Let There Be Punishment for the Sinner (1)

She rode her warhorse out of the church territory recklessly, without clearly thinking of a destination.

Late at night.

In that landscape that was not just quiet but downright gloomy, Scarlet was sprawled lifelessly on her warhorse. Her injuries still hadn’t properly healed, and her body, which needed more rest, wasn’t cooperating with her mind, making it extremely difficult.

The special armor powered by holy energy also served to conceal her small body, making her appear larger. It also supplemented her with strength far superior to her original self, and holy power usage efficiency incomparable to other cathedral knights.

But it’s also that much heavier. If Scarlet’s body had been in a normal state, this armor would have surely been equipment that granted her abilities as excellent as her own body, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case now. Her body craved rest, healing, and needed a longer period of treatment.

Because she rejected that and acted out, she ended up like this. With her strength so depleted that she couldn’t even properly look at a map to see where she was going, she was now on the verge of fainting, sprawled on her warhorse in the middle of the night in these mountains.

‘Senior, Senior…’

In her blurring vision, Scarlet kept repeating Johannes’ name. The illusions of Johannes that frequently appeared before her eyes were like a whip, asking if she was going to collapse in a place like this.

Sometimes it urged her to get up and run again in a stern voice, and sometimes it offered comfort in a kind voice. But now, right now— when she actually wanted to hear his voice. Now, Johannes’ voice couldn’t be heard at all.

‘Where… where should I go?’

Even though she tried to repeat it inwardly, there was no answer. Even if she wanted to call out loudly asking why he wasn’t answering, she didn’t even have the strength for that. Johannes, Johannes, Johannes Spielvan. Ah— Senior. My senior. Why, why won’t you guide me? Why aren’t you appearing anymore?

From somewhere in the distance, a sound like a demon beast howling could be heard. At the long, tearing howl that instinctively triggered fear, the stationary warhorse shuddered and neighed.

• • Thud!

    Because of this, Scarlet, who had been sprawled on the horse’s back, slid off and eventually fell.

    Due to the inherently heavy armor, as soon as she fell, a deep imprint was left on the ground.

“Kuh.”

Even her scream was weak due to her lack of strength. Scarlet struggled to move her body, barely managing to lay her fallen body straight, that was all.

Looking up blankly at the sky, the moon was piercingly bright. Due to it being midwinter, the winter wind blew constantly, and the bare branches trembled as they faced that wind head-on. The moon hanging between them shone white, and was piercingly white.

“Senior…”

“I…”

“I… was wrong…”

Tears flowed down from her tightly closed eyes. For the first time, she uttered words of apology. However, that apology would not reach the one it should go to. Already knowing this, she soon sank into regret.

“Senior… I, I was wrong…”

Wasn’t Johannes always devout, and armed with unwavering faith?

Wasn’t Johannes always showing her a warm and fresh smile?

To such a person, what exactly had Scarlet done?

Scarlet struggled to get up. Leading her barely movable body, Scarlet reverently knelt down. Touching the storage compartment on her back to open the hatch, a dagger immediately came to hand. Scarlet, who drew that dagger, placed it down in front of her.

“If one has done wrong, it’s natural to receive punishment, isn’t it, Senior?”

Scarlet’s eyes flashed bizarrely.

Thinking about it, it was simple logic. If you do wrong, you get punished. Scarlet had not yet been punished. How had Scarlet treated the one who was the most valuable, the brightest, and the most brilliant in her life? The reason that she had cognitive impairment due to the ban had long since flown out of her mind.

She should have recognized him. She should have recognized Johannes. At the very least, when he revealed himself to be Johannes Spielvan, she should have realized it then. But she didn’t. Yes, that’s right. So—

‘I must be punished.’

But how to receive punishment? There was no one to give punishment, only the one to be punished was here.

If you think about it, it’s a simple matter. She had to impose punishment on herself. Since Scarlet was the one who handled Johannes Spielvan’s duties in his absence, it was simple if she thought of this punishment as part of those duties. The answer is simple. Yes, that’s it.

Although the forest was full of moonlight, the well-maintained dagger didn’t reflect light. The dagger, which was quietly ink-black as if melted into the darkness, seemed to clearly show how well it was usually maintained.

Scarlet quietly looked down at that dagger. Without even a hint of hesitation, Scarlet gripped the dagger and slowly raised it. And then, she quietly put it down again.

She was wearing gauntlets. What kind of punishment would it be to strike down on these gauntlets with the dagger? Johannes’ voice seemed to ring in her ears, saying, “If you’re going to do it, do it properly, if you’re not going to do it right, then quit—”

Quietly taking off the gauntlets and placing them folded beside her, Scarlet gripped the dagger again. Placing her left palm on the ground, and aiming the dagger— Thwack.

The ink-black dagger pierced straight through Scarlet’s hand and stuck into the ground. Pain like a fire igniting seemed to sear through her brain. Pain that heated her brain, and as if that wasn’t enough, seemed to burn even her spinal cord.

“Kuh, ugh, ah, urgh…!”

A heavily suppressed groan escaped. The trickle of blood that peeked out soon overflowed through the gaps in her hand without hesitation, beginning to dye the ground red.

It hurt. It hurt so much. It seemed like the limit of pain her body could endure had already been far surpassed. At the pain like being burned by fire, Scarlet trembled and curled up her body.

“Punish… punishment… Is it, is it… not enough…? Senior…?”

She still couldn’t hear Senior’s voice. Scarlet pulled out the dagger that had pierced her hand and struck down again. Splash— The flowing blood splattered in droplets. Her nerves, highly aroused and sensitized, shoved pain into her brain that was incomparably amplified compared to just before.

Still, still it wasn’t enough.

“Uu, uhu, huuu…”

With a beastlike groan, Scarlet curled up her body.

Johannes’ voice still couldn’t be heard.

The carriage heading towards Albre changed direction in an instant, and having changed direction like that, it was now running on the road leading to the port of Capatia, leaving the Medial Plains.

“Why are you saying this only now?”

“No, I was going to tell you. But there wasn’t really an opportunity… No, more than that, I clearly told you that the schedule would be greatly delayed, didn’t I?”

Yona glared at Ceres with a frown.

She really wanted to slap her if she could, but it was frustrating that she couldn’t do so now.

The problem started when Ceres asked Yona how long she thought it would take from the port of Capatia to Evian.

“Why are you asking me? I’ve never traveled that road by carriage so I don’t know. You should know, how would I know?”

“Is that so? Then how long did it take on foot?”

“I think it took about a month…”

“That’s quite long. At that rate, I might even arrive first, you know?”

“…What are you talking about? Weren’t you going to Evian with us?”

From here, Yona sensed that something was strange.

Because Ceres’s carriage was the Regent’s carriage, there shouldn’t be any problem with travel as long as they were in this carriage.

So even though the journey to Evian would be quite long-term, Yona wasn’t particularly worried.

“Well, you see. It’s because it’s the Regent’s carriage. I’m the Regent of the Grand Duchy of Capatia, right? Actually, taking this carriage outside the Grand Duchy of Capatia isn’t permitted unless there’s a definite purpose.”

In other words, within the Grand Duchy of Capatia it’s fine because Ceres is the Regent, but once they leave it’s a different story.

The Inpula Church Territory is close to being the spiritual capital of this Pan-human Empire of Capatia, so there’s no problem visiting there for that purpose, but entering the Kingdom of Lukasia where Evian is located is another matter.

And so, the conversation has come to this point.

“So, are you telling me to walk to Evian now?”

“I’d like to get you another carriage, but that’s too dangerous, and honestly, there’s no other way. There’s nothing as secure as this carriage.”

This time, even Ceres couldn’t manage her characteristic irritating smile.

Yona’s face was contorted fiercely as if she might lash out at Ceres at any moment,

and Ceres knew well that if she provoked Yona even a little more here, things would really go wrong.

“Instead, I’ll provide you with ample funds to make your travel convenient. Please move as quickly as possible, and I’ll go to Evian first and prepare everything so you can move right away, so please calm your anger, Saint.”

Huuuu—

Exhaling a long sigh, Yona closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Yona was used to walking itself.

She wasn’t annoyed about walking itself.

It was Yona who suddenly changed the destination to Evian,

so it was a bit ambiguous to just get angry.

“Hey, don’t get so angry. It’ll be nice to reminisce about old times, what’s the big deal? You haven’t forgotten your adventurer days, right? It might be better to travel just among ourselves, simply.”

“…You sure are easygoing. How can you laugh?”

Looking at Alec who was grinning comfortably, Yona couldn’t bring herself to get angry.

Since rescuing this guy, Yona somehow couldn’t deal harshly with Alec.

“Rubina, we have to travel on foot again with big sister, is that okay?”

Rubina, who had been sitting demurely with her hands folded, looking out the carriage window, quietly turned her eyes to look at Yona.

Then she slowly nodded and reached out to pat Yona’s hand.

As if to say not to worry about her.

“…Alright. But give us ample funds. Enough to sleep using gold coins as a blanket.”

“I’ll give you as much as you can carry.”

Just how much wealth does that woman have?

Yona suddenly became curious about that.