“The meals may be meager, but that’s not something she would not have known. Why was she so shocked today?”
The day Ordell arrived at the Temple of the Sun God, she was so horrified by the state of the dining hall that she ordered that her meals be brought to her room from then on.
For two years, she had never once visited the dining hall, so it was unlikely that she had seen what others were eating.
But she couldn’t have been completely oblivious.
She was the one who had ordered the reduction of the priests’ portions to improve the quality of her own food.
And yet now she’s shocked by the situation.
“Could it be that she has not known it was this bad?”
Thinking about it, although Ordell always yelled and raged, she never once laid a hand on the children.
Maybe she has a soft spot for children.
Is the saintess really trying to change?
Is this more than just a fleeting whim, and is she actually reflecting on her actions?
Despite thinking such a thing was unlikely, the hope that she really is changing came to mind first.
“……”
Airek, too, seemed to be having the same thoughts.
Ordell, who had suddenly stopped indulging in luxury and cruelty.
Even her rejection of the position of a saint, a role that, albeit counterfeit, had served to fulfill her vanity and ego, had shocked him.
But none of that was as surprising as her reaction today.
For her to be sad upon seeing the children’s poor meals and the desolate garden.
Though he hadn’t seen her cry, the look on her face was undoubtedly a look of sorrow.
All this was ultimately due to her own extravagance.
“—Will she say she wants to leave again?”
That would be problematic.
Having a mischievous and cruel saintess was better for the temple’s survival than having none at all.
Besides, the misdeeds of a saintess or a saint were surprisingly common.
The problem was that Ordell was fake, and the Temple of the Sun God didn’t have the funds to support her extravagance.
If the saintess disappeared, other temples would undoubtedly seize the opportunity to completely destroy the Temple of the Sun God.
Each temple competed with others for the number of followers to strengthen the power of their respective gods by absorbing weaker temples. Therefore, a saintess was absolutely necessary.
“What?! Are you saying the saintess plans to leave the temple?!”
Dietrich, who happened to hear Airek’s murmur, gasped in alarm.
“No. That’ll never happen. Don’t go around saying such things.”
Airek, determined not to let Ordell go, firmly instructed Dietrich to keep quiet.
If he had intended to send her away, he wouldn’t have endured all sorts of humiliations from Count Kiris.
Thus, he was resolved to keep Ordell here by any means necessary.
* * *
“Reward acquired.”
Upon returning to my bedroom, I immediately received the quest acceptance reward.
【’Sun Crawling Out of Death’ bestows its first blessing to the user who has become a saintess. The user’s divine power will increase.】
Jackpot!
Along with the system message, a golden aura poured down from thin air, enveloping my body like a warm ray of sunlight.
I covered my mouth with my hand in awe at the Sun God’s blessing.
An increase in divine power? I wonder how much.
Maybe at least 10%?
Even that would be a significant improvement from what I have now—!
【Current Divine Power: 5%】
“……”
I bit my lip hard at the 3% blessing.
Yeah, the Sun God is pretty much broke right now.
“If he could have given more, he wouldn’t have settled for a fake like me as the real saintess.
【Your divine power has reached 5%. The skill ‘Physical Enhancement’ is now open.】
“Ah.”
I wonder if the Sun God heard me complaining?
I was already worried about how to use the divine power.
It seems that every time my divine power reaches a certain level, I’ll be able to unlock a new ability, so I need to work hard on increasing it.
But how?
“I need to receive divine power from the Sun God, so the only way to do that is to increase the number of believers…”
There are mainly two ways to increase the number of believers.
One is for a saint or saintess to demonstrate their powerful abilities to attract people.
And the other is to serve people and show the majesty of the god.
“Neither seems possible.”
It was a challenge from the start.
Having achieved only 5% of divine power, the first option was obviously impossible, and the second was also ambiguous.
The attribute of the Sun God is healing.
The priests are also specialized in healing, but the problem is that our God is lacking in many ways, preventing the manifestation of strong healing powers.
In fact, it’s so bad that even the potions made by alchemists are more effective.
As a result, people naturally started to prefer alchemists over the Sun God’s temple, leading to our further impoverishment.
“System, is there no other way to strengthen the power of the Sun God besides increasing the number of believers?”
【One more method has been identified in the search results.】
“Really?! What is it?”
【Make an offering.】
“—?”
An offering.
An offering would mean a voluntary deposit or gifts to a god—
In other words, are you saying I should give you money now—?
Wow, you transmigrated me into a penniless person, and now you’re asking for money?
I can’t even squeeze money out of those poor kids, and I’ve already spent the money from selling the blue dress.
Anyway, it’s not like I could go out of the temple, so what’s the use of having a slush fund?
I might as well devote it all to increasing my divine power.
But only up to 40%.
I have no intention of becoming the real saintess, I just want to have sufficient divine power to protect myself and to be able to unlock the divine secret.
In a world like this, what good would a real saint do when all she does is fight enemies?
So, I’ll stick to playing the role of a fake saintess to the end.
Okay, perfect. So, the first thing I need to do before making money is…”
It’s definitely tidying up the internal affairs of the temple.
Sorting out the corruption that exists even in the poorest places.
Which happens to be my specialty, having been a detective before.
* * *
I visited the dining hall again during lunchtime.
I was worried that people might have a reaction seeing my face, but it couldn’t be helped.
After all, I’d have to keep seeing these faces and get used to them slowly.
“……”
“……”
“……”
As soon as I entered the dining hall, a chilling silence greeted me, making me falter slightly, but—
I steeled myself.
“You’re here, Saintess.”
Thankfully, Airek still welcomed me.
Following his lead and taking a seat at the head table, I then looked around the hall.
Not only the priests but also the apprentices and acolytes had their heads bowed, faces pale as ghosts.
Even the maids and servants carrying the food towards us had somber expressions.
It was an uncomfortable silence indeed, but I managed to keep a straight face.
I’ll show them the completely changed me.
“Here you go.”
Airek personally placed the food in front of me.
As I had requested, it was the same single bowl of soup as everyone else.
A very red soup without a piece of meat.
“—Are you sure you’re really okay with this?”
“What’s not to be okay with? It’s the same meal as everyone else.”
I started eating right away.
Despite its appearance, it was surprisingly tasty.
Maybe not to Ortell’s refined palate, but for me, who had often starved in my previous life, it was a very satisfying meal.
“This is good.”
I could feel Airek’s relief as I continued to eat.
Unlike Airek, who didn’t make a big deal out of it, Dietrich was looking at me with shock in his eyes.
Especially when I slurped up the remaining soup straight from the bowl, his eyes nearly popped out of his head.
“Come to think of it… I’ve been treated to delicious meals all this time, but I’ve never once complimented the chef.”
As I put down the bowl while speaking, Airek looked at me, a puzzled expression on his face.
“Shall I call the chef for you?”
“No, I’ll go and take a look at the kitchen myself.”
“What?”
Whether Airek was flustered or not, I abruptly stood up from my seat and headed straight for the kitchen.
Airek and Dietrich hurriedly followed behind me.
“What should we do?”
“Should we just let her be—?”
The worried voices of the people trailed behind me.
They must have thought I was looking for an excuse to nitpick in the kitchen, but just wait.
They’ll soon be utterly surprised.
Bang!
As I flung open the kitchen door, the kitchen chef, Kent, with his unkempt brown beard, and the servants working there turned around in shock.
“What brings the Lady Saint and High Priest to this a humble place—”
“It’s nothing. I was particularly satisfied with the meal the chef prepared today, so I thought of expressing my appreciation.”
Is she—? Could she be subtly criticizing the soup, saying it was bad by using sophisticated indirect criticism?
Upon hearing my words, everyone’s true feelings were plainly visible on their faces.
SoundlessWind21’s Notes:
If there are any errors, whether it be grammatical, spelling, translation, or website-related issues, feel free to let me know. (´◡`) Anyway, thank you for reading!
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