While Dorothea and Adelaide were heading to their respective destinations.

You were walking along the street with Sophia.

Sophia’s pace was leisurely, and she occasionally stopped to observe the street scenery, sometimes buying items from shops whose purpose was hard to guess.

Naturally, conversation blossomed between Sophia and you.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ expresses admiration that Dorothea’s staff attacks are becoming more threatening by the day!]

[The ‘Tin Knight’ expresses pride that Adel often trains by herself these days without being told to!]

It was mostly you who chattered, and Sophia who listened.

Your words had no particular set topic and were all over the place, as if following the flow of consciousness, which was a luxury you couldn’t enjoy when with Dorothea.

After all, Dorothea would raise physical objections, saying that all sorts of messages were constantly ringing in her head.

Since the brooch you possessed delivered messages indiscriminately to anyone nearby who had been infused with mana once, without distinguishing targets, it was impossible to speak to only specific targets unless physically separated like this.

From the outside, it looked like you were silent and only Sophia was responding, so some passersby gave strange looks, but none approached to speak.

It might have been because they felt intimidated by your appearance, looking fully armored under the hot scorching sun, or perhaps because of Sophia’s somewhat transcendent atmosphere.

How long did you walk like that?

A strange procession appeared in your sight.

“Please, please…”

“It’s okay, it’s okay, it’ll work out. It can’t not work.”

“Great Lord, please lead me to the heavens too…”

In front of the emerald scale that was used in yesterday’s trial.

Dozens of people were lined up, earnestly praying for something.

“Hey, don’t cut in line!”

“Stand in line properly! Those who don’t follow control will have their test qualifications revoked!”

Guards were standing around the waiting line controlling people, and despite their atmosphere and attitude being quite oppressive, no one showed dissatisfaction or rebelled.

You sharpened your sight and hearing, observing what was happening at the very front of the waiting line.

A chair and desk set up with an outdoor tent.

A domain official sitting there said with a bored expression, “Next!”

“Finally, it’s my turn.”

A young man, who seemed to be from a fairly wealthy background judging by his clothes and attitude, stepped forward from the front of the waiting line.

The official continued in a businesslike manner, “Place your hand on the scale and pray to the great Lord.”

The young man did as told, placing his hand on the scale and closing his eyes.

1, 5, 10 seconds.

Seeing no reaction from the scale, the official said, “It’s over. Step away from your position.”

The face of the young man who opened his eyes twisted strangely.

“W-wait a moment! Please check once more! I came to this city taking over a week just for this!”

“I’ll say it one more time. Step away. There won’t be another warning.”

As if proving the official’s words, soldiers waiting nearby approached the young man pressingly.

The young man tried to argue back but eventually couldn’t overcome the soldiers’ pressure and followed the instructions.

It couldn’t be said that the young man lacked courage.

While they might be mere rabble that you could easily take down, regular soldiers of a big city were almost like messengers of death to ordinary people.

After moving far away from the scale, muttering small curses was the maximum rebellion the young man could manage.

The official, as if used to this, didn’t even pay attention to the young man and called out again, “Next!”

“Yes…”

The one who answered in a small voice was a girl in shabby attire.

Her clothes were dirty, and her build was small, too.

Perhaps because she hadn’t washed properly and her body emitted a foul odor, some of the soldiers close to the other people in the waiting line were seen wrinkling their noses.

The official also briefly showed signs of wanting to sigh, but like a skilled civil servant, he continued in a businesslike manner, “Place your hand on the scale and pray to the great Lord.”

The girl placed her hand on the scale and closed her eyes.

About 9 seconds passed, and just as the official was preparing to open his mouth.

– Woong!

The scale trembled faintly, and a dim light appeared and disappeared around the girl’s body.

People around murmured, and a strange light entered the official’s eyes.

Only the girl herself didn’t know what had happened and was just looking around at others’ reactions.

“Congratulations on receiving God’s grace. From now on, you can receive education as a trainee priest, and depending on your achievements, you may be allowed to reside in the heavenly realm.”

The reluctant air that had been visible until just now completely disappeared, and the official showed an extremely polite attitude.

At first, the girl was dazed as if not understanding what she had heard, but soon she started crying while trembling as if overcome with emotion.

The official had someone guide the girl away, and the people in the waiting line gazed at that sight enviously.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ asks if this is perhaps selecting holy power holders!]

“Yes. Holy power is a force that responds to prayer, but not everyone who holds prayer can manifest it.”

Sophia answered your question.

Her reddish-pink eyes gazed at the emerald scale.

“Therefore, holy power holders are rare, and the Kingdom of Heaven actively treats them well. In fact, that’s the very reason for the existence of the Kingdom of Heaven’s territory. Rather than wandering around randomly looking for people, it’s more efficient to create a fixed base and have people come on their own.”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ evaluates that judging by people’s reactions, the treatment seems quite good!]

“Because holy power users on the ground are extremely rare, they’re treated as honored guests in any country, and above all, they can obtain residence rights in the Kingdom of Heaven.”

Gently, as if singing, Sophia continued, “That place is the distant sky. A country where hunger, poverty, and disease do not exist. Regardless of what the reality might be, judging by the rumors spread on the ground, the Kingdom of Heaven is paradise itself. While those already living stable lives here might not, it’s not unreasonable for those who aren’t to yearn for it.”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ asks what about Sophia!]

“I don’t like it.”

It was an immediate answer without even a breath’s hesitation.

“Control, discipline, oppression, I don’t deny their necessity. Sometimes they might create order. But it’s not to my taste.”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ agrees, saying he also finds chaotic and free things more fun!]

“Yes, in that sense. Sir Tin. I have one request.”

You stared at Sophia blankly.

She slightly lifted up a cone-shaped tool she had bought earlier while walking the streets and said, “I’d like to cause a bit of trouble. Will you help me?”

***

Porcher, an official of Justitia, thought under his characteristically impassive civil servant face.

…Today isn’t such a bad day after all.

The reason he thought so was simple.

It was a day when he had fished out a precious holy power holder.

In nearly three years of handling this selection work, the number of holy power holders Porcher had discovered was about a hundred.

It seemed like a large number at first glance, but considering that the number of candidates he examined daily ranged from dozens to hundreds, it was a miserable hit rate.

Even among the hundred or so found, only a handful became able to use holy arts at a practical level, which made it even worse.

While there were no particular benefits for him for finding holy power holders, it still felt more fulfilling to accomplish something rather than wasting the day meaninglessly.

Although the light of holy power was very faint, she seemed quite young, so depending on her training, she might become a full-fledged user… I hope my attitude wasn’t particularly strange? I try to treat candidates as fairly as possible before the test.

As Porcher was lost in thought while calmly reducing the waiting line, it was then that a strange sound reached his ears.

“What are they doing?”

“Is it some kind of acrobatic troupe?”

“An acrobatic troupe with just two people.”

People around were all murmuring and looking at some place.

Porcher’s gaze also turned in that direction.

And, Porcher unconsciously blurted out, “What on earth is that?”

Despite the hot weather, there was a knight whose entire body was completely covered.

The knight was holding a long stick in his left hand, and at the end of the stick, one chair leg was tightly tied with rope. Looking closely, it seemed the chair leg was not only tied with rope but also nailed to fix it to the stick.

On the chair sat a beautiful woman with green hair, and contrary to the extremely unstable-looking structure, her appearance was as peaceful as could be.

Come to think of it, there was a furniture store around here.

Porcher recalled such content, as if escaping from reality.

While people around were lost in that bizarre sight, the woman held up a cone-shaped magic tool.

In Tin Knight’s terms, a “megaphone”, and began to speak.

《Hello, residents of Justitia. And travelers who have come from outside. I have something to say to you all, so I’ve prepared this place like this.》

《I’m not trying to say anything grand, just to share some personal opinions about questions that suddenly came to mind regarding the significance of the scale’s existence, so I’d be grateful if you could listen.》

《Everyone, I want to ask you—》

《—Is the scale truly right? Is the scale really necessary for this city?》

The surroundings fell silent for a moment.

Porcher doubted his ears.

Whether knowing or not knowing the shock he had received, the woman continued speaking nonchalantly.

《Those who commit crimes receive punishment. This is only natural. Not because it’s good, but because society would collapse otherwise.》

《In that sense, the scale is a fairly useful tool and system. I won’t deny that. Even for the same crime, the punishment changes depending on who passes judgment, which is the way of the world, but with the scale, at least there’s no worry about that. A minimum ‘fairness’, in other words, ‘trust’ is guaranteed.》

《However, apart from this ‘fairness’, I can’t shake off doubts about whether the scale’s judgments are really appropriate and right.》

《First, there’s the item about substituting crimes with value. To put it extremely, if there was a very, very rich wizard with lots of money, even if they suddenly threw a large-scale spell in the middle of this square and massacred all of you, that wizard would be innocent. They could throw away about one-hundredth of their assets and fall asleep comfortably in bed.》

Porcher finally came to his senses and quickly ordered the soldiers, “W-what are you doing!? Stop them! Hurry up and stop them!”

The soldiers then hurriedly rushed towards them, but it was impossible to stop the woman’s words.

The chair the woman was sitting on. The knight holding it dodged their attacks effortlessly while running away here and there.

Moreover, he even showed the composure to ensure that the woman above didn’t fall or lose her posture in the process.

《’Crimes in Justitia are not questioned outside,’ and ‘Crimes outside are not questioned in Justitia.’ Honestly, I have doubts about these items too. If someone uses a huge catapult outside Justitia to crush and kill residents inside with stones, is that crime inside or outside?》

《Many criminals hide in Justitia fearing arrest outside and commit new crimes in Justitia. As a result, it’s as if the city is encouraging potential criminal candidates at the city level.》

《Of course, this might be highlighting only the disadvantages while ignoring the advantages. Even if there are some problems with the law, it could improve if the problematic parts are fixed and improved.》

《But, I want to ask here deliberately.》

《If a law has problems and is arbitrarily revised, is that law really absolute?》

《Conversely, if problems arising from maintaining the law’s absoluteness are neglected, is that law really right?》

《I would be grateful if you could share your esteemed opinions with me, residents and travelers.》

《Ah, don’t worry! There’s absolutely no content in Justitia’s laws saying, ‘You must not doubt the scale’!》

***

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