Ch.82Chapter 82. Hunger Is Not a Crime

“How dare you…”

Arsil, who was already upset, couldn’t contain her anger when Ravin’s mockery was added.

“You wear the goddess’s emblem while stealing?!”

Holy power crackled and burst forth, illuminating the area brightly.

Lin and Ravin were startled by the sudden light, but thankfully the dense trees prevented it from being visible from afar.

“S-Saint?!”

The citizens of the Holy Nation scattered in panic upon seeing the unique holy power, throwing down their farming tools and torches to prostrate themselves on the ground.

“W-we’re sorry! We did it because we were so hungry!”

“You commit sins just because of hunger?!”

The hero party members urgently tried to stop Arsil.

“Arsil, you’re drawing too much attention. The Holy Nation might send knights.”

“Good! I’ll judge these sinners along with the knights.”

Even Naidrian was horrified by Arsil’s retort to Tigria and shouted:

“Arsil! Are you saying that you, a saint, will punish citizens of the Holy Nation?!”

“They committed sins, so of course!”

Lucy silently watched the spectacle.

It’s natural for sinners to be punished.

Then what about the sins Arsil committed against Lin and herself?

If Ravin had said those words, Lucy wouldn’t have been able to lift her head.

But because it was Arsil who spoke so firmly, the hero was dumbfounded.

Meanwhile, Ravin felt bitter.

Arsil, what right or authority do you have to be angry at others’ minor transgressions and try to punish them?

“Sinners, gather here!”

At the stern command, the citizens trembled and knelt before Arsil.

Just as the saint was about to continue her admonishment, the porter intervened between them.

*Thud*

He truly squeezed into the small space between Arsil and the citizens, sitting down and dropping a bundle of dry twigs on the ground.

Understanding Lin’s intention, Tigria quickly lit a fire with magic, and with skilled hands, Lin brought out a large pot and placed it over the flames.

“How long have you been starving?”

Lin asked the citizens while pouring water from Cosmos into the pot.

“Pardon…?”

“How many days has it been since you had a proper meal?”

“I-it’s been eight days, it has…”

Eight days, huh. Lin nodded and took out onions and potatoes from Cosmos, beginning to prepare them.

“What are you doing?”

Arsil asked blankly, so bewildered that she even extinguished the holy power she had summoned.

“They said they’re hungry. I need to feed them something.”

“These people committed sins while wearing the goddess’s emblem.”

“Extreme hunger makes people forget even who they are.”

Lin placed a cutting board and chopped the onions and potatoes as finely as possible.

For people who had been starving for eight days, texture wasn’t important.

“Have you ever been starving?”

“Countless times.”

Did he think that as a saint, she’d never gone hungry?

Arsil, who had been growling, answered Lin’s question and then fell into despondency.

Hunger.

Somehow, she had forgotten how that pain changes people.

Somehow, she had forgotten hunger itself.

“You said only good people live in the Holy Nation, right?”

Lin swept the chopped potatoes and onions into the pot without any other seasonings.

“If such good people are desperate enough to take up farming tools…”

He continued stirring with a ladle, waiting for the thin soup to be ready as quickly as possible.

“Is it the hungry person who’s wrong, or the environment that made them hungry?”

Arsil met the quietly burning gaze behind the mask.

‘We’re not gutter water. We’re just hungry children. What’s bad is this barren environment that makes us hungry! Just wait, I’ll change everything. Into a good place to live, a place where no one is hungry. When that happens, Ravin, you’ll have to apologize to me!’

The saint lowered her head, recalling her own words from long ago.

—

A very thin soup was completed.

But the melted potatoes provided a soft texture and quite a decent mouthfeel.

The subtle sweetness from the minced and boiled onions complemented the blandness of the potatoes well.

Thanks to the lukewarm, slow cooking, the citizens could drink the soup straight from their bowls without much trouble, though they still blew on it.

“Thank you!”

Absurdly, the citizens who had regained their strength bowed their heads not to Lin but to Arsil.

“Through the grace of the Saint and the Pope, we could stave off our hunger.”

“Those fools…!”

Lucy flared up and was about to step forward, but when Lin gently embraced her shoulder, she immediately calmed down.

“There should be a rationing system in place. Why were you trying to steal?”

“The rations have been cut off for almost a year now.”

“Lies! Half a year ago, when I last visited for final preparations to defeat the Demon Lord, I saw with my own eyes that rations were being distributed in the streets.”

“Those were for people who bought indulgences.”

“Indulgences?”

Arsil, who had been pressing the bearded citizen, was taken aback by the unexpected word.

“That’s just like an honorary medal given to people who donate a lot.”

“If you don’t make donations, they don’t give you rations…”

“What…?”

The bearded citizen glanced around nervously and continued mumbling.

“Every week, new indulgences are issued, and if you don’t donate, they don’t give you rations. To receive rations, you must return the indulgence… But tenant farmers like us, with years of poor harvests, how can we earn money? Whatever we harvest is taken away, leaving us with nothing, so we can’t buy indulgences and thus can’t receive rations.”

The middle-aged man, overcome with grief, began sobbing and wetting his sleeve.

“I don’t mind going hungry myself, but my child and wife are so hungry they can only lie down. When my three-year-old is too weak to cry and only makes gasping sounds, how can a father just stand by…!”

Though he tried not to cry, the man eventually broke down and wailed loudly.

The sorrow spread, and all the citizens sniffled and wiped their eyes.

Arsil too was too dejected to say anything more.

“Porter. I want to give these people food.”

She wanted to take responsibility for not properly understanding before threatening and intimidating them.

“Here are potatoes and onions.”

Lin took out large bundles from Cosmos and gave them to the people.

“If you eat suddenly after starving for a long time, your body might reject it and you could get sick or die. So chop and mash them finely and boil them in water, just like we did.”

“Thank you! Thank you! All this is through the grace of the Saint and the Pope!”

Again, they thanked the wrong person, but Lin didn’t point it out.

Giving out the provisions was Arsil’s unilateral decision, but their circumstances were so pitiful that no one reproached her.

Bowing repeatedly, each citizen shouldered their bundle.

However, when it came time to leave, they couldn’t step away due to guilt.

“Um… Saint.”

“What is it?”

“We’ve done wrong. Please… would you accept our prayer of repentance?”

It might seem brazen, but his face showed sincerity.

Having grown up in the Holy Nation, the only way they knew to ask for forgiveness was through prayer, so they were showing their sincerity in their own way.

One by one, the citizens put down their bundles and knelt.

To those who prayed with clasped hands, Arsil, with a heavy heart, raised a very small amount of holy power.

“In the name of the Goddess, I forgive you.”

A soft light illuminated them.

“Having repented, you shall overcome your wrongdoings and prosper.”

It’s awkward to say, but Arsil had never looked more like a saint than she did now.

The brown-haired girl with short hair, closing her eyes and blessing the citizens from the center of the light, reminded everyone anew of her status.

Even Lucy was slightly surprised, while only Lin and Ravin maintained cold gazes.

After sending off the citizens, Arsil showed signs of fatigue and suggested taking a rest.

The hero party sat down in their respective places without complaint.

Tigria sat on Lin’s left, while Lucy sat on his right, resting her head on his shoulder.

Ravin and Naidrian perched on high tree branches, watching for any approaching groups.

By the time the sun rose and dew formed, Arsil had regained her strength.

“Let’s go now.”

She wanted to quickly get to a bed and rest properly.

It was her heart, more than her body, that was tired.

The Holy Nation, where she had been for the past five years, felt somewhat unfamiliar now.

The group walked at a moderate pace.

By the time they reached the gates of the city-state Holy Nation, the sun was already high.

Perhaps because of this, knights on horseback from the Holy Nation, who had recognized the hero party in advance, opened the gates to welcome them.

“Saint!”

“Lord Casty!”

Though she had many questions, Arsil felt more relieved to see a familiar face.

However, the saint soon noticed something hanging from the sides of the knights’ horses.

They were human heads, dripping with dark red blood.

“Lord Casty, what is that…?”

“Oh, you’ve seen it.”

Casty lifted one of the heads from the side of his horse with a regretful expression.

“These are people who stole grain from the Holy Nation. Can you believe it? In this famine, they took several bundles of onions and potatoes. And while wearing the goddess’s emblem at that!”

The head he held high was a face Arsil recognized.

It was someone who had been alive just a few hours ago.

So they were caught after all.

Lin realized that the citizens’ survival had failed due to random probability.

The provisions had been given to save the citizens who were destined to die of starvation soon anyway.

Everyone in the hero party except Lin was staring at the head in shock.

“Yes, I too am distressed. I wonder when such corrupt groups began to appear in the Holy Nation.”

At those words, Arsil looked again at the side of Casty’s horse.

“Ah… Aah…!”

“My heart aches as well, but I had to execute the entire family who consumed food through improper means.”

Then those smaller heads and the one with long hair…

“Those people were ones I personally scolded and forgave!!!!!!!!!”

The saint’s angry cry echoed through the Holy Nation’s gates in broad daylight.