Chapter 17: CH 17

After that day, I spent a few days bored.

While borrowing books from the temple library, taking a walk around the temple to figure out the topography, and making plans to make money on my own.

In any case, the notification window about the sacred power no longer appeared, and it was around the time when even a precious offering of 500 franc was dwindling.

I took Daisy out into the garden to get some fresh air.

It was the road I always walked to go to the temple library, but today I wanted to go in a different direction. The weather was nice too.

“I’m getting a lot of interest from my colleagues. How envious everyone is to know that we have a saintess. But I didn’t tell you the slightest thing about the Saintess!”

Daisy was chattering while she was following me as I moved and looked around the scenery around me.

“Even the middle-class senior priests ask me about your food taste. Obviously knowing the temple rules! Of course, I cut them off. So, I want to tell you that even if there are absurd stories about the Saintess spreading around the temple, it will never come out of my mouth.”

Daisy was a trustworthy kid, I think, but she was overly timid. She was so overly concerned about things that didn’t even happen.

“Yes. I don’t think it’s your fault, so don’t think that.”

“I’m sorry. I mean…” Daisy blurted out her words. “The Saintess is a really great person, but I’m upset that people don’t know about it.”

I knew how Daisy felt.

Along with the Imperial Palace, the existence that stands at the top is the temple, the two major mountain ranges of the Empire.

A saintess was a divine and authoritative being, like the religious leader of a religious nation.

However, Ariel was unable to attend most official events as it was said that she was sick, and she wasn’t as influential and popular as the former saintesses, so a lot of comments were mentioned in the temple.

Even though the High Priest, Reihausd, who established the fake saintess, covered all of them up.

“If it’s a greatness that other people need to know, then it’s not great.”

Daisy’s eyes shook at my words.

“So I don’t care what anyone says.”

I continued, looking at her.

“That’s why Daisy, don’t worry about it either.”

At my words, she nodded her head with tears in her eyes.

She had only been under my direct subordinate for a week, and she seemed to care about my reputation.

“I’m sorry for saying something stupid. Saintess.”

I smiled softly at her words and started walking forward again.

The temple garden was really spacious and decorated with colorful flowers, and I especially liked the special area I was walking in because it was so quiet that ordinary priests could not enter.

It was when I was moving slowly, stepping on the rustling leaves of grass.

Suddenly I heard a slightly different sound in my ear.

As I turned my gaze to the floor, something rustled once more. It was then that I sensed that there was something in the bush and leaned toward it.

“Ah, Saintess…”

As I opened the bushes, Daisy let out a short sigh. There, a blue bird was wriggling helplessly. Its wing that seemed to be broken was pitiful.

It tried to move, yet its wings were drooping again.

“It’s Blue Wing. It’s a rare bird to see, but it’s too bad.”

Seeing the bird that seemed to be out of breath at any moment, I unwittingly stretched out my hands and put the bird on the palm of my hand and stood up.

“Saintess. It might be dirty.”

I could hear Daisy’s voice, but my eyes were on the bird.

I remembered the little macaw I had been raising until I died in my last life.

‘Have you met another owner and lived well?’

The bird on the hand tried to flap its wings again, but it seemed not easy, just wriggling.

‘Poor thing.’

As I was thinking and feeling compassion for the bird, I suddenly began to be enveloped in a cloud of light around my hand.

I opened my eyes wide as I felt a gentle warmth in my hands as if I was warming up on a stove.

I felt a tickling sensation in my palm. And then I couldn’t believe my eyes.

“…Saintess!”

Daisy’s startled voice was heard.

The bird, which had been enveloped in the light above my hand, spread its crouched wings after a moment.

“…!”

I opened my eyes wide.

Obviously, the wings that had been broken before were attached, and the messy feathers were flowing to the point of luster.

Its eyes, when the light of life was extinguished, lit up as if they had never done so.

Chirp, chirp.

The bird looked at me with black eyes and was chirping.

Perhaps it was an illusion, as if it was thanking me.

I stared blankly at the bird, then raised my palm up further.

The bird flapped its wings a couple of times and flew away. The bird flew into the air and flew back to the bushes after two or three laps around me.

I looked in the direction the bird had disappeared for a while and then saw my empty hand. The weight of the bird was still vivid.

‘Maybe the light from my hand… restore the bird?’

Then a window popped up.

[Do you want to receive a reward for the achievement of using Sacred Power for the first time?

(Yes/No)]

I first dimmed the window because I knew I didn’t have to choose right away. Then I turned back at the noise.

“Oh my gosh! Saintess!”

Daisy’s eyes were sparkling with her ecstatic look that couldn’t be more excited.

“The one I just saw was holy power, wasn’t it? Hetus! Oh my gosh!”

First, I nodded my head with a calm face.

To be more precise, it was a sacred power, not a holy power, but there is no need to distinguish it that difficult.

“Really… It’s a huge honor. To see the Saintess use her holy power right in front of my eyes!”

She was so moved that tears welled up in her eyes.

“It’s just a bird.”

Of course, my calm answer wasn’t as loud as my mind and Daisy.

It was really the divine power that was unsealed to me.

The power that only the First Saintess had… being unsealed to me, who possessed a fake saintess’ body.

Besides, the immense vitality I felt in my hands was truly astonishing.

It felt strange to save a dying bird with no hope.

“Many priests heal the sick, but it is difficult to completely heal the sick even by memorizing prayers equivalent to a sheet of paper. Indeed, the Saintess’ holy power is different!”

What I saw in the book was the same as what Daisy was saying now.

One of the main functions of a priest was to treat patients.

However, unlike the Saintesss who received the protection of many Gods, the priests each enshrined one God, and the divine powers differed according to the attributes of the Gods or the personal abilities of the priests.

Even a priest with good power had to pray for more than five minutes to heal a sick person with a broken leg.

“But without any prayer, how can the Saintess!”

In fact, the holy power is only stronger in range and output than the divine power, but prayer was essential to memorize. This is because it’s a power that can only be used by memorizing prayer and asking for God’s permission.

“Hey, Daisy.”

“It was a dying bird. Oh my gosh, it’s flying and not here right now. I’m talking about the Blue Wing.”

I put my hand on her shoulder to calm the excited Daisy. So, I seemed to know roughly how great the sacred power was.

Unlike the divine power or holy power that requires prayer, it is the power of God that is exerted just by thinking about it.

Maybe it will be overturned  when people find out that I have such power.

Sacred power is a special ability that was only expressed in the First Saintess.

“You must never tell anyone what you just saw.”

“What I just saw… What I just saw is a secret?”

Daisy, who had been so excited as if she was flying like a bird earlier, opened her eyes wide.

“Yes. Never.”

I stared at her with a calm, subdued gaze.

My mind was confused, but one thing was clear.

I’m not the main character of this novel, and if they knew I could use sacred power, the original story would be completely overturned.

I possessed a fake saintess who played the role of a villain, but the reason I was relieved was that I knew the content and ending of the original.

However, if this overturned the original story, I would have to carve out my destiny in a world where I really don’t know how it will go.

The love of the Gods and excessive overspecs I gained as a fake saintess are good.

But that doesn’t mean I want to become a real saintess.

Because my goal is to hand over this position to the real female lead and to live a normal and happy life.

“I understand. Saintess.”

Daisy looked at me with shaky eyes and lowered her head.

“If the Saintess orders it, I will never say it.”

Although she was a little bubbly, she still had enough patience and ability to enter the Temple of Elium, so she didn’t ask for a reason.

After a while I started walking again as if nothing had happened.

“Daisy, would you like to visit the rose garden?”

She answered my question.

“Yes, I heard they planted a new kind of rose this time.”

Like nothing had happened.