Ch.146The City That Denied the Sun. Belfort (5)

“….”

“You’re awake.”

“Yeah.”

Once again, I collapsed.

But for some reason, my body felt incredibly refreshed.

It was as if all the waste in my body had been completely flushed out.

“People are talking. They say we should rename this city.”

“The city forgiven by the sun. Bel.fort.”

The elf sisters teased me as I lay in a daze, but I began to regain my senses while touching my wife’s plump cheeks as she slept soundly beside me.

I hadn’t lost any memories; the events from that time came back to me as clearly as if they had happened yesterday.

“How much time has passed?”

“One day.”

“Not long then…”

“To be unconscious for only a day after divine possession means either you’re exceptionally strong, or you have the ability to receive a deity.”

“Which do you think it is?”

“Well, I’m not sure.”

Simon’s expression was filled with fatigue.

He must have gone through a lot yesterday.

He looked at me as I kneaded my wife’s face, then sighed, sat down, and pressed his temples.

“Do you have any idea how much I suffered yesterday?”

“What happened?”

“Don’t even get me started… People charging at us with pitchforks claiming it was the work of demons… Yangwol Church followers sneaking in saying they knew this day would come… Thankfully the military held them back. Otherwise, we might have had a bloodbath in this city.”

“Good grief…”

“We all knew you were favored by the sun, but… perhaps the sun has changed its mind…”

“Changed its mind?”

“About intervening in the world. For 50,000 years, the sun has watched the tragedies unfold from above. If it has changed its thinking… well, who are we to question it?”

“…Maybe. But I don’t think so.”

At the very least, the sun still believes in humanity.

Some say that one who could save humanity but chooses not to doesn’t deserve to be called a god… but could they truly say such things in the presence of one who has been burning for hundreds of thousands of years?

Of course, if the sun were to descend upon this world, humanity would once again enjoy a golden age.

But that would merely be a miracle created by a god who was once human, not something achieved by humanity itself.

We might be saved by divine intervention, but we cannot save ourselves through it.

The small virtue of offering a coat to a child, or the good deed of sharing one’s food with the hungry—before the radiance of the sun, these would be reduced to the insignificant heat of a small campfire.

The sun does not wish for even humanity’s greatest achievements to fade in the shadow of divine glory.

So it sends revelations through people like me, shedding tears to soothe its sorrowful heart.

The sun is not silent.

It simply chooses not to intervene.

Like a parent watching over a baby learning to stand on its own.

*

“By the way, where are we? This doesn’t look like an inn or hotel.”

I looked around.

The interior was quite elaborate and ornate with furniture and carpets, as if designed to contain something while also not disturbing that something’s sensibilities.

But even these couldn’t withstand the passage of time, as my keen senses detected wear and tear in various places.

“This is where the imperial commissioner who once ruled this city stayed.”

“So… we’re essentially in a museum.”

Cities built after the imperial era, like Parcival, don’t have such places, but cities that have existed since the old imperial times kept these old city halls as museums.

They were too solidly built to demolish, yet people feared historical retribution if they repurposed them, so they ended up converting them into museums.

“You could say that. The inquisitors will be here soon.”

“Inquisitors…? For what purpose?”

“What else? To verify whether you truly wielded the power of the sun.”

“What fools. How can humans possibly verify a god?”

“If it can be verified by human means, then it cannot be called divine power…”

I listened to the elf sisters’ grumbling complaints while continuing to knead my wife’s stretchy cheeks.

Verification… verification…

“But is there anyone who can verify the sun’s power? Even if they summoned apostles of the Four Great Gods, it would be impossible…”

“True. That’s why they’re calling for a descendant of the imperial family.”

“Hmm…”

The imperial bloodline still maintained its continuity.

Among them, it was the imperial women who could actively engage with the outside world.

The reason women handled external affairs was because the men were all used as seed-spreaders to continue the imperial lineage.

The final fate of those who carried the blood of the once-mighty empire that ruled the world was utterly pathetic.

“It’s dark… I can’t see the sun’s light…”

“That’s because it’s night.”

“Ah.”

*

As time passed and we were about to discreetly bring out some alcohol—

Clank!

Suddenly, a heavy sound came from the entrance, and the door opened to reveal soldiers in massive reinforced armor.

Whirrrr…

They were carrying enormous Gatling guns, and judging by the size of the barrels, getting hit would definitely result in dismemberment.

“Please follow us. You don’t need to disarm, but… if you draw your weapons, we will open fire.”

We nodded and followed the stomping soldiers.

These weren’t the crude industrial exoskeletons I’d seen when fighting pirates.

These were fully sealed reinforcement suits made in proper workshops or factories by machines and craftsmen.

Inside those suits, even the sun’s light would be refracted upon entry.

“This is absurd! They’re treating us like criminals! First they lock us up without explanation, and now they try to intimidate us with fully armed soldiers?”

Simon was clearly displeased with the situation.

Regardless of his protests, the soldiers roughly pushed us forward, and Simon, weakened from absorbing magical power, nearly fell as he was forced outside.

Outside the museum, or former city hall, literally thousands of gun barrels were pointed at us, and in the sky, over a hundred warships equipped with anti-gravity engines had gathered.

“It’s morning, so why can’t I see the sunshine?”

“Well, that’s probably because of the dozens of kilometers-long airships above us.”

“Ah… damn it….”

Whether using aura or whatever else, surviving a fight here would be impossible.

There was no escape route, whether by sky or ground—cutting down a few enemies with aura would accomplish nothing.

“Now I understand how the Empire lasted for 300,000 years.”

The military force gathered here was intimidating enough, but during the imperial era, there were weapons that could neutralize an army like this with a single strike.

I couldn’t even begin to comprehend how powerful those weapons must have been, but now I could glimpse a fragment of that power.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Hear ye! Victor of Parcival! And his party members!”

In the distance, a judge who seemed ready to apply the principle of presumed guilt was abusing his gavel on the table, creating sounds like gunshots.

His gaunt features suggested a nervous disposition, and the dozens of soldiers lined up beside him appeared like emotionless automatons.

“Victor of Parcival. Step forward.”

I detached the Eradicator and Annihilator from my waist.

“Hold these.”

I handed my swords to my wife, gave my helmet to Simon, and then walked toward the place where countless instruments of death were aimed.

Thud.

As I looked up at the judge sitting arrogantly on the platform, he opened his mouth with a displeased expression.

“You, Sir Victor Walker, wandering knight, are charged with causing irreversible destruction and inciting terror among the citizens of Belfort.”

“Destruction and terror? Since when did the light of the sun come to symbolize destruction and terror?”

“Since this city rebelled against the sun.”

He cut off my rebuttal with those words.

“You flew in the sky before the public, dispersed clouds, and called forth light. It has been determined that this was almost certainly caused by the intervention of a divine being, not by any innate magical ability, unknown sorcery, or technology you might possess. Do you have any objections to this?”

“None. I borrowed the power of Saburo to clear the weather and shatter the bullets that rained down on me.”

“Then do you admit to these charges?”

“What charges are you referring to? You imprisoned me and my party while I was unconscious, led us into a death trap without explanation, and now demand I admit to charges without any clarification?”

“…I apologize for the inadequate explanation. However, in this city, Yangwol faith—especially worship of the sun—is forbidden. Although you are an adventurer outside the law, this is a religious matter. Considering this city’s history, we have a responsibility to prove through proper procedures that you have not harmed this city and will not do so.”

“Then dismiss the army and summon us to a proper court, not the street! Is this the justice of Belfort City—to point countless gun barrels at a knight and force a legal dispute in the middle of the road?”

I shouted with a contorted face.

I disliked everything about this situation.

From the deadly weapons surrounding us to the indescribable looks in the eyes of the onlookers.

“That is…”

“Enough.”

“!”

At that moment, a woman approached me, cutting off the judge’s words.

“Let’s put an end to this petty court play, shall we? It’s just a spectacle anyway.”

“But…!”

“Shut up. Who dares to interrupt when I give an order? This issue ends when I verify that the founding emperor’s power dwells within this knight.”

With those words, she clapped her hands.

Clap!

Whoosh!

In an instant, the military forces surrounding us disappeared in a blinding flash, and she looked at me leisurely.

“…”

“Hello?”

“You’re a descendant of the imperial family.”

“That’s right. Nariakira Sayuri. You can call me ‘Yuri.'”