Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 484 You're all done for.

Mary never expected that the next day would bring her unimaginable busyness.

Before dawn, officials from the Upper District knocked on her door; they had come to report her.

This surprised Mary, because Ivy had mentioned on the phone that a public trial would put her in opposition to the Oasis City upper class, the armed forces that controlled the entire city, and that a riot might be waiting for her.

When people are in extreme despair, they will do things that will lead to mutual destruction, even if they know that their private army is no match for a saint.

Therefore, Ivy proposed another solution—to divide the officials and the private soldiers.

The significance of the public trial lies in this: by publicly forgiving the servants who worked in Hawke's house, she was also sending a signal to those wavering people in the upper city that as long as they were not too deeply involved in the officials' "cause," there was still a possibility of turning back.

This is also why last night was so peaceful.

When the door was knocked open, a steady stream of officials surrounded her residence. Most of them were whistleblowers, a group of ambitious young people, though some tried to take advantage of the situation. However, their crimes were exposed before the power of the Holy Word.

These clowns were publicly escorted into jail to await trial.

To Mary's surprise, all the accusations had been systematically organized, with the names of the city officials sorted from highest to lowest. It didn't seem like a spur-of-the-moment uprising, but rather a project that had been underway for a long time.

"Some of these reports came from ordinary citizens in the lower city, while others were witnessed by us."

The speaker was a young man wearing a monocle who looked refined and gentle. "It's a pity we couldn't save those people."

Mary chuckled to herself.

Ivy was right again.

The Imperial Prime Minister, who had never been to Oasis City before, seemed to know the city inside and out.

Ivy mentioned that after the trial, a significant portion of the Oasis City Hall staff would become her allies.

Even during the darkest period of the empire under Julius’s rule, not everyone was assimilated by tyranny. Some joined the Violet Commune’s cause, challenging the unreasonable rules. After the Violet Commune’s movement failed, they went into hiding in different identities and ways, waiting for their chance.

Ivy believed that Oasis City was the same.

Compared to Julius, what are a few Oasis City officials?
Moreover, the city possesses some unique historical advantages—during Julius's reign, many young people from various cities in the far west sent to the Empire for further studies, with the Church of Life and the Society of Truth being the main destinations. This was during the rise of the Violet Commune movement, and many people were influenced by it.

"Leon."

Mary couldn't help but praise the young man, who looked to be under thirty, tall and well-tailored in a dark municipal uniform, "You did a good job."

While using the Word of God to examine the possible crimes Lyon might have committed, she saw his early experiences.

Another outstanding graduate of the Society of Truth, who even had dealings with the former director of the Bureau of Investigation during his student days and took over some of the daily operations and event arrangements of the commune, returned to Oasis City before Julius' persecution of the Violet Commune had begun. He returned to his hometown with the idea of ​​emulating the Violet Commune to change the far west.

Over the past few years, Lyon has made some attempts, but the control of officials and the Vatican over Oasis City is deeply entrenched, so he can only lie low with other like-minded colleagues and silently collect and organize evidence.

Maybe I'll be able to use it someday.

Lyon has always held the belief that if even a cancer like Julius can be eradicated, how long can the corrupt officials of Oasis City keep jumping around?

He found a balance in dealing with those "above," knowing full well that the officials and nobles of Oasis City needed him.

After all, the daily life of those big men consists of spending their days wandering around the bureau, then going to the Eternal Theater to watch plays all day, and then gathering together for a grand party in the evening. That's how their day goes by. Because of this, they need a lot of manpower to do their work.

Therefore, as long as they do not openly show disobedience to their superiors, those officials who spend all day in the theater have no idea what their daily work entails.

"The police station is ready and waiting for your order."

Even in front of Mary, Leon maintained a humble yet assertive attitude.

"I see."

Not long after Lyon left, someone knocked on Mary's door again.

"Please come in."

Upon seeing the visitor, Mary was slightly taken aback. He was an old gentleman in a worn-out suit, leaning on a cane, and looked as if he hadn't slept all night.

“Mr. Grave”

This civilian representative was very brave on the execution platform yesterday.

"Lady Mary, I would like to talk to you about what happened in the Lower City, about the stone lung cough, and those people who were saved by the goddess but have mutated."

Grave didn't sleep a wink all night; he went everywhere, knocking on the door of almost every family.

The trial of Hawke was a good start, and Mary's arrival was beyond their expectations. However, as a witness to the changes in the downtown area over the past few days, he could not remain silent at this time, because in Grave's view, the mutation was not a blessing, but more like a new infectious disease.

Those infected develop a strong appetite, become irritable and easily angered, and are highly susceptible to being incited.

In the lower city, there were many people like Larry who were consumed by hatred. They held another rally in the tavern that night, and although there were very few people who responded this time, they still expressed their dissatisfaction with the trial results.

If this trend continues, these infected residents will sooner or later be incited by them.

"If possible, I hope you can cure the mutations that have occurred in them."

Because of this mutation, more than 30 disappearances occurred in the Lower City in just a few days. The victims were no longer limited to outsiders, but also included some who were at odds with the Larry group or who opposed them for treating outsiders as food.

“I convinced most of them.”

Grave was prepared for this trip. He took out a crumpled piece of parchment, which turned out to be a confession with many names scrawled on it. "They are willing to plead guilty and accept punishment if you can cure the mutations in their relatives and continue the trial of the corrupt officials of Oasis City."

"According to the laws of the far west, this is a capital offense."

Mary scrutinized Grave and offered him a reminder.

They had experienced the same thing at the hotel. Whatever they had been through before, feeding innocent travelers and opponents to the mutated fanged people was an unforgivable crime punishable by death.

This is the mess that Ivy mentioned on the phone.

Cleaning up a mess to satisfy most people is often more exhausting than judging a specific "villain." Mary had planned to finish up her affairs in the upper town before dealing with the missing persons case in the lower town, but unexpectedly, Grave came to her door in person to talk about it.

"Please believe me, they are fully aware of the consequences of confessing."

"If that's the case, why..."

"Because only in this way can the remaining people truly reach the new era they yearn for. They listened to the incitement of the Larry gang for the sake of their loved ones, and now their confession is the same. They... are ready."

At this point, Grave changed the subject, "But Larry and his associates have all refused to plead guilty, and I think their anger will be hard to quell even after this trial is over."

........................

Meanwhile, at the Eternal Theater.

The show began as scheduled for the new day, and the audience seats were still packed.

This had become a habit among the nobles, officials, and even many wealthy merchants of Oasis City. The only difference was that after witnessing Hawke's execution, the theater was less lively, and although they were sitting there, they looked lifeless.

Under the pretext of controlling infectious diseases, the police blocked the passages out of Oasis City, trapping all the officials who planned to abscond with the money inside the city.

The order was given by a young man named Lyon, who seemed to have gathered a large number of men.

Under normal circumstances, Lyon's body would have floated on the banks of the Green River that very night. But now, the situation in Oasis City has reversed. They are no longer the decision-makers who can decide the fate of others. On the contrary, their own lives are hanging by a thread.

No one knows better than them the crimes they have committed.

Heriot and Hawke were merely cannon fodder pushed to the forefront, and most of the embezzled funds ultimately ended up in their own pockets.

They could only lock themselves in this most familiar place, waiting for the security team to break into their homes in the near future, grab their arms, and drag them out of the house.

However, at this very moment, even their most beloved plays have betrayed them.

The play, titled "A Pound of Water," is one of the classic plays of this era, telling the story of a greedy official who is eventually brought to trial by the king.

Before they knew it, the play had reached its final act. On the gloomy stage, a beam of light shone in the center, against a simple backdrop that symbolized the arch of the city hall. A man in a magnificent velvet robe stood alone in the light. He was doomed and was being paraded through the streets by the citizens.

A play that praises justice and advocates that evil will eventually be punished.

This was originally a favorite play among the officials of Oasis City, because to them, the play was full of absurd humor that made them laugh.

It's unbelievable that ordinary citizens would drag city officials into the streets and parade them around, and that people actually believe it.

This kind of humor that goes beyond the script always captivated them, and whenever the final parade scene was performed, the upper-class audience would join the commoners in cheering.

However, the theater was now completely silent.

They watched as the official, dressed in luxurious clothes, was dragged into the street, hurled rotten eggs and stones at him. After the performance "upgraded," an even more bloody scene unfolded before the audience. They saw the official's head smashed open by stones, his eyes unable to open again. His screams were quickly drowned out by more projectiles until he could no longer make a sound. He seemed to have already fainted and could only be dragged along by his escorts. Covered in filth, he looked like a tattered rag.

No one joined in the commotion anymore.

They shuddered, because this might be what they would look like a few days from now.

"enough!"

The man sitting in the front row flew into a rage and shouted, "Why are we putting on this play?"

This time, however, the actors on stage acted as if they hadn't heard his questioning and continued their performance that sent chills down the officials' spines.

"This is what you will look like in two days, Mr. Mayor."

A gentle female voice came from beside the man. He looked in the direction of the voice and stared in disbelief at the veiled face he saw. He had encountered this veiled woman before Heriot was nailed to the stake, and the detectives believed she was Heriot's murderer.

"You are lucky; not everyone can foresee what their death will be like."

The veiled woman smiled with her eyes narrowed.

"you--!"

The man snapped out of his daze and, in a fit of rage, reached for the woman's face and ripped off her veil.

He had intended to confront the woman directly, to tell her that even if he only had two days left, he could still make sure she died a gruesome death. However, when he saw the woman's face clearly, all his words caught in his throat, his raised fist froze in mid-air, replaced by unprecedented fear, so fearful that he couldn't breathe, his mouth opening and closing like a dehydrated fish.

As the mayor of Oasis City, he had seen the woman before him more than once.

That was in the Cathedral of the Dawn in the Holy City. Even the current Pope Carlo had to bow his head before the statue of the woman, showing his most humble side.

"why why!"

The man muttered, overwhelmed by boundless despair, "You greedy woman, how much money have I given you? There's no one here more devout than me, why are you treating me like this!"

He would visit Carlo in Santo Dominic at least once every quarter, bringing with him a large sum of embezzled money.

The money was used to renovate the church and support Carlo's cause, so that he could maintain the status quo of Oasis City without worry.

His "contribution to salvation" is among the highest, which means that he has made indelible contributions to the Vatican.

He would even sometimes fantasize that when the rightful god in the "prophecy" returned, he would personally meet the goddess of life and receive a reward from her.

However, at this moment, a hint of mockery flashed in the goddess's gentle eyes.

"Mr. Hafiz, do I look like I'm short of money?"

Meanwhile, the man being carried on stage was taken to the guillotine.

As the guillotine fell, Hafiz saw a terrified expression—the final expression of the beheaded was frozen in that moment like a work of art.

The goddess smiled at him and said, "Mr. Hafiz, you're finished."

(End of this chapter)