Chapter 9
I rubbed my eyes and looked at the system again.
But the content hadn’t changed.
Even when I asked one more time, the answer remained the same.
Not 1%, not even 0.1%, but 0.01%…?
Wait, then how much would I have to offer to reach 100% divine power?
[It takes 1,000 gold to raise it by 1%. Therefore, you will need 95,000 more gold to reach 100%.]
I just earned 10 gold, and now you want me to earn 95,000 more?
How much is 1 gold in Korean won anyway?
[1 gold equals 100,000 won.]
So if I do the math, 95,000 gold is… 9.5 billion won.
To be blunt, that means I need 10 billion won to reach 100%.
“Haha… Ha.”
Ten billion. Ten freaking billion. I need to earn that much?
“Huff…”
The sheer shock of the number sent a wave of heat surging up from deep inside my body and slammed into my brain.
This sensation, this pain… I definitely felt this before when I was a detective.
It was a stress-induced illness.
“I’m going to lose it…”
Sprawled out on the bed, I flailed my limbs in frustration.
Unable to handle the sudden surge of stress, I had collapsed, clutching the back of my neck in the kitchen. Startled, Airik and Dietrich rushed me to my bedroom.
Seeing me groaning incoherently—“Ugh, uuugh!”—they must’ve realized I was in no condition to explain anything. They just told me to rest and left.
Now alone, I trembled with indignation.
“Hey, god or whatever! Ten, ten billion—ugh, uuuugh! Are you kidding me?! How the hell am I supposed to get that kind of money?! I didn’t even touch that much in my past life!”
In my previous life, even saving up a single billion was a pipe dream. How was I supposed to get ten?
Even if I set a more modest goal—just reaching 40%—that would still cost me 3.5 billion won!
“One billion for a measly 1% increase. Hahaha… hahahahaha…”
Now I could only let out hollow laughter like someone who had gone mad.
The only silver lining was that money wasn’t the only solution.
If the number of believers increased, the god’s power would recover as well.
In other words, the more believers I gathered, the less money I’d have to offer. So I just needed to do both.
Still, I’d need at least three billion won.
“Fuck!”
I slammed my fists on the bed in frustration.
May this curse reach even the sun in the sky.
After escorting Ordel to her room, Airik and Dietrich were left in a daze.
Too many shocking events had happened in a row, and they didn’t even know what to say.
“…High Priest. What just happened in there?”
Dietrich asked, still looking blank.
“She didn’t just eat in the dining hall—she even inspected the kitchen she never looked at before, exposed the chef’s embezzlement, and even discovered hidden funds in a secret passage… Are you sure that was really the Saint who did all that?”
Listing it all out just made it sound more unbelievable.
For two years, all she had done in the temple was laze around, skip events, indulge in luxury, and behave outrageously. And now she was pulling off these kinds of achievements?
“But why did she suddenly collapse at the end?”
Indeed, the most surprising part had been the Saint’s sudden fainting.
If Airik hadn’t caught her quickly, she would have slammed her head into the kitchen counter.
Honestly, at first they thought maybe she was faking it to avoid answering questions…
But in Airik’s arms, Ordel’s condition had been genuinely alarming.
She couldn’t speak properly, only gasping as if suffocating—definitely not an act.
“Ahem… Will she be alright?”
Feeling concerned for the Saint, something he’d never done before, made his skin crawl. But he couldn’t help it—he was truly worried.
Dietrich glanced toward her bedroom.
The firmly shut door had always been something he wanted to avoid, yet now things had changed.
Maybe because she really had changed.
“Her energy’s just a bit twisted. There’s no major issue, so with some rest, she should recover.”
“Well, the Saint can heal herself.”
Pause.
Suddenly, Airik stopped walking.
“She can heal herself with divine power,” Dietrich had said.
But that was only because he didn’t know the truth—that Ordel was a fake Saint.
Her divine power was pitiful, barely comparable to a trainee priest. She didn’t even have healing abilities.
There was no way she could heal herself.
Should I go back?
He was the only one who knew the truth. Which meant he was the only one who could help her.
Just as he turned around with resolve…
“High Priest.”
A Holy Knight appeared at the end of the hallway.
“As you ordered, Kento has been locked in the prison. We searched his room, but didn’t find anything else suspicious.”
At the report, Airik had no choice but to stop again.
Ordel’s health wasn’t bad enough for him to rush over right now.
What he needed to prioritize as High Priest was interrogating Kento, who had committed embezzlement.
There could still be accomplices roaming around the temple.
So why was it so hard to move his feet, even knowing all that?
“High Priest?”
“…No, let’s go.”
Airik began walking again—not toward the Saint behind him, but toward the criminal waiting ahead.
Yet all his nerves were still focused behind him.
He’d have to visit Ordel once the interrogation was done.
“Oh, and the Paladin Commander is scheduled to return tomorrow after completing his mission.”
“Good. Report to me as soon as he arrives.”
Airik let out a sigh of relief.
The Paladin Commander—the head of all Holy Knights in the Grand Temple—had been away on assignment for the past six months.
His return during these chaotic times was very welcome news.
It was past midnight.
The kitchen was dark, not even touched by moonlight. In one shadowy corner, someone moved frantically.
Their hurried rummaging made it look like they were trying to steal something.
“Damn it, damn it! If not for that bitch! I swear I won’t let this go!”
The dark figure muttered threats as he searched beneath the kitchen counter.
His face briefly came into view—it was none other than Kento, who should have been locked up in prison.
Things were going terribly.
He never expected to be caught off guard like this without warning.
And to be reported by Ordel, of all people?
He had to escape this place and inform his contact.
Kento clenched his teeth, picturing Ordel’s face as she exposed his secret to the High Priest.
That damn woman. He would never let her go unpunished.
“Urgh!”
Suddenly, pain flared in his arm, making him grimace.
His whole body ached from enduring the High Priest’s brutal interrogation.
Still, compared to the threats, the actual torture hadn’t been that bad.
Thanks to that, he hadn’t been forced to reveal the other places where he had hidden funds outside the secret passage.
But who knew when the Holy Knights might search the entire kitchen? He had to gather everything and escape now.
This was his last chance—before the terrifying Paladin Commander returned.
But then…
“Damn it! Why won’t this come out? I can’t leave it behind!”
His biggest stash had been in the secret passage, but the money in the other three spots was almost as much in total.
He couldn’t afford to leave any of it.
Now that the secret stash had been taken, he had to get all the rest.
“Shit!”
But the money pouch he had hidden seemed stuck on something and wouldn’t budge no matter how hard he pulled.
He finally used his injured arm and grabbed it with all his strength.
With a shout, he pulled with his entire body—and at last, the pouch came free.
“Finally! Damn thing, making me work so hard!”
Kento leaned against a drawer across from the counter and grinned at the heavy pouch.
At that moment—
“Did you find the money?”
A chilling voice came from behind him.
“Whaaaaaah! Wh-What the hell?! Are you insane?!”
Startled beyond reason, Kento screamed and stumbled backward, completely forgetting he wasn’t supposed to get caught.
As the drawer door opened, someone stepped out.
Hair hanging down like a ghost, a familiar face emerged from the shadows.
“Hello, Kento.”
It was Ordel—former detective, now the Saint—specialized in stakeouts.
