episode_0229

“… But, the interesting thing is.”

Maria had a completely frozen expression. Only Albrecht looked at Maria like that with a sharp gaze.

Golden eyes that boldly look inside. Maria always had a gentle smile on her face, but at this moment, she couldn’t.

“Looking at you now, it seems like you already knew that fact.”

“… … !”

“What the woman said is right?”

The truth was revealed.

This was a very big deal.

The reason Maria and Frey risked their lives to protect that secret is because they didn’t want Joker to know about it.

Joker is a monster. That’s why he was designated as a target for regression, but it was obvious how he would act once he found out the whole truth.

The Demon King wanted Joker to kill him. No, even if you can’t kill him, I hope you can at least oppose him. Joker, who knows nothing, is moving forward, burning his life for his ‘enemy’.

But if he learns the truth, and if he learns that it is the non-enemy that brings the greatest despair to the Demon King.

Joker might commit suicide laughing. To get revenge on the hero who played a trick on him, he could burn the entire continent.

It has already been proven in the story with Cheonwoong that he is a person who will even burn his own life for his own purposes. Joker is not afraid of death.

He gambled with the fate of the world on the back of one Joker. It should never have failed.

But, for the first time since the planning began.

A crisis has occurred.

“Since when?”

“Well, Your Highness… .”

“I don’t think you were part of the plan from the beginning. You don’t have the disposition to deceive and take advantage of someone. No, isn’t it a belief?”

“… … !”

“You must have found out at some point. Did you realize it through guesswork and inference like the original woman? or not… Hmm.”

Would it be meaningful to hide it further?

Maria suddenly began to worry. Indeed, it was so.

Albrecht found out. Now she can tell Joker about Frey’s plan and foil it at any time.

In this situation, would it be right to irritate Albrecht by clumsily trying to hide the truth?

Not like that. Even if I had to kneel down and ask Albrecht for a favor, I had to prevent something like that from happening.

If it were the warrior Frey, he might use hard-line measures like murder, but for Maria, a saint, such a thing was unthinkable. It was impossible to not do it.

“… There would be no point in hiding it any further.”

Eventually, Maria calmed her trembling lips and opened her mouth.

No matter what happened, the great legacy had to continue.

“I will tell you. Everything.”

“Hoo.”

“Dan.”

Maria advised in an extremely serious voice.

“Please help us. Your Majesty doesn’t want the world to perish, right?”

“Is this a threat?”

“This is a request.”

“I understand. Then tell me.”

In the end, Maria told in detail everything she had experienced with the hero and the devil. When the regression began and Oscar rolled around in the demonic forest for 500 years, she was hanging on a cross in an unknown world. At the end, the Demon King came, and the arduous battle that Frey endured for 500 years. Her will, effort, persistence, etc… … .

“Is that right, that’s how it happened.”

“Yes. Do you understand now?”

“I understand.”

Albrecht chuckled after getting a clear answer to the difficult question he was curious about. Maria felt a little relieved by that satisfied smile.

“Joker really knows nothing. Warrior… How meticulously the child had planned and thoroughly moved him. He was ultimately in the palm of the hand of the hero and the devil.”

“You almost figured out the plan. Even though I stopped him, he stopped doubting me.”

“I’ve heard of it. I heard that the reason you stopped harassing Frey was because you got angry?”

“It’s because my discipline is still lacking. It was painful. To stand by and watch the hero being bullied by the Joker. So I went out.”

“It turned out well in the end. I was able to erase Joker’s suspicions.”

“Haha… That’s how it happened.”

Maria burst out laughing.

“Then, as promised, I believe you will keep the Joker quiet about this matter.”

“Okay, I understand. It’s not nice to say multiple things with one mouth. But I’m a little curious.”

“Yes?”

“What about you?”

When Albrecht said something meaningful, her laughter stopped.

“What… What do you mean?”

“Well, the main woman is not interested in whether you demon lords, warriors, and saints play jokes or make fun of that irrational guy.”

The imperial princess said, changing her voice. The new voice was deeper, more profound, and made people immerse themselves in deep contemplation.

“But, I’m just a little curious.”

“Holy woman, right now, Evans has been caught in your trick and is being played without even knowing that his free will is built on a lie.”

“It is said without considering the results. Whether the world is ruined or not, whether the process is right or not. Isn’t this a very serious matter in terms of the morality that your denomination promotes, that is, the great way of humanity?”

“Are you going to leave him like that? Is that your justice? Where have your remorse gone?”

“One thing to keep in mind.”

“Joker is brilliant. It means that what you hide from them cannot be hidden forever. Even more so if he had already guessed the mastermind.”

“Perhaps when he destroys the devil, the devil may smile and confess the truth at the last moment. Then.”

“How would the Joker feel?”

“When you find out that the person you trusted the most tricked you and took advantage of you.”

“What would you really think?”

“… … !”

Maria stumbled as if stabbed in a direction she had never thought of before.

Albrecht did not catch her like that. I let her stumble.

It was my own business. Just like the immediate task Maria is facing right now.

“Slowly… It’s almost 8 o’clock.”

Albrecht muttered while looking indifferently at Maria, who was out of breath due to agony.

Next moment.

“Uh… ?”

‘Maria’ woke up.

“Your Majesty… ? Why are we here… .”

*****

Humans develop through repeated agony and contemplation. Even Saint Mary, who was revered and revered as a saint by ordinary people, was no exception to the rule.

If there is a minor problem, it is that we are currently going through a process of ‘agony’ and ‘contemplation’ rather than ‘development’.

The days continued with both Mary during the day and Mary at night immersed in contemplation.

Young Maria mourns and mourns her dead friends. The heartlessness of time that swallows up the eternal separation and tragedy that death brings.

Maria at night expresses her worries and worries about her living lover. Deep reflection and reflection on her own actions.

‘Lord, what should I do?’

The worries were long.

It had to be that way.

‘Of course, saving the world is more important and ahead of any other value.’

Maria was smart. From a rational standpoint, I knew how to clearly distinguish what was before and what was after.

‘Isn’t that a reason to support the absurdity of the process? What significance is there in a salvation built on lies and amusements?’

However, she was that emotional. Morality is the development of emotions. Emotion is a survival mechanism that humans gradually developed as they adapted to civilization and community. Maria is a very moral person who is suited to the most cooperative survival.

So much so that even a small evil cannot be tolerated.

There is something called rationalization in crime, evil, etc. In criminal psychology, this is called the rationalization of crime, and this psychology is clearly revealed in soldiers who kill people on the battlefield or protagonists in revenge dramas.

The point is, ‘That guy deserves to die.’ This means affirming one’s own sins. It’s not bad. It’s natural.

Maria also does not deny this. This is a wonderful story of a saint who saves people by tricking the evil Satan. It is a story that is often found in the Bible.

In the Bible, such a mean trick is justified because the opponent is Satan and has committed evil deeds. If a saint had tricked an innocent child into sending him into the fires of hell, he would have been cursed and called a crazy person.

And the Joker, if I were to be honest, is closer to Satan.

He is a teratoma Satan who wants salvation.

Maria could not possibly rationalize the crime against him.

This was true no matter how important the result was.

Because that’s what conscience is. Failure to overcome obstacles in the mind inevitably leads to stumbles.

I just didn’t know because I’ve never thought about it before.

But that didn’t mean I could just think about the immorality of the plan and ruin it. Anyway, everything, even your own worries, will come to naught if this plan fails.

It was a dangerous dilemma. Flawless dignity comes from pride. From pride in one’s own goodness.

Breaking that pride leads to personal collapse. If you are someone who admits your hypocrisy, it won’t be a big problem, but Maria is a noble person who does not tolerate even the slightest hypocrisy or even the slightest evil.

The collapse of the individual and the destruction of everything. In fact, it was a weighing and comparison of the gap between them.