“Please rest until you have absorbed the Word of God.”
A mechanical voice spoke to me. Who was it?
“Proceed to the exit and take a copy of the scriptures, compiled by the high priest.”
A disciple. The guide. I took a copy of the thick tome.
“In addition, please take a set of robes according to your size and gender.”
I accepted a set of male robes, in the medium size.
“Men, please put on your caps, and women, your hoods, immediately.”
I put on the small, light hat.
“The high priest has decreed that ‘one must never remove their cap or hood, except when alone.’”
I must never remove my cap, except when I’m alone.
If the high priest had decreed it, then that was “the only law of absolute justice.”
“I will now bring you to your rooms that the high priest has prepared for you.”
The high priest did? In that case, I should follow.
I walked through the basement with the others. There were lots of numbered rooms.
“Tonight, please spend some time reading the scriptures. The lights will be turned off at bedtime.”
Scriptures. The word of God. I hugged the book to my body.
“Number 784, please enter your room. Number 785, please enter your room…”
The new recruits went into their rooms one after another. The number of people in the hall dwindled.
“Number 786, please enter your room.”
My head was pounding.
“Number 786, are you feeling unwell?”
Oh, that’s me.
I shook my head. It was wrong to feel unwell. After all, that would be God’s judgment.
“Understood. Number 787, please enter your room. Number 788…”
I noticed I was standing in my room—a room for one. I changed into my robes.
I saw the book of scriptures. I had to read it.
I turned a page.
A stabbing pain in my head followed.
Is this me?
“I must not doubt the word of God.”
No, wait. Wait, wait, wait.
Where did these thoughts come from?
I started to feel confused.
My own thoughts, and thoughts that weren’t mine.
They resisted each other, unable to mix, like water and oil.
“The word of God is the only law of absolute justice.”
What about this one?
“The high priest is the proxy of God.”
“We believe in God’s judgment.”
And these?
These three phrases were circling endlessly in my head.
The words overrode my own thoughts.
Just as the three phrases hooked me into a loop—“I must not doubt the word of God”—words from the scriptures popped into my head over and over.
I’m scared.
I don’t want to turn the page.
If I read any more, my head would become even more full of these words.
“Urgh, agh!”
I clawed at my head. My cap fell off.
But the rule was “never remove your cap or hood, except when alone,” so I didn’t have to pick it up. More importantly…
“The word of God is the only law of absolute justice.”
…I wanted to read the scriptures. If I followed their teachings, then I would do no wrong.
I want to be good.
The high priest is the proxy of God.
All on earth, under God, all hearts as one.
“W-water…”
I wanted to cool my head. I wanted to wash it off.
I ran into the wall. A sound echoed off the stones. My brain hurt.
There was a shower in the corner of the room. Good.
I opened the metal door and grabbed the handle.
Quick, I need water—
I want to read the scriptures.
“No, argh!!”
I fell onto all fours and groaned.
My thoughts were not my own; I cowered in fear.
But this was another world. When in Rome, or whatever. I had to follow this world’s laws.
Did that mean that all of Japan’s rules were wrong, because they weren’t the rules of this world?
“Tsukasa…”
I imagined my sister’s face. I tried to speak with her telepathically, but my head wasn’t working right.
“Urk, bleh…”
I spat out the Shard of Judgment. I had stuck it to one of my back teeth for safekeeping. I had been prepared to swallow it if they searched my body.
“Case record window,” I whispered, and the window appeared. The Hero’s Case verdict was displayed.
If these scriptures were the only law of absolute justice, did that mean that this case that we judged without any concern for the scriptures had been unjust?
“Tsukasa… My…”
The case that I had run all over the kingdom for, including the Hero’s Village. I perused the text.
The accused did not intend to kill the victims, and hence the charge of murder is invalid.
Verdict: The accused is not guilty.
…I couldn’t believe that this was wrong. But was it?
“Master!”
I heard Shiro’s voice. Where was she?
The scriptures said that “the rule of the Royal Family has been righteously guided by the high priests for successive generations.” Didn’t that mean that Shiro must also be righteously guided by the high priest?
“No, that’s wrong…!”
All I could do was curl up in a ball and mutter to myself.
A beast hybrid with silver-white hair came down from the ceiling air vent and spoke to me.
“You were taking too long, so I followed your scent after finding where the new recruits had gathered.” Her pale hands touched my body. “Is something happening inside your body? I sense that your mana is exhausted.”
The dog-eared maid approached me and sniffed.
“This scent… It’s a drug that lowers the intelligence of magical beasts. Don’t tell me they made you drink it?”
“Oh, please put my hat back on my head.”
I have to wear it. I’m not alone anymore. An absolute rule.
“Your hat? …Master, let me take a look.”
She pushed me down from behind. I was immobilized on the dirt floor.
“There are words imprinted onto the back of your head. About twenty of them.”
At Shiro’s calm words, I felt my brain start to work again. Of course…
“P-Power of Words.”
The high priest had summoned the Scales of Judgment back there.
“He’s using the Judgment Spell. He cast something called Cleansing Prayer on us.”
“I see. He’s secretly in possession of one of the Shards of Judgment. And the Power of Words skill he acquired imbeds words directly onto the brain and controls thoughts. It’s brainwashing.”
“Ugh… I don’t feel good…”
“I believe this falls under the forbidden magic category of mental tampering. He must have been able to wield it by using the power of the Shard of Judgment. But to use the Power of Words, he’s required to spend trust… Oh. That’s why he’s closed off the church headquarters and is working behind closed doors to…”
“Shiro… Shiro…”
“Master, if this is part of the Judgment Spell, you may be able to reverse it.”
Oh yeah. I remembered I had brought up one of the windows.
“Reverse… Cleansing Prayer!”
I spoke the words and felt the shard begin to vibrate as another window appeared.