Chapter 19 Judgment
After explaining the basic matters.
Jima directly and happily handed this mess over to George as if he were a carefree overseer.
George, glowing with an eerie light, struggled to prove he was a messenger of justice, a normal person.
He calmly persuaded the tortured and nervous soldiers, even though just a minute ago, they had shot at him with crossbows. They were skeptical only because he admitted that Jima was his wife and that they had a lovely daughter together.
The soldiers were half-convinced.
What he said was true, which naturally could earn him some trust. However, people were unwilling to believe that a person who had been involved with a succubus could be a messenger of justice.
Even if he were, he was just a fool, too dumb, manipulated by the succubus. One day, he would surely assist in evil deeds.
The soldiers of the empire demanded that George remove his helmet and insisted on using their filthy, blood-stained hands to touch his skull, to ensure it was not deformed or corroded.
George’s head was originally adorned with short yellow hair, and after everyone had touched it once, its color changed to grayish-black.
So much effort was required, and after a long night, he barely managed to stabilize the basic order in Vanguard City.
Meanwhile, Jima occupied the best room in Vanguard City, lounging in the softest bed, sleeping soundly.
She woke up at noon.
Feeling hungry, the fluffy cat Liansi lifted its paw and nudged Jima’s face.
Jima finally got out of her lavender bed.
She greeted the cat, “Good morning.”
Liansi raised its furry forelegs and pointed to the door leading to the balcony.
The midday sunlight streamed into the room, adding a touch of brightness to the somewhat dark quasi-fortress structure due to the small window.
Jima rarely enjoyed sunlight; she stretched lazily and instinctively called out, “Where’s the maid? Where’s lunch?”
“Mew~~~,” Liansi replied with a mournful meow.
Jima shook her head and remembered that she was now in another world.
The luxurious life of a queen in Amelrica had long since become a thing of the past, a past that could never be returned to.
She picked up the “straight branch” leaning against the headboard, walked barefoot to the balcony.
The rare sunlight streamed down as the midday sun coated the deathly gray of Vanguard City with a thin layer of gold. Under the sunlight, even Vanguard City appeared youthful and vibrant.
It would have been better if there weren’t still some human wall art pieces left to clean.
The sunlight warmed her face, soft and gentle, like a cat scratching.
“A wonderful day has begun.”
Jima stretched out vigorously, extending her wings, the bones inside crackling.
Someone below pointed at her.
Jima looked down to see many people stopping below, staring at her.
She was already used to the influence her looks and extraordinary charm brought about.
After they regained their composure, most would likely feel more fear and disgust towards her. This was not the greenhouse-like Earth.
Jima thought as she picked up the fat orange cat.
After resolving issues like grooming, Jima armed herself, carrying the heavy “branch axe-spear,” and walked out the door without a face veil, too lazy to wear one.
Walking through the inner city, she encountered several imperial soldiers.
One soldier trembled and said, “By Sigma.” Another soldier covered his eyes tightly, “Don’t look at her! Please, don’t look at her!”
Some whispered prayers to the gods behind him. Others muttered exorcism incantations while making gestures towards Jima’s back.
Jima ignored them; her translucent golden eyes seemed to have never reflected their figures.
Through divination, Jima found George’s location.
Standing before a room on the first floor of the inner city, she heard a choked male voice from within.
“By Sigma, by the gods of humanity, I saw with my own eyes that the succubus commanded my enchanted comrades to kill each other for fun. I… even offered her two of my eyeballs.”
“Everything is over…” came George’s comforting voice.
Jima knocked on the door, not intending to force or provoke George’s pitiful humanity. Jima used a neutral voice, “It’s me; you know who it is.”
“Open the door.”
Jima pushed the door open, and a medicinal smell rushed into her nose.
Inside, there were a group of soldiers, some sitting, some standing. Upon seeing Jima, they scattered like startled birds. An elderly soldier with a gray beard immediately grabbed his sword. Another soldier took out a Sigma amulet, aiming it at Jima.
A wounded soldier suddenly propped himself up from the bed, clutching a sword.
George raised his hand, saying, “Calm down, everyone, calm down.”
His words carried weight. The injured soldier lay back down, setting aside his sword, and the Sigma amulet too, while others returned to their seats.
Yet, people cast furtive glances at Jima, their eyes either lingering on her voluptuous matured body or on the dark horns that symbolized her demonic nature.
“What happened? What’s going on?”
A blind soldier asked anxiously, seated beside George. His eyes were wrapped in yellowing bandages, and the eye sockets were a dark red.
Days ago, he had gouged out his precious eyeballs with his own hands and offered them to the eyeless succubus as a show of “affection,” that manipulated affection.
In this world, a soldier losing his sight was akin to bleeding out in darkness, slowly awaiting his death.
He raised his hands, feeling around, hoping to perceive what was happening now.
George, like a compassionate uncle, took his trembling hands and gently reassured him, “No, you’re safe now.”
“Is that so?” The soldier’s hands stopped trembling.
Jima said, “It seems you’re doing well. I brewed some medicine for you.”
As she spoke, she took out a few bottles of medicine from a basket and handed them to George.
George picked up a bottle of light red potion, sniffed it, and asked, “What kind of medicine is this? It smells like chili oil.”
“Chili-flavored healing potion.”
“Don’t you hate chili?”
“That’s why I’m giving it to you,” Jima replied, “Besides, I’ve searched the vast Vanguard City but haven’t found any red pigment; I only found chili oil, which barely qualifies as red.”
“Does the healing potion really need red pigment?”
“No,” Jima said, “It’s just for coloring.”
George picked up a black bottle and asked, “This should be a witch’s potion, right?”
“Yes, it lets you temporarily borrow…” Jima initially intended to say her invisibility ability.
But seeing the blind soldier beside George, she worried about stimulating him and instead said, “Invisibility; it’s an invisibility potion.”
The blind soldier said, “Excuse me… are you an alchemist?”
“I’m sorry to inform you, but I can’t concoct a potion that grows back eyeballs,” Jima read his thoughts, “Otherwise, George would surely ask me to treat you.”
The blind soldier lowered his head in disappointment.
George said, “I have matters to attend to; I need to judge her.”
“Her?” the blind soldier asked, “Is she the killer?”
“Yes, she is unforgivable.”
The blind soldier clenched his hands, his voice filled with hatred and resentment: “All succubi should be nailed to crosses and burned alive! No! All demons should be exterminated. All! All!”
Everyone looked at the dark horns on Jima’s head and the floating crown fragment in silence.
Jima and George exited together. As the door closed behind them, mixed voices of fear and resentment echoed, though many remained silent, numbed, as something within them had been killed.
George said, “He’s not targeting you.”
Jima merely flipped down his hood and said, “Your hair is filthy, and you smell. Why not wash up? I have hot water in my room.”
“No, I need to judge the sinner.”
“Oh, can we add another charge?”
“What charge?”
“Contaminating the fountain,” Jima said, “I wanted to use the fountain water to bathe, but when I looked at it, well, it was quite tainted.”
George said, “This minor offense doesn’t even compare and isn’t worth mentioning alongside her other crimes.”
The judgment began.
According to imperial law.
The withered eyeless succubus was nailed to the cross, and almost everyone was present, even those standing on the city wall could see the depraved army gathering in the distance, their blasphemous banners visible.
Based on George’s experience, he had Jima silence the voiceless succubus, preventing her from having the chance to speak.
After the judgment, the crowd was agitated, clamoring to personally dismember the eyeless succubus.
Though George opposed passionate rulings, in this current world, he had to compromise.
Thus, he provided everyone with a stone, roughly equal in weight, easy to grasp and throw.
Everyone could only throw once. One by one, the stones were hurled with all their might at the eyeless succubus, each imbued with their emotions, whether fear, hatred, or anger.
The eyeless succubus withstood the onslaught of over four hundred stones, but this was her misfortune. The stones smashed their emotions harshly into her body.
Bones cracked, wounds opened, and in the end, she barely retained a human shape.
“Alright, the last batch,” George waved his hand, allowing the final group to throw their stones.
“She’s almost dead, right?” Jima said, looking at the succubus. “The tranquil secret barrier drains a lot of my magic.”
The last stone hit the ground.
“Let’s go,” George said, “It can be burned now.”
Jima removed the barrier.
The supposedly silent eyeless succubus tilted her head, waiting for this moment. With her last breath, she cursed:
“Jima! My fate will be your fate! Do you understand! You are just like me!”
“Hero! You will eventually be betrayed by her!”
Jima asked George, “What about the witch hunter?”
“The oil has arrived!” Arkanis arrived late, fulfilling his duty as a witch hunter to burn people, pouring oil over the cross and igniting it.
Jima’s golden eyes focused on the blazing cross.
Did she activate her powers? She felt that what the succubus said… made a lot of sense.
George walked beside her, silent.
Jima smiled and said, “Are you trying to find comforting words for me? What’s your combo move? For example, expressing sympathy for my identity as a demon and understanding my experiences in the demon realm?”
George said, “No, I understand your past, and I accept you, just like that.”
Jima’s heart trembled slightly as she watched the crackling cross burn, feeling reassured leaning against George, saying, “She knows nothing.”
—
Owe one update, recovering state.
