Chapter 02
“Why? Are you trying to pull another prank? Stop it. Did you see something?”
The High Priest asked again.
I quietly looked into his eyes as he waited for my answer.
I could feel it instinctively.
This wasn’t a dream. I had truly returned—to the very moment when everything began.
If that was the case, then my answer was already decided.
“Yes.”
“Really? What did you see? Tell me in detail.”
Expectation spread across the High Priest’s face. I knew he secretly had high hopes for me, since among the trainee priests, my recovery ability had always been outstanding.
When people whispered that someone as unruly as me could never be a saint, the High Priest was the only one who continued to believe in me.
But—
‘I don’t want to become a saint.’
“A handsome man.”
“…What?”
Ah. Did I blurt out nonsense without thinking? Laughter burst out among the other trainees.
“…Riana. You know what happens if you lie here, don’t you?”
He probably couldn’t even imagine I was lying. If it were discovered, I’d be expelled from the temple. And besides—it wasn’t a complete lie, was it?
“Didn’t you see something white?”
The High Priest asked again, unable to let go.
I’d already gone this far. I decided to double down.
“Ah! White—”
“Oh, yes. White?”
Hope bloomed again on his face. He was probably desperately wishing I’d say something like “white feathers” or “a white hawk.”
“…It was all pitch-black. Oh, and that handsome man had black hair too.”
“…Ahem.”
The High Priest cleared his throat, looking utterly drained, as if his last bit of hope had vanished.
“High Priest, are you feeling unwell? Your complexion looks—”
When I spoke with concern, he quietly shook his head.
“…No. Trainee priest Riana Cerus, you may step down from the platform.”
“Yes!”
I bowed properly and stepped down with confidence. Watching my bold expression, the High Priest lowered his head.
‘Perfect. Disqualified for sure.’
As I walked away, my thoughts gradually became clearer.
For some reason, I had traveled back in time.
What was certain now was that the horrifying future I had seen before had not yet happened—and unlike before, I now clearly knew who the prophesied knight who would save the world was.
Knowing the future, and knowing who the knight was… The realization sent chills down my spine.
I had always felt like something was missing. Wasn’t the reason I doubted being a saint because I could only see fragments of the future and couldn’t find the prophesied knight?
But now it was different. I have already satisfied two conditions.
Then what about my healing powers…?
I cautiously felt for the holy power within my body.
A warm, swirling energy flowed from my head down to my abdomen, sweeping through my entire body. I could feel that it was ready to heal me at any moment.
‘My healing ability is still here.’
At that moment, a truth struck me like lightning.
‘I really was a saint.’
It was ironic—I realized I was a true saint the moment I officially gave up on becoming one.
But that wasn’t the real problem.
‘Still, it seriously doesn’t suit me.’
Even now, I could say this honestly: being a saint never suited me. The fact that I—famously the trainee who broke the most rules—was a saint in the first place made no sense.
‘No wonder people said I became a saint by holding the High Priest’s weakness hostage.’
Since things had turned out this way, I decided to set a clear goal.
Calix Reinhardt. I would find him and awaken him. Then I’d hand over the responsibility of saving the world to him—and enjoy my own life.
As soon as I reached that conclusion, a smile spread across my face. Becoming an orphan at a young age, wandering the streets, then entering the temple as a priest-in-training—I had lived under strict rules for so long. It had been suffocating.
Well, not that I actually followed the rules. But everything I did was labeled a violation, which made life exhausting.
After becoming a saint, it got even worse. That lunatic Valdier obsessed over me so much that I could barely leave the imperial palace. And then I ended up in prison.
What a trash life.
I wasn’t going to live like that again.
‘First, I’m leaving. Out of the temple.’
With no regrets, my plan came together instantly. If there was one small thing I regretted—
‘I really want to curse Valdier out.’
There were countless times I’d wanted to swear at him to his face. The only reason I hadn’t was because I only knew childish insults from when I was young. I never got to use any modern, creative curses.
‘Fine. I’ll add “learning every curse in existence” to my plan.’
I might run into Valdier again someday, even without becoming a saint.
With my resolve set, I left the main hall of the temple.
***
That afternoon, the results of the aptitude test were announced.
A large parchment was hung on the wall of the central hall. The trainees crowded in front of it, searching for their names. Cheers and disappointed sighs echoed everywhere.
I found my name easily.
It was at the very bottom.
[Riana Cerus / Unqualified]
‘Perfect. Absolutely perfect.’
I covered my mouth to hide my laughter and lowered my head. Just then, Baron—the high-ranking priest who had brought me to the temple and someone like a father to me—approached.
“Riana… I don’t know how to comfort you. Still, I’ve arranged the cleanest room among the servants’ quarters for you. And I’ll make sure you can choose the kind of work you want.”
A trainee declared unqualified must either stay as a servant in the temple or leave entirely. Since most trainees had lived in the temple their whole lives, they usually chose to remain as servants.
I knew this was Baron’s way of looking out for me. But—
I calmly turned around.
Nothing could stop me now.
“I’m leaving the temple.”
“…What? Why would you leave? Do you know how dangerous the outside world is? I can’t let you go alone!”
“But unqualified trainees are allowed to leave freely!”
“That’s true, but… think again. If you leave the temple, you’ll have to give up the surname Cerus.”
Cerus meant “Servant of God,” a surname only those belonging to the temple could have.
Among the empire’s citizens, people with the surname Cerus were respected and admired. It was an honorable name.
But it meant nothing to me now.
No—if anything, I wanted to get rid of it.
Do you know how many restrictions came with that name? Valdier even passed a law later that punished anyone who sold alcohol to people with the Cerus surname.
Truly evil and selfish. He drank himself half to death every day.
Ugh. Just thinking about Valdier put me in a bad mood. I reminded myself of my goal.
‘I’ll awaken Calix. But after that, I’ll live life my way.’
That thought made me feel better.
“Just think of it as me going back to where I came from.”
“Riana…”
Baron looked like he was about to cry, but I smiled brightly. If I were leaving, I wanted to leave smiling.
I left the temple right after lunch.
Of course, there were countless attempts to stop me, mixed with gentle threats, but none of them broke my resolve. In the end, I had to swear to send a letter at least once a month before they finally let me go.
Even then, Baron insisted on escorting me in a temple carriage to my first destination, the village of Rion. Thanks to that, we arrived faster than expected.
Rion was the village closest to the Henes Gorge, which was exactly why I chose it as my first stop.
“Riana. If anything happens, or if things get hard, contact us immediately. You can always come back to the temple.”
“Okay. I’ll get off here. You should head back.”
“I’ll watch you enter the village first.”
“Just go.”
“No. I’ll watch.”
“…Fine.”
Since I couldn’t openly laugh at his teary eyes, I covered my mouth and turned away.
With every step toward the village, a list of things I wanted to do after awakening Calix began forming in my mind.
‘I’ll travel wherever my feet take me. I’ll go to a racetrack. I’ll drink tons of alcohol. I’ll eat three servings of anything delicious. If I meet bad guys, I’ll beat them up. And if Valdier’s among them, even better.’
Before I knew it, I was standing at the village entrance.
My heart started pounding.
This was the beginning of a new life.
