<Chapter 19>
Two days passed since that day.
The temple decided to launch a large-scale relief effort, the first in almost a hundred years. Needless to say, every newspaper was plastered with the names of the High Priest, the temple, and myself.
I sat next to the High Priest, chattering about how this relief effort would “go down in history.” I felt more and more like a cunning advisor.
And she said that tomorrow, they would send a message to all the temples across the country. The same went for the supplies needed for the relief effort.
I needed to see the administrator before those supplies were dispatched.
While it was the High Priest’s role to decide on temple matters, it was the administrative department that gave direct instructions and managed operations.
At the center of it all was the chief administrator, Leon. He was my target.
It wouldn’t be difficult. As always, I had those who could be described as a walking dictionary of weaknesses.
This afternoon, I had to try on the clothes the High Priest ordered for me. I had to take care of this quickly before then.
“Hello, Chief Administrator.”
Inside the Grand Temple, with the privilege of being the Saintess and the rumors of the High Priest’s favor circulating, I was immediately guided to the chief administrator’s office after simply asking for the location of the administrative department.
‘Power is sweet.’
Very sweet.
“Who is it at this busy hour?! Oh, Saintess.”
I opened the door and saw a man sitting alone, dark circles hanging heavily under his eyes.
It was Leon. He frowned and greeted me perfunctorily.
[He’s cursing, saying the cause of all this busyness has appeared. ‘A lowly, vulgar commoner, acting all high and mighty. Has the High Priest gone senile?’]
As expected, Leon’s gaze was sharp. He twisted his lips and said,
“This isn’t a place for the Saintess. What brings you here?”
The door closed behind me. Now, only Chief Administrator Leon and I were in the office.
I could understand his dislike for me.
Since all he did was embezzle funds and manipulate the ledgers, his days at the temple must have been easy.
But because of a suddenly appeared Saintess, he was now so busy that he had to pull all-nighters. Who could he blame? Naturally, me.
“Leon, right?”
“Sigh. Please state your business quickly and concisely. The administrative department is extremely busy. You seem to know how to fly, but you’re apparently unaware of these difficult matters.”
I quite liked his arrogance, openly expressing hostility without regard for the High Priest, who reigned as a god in the Grand Temple, and her favor towards me.
He was perfect to exploit.
He seemed to possess the audacity to do anything without hesitation for his own benefit and safety.
[‘What would a foolish, vulgar commoner know? The miracles are all fabricated. Foolish people are all deceived… Just wait until her true identity is revealed. I’ll-’ Well, I won’t say the rest.]
I could understand him. Only understand, of course.
It didn’t mean I wasn’t annoyed.
“You seem to be thinking of targeting me. What are you planning to do? I’d like to hear it.”
I recited his inner thoughts without hesitation. Leon faltered slightly, then frowned again. He seemed to think I was just guessing.
“Leon, you deceived the High Priest and pocketed the slush funds.”
I smiled sweetly and poked at his biggest weakness. Leon’s face paled instantly.
[‘How does this stupid commoner know that? Not even the High Priest, let alone anyone else in the temple, knows. No, calm down. There’s no evidence. She’s just guessing.’]
“Guessing? If I was guessing, how would I know that you frequent the racetrack behind your wife’s back and squander the embezzled funds? The horse you picked last time was Louis.”
“H-How… how…”
“If you go to that racetrack, your name will be on the betting ledger… and the amount you bet is a sum you couldn’t have obtained without embezzlement. Where should I report this? To the High Priest?”
Leon’s jaw dropped.
“S-Saintess, I apologize! I was wrong!”
Leon blurted out his words and prostrated himself on the floor.
Hmm, exploiting weaknesses is truly the best.
[He seems to be very aware of the High Priest’s wrath. He thinks he’s a dead man.]
“I’m so curious how the High Priest would react if she knew that a mere administrator embezzled the Grand Temple’s sacred funds.”
I deliberately fueled Leon’s fear.
“Sob, I’m sorry! Saintess, I have a wife and children. It’s fine if I’m punished for my wrongdoings, but my wife and children…! Please forgive me just this once. Please…!”
Leon pleaded, trying to evoke sympathy. I wasn’t interested.
“If your wife and children are so precious, why did you become addicted to gambling? Embezzling the devotees’ precious donations to gamble, no less.”
“I… I was blinded… Saintess!”
I looked down at Leon, who was prostrating and trembling, wringing his hands, for a while, then spoke.
“Are you reflecting on your actions?”
“Yes, yes! I am!”
Still smiling, I gave him my instructions.
“Now, Leon. There’s a way for you to repent.”
“Yes! Yes, Saintess! What is it? Please enlighten this foolish man!”
Leon asked subserviently, his face pale, forcing a smile.
“Repeat after me.”
“Yes!”
I shouted in an elated voice.
“‘The god Agatha bestows this upon you!’”
“What?”
“Repeat after me. ‘These are supplies bestowed by the god Agatha! Food sent by God!’”
Leon slowly repeated my words.
“‘Offer a prayer of gratitude to the god Agatha, to the eight guardian deities, right now!’”
“Right now…”
“‘It doesn’t have to be at the temple! God is always with you, wherever, whenever!’”
Leon obediently repeated my words to the end.
“When you send the supplies, include this message you just repeated. Make sure those distributing them repeat these words. Understand?”
“Y-Yes…! Is… is that all?”
“Tell them to mention all eight guardian deities.”
“Yes! Th-Then…”
Leon cautiously gauged my reaction.
“That’s enough for now. I’ll tell you if I need anything else. You better do well, Leon.”
“Understood!”
“Ah, wait.”
I turned around as I was about to leave the office.
“Ah, you were thinking I was foolish and vulgar.”
Leon’s face paled, even more so than a corpse.
“I’ll let you off with 100 laps around the Grand Temple, bunny-hopping.”
I delivered my light revenge and left the room.
Meanwhile, thanks to the large crowd that gathered in the plaza during the Saintess announcement, the capital was filled with stories of the levitating Saintess, but the situation was different in the rural cities.
It was the High Priest’s doing, as expected. None of the newspapers the next day mentioned the ‘Saintess who performed the miracle of flying’ or the ‘Saintess who initiated the relief effort.’
Only praises for the benevolent High Priest who decided on the relief effort. The High Priest had clearly manipulated the newspapers.
That’s why I came to Leon, pondering how to more strongly imprint the gods in people’s minds. I had my encyclopedia of weaknesses.
‘By the way, I need to find a way to bribe the newspapers too.’
I kept losing in the war of public opinion, and there was a limit to what I could achieve with indirect methods.
I wondered if they had any weaknesses. I spoke to Agatha, asking her to gather information on the newspapers.
It was a peaceful morning.
The remaining days flew by, and the day of the Marchioness of Alland’s tea party arrived.
I was a little surprised when I met the High Priest before leaving.
She always maintained a benevolent facade for her image, making her look like a clergy member, but today, it was even more pronounced.
A gentle yet sharp face, with upturned eyes.
Perhaps it was due to her neatly styled brown hair and the cassock buttoned up to her neck.
She looked unshakeable, aloof, and righteous.
Her tall and well-built yet lean figure seemed ascetic, like a disciplined practitioner.
Like a ‘flawless and resolute saint.’ It was… completely different from her true self.
“You’re radiating a strange glow today, Saintess.”
“What? Haha, the stylists are very skilled… Thank you.”
The High Priest spoke to me, her words sounding like both a compliment and not a compliment, as I stood there in a daze.
“Did you… sprinkle gold dust or something on yourself?”
I just gave her an awkward laugh in response to her question.
“Haha, of course not.”
It wasn’t a day for me to stand out, but I still asked the god of beauty for a blessing. I didn’t want to be intimidated in front of the nobles.
‘I didn’t want to be intimidated, but this blessing is too much…’
When I said I ‘didn’t want to be intimidated,’ the enthusiastic god of beauty, Euphrosyne, gave me this result. I was shining so brightly that everyone who saw me gasped in surprise.
Judging by their reactions, it seemed like I had a halo.
“…Let’s go.”
The High Priest, still with a puzzled expression, boarded the carriage. I followed her.
My heart pounded.
“When we arrive, just greet them as Saintess Dorothy.”
The High Priest instructed me on what to be careful of at the tea party.
“You said you would help me.”
“Yes, High Priest.”
At her stern warning, I lowered my gaze and replied diligently. Since I had caused a big incident recently, I intended to be obedient today.
“Just do as I say.”
Doing as she says… that’s not difficult.
“Just nod and agree to everything I say.”
The carriage stopped as soon as the High Priest finished speaking. It seemed we had arrived at the Marquis of Alland’s residence. We were greeted by a butler and led inside. I asked Agatha as we walked,
[What is the High Priest thinking?]
[All the attendees at the Marchioness’s salon are influential figures. Duchesses, Countesses… She’s going to try to persuade them, saying an oracle was delivered… ‘The Sun of the Empire shall be stained black and shaken?’]
The Sun?
There was only one being called the Sun in the empire.
[It must be about the Emperor.]
So, the High Priest was planning to spread bad rumors about the Emperor to these influential figures.
As for the oracle…
[She’ll say I received a revelation and use that as a basis.]
She was planning to use me. The articles had already portrayed me as ‘one who receives revelations even without the blue flame.’
[Yes. So, Doro… said… th- huh?]
Suddenly, Agatha’s voice cut off ominously.
[Why… can’t… I… uh…]
Then, the connection almost completely cut off.
This… don’t tell me…?