WBDM 10

Chapter 10

I slowly crawled out of the cupboard I had been hiding in.

Back when I was a detective with a proudly muscular body, hiding in tight spaces used to make my whole body ache. But now, with Ordel’s slender frame, it actually felt quite cozy.

With divine power enhancing my body, I don’t even need to bulk up like in my old detective days.

“You—you—you! What the hell! What are you doing here?!”

As I stepped out and dusted off my clothes, Kento pointed at me, shrieking.

I was tempted to break that finger of his.

“You told me to come to the kitchen at night, didn’t you? I’m someone who takes promises very seriously, so I came. It’s just unfortunate that you got locked up and couldn’t make it, so I thought I’d take a look around myself.”

“Y-You little—!”

“But then, you—who should still be locked up—showed up, so I stuck around to see what the hell you were doing.”

Of course, that was a lie.

I already knew this bastard would escape prison and sneak in here in the middle of the night.

In the original story, Kento had multiple stashes of money.

I was lying in wait to catch him red-handed.

“And what a delightful sight I stumbled upon. I must be really lucky today.”

“You’re unlucky for stupidly showing yourself in front of me!”

Kento, having calmed his startled heart, jumped up.

Before I knew it, he had a sharp dagger in hand.

“I’ve been itching to deal with you! Do you even know who I am?! Huh?!”

“Of course. You’re a criminal who got caught embezzling and will be tortured by the High Priest tomorrow. And now that you’ve escaped from prison, the torture will be even worse. Just imagining it gives me chills.”

“Torture, my ass! You’re a wimp who’s never held a knife outside of dinner! You think I’d be afraid of someone like you?!”

…Wow. Ignorance really is bravery.

Who is Iric again?

Oh right—he’s one of the male leads in this world.

While he doesn’t end up as the main heroine’s final partner, he’s still a fan-favorite male lead.

And in romance-fantasy novels, male leads will do anything for the heroine.

There’s no way someone like Iric is weak.

In the original story, he was a master torturer who couldn’t stand watching Ordel torment the heroine and ended up helping to kill her.

This guy is screwed.

“Don’t talk nonsense! Do you know who planted me here?! It was Count Kiris! And you, a fake saintess, dare interfere with the Count’s plans?!”

That name was painfully familiar, and I smirked crookedly.

Of course. Kento was one of the spies Count Kiris had secretly planted in the temple to frame Ordel as a fake saintess.

The one who helped him escape must be another spy.

The temple’s biggest expenditures were my “dignity maintenance fees”—aka luxury spending—and the kitchen’s food costs.

Kento always justified high food costs by saying it was for offering quality meals to the saintess.

If poor-quality food was served, Ordel would erupt in rage, and even Iric couldn’t argue against that.

But what he didn’t know was…

Kento had been secretly embezzling funds under that pretense all along.

And most of that embezzled money ended up in Count Kiris’s hands.

That was the Count’s plan all along for placing Kento as a spy.

The problem was, Ordel also occasionally helped embezzle by pretending to indulge in luxury—so that Iric wouldn’t suspect anything.

In other words, I was cleaning up the crap Ordel had left behind.

“If you know what’s good for you, kneel in front of me right now. If you resist even a little, I’ll report everything you did tonight to the Count in detail!”

Kento aimed his dagger at me.

From the gleeful look on his face, he was clearly imagining me—an aristocrat and saintess—kneeling before him in disgrace…

But you’ve picked the wrong person, pal.

“Oh my, so you’re someone sent by Count Kiris? I didn’t know that.”

“Exactly, so kneel righ—”

“That means you’re a spy, right? Not a follower of the Sun God? You don’t believe in our god, do you?”

“…What?”

Kento looked dumbfounded at my sudden questions.

But this was an important point.

If he wasn’t a follower, then expelling him wouldn’t decrease the temple’s follower count—a political win!

“If you were a follower, I would’ve used all my power to guide you to repentance. But if not, there’s no need for that effort.”

And what does that mean?

It’s time for divine punishment—for daring to covet the Sun God’s offerings.

【Activating skill: Body Enhancement】

“What nonsense are you—!”

The key to any fight: strike first!

I landed my enhanced fist squarely on his pathetic face.

WHACK!

With a satisfying impact, Kento’s already-low nose bridge collapsed completely.

This was divine punishment, delivered in the name of the saintess and agent of God!

“Ugh, gah! Y-You bastard!”

“Huh. Was the punishment too weak? You’re not even down.”

He passed out earlier just from a forehead flick.

Now he’s staggering but still gripping that dagger.

His nose is crushed—his brain must’ve shaken too.

“Why don’t you just stay down? You’re going to die like that.”

Back when I was a detective, I’d seen someone act tough like that—only to end up brain-dead.

But even with my sincere warning, Kento didn’t stop.

“F-Fine, I’ll j-just take your d-damned h-head to the C-Count! He’ll f-forgive me then!”

Even his tongue was slurring. Dangerous.

Yet somehow, he managed to aim and swing the dagger at me.

I was about to dodge, wondering if my enhanced body could block a dagger—

“—Huh?”

Suddenly, something yanked me back with force.

Before I could even register what happened, CLANG! The dagger Kento had just been swinging flew into the air.

“AAAGH!”

Maybe from the impact, Kento’s wrist bent grotesquely in the wrong direction.

“Are you alright?”

A deep voice laced with a cool fragrance fell from above.

I hadn’t even sensed his presence until he pulled me back.

Startled, I turned my head quickly.

The first thing I saw—even in the dim moonlight of the kitchen—was silver hair shimmering brightly.

Beneath his short bangs, icy blue eyes like a cold winter sea stared down at me.

“Gasp.”

Dear lord. He’s stunning even at night.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Uh…”

“Are you injured?”

His beauty left me speechless.

Maybe misinterpreting that, the man turned a cold glare toward Kento.

At that moment, a heavy, indescribable pressure filled the air and pressed down on me.

It wasn’t anything you’d feel on Earth—an intangible force.

It was killing intent—his innate ability.

“To threaten an unarmed woman with a blade in a sacred temple… Do you have a death wish?”

Terrifying.

I thought I was past feeling fear after working in major crimes for so long…

But this was unbearable.

Just as my legs gave out from terror—

【AI system has detected excessive fear in the user.】

【Boosting user’s mental resilience for stable function.】

“…?”

As the message popped up, my body instantly calmed.

Even better than a tranquilizer.

Not bad, system. Not bad at all.

“I’m fine. Really. Thank you so much for saving me.”

I sighed in relief and stepped away from his chest.

Now that my dazed mind had cleared, I could recognize who he was.

A man even more handsome than the High Priest Iric, one of the male lead candidates.

If the High Priest was the heroine’s shield, then this man was the sword that cut down her enemies without hesitation.

The second male lead candidate—and captain of the temple’s paladin order.

It had to be Seth Noel.

But wait… Wasn’t he supposed to be away on assignment right now?

And why did he have to show up now, of all times?

I wanted to handle this alone—this complicates things.

“Are you sure you’re alright?”

As the beautiful man Seth asked worriedly, I gave a vague nod and glanced at Kento.

He, too, looked just as shocked as I was by Seth’s sudden appearance.

Well, that made sense. The one who should fear the paladin captain wasn’t me—but the escaped convict.

In that case, no helping it.

The situation’s already happened—may as well make the most of it.

“Captain, that man was imprisoned earlier today for embezzling temple funds! And now he’s escaped!”

First things first: I tattled.