Chapter 9
I rubbed my eyes and looked at the system again.
Still, the content didn’t change.
Even when I asked it one more time, the answer remained the same.
Not 1%, not 0.1%, but 0.01%…?
So, how much do I need to offer to reach 100% divine power…?
【Since it takes 1000 gold to increase by 1%, you need an additional 95,000 gold to achieve 100%.】
I just earned 10 gold, and now I need to earn 95,000 more?
How much is 1 gold in Korean won anyway?
【1 gold is equivalent to 100,000 won.】
So, calculating that, 95,000 gold is 9.5 billion won…
In plain terms, it means it costs 10 billion won to reach 100%.
“Ha… haha.”
Ten billion, ten billion won. I have to earn ten billion won?
“Heugh.”
The shocking amount sent a wave of heat rising from deep within me, striking my brain.
This feeling, this pain— I had definitely experienced it before during my time as a detective.
It was Hwabyeong.1
* * *
“This is driving me crazy…”
Sprawled out on the bed, I flailed my limbs as a wave of frustration washed over me.
Unable to overcome the surge of hwabyeong in the kitchen, I had grabbed the back of my neck and collapsed, prompting the alarmed Airek and Dietrich to promptly transport me to the bedroom.
They must have judged my condition to be very poor, given that all I could do was make choking sounds. They left me with instructions to rest and didn’t press me further.
Left alone, I shuddered with indignation.
“Hey, god. Te, te, ten billion, ugh, are you kidding me? How on earth am I supposed to come up with that enormous sum that I never even touched in my previous life?”
In my previous life, I struggled to save even a hundred million won, let alone ten billion. When am I ever going to save that much?
Even if I aim for just 40%, which is my goal, that’s still 3.5 billion!
“One million just to increase by 1%. Haha, hahahaha…”
Now, all I can do is laugh like a madman.
The only slight relief is that money isn’t the only solution.
Increasing the number of believers also restores divine power.
In other words, as the number of believers increases, the amount of money I need to offer decreases, so I can do both, but…
Even then, I’ll still need at least 3 billion.
“Damn it!”
I slammed the bed in frustration.
I hope this curse word reaches all the way to the sun in the sky.
* * *
After helping Ordell to her bedroom, Airek and Dietrich were left half-dazed.
With a series of shocking events occurring one after another, they were at a loss for words.
“…High Priest, what just happened?”
Dietrich asked with a blank expression.
“Not only did she dine in the dining hall, which she had never done before, but she also inspected the kitchen she never bothered to look at, suddenly exposed the chef’s embezzlement and discovered funds hidden in a secret passageway… Did the Saintess really do all that?”
The more he listed them, the more outrageous the recent events seemed to be.
For two years, all she had done in the temple was laze around, skip temple events, indulge in luxury, and cause trouble. And now she had accomplished such feats?
“But why did she suddenly collapse at the end?”
Indeed, the most surprising thing was the Saintess’s fainting.
If Airek hadn’t quickly caught her when she suddenly collapsed, she would have hit her head on the kitchen countertop and seriously injured herself.
Honestly, at first, they suspected she was pretending to faint to avoid explaining the situation…
But Ordell’s condition in Airek’s arms was quite serious.
She couldn’t speak properly and was making labored breathing sounds that were definitely not fake.
“Hmm, will she be alright?”
Dietrich almost felt sick to his stomach at the thought of worrying about the Saintess, something he had never done before, but he couldn’t help being concerned.
Dietrich glanced at the Saintess’s bedroom.
The firmly closed door was something he had always wanted to avoid, but now things had changed.
Could it be because it really seemed like the Saintess had changed?
“She just has a slight disruption in her qi and blood flow. She should be fine with some rest.”
“The Saintess can also heal herself after all.”
Thump.
At that moment, Airek suddenly stopped in his tracks.
Saying she would be alright because she had divine power.
That was something Dietrich could only say because he didn’t know that Ordell was a fake Saintess.
The divine power she possessed was pitiful, barely comparable to that of a novice priest, if not worse. Therefore, she lacked any healing ability.
There was no way she could heal herself.
‘Should I go back?’
He was the only one who knew this fact, so he was also the only one who could help her.
Just as he decided to turn back—
“High Priest.”
A holy knight appeared at the end of the corridor.
“As you ordered, we have imprisoned Kento. We searched his room but found no further suspicious evidence.”
At the holy knight’s report, Airek had no choice but to stop in his tracks.
Ordell’s health wasn’t in such a critical state that he needed to check on her immediately.
So, for now, as the High Priest, interrogating Kento, who committed embezzlement, took precedence.
After all, his accomplice might still be roaming the grand temple.
But even knowing that, why couldn’t he bring himself to move on and walk alone?
“High Priest?”
“…No, let’s go.”
Airek began walking towards the front, where the criminal awaited, rather than towards the Saintess behind him.
Yet, all his attention remained focused on what was behind him.
He decided he would go to Ordell after the interrogation was over.
“Oh, and the Captain of the Holy Order has finished his mission and is expected to arrive sometime tomorrow.”
“That’s good news. Report to me as soon as he arrives.”
At the holy knight’s report, Airek breathed a sigh of relief.
The Captain of the Holy Order, who commanded all the holy knights of the grand temple, had been on a mission outside for the past six months.
In these tumultuous times, news of his return was most welcome.
* * *
It was late at night, past midnight.
In a dark corner of the kitchen, where even moonlight couldn’t reach, someone was busily scurrying around.
The frantic movements, searching through every nook and cranny, looked like someone in a hurry to steal something.
“Damn it, damn it! If it weren’t for that wretch! I won’t let them off!”
The dark figure, who had been rummaging under the countertop, spat out a series of vicious curses.
The person whose face was briefly revealed was none other than Kento, who was supposed to be in prison.
The situation was dire.
He never imagined he would be caught so suddenly without any warning.
And to think that the one who exposed him was none other than Ordell.
He had to get out of here and report this immediately.
Kento gritted his teeth as he remembered the look on Ordell’s face as she revealed his secret in front of the High Priest.
That damn bastard. He wouldn’t let them get away with this.
“Ugh!”
Kento’s face twisted in agony as pain shot through his arm.
Enduring the High Priest’s intense interrogation had left his whole body aching.
Still, the torture itself wasn’t as bad as the threats.
It had kept him from revealing the other place where he had hidden the embezzled funds, apart from the secret passage.
But he had to find them all now and escape immediately because he didn’t know when the holy knights might search the entire kitchen
Now, while the terrifying Captain of the Holy Order had not yet returned, was his last chance.
But…
“Damn it, why won’t this come out! I can’t just leave it behind!”
The place where he hid the most embezzled money was the secret passage, but the remaining three places had about the same amount when combined.
So, he couldn’t leave any of them behind.
Since the money in the secret passage was taken, he had to take all the remaining money.
“Damn it!”
However, the money pouch he had hidden was stuck on something and wouldn’t come out no matter how hard he pulled.
In the end, Kento used his sore arm to grab the pouch firmly.
With a shout, he yanked his entire body backward, and the pouch finally came out with a pop.
“Got it! Damn thing, making me go through all this trouble!”
Leaning against the opposite drawer, Kento laughed joyfully at the heavy money pouch.
At that moment—
“Did you find the money?”
A chilling voice came from behind him.
“Aaaah! What, what the—! Damn it!”
Startled to the point where he forgot he was supposed to stay hidden, Kento screamed and jumped back.
The door to the chest of drawers opened, revealing a figure.
The face that peeked out through the long, ghostly hair was none other than…
“What’s up, Kento?”
Ordell, the former detective specializing in undercover work and the current Saintess.
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!
- Hwabyeong. Raws: 화병 (火病). Hwabyeong or Hwapyŏng is a Korean somatization disorder, a mental illness which arises when people are unable to confront their anger as a result of conditions which they perceive to be unfair. Hwabyeong is known as a Korean culture-bound syndrome.