Chapter 8
I ignored the strange looks people gave me and scanned the kitchen.
“This is my first time in the kitchen. There are so many fascinating items here. Are all of these cooking tools?”
I tapped the kitchen knives that were violently stabbed into the cutting board and casually picked up a few unfamiliar utensils.
Perhaps displeased by the way I handled the tools, Head Chef Kento grumbled under his breath.
Of course, he couldn’t complain openly because of my notorious reputation.
“Saintess, knives are dangerous,” Dietrich finally stepped in to stop me, unable to watch any longer.
He must have thought I was just picking a fight for no reason again.
“Yes, Saintess. If you’re curious about the kitchen, please come at night. That way, I can guide you around more properly,” Kento added politely.
“Oh, I hadn’t thought of that. Alright then, I’ll come back at night. Make sure to give me a proper tour,” I replied with a sweet smile and turned around.
Everyone let out a sigh of relief, thinking I was finally leaving the kitchen.
But my real purpose for being there started now.
I activated the map system, which included hidden passages.
My target was the area next to the food storage room.
Just like I read in the novel, I tapped on the wall with a certain rhythm.
Tok, todok, tok, tok, tododok.
“W-What are you doing?! Stop that!”
Kento shouted behind me.
When I turned around, he was glaring at me with a pale face.
Wow, you’re being way too obvious that you know about the secret passage.
Creak—!
“What the—what is that?!”
“A hidden passage… in the kitchen?!”
The wall I had tapped opened, revealing a hidden passage.
The kitchen staff were stunned.
And soon, the meaning of their surprise shifted.
“Wait, there’s something in there…”
Inside the opened secret passage were several pouches.
Dietrich, who had been alternating nervous glances between me and Ayrick, quickly stepped inside to check the pouches.
Rustle.
The moment he loosened the string, what poured out was none other than money.
A lot of money—something you’d rarely see in this poor temple.
“Oh my goodness! So much money! I don’t know why, but I felt like tapping that wall, and look—money came out! Isn’t that amazing?”
I exclaimed with an innocent giggle, just like I’d planned.
“And it looks like someone was hiding it on purpose. Embezzlement, maybe?”
At my words, Dietrich’s face immediately hardened.
He was sharp—he must have realized everything at once.
A secret passage no one was supposed to know about.
Money hidden in that secret passage.
And Kento, who tried to stop me from opening it.
Anyone could tell—it was embezzlement.
“…Head Chef.”
Ayrick, who had been silent all along, called out to Kento.
Even I flinched at the chilling gaze he sent the man’s way.
No wonder—he had trusted Kento to oversee everyone’s meals, and now it turned out Kento had been embezzling funds from an already poor temple. The betrayal must’ve hit hard.
“Would you care to explain this situation?”
Wow, I didn’t know formal speech could sound this terrifying.
“I-I don’t… I don’t know…”
“I’m sure you won’t say you ‘don’t know.’ When the Saintess opened the passage, your reaction was clearly not one of ignorance.”
Exactly.
He’d gone ghost-white and yelled “Stop!” like a caught thief, and now he wanted to pretend he knew nothing?
“I-I can explain! I can explain everything!”
“Yes. You’d better explain it thoroughly.”
Ayrick stepped forward, towering over the now-cringing Kento.
“If a chef without any divine power can’t properly explain how he knows about a secret passage, then as the High Priest responsible for maintaining order in the sanctum, I’ll have no choice but to interrogate you myself.”
“Th-that…”
“And I assure you, it won’t be a pleasant experience.”
Ayrick finished with an elegant yet deadly threat.
“I could always turn you over to the Holy Templar Captain.”
The Holy Templar Captain, who guards the sanctum, would surely be a scarier figure than the High Priest—especially in terms of brute strength.
The threat worked. Kento went pale as a sheet.
“S-So, um, here’s what happened…”
Kento hesitantly approached the passage, as if about to explain everything.
But the moment his dazed eyes met mine…
“You! If it weren’t for you!”
He suddenly lunged at me with both hands, like he was trying to strangle me.
Straight at me.
“Saintess!”
Ayrick and Dietrich shouted in unison and reached toward me.
I could tell they meant to protect me, but…
Even though I was lacking in divine power compared to them, I could still handle an ordinary person.
After all, I had the system.
【Activating skill: ‘Physical Enhancement’.】
Thank goodness I had this.
“Oh my, were you just that eager to be subdued? If the chef insists, I guess I’ll oblige.”
With a smile, I raised my right hand.
I focused 5% of my divine power into my middle finger and gave him a solid flick to the forehead.
SMACK!
The sound was like a giant walnut cracking open.
“Guh… ughhh…”
With a blow strong enough to rattle his brain, Kento couldn’t even scream properly. He staggered, eyes bloodshot, and finally collapsed with a heavy thud.
“…”
“…”
“…”
Silence fell.
Everyone stared blankly between me and the foaming-at-the-mouth, unconscious Kento.
“H-Hiiiieek!”
Finally, the staff clung together in fear, eyeing the terrifying lump swelling on Kento’s forehead.
Hmm. If I leave things like this, my reputation might get even worse…
I stretched out both hands toward the unconscious Kento with a solemn expression, as if I were bestowing a blessing.
“I give thanks for the meals you have provided. Now rest in peace.”
One of the kitchen staff collapsed to the floor, deeply moved by my ‘blessing.’
“High Priest, rejoice! With all this money, surely the gods are showing mercy upon the sanctum!”
“…Indeed.”
“Now we can finally feed the servants properly! Isn’t that wonderful?”
I beamed brightly at Ayrick.
In return, I received very mixed reactions and awkward stares from everyone.
While Dietrich sorted the embezzled funds, Ayrick turned the kitchen staff over to the temple’s holy knights for investigation—just in case any of them were accomplices.
As the servants departed with anxious expressions, I gave the knights a word of request.
“Please don’t be too harsh. It’s possible everyone is innocent. Until the truth is revealed, remember—they’re still our family.”
The servants looked at me with wide eyes, not expecting me to take their side.
Even the holy knights looked surprised.
This was all part of my plan to improve my image.
“Saintess.”
Once everyone had left, leaving only me and Dietrich, Ayrick quietly called out to me.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
I expected him to start questioning me right away.
But he was checking on my well-being first?
“I think I hurt my finger a little.”
“You don’t have to do things like this again.”
It was a joke, but…
Ayrick gently infused divine power into my right hand.
It was healing magic—a power I didn’t have due to my limited divine strength.
His golden divine energy wrapped around my finger.
It was warm and gentle, like his personality, but…
Why did it have to focus only on my middle finger? Now it was glowing gold and attracting everyone’s attention.
I quickly pulled my hand away, saying I was fine.
“Can you explain the situation to me? How did you know all of this?”
The secret passage. The tapping sequence. The hidden funds Kento embezzled.
Ayrick hadn’t told me anything about the secret passage since I was a fake saintess, so he must have been even more confused.
I boldly gave the excuse I had prepared.
“It was a coincidence!”
I couldn’t exactly say I knew because I read it in a novel.
Besides, Ayrick couldn’t prove anything against me—so I might as well lie with confidence!
“…Excuse me?”
“I have really good intuition. Sometimes I just get these hunches, you know?”
Honestly, I could have come up with a more believable excuse…
But my plan wasn’t over yet.
For now, this was enough.
Leaving a stunned Ayrick behind, I approached Dietrich.
“How much is it?”
“Ah, 9 gold and 87 silver.”
Dietrich also seemed doubtful about my excuse but still answered seriously.
With 100 silver making 1 gold, that totaled nearly 10 gold.
How much divine power would I gain if I offered 10 gold?
Surely at least 1%?
【Divine power increased by 0.01%.】
“…?”
Are you kidding me?
