Every question I ask seems to be a divine secret.
In the end, it’s a system that selectively tells me ugly things that I need to increase my divine power. Still, I managed to gain a few important information from it anyway.
Having laid out the facts, I smiled bitterly.
“What gains, there’s nothing really helpful for me here.”
It’s an AI system that manages dimensions and communicates with gods, but it seems to be no different from the AIs made on Earth.
It’s better than nothing, but not particularly useful.
I clicked my tongue and looked at the fifth point I had added last.
In other words, this is before the awakening of the heroine, Idella.
If I just wait a year, everything will be resolved on its own, so why did they bother bringing me here?
The useless AI won’t tell me this either, claiming it to be a divine secret.
Is there some great reason the Sun God can’t wait until Idella awakens?
Maybe that’s why he had me possess Ordell, who almost everyone besides a tiny minority believes is the real saint.
“I feel like skipping the quest and everything and just run away…”
Honestly, what do I care about the Sun God’s extinction?
Why should I obediently listen to the Sun God who turned my life into a second round without my consent?
The best happy ending would be for me to just run away now, enjoy my life being a transmigrator, and then clap and cheer from afar when the protagonists save the world.
“To do that, I guess I’ll have to go to the temple tomorrow.”
The Grand Temple of the Sun God where Ordell is posing as a fake saint.
To abandon the role of the saint, I first need to go there and speak to the Grand Temple’s high priest.
Honestly, I find it a little uncomfortable since there are people who want to kill Ordell there—
But for a comfortable and smooth life as a transmigrator, I guess it’s a small price to pay.
I can put up with a bit of minor inconvenience.
* * *
“Ha, I’m going to die…”
However, the next morning.
Before I could even make it to the temple, I was already under threat of dying.
Ruuumble!
The growling sound of my starving stomach.
“Please, save me…”
The sound of my stomach’s cries for food was so loud it drowned out even the noise of the wheels of a carriage racing down the street.
This is all because of those damned Kiris.
‘Drag that thing out immediately! Lock her in a room and don’t let her drink a single drop of water! And as soon as the sun rises tomorrow, banish her to the Grand Temple!’
Count Kiris, Ordell’s father, was not just satisfied with starving me all night, he had me dragged out of the bed as soon as the sun rose and shoved me into a carriage.
Without even a morsel of food to eat, not to mention water!
How can people be so cruel?
“Even if Ordell is not his biological daughter, isn’t this too much?”
That’s right. Ordell was not the Count’s biological daughter.
As soon as Ordell, who came from a distant relative, awakened her divine power, the Count immediately adopted her as his foster daughter.
To parade her as the fake saint of the Sun God’s Grand Temple.
The Grand Temple, due to its dire circumstances, had no choice but to accept Ordell as a saint.
But the only one who benefited from this was the Count.
He abused and brainwashed Ordell to ensure she wouldn’t betray the family.
Ordell wreaked havoc in the Grand Temple to prevent being looked down upon, but, in turn, caused the Grand Temple to become even more unstable.
Only the Count thrived on the glory of having produced a saint.
“With the child having grown up like this, it’s no wonder she’s not alright.”
Especially when the real saint, the main female lead, appeared, it was the crowning moment.
When Ordell lost even the precarious position of the fake saint, she tormented the female lead severely.
That’s why I cursed her so much as I was reading the novel…
But now that I’m in this body and have experienced the abuse firsthand, I’m starting to feel a bit sorry for her.
“I have to cut ties with the Kiris for sure.”
Those people are like a cancer. Continuing to stay with them would only hurt me.
So, as soon as I arrive at the Grand Temple, I’ll apologize for my past wrongdoings, and since I don’t think I’m worthy anyway, I’ll agree to leave quietly.
Then everything will have a happy ending—
Ruuumble!
Just then, my stomach let out a thunderous growl as if to remind me of its presence. I clutched my stomach with a pale face.
“…But first, let’s ask for just one meal.”
Right, everything we do is for the sake of living. Once I arrive, I’ll eat first…
However, it was only after another full day had passed that I arrived at the temple.
Having almost starved for two days, I glared at the knights guarding the carriage outside.
Those damn knights of the wicked Kiris family. How could they not give me a single meal or even a drop of water?
Isn’t this outright torture? At this rate, I might end my second life in vain.
“Ugh…”
As soon as the carriage arrived at the Grand Temple, I flung open the door and jumped out.
Struck by motion sickness, I had planned to just lie down on the ground, but—
Instead of the hard ground, something soft and warm wrapped around me.
It also smelled good, helping my motion sickness to gradually subside.
Ah, with this, I feel like I could live.
My survival instinct made me cling to what was enveloping me.
“…Lady Saint?”
Just then, a very sweet voice came from above my head.
Ah, it’s a person! Seeing I don’t feel the hard touch of armor, they are not one of those knights who starved me!
“My, my stomach is…”
Feeling relieved, I held on to the comforting embrace and just collapsed right there.
Ruuumble!
Along with the loud rumbling from my stomach.
* * *
Fortunately, that person did not cast me aside.
On the contrary, they were kind enough not only to escort me to what I presumed was my bedroom but also to bring me a meal right away.
Soup with meat, a fresh fruit salad, soft and nutty wheat bread, and even delicious juice.
Ah, what a splendid feast.
“Please eat slowly, Lady Saint. I worry you might get a stomachache if you eat too hastily.”
As I hurriedly took a spoonful of the soup, I flinched at the voice coming from in front of me.
I took a deep breath and slowly raised my head.
…It’s dazzling.
It was the same person I had clung to as soon as I got off the carriage. The one with the sweet voice and the unmistakable warmth.
Blonde hair that seemed to melt into the sunlight of the sun itself, underneath it green eyes that reflected the rustling foliage, and a face as gentle as the mild weather, was staring straight at me.
I could tell who it was just by looking at them.
The true ruler of this destitute Grand Temple of the Sun God, and the one who’s barely keeping this place afloat— the high priest.
And later on, one of the male leads who falls in love with the main female lead and contributes to my demise,
Airek Dert.
“Ahem.”
Perhaps because he was someone who would kill me in the future, I felt an inexplicable pressure and averted my gaze at that moment.
Then the sight of Airek’s clothes, severely wrinkled on the upper body, caught my eye.
Why is the high priest’s garment, a symbol of purity, like that? It looks as though it’s been through a scuffle as if it’s been torn apart—
Wait, could it be—
“I, I’m sorry. I wasn’t in my right mind earlier—”
For me to have carelessly touched the body of none other than the Grand Temple high priest! Even Ordell, known for her viciousness, hadn’t done such a thing.
“Ah.”
Airek, who had been looking down at his clothes, which were so wrinkled that it wouldn’t be strange if they were torn, soon looked up at me with a strange expression.
“…It’s okay. You seemed very tired, so there’s no need to apologize for such a trivial matter.”
He looked skeptical, but understandably so.
Airek Dert was one of the people who had been a victim of Ordell’s viciousness more than anyone else.
The problem was that he knew Ordell was a fake saint.
After all, he was the very person who had made a deal with Count Kiris about the fake saint.
So it was impossible for him not to have been affected by the havoc wreaked by Ordell, but now that same person was suddenly apologizing, which must have seemed suspicious.
“High Priest, I have something to tell you.”
Anyway, I have no reason to put it off, and if I’m going to say it anyway, I might as well say it as soon as possible.
“I, I am considering stepping down from the position of saint.”
Airek’s face hardened.
SoundlessWind21’s Notes:
Thank you for reading!
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