I Ask in Your Eyes – 1

Even though she was in the room she had lived in for years, she didn’t feel at ease.

It wasn’t because of the investigation she would soon face. The news of Saint’s execution shook her sanity.

The Harvest Festival was a major holiday for the Order.

It was a day to harvest the seeds sown in spring in autumn, cook them deliciously, share them with each other, and give thanks for Divine’s grace.

But the joy that should have blossomed while sharing food and stories was nowhere to be found, and a heavy silence settled over the entire Order.

“Saint is a demon?”

Maria muttered with a blank face.

He was clearly framed.

A wicked demon had clearly pinned the blame on Saint.

The entire Order was being manipulated by demons.

Executions were not carried out on the Harvest Festival.

The fastest execution would be at noon the very next day.

If she was going to get him out, today was the day to do it.

Maria looked out the window.

The moon had already risen, and she had to make up her mind.

She got out of bed and paced around the room.

“No.”

She was confident that she understood Saint better than anyone else.

His voice.

She didn’t think that soft voice that called her name had changed.

“No.”

His eyes.

She didn’t think that benevolent gaze that looked at her when she woke up in the morning had changed.

His smile.

She didn’t think that smile, which made her smile just by looking at it, like the comfortable spring sunshine, had changed.

His body temperature.

His warm body temperature, felt through her small palms, had not changed.

His scent.

His sweet scent was no different than before.

Everything had not changed. That much was certain.

But, possessed by a demon?

Am I being deceived?

“No!!!”

Maria screamed sharply and punched the desk in the room, causing a crack in the center of the desk and splitting it in half.

Paper, pens, inkpots, and the like bounced from the impact and scattered haphazardly on the floor.

Maria stared blankly at her fist.

She strode to the door.

She was now confident that she could twist open this solid door.

Footsteps running towards her from outside could be heard.

Maria took a deep breath and put her hand on the doorknob.

But even as she put strength into her hand, Maria couldn’t find a clear answer to the question.

[Why is he Saint?]

The Holy Knights and Inquisitors who were running to Maria’s room were hit by the door that flew off with a bang and rolled down the hallway.

A noise that did not suit the quiet Solaqcia spread.

“The sinner is trying to escape!!”

It was the cry of a Holy Knight who was still holding on to his mind.

His alarm didn’t last long, because the sinner kicked him in the chin and knocked him unconscious.

Maria passed through the scene she had created and headed underground.

Arriving at the interrogation room where sinners were imprisoned, Maria could easily find where Saint was.

Deepest in the prison, there was a place to imprison the Order’s greatest sinners.

“She’s here!!”

Did they know from the commotion above?

Numerous Holy Knights and Inquisitors were waiting in the hallway leading to the interrogation room.

Maria, confronting those who blocked her way, stretched out her fist to the side.

With the sound of something exploding, a small hole appeared in the wall that formed the barrier.

There, she took out a gray brick from the interlocking building materials.

“Everyone, prepare for battle!”

A Holy Knight with a shield stood at the forefront, blocking her.

She could not reach Saint without removing them.

Maria stretched her arm back and rolled her left foot.

The brick was shot in a straight line.

-Thud!

With a dull metallic sound, the Holy Knight at the forefront began to be pushed back as it was.

Unable to withstand the momentum of the stone, he became a projectile flying with the stone, and everyone who had been waiting, trusting in his shield, was caught in the shock.

Maria ran inside, trampling on those who had fallen and were still conscious.

“Saint!”

Maria tore down the door, and inside the musty prison, she saw Saint standing chained.

“……”

Saint’s condition was not good at a glance.

Maria hugged the bloodied Saint.

A terrible stench of blood was mixed with his fragrant scent.

“Saint! I’m here. Open your eyes.”

“Sister Maria.”

Saint, who had been closing his eyes, slowly called her.

“You’re awake. Get a hold of yourself. We have to get out of here.”

Maria said, putting strength into the chains that bound Saint’s hands.

“You can’t untie them.”

Saint, exhausted, asserted.

As he said, the chains did not budge.

Maria pulled the chains several times as if she couldn’t believe it.

Where did all the power that had sprung up when she came here go?

No matter how hard she tried, the chains showed no sign of breaking.

“Sister Maria, look at me.”

At Saint’s call, Maria turned her head.

“You shouldn’t be here right now. Run away quickly.”

“How can I run away leaving Saint behind!”

“Sister Maria, you can’t save me right now.”

“What do you mean! Just wait a moment, I’ll get these chains….”

Maria, who had raised a rusty sword placed in the interrogation room, was about to strike the chains with the sword.

“Maria Lown!!”

The chained Saint squeezed out his strength and shouted.

Maria stopped as it was at the rebuke.

Saint looked into Maria’s eyes and said.

“The execution is at noon tomorrow.”

“There are people who are trying to save me. When the execution begins, they will cause a commotion, and the people who have been waiting will save me.”

“Who on earth?”

Saint had no particular support.

Where would he have people to help him?

“They are the people I recruited while I was away from you.”

Maria’s brow furrowed.

“Sister Maria, don’t you trust me? Saint does not lie.”

Even in his exhaustion, Saint smiled. It was a face that was sure he would not die.

“But… but….”

“Believe. You must believe.”

Saint emphasized faith.

“There is no chance of both of us getting out of here. Tomorrow, we must seize the opportunity tomorrow.”

Saint was persuading her, and Maria’s heart wavered at his persistent and sincere persuasion.

“Then really at the plaza tomorrow?”

Maria asked as if to confirm.

“That’s right. When the rescue begins, Sister Maria, you can help them.”

Saint tells Maria what to do.

At the persuasion, Maria let go of the chains she had been holding.

The chains rattled and shook.

“Now, go. Before people flock here!”

As Saint shouted, Maria turned around and began to run out of the underground prison in a hurry.

Maria comes out of Solarucia, throwing the people who are flocking in against the walls.

Unlike in the interrogation room, her hands, which were pushing people away, contained power that transcended common sense.

The main gate of Solarucia.

Under the full moon, someone stood alone, blocking her.

Maria, who had been running with all her might, stopped her feet.

“I’ve been waiting for you, Sister Maria.”

“Inquisitor General.”

Inquisitor General Lumen.

The pinnacle of the Inquisitors who had made hundreds of sinners repent stood before Maria.

Maria tensed her body, preparing for the battle that would follow.

She knew all too well that he was not someone who could be defeated with a clumsy attack.

“An Inquisitor abandons faith for personal affection. Or are you really bewitched by a demon?”

-Thud

The head of the weapon she held made a sound as it touched the floor.

A huge axe, that was Lumen’s weapon.

Maria checked her condition.

The minor wounds she had sustained while escaping Solarucia were all over her body, and she had no decent weapons.

“Take it.”

Lumen threw something at her.

A huge greatsword tied in a dirty cloth.

Maria’s weapon.

The heavy greatsword flew through the air and fell at Maria’s feet.

Maria silently unwrapped the cloth of the sword.

Her huge greatsword revealed its body.

Maria held the sword with both hands and took a deep breath.

She recalls the training grounds of the night she spent with Saint.

“Are you ready?”

Lumen asks, Maria’s green eyes staring straight at Lumen.

“Yes.”

As soon as Maria finished speaking, Lumen disappeared from sight.

A silver object rushing straight ahead, Maria raised the sword to prepare for the impact to come.

But the impact did not come.

Lumen, who had rushed in from the side, kicked Maria’s hind legs.

“Keuk!”

Just as she thought she was losing her balance, she fell backward as it was.

“So, would you explain to me why Saint is Saint?”

Lumen’s calm voice is heard above her head as she falls.

“…….”

Maria remained silent to the question that had not been resolved since she left the room.

“I see.”

Lumen, as if she understood, pulled back the hand that was not holding the axe.

And then she lashed out at her face.

“You can only believe when you see it with your own eyes.”

[For faith is like air, and to realize its existence without seeing it is faith.]

Looking at Lumen’s fingers heading for her eyes, Maria recalled the words of the Bible that she had written down on paper a long time ago.

-Thwack

With the sensation of digging into something soft, intense pain struck her brain.

“Kaaaaaaaah!!!!”

A sharp scream burst from Maria’s mouth.

She grabbed her face and rolled around on the ground.

Bright red blood gushed out from between the palms covering her face.

Lumen, wearing silver armor, looked down at her with an emotionless face.

A mysterious green eyeball was attached to her white fingers.