Chapter 167: Sin and Punishment (8)

Chapter 167: Sin and Punishment (8)

The Old Order priests protest to Dolores.

"Saint, did you even realize what you were doing?"

"The deceased Guilty was a devout member of this Church, how dare you read from his letters during his lifetime!"

"It is even a conversation with Cardinal Humbert, and it is confidential, confidential!"

"How dare you release such a thing to the public...!?"

They seemed afraid of losing the credit to the New Order priests.

They say that a crisis is an opportunity, and in a situation like this, healing the sick and comforting the victims is a way to strengthen an image.

So the Old Order priests were eager to get to work on disaster recovery.

This is why Dolores, Mozgus, and other New Order priests complained that they were being prevented from doing so.

... But their complaints were short-lived.

"Quiet."

They froze in their seats as Dolores's cold gaze met theirs.

It was the first time they had ever seen such a cold, piercing gaze from the normally warm and compassionate woman.

It was frightening to see someone so gentle when they were angry.

Dolores's single line brought the Old Order priests to a standstill.

And her next recitation had them all turning blue in the face.

"Baron Gorg, murder of a groom who resisted while exercising his right to first night, subsequent suicide of the bride, heavily punishment of the family, resulting in the destruction of the family, pardoned by the payment of a billion gold in donation!"

"Viscountess Moscoe, fraudulently getting her sons hired at the Imperial Central Bank and promoting them up the ranks, resulting in many job candidates with passing grades being rejected due to her sons rushing in! Pardoned with a 200 million gold donation per son!"

"Mr. Guerrasso! Embezzlement, dishonesty, and manipulation of the stock price to the detriment of shareholders to the tune of nearly 20 billion gold! Pardoned with a 50 million gold donation!"

"Madame Pierre! Kidnapping and imprisoning underage boys with nowhere else to go, sexually exploiting them, and forcing them into illegal labor! Pardoned with an donation of 15 million gold!"

"Cult leader Manimani! Intentionally spreading the plague to all corners of the country and paralyzing the local economy! Pardoned with 100 million gold in donations!"

.

.

The full extent of Guilty's indulgence was revealed.

A long list of grave sins that could never be forgiven as they were.

And the sums paid for them were often paltry and inadequate to the crime.

Inquisition.

How can someone wear the clothes of a saint while wearing a human mask and forgive something like this?

Even the protesting Old Order priests could hardly believe their ears.

Her determination was such that even her opponents, the Old Order priests, were moved to silence for a moment.

At the same time, Dolores felt her legs relax.

She was thankful that the flowing white skirt of her priestly robes hid the tremor.

Mozgus, who was beside her, supported her.

"That was an excellent rebuttal, Sister. You're absolutely right! This Mozgus is deeply moved."

"...I'm out of my mind."

Dolores thought of what had happened last night, or rather, this morning.

After the Night Hound's departure, the energy that had made her body so hard and strong had vanished like a lie.

She spoke cheerfully, recalling her overflowing strength, but in truth it was only a psychological factor; the strength itself had long since disappeared.

'The Pope once said. A saint can only be awakened when she finds a true soul mate.'

The resonance of the soul, the assimilation of emotions, the resulting explosion of divine power.

In other words, this means that you gain the ability to multiply your power.

How do we make this 'awakening' more than a temporary thing, but a permanent one?

Now that the Night Hound is gone, there's no one to ask and no one to test.

'The older classical saints often spoke of awakening in the past, and I wish I had listened to them a little more, instead of dismissing them as empty words.'

Dolores still hadn't figured out why the Night Hound could be her resonance, her 'awakening condition'.

There is no way for her to know that this is because Vikir is the only veteran who came from the Age of Destruction and knows the true 'Destruction'.

...Whatever.

The man chosen by Rune.

At this point, only he is worthy of being her 'soul mate'.

Dolores raised her head once more at this.

Then he spoke in a low voice.

"'The Night Hound'. I must see him again."

At that moment.

... poof! ... poof! ... poof!

The sound of a mana screenshot exploding behind her.

Dolores spun around in surprise to find a crowd of reporters who had somehow gotten this close.

The reporters rushed forward and spoke in unison.

"The Holy Lady has declared a 'holy war' against the Night Hound!"