“Your Most Holy Saintess! You must come quickly. Your entire day is already packed with meetings with congregants!”
From early in the morning, one of the priests was flitting about fussily at my side.
I rubbed my sleepy eyes and bustled down the Temple’s corridor.
“Are there already that many believers gathered at this hour?”
The priest, walking briskly ahead of me, unfurled his scroll.
“Yes, we have over twenty meetings scheduled just for today!”
There were people seeking healing, others wanting blessings, and even some who apparently wanted to ask me about their fortunes—everything and anything..
‘How is this any different from when I worked for corporate? Isn’t this just another kind of workload?! I thought there’d be no overtime, but this is a full schedule from morning to night!’
—Did you really expect to just savor the fun of your deception and call it a day?
At the snide voice of God echoing in my head, I muttered silently even in my half-awake state.
‘Do You really have to say the quiet part out loud? And why does it feel like now I’m the one being scammed?!’
Outside the vestry, a small crowd was already buzzing.
Monks here and there were keeping things orderly, and when the believers spotted me, they called out greetings laced with excitement.
“Oh my, just seeing Your Most Holy Saintess’ face makes me feel like today will be lucky!”
“I avoided an accident thanks to the prayer I received last time!”
Every time I got that kind of fervent response, it left me feeling slightly proud, but also awkward and weirdly uncomfortable.
Did they really believe I’d worked some miracle?
‘Well, there was that incident a few days ago with the child who actually got a bit better… But honestly, that had to be a coincidence.’
Doing my best to look natural, I lifted a hand and offered a smile.
“Hello, everyone. Lovely weather today. I’m sure God will watch over us again.”
“Ohh, to hear Your Most Holy Saintess’ kind words so early in the day…!”
“Seeing you smile so brightly gives me strength as well!”
I’d barely said a single sentence, yet the crowd was already moved to the verge of tears.
But I didn’t have time to dwell on that.
The priest who’d come to fetch me was anxiously shifting from foot to foot.
“Your Most Holy Saintess, please come inside! The believers are already waiting!”
I hastily nodded and followed him deeper in.
Inside the room were already around five believers waiting their turn.
Wait a sec—aren’t consultations normally one-on-one?
“Um… shouldn’t we be letting them in one at a time?”
I asked in a flustered voice, and the priest scratched the back of his head.
“That’s the usual way, but today we have an unusually large crowd… and not enough time…”
‘Haha! This is basically just a one-stop complaint center, isn’t it?! I dreamed of a life without overtime, and now here I am running a high-stress customer service hotline in God’s name! Hey, Callisto, care to weigh in?!’
But of course, there was no answer.
Just like any boss who disappears when the going gets tough, that God always keeps conveniently silent.
I swallowed a heavy sigh and took my seat.
And the instant I sat down, the believers all began clamoring at once without any order.
“I’ll speak first!”
“No, my matter is far more urgent!”
Somehow the chaos settled, and the first to speak was a young woman with dark circles heavily lining her eyes.
“Your Most Holy Saintess, I keep having nightmares. Dreams where I can never finish my work! Could this be some kind of curse?”
I stared at her for a moment. And immediately, I knew.
She looked exactly like me back when I worked corporate.
I felt a weird sense of kinship.
“It seems the burdens are pressing down on your shoulders. Likely born of your good heart wanting to do everything well. But you must also learn how to set things down…”
She stared blankly for a moment, then slowly nodded her head.
I almost launched into telling her my own tearful story of office survival, but then remembered this was basically a medieval fantasy world.
“Before bed, try telling Callisto everything you’ve been holding inside. Our God is always waiting to hear our voices.”
At once, her eyes shimmered with emotion.
For the finishing blow, I closed my eyes and nodded.
And then, as if acting out a script, I whispered,
“May your nights be filled with peace… I pray God will soften those dreams, even just a little.”
Whoa, didn’t I sound like the poster child for a Saintess just now?
As I was inwardly cringing from embarrassment, a burly man scratched his neck and stepped forward.
“Um, well… I keep getting into fights with my wife. We’re both, uh, pretty hot-tempered—not the type to ever back down.”
So this was some kind of couples counseling, huh.
Like hell I’d ever done that in my life.
Trying not to look flustered, I closed my eyes again. Just like a Saintess communing with God.
Then slowly opened my mouth.
“God says this: Yield to love.”
“Oh my goodness!”
The reaction popped out of the woman who’d spoken to me first. She seemed deeply moved by my words.
I added a faint smile and continued.
“The desire to win is a deeply human impulse, yes—but do not forget that your love for one another is greater than humanity itself. If you always seek not to lose, you will surely lose that great love.”
Even I was shocked by what I’d said.
At this rate, forget Saintess—I was basically a world-class therapist.
Handling each and every type of story that was dumped on me like this, sweat quickly began beading on my forehead.
“God is with you, so things will work out.”
“Faith is itself a miracle.”
My repertoire was limited, so the same lines kept tumbling out.
Even so, the believers nodded with emotional faces. “Ah, truly fitting of our Saintess,” they said.
“Now then, who’s next?”
The last believer waiting was a little old woman.
She cautiously reached out her wrinkled hand toward me. I immediately met it with my own.
“Your Most Holy Saintess, I… my whole body aches, my head keeps hurting… And my children are all too busy to ever come by. It’s so shameful to say at my age, but I’m simply too lonely. It’s hard to bear.”
My throat tightened instantly, rendering me speechless.
Her small, wrinkled hand, the tears pooled at the corners of her eyes that hadn’t even fallen yet—those were proof enough of her loneliness.
A life feeling unwelcome anywhere.
I knew that pain all too well.
‘What could I possibly do for her…’
In this moment, I didn’t want to be a Saintess. I just wanted to be someone who could be there in the face of another’s sorrow.
Quietly, I opened my mouth.
“Loneliness… is like a dark night that visits us all. It seems everyone else is fine, only you are left behind. So it’s even harder to speak of, and hurts all the more.”
As I spoke, old memories of myself came flooding back.
Sitting alone in a hospital waiting room as a child.
That winter when I spent my first night without my parents.
Those countless days opening a cold, silent front door to find no one waiting.
I let out a quiet breath and smiled again.
“But when that night passes, morning always comes. And the ones who greet that morning warmer than anyone else are those who have endured that night.”
I gave the old woman’s hand a firmer squeeze.
“Callisto, too, has surely witnessed all of your nights.”
Her eyes turned moist.
And silently, she squeezed my hand right back.
At the same time, my mind raced. Maybe there was something akin to charity work within this Temple.
Perhaps I could ask Bishop Bertov or the monks to help her?
“And… would you consider spending time with the prayer groups that meet near the Temple? Sharing stories, finding neighbors who could support one another.”
It wasn’t exactly the most divine solution, but I thought if it helped her form even the smallest bonds, that would be worth it.
She dabbed at her eyes and nodded.
“Just having Your Most Holy Saintess listen to me… already makes my heart so much lighter.”
I quietly let go of her hand and gave a gentle smile.
That smile was completely sincere.
So the old woman left, offering her thanks, and stepped slowly out of the consultation room.
The moment the door shut, a silence settled over the space.
I leaned back slightly and let out a breath.
‘…Was I being too emotional?’
I was just beginning to calm myself when the door creaked open once more.
“It appears you’ve been offering quite earnest counsel.”
…Oh crap.
Frozen stiff, I lifted my head.
There, stepping into the room with arms crossed, was Inquisitor Leonardt.
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