Chapter 28
“Sir Daekyung, which prayer room has the fewest people?”
Sir Daekyung was Danny Thefield, a reliable knight assigned by the boss. Mr. Belt was with him. Both were in disguise, but their tall stature and handsome faces couldn’t be hidden, and a few people sneaked glances at them.
“Room number 5.”
“You could just walk around, so why insist on going to a prayer room, Lady Tiara?”
That was the alias Mr. Belt had arbitrarily given me.
Tiara… I liked it.
“You said it’s a place where the gods pay more attention to the prayers of the faithful than elsewhere.”
“Divine power doesn’t manifest all at once.”
“But I’m special.”
He replied dismissively.
We entered Prayer Room 5, sat in an empty chair, clasped our hands, and pretended to pray.
No, I did pray.
Desperately!
“Please make my divine power manifest…! Oh, not that. I mean, I have divine power, and you don’t need to tell me what it is, just please let it manifest.”
So that our boss can escape the curse sooner.
I knew very well that this one prayer wouldn’t be granted. Even a lifetime of prayer rarely let someone hear the voice of the gods. It happened maybe once in a hundred years.
After about an hour of pretending to pray with nothing happening, we decided to walk along the promenade. The Grand Temple was crowded, so we blended in naturally to avoid attracting attention.
“Is there anyone with more divine power than the Saintess?”
“No one surpasses the Saintess in purification ability, but there are priests with remarkable innate divine power.”
“Oh, really?”
“Apparently, their divine power far exceeds that of the standard for a High Priest, and they became the youngest High Priest as well.”
Remarkable? That’s me.
“Of course, Lady Tiara, that wouldn’t include you.”
“Bel… no, Mr. Belt tends to underestimate me.”
“I just exist.”
He only seemed focused on the boss.
“The youngest High Priest… that’s impressive. Must have been popular.”
“Even now, he is.”
“So besides His Holiness the Pope and the Saintess, there’s another person beloved by the gods?”
“He’s still referred to that way.”
“…Was that from a few years ago?”
I was familiar with the story.
“There’s no need to say ‘a few years ago.’ It was three years ago.”
“…Is his name Isad Auren?”
“Yes. Quite famous.”
When Isad Auren appeared, people claimed a prodigy had been born, and it was all anyone talked about. I honestly didn’t know the details. Even if I had read the newspapers, I wasn’t particularly interested in the temple. Everyone praised heroes and discovered genius priests, but I was busy worrying about how to survive the next day.
“Then maybe he could sense my hidden divine power?”
I whispered to him.
Mr. Belt and Sir Danny only knew I had a little divine power. Since the boss told them I wanted to awaken it but didn’t want to enter the temple, they helped without questioning me further.
“It’s possible, but honestly, it doesn’t compare to the Saintess. Besides, the High Priest has been away for over two years helping villages affected by Serael’s demon. So don’t worry. And Danny.”
“Huh? Ah, I’m hungry.”
Sir Danny muttered nonsense.
Mr. Belt calmly ignored him, as usual.
“If you sense any divine power from Lady Tiara, let me know immediately.”
Sir Danny nodded uncertainly. But as a man assigned to closely guard the boss, he would do his job properly. That’s probably why the boss personally assigned these two to me for such an important task.
“High Priest Isad! When did you return?”
“Are you well?”
“It’s wonderful to see you back, High Priest!”
I turned my eyes to the bustling area and saw a slender man with pale skin, sky-blue hair, and matching eyes. His priestly robes were impeccable, and that was Isad Auren.
A character who didn’t appear in the novel.
“He’s popular.”
“After two years of overworking for the people, naturally. And isn’t he handsome?”
“The boss is more handsome.”
“Yes, indeed. Remarkable.”
I ignored Mr. Belt, who was impressed while imagining the boss’s appearance.
“You said there’d be no meeting with the High Priest.”
“I heard he would arrive at the temple around evening… maybe the schedule changed.”
Mr. Belt couldn’t possibly know about the sudden change. The High Priest’s schedule could not be revealed carelessly.
As more people gathered around High Priest Isad, Sir Danny protected my back.
“Shall we leave for today?”
Nothing gained…
I still had to eat with the boss.
If my divine power manifested here among the crowd, escaping would be impossible. As I turned away from the crowd, a soft voice brushed against my ear.
“Already leaving?”
I instinctively stopped and turned.
My eyes met High Priest Isad’s exactly. It was a gaze precise enough that anyone could tell he was speaking to me.
“May the grace of the gods be with you.”
“And with you. If you’re not busy, shall we walk nearby?”
“It’s an honor, but I cannot interfere with the time the High Priest has come to spend with the faithful. I’ll just gratefully accept the thought.”
This is exactly when divine power tends to manifest. If it did in front of the High Priest, I’d be caught for sure.
I had to leave quickly, anxious. Meeting someone of High Priest rank or higher wasn’t part of my plan, especially one with as much divine power as Isad.
“What a shame… then please come at dawn next time.”
Who sets a meeting at dawn?
I couldn’t easily refuse someone so intent on meeting me. He was a very significant man, so much so that if I had read this in a novel, I’d comment, “He’s definitely not an extra. Something’s up.”
Is he interested in me?
I have axe-phobia, and this is bad.
“Come at any dawn.”
He left without mentioning the location.
“Danny.”
Mr. Belt called, and Sir Danny shook his head.
It confirmed that my divine power hadn’t manifested, and naturally, the High Priest hadn’t sensed it either.
“I’m the type people like.”
“I’m having lunch with the boss today.”
“Me too.”
These people were pros at ignoring things…
Before leaving the temple, I suddenly stopped, noticing something. I looked at the large mountain behind the Grand Temple, not hidden even by the massive building, and asked:
“That’s where Serael’s demon is sealed, right?”
He turned his gaze toward the direction I indicated and nodded.
“Yes. From the outside it looks like a dense forest, but inside is a surprisingly large clearing with a single sword planted there.”
“Oh, the sword of the Four Great Saintesses?”
“Yes. It turned out that the sword of the Fourth Saintess was cracked, so she restored it, and our boss and His Highness the Crown Prince prevented Serael’s demon from breaking the seal. The damage was extensive, but it’s a miracle that the demon’s labyrinth didn’t open.”
I had been in the village then, so I didn’t know the capital’s situation well. But I saw the sky, once filled with dark clouds, brighten suddenly, and realized the seal had succeeded.
Probably everyone on the continent did too.
“Have you ever seen the sword in person?”
“During the final battle, only the boss, Joshua, the Saintess, and His Highness the Crown Prince could approach it. I haven’t seen it personally, but the sacred texts treat the story as important, with illustrations even.”
I was curious to see it with my own eyes, but unfortunately, only the Pope, the Emperor and Empress, and the three heroes who sealed Serael’s demon could enter.
Even Joshua, being a demon, couldn’t approach it alone.
