I’m an Immigration Officer!

Uneasy eyes flicked from one side of the courtroom to the other.
The King had suddenly issued a royal decree and departed—and now no one seemed to know what they were supposed to do next.
Only the occasional sound of hushed whispers, people urgently murmuring into each other's ears, broke the silence.

I, too, stood in the center of the courtroom, barely holding myself up on trembling legs.
‘I… I think I pushed the wrong button.’
The courtroom in the wake of the storm felt suffocating.

It had been a gamble.
I’d needed to act before Helena Castor managed to sway the King again.
Provoking him had seemed like a risk worth taking. It was the only card left to play.

And it had worked.
‘But I didn’t expect such a violent reaction.’
After all those years of sorrow, the emotion the King showed was pure flame.

His searing green eyes—still vivid in my mind—had sent a chill down my spine.
That gaze fixed on me.
Not just me, but something beyond me. Something I couldn't name.

Was the King angry with me?
Or… with something else?
I had no idea.

“Haa…”
I let out a small sigh, but the anxiety didn't fade.
My life had been spared—for now—but what came next was far less certain.
The awakened King… who knew what his next move would be?

‘What now?’
Uneasily, I tried to figure out what I was supposed to do.
Should I just quietly return to the southern border?

Or remain here in the capital until further orders came down?
‘Maybe I should just resign.’
For the first time in ages, that blasphemous thought surfaced.

Of course, the Director would never accept it.
Just then, someone raised their voice so everyone in the courtroom could hear:
“As you’ve all heard, a Royal Decree has been issued.”

All eyes turned.
It was the Minister.
Having barely recovered his composure, Karton Grayson raised his voice with steady authority.

“It was no less than His Majesty, King Rio Castor himself, who spoke. Therefore, this order must be carried out.”
Moving swiftly to contain the chaos before anyone else could seize the moment, Karton began tidying up the battlefield.
He pointed to the letter on the judge’s desk.

“The trial has been declared void. As such, the plaintiff must immediately destroy the protest letter and all falsified evidence.”
The prosecution side simply stared at him.
Clearly too rattled by everything to even begin a discussion among themselves.

“Also, any further malicious slander or institutional pressure on the Chief Inspector may be interpreted as defiance of the Royal Decree. Please act with caution.”
At those words, I tilted my head slightly.
‘That wasn’t in the decree.’

The King ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) had given only two orders: void the trial, and expel the Pilgrimage Delegation.
Nothing was said about further attacks on me.
But the Minister pressed on without missing a beat.

“Lastly, to the Pilgrimage Delegation of the Holy Church.”
He looked directly at Mohaim.
“First Captain of the Holy Knights. Where is the delegation currently located?”

“…”
But Mohaim gave no reply.
Still staring into the empty scrying crystal, his face was blank with lingering shock.

“Your Holiness…”
The commander’s voice no longer held its usual steel.
No longer the sword of the Church—only a confused old knight remained.

“Sir Espirense!”
It was only when his name was called that he came back to himself.
“Ah, yes—Minister of Foreign Affairs.”

“The delegation. Where are they?”
“C-Currently… in the vicinity of the capital. We were preparing to depart as soon as the trial ended…”
As if it could still happen.

Karton’s voice turned cold.
“Send word to them immediately. They have three days to leave this country via the southern border.”
Then, he added sharply:

“You are not exempt either. Leave.”
At last, someone from the prosecution stood up.
“Minister, surely this is moving too hastily—”

“Did I not say it was a Royal Decree, Inspector General?”
Karton cut Pierce off with a blade-like tone.
He fixed the man with a stare.

“You and your lot worship royal authority, do you not?”
The very methods they had used all this time.
Using the Queen to manipulate the King.

Now, he threw it all back at them.
“Then obey it. Just as you always have.”
Pierce could no longer object.

“…As you say.”
Without waiting for another word, Karton turned to the judge.
“Then let us bring this session to a close. Judge?”

“Y-Yes, I’m listening.”
“Please declare the trial formally ended.”
Final closure.
He was asking for an official end.

There was no reason to refuse.
The judge obeyed at once.
“…By Royal Decree, this trial is declared null and void. All records are to be destroyed and erased. No appeals will be accepted.”

Everyone listened in silence.
No one dared to speak against it.
And then the final words:

“With that… this trial is concluded.”
– Bang, bang, bang.
The dull hammer strikes rang out across the courtroom.

That was the end.
 
****

– Thud, thud.
One by one, people began leaving the courtroom.
All with tangled expressions and heavy worries about what might come next.

I watched blankly as they left—until I heard Hylin call out from behind me.
“Chief Inspector. Don’t stand there. Over here.”
She gestured from the defense’s side.

When I approached, she turned to Karton.
“Well done, old man. That was a clean finish.”
“Had we stalled, they might’ve tried to twist the decree themselves. I had to act first.”

His words reminded me of the question that had nagged at me earlier.
“Minister… but wasn’t that part about forbidding attacks on me not included in the decree?”
The King had given only two directives.

Trial void. Delegation expelled.
What Karton said could easily be interpreted as overreach—or even deliberate distortion.
Hylin answered instead.

“That’s a matter of interpretation.”
“Excuse me?”
“It wasn’t explicitly stated, no. But the weight of nullifying the entire trial is significant. It implies you are not to be touched—for the time being.”

As I stood there trying to process that, she continued:
“To erase the trial means to admit the entire process was wrong. It means the royal family is acknowledging fault in even convening this trial.”
…Oh. That’s what it meant.

In other words, the King had admitted fault—on the Queen’s side.
Whatever the cause, he had essentially stated that the error lay with her faction.
‘So that’s why he said that to her back then…’

—Do not ever summon me for this kind of matter again, Queen. Not ever.
I turned my gaze toward the prosecution.
Only two people remained in the courtroom.

The Queen, and the First Captain of the Holy Knights.
Helena’s eyes met mine.
The woman who conspired with the Pope.

The woman who pushed everything this far to have me executed.
I had so many questions I wanted to ask.
‘Why?’

What was it about religion that drove her to such lengths?
Or was there something even deeper that bound her to the Pope?
I didn’t know.

So, for the first time, I called out to her.
“…Your Majesty.”
I bowed my head slightly in greeting.

“…”
She didn’t answer.
Instead, she cast a sidelong glance at Erzena, who stood at my side.

A look loaded with emotion—complex, conflicted.
Then her gaze shifted to the crystal orb still held in Mohaim’s hands.
The empty scrying crystal reflected Helena’s twisted expression.

“Not yet…”
With that cryptic whisper, Helena Castor spun on her heels and stormed out of the courtroom.
– Click, clack.

Only the sound of her heels echoed in her wake.
Watching her leave, Hylin muttered,
“It seems our dear Queen will be quiet for a while now.”

“You think so?”
“Her beloved husband said those words to her, didn’t he? I doubt she’ll dare defy them so soon.”
But then, in a half-wishful murmur, she added:

“I hope so, truly… but if a rift opens between her and His Majesty, now that would be worth watching.”
If anyone else heard that, it’d be a scandal.
“However… there’s one problem left.”

At that, I answered honestly.
“I don’t think there’s only one problem right now, Director.”
Things had gotten far too big.

Just from this trial alone, there were already multiple new incidents to deal with.
But Hylin shook her head.
“Not that problem. I meant this one.”

She gestured to the person standing next to me.
“…You mean her?”
Erzena Seraff.

“We need to decide how to handle Miss Erzena’s situation.”
“‘Handle’… as in?”
Whether or not she should be expelled as well.
At that moment, Mohaim cautiously approached us from the opposite side of the courtroom.

“Chief Inspector.”
“…Sir Espirense.”
“If it wouldn’t be too forward… might I speak with the Saintess for a moment?”
His voice trembled.
The knight commander looked like a man desperately seeking answers.

He stared at the column of divine light still illuminating Erzena, murmuring softly:
“Oh Lord Above…”
At the sight, both Hylin and I nodded.

‘There are things left unsaid between them.’
Erzena’s current form must have raised countless questions for him—shocking ones, too.
No doubt some of them related to the Pope.

“Of course. I’ll give you a moment—”
But before I could finish, Erzena answered first.
“No.”

Her voice was firm, and Mohaim flinched.
“…I beg your pardon?”
“I’m no longer the Saintess.”
“What are you saying? Your divine power is still—”
She shook her head.

“Mohaim. I said it before, didn’t I? I’ve already dismissed myself. I’m just an ordinary woman now.”
“But…”
“Your duty was to protect the Saintess. But there is no Saintess anymore. And so, your duty is over.”
She cut the tie cleanly and without hesitation.
Mohaim stared at her in stunned silence, but she didn’t let the moment linger.

“We may believe in the same God, but I am no longer the Saintess. So please, return to where you belong.”
“…Then what will you do now?”
The most honest question he could ask.
Erzena looked at him and spoke slowly, deliberately.

“I’m going to correct the Church. From the lowest place upward.”
Repeating the resolution she had made in the trial.
“I… see.”

He clearly wanted to say more.
But in the end, he simply bowed his head and turned away.
There was no time left to linger.

He had to obey the Royal Decree and leave this country within three days.
Watching Mohaim slowly retreat, Hylin spoke again.
“And that is the problem I meant.”
“Wait… wasn’t that just resolved?”

As Hylin had said earlier, Erzena was no longer the Saintess.
So even if she was part of the Holy Church, she wasn’t technically one of the Pilgrimage Delegation anymore.
Right now, she existed in a kind of gray area.

It wouldn’t be wrong for her to stay—but it wouldn’t be quite right either.
‘So maybe she can stay here for a while.’
This was the safest place to monitor the situation.

But Hylin shook her head and murmured:
“Maybe not—at least not on the books.”
Not on the books?

I thought back to how Erzena had entered the country.
‘We were forced to grant entry under Royal Order.’
And there had been documentation.

“…The Immigration Log.”
I remembered exactly what I wrote down.
[Erzena Seraff, Saintess of the Holy Church]

I winced involuntarily.
“Damn it.”
“Regardless of what happened afterward, the official record still lists her as the Saintess. That makes her subject to expulsion.”

She was right.
As long as that record existed, she was legally still a Saintess.
“And now that the Royal Decree has been issued, Miss Erzena must leave. Within three days.”

Just like Mohaim.
All eyes turned to Erzena.
She stood in silence for a moment, then glanced at the divine energy still flickering around her and murmured:

“No… This is good. I was going to speak with the Pope anyway.”
She looked toward the door where Mohaim had left.
“This must be the path I’m meant to walk. If it’s God’s will.”

And just as she began to turn away—
–Grab.
Without realizing it, I caught her wrist.

“W-Wait, Erzena.”
“…Yes?”
“Don’t go.”
She looked at me in silence.
Hylin gasped behind me, covering her mouth with both hands.

“Oh my. Youth in bloom!”
“Director, please.”
I ignored her nonsense and faced Erzena.
“What exactly do you plan to do if you go out there alone?”
“What else? I’m going to fix what’s broken.”

She spoke with unwavering resolve.
“The wrongs of the Pope. The sins committed by our Church. It’s time they were made right.”
But I shook my head.

“It’s too dangerous.”
Yes. Far too dangerous.
“Even though the truth about the Pope is known to us, it’ll take time before that truth spreads through the world.”

If she moved too soon, the difference in power and influence would be overwhelming.
Authority doesn’t crumble all at once—it takes time.
‘And now that he’s lost his divine power, we have no idea how the Pope might lash out.’

Cornered men are the most dangerous.
He could still manipulate loyalists, exploit those unaware of the truth, and strike at her.
‘I can’t let that happen.’

Right now, Erzena was ablaze with righteous purpose.
Even if she had God on her side, walking alone into that world was reckless.
If she went back south now, we wouldn’t be able to control what might happen.

Her golden eyes looked down at the hand I had wrapped around her wrist.
Then she lifted her head and met my gaze.
“Then what do you want me to do?”

Her voice was careful.
“Chief Inspector… do you want me to stay here?”
There was a faint trace of hope in her voice.

“Oh my. Oh my, oh my.”
“Director, quiet.”
I ignored Hylin again and fell silent.
How could I protect her?

What options did I have?
I searched my thoughts.
A deposed Saintess.

An exile.
An enemy of the Pope.
What designation would best suit Erzena’s current status?

And then—it hit me.
The one way I could protect her without breaking protocol.
“Erzena.”

I called her name.
“…Apply for temporary asylum in the Kingdom of Crossroads.”