Symphony for the Insect Princess

"…………Eh?"

Yaldot immediately recognized the two men, but his dulled brain refused to comprehend the meaning.

Not far from her, Shandoba was standing next to Saint Straun, his face serious and sad.

"Yes, everyone, this is what I saw and heard that night in the capital of Azera."

His voice sounded extremely sad.

"That night, I woke up in the middle of the night and stumbled upon the Saint sneaking out through the night fog. Worried, I followed her and saw this scene. Realizing the seriousness of this matter, I used the precious Holy Stone of Camilla to record it all."

The video continued to play, and the picture zoomed in a little. Shandoba's nervous breathing could be faintly heard in the video, but it was immediately drowned out by the voices of the two protagonists.

"...I will release my plague, and you can use it to continuously heal those poor people and secure your position as Saint."

"Yes, from now on... I'll be counting on you, too."

"Oh, what a cruel Saint! Are reputation and status so important?"

“If it weren’t for this, who would run around for someone who has nothing to do with them?”

Although the voices of Fogarte and Winnie were not clear, it was enough to make out what they were saying.

A simple conversation contains an explosive amount of information.

"See you next time, Miss Saint."

"...assuming you haven't been defeated before then."

The short conversation has come to an end. Winnie in the picture hurried away, while Fogaret is still standing there.

The picture slowly moves away, and it should be Shandoba slowly retreating, trying to leave quietly.

At this moment, Fogret suddenly turned over here, facing the direction of Shandoba. The picture shook violently, then turned black on one side and was interrupted.

Shandoba continued to explain, "Unfortunately, I was eventually discovered by Foglet, but fortunately, I alerted others in time and escaped using the hide-and-seek teleportation technique, thus avoiding death."

That's how the injuries on his body came about—he pointed to the scar on his face that hadn't completely disappeared.

"But compared to this, I think we should face the current situation squarely."

St. Straun said this seriously, sitting at the head of the group with his chin resting on his hands and his eyes burning.

"This footage reveals a serious situation unprecedented in the Pantheon—the Saint is having an affair with the Demon King, and more importantly, the plague... The Mist Demon King has already stated that he was the one who spread the plague, and Winnie Lebenhold is clearly his accomplice."

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"That's it, Winnie!"

"How could it be... So the demon hunters came to capture me? Just because of that video and Shandoba's one-sided statement? It's enough evidence, but... doesn't it seem a bit too deliberate!?"

Winnie screamed in panic, and Yaerduo and the paladins were also full of anger.

"I'm also very confused! Such a major matter should follow a strict process and be submitted to the various departments for thorough review before a decision is made, but..."

“Is there no one who raises any doubts?”

"Of course! But at that time—"

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“——Wait a minute!!!”

Unable to bear it any longer, Yaerduo slammed the table and stood up. The paladin who came with her also stood up and glared at Shandoba.

"Stop talking nonsense! How could this be possible? Lady Wei—the Saint is colluding with the Demon King of the Mist?"

Not only Yaldo, but several people on the other side of the conference room also stood up suddenly. Leading the way was a slightly plump, half-bald man—Archpriest Van Grindol. He represented the current conservative faction of the Pantheon and had been a longtime political enemy of Shandoba. It was he and his staff who had fostered Winnie. To him, Winnie was his most important political bargaining chip, a crucial tool for consolidating the conservatives' leading position.

"This is pure nonsense!!! Shandoba, I don't know what you've done, but don't push your luck!"

"You happened to be there? You happened to witness it? You happened to be carrying the Holy Stone of Carmela?"

"What a lie! Stop pretending, I don't think you're——"

"That's enough! Watch your words, Lord Yaldo! Lord Glyndwr!"

St. Straun warned in a heavy voice.

"Saint Winnie Lebenhold's actions have completely crossed the bottom line!"

"This is blatant betrayal—no, it was a conspiracy between her and the Demon King from the very beginning!"

"Lord Oracle, we must immediately send the Demon Hunting Hall to apprehend her!"

"Don't let it go!"

The reformist followers around Shandoba also stood up, each of them looking indignant.

"hateful……"

"Tsk..."

Yaerduo clenched his fists, suppressed his anger and sat down, and Grindol's eyes turned red with anger.

"I understand your feelings, Vice-Captain of the Paladins, Lord Grindol," Shandoba shook his head. "I also hope that this is just my own delusion, but the Carmela Holy Stone only records the truth, and once a record is stored, it cannot be modified. It will not lie."

"But - but -"

I wanted to retort, but couldn't find the right words.

The Carmelite Stone is a rare mineral, capable of seeing through all illusions and recording only the truth. Once stored, this record cannot be altered or erased. Due to this special property, it is often used within the Pantheon to record important oracles and is only carried by those of high rank and power. Therefore, it's not out of the ordinary for Shandoba to have the stone with him.

More importantly, Shandoba was indeed seriously injured when he returned, and the facts were consistent with his statement...?

Wait a moment.

No way?

A very, very, very bad guess suddenly emerged in Yaerduo's mind.

The Saint would never do such a thing. All of this must have been directed and acted by Shandoba in order to pin the blame on Winnie and to bring down the conservatives.

But this video should also be true, after all, it is a holy stone.

In this case, the only explanation is—

Chapter 139 The Injustice of a Certain Saint (Part )

"Winnie, I have to confirm with you, could it be that you have really had contact with the Demon King of Mist?"

"I……"

Winnie's body trembled and her eyes dropped.

"I'm sorry, I...indeed, I should have come into contact with the Lord of Mist."

""""What!?""""

Several paladins were horrified, but Yaerduo remained calm.

"Did he find you, or did you find him?"

"Yes...he took the initiative to come and meet me."

"So, you've been helping him spread the plague all this time, just to secure your position as Saint?"

"…………Eh?"

Winnie looked confused.

"How could I possibly do such a thing... The Lord of the Mist only asked for my assistance, and... he even threatened me with the life of my friend, but I never promised him anything..."

(really……)

Yaerduo continued to ask: "Then tell me, how many times have you come into contact with him?"

"Yes, I have. More than once, right? Twice... or three? Four?"

Winnie's expression became increasingly confused, and Yaerduo asked further, "Do you remember when you first came into contact with him?"

"..."

Winnie looked completely disheveled.

Probably more than once.

But how many times exactly?

This shouldn't be the first time we've met in the capital of Azera.

So when was the first time you met?

"I can't... remember at all..."

“…As expected.”

Yaldur sighed deeply.

"All of this is Shandoba's conspiracy. He's willing to cooperate with the Demon King to achieve his goals. The capital of Azera should be your only contact with the Demon King of the Mist!"

"But I always feel—"

"The Lord of the Mist is Maya's top illusionist. He used hints on you, making you believe you've already met him several times. You thought you hadn't promised him, but that was just your belief... The Sacred Stone only records the truth. The Lord of the Mist used hints to make you say something completely different without you realizing it."

In this way, the truth becomes clear.

Shandoba colluded with the Lord of Mist.

Shandoba had prepared the Holy Stone of Camilla in advance, and the Lord of the Mist had already ambushed in the capital of Azera.

That night, the Demon King of the Mist bewitched Winnie and led her into the forest, making her say a lot of words that were unfavorable to her, and fabricating the "fact" that "the saint had an affair with the demon king", but Winnie was unaware of it.

During this period, Shandoba was lurking nearby and recorded everything with the holy stone.

After Winnie left, in order to make the performance more realistic, Shandoba deliberately let the Mist Demon King injure him.

When he returned to Divanlensa, he unified his views with the reformists, and if I remember correctly, Saint Straun had always been a close personal friend of his...

"Shandoba had it all planned from the beginning. The reformists must have been planning this for a long time... Damn it!!!"

An arrest warrant had been issued without a thorough investigation—and it didn't matter if he died or not. Most priests hadn't expressed any opinion, leaving the conservatives abruptly isolated. The demon hunters launched their operation before the meeting even ended. Ultimately, this was just an impromptu meeting, yet it had more power than a formal one. It was completely abnormal from beginning to end! If Yaldo hadn't forcibly departed with the paladins before the meeting was over, Winnie would probably be...

"careful!"

The golem's giant hand appeared, deflecting the lightning-fast knife that flew towards Winnie—but the part of the golem that had touched the knife showed obvious signs of corrosion! Several men in black flashed from the darkness, their method of concealing the fluctuations of their magic power so sophisticated that even Yaerduo almost didn't notice!

"Joel, Jax, Achilles, you three—"

"Let's cut off the queen!"

"You go first!"

"Big sister, I'll leave the Saint Lady to you!"

"...Okay! Remember, you must come back alive!"

Taking one last look at the back of the warrior who had left behind without hesitation, Yaerduo bit her lips, hugged Winnie tightly, and accelerated again towards the city border.

"Stop, Yaldo Grant."

A disgusting voice reached her ears, and also reached Winnie. It was the voice of Shandoba, who was communicating with them remotely through a special communication magic.

"Don't be stupid, Grant. The arrest warrant for Winnie Lebenhold has been issued. As a neutral paladin, there's no need for you to risk your life for a convicted saint."

"...Ha, you, the culprit, really have the nerve to say that?"

"Oh, the culprit? I don't know what you're talking about. I just want to remind you not to stand on the wrong side. You have two choices now: stop immediately and bring the Saint to justice. Saint Straun may forgive your outrageous behavior; or -"

"Stop talking nonsense, I'll only choose the second one!"

"Really... Ha, ha ha ha ha..."

Shandoba gave a creepy sneer.

"Then, from now on, you and your fellow Paladins are all guilty of the same crime."

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"...You and your fellow Paladins are all guilty of the same crime!"

After finishing the ultimatum, Shandoba gave a few more instructions to his staff and then lay back on the recliner to relax.

The meeting had already ended. His old friend, Saint Straun, nodded and left. Meanwhile, his political enemy, Van Grindol, hurriedly left, presumably to discuss countermeasures. But it was too late. Nearly half of that man's associates and staff had already been co-opted by Shandoba through various means.

Would Winnie Lebenhold be caught? Would she be imprisoned or executed? Would the matter be made public? None of this mattered. What mattered was that she had been successfully wrongly accused. Even if the verdict could be overturned, her prestige would undoubtedly be greatly diminished. The overthrow of the conservatives by the reformists was a foregone conclusion.

As for the other thing——