Chapter 33: CH 33

Reihausd, who was alone in the Grand Sanctuary and prayed while looking at the statue, felt a rush of people approaching behind his back. But he was just engrossed again, paying attention to the prayer.

As he slowly turned around after a while, he saw Dwayne’s face, kneeling on one of his knees and waiting.

Dwayne’s face was stiffer than usual.

He asked him with cool eyes.

“What’s going on?”

Reihausd was such a beautiful man that even a man like him would be mesmerized. But when he met his eyes, he felt a strong sensation that made him shiver.

Dwayne opened his mouth, still with a very stiff expression on his face.

“There was something I didn’t understand. I’m talking about the Saintess.”

“….”

Reihausd hardened his eyebrows at those words.

“It’s something that can’t be understood.”

Dwayne’s lips trembled.

It was rare for a Paladin with sword expert-level skills to look so pale.

Moments later, Dwayne opened his mouth again.

“The Saintess moved a child, who was almost dying after being hit by a horse in the square, to the inn room and closed the door.”

Reihausd furrowed his eyebrows.

“You mean the dying child?”

“Because there was no hope… I thought the Saintess would give her prayers for the last time so that her child could leave in peace…”

Dwayne remembered what had happened.

Blood splattered on the floor and the child disappeared from nowhere. And the Saintess’ hands were full of blood.

“The child is gone.”

Reihausd raised his eyebrows at those words.

Dwayne said he didn’t quite understand.

“How on the earth could this happen!”

Even thinking about it again, it was so strange.

The body disappeared. the whole thing.

“…”

He continued looking at Reihausd.

“So I use my reasoning skills to deduce…”

Dwayne’s face darkened to the point that it couldn’t get any darker.

Reihausd stood still and stared at him.

Moments later, he opened his mouth.

“I think that the Saintess ate that child.”

Reihausd frowned, but Dwayne continued.

“There’s no other answer than that.”

At Dwayne’s words, Reihausd raised his hand and pressed it against his forehead.

“A monster is pretending to be the Saintess, and in fact, the real Saintess is imprisoned or something like that. I’ve been thinking it’s weird since she’s been attending auctions constantly… Perhaps that is why a new saintess appeared in Thiago.”

Reihausd’s lips were moving up and down.

“Then we have to get the prison key from that monster.”

“Right. To save the Saintess…”

“I can do much better than that monster.”

Dwayne looked at the dangerous glare of Reihausd’s eyes with a bewildered expression.

After a while, a small sigh escaped his mouth.

“Sir Dwayne.”

Dwayne answered right away.

“Yes. High Priest.”

“If you don’t plan on going to the Salerium in a hurry, you’d be keep your nonsense to yourself.”

Dwayne’s shoulders stiffened at the harsh, sullen voice.

Salerium means the palace of the God of Death.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Are you sure that child was on the verge of death?”

At Reihausd’s questionable remarks, Dwayne nodded violently.

“That’s right. His back was broken and his limbs twisted, making him unable to survive. There was one window in the room, but no bloodstains were seen, and no body of a child had fallen below. If someone showed up and took the body, people would have found out.”

“If the child is healed and walks out the window unharmed.”

“It would be possible to disappear like that.”

Dwayne said nonsense at that low voice.

“No… no way. That’s nonsense. Even if the Saintess uses divine power, in that short time…”

There is a history that Bergheritta, the first and strongest of the saintesses, completely brought a dying person back to life within an hour.

Reihausd’s eyes swayed.

The problem is Ariel… can’t use power. As she’s not the real one.

“I’m going to meet Ariel.”

***

I made the shop feature appear.

Since the oracle level was 3, there were still restrictions on items, but I thought that it was better because there were more items to choose from than when it was at a lower level.

The money I have right now is exactly 2,000 franc.

And at level 3, I was able to buy various relics.

[Mond’s Cup – If you drink from this cup, you will never get drunk. 250 franc.]

[The God of Art, Mond, recommends ‘Mond’s Cup’.]

I looked at the chat window with suspicious eyes.

The reason why you don’t get drunk when you put alcohol in that cup isn’t because Monde drinks it all, right?

It was a reasonable inference.

[Ciel’s Ring – When you wear this ring, the dogs show their closeness to you. 180 franc.]

[The God of Destruction, Ciel, is proud of the ring.]

What does Ciel have to do with dogs?

I tilted my head.

[Oman’s Lash – When you wield this whip and say a special starter, all the opposite sex will obey you. 570 franc.]

…There are all sorts of weird stuff. Is this really a relic store?

[Sealing Pendant] [Holy Power Wand] [Sacred Relic of Brilliance]

There were also relics worth thousands of franc. Wow, expensive.

As I was flipping through miscellaneous relics, I found what I needed.

[Hessed’s Bracelet – Wearing this bracelet will protect you. 340 franc.]

I don’t know how much it can protect my body, but I bought it without hesitation.

After a while, a crude leather bracelet was placed on my hand and I was occupied with it.

I might meet that crazy guy who ran at me with a knife the last time I went to the night market again. And, according to Kyle’s assumption, I might face threats after leaving the temple.

[The God of Knowledge, Hessed, is satisfied with your right decision.]

[The God of Mercy, Oman, strongly protests against the shop.]

[The price of ‘Oman’s Lash’ has been adjusted to 300 franc.]

But I’m not going to buy that, though?

I shook my head with a strict expression.

[Your Money: 1,660 franc]

It was when I was satisfied with the bracelet I bought at the store after closing the shop.

A knock was heard. Soon after, the door opened and the person who appeared was Reihausd.

His beautiful blonde hair appeared pale scarlet in the sunset falling outside the window.

“Ah. May the High Priest be blessed by the Nine Gods.”

Without realizing it, I stared blankly at him, then hurriedly greeted him.

He had a slight smile on his lips. He was prettier than Ariel in the mirror. Enough to make me dumbfounded sometimes.

“What were you doing?”

“I was just looking at the scenery outside.”

I couldn’t say I was shopping, so I just looked around.

He stared at me for a moment and then opened his mouth again.

“It would be better to enjoy the scenery outside than to see it through the window.”

A low, soft voice sweetly drifted into my ears.

“Like it’s better to see Ariel like this in person than secretly.”

“…Ah. Yes. Pardon?”

Reihausd said to me with a deep look

“I want to take a walk with Ariel.”