Volume 1 - CH 12.1

Renier instantly became the target of the other girls’ envy and jealousy. They seemed to believe that something untoward had happened between Renier and the noble en-ishib, and even Minnè and Jada seemed to have assumed the same thing. This was because Gishzida himself never confirmed nor denied anything about that incident.

“I think Lord Gishzida carried me on his back in an attempt to console me because I was crying so much.”

Renier had tried to explain to Minnè and Jada what had happened, but they were all too familiar with Gishzida’s cold and heartless personalities and simply huffed at the absurdity of it all.

And so, the mood inside the lodgings became warlike when Gishzida summoned Renier again a week later. Minnè and Jada quarreled fiercely over Renier —one argued that they had to send her to Gishzida again because he was their supervisor, whereas the other argued that they should not send her over to such an irresponsible supervisor.

Renier was frozen stiff as she was dragged back to the house of water. She was nervous that Gishzida might say something about what had transpired the other day, but all he did was to teacher her about how ngak tablets were made, some of the divine script that was etched onto them, and how ordinary civilians of the Southlands could use the ngak tablets to manifest incantations. He also very casually provided her with a bowl of her favorite snacks and a cup of goat milk with honey.

“You worry about the darndest things. Would you like to try some of this? I had them bring me freshly milked goat milk, and I cast a honey ngak over it so it’d taste better.”

Wow. Lord Gishzida knows how to crack a joke? Renier slowly grew less nervous thanks to Lord Gishzida’s attitude, and she gradually started smiling again.

Perhaps the tension had left her too quickly, however, because she then started growing terribly sleepy. Renier did her best to keep her eyes and ears open to Lord Gishzida’s teachings, but she couldn’t keep herself from nodding off from time to time. She heard Lord Gishzida chuckle quietly and say,

“You seem tired, Renier. Were you unable to sleep well last night?”

His voice was growing quieter and fainter. Renier shook her head no as she rubbed her eyes. Her eyelids suddenly drooped downward, and her hands and feet felt so heavy. Gishzida continued,

“Sleep if you’re tired —I won’t wake you. You may get as much rest as you need.”

Renier’s body suddenly began floating in midair. This marked the second time that Lord Gishzida had moved her around in this manner, but her ability to stay conscious had melted away before the tidal wave of her sleepiness, and she didn’t even have it in her to wonder what to do with her body.

It was so strange. Had Lord Gishzida’s body always been this warm and soft?

……But why am I acting like this again?

Even her brief doubts vanished quietly into nothingness.

***

“I’m sure you’re already aware, Lord Gishzida, but Renier is a temple of the slave who will be participating in the spring festival with the other nine children.”

“I am aware, Minnè.”

……Huh? When did I fall asleep?

Renier blinked. She couldn’t believe that she had so fearlessly napped in Lord Gishzida’s home until evening. I’m pretty sure that Lord Gishzida was teaching me how to manifest ngak from ngak tablets just earlier, and then I had some of the hot honeyed goat milk that he gave me, and then I felt a little sleepy and started dozing off…….

“I’m dreaming. I was probably napping in the forest and just woke up. Yup, that sounds about right. This is a dream.”

But no matter how strongly Renier insisted to herself, she couldn’t deny the fact that she was inside Lord Gishzida’s house with translucent walls made from water, lying on Lord Gishzida’s bed, and covered by the luxurious linen blanket that was surely used by Lord Gishzida himself.

She slowly grew frightened. I’ve lost it. I’ve surely gone crazy. What on earth am I doing right now?

Then, she suddenly heard Minnè raising her voice in the next room over.

“Then why did you do this, if you were fully aware? Don’t you know how angry the lord galtir will be? Was the fact that you’ll be flogged because of that child not enough of a punishment for you? Why would you take a child who will be participating in the spring festival unless you were intentionally trying to provoke the lord galtir……?”

Renier snapped back to her full senses.

Flogging? What is she talking about? Lord Gishzida never said anything about getting flogged, though?

She didn’t hear Lord Gishzida responding. Renier grew nervous and leaned her ear in their direction, and then she heard Minnè quietly saying,

“……The girls who will be participating in the festival don’t need to be virgins, of course, but at the very least they should not be carrying the seed of another man during the festival. We will be cursed, not blessed, if we send a pregnant girl to participate in the ritual that is supposed to celebrate the union of Armanu and Kittu and the fruit of their love. I will be checking to see whether Renier has her period next month, and if she doesn’t, she will need to be chased away so another girl can be found to take her place.”

Pregnant? What’s that supposed to mean? I’ve never even kissed a man, never mind let one put a baby in my belly?

And my period? What’s that?

Renier understood that something vulgar needed to occur between a man and a woman for a baby to be made. She knew this because all female slaves were to some extent taught this by the overwhelming lewdness around them in their lodgings. However, she had only picked up bits and pieces of information about the subject from here and there, and there were holes in her understanding.

Renier vigorously turned the gears in the head as she pondered. She’d be okay since she didn’t have a baby or anything of the sort, but she’d be in big trouble if she was chased out of the Golden Forest and sold somewhere else because she didn’t have this thing called a period. This would mean that she would never be able to see Lord Gishzida ever again. It was almost like she wasn’t the same child who had asked to be sent to work in the fields because she didn’t want to lie with men in the temple.

But what’s a period? I don’t have anything weird-sounding like that. Where do I get one of those?

It’s going to be okay. I don’t have a baby inside my belly, so I just need to start by figuring out what a period is, and then I can work on getting one.

Right. And if I really can’t figure it out, then I can always try asking Lord Gishzida for help. I’m sure he’ll be able to help me get one if I beg him. I’m sure it’s not as rare and expensive as a divine stone.

She felt a little better once she had finished thinking. Renier took a deep breath as she checked the state of her body again. Her lower abdomen felt a little sore and a bit heavier than usual, but, fortunately, nothing was too different from what she was expecting.

Lady Minnè was misunderstanding something. Renier was extremely sensitive to the dirty gazes of men, and she had never once felt any sort of perverseness from Lord Gishzida.

Of course, that wasn’t to say that Renier hadn’t been embarrassed by the way he sometimes dressed or the way he carried himself or ever found him suspicious. But Renier had simply written it off as Lord Gishzida having a nasty personality. And to be honest, being a little suspicious suited Lord Gishzida surprisingly well. At the end of the day, however, Renier had never once felt the vulgar emotions that she was so wary of coming from him with her keen senses.

In Renier’s mind, Gishzida was the furthest person possible from animalistic desire and was the noblest and most beautiful person she knew —he was everything a Celestial should be. She knew that this was only because of the pride he carried in being a Celestial and the scorn and contempt he harbored for human beings, but the fact remained that this brought her great peace of mind.

I need to hurry over and tell Lady Minnè that nothing happened to clear up her misunderstanding.

Renier clenched her hands into fists and nodded to herself, but then she heard Gishzida quietly reply,

“……I’ll endeavor to be more careful in the future.”

Renier froze in her tracks. Wait, Lord Gishzida? What are you talking about? What are you going to be more careful about? Minnè continued nagging him,

“I have no idea why someone who should know better like you did something like this. Are there not enough beautiful nugigs in the Golden Forest for you? Why a slave of the temple who’ll be participating in the festival?! Why would you even consider touching a strange-looking slave wench in poor condition like her?”

Lord Gishzida? Why did you say something weird like that instead telling her that she was clearly mistaken? Hurry up and tell her! I just dozed off —that’s why I took a nap—, nothing happened between you and me, and nothing happened last time either! Please hurry up and tell her!

Contrary to Renier’s hopes, however, Gishzida instead replied,

“In any case, I was at fault here, so I will take responsibility for this. I will send Renier away before the festival and bring back another child to take her place if she doesn’t have her period.”

Renier froze up.

‘W-what? Did I actually do something with Lord Gishzida, then? But I don’t remember anything?’

The inside of Renier’s head became a right mess.

***

“Um, Lore Gishzida? There’s something I’d like to ask you.”

“Sure. Did you sleep well? Did you grow curious about something as soon as you woke up?”

Renier, who had checked two or three times to make sure that Minnè had gone back, wasn’t able to ask her real question and ended up dithering for a long time instead.

“A-are you going to get flogged……because of me?”

Gishzida scowled heavily.

“Did Minnè tell you that? Actually, did you overhear us talking earlier?”

“W-when will you be…….”

“It hasn’t been set in stone yet, so don’t worry about it.”

“…….”

“The traitorous high priest is slowly going blind. If he’s gotten drunk on worldly money and power, then he should at least be exorcising demons, curing illnesses, or getting high on incense and spitting out prophecies like they do at other temples —but it seems like beating up us Fundamentalists, who are only trying to fulfil our sacred mission, is the only thing he wants to do.”

The mere idea of Lord Gishzida being punished because of her was awful to Renier. Her voice quivered as she asked,

“If you’re only being flogged because of me, then can’t I take it in your place? It, it won’t hurt me at all because I’ve been whipped so much ever since I was young. And I heal quick too. So I, I’ll…”

“I told you not to worry. I’ve been marked by the galtir, who’s a very doubtful person, so he’ll find some kind of flaw to criticize me about sooner or later, but in no cases do Celestials actually get flogged. I’ll just rest and relax at home if he puts me under house-arrest, and I suppose you can help me if he orders me to make more clay tablets.”

“Oh…….”

“The galtir’s impatiently trying to get me removed from my post as a priest because he hates the fact that my forces are getting stronger, but he needs to hold a trial in order to punish or depose a high-ranking priest, and he’s not going to do that because I’d be required to participate in a Celestials’ trial.”

“I see. But please let me help you. I’ll do anything you ask.”

Gishzida crossed his arms and peered into Renier’s face for a long time before he tilted his head to the side.

“Anyway, Renier. You look like you have something else you want to ask me?”

Renier raised her head ever so slightly and gingerly studied Gishzida’s mien. Her lower abdomen still hurt a bit and felt a little heavy, but nothing else felt out of place otherwise. She had no way of knowing if he had done something to her while she was asleep. But Renier couldn’t bring herself to ask him about it, however, and she dithered for a very long time.

Did you take off my clothes and do something weird to me while I was asleep, Lord Gishzida?

……She was way too embarrassed to actually ask him that. Maybe I misheard. Maybe he and Lady Minnè were talking about something else. Renier pondered for a moment before she decided to ask him about something else instead.

“Um, what’s a period, Lord Gishzida?”

“Hmm? What’s a per……what?”

Gishzida made a face. He stared openly at Renier and tilted his head quizzically for a moment before he turned away and cleared his throat. Did he not hear me correctly? Renier slowly and articulately repeated,

“What is a period, Lord Gishzida?”

Gishzida stopped clearing his throat, uncrossed his arms, and began touching his chin. About half of his sapphire pupils disappeared as he narrowed his eyes. He began tapping his fingers irritably against the wooden table. Renier folded her hands together and waited patiently for him to answer.

“Why are you asking me that? —I was told that you’d already had your menarche.”

“What’s a menarche?”

“Did you not have your menarche yet? I’m fairly certain that your master told me that you’d had your menarche and that you’d come of age soon…….”

Lord Gishzida kept talking about something unrelated instead of answer Renier’s questions. Renier did her best to set the conversation back on track.

“Are a menarche and a period the same thing? Do I need to have a period before I can come of age? Everyone else was around fourteen or fifteen when Master…….”

“No, no —for starters, your menarche refers to your first menstruation. Actually, why do I need to be the one explaining this to you again?”

“Er, what’s a menstruation? I don’t get any of this…”

“Enough.”

Gishzida furrowed his brows and began shaking his head instead of answering. Ha, hahaha. Then, he abruptly burst out into laughter a moment later as if he’d suddenly realized something.

“Your master lied to me. You were causing him too many problems, so he lied to me to get rid of you. And you lied to me too.”

“N-no I didn’t, Lord Gishzida. I’ve never lied to you. Not even once!”

“You lied to me by omission when you stayed silent instead of answering my question.”

Huh? Renier recalled what had happened when her master had sold her to Gishzida. Gishzida had asked her to confirm that her name was Renier, that she was fourteen years old, and that she had recently begun menstruating, and Renier had nodded yes because she had assumed that it was surely true if her master had said so. Renier looked up and did her best to explain herself.

“I didn’t say anything because I didn’t know. I can’t confirm or deny anything if I don’t know what it means!”

“…….”

“But Lord Gishzida —and I’m really sorry to ask—, but what’s a menarche, what’s a menstruation, what’s a period, how do these things have anything to do with coming of age, and why did my master lie to you?”

“That’s enough.”

Gishzida let out a long sign and smiled wryly. Then, he continued,

“Ask Minnè to teach you about all that when you go back —wait, no. Make sure you absolutely don’t ask Minnè or Jada, and ask Eunikè or Carla on the sly instead. And make sure they won’t tell anyone that you asked them about this.”

Renier closed her mouth. Lord Gishzida was a very respectable man, so the new words that she had learned today were probably not all that respectable to talk about.

Gishzida pondered for a very long time before he clicked his tongue and stood up from his seat.

“I feel ridiculous for agonizing so long over how to make it stop,”

Gishzida muttered irritably before, like a bolt from the blue, he suddenly declared,

“It’s a good thing that you haven’t even started yet. Children who are too young to conceive can’t participate in the spring festival.”

“What? Lord Gishzida?”

“Enough. This is enough for today, so go back to your lodgings now. I’ll let you know after some decisions have been made.”

His kind and friendly attitude had suddenly done a complete one-eighty. He felt as cold as ice now that the smile had been wiped off his face. Renier was bewildered and quickly got down on her knees.

“Lord Gishzida? D-did I do something wrong? Lord Gishzida?! Why are you chasing me out?”

“I need to think about something. Go back.”

“I was wrong. I was wrong, and I’ll never do it again.”

“And what exactly did you do that was wrong? And what are you suggesting that you’ll never do again?”

“O-oh!”

Renier forgot how to speak for a moment because she was so flustered, and Gishzida roughly turned back to her and said,

“Didn’t I tell you before? Don’t beg if you don’t even know what you did wrong. You probably got down to your knees and begged your previous master for forgiveness whenever anything happened too, right? Are you reverting back to your old habits in front of me?”

“I was wrong for not telling you that I didn’t know what you were talking about back then. I was wrong to ask you strange questions, and I was wrong to fall asleep in your house too. Please don’t sell me off.”

“I told you to leave. I’ll call for you again later. Baras, Ki.”

Renier’s body floated into the air. Ahh, ahhh! Lord Gishzida! Lord Gishzida! Renier flailed her arms and tried her best to regain her balance, but she quickly plummeted down the tree. Fortunately, she stopped falling just before she hit the ground, so she didn’t get hurt.

Her eyes were filled with tears as she looked up at the tree. Gishzida was yelling furiously. Renier could vaguely make out the sporadic bursts of flame that were exploding inside his translucent house of water.

“I fed her a drug that’ll make the blood vessels in her uterus dry up for no reason. Ganzer! I never needed to use something so toxic in the first place! Damn it all! Ich! Geshbar!

Pow, pow, shaaa. Flames of all sizes ignited.

Gishzida sank down in his chair and cradled his head in his hands. He grinded his teeth audibly. The herbs on his desk and the herbs inside his bag gave off a smoke and repulsive odor as they were instantaneously reduced to ashes.

Damn it, damn it all! He scowled heavily as he looked to the mess he had made of his desk and brushed back his disheveled hair.

A while later, he dropped his head and dejectedly muttered,

“……No. This might actually have been for the best.”

***

Renier’s questions were answered within a few days. She had asked Eunikè and Carla on the sly while helping them dress up and do their hair.

Renier could memorize the nugigs’ pretty hairdos and help the other girls mimic them because she had sharp eyes, was remarkably dexterous, and could remember anything she’d seen even if she’d only seen it once.

Apparently, popular hair trends existed amongst the nugigs too. The most popular hairstyle in the Golden Forest involved making small buns on both sides of the head using the hair immediately behind the ears and securing them nicely with a golden headband, braiding the rest of the hair like a long tail, and then adding beautiful decorations such as flowers, leaves, or hoops and rings.

Eunikè and Carla were in a good mood because their hair had come out so prettily, so they sat Renier down and began teaching not only everything she needed to know about menstruating but also about ‘experiences with men’ that they had either personally lived through or had heard about from the people around them and how babies were made.

Renier had turned deathly pale before Eunikè and Carla had finished the very first sentence of their explanation, and she wanted to hang herself and die by the time they were finished. Renier pulled at her short hair and began working herself into a frenzy. I need to die. What have I done? I need to die. I need to die for my ignorance. Eunikè and Carla were so accustomed to seeing Renier acting out that they didn’t particularly react to it.

It was good that Renier’s questions had been answered, but now she had even more questions. Why did Lord Gishzida make it seem like we did shady stuff together? He didn’t actually do anything to me while I was asleep, did he? Do I have rocks for brains? —why can’t I remember anything?

But Renier had no way to confirm anything. She was trapped inside her lodgings, and Gishzida had stopped summoning her.

“You won’t be permitted to join the spring festival if you don’t menstruate before the beginning of next month, Renier. You won’t be allowed anywhere beyond the fence outside this building either. You should’ve been tied up in leather rope and locked away somewhere to begin with.”

The blood drained from Renier’s face when she heard the en-nugig’s, Jada’s, stern warning.

“What will happen to me then?”

“You’ll be sold off outside the Forest. No slave is allowed to stay inside the Golden Forest without the galtir’s permission. And Lord Gishzida won’t be able to cover for you like he did last time because the galtir is already furious with him.”

Jada crossed her arms and glowered quietly at Renier. She continued,

“Lord Gishzida was sentenced to be flogged a hundred times publicly with an additional two years of house arrest because of the mess you made. He’ll probably participate in the festival because he has duties that he will need to carry out, but he may not be allowed to leave his house at all for the next two years otherwise.”

Renier yelped. One hundred lashes? Even the hardiest of slaves survived that many lashes only about half the time. Jada glared at Renier wintrily and said,

“I’ve seen a lot of kids with a few screws loose in my time, but you’re the first to cause this much trouble.”

“C-can’t his flogging sentence be changed to s-something else? L-Lord Gishzida said that it would be……. N-no, I, I’ll take it instead!”

“How arrogant of him. Who does he think he is to change the lord galtir’s orders on his whims? And this wouldn’t be the first time he’s ignored the galtir’s authority either.”

Jada frigidly clicked her tongue. Renier quickly shut her mouth. Minnè and Jada were undoubtedly the galtir’s people, just as Lord Gishzida had told her. Jada shook out her sleeves and sat up as she spat out,

“The galtir decided to enforce his orders immediately and start Gishzida’s sentence today because he knew that Gishzida might try to slip out of it somehow. You should know that the entire forest has been turned on its head right now because it’s unprecedented for a Celestial —and a priest as high-ranking as Gishzida at that— to be flogged publicly in the Golden Forest.”

Renier clasped her hands over her mouth and swallowed back a scream. Oh no. Oh no! Oh gods, what do I do?!

“Stay quiet and stay put unless you intend to have him get lashed to death today.”

Then, Jada turned to the other slave girls and ordered,

“Lock Renier up in the warehouse.”

***

“You can’t do this! He’s a Celestial, and a high-ranking priest to boot! Nothing like this has ever happened before in the history of the Golden Forest.”

“Galtir! The proper thing to do is to flog the slave who broke off the tree branch. Lord Gishzida had nothing to do with breaking off Armanu’s branch.”

Twelve of the galtir’s guardian priests had dragged Gishzida out of his house three days after Renier had been driven out from it. The galtir had announced that Gishzida was to take responsibility for the slave who had harmed Armanu and be flogged one hundred times publicly.

Gishzida crossed his arms and icily spat out,

“What makes you think you get to decide anything in a trial that I didn’t participate in? I am one of the top three highest-ranking priests of the Golden Forest, which means that you wouldn’t be able to sentence a high-ranking priest without my input, no?”

“Why would you get a say in the matter of your own punishment? This is an order from the galtir. What are you all doing? —tie him up at once!”

The Fundamentalist couldn’t believe their eyes at first when they saw the galtir’s guards arrest Gishzida and drag him away in broad daylight.

“What is the meaning of this?! Do you even know who he is? Release him at once!”

“Get out of our way! We’re acting on the galtir’s orders. We’ll drag you away too if you resist!”

The Fundamentalists immediately began whistling, and hundreds of their colleagues poured out and stopped the guards from taking Gishzida away.

The galtir heard about this, and he mobilized every last priest he could to surround the Fundamentalists. The galtir’s side had more people, but the Fundamentalists who served under Gishzida were far better at using ngak for destruction and murder.

“Stop this. You can’t simply drag Lord Gishzida away like that.”

“Release him at once. Lord Gishzida has done nothing wrong! Stop them, everyone!”

“Get out of way! You bastards are stopping us from carrying out the galtir’s orders!”

“You can’t lawfully drag away a high-ranking priest without a proper trial!”

The Fundamentalists who had lost their ability to reason when they saw how Gishzida was being dragged away barefoot began squaring off against the galtir’s priests. People began grabbing each other by the collar, and bloodlust exploded. It felt like things would quickly become violent and bloody. Then, Gishzida, who was being restrained, suddenly raised his head.

“No one is to use any ngak!”

The priests who had been moments away from attacking each other froze in their tracks when Gishzida shouted while glowering.

Gishzida had seen through the galtir’s schemes. He had figured out why the galtir had plotted to humiliate him so publicly and out in the open where the Fundamentalists would see.

Things would quickly become bloody between the Fundamentalists and the Realists if an enraged Fundamentalist launched the first attack with their ngak, and then the galtir would use the incident as an excuse to arrest the entire opposing faction and either have them demoted or executed. The galtir saw this as the perfect opportunity to crush Gishzida and the Fundamentalists beneath his feet.

“Do not use ngak —no one is to use any ngak! Anyone who does will die by my hands!”

Gishzida shouted so loudly that the veins began popping out in his neck.

“What is the meaning of this, Lord Gishzida?! Why are you simply letting them have their way?!”

“Please bring the slave here, Lord Gishzida! This is not your responsibility!”

“No Celestial should have to suffer a punishment like this. It will be a stain on the Golden Forest’s history if you allow them to punish you like this, Lord Gishzida!”

Kiriakè, Sabato, and Gishzida’s other closest disciples came running when they heard about what was going on and clung to his sleeves in tears.

The galtir only made his appearance after Gishzida had been dragged over to the plaza in front of the temple. Gishzida was barefoot and bound from head to toe while wearing nothing but his thin nightclothes, and his hair was a disheveled mess. He was visibly boiling with rage, perhaps because he had never been treated so poorly before in his life.

The galtir silently clicked his tongue. There had been more than enough time to cause some friction between the two factions during the short walk from Gishzida’s house to the temple plaza.

But the cunning and level-headed bastard hadn’t fallen for the provocations that the galtir had so painstakingly prepared. Instead, Gishzida had successfully stopped the Fundamentalists from lashing out even as he was being dragged here.

The truth was that Gishzida’s subordinates would put their lives on the line and begin attacking with fatal ngak with just one word from him. It was a testament to how truly influential he was.

Gishzida had developed many ngak that could be used to help the people, but the overwhelming majority of the ngak he had developed where those that could be used to kill. The offensive ngak that Gishzida had developed seemed to be at odds with the fact that he was a master of medical botany who had also developed countless new medical treatments, but this duality was what made him special, and it was also what the galtir feared about him most.

In any event, it was the galtir, who had ignored precedent to drag Gishzida here, who found himself in trouble now that things had ended up like this. Even the Realists were beginning to make a fuss.

Gishzida was a high-ranking priest and a faction leader. It was not right to treat him like this without first giving him a proper trial. The galtir might even suffer backlash from this.

“Please reconsider, Galtir.”

“This will set bad precedent, Galtir. Gishzida’s recent actions may be disgraceful, but he’s done no wrong in this matter, and we should not mar a Celestial’s noble body by flogging him.”

“Please bring the slave here instead. There’s still enough time to bring back another slave from outside the forest even if the wench dies after being flogged a hundred times.”

The galtir continuously swallowed back his surging fury as he looked down at Gishzida, who was kneeling on the floor. Most of the Realists standing near the galtir turned their heads and whispered,

“There’s nothing else we can do, Galtir. Dragging the slave wench here and smoothing over the situation is the right thing to do. We will probably have to ask Gishzida to pardon this matter separately.”

“Please bring the slave girl here, have her flogged, and end things there.”

Gishzida suddenly looked up. His sapphire eyes flashed white. And then, something unbelievable flowed out from his lips while the galtir hesitated while scowling heavily.

“……I was in charge of educating the slaves who will be participating in the festival this year, so I will accept my punishment.”

The Fundamentalists bit down at their lips and looked away. They closed their eyes and covered their ears as they shuddered. Not only could they not bear to watch the leader they so respected be punished, but they could not bear to listen to the noises that were pounding upon their ears either.

The galtir was a madman, but he couldn’t believe Lord Gishzida’s decision either. But no one could erase the words that he had already uttered with his own mouth.

The galtir summoned even the probationary priests and the slaves to watch as Gishzida was flogged publicly.

Gishzida was stripped naked and tied to a wooden pole as he was flogged, and he was shocked not only by the pain of the leather whip but also by the sheer humiliation he was forced to endure —he had never had to suffer either before in his life. He had never been healthy enough to be able to withstand the agony of his back being split open without anything to help alleviate the pain, nor was his personality dull enough to simply let the humiliation wash over him.

He yelped sharply, groaned, and struggled fiercely after the first few lashes. But he wasn’t even able to scream properly by the time he was on his thirtieth and fortieth lashes, and all he could do was shudder like he was convulsing.

He slumped against the pole by fiftieth lash and stopped moving altogether. His back was such a bloody mess that it was unbearable to even look at.

“Please spare Lord Gishzida, Lord Galtir! He might actually die if he’s forced to take all one hundred lashes!”

Several priests ran up to the galtir and got down on their knees. The plaza was quickly filled with grief-stricken wails and screams.

“It would become a stain on the legacy of Galtir Kiros’ reign if Lord Gishzida was to die today, Galtir. Please show him mercy.”

“Why must you go so far when he isn’t even at fault in this matter, Galtir?! Please stay your hand and let him be treated already!”

Even the Realists were greatly disturbed. It was normal for slaves to be punished in this manner, but it shocked them to their very core to see a high-ranking priest being treated in the same way. The galtir realized that some of his own faction might turn against him if he continued any longer. And so, with a heavy look on his face, he stood up and turned around.

“You will receive the rest of your punishment after the spring festival has concluded. You will also be punished for other crimes in addition to the disgrace committed by the slave wench, Gishzida, so you are not to take a single step outside of your house for the time being. Either you or the slave wench will receive your remaining fifty lashes if you do.”

It was only two days later that Gishzida regained consciousness.