kscans

Chapter 35 - # The Reincarnator, Izabel Crawford

The Demon Lord had told me about the Pantheon Temple. There was a reincarnator there who had come from another world before me.

Having become a Hobgoblin, I, Mamoru, had stepped into the magnificent structure built of white marble with my companions.

Her name was Izabel Crawford.

A bureaucrat from another world. A reincarnated woman who had seized control of even the kingdom and the temple, using her cold judgment and precise language as weapons to dominate law and organization.

The Demon Lord had said.

"Do not be deceived by her beauty. That woman has discarded 'emotion.' She is a vessel of law, possessing neither blood nor tears. Emotion has no place in her rule. That is why she is strong, and that is why she is terrifying."

Normally, when we monsters enter a human town, we are loathed and hunted. But things were different from the moment we set foot in the temple.

Neither the human priests nor the soldiers stopped us. No. On the contrary, as if being led, we were guided deep into the temple, to the innermost sanctuary.

"Hey... something's not right," Defray said warily, glaring at our surroundings.

"Are we... really being welcomed...?" Koni-chan, the Troll, clung to my arm with his giant hands.

The doors to the sanctuary opened without a sound.

There, a giant stone statue of a human god was enshrined. In front of the statue, countless priests were lined up, and a woman dressed in white and gold robes stood on a raised throne.

"The trial will now commence."

Her voice was quiet, yet powerful, possessing a force that could dominate the very space around us.

With each step the woman took down the white stone stairs, the heavy sound of her shoes echoed throughout the temple.

"Before the law, all are judged equally. Be it human or monster, if one is accused of a crime, that life will be treated with equal measure."

Several hundred priests knelt in unison. Walking confidently through their center was a single human woman.

Neatly cut silver hair. Cold, verdant eyes. Her well-featured face showed neither a smile nor anger.

Izabel Crawford. A reincarnator. A human who, like me, had once lived in Japan.

"Welcome, apostles of the Demon Lord. You are 'Mamoru,' correct? The face matches the one in our records."

Izabel's eyes pierced through me. It was a cold gaze that felt as if it could see into the very depths of my soul.

"My name is Izabel Crawford. Chief Administrator of the Temple, and the one who governs the law and order of this nation."

With a single gesture of her fingertips, she signaled to the priests. From the left and right aisles, elite temple soldiers appeared. All of them were preparing to chant spells.

"Your entry into this sacred domain has already been recorded as illegal trespassing. From this moment, you will be formally tried in a court of law as the 'defendant.'"

"Wha...? What is this...!" Defray put his hand on his sword.

"Wait, don't make any sudden moves." I put my hand out in front of him and stared back at Izabel.

"...You're a reincarnator, right? So why... are you treating us monsters as enemies?"

"If you wanted special treatment for 'being a reincarnator,' you should have just gone back to Japan in the first place," Izabel's voice was utterly calm.

"This is a nation of law. Even a child of god, if they have committed a crime, will be placed on the scales of justice. That is my justice."

"Hey, wait! We didn't come here to cause trouble or anything."

"Silence, defendant. Your right to speak is only granted when I permit it. If you have an objection, submit it according to the proper format."

Her words were no longer directed at us as 'people.' They were 'records,' devoid of all emotion, spoken as if she were reading a document or handling an object.

I couldn't help but clench my fists. This woman was serious. Human or monster, she would not judge based on emotion. That was her 'way of life.'

"...Hmph, the god of law, huh." I twisted my lips into a sneer.

"Then let me ask you this. Is there no such thing as 'salvation' in this world? For someone who just made a mistake and wandered in, is there no other path but to be judged!?"

Izabel lowered her eyelids slightly and spoke quietly.

"God will not forgive. And I will not forgive. Judgment will, without fail, be passed."

Bashu!

The priests' chanting began all at once. The air trembled, and a sacred light poured down from the ceiling.