93. The Water of Life of Fallenberg (3)
“……What?”
The priest, caught off guard by the unexpected question, asked in surprise.
“Well, speaking of this Andera River, as the only river connected to Lake Plutus in the Red Forest……”
“Skip the explanation and answer my question. Don’t tell me you don’t know?”
“D-don’t know?”
“Right? Someone who communicates directly with the gods couldn’t possibly not know. So what happens when a healthy person falls in?”
The head priest sweated and moved his lips at the sharp questioning.
To corner a representative of the gods like this.
What an insolent woman.
But dealing with this woman would come later.
First, they needed to get through this situation.
He could feel everyone around watching him in silence.
If he misspoke here, they might lose all the people they had gathered.
“Lo-longevity! Yes, they achieve longevity.”
“Longevity…… How many years has it been since this became the River of Life? More than 10 years?”
“Not that long.”
“Has it been 5 years?”
Unable to watch the head priest being cornered by the impudent woman any longer, another priest cut in.
“It’s been about 3 years!”
“Then you don’t really know if it truly grants longevity, do you?”
At that moment, Katya suddenly took off her shoes, pushed past them, and jumped into the river before anyone could stop her.
“Hey!”
The crowd stirred at Katya’s sudden action.
Among the people, Brunhilde trembled slightly, unable to do anything.
What was she trying to do?
Katya, who had submerged herself up to her chin by bending her knees in the shallow water, stood up after a short while.
“Pull that woman out immediately!”
The enraged head priest shouted, pointing at her.
She had essentially used their facility without paying the substantial usage fee they were clearly charging.
Dragged out by the priests, Katya suddenly collapsed to the ground, crying out in pain.
“Aagh!”
Her legs were covered in dark bruises.
Though there had been bruises before entering the river, they had been healing and turning green, but now they had worsened as if time had reversed to right after the injury.
Moreover, her ankle seemed sprained, swollen so much that she could barely stand.
“There are some injuries here and there, but fortunately nothing’s broken and you’re safe.”
As expected, her prediction was correct.
There was no way she could be this fine after rolling down from such a height.
Brunhilde had only said that to reassure her, but she had actually rescued Katya, who was injured all over, and healed her by applying ointment directly.
As Brunhilde’s ointment washed away in the river water, the body remembered its original injuries and reverted to them.
“Oh my, what’s this? When a healthy person soaks in it, they actually hurt their legs? What kind of useless river is this?”
Katya spoke while making pained noises as if she were dying.
All the people gathered around began to stir.
Everyone had clearly witnessed with their own eyes how her relatively fine legs suddenly changed color in their bruising and her ankle swelled up.
“What in the world is going on?”
“Is there really something wrong with the river?”
“No way……”
“Then how do you explain this phenomenon?”
As their seemingly unshakeable faith that had made them ready to even pretend to die at these people’s words crumbled and public opinion reversed instantly, the priests began to panic.
Once the spark of doubt was thrown among people, it would blaze uncontrollably in an instant.
This could mark the end of their business that had been raking in easy money until now.
“Th-this woman’s body became like this because she lacked faith!”
“That’s right! She received punishment from the gods for daring to harbor arrogant thoughts instead of believing in their grace and miracles!”
“Right, right!”
As the priests made their absurd excuses, Katya snorted and shook her head.
If these people had enough conscience to cleanly admit their crimes and back down, they wouldn’t have conducted this fraud in the first place.
“If the gods can also inflict punishment through this river, then wouldn’t that mean it can’t be called the River of Life in the first place? At this rate, I might lose my life if I believe any more.”
At those words, the crowd unconsciously clutched their throats and swallowed hard.
Though they had believed the priests’ words, it would be a lie to say they had no doubts about the river’s efficacy.
What if they too harbored doubts like this woman when entering the river and were truly punished by the gods with death?
If it was a river where one might live or die by chance, it was safe to say there would be very few brave enough to jump in without fear.
Katya had used this psychology of the people well.
“I have a question for those who have been lined up here until now. Among those who experienced the Andera River’s effects and left today, was there anyone who didn’t pass through that river keeper’s house?”
People shook their heads at her question.
Come to think of it, everyone who had rejoiced claiming miracles had happened had all gone in and out of Brunhilde’s house.
Even those who didn’t buy the water of life and just soaked in the river were sent to that house by the priests to dry off with towels.
“It wasn’t the miraculous power flowing in this river that saved people, but Brunhilde here who possessed holy power.”
Katya said, pointing to Brunhilde among the crowd.
Everyone’s attention focused on her.
While most were visitors from outside who had heard rumors about the Andera River, some were villagers who had shunned Brunhilde as a witch’s descendant.
They were making money by managing outside visitors who came for medical tourism under the priests and arranging accommodations.
From their lack of surprise, they seemed to have known already.
They were all in it together.
“The villagers of Fallenberg and even the priests, you all knew and have been exploiting this woman well.”
While everyone in the village was profiting from this tourism business, nothing went to Brunhilde herself.
Others were embezzling the money while the bear did all the tricks.
Brunhilde too had vaguely known she possessed some strange power.
She couldn’t not know. Her body grew tired every time holy power drained from her when she touched people.
But she hadn’t known it was holy power.
She believed it was magic power as the villagers said and kept quiet for fear of being treated as a witch.
Yet she never stopped healing people.
Katya felt disgust rise up at the people who had exploited Brunhilde’s kind heart.
“How can a woman possess holy power!”
“According to prophecy, it’s not even time for the legendary holy maiden to appear!”
“Stop inciting people with false statements!”
While the priests who had been hit in their weak spot insisted Katya was wrong, the villagers tried to send the tourists away saying business was over for the day before the commotion grew.
At that moment, Katya called out to the people once more.
“Stop being deceived everyone! Goddess Kovalika bathed in this river? If that were true, there should be official reports to the government and church.”
“What nonsense are you spouting? Can’t you keep that mouth shut?”
“And this is state property. Occupying this place and charging usage fees is illegal in itself.”
Hearing that it was illegal, the priests’ faces turned red and blue, their feet feeling the sting.
Even the nobles had been turning a blind eye and avoiding regulation of this business, but who was this woman to speak of such things in front of people?
Then, the head priest opened his mouth with a meaningful expression.
“You seem to want to claim that woman has holy power, but that’s just circumstantial evidence, isn’t it?”
“What?”
“We can prove that woman is a witch. No, seeing how you’re taking her side, you might be a witch too.”
“What are you……”
“This is a river blessed by the gods. If we bind your whole body and throw you in, we can determine whether you’re a witch or not. Shall we try?”
Before Katya could answer, at his signal, the priests and villagers behind rushed forward all at once and bound her.
“Let go!”
“If you float in that river while bound, you’re a witch. Even we who possess holy power are human and cannot escape when our whole body is bound.”
“So we have to die to prove we’re human?”
“No. That would mean you received punishment from the gods.”
“Then there was never an option for us not being witches in the first place!”
But even that protest didn’t last long.
Her mouth was gagged with cloth.
“Did you just realize that now? That’s why you should have been moderate from the start.”
The head priest whispered softly in Katya’s ear before standing up.
The woman he thought was clever had been quite foolish.
It was hasty to recklessly expose their fraud here where she had no allies.
“We begin the water trial for Brunhilde Pappenheim and this unnamed woman.”
The witch hunt of Fallenberg that even the gods didn’t want began.
The priests grabbed Katya and Brunhilde, who were bound motionless with ropes, and took them to where the water was deep.
Just as they were about to push the two women in where their feet would barely touch the bottom—
“Stop!”
At that familiar voice, Katya lifted one corner of her mouth.
Everything had gone according to plan.
