Lisianthus must have been blunt, probably asking, “How can I leave the princess’s side when she might be in danger inside the temple?” Then, of course, they’d make us speechless by saying something like, “How dare you doubt us? We are the temple. We don’t take sides!”
“I’ve heard praise for the piety of the Southern Temple from afar, and it is a great honor to witness it firsthand while serving the princess.”
The words were polite, but Barbara’s gaze was cold. Of course, Krone just smiled genially, as if Barbara’s stare meant nothing.
“Haha, it’s nothing but an empty reputation.”
“Since this area is so overflowing with wealth, I’m sure there are many demands from ruffians who try to sway the temple with money. It is truly admirable that you have upheld your principles so wonderfully and run this temple so well against such pressures.”
“For a temple that serves and holds an offering ceremony for even royalty, ours is quite humble. But that is my principle: to live humbly and without shame before God. I am humbled that my fellow temple members share my sentiment and have helped me a great deal.”
Krone was a smooth talker.
“This bread was made by Priest Orlando, and this cheese by Priest Silencio. And these wild berries were picked by Delphin, the acolyte who went to serve the princess just now.”
Barbara’s face stiffened into a fake smile. Watching the unctuous Krone, I knew this opponent was far from easy.
There’s a massive city nearby. If they truly lived a modest, self-sufficient life, giving up all temptations, they’d deserve a round of applause. But based on what Flux went through and what Lisianthus said, this temple was already incredibly secularized. He was only pretending to be otherwise around me. The fact that Flux could simply steal a holy relic meant the temple’s internal state was a total mess.
Just yesterday, on my way back after being kidnapped, I saw that there was only one guard stationed in my building—and he was an acolyte. They must have worked him so hard. He let out a huge yawn and dozed off while trying to stay up all night. I wanted to tell him to just go to sleep.
Why was the system in such a state? There was no one to relieve him on his night shift. Was it an intentional setup for a problem to occur?
I remembered the temple’s layout from the brief tour yesterday. The holy relics were stored near the head priest Krone’s room. The offering ceremony itself was held inside the temple, so all the related facilities were concentrated in that area.
Based on my shallow knowledge, to truly strengthen and reinforce the barrier, it wasn’t just the power of light that was needed. I recalled that the possessors of other powers—fire, water, earth, wind, and so on—all had to gather and infuse their power. If even one was missing, the effect was minimal. The most important thing was for me to drop my blood on the holy relic tomorrow; everything else was a minor detail. There were quite a few symbolic rituals mixed in.
“If you don’t mind, would you care to immerse yourself in the water of purification after the meal? You must soak for at least three hours before tomorrow. Unfortunately, we cannot heat the water for the ritual. It might be a little cold, but…”
“The weather is so hot that it will be fine. But when I immerse myself, does… someone have to be there?”
“Ah, no. If it makes you uncomfortable, I will have everyone leave the area.”
“Yes, thank you.”
A secular authority means nothing before a religious one, and so on… Anyway, based on the temple’s rule that everyone must use honorifics regardless of their status, I, a member of the imperial family, was consistently using honorifics to address the priest. But Krone’s attitude was still truly unpleasant. Of course, I wasn’t asking him to treat me with all the pomp and circumstance he would give Briand.
Given all the circumstances, it was more strange that he acted so casually around me. The way he was talking to Gregory before he even greeted me when we first met was another example.
More importantly, that black market. It was bothering me. Was the Empress behind that, too? It felt like something more than just the Empress. To distribute such dangerous goods, ruin the son of the city’s lord like that, and then disappear without a trace?
Even just hearing the story left a bad taste in my mouth. It felt like they intentionally targeted that person and destroyed him. They also messed with the holy relic to ruin the offering ceremony. Thank goodness I was able to save him with a (physical) treatment in one night. What if I hadn’t been able to? Count Cortez, who was reluctant to ask for help from the Castrain family, would have stopped at nothing to save his son, regardless of the city’s safety. He might have even allied with someone in the process.
I finished my meal and was guided to the large bath filled with purified water. The wide, gray stone basin was filled with clear, shimmering water. I hadn’t been able to wash much during the carriage ride, and with Debbie and Barbara standing guard, I relaxed and sank into the water.
Squeak!
I heard a very insignificant and cute cry.
I slowly turned my head. Something small and furry, with translucent wings, was spreading them wide.
…A mouse? No, a bat? Its round nose was wet, and its eyes were as clear as black beads. It was so tiny that I couldn’t tell what it was. In any case, it saw me and rolled something it had in its mouth toward me. Reflexively, I grabbed the transparent sphere as it rolled along the edge of the tub.
As I took the sphere, a small image flashed in the air.
<Sister!>
“Oh, Vivi!”
My face instantly broke into a wide grin. Vivi was smiling shyly in a window the size of a hand mirror. She had her hair in two braids decorated with daisies and sunflowers today. It was so incredibly cute.
<I heard what happened from Debbie this morning!>
“Oh, right, I see. Vivi, I’m so grateful to see you, but you should have been sleeping! You won’t grow if you don’t sleep!”
<…>
Vivi was silent, staring at me. A girl who was a head shorter than me, incredibly cute, and whose blue eyes gleamed as she attacked me with her silence… It was somehow incredibly intimidating.
As expected of the heroine from a child-rearing novel! The true power of the Castrain Ducal family!
Vivi spoke in a swaggering, threatening voice. <And what about you, big sister? Did you sleep? >
I instinctively straightened my shoulders and said, “W-well, I had a very important matter concerning someone’s life, so…”
<And because of that issue, our big brother was making a big fuss this morning, saying that a person might melt away and you needed to eat some nourishing tonic, huh? Hmmmmm?>
“Hahaha, come on. A person’s body can ache sometimes!”
<You’re too insensitive about your own body…>
Vivi grumbled, clearly displeased.
<Anyway, sister, don’t worry about the holy relic! High Priest Ilian happened to have no schedule, so I asked Papa to open our family’s treasury! I gave him a new holy relic! He should arrive by tomorrow. You don’t need to lend a hand!>
“Wow… Vivi, you’re amazing… But how could he get here so fast? It took me more than a week, even with a carriage switch… of course, that Gregory guy was part of the problem, but still…”
<Well, this is a secret, but our family is researching some special items, and one of them lets you fly halfway through the sky! If you wear it, a knight who’s a Sword Expert or higher can run incredibly fast!>
“High Priest Ilian isn’t… that kind of knight, is he?”
<He said he’d wear the protective gear and get a piggyback ride! He might get a little motion sickness, but we’re giving him a 200% bonus on the funds for commoner priests, so he said it’s a profitable business, even if he has to throw up a few times in the sky!>
“…”
A high priest is a very high rank, and a future pope would come from their ranks, so it’s right to compare them to some of the greatest aristocrats… But somehow, High Priest Ilian, who is also a pro-Castrain faction member, was behaving… well, very capitalistically.
Ultimately, he was throwing himself into this for a good cause, to use the budget for good, so I guess it didn’t matter…
But Vivi, who was talking about an elderly man of that age flying while half-suspended in the air with such a refreshing smile…
Well, she’s cute! And that’s all that matters!
<But big sister, be careful!>
“Yes, I will be careful…”
<I mean it, be super careful! If someone like Count Cortez could fall for it, it’s not something to take lightly. The Southern Temple is an area we can’t directly interfere with, so we can’t respond immediately if something happens!>
“Wow, so the Northern Temple can immediately fix anything that happens?”
<Well, I guess so? >
Vivi stared at me intently.
