Chapter 498 — Public Trial
Blade of Dawn · Page 3 of 5
"...All hanged?" Amber looked at Gaoyang in surprise. "So it was decided from the start?"
"By Cecil law, even the lightest of their crimes merits hanging twice over. And to spread the New Church, to wipe out the influence of the old Church entirely, these diehard loyalists cannot be spared."
Amber looked thoughtful. "...You kept them alive until today just for this trial, didn't you?"
"Exactly—for this trial," Gaoyang nodded slightly. "And not only must there be this trial; its proceedings must be strict and just. Even if every single charge against those priests would be enough to kill them once, they must not die until the trial is over."
Amber quickly grasped Gaoyang's intent. "It's to establish 'order,' isn't it?"
"Indeed," Gaoyang breathed out softly. "Letting the mob and the White Knights beat those priests to death, or simply putting them to the torch at the trial, might be the simplest way, the most satisfying way to vent anger—but if we did that, we would be no different from a 'heresy trial,' and this great battle would become nothing but a muddled atrocity. No matter what, during the rebuilding of order in Mingyuan City, we must pass on some of Cecil's ideals to everyone, let them know that we are not the Daylight Church—the whole business of heresy trials must be cast aside utterly."
A voice came from behind Gaoyang and Amber: "So those clerics and priests, even in death, must die only after a just trial—that is the rule you have set, is it not?"
Amber turned her head to glance at the newcomer and raised a hand in greeting. "Oh, Priest."
Gaoyang looked at the tall, lean middle-aged cleric in white robes and nodded slightly. "Priest Severn Trey, is it not—thank you very much for the help you gave us in this operation."
The one who had appeared before Gaoyang and Amber was none other than the leader of the small cathedral district, Severn Trey.
He had not appeared beside the platform of the public trial, but had come here—seemingly for the purpose of meeting Gaoyang.
"The Holy Light guides us," said the tall, lean pastor, tracing the sign of the holy seal over his chest. He looked at Gaoyang with a trace of curiosity. "You are... not quite what I imagined."
Gaoyang smiled at this cleric whom Wright had praised so highly. "In what way am I different?"
Severn Terry answered without hesitation: "After hearing Miss Amber's description, I had imagined you would be a far gloomier, colder, more arbitrary ruler, one who would sacrifice every notion of 'justice' for the greatest advantage. But now it seems... your methods are harsh, yet you still hold to your own code of morality."
Gaoyang thought for a moment, then turned his head to look at Amber. "...What exactly did you tell them?"
Amber had been looking for a chance to slip away from the moment Severn Terry was halfway through speaking, but having considered the very real possibility of being seized by the collar and hurled off the city wall the instant she made a run for it, she had steeled herself and stayed put. Now she immediately began clamoring: "I didn't make anything up—I got all of it from what you teach me every day! I think it's this priest's comprehension and imagination that are the problem..."
"Go on, keep learning from Rebecca. Your intelligence hasn't gone up much, but your head gets more stubborn by the day," Gaoyang remarked bluntly, then turned to Severn Terry. "Whatever you took away from Amber's words, I hope you'll understand one thing: I am working to give this land and its people a better tomorrow. On that foundation, I bear the Holy Light no ill will."
"Wright told me the same, and I trust his judgment—and I trust what I see with my own eyes at this moment," Severn Terry bowed his head before Gaoyang. "Thank you for arranging this trial—you have shown me your 'righteousness,' and it does not conflict with the Holy Light."