“Huh?”
Clone 2 immediately jumped up and started climbing the clock tower the moment that doubt appeared in his mind.
A lightning bolt was flashing across his head.
There was no-one in this ‘World of Providence’ who had any interest in the concept of time apart from day and night, but looking back, there was one existence who naturally mentioned 12 o’clock.
– Like I said, we do not have a clear concept of time…
– Ah, wait! I think it was around 12 at night.
It was vivid in his memories because the existence had gone back on its words.
How?
How was that guy able to tell the time?
– Anyway, it’s great that it’s quiet these days.
– True. The clock tower used to be quite noisy after all.
The answer was in the conversations of others.
This clock had an alarm system!
But how were things now? Even though the minute and the second hands were still moving, only the hour hand was still. In other words, someone had come and broken the hour hand of the clock tower at around 12 o’clock.
The clone guessed that it would have taken around 1 hour to break the hour hand because in this World of Providence, it should be impossible for things to stop working without a valid reason!
Clone 2 could infer the identity of the one that broke it.
That too was within the conversations he had heard.
– Besides, only members of the Temple of Providence can enter the clock tower.
The clone summarised the situation.
1. Someone from the Temple.
2. Went to the clock tower at around 12 o’clock.
3. And broke the hour hand of the clock at around 1 o’clock.
It was unclear whether it was intentionally broken or if there was some other reason to it. However, what first struck his mind was the number of ‘entrances’. Going a lap around the World of Providence, Clone 2 had been under the assumption that there was only one entrance.
But now that he noticed that the clock tower itself was strange, his vision was broadened and could now see a ‘new entrance’ he had missed.
“Ugh! Hukk!”
It was then. Clone 2 almost slipped in the midst of his climb. He somehow stabilised his body by clinging to a different brick.
He had to calm down. Everything would turn worthless the moment he fell from here so Clone 2 collected his breath while glancing at the ground beneath.
Clone 2’s eyes could now spot 2 entrances. The first was the door at the bottom that could fit one person.
And…
Above the face of the clock.
Something resembling a door that was firmly shut.
It was none other than the door for the ‘Vintage Clock’s cuckoo’ to come out.
The cuckoo that acted like an alarm would have chirped every time at 12 o’clock, and would have been silent recently because the clock had stopped at 1 o’clock.
So if he climbed up and pushed the hour hand… that would most definitely allow him to go inside.
“Uhhkk!” he cried out, feeling intense pain from his hand. The issue was with his impatience causing him to accidentally grab the brick with the wrong part of his body. The finger nail of his middle finger was cracked open and lifted into the air with blood seeping out of it.
It was unfortunate that his current body was different from the actual one. He would have already finished climbing a clock tower like this in real life…!
“…!’
Regardless, Clone 2 continued moving with clenched teeth.
He climbed up. With a body not so different from a human’s within the World of Providence, he carefully laid his feet and reached out with his hands. That was all the while trying his best not to fall and making sure he didn’t lose his balance.
That was when a sudden doubt appeared in his mind.
Why am I this desperate?
Was it because this was a show of loyalty to his lord?
***
Slowly, the cat removed its paws from Yu Jitae’s shoulders. The blood flowing like lava and the heart pumping that blazing blood away was becoming even more coarse over time.
But he still had his eyes closed with a peaceful expression on his face, nor was he moving his body.
“Seven times. He had as many as seven opportunities. However, it is clear alongside the 30 second gap that the personality had sacrificed its own life to support the Keeper of the Clock.”
“What is wrong with that! The reason the Temple had been supporting the Keeper is to untangle the twisted Providence. In the end, he has managed to resolve the issue, so is that not enough?”
“Attorney. It seems you have not understood the key point.”
The 12th Judge gradually began pushing Oscar into a corner.
“Did he resolve it?” asked the Judge.
“It has definitely been resolved! Have you not seen the records of the Key yourself!?”
“Let me ask again. Was it ‘he’ that resolved it?”
“…!”
Oscar widened his eyes. The flow of the conversation had shifted in an explicit manner.
“Judge! You are currently casting a cloud over the argument. Are you trying to change the focus of the current agenda?!”
Until now, they had been questioning Yu Jitae about the ‘result’; whether he had successfully achieved the goal or not. Therefore, Oscar had presented the records of [Key] as proof for achieving the objective, and yet now they were interrogating Yu Jitae about the ‘process’ of the success.
“What a strange thing it is that you’re saying. What is the theme of the current agenda?”
“Is it not about the achievement of the objective?”
“Well, that is not the case.”
The face of the 12th Judge enveloped in light cracked open horizontally, revealing the large fangs within.
“We’ve been saying it the whole time, from the very start. Our agenda was in the incompetence of the Keeper of the Clock.”
“What kind of wordplay is this? It was the Temple of Providence that chose this man as the Keeper of the Clock. That…”
Oscar had to be careful with his words. In the end, the decision was up to the Punisher. Even though his following words might irritate the Judges, it was okay. All he had to do was assign the lowest sentence to Yu Jitae and find the Vintage Clock’s personality.
The white bird will protect Oscar Brzenk from the Judges, just like always.
Everything will be solved as long as they find the white bird.
As long as they find the white bird…
“…That was the decision of you Judges.”
It is by your incompetence that you have chosen the incompetent Yu Jitae. That was what Oscar was saying to them.
“This impudent…”
The atmosphere flipped in an instant. What was in the eyes of the Judges had exceeded the likes of displeasure and was reaching the level of killing intent.
A sovereign was calling the Judges incompetent at the Temple, with the Punisher in front.
“Am I wrong? You have selected a human called ‘Yu Jitae’ from Earth and locked him in the circulation of regression. All because he had the strongest willpower among humans! And yet you have not supported him simply because you wanted to save the authority of Time Providence.”
“Shut your nonsense! Who can dare deny that a regression is already a tremendous opportunity!”
“Even the Temple of Time Providence could not resolve the issue. Is regression really that great a support for such an enormous problem? No. Not in the slightest. If it was that easy, you should have utilised your favourite sovereigns to do it! You should have accomplished it by using me! But what about this man here? O Punisher, please have a look at him!”
Oscar continued whilst pointing at Yu Jitae.
“Something neither the sovereign, the Judges nor any other authority could accomplish! Was done solely by him!”
“No! He was only lucky,” rebutted one of the Judges.
“On what basis are you denying my words?”
“The black dragon was a mutant that arrived at Earth through the twist in Providence! It is one of the exceptions that exists in every iteration, and he just got lucky to get ahold of that exception in his 7th life!”
Oscar Brzenk shouted in return.
“And how does that correlate to his incompetence? Did this man want to become the Keeper of the Clock? It was you who chose him. YOU crammed that exception to the face of this poor man. And yet now that this existence managed to grab that exception to resolve the problem, you wish to punish him? You dare!”
Like a beast, he exhaled his fury. Looking at the past lives of Yu Jitae left behind by the white bird, Oscar couldn’t help but get angry as a similar human being.
“You are ignorant owners of a dog! You neglected! Ignored! And discarded him! But here you are scolding the wounded dog who came back a long path, and now you are trying to punish him. How could you do such a thing? If the reason for your existence is to humanely enact the powers of the authority that does not have a will, then how can you dare try to punish this man!”
“Insolent fool—-!!”
The 12th Judge furiously roared. Although the Judge was nothing but an individual subordinate, it was still an existence that granted powers to a sovereign.
[Be silent.]
“I have not finished yet, o Punisher. The answer to the question is yet to be…”
[Silence.]
In response, the Sovereign and the Judges stopped growling at each other and closed their mouths.
It was still okay.
His explanation was well-structured, and had sufficient appeal. In addition, the ‘result’ was definitely close to success so his second response should also be a successful one.
That was what Oscar was thinking.
[However, is it not true that the Keeper of the Clock has relied on coincidence to resolve Providence?]
Oscar’s eyes stretched wide open.
“W, what… O Punisher.”
A sharp voice unknowingly left his mouth. It was simply that dumbfounding.
[Be silent. This is your last warning.]
“…”
Betrayed.
Oscar Brzenk couldn’t help but feel slightly betrayed.
Unlike the Judges, the Punisher was one who led the public trial. An existence that had to be impartial no matter what, was clearly standing on the Judges’ side.
However, the trial was not over yet.
And that can’t be true.
There was no way.
Maybe it was only for this question that the Punisher had taken the Judges’ side. Oscar wanted to believe in the Punisher.
[Judges, begin the next question.]
“Yes. I will now start the next question.”
This time, the 9th Judge came to the centre.
“Even without considering the 30 second gap, there are records of modified time frames in certain places among the ones left behind by the personality–”
Even so, Oscar couldn’t help but feel strange. He knew the public trial was to punish the defendant of the agenda, but he had not seen any record among the documentations of past trials of the Punisher giving such a prejudiced judgement.
…Wait, no records?
“…!”
Suddenly realising something, Oscar glared at the scribe.
The light of the scribe that should be recording the trial was moving faintly, creating something like a cloud. He couldn’t understand the principle and function due to it being a conceptual existence, but it was clearly ‘recording’ something for now.
“Let me answer that question. Firstly…”
Withholding his mind from turning blank, Oscar calmly gave his answers to the third question. But after replying to the question, his doubt turned into certainty.
“…The scribe is not recording it down,” he murmured.
As if a heavy piece of lead had dropped in his mind, his brain rang out with alarms. All the other previous public trials must have been fabricated by that guy.
[All the corresponding responses will be dismissed. That too lacks persuasiveness.]
Even in the following question, the Punisher turned his reply down. Let alone feeling betrayed, Oscar now felt despair.
When the one that had to be impartial was no longer impartial, that was no longer even a trial. This was nothing but a group relying on violence to shove a man down a cliff.
His heart felt excruciatingly heavy.
No matter how he were to answer the following questions, the Punisher would always stand for the Judges. There was no point in what he was doing.
However, he couldn’t sit here doing nothing.
“O Punisher. I have an objection. Please lend your ear a little bit more to our story! This is an unreasonable treatment!”
[Rejected.]
“Please listen. This public trial is already considering him a sinner. He is already being considered guilty! Even the legal system of the lacking human world does not deem the defendant guilty ahead of the trial! Something like this is…!”
[Attorney!]
Would this be how it feels for a loud amplifier to resonate from the sky? Oscar thought his ears would burst into pieces.
[If you wish to dishonour the Temple any more than this, I as the overseer of the conference, and the strict Punisher of the trial will not stand still.]
“That’s…!”
[Anything more you wish to say?]
Despite the scorching heat in his mind, he knew how to settle his emotions as the sovereign of a world. The rugged words of rage lost its strength before leaving his mouth.
“……I have none.”
His reply crumbled like his mind. Despair from the bottom of one’s heart tended to in fact lead to empty laughter.
Oscar closed his mouth but could not contain the empty outbursts of laughter.
With no hope in sight, his mind turned blank but time did not wait for his recovery. Another question followed suit marking the continuance of the public trial.
It felt as if he was barely holding onto the clifftop. Everything he had prepared was pulverised and there was nothing else to do but wait for the predestined downfall.
Even though his fingers holding onto the cliff were already about to loosen, there was a sudden foot trampling on his hand.
The 1st Judge opened its mouth.
“Straight after the 30 second gap, the personality disappeared, and after skeptically delving into the issue, I have discovered information about the whereabouts and circumstances of the white bird.
“Let me provide the relevant information. Please have a look.”
The records of the following Judge appeared in their minds. [Hill of Stars] – it was the place where one could confirm the current affairs of Vintage Clock’s subjects.
Among them, the blue star that represented the white bird;
The previously bright star was coloured in black.
“This was after the 30 second gap according to the standards of Earth, which happened within less than a few days after the incident.”
There was only one explanation for a blue star to turn black.
“The white bird is dead.”
In that instant–
The atmosphere of the courtroom sank as Oscar Brzenk felt suffocation striking his heart.
At the same time, Yu Jitae who had been staying dead still twitched his fingers.