“Yes. A revelation.”

But she continued lightly, as if a revelation was nothing special at all.

“Going to see the children that day was because I received a revelation, too.”

“What...?”

It really had been a sudden visit that day. Had she already received a divine revelation and moved because of it?

Feeling everyone’s eyes gathering on her, Camilla pressed her lips together again.

Then she looked at the people in front of her—one by one—quietly, steadily.

“Those who defile the name of god.”

“...!”

Her expression changed quickly. The comfortable smile she’d been wearing vanished, and in an instant, a cold, stern mask settled over her face.

Watching them fluster at the sudden shift in atmosphere, Camilla laughed to herself.

This is nothing.

She hadn’t earned the title of top actress for nothing. She’d spent her whole life filming scenes where she cried and then laughed, raged and then played around—switching in an instant.

Putting on whatever mask she needed in the moment was hardly a big deal.

And the mask I need right now is...

Back when she’d played a judge, she’d acted with exactly this expression.

Yeah. A judge.

The perfect mask for dealing with criminals.

“He entrusted me with dealing with those people.”

“W-What do you mean?”

“Dealing...?”

“Defiling the name of god—who are you talking about?!”

As she swept her gaze across their stiffening faces, Camilla’s eyes slid toward one spot.

There, the priest’s ghost—Arena—was clicking her tongue nonstop with a deeply dissatisfied face.

[Who do you think? You bastards.]

Her eyes blazed.

[You rotten pieces of trash.]

If she hadn’t been a ghost, she looked ready to grab someone by the throat on the spot. Camilla held her gaze for a moment, then continued.

“That’s what god told me.”

[You son of a bitch. This piece of—!]

“He said there are people who do filthy things while borrowing the name of god. For example...”

She paused, then stared straight at one person.

“Embezzling the donations the faithful offer.”

Flinch!

A high-ranking priest’s expression visibly locked up under her gaze.

Did that hit home? Then why did you skim off half the donations every time—money that was supposed to go to orphanages, huh?

[And this bastard—]

“Or child abuse.”

“Gasp!”

Another high-ranking priest widened his eyes.

What? That hit you too?

“Possessed by a demon,” “haunted by a ghost”—dragging children in for ridiculous reasons like that and then committing horrific violence.

[This one’s a complete psycho. If his mood turns, he takes it out on the kids. A dog—no, worse than a dog.]

Are kids your stress-relief tool? You lunatic.

[This bastard is the biggest problem. This one!]

“And...”

Camilla paused again, and this time her gaze went to the cardinal.

Cardinal Stella, receiving that look, flinched before he’d even properly said a word.

“I heard there’s someone who put his hands on young priests, too.”

“Gasp!”

“W-What are you—!”

Everyone recoiled in shock at that.

Cardinal Stella’s complexion also hardened noticeably. She could see how hard he was working to maintain his composure.

[That bastard went after young priests—] 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Anyone who’d just shed the trainee label became his target.

He approached them while they were still glowing with joy after ordination, luring them out under the pretense of giving them proper priestly instruction—then he reached out his claws.

Four of them couldn’t overcome the fear and humiliation, and took their own lives.

The funny part was that the one who raged the hardest over their deaths was Cardinal Stella himself.

‘Suicide violates the will of god! They are those whom god has abandoned! Throw their filthy corpses out of the temple immediately!’

The young priests’ bodies weren’t even properly laid to rest.

You piece of shit.

I’m never letting you off.

I’ll let you live.

But I’ll make sure you taste suffering and fear worse than death. Just wait.

“What are you saying!”

In the end, the Pope couldn’t stand it and exploded.

No matter how much she was being elevated as a saintess, what kind of outrageous slander was this?

“There is no one like that in our faith—!”

“Lastly.”

Camilla’s gaze fixed precisely on the Pope this time.

“Divine pardon.”

“...!”

“Those who sold the name of god for money.”

The moment indulgences came up, the Pope’s eyes wavered for the first time. He tried to keep his composure, but it didn’t look easy.

Camilla met the eyes of those seated there... no, the sinners, one by one.

Not a single one of them could meet her gaze properly. Like they’d been struck, they only hurried to look away.

All right, then.

Shall I deliver the verdict?

“God told me this.”

All of them stopped breathing at once.

“Catch every last one of the people he named—without missing a single one—and burn them alive in raging fire, so they pay for their sins.”

After finishing, Camilla threw away the judge’s mask and beamed brightly. Then she asked them one last question.

“Should I still accept the position of saintess?”

No one opened their mouth.

Chapter. Sword of Judgment

“Ah.”

The weather really is nice.

Out in the open for the first time in a while, Camilla stretched, then blankly stared up at the sky.

It was so clear.

Bluer and prettier than the sky she’d seen long ago in some nameless mountain village she’d visited for a shoot.

How does a color like that even exist? It felt like you could mix every sky-blue paint in the world and °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° still not get that shade.

“It’s really autumn now.”

When the wind blew, it was cool enough to raise a faint shiver across her skin. Not long ago, it had been “too hot” and a whole commotion.

“I should start changing the café menu, too.”

Instead of iced items like shaved ice, she’d have to develop other desserts.

In her old world, shaved ice sold well regardless of season, but here, it probably still wasn’t familiar.

What would be good for an autumn or winter menu?

[Aren’t you worried at all?]

[She’s always been pretty laid-back.]

Following Camilla outside, Arena and Zeno shook their heads at the same time as they watched her take a leisurely stroll.

[Hey, why are you talking down to me? You look way younger than me.]

[Dead people don’t need honorifics.]

[Well... fair.]

Despite not having known each other long, Zeno and Arena surprisingly clicked.

No—more than that. Even Arena, who was... no, very prickly, was being handled by Zeno better than expected.

Well, they’ve both spent an abnormal amount of time existing as ghosts.

Maybe they were the oldest ghosts still around. It felt like something about them resonated with each other.

[I told you they’re in the middle of a meeting right now.]

Even after coming here with Camilla, Arena would sometimes go to the temple or the Papacy to watch what was happening over there, then come back.

And she told Camilla everything—what schemes they were cooking up, what they were saying—without leaving anything out.

“Yes. Just like we expected.”

[What else would those idiots do? It’s obvious.]

Arena shook her head. Whatever she’d heard at yesterday’s meeting, her brow creased sharply again.

Right now, the Papacy was total chaos.

Because of Camilla.

Because of what she’d said to them.

They were calling it blasphemy, pushing a trend of branding her a heretic.

[They’re scared because they know it’s true.]

“Exactly.”

And leading the charge were the very people who’d faced Camilla this time.

Cardinal Stella, in particular, was insisting they should bring an inquisitor and put her on trial.

An inquisitor.

No one had ever come back alive after being taken by them, supposedly.

“But like I said, this was already something we expected.”

[Kid, don’t take them lightly.]

They were rotten bastards, but the power they held wasn’t trivial.

They were people with strong voices inside the order, and they really might finalize Camilla as a heretic.

Even if divine authority had weakened a lot, punishment for heresy was still harsh. Long ago, everyone branded a heretic was burned at the stake.

“That’s why I’m going to find that.”

[That?]

“What you mentioned before.”

[Ah...!]

Camilla smiled brightly.

“I know my life is precious, too. I’m not moving without a plan.”

She wasn’t stupid enough to provoke people in power thoughtlessly. She’d poked at them like that because she was confident she wouldn’t actually be dragged into the label of heretic.

And honestly, it was so disgusting it was hard to keep enduring it.

This wasn’t a den of criminals, for god’s sake.

How could the people at the top all behave like trash?

Watching them grin with innocent faces on top of that, she couldn’t keep her mouth shut.

I guess you could say I needed to see those faces twist?

Maybe she’d pushed it a little too far, but she didn’t regret it.

“Anyway, let’s go find that.”

Let’s see if they can still call me a heretic after I bring that back.

*****

“She is not a saintess!”

“Exactly! She dared insult the order!”

“To toy with us using such absurd lies!”

The people gathered at the Papacy had already been arguing about the same subject for five days.

“It’s content too shameful to even speak aloud.”

“This is blasphemy!”

With Cardinal Stella at the center, the claim that everything Camilla had said was a lie was rampant. They said it was a common method heretics used to sow confusion within the faith.

Meaning Camilla, too, was a heretic.

“Then what about that holy power?”

“Didn’t you all see it? Are you going to dismiss even the holy power she displayed as a lie?”

“That was not something a heretic could ever perform.”

“Branding someone with that ability as a heretic makes no sense.”

“She saved children who were dying.”

Of course, not everyone agreed.

Those who had directly felt and confirmed the holy power Camilla released couldn’t accept branding her a heretic.

“And you all must have heard what she was like in the past.”

Now they were even dragging up Camilla’s past conduct.

At Cardinal Stella’s words, everyone had no choice but to clamp their mouths shut.

It was a known fact that Camilla, as a noble young lady, had displayed behavior unbefitting her station.

Her reputation had improved a lot now, but not long ago, she’d been called a walking disaster even her own family couldn’t handle.

“And now she’s suddenly a saintess? It’s absurd.”