Chapter 13
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I'll purchase divine power with money.
Chapter 13
7 a.m. Early morning when the people of the Temple of the Sun God were just beginning to stir.
Through the unkempt, desolate Garden, something like a long coil of pink thread fluttered and swayed in the breeze.
"Huff, huff...!"
The ragged breathing that accompanied it made the already eerie Garden feel even more unsettling.
"Damn, cursed, paper body!"
At the vicious string of curses that followed, Airic Dert and Ses exchanged sidelong glances as they stepped into the Garden.
Without hesitation, they pushed through the overgrown, tangled vegetation toward the source of the harsh breathing.
"Holy Maiden...?"
On a bench in the corner of the Garden lay Ordel Kiris, drenched in sweat and half-unconscious.
The Holy Maiden who had mysteriously vanished after clearing her Bedroom had, remarkably, been exercising since the early dawn.
* * *
For me as a detective, exercise was as natural as breathing.
To apprehend violent criminals, I had to master combat techniques far beyond basic self-defense.
But this body I've inhabited—what is it?
Unlike my previous life's taut, muscular frame, this body had virtually no muscle definition whatsoever!
But I didn't know then. The truly shocking discovery lay elsewhere.
"Huff, gasp, this, pathetic body...."
The moment I woke at 6 a.m. to build my basic fitness and stepped outside to begin exercising, I wanted to collapse right there.
Heavens, I'd barely walked a little—not even run—and already the world was spinning.
I should have realized when my entire skeleton seemed to creak and pop out of alignment the instant I began stretching.
How on earth did the original Ordel Kiris manage to commit all those atrocities with such a pathetic body?
"Are you alright...?"
Unable to overcome the dizziness, I finally collapsed onto the bench, and Airic Dert handed me cold water.
"Thank you.... If not for you two, I might have died during exercise."
To think I nearly died just from walking.
Even if this is a forced second life, I didn't want to die so pathetically.
"What kind of exercise were you doing exactly...."
Don't ask. I couldn't admit even if my lips were torn that I became a critical patient from just a little walking.
"Hmm. I didn't expect you to arrive so quickly. I apologize for making you come all this way."
"Not at all. It is only right that we come wherever the Holy Maiden is."
Ses, who had been watching me with worried eyes, immediately objected to my words.
Regardless of the Holy Maiden's true nature, he was a devoted Holy Knight who obeyed unconditionally simply because she held that title.
Because of such loyalty, even Airic Dert couldn't tell him that I was a false Holy Maiden.
That's why later, when the Female Protagonist appeared and Ordel Kiris's true identity was revealed, Ses raged at Airic Dert.
It was also Ses who tried to protect the original Ordel Kiris until the very end.
When Ordel Kiris ultimately betrayed the Sun God, he too turned his back and eventually drove his blade into her.
That man who had pitied Ordel Kiris as a human, confronted with her apostasy, wielded his sword in utter despair—it was truly the greatest scene in the story.
...And yet, of all people, I had to possess the very body of Ordel Kiris destined to receive that blade.
I need to push forward and destroy the original story.
"From now on, before breakfast, I plan to exercise from 6 to 7 in the morning, so please keep that in mind."
"Yes, understood. Then I'll arrange an escort for that time——."
"It's just light exercise, so why would I need an escort? Besides, we don't have any visitors at the Temple of the Sun God anyway. What danger could there possibly be?"
I spoke without much thought, but Airic's face fell.
I felt a bit sorry for the High Priest, who was particularly sensitive about the Temple's waning influence, but my words weren't wrong.
With visitors drying up completely, even the Sun God's very existence was gradually fading from people's memories.
But don't worry. I'll make this temple absolutely bustling with activity soon enough.
"There are no dangers besides spies, so let's focus on that rather than my escort. How are things progressing?"
"We've detained and begun investigating everyone currently in the Temple. The Holy Knights are being handled by the Vice Commander, and the priests by Dietrich Warren."
Ah, those two were the people that Ses and Airic trusted most in this Temple, respectively.
I could trust them too.
"From interrogating Kento, we've managed to extract several names, but we can't be certain, so we're planning cross-verification."
I'd noticed the smell of blood wafting around, and it turned out that Airic, the story's official greatest torturer, had personally conducted the interrogation.
Kento, whom the High Priest had dismissed as unable to properly wield even a single sword, must have experienced Airic's formidable torture firsthand.
Ugh, even I'm getting chills.
"We'll conduct a thorough investigation and root out all the spies, so you needn't worry, Holy Maiden."
Ses, standing beside me, added his agreement in a resolute voice.
His pale blue eyes gleamed with murderous intent.
The sight of him determined to eliminate them all was truly reassuring. How delightful.
"I only trust the Holy Knight Commander. Please do your best. High Priest, would you speak with me for a moment?"
Once Ses finished his business, he left after warning me not to exercise too strenuously.
Vigorous exercise? It was embarrassing to hear such concern when all I'd done was stretching and walking.
"The Holy Knight Commander still doesn't know that I'm a fake Holy Maiden, does he?"
Once Ses was completely out of sight, I asked Airic.
For some reason, Airic furrowed his brow.
"That is...."
"He may learn the truth someday, but I hope it won't be now."
"Pardon?"
I looked directly at Airic.
And I spoke with certainty.
"I mentioned before that I wanted to leave the Temple of the Sun God. I'm canceling that. I'm truly sorry for changing my mind so suddenly."
Worried that Airic might say no, that I could just leave, I quickly added more.
"Instead, from now on, I intend to faithfully perform the duties of a Holy Maiden that I've been refusing. I will maintain my dignity as a Holy Maiden and won't shirk my responsibilities."
I lowered my eyes sorrowfully.
"I couldn't attach myself to this place because I thought my family had abandoned me. Because of that, I even did things I shouldn't have and tried to flee without taking responsibility. I sincerely apologize."
"...."
"From now on, I will serve diligently as a Holy Maiden to brighten the future of the Temple of the Sun God. Though I'm fake and lack divine power... I will still do my best."
I had become a true Holy Maiden after receiving the Sun God's Quest, but I had no intention of revealing that.
If I told Airic that I could only possess Holy Maiden-level divine power by dedicating blood money to the god, would he even believe me?
A mad fake saint now sells even the gods themselves! I'm just grateful the High Priest hasn't issued an execution order in his name.
"The House of Kiris no longer matters to me. Once I learned the filthy truth behind Count Kiris, whom I admired so deeply, I couldn't understand why I ever craved his affection."
Yes, honestly, I don't understand it either.
Why did the original Ordel crave the affection of Count Kiris and his family, who treated her as nothing but a tool?
If she had devoted her heart to the Temple of the Sun God instead, even a fake saint could have found genuine happiness.
"Given what I've done so far, I understand it will be difficult to trust me immediately. So please, give me a chance—a chance to serve the Temple of the Sun God and to atone to everyone who suffered because of me."
"...."
"At the very least, I will ensure that no one in this Temple of the Sun God goes hungry again."
I still cannot forget it.
The children's meals—nothing but thin broth without a single piece of substance, and one hard piece of bread.
And the one responsible for that suffering was me.
Even though I didn't do it directly, the guilt weighed on me simply by inhabiting this body.
So regardless of everything else, I wanted to resolve this one thing for certain.
"Of course, if a true saint appears later, I won't be greedy and will step down immediately, so please don't worry."
I'm forced to hold this position now, but I harbor no ambitions whatsoever. Don't worry.
"...Your Holiness."
Airic Dert, who had been silent for some time, finally spoke.
I watched his lips anxiously, my eyes fixed on the hand gripping his sword hilt.
"Your Holiness holds the highest position in this Temple of the Sun God. You need not seek my permission. Do whatever you wish."
I never expected such kind words to come from him.
"From the moment you set foot in this Temple of the Sun God as its 'saint,' you became a saint. So please, do not attach the word 'fake' to yourself."
"...."
"I will bear all responsibility for bringing you here, so do everything you desire."
Airic Dert placed his hand over his left chest and slowly bowed his waist.
Faced with this gesture of reverence and submission, I found myself speechless.
How could he say such things when Ordel had treated me with such contempt, such disdain, such humiliation all this time?
I felt ashamed of my own assumption that he would never trust me.
"...I will truly do my very best."
I had always been filled with resentment toward this second life that began by force, but perhaps this too might not be so bad.
Perhaps I could even grow to care for it a little.
* * *
After that, Ses and Airic Dert practically turned the Temple of the Sun God upside down.
The way Kento, unable to withstand torture, confessed and they wrung out the spies like grain through a threshing machine was something else entirely.
In the end, a total of seven spies were discovered.
Including Kento, eight spies had been found.
What's more, not only was there a Holy Knight among them, but it was revealed that he was the very mastermind who orchestrated Kento's prison break.
"I am truly sorry. I will accept this punishment with grace."
Because of this, Ses, who dropped to his knees the moment we faced each other in the Reception Room, wore an expression of deep remorse.
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