"I failed to protect the safety of the Grand Temple. Please punish me. I will accept any punishment you see fit.”
Seth knelt in solemn confession, his demeanor as reverent as a devout priest receiving divine grace.
But I couldn’t be fooled by appearances… not after seeing how ruthlessly he had dealt with the infiltrators.
I kept recalling those scenes from the original story where the merciless male leads had coldly judged and executed Ordell. My chest was still trembling from the memory.
“This is a crime I cannot overlook. If you command it, I will step down from my position as Captain of the Holy Knights.”
No way! Where do you think you’re going?
“Please don’t say that. If not you, who else could I possibly trust? I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”
“But I failed to protect the Grand Temple…”
“If we’re pointing fingers, isn’t this all my fault? Those infiltrators were planted by Count Kiris. If I’d paid even a little more attention, I would have noticed something sooner.”
To be honest, the only reason the infiltrators had been able to operate so freely was because Ordell had quietly enabled the embezzlement.
There’s no way Seth could’ve noticed.
Besides, he was frequently sent out on assignment, like a mercenary, to support the struggling temple. It would’ve been hard for him to know anything.
“You’ve done nothing wrong, Saintess!”
Our painfully innocent holy knight shouted, his face going pale.
“If I’m not guilty, then neither are you. And with the situation so unstable, having the strongest knight here step down would make things even worse. So please don’t go anywhere—stay and protect us.”
Exactly. Where would you even go?
In this cruel world, a weakling with only 5% divine power like me wouldn’t last a day without him—a swordmaster and candidate for a male lead.
“…Understood. I swear on my life to protect you and the Grand Temple.”
I don’t need your life, but judging by that solemn face, there’s no talking you out of it. I’ll just leave it alone.
“This isn’t the time to assign blame—we need to prepare for what’s next. Once the infiltrators go silent, Count Kiris will notice right away. He’ll probably try to use the temple donations to blackmail us.”
Currently, the Sun God’s Grand Temple was barely surviving on the miserly donations from Count Kiris.
If that support stopped, the temple would be doomed.
“We have no other income, so we can’t afford to make an enemy of the Count. Which means we can’t even complain about the infiltrators.”
“What do you intend to do?”
“The temple won’t do anything. I’ll handle Count Kiris myself.”
“But—!”
Before either of them could argue, I shook my head firmly.
“When his envoy shows up, just act like you can’t let him see me alone. Put up a bit of a fight, then pretend to reluctantly step aside.”
We’re going to put on a show—and that means the two of them can’t be present at the same time.
Don’t worry. Just trust me. I’ll handle everything.
* * *
A dark room filled with a thick haze of smoke.
A broad-shouldered man lounged deeply in a massive chair, practically melting into it.
His half-tied, drooping hair and loosely worn glasses gave off an air of indifference—but his face was twisted in a vicious scowl.
Each drag on his cigarette and heavy exhale seemed to slowly smooth out the tension in his furrowed brow.
The pungent stench from the burning tip was disgusting, but he couldn’t bring himself to give it up.
It was the only thing that kept him going.
“Lord!”
The door suddenly burst open.
The uninvited guest was instantly engulfed in a cloud of smoke and coughed violently.
“Ugh, I’ll never get used to this stench.”
“…Shut up. My head’s pounding. Speak quietly.”
Irritated by the noise, the man snapped. The guest hastily stifled his coughing.
“We’ve found the whereabouts of the item you’ve been searching for!”
At that shout, the languid man abruptly straightened up.
“You don’t mean—”
“Yes! We’ve located the Holy Relic of Light!”
“Where?”
“In a temple in the northwestern region of the Empire.”
“The northwest? There’s a temple out there?”
The man fired off questions rapidly, and his subordinate rushed to answer without pause.
“It’s a virtually unknown site, on the verge of collapse. We don’t even know which god they worship. I only discovered it during this most recent investigation.”
Damn it. No wonder we couldn’t find it. It was buried in some forgotten place.
“Get ready. We leave immediately.”
“Yes, sir!”
Once the subordinate left, the man wiped his face with both hands and sighed.
This was his last hope. If this failed, he’d have nothing left.
No matter what it took, no matter the cost, he would obtain the Holy Relic of Light.
He was already sick of cigarettes.
* * *
“Huff… huff! When the hell is this damn body going to build some stamina?!”
7:00 A.M.
I collapsed, drenched in sweat, onto the bench that had practically become my personal seat after finishing another walking session.
Exercise had never been this torturous in my past life. Back then, the more I sweated, the happier I felt!
Now I was so dizzy, I wanted to throw in the towel altogether.
“I swear, the day I can run 50 meters without dying, I’m going to cry…”
“You did well today, Saintess.”
A female knight with her red hair tied back neatly handed me a water bottle.
I gratefully accepted it with trembling arms.
“Thanks, Dame Victoria. I managed to survive another day without dying…”
“Your stamina seems to have improved slightly. When I first saw you a week ago, I thought the situation was quite dire.”
I should have felt proud hearing that from an expert. But it was so blunt, I almost teared up instead.
“It’ll get better with consistency… right? I don’t know, it’s hard to feel hopeful.”
“…I think you may need more effort than most.”
Damn it! I swallowed my tears along with the water.
Victoria Lawrence.
Her crimson hair gleamed under the sunlight. She was the holy knight Seth had assigned to me.
After the infiltrator turned out to be one of the knights, Seth had taken full responsibility and initiated a complete restructuring of the order.
As a result, the newly formed Second Division was created as a personal guard unit for the Saintess.
Victoria, selected through Seth’s rigorous evaluation, was appointed as its commander.
In other words, she was my direct escort.
Because of my infamy, Victoria had been cold and businesslike toward me at first.
No—more than that.
<‘…You plan to exercise every morning?’>
You?
She didn’t say it aloud, but her eyes screamed it.
Instead of making excuses, I simply showed up every morning and exercised without fail for a week.
I ate with everyone every day, acted more amiable around Irik and Seth, and gradually—
<‘…Take it easy. You’ll die like this.’>
I wasn’t sure if she was joking or serious, but at least we were on better terms now.
That alone nearly brought tears to my eyes.
…Not that it applied to anyone except Victoria. Most people still flinched and avoided me like the plague.
The road ahead was long.
“Someone’s approaching.”
Victoria had just handed me a towel when she turned her head.
A maid came running toward us, her face pale.
“S-Saintess, I’m so sorry to interrupt!”
She immediately dropped to the ground, bowing deeply.
The road ahead was very long indeed…
“Stand up and tell me what’s going on. Take your time.”
I spoke as gently as I could so she wouldn’t panic.
Victoria quickly helped the maid up and brushed the dust off her knees.
The maid only looked more terrified, but managed to stammer out her message.
“S-someone has arrived outside, asking for you, Saintess. He said he bears a message from Count Kiris.”
Ah. So he’s finally here!
“Are you sure it’s all right to meet him alone?”
She must have been briefed by Seth and had some idea of the current situation. I understood her concern.
Sorry, Victoria. But you’re worried about the wrong person.
Because I plan to wring that bastard dry.