
“…”
Nearly the entire population of the Kingdom of Vermont was suffering.
All because of their king and their nobles’ indulgence.
The kingdom was an island nation.
Its people had no freedom to migrate, nor did they possess the power to stage a coup.
For people who had never used anything but farm tools, it was all too easy for those armed with swords to suppress them with violence.
Disobedience was met with death, and displeasure was punished with abuse. The battered were then forced to labor for royalty and nobility.
It was such a cruel and horrific behavior.
The more I thought about it, the more my anger boiled.
Even the looming fatigue was pushed aside whenever I shifted my gaze. Every second felt too precious to waste.
Saving a life every few seconds held immeasurable value, something Alois couldn’t truly grasp.
I doubt Alois could understand how meaningful every moment was when a life could be saved every few seconds.
“I can’t.”
Just as I turned my gaze, Alois, whose clothes were covered in dirt and blood just like me, covered my eyes with his hands.
When a large hand touched my eyes, I paused, and he spoke as if casting a spell.
“Rest, rest for just a little bit. I’ll wake you myself.”
With those words, he slowly lifted me into his arms.
I didn’t resist.
My body was so weak and in truth, I didn’t really have the mental energy to resist.
“This isn’t a burden you have to carry alone so please, get some sleep.”
Like magic, those words were the last thing I heard before I sank into slumber.
* * *
Every day felt like an ordeal.
Thanks to the many priests that were helping, the end finally seemed within reach.
“You can relieve someone’s suffering. You can take away their pain. But if you don’t have the power to do either of those, it is a dreadful thing to feel. Of course, if you lack power, you must grow it yourself.”
Alois, who had been carrying warm water and food, approached me and spoke softly. Blinking, I tried to make sense of his words.
“At first, I planned to overthrow King Vermont, find a royal I like and put them on the throne. But that would’ve caused an international issue.”
My condition had vastly improved, probably thanks to the sleep, so I was pouring power into the people in front of me.
- Emilone’s Temptation Labyrinth [Chapters 83 – 86] - March 16, 2025
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- Emilone’s Temptation Labyrinth – Chapter 81 - March 4, 2025