Chapter 5
The daily life of the priests at the Malliant Temple was rather simple.
Other than preparing and hosting religious gatherings twice a week, there wasn’t much important work to do.
At most, they had to clean and maintain the temple, chat with the occasional believer, and manage temple supplies.
They weren’t exactly without work, but the temple wasn’t that big, so tasks didn’t take long.
As a result, the priests had lots of free time.
Just after one of the gatherings ended, a few priests were sitting together, catching their breath.
“Lately, the believers seem to be spending more generously.”
“It’s all thanks to the Saintess. We might even enter the capital someday at this rate!”
“Ah, wouldn’t that be amazing!”
Of course, it was still a distant dream, but just talking about it made for good drinking conversation.
The priests cheerfully raised their cups.
CRASH!
Suddenly, the door burst open like it had been kicked down.
“W-What the?!”
Startled, the priests jumped up, only to see something completely unexpected:
“There you all are.”
It was Elias, holding a huge hammer the size of her own body.
“E-Elias?!”
“Saintess! How did you…?”
The Saintess, who was supposed to be locked underground, was now standing before them.
This was very bad.
The priests immediately stood up, slamming their cups down.
They had to take her back to the underground chamber right away.
After all, the Saintess was the moneymaker of the temple.
But—
WHAM!
Elias stomped the ground and suddenly leapt into the air.
The sight was so absurd, the priests could only gape in silence.
BAM!
With a crisp, clear sound, the hammer slammed into a priest’s head, and he collapsed, foaming at the mouth.
“What is this?!”
The other priests scrambled to catch Elias, but strangely, the small girl easily dodged all of them!
“Bweh!”
Even as she darted between them, the priests went down one by one.
Elias moved with grace and agility, showing no signs of tiredness.
In fact, she looked even more cheerful the longer the fight went on.
Her lips curved into a sly grin.
BAM! WHACK!
After a few more hits, the lounge area was completely cleared out.
Elias wiped the sweat from her forehead as she lightly twirled her hammer.
‘Ah, so satisfying!’
It felt as refreshing as chugging a bottle of cold soda.
Elias casually checked the unconscious priests.
“Good, they’re alive.”
She didn’t want to become a child murderer at the age of five—thankfully, she hadn’t killed anyone.
Smiling brightly, she walked out of the lounge.
‘There were ten here… That means about thirty are left.’
Calculating quickly, Elias marched off to take care of the remaining priests.
—
Meanwhile, High Priest Valleo was in a good mood.
Another successful ceremony had just ended.
Looking at the backs of the believers leaving the temple, he chuckled.
‘Fools.’
Ever since he started using the “Saintess,” donations had skyrocketed.
He was quite pleased.
‘Maybe in a few years, we’ll even be recognized by the capital.’
“Well done today, Saintess.”
Valleo approached the girl named Seria, smiling with satisfaction.
“Th-Thank you.”
Seria bowed slightly.
Although it was something she did every week, she always felt uneasy.
Even though she was only seven years old, she knew the High Priest was lying.
There was no priest at the Malliant Temple who actually possessed divine power.
So, receiving divine revelations? Impossible.
The believers didn’t know the truth, but Seria had overheard enough conversations to figure it out.
Still, if she didn’t obey Valleo, she wouldn’t be allowed to eat that day.
She could go hungry, but… she didn’t want Elias to starve too.
So, she did as Valleo told her.
“Take the Saintess and let her rest. She seems tired.”
A priest stepped forward to carry Seria away—
SCREAM! CRASH!
Suddenly, a loud noise echoed through the temple.
“What is this commotion?!”
Valleo’s expression turned cold.
The priest approaching the door cautiously went to check.
SLAM!
The door burst open, slamming straight into the priest’s face.
“Argh!”
He collapsed, clutching his face.
Valleo’s eyes widened in disbelief as he saw who entered.
It was a small girl carrying a giant hammer—Elias.
She ignored Valleo completely, looking down at the priest.
“What? He fainted already, and I didn’t even hit him yet.”
Valleo and the priest were both speechless.
In the next instant, Elias vanished—leaping into the air.
WHAM!
With a clean strike, she brought the hammer down on the priest’s head.
“Ugh!”
The priest groaned and lost consciousness.
Elias poked him with the hammer, completely unfazed.
“Whew. Still alive. Good.”
So far, none of the priests she attacked had died.
‘Not that I cared that much about sparing them.’
But still—she was the “Saintess,” right?
Elias smirked as she turned to face Valleo.
His face had turned pale with fear.
“E-Elias! What is the meaning of this?! You’re attacking the priests?! That’s not something a Saintess should do!”
Even as he panicked, he tried to sound authoritative.
But Elias just shrugged, looking bored.
“Why do you keep calling me ‘Saintess’ over and over?
You say it like I’m a real one.”
Valleo’s eyes bulged.
The obedient child from before… now looked like a total delinquent!
It didn’t make sense—but Valleo knew he had to stop her before she hurt more people.
He tried to stay calm.
“Of course, I call you Saintess because that’s what you are! Let’s talk about this later—why don’t you put down that weapon first?”
He figured the hammer must be magical.
If he could just get her to lower her guard, maybe he could take it from her.
But Elias scoffed.
“Talk later? Forget it. As of today, you’re fired, old man.”
It was such an absurd thing for a five-year-old to say—
but somehow, it hit like an insult straight to the gut.
Valleo’s face turned red with rage.
“Y-You brat! I raised you, and this is how you repay me?!”
“I never asked you to.”
She even spat on the floor.
Valleo’s face was about to explode.
He grabbed a nearby candlestick and hurled it at her.
But Elias dodged it effortlessly.
And not just that—
WHAM!
“GAAAH!”
Elias spun in midair and slammed the hammer onto Valleo’s head, landing gracefully afterward.
Her shoulders lifted proudly.
‘Moving feels easier now. I’m getting stronger!’
Just then, she felt someone watching her.
It was Seria, still crouching nearby, staring at her in shock.
“E-Elias… What’s going on…?”
Elias walked over and held out her hand.
“Hm. Let’s just say it’s a blessing from the gods.”
—
Later
All the priests of the Malliant Temple were gathered in the main hall.
They were all kneeling, each with one or two lumps on their heads—except for one.
Pelles.
Pelles stood beside the newly empowered Elias.
‘What in the world happened…?’
He had just been cleaning the bathroom when Elias summoned him.
He couldn’t understand how she managed to defeat so many priests on her own.
His gaze turned to the five-year-old girl standing in front of everyone.
The hammer she held was as big as her body—but somehow, she seemed larger than life today.
‘What is that hammer…?’
As confusion filled his mind, Elias opened her mouth and glared at the priests.
“You are all…”
Everyone, including Pelles and Seria, waited in suspense.
Then, she said it.
“Trash.”
To be continued
