Chapter 10
The grand, pure-white temple rose high into the sky.
Prodia leaned out of the carriage and looked at it.
As the bells rang from the spire, white doves flew up into the clear blue sky.
It was a place that seemed to symbolize peace itself.
The atmosphere was completely different from yesterday, and Prodia let out a small chuckle.
‘That whole chaos feels like a dream.’
Anyway, after many twists and turns, they had finally arrived.
Soon, the carriage stopped in front of the Grand Temple.
Irtis got down first and held out his hand to her.
“Here.”
“Thank you.”
Prodia took his hand and stepped down from the carriage.
The two seemed noticeably closer after just one night.
Just then, a young-looking priest approached them.
“You’re from the Duser Count family, correct?”
Prodia greeted him politely.
“I am Prodia Duser. It is an honor to meet a servant of the divine.”
“Welcome to the dwelling of the Lord. Before entering the Grand Temple, there are a few things I must inform you of…”
The young priest began listing a long set of rules along with his greeting.
As it dragged on, Prodia’s gaze drifted slightly behind him.
Other priests were also welcoming visitors.
They were probably participants who had come to perform the ritual before the competition.
‘The competition has already begun.’
But that wasn’t what mattered.
‘Status window.’
At once, blue status windows appeared above many people’s heads.
Prodia quickly scanned the karma pages with sharp eyes.
But as expected, no one stood out.
‘Alright, that’s enough.’
She refocused on the young priest just as he was finishing.
“Lastly, the Lord welcomes you—”
At that moment—
Irtis suddenly flinched and turned his body, staring at something.
Startled, Prodia asked,
“What’s wrong?”
“…It feels like someone is watching us.”
His expression was more serious than ever.
At his words, Prodia and the young priest also looked around.
But they found nothing.
‘I definitely felt a gaze… was it my imagination?’
Irtis turned back and said,
“Please continue.”
“Y-Yes!”
The young priest hurriedly wrapped up.
“…The Lord welcomes you. Now then, please follow me.”
With his white robes fluttering, he led the way.
The three of them entered the Grand Temple.
Inside the quiet hall, only the sound of footsteps echoed.
After a while, they turned a corner into a smaller corridor.
Many doors lined the long hallway.
The young priest stopped in front of one of them.
“We’ve arrived. Please rest in this waiting room for a while. You will soon receive instructions from the assigned priest.”
“Thank you.”
After thanking him, the two were about to enter—
But suddenly, the young priest hesitated and spoke to Prodia.
“Um… if I may, there’s something I’d like to ask you.”
He has a question for me?
“What is it?”
“Are you… planning to train a participant for the prince consort selection again?”
Ah, so that’s it.
Because of Irtis’s magic, rumors had spread across the empire that Prodia Duser would no longer be involved in the competition.
Now that she had suddenly brought a participant, it made sense he would be curious.
Still, was she really that famous?
‘He looks like he just joined the temple, yet even he knows me?’
Maybe in my past life I should’ve been a star instructor instead of a PD.
Then I wouldn’t have gone through editing hell.
Prodia answered,
“I happened to meet a very talented individual, so I changed my mind.”
“I see!”
The young priest began looking at Irtis with interest.
Fortunately, he didn’t seem to know that Irtis was a great mage.
Better to leave before things get complicated.
Prodia quickly said,
“Thank you for guiding us here. We’ll go in now.”
“Ah, yes! Please rest well.”
After bowing, the priest left.
The two entered the waiting room.
Click.
The moment they stepped inside, their strategy meeting began.
Prodia said,
“Finally, it’s time for confession. Just do exactly what we discussed yesterday.”
The day before—
Neither of them could sleep. The moon was beautiful, and their minds were restless.
Only a few minutes after saying good night, they called out to each other again.
“Prodia, are you asleep?”
“Irtis, are you asleep?”
They exchanged awkward smiles.
“Neither of us is going to fall asleep anyway. Let’s talk about what we’ll do at the temple tomorrow.”
“Good idea.”
And so, their planning began.
“I’ve been meaning to ask—how did you end up with the nickname ‘the Mad Dog of the Magic Tower’?”
“I beat up a lot of people.”
“I already know that. I mean in more detail. As your contractor.”
“How detailed do you want?”
“Tell me everything you remember—who, when, and what kind of harm you caused.”
Irtis frowned.
“How am I supposed to remember all that? Do you remember every bug you’ve ever killed?”
That’s worse than I thought.
Prodia jumped up from the bed and walked over, then plopped down on the floor beside the sofa where he was lying.
“Get on the sofa. The floor’s cold—you’ll catch a cold.”
“I’m fine.”
“Is it because you’re uncomfortable next to me? Then I’ll move.”
“I said I’m fine.”
Sigh. So stubborn.
Irtis flicked his finger and created a blanket, handing it to her.
“Then at least cover yourself with this.”
Seeing that, Prodia was impressed.
“Having a mage as a contractor is really convenient.”
“I’d rather not be treated like a tool.”
Instead of replying, she wrapped herself in the blanket and said,
“Anyway, just tell me everything you can remember.”
“You won’t remember it all.”
“There’s that much? Wait, I’ll get something to write—”
As she tried to stand, Irtis said,
“You were treating me like a tool just now, and you already forgot?”
“Huh?”
He flicked his finger again.
Pop!
A transparent, glowing magic document appeared in midair.
“What is this?”
“A disposable magic document. It’ll disappear after you read it.”
Prodia looked at it.
It was filled with countless names and descriptions.
“I thought you said you couldn’t remember?”
“That’s just the ones I do remember.”
Then how many are there in total?
Anyway, Prodia read through it carefully.
And—
Every single person he had beaten up truly deserved it.
She couldn’t hide her amazement.
‘He’s actually a righteous mad dog?’
Of course, a normal hero wouldn’t blow up an entire mountain along with a villain’s base.
She said,
“Why were you going around delivering justice? It doesn’t suit you.”
“I wasn’t. They just annoyed me, so I hit them with magic.”
“You say that like you just flicked them on the forehead.”
“It was like that. If I hit them harder, they probably would’ve died.”
Right. Just a light tap.
That’s why a sword master-level wanted criminal was found unconscious.
‘Let’s not look into this any further…’
At that moment, something came to Prodia’s mind.
“Irtis! I just thought of a great idea—for passing the confession safely!”
“What is it?”
“Well…”
She whispered it to him.
After hearing it, Irtis nodded.
“That’s a good idea.”
“I thought of it thanks to you.”
“Because of me?”
“Yeah. Because you’re the Mad Dog of the Magic Tower. Thank you so much.”
“…Is that supposed to be a compliment?”
After talking for a while, their late-night “confession” planning finally ended.
Before long, Prodia began dozing off, leaning against the sofa.
Irtis sighed and stood up.
“I told you the floor’s cold…”
He lifted her up and carried her to the bed.
“Mmm…”
Half-asleep, she shifted and rubbed her face against his chest.
His heart dropped again.
This is seriously driving me crazy.
He quickly laid her down and pulled the blanket up to her neck.
His face turned red as he muttered while rubbing his face,
“Why do you keep doing this to me…”
That night, Prodia managed to get some sleep.
Irtis, however, stayed awake the entire night.
Back in the waiting room—
Prodia reminded him again,
“Don’t forget the method I told you yesterday. You have to use it, okay?”
“I won’t forget. Just wait without worrying.”
Soon, a voice came from outside the door.
“Participant, we’ve brought your clothes.”
It seemed it was time.
Both of them stood up at once.
Without saying a word, they looked at each other and smiled knowingly.
Showtime.
Inside the temple’s prayer hall—
A young blond priest knelt before the altar, deep in prayer.
The vast hall was empty, except for him—
and the massive statue in front of him.
It was a sacred statue of Aido, the Lord they worshipped.
This was also the state religion of the Aivem Empire.
A long time passed, yet the priest did not move at all.
Sunlight streamed in.
Through the stained glass covering the ceiling, colorful rays of light poured down.
The young priest’s golden hair shimmered beautifully.
Then suddenly, his eyes snapped open.
Even his eyes shone with a beautiful golden light.
Blinking in surprise, he looked around.
He had suddenly sensed divine power from somewhere.
‘This is…?’
He quickly stood up and ran to the window.
It faced the entrance of the Grand Temple.
There, he saw a man and a woman standing with a young priest.
A man with bluish-lavender hair, and a woman with long black hair like ebony.
It was them.
He had definitely sensed divine power from their direction.
And it wasn’t normal divine power—
Small bursts of it were erupting around them like fireworks.
Something was strange.
They were clearly participants who had come to perform a ritual.
‘There’s no way non-priests should be emitting divine power like this…’
The blond priest continued staring at them.
Then suddenly, the strong presence of the Lord he had felt vanished.
“Huh?”
Was it his imagination?
No, that couldn’t be.
At that moment, the young priest sensed another kind of energy.
Not divine power—
Mana.
A powerful magical energy was coming from the man outside.
The priest’s eyes widened.
“…A great mage!”
At that moment, the man suddenly turned and looked toward him.
Startled, the priest quickly ducked below the window.
“That was close…”
He calmed his racing heart.
That man’s gaze was terrifying.
But why…
‘Why are divine power and mana moving together?’
The blond priest could sense both.
Because unlike the others—
he was special.
