Chapter 63
The police seemed surprised by the sudden situation.
They reflexively drew their guns and clubs, but still.
They couldn't swing or shoot.
Of course they couldn’t.
Just try to put even a scratch on my body.
See what happens.
"T-this is a clear violation of public authority!!"
"Ignoring law enforcement according to imperial law and wielding miracles like this is an illegal act!!"
Yeah.
That's right.
It's an illegal act.
But you know, when I beat up the factory manager and baron in the capital, do you think it wasn't an illegal act then?
"Illegal? I'll commit it."
"What…?!"
"So what can you do about it?"
"..."
"Are you going to shoot me with guns, beat me with clubs, and drag me away like a dog to put me in a camp? Like you did to the many workers here?"
The police didn't answer.
Right.
It must be burdensome.
Because I was a person too scary to touch.
I released the police guy I had forcibly lifted into the air with Time Stop.
He collapsed with a thud, half-choked.
"I'll leave when I've treated these people and they no longer need treatment. Until then, don't try to stop me."
The police support the fainted policeman, then look at me cautiously before retreating powerlessly.
The patients and their families who had gathered around me started shouting as if relieved at that sight.
"Yeah!! Get lost!! You dogs!!"
"We're humans, too!! We have the right to be treated like humans and live like humans!!"
"Talking about expulsion!! Since when have pharmaceutical companies and doctors cared about us!!"
Amidst jeers and criticism, the police retreated powerlessly.
The workers seemed relieved, but I felt something was strange.
Logically, shouldn't they be happy that someone appeared who treated workers for free without any social resource consumption, rather than trying to drive them out?
Moreover, wouldn't touching me provoke the imperial family and the Pantheon?
What are the upper class here thinking to take such measures?
"Saint!! My daughter!!"
Such thoughts disappeared at the voice of a father urgently bringing his injured daughter to me.
Right.
Why am I sitting here considering common sense?
In a place ruled by greed-crazed bastards who ground up young children for money.
There was a sufficient possibility that pharmaceutical companies and doctors felt threatened by their unique position in this city being shaken and mobilized the police.
"Don't worry anymore."
I placed my hand on the child's body and simply treated her.
Seeing his daughter completely healed, the father hugs her tightly and started sobbing.
"Thank you, Saint. Thank you."
I patted such a father's shoulder.
"Go back in peace. Your child won't be in pain anymore."
This wasn't something I could do for long.
I had to prevent the power in me from growing by consuming faith.
But at least until I could, I intended to do my best to save these people.
Given my personality, it was absolutely impossible for me to stand by when others were suffering and I had the ability to save them.
***
Most ordinary clergy, priests, or holy knights would typically retreat when police tried to drive them out citing the law.
In the first place, this city wasn't very friendly to religion, and there weren't people willing to proselytize while taking on the burden of breaking the law.
But this guy called a saint didn't leave so easily as if it were natural.
Moreover, while they could beat up and drive out an ordinary priest as a last resort, this saint bastard was the most important figure of the imperial family and Pantheon, so they couldn't do that either.
[This son of a bitch!! Just leave already! Leave!!]
Mammon tried sending the police a few more times after that to try to expel the saint.
"How many times do I have to tell you that you being here is illegal!? Free treatment is something only laborists do!! And assaulting police on top of that!! We'll forcibly expel you!! Leave this city!"
Since beating him with clubs or shooting him would make the situation uncontrollably big, they tried to arrest him as gently as possible by putting handcuffs on his wrists and forcibly expelling him.
Of course, it failed.
Seeing the police trying to forcibly subdue him with physical force, the saint silently untied his belt and held it in his hand.
Then he demonstrated monstrous strength that shattered police shields with one crack of the whip and drove away the police.
His form wielding the belt was on par with a berserker rather than a saint.
"Why on earth are you doing this here, Saint? Just go back to the capital. There's nothing to gain from treating these people here."
When it became difficult to forcibly drag him away, they tried conciliation this time.
"It's dirty and smelly. I see you're not eating properly, not washing, not resting. I've prepared a royal seat on an express train. You can shower on the train. Let's go back to the Order of Grace, wash up, eat, drink, and rest."
Of course, this didn't work either.
"Didn't I say? I won't leave until I've treated the sick people here."
"Don't do this and just return to the capital. Why are you deliberately suffering here? If you go to the Order of Grace, you can receive much better treatment."
"Because this is the right thing to do."
Mammon felt the urge to manifest on earth and rip that saint bastard's mouth apart.
Judging by the fact that he hadn't called in the holy knights of the White Order and Pantheon, it seemed he didn't know that Mammon was secretly working behind the scenes in this city.
Then it wasn’t like he was deliberately doing this to figure out his identity and mess with him either.
Is he just purely good and kind and doing this?
[What kind of straight-out-of-a-fairytale saint is this?]
Mammon couldn't hide his bewilderment.
Even among the many chosen ones of the Pantheon 300 years ago, such a figure was rare.
The Evil God bastard spewed nonsense to him about Asmodeus of Lust acting as a saint, which was less convincing than a dog's fart, but looking at him, Mammon could see this was absolutely not Asmodeus.
It must be one of the divine ranks of the Pantheon that fell to earth during the celestial war born in a human body.
Otherwise, there was no way such a fundamentally good being could appear.
[How on earth am I supposed to drive out this foolishly kind bastard?]
Assassination?
Not possible.
The imperial family and Pantheon would come running faster than bullets.
Expulsion?
Didn't work.
He couldn't drive him out with physical force, conciliation didn't work, and he didn't listen even when shouted at that it was illegal.
Then how should he be driven out?
One method comes to Mammon's mind.
[If I can't drive you out by tormenting you. How about making the beings around you suffer?]
Making those around him suffer because of himself.
In Mammon's experience, the more good a being was, the more effective this method was.
And that saint bastard treating people in his city was the most good being he had ever seen.
[What if I show him the workers around him suffering because of the saint? What then? Can you endure even that, you bastard?]
***
Peter and Anna, and Jim and Amy were in charge of setting up a soup kitchen and distributing food to people.
Their nature of sharing black bread with me despite their poor circumstances was shining again this time.
"Saint, please have some soup."
After treating people for over 12 hours without proper rest, my mind was reaching its limit.
I could make my body rest with Body Modification, but my mind couldn't endure.
Seeing me sigh frequently with a tired expression, Anna hands me soup saying that.
After eating the soup, I laid down on the street to catch a brief nap.
There was no time to rest.
Let's sleep for just 1 hour and quickly get up again.
I couldn't stay here long to prevent the Demon King's power inside me from growing any larger.
I had to leave soon, and before that, I needed to treat as many people as possible.
I closed my eyes briefly under a blanket on a straw mat the workers had found somewhere.
How long had I dozed off when I woke to the sound of something breaking.
"W-why are you doing this!?"
"A soup kitchen, huh? Doing something laborists would really like. I'm very suspicious that you're a laborist. We'll have to take you in for questioning."
I saw the police smashing the soup kitchen.
Moreover, this time their level of armament was different from the police sent several times before.
Special forces wearing steam-powered exoskeletons were mercilessly beating and arresting people, armed with rifles and electric shock batons.
Seeing that, I quickly got up.
"What are you doing!?"
At my words, a police officer who seemed to be the leader glanced at me and smirked.
"We're arresting suspicious elements suspected of being laborists. Is there a problem?"
Handcuffs were being put on Peter and Anna, Jim and Amy's wrists.
I shouted in anger, "How is it a crime to open a soup kitchen to feed the hungry and treat the sick!!"
"Aren't you practicing exactly what the laborists advocate? They are shameless villains who claim free welfare. They're bastards who spout nonsense about having to feed useless trash with the city's taxes."
"Not a penny of tax was used!! It was all done with my personal assets! How is this subject to punishment!!"
"Even if it was done with personal assets, their actions empower laborists and cause social unrest. It's only right to punish them."
"Release Peter and Anna's family! Now!!!"
As I untied my belt and gripped it in my hand, the police who had been beaten by me once before flinched and stepped back.
The leader of the special forces also slowly stepped back, waving his hand at my action.
"You're going too far. It seems there are no laws or rules for the Saint. But do you know this? Laws and rules apply to them, not to you."
The leader chuckled.
Then he shouted as if for everyone to hear, "From now on, anyone who receives treatment from the Saint will be considered subversive elements and fired!! Also, you'll be suspected of being laborists, so know that you'll be interrogated and imprisoned in camps if necessary!!"
At the word "fired”, all the workers' faces froze.
"The Saint won't be able to save you all. Police will be deployed throughout the city. And they will arrest you, put you on trial, and put you in camps. The Saint might be able to save some, but not all. Do you want to be fired? Do you want to be locked up in camps?"
At his words, the workers and patients' families gritted their teeth.
But they still couldn't step forward with uneasy looks in their eyes.
Fired.
They seemed to fear being fired more than being locked up in camps.
Wow...
They're really playing dirty and nasty.
If it were just me alone, I could somehow manage through Time Stop or Absolute Hypnosis, but if they declared they'd attack all of them, of course I couldn't protect them all.
Seeing my wavering gaze, the leader guy slided up to me.
"Saint. Do you really want to see them all suffer because of your actions?"
"...Why are you going this far?"
"I should ask you that. They're just poor, dirty, uneducated workers, aren't they? Why are you going this far for them?"
"..."
"I admit it. We can't do anything to you. But we can do whatever we want to them. Don't make them suffer any more. Leave now. If you're still here treating people tomorrow, it won't be you. It will be them who suffer."
The police released Peter and Anna, and Jim and Amy.
"We've remembered your faces. If you do anything suspicious of being subversive elements one more time, you'll go straight to the camps."
After that fierce warning.
The police withdrew.
The smashed soup kitchen.
Some workers who seemed to have already been beaten while I was sleeping.
But more than anything.
"Yeah. I knew this would happen."
"Even if we get treated, we'll just get hurt again... What's the point of getting treated?"
The biggest problem was that everyone was starting to give up with bitter expressions.
I clenched my fist tightly.
It was impossible to take them all to Karma Company in the capital.
Even Karma Company with its gushing elixir couldn't create jobs for tens of thousands of workers.
Then would the situation be better if they went somewhere else?
No.
Other factories in the empire.
Other jobs were mostly similar to here.
Even if they ran away, there was no paradise.
Just here.
The only ending was to be worked to death like cattle while being treated like this.
"Saint."
Peter limped over to me.
He smiled sadly.
"Please leave now. You've already done enough. There's nothing more you can do for us."
"..."
"Thank you for everything."
Peter tried to smile, then started heading back to the lodgings with his family.
It was the same for other workers.
After bowing to me and greeting me, they started to leave me.
My fist clenched so tightly it might crumble.
Is this right?
Is this really right?
Is it necessary to torment people this much just for treating people?
What crime did those people commit?
Why are you going this far!?
Why are you being so dirty and nasty, you sons of bitches!?
"Stop!!!!"
I shouted at the workers trying to leave me.
Shabby people in ragged clothes turn to look at me with hopeless eyes.
Receiving the gazes of all of them, I slowly.
Climbed up on the ruins of the smashed soup kitchen.
Everyone looked at me.
At this moment.
The fear of going to hell.
The fear of the goddess' wrath.
The fear power of Asmodeus inside my body.
All of it was forgotten.
What I felt was only one thing.
Anger.
Seething, bubbling anger.
Yeah.
I'll admit it.
I can't overcome the current situation with my adult game skills alone.
But factory owners.
There's one thing you don't know.
I'm not just someone with adult game skills, I'm also a reincarnator.
I used body modification on myself to increase my voice volume.
And with all my might, I shouted with resentment, "A specter is haunting the Empire!!!!"