Oscar Brzenk looked fine. Even though his physical body was taken by the Temple of Providence, it seemed that his mind was safe.
Yu Jitae nonchalantly opened his mouth.
“…This appears to be inside the Temple.”
Hearing normal words come out of his mouth, Oscar heaved a deep sigh despite being somewhat curious.
“It’s great that you’re sane. Yes, this is the Temple of Providence and you are currently locked in something similar to a detention centre. I know this might be confusing but you have to listen carefully. There…”
“If you’re talking about the public trial starting soon, I know it already.”
“…!”
Oscar replied with a deeper frown.
“I see. That will make things easier to explain then.”
“And the agenda?”
“It is about your sin.”
It was as he had expected.
“About which crime specifically?” Yu Jitae asked.
“That is impossible to tell. Even though it has a similar convention to a human trial, it is not actually the same as one.”
“…”
“So we cannot tell which one of your sins they will be talking about, and what punishment they are trying to give.”
Those words sounded somewhat strange.
Which one of your sins… Oscar Brzenk was talking as if he knew about his past.
“I have requested the Judges already, to be able to defend you as an attorney.”
“Defend me?”
“Even though you might be a time traveller, you’ve never been at a public trial have you?”
That was true. It was because Vintage Clock had stopped it from happening a few times. This too, was something Oscar should not have been aware of.
“It seems you have viewed information about me from somewhere,” said Yu Jitae.
“I was locked at the Temple around a month ago, and have been preparing to this day. I viewed the records of the Temple; records about you that have been personally left behind by the personality of Vintage Clock.”
“…”
“How much about you is it that I’ve understood with this?”
If it was by reading the records of Vintage Clock…
“Probably almost perfect,” Yu Jitae replied.
“I see… According to the personality, it seems you have done a lot more than I’d initially thought. Including my own death.”
His last words had a slight sharpness to it.
In any case, the records personally left behind by Vintage Clock were believable, because Vintage Clock was the only one who understood Yu Jitae in this world.
“Must have been a hard life.”
That was when Oscar suddenly said that to him. Without replying to his statement, Yu Jitae asked about something else.
“How come you were locked in the Temple.”
“Ah, as you have suggested, I headed to the Garden of Stars and found the key to enter the Temple by the back door in secret. It was a mistake. There were a lot more Judges than I expected. Thanks to that, I was caught and temporarily lost control over my physical body.”
“That’s what I thought…”
As he had expected, Oscar had his physical body taken from him at the Temple of Providence. Since it was an authority originating from the Vintage Clock, it made sense for him to lose his body.
Oscar opened his mouth with a tense chin after hearing the words, ‘That’s what I thought’.
“There are horrible things going on in my mind… Did I do something outside by any chance?”
“You bombed the Association.”
“…Please tell me that’s a joke. Even though it’s a bad one, I can let that go.”
“It’s a fact. They used your body and attacked the Association to lure me out. Several people died and got injured.”
Oscar exploded in anger with a tightened fist.
“These, damned bastards…”
“I will apologise beforehand. Quite a lot of rankers from your side died in my hands. They were trying to hide and protect you because of their loyalty.”
“…”
Sorrowfully, Oscar Brzenk closed his eyes and collected his breath. Yu Jitae waited until he pacified his emotions.
“…The Judges think I’m on your side without a single doubt. They are very skeptical too.”
“Why have you taken my side,” questioned Yu Jitae.
“What do you mean?”
“If I were you, I would have pretended to be clueless.”
“Stop with the nonsense! You want me to become their dog?”
He had given a rational judgement and so did Oscar Brzenk. In Yu Jitae’s opinion, becoming their dog wasn’t that bad of a deal because a sovereign was treated no differently from a dog in the first place.
“You seem to know a lot more than me. I think you will be able to find the Vintage Clock after this trial. Is that correct?”
In response to his question, Yu Jitae gave a nod. In fact, his clone was already moving outside the Temple looking for the Vintage Clock.
“Firstly, our goal is for you to survive through this public trial. If things go terribly wrong, you will receive a great punishment and I will have my body forever taken away into a puppet.
“I will try my hardest to defend you in this trial. I have even touched the records of the Temple to prepare so please do trust me, for I will try my best to reduce your punishment.”
Oscar shared his desperate thoughts.
For Oscar Brzenk, the disappearance of Vintage Clock’s personality was the same as him losing his greatest ally. Him losing his physical body was due to the same reason – if Vintage Clock was here, that would have never happened.
That was why Oscar Brzenk had the same objective as Yu Jitae.
“How much of my records have you seen.”
Yu Jitae asked but that was when Oscar suddenly turned hasty. Feeling something similar, Yu Jitae gazed at the sky.
“Damn it! This is not the time to talk about that…!”
From the very top of the sky, at the tip of the dark outer space, a golden line was starting to be drawn as if a box was being opened from outside.
“You must keep my words in mind. You have to behave prudently. The public trial is a violent event that will try to force you to become a sinner.
“Judging from your actions, you have a rather impulsive side to you as well. Things might crumble down if you say something wrong.
“So please, calm yourself and just leave it to me even if things seem unfair.
“Do you understand? Please just trust me.”
Oscar Brzenk was about to continue his explanation but that was when the sky of the dark world began to crack open.
“It is about to begin…!”
At the same time, darkness became liquid that flowed down their bodies. Darkness was then replaced by brilliant light and in the midst of the continuing changes, Yu Jitae noticed his two arms and legs were confined.
By the time he realised it, he was restricted in the air among the bright light. His arms and legs were stuck in place as if he was crucified.
“Let me say it one last time. Trust me!”
Twelve pools of light started filling the empty sky. At last, the twelve ‘Judges’ whose faces were covered by light so that mere ‘existences’ could not see their faces were revealing themselves in front of Yu Jitae’s eyes.
12 huh…
The trial was a lot bigger than he thought.
Even in his repetitive iterations, he had never seen the twelve Judges gathered in one place. That was in turn proving the significance of this public trial.
One out of the twelve pools of light flew and landed near Yu Jitae and Oscar and soon, the light was unveiled showing a human-like face from within. The mouth opened carrying out a voice.
“Are you that ‘esteemed’ Keeper of the Clock?”
The neutral-gendered voice was filled with hostility.
“You lack wisdom despite your years. From how you jumped at it without even knowing it was a bait.”
“…”
Yu Jitae didn’t say anything. He wouldn’t have, even if Oscar didn’t stop him by reaching his arm out.
Some time in the distant past,
There was a time when [Vintage Clock] referred to these guys as ‘wrongfully elected existences’.
A transcendent authority existed for the ‘existences’. Animals, plants, humans… It was for all types of organisms with willpower.
However, an authority in general did not have a personality.
In order to maintain the Providence’s system as ‘humane’ as possible, Vintage Clock had summoned ‘existences’ from all sorts of places to make them its subordinate. The goal was to use them within the great system when ‘humane judgements’ were required. It was to keep things flexible.
However, that decision brought about a problem – it was that ‘nonhumans resembling humans’ had ended up taking their positions inside the authority.
Under the name of ‘Judge’.
“Please go elsewhere, Judge. What is this you are doing with the public trial ahead of us?”
The Judge turned its head and glared at Oscar.
“Sovereign. I will ask you instead.”
“What is it.”
“Even after listening to our advice, you still have decided to defend the Keeper of the Clock.”
“Is there any problem?”
“It will cause a distance. Between you and us, that is. The further you go away, the more trust you lose from us.”
“I said I was here to look for the Vintage Clock. Wasn’t it you all that rejected me from doing so?”
“That too is something that loses our trust. We could not find it, so how can a mere Executor of Providence like you manage to find it?”
They could hear the laughing and snickering noises of the surrounding Judges.
Light was lifted from the fake face. The face had neither the eyes, the nose nor the mouth but Yu Jitae could definitely feel the gazes that were on him.
“So foolish, incompetent and vulgar.”
“Please stop there and leave. Judge.”
“It has been unbelievably sloppy, so you will have to pay for the time that has gone by, and the Providence you have ruined.”
“Judge!”
Oscar yelled to protect Yu Jitae. The white pools of light fluctuated simultaneously, treating him like a barking dog. They appeared amused by the situation.
It was then.
A strand of crimson light suddenly started to fall into the group.
“Im, impossible…!” Oscar gasped in bafflement and even Yu Jitae widened his eyes.
There was only one existence inside the Temple of Providence that could give off a crimson light. Seeing the ‘leader’ of the twelve Judges, the crimson light, appearing within the group, Oscar lamented to himself.
“P, Punisher…!”
Oscar’s neck tightened as he instinctively realised that things were already going south.
[Punisher]
He was the owner of the Temple.
According to the Temple’s information Oscar had checked, the number of times Punisher had participated in a public trial among the aeon of Providence could be counted with one’s fingers. Why was such a being here at this place today?
As Oscar watched on whilst sweating profusely, an imposing and rather solemn voice resonated from the newly appeared crimson light.
[Silence]
The entirety of the Temple, enveloped in light, echoed in response. Judges all returned to their positions as Oscar straightened his posture to show respect. Yu Jitae didn’t have to do anything because he was restricted.
[The following trial has converged the demands of more than three Judges under the agenda of ‘dislocation of Providence’, and has been decided to be held after a sufficient discussion.]
‘Dislocation of Providence’.
That was the name of his sin that brought Yu Jitae to this place.
[The twelve Judges who will proceed with questions regarding the following agenda, and the scribes tasked with recording this trial shall all raise their heads to show due respect to Providence.]
As soon as the Punisher finished its words, the golden lights of the veiled existences turned even brighter. These guys did not exist in real life – since they were only a concept, Yu Jitae as a human had no way of understanding their way of showing respect.
[This is to the main existence of the agenda, ‘Keeper of the Clock’. You may comment along with your attorney in this trial. You are only allowed to speak when replying to a question, and asking a question back is not allowed. Note that I, as the Punisher of Providence, have the power to grant you the worst sentence in case this is infringed.]
Yu Jitae listened without saying anything in return and Oscar Brzenk replied instead.
“We will absolutely follow the rules of the Temple.”
Under the tranquil air,
A voice broke the desolate silence.
[As the Punisher of a transcendent authority overseeing Providence, I hereby vow under the authority’s name that this public trial shall be unbiased and righteous.]
The air turned as noise subsided.
Even though the light sources of the Temple dimmed a little, they seemingly added more weight to the situation.
[I announce the start of the trial.]
[Judges may begin with their questions.]
In response to the Punisher’s words, one of the pools of light turned a little brighter. At the same time, a face appeared from within the light – it was the one who had been annoying them before the start of the trial.
The guy was standing in the 3rd spot from the right, so Yu Jitae and Oscar decided to think of it as ‘Number 3’.
“I will now question the Keeper of the Clock.
“Firstly, Keeper of the Clock. You should recall your encounter with the fragments of [Hostility] that reached from beyond the Horizon of Providence. They tried to ruin your life quite a bit among the Providence and such incidents were left behind as reports.
“They tried a mental attack on you. By using an existence called ‘Ha Saetbyul’, with memory and information about the previous iteration. Surprising is it not? It means [Hostility] has access to the information of what happened before the Overseer of Time Providence reverted the time.
“But how is this possible? There has not been any outside interference on the ‘scriptorium’ of the Temple. Not a single one.”
The guy raised its voice even higher while Oscar glared back with a scowl.
“That means [Hostility] remembering your past iterations does not go against the Providence of Time. Whether you wanted to or not, you must have provided information to the target.”
This was what the Judge was saying:
‘Yu Jitae. It is you who have made [Hostility]. And it is you who have given your personal information over to [Hostility].’
“And therefore, this is what I would like to ask. O, Keeper of the Clock.
“Do you have any idea about the identity of [Hostility]?”