Chapter 19
I wanted to say that I’d head back first, but things didn’t work out that way.
Reihas’s golden eyes turned toward me.
“It won’t take long.”
I gave up on saying anything else and simply nodded with an uncomfortable expression. He turned around and walked away.
Soon, Reihas left with the priest, and I stared after his retreating figure for quite a while.
I hadn’t wanted to run into him, yet now that we had met, I suddenly didn’t want him to leave.
It was probably because there was an even more difficult man standing in front of me.
And not just any manāthe raw, unpolished version of one of the male leads, before he became the person he was meant to be.
“I think I should return to the temple now.”
As soon as Reihas disappeared from sight, I immediately spoke to Cass.
It felt a little like I was dumping a guest on him, but there was no reason for me to stay any longer.
However, the moment I finished speaking, a blue bird suddenly flew in from somewhere and landed lightly on my shoulder.
“…Ah!”
I instantly recognized it as the Blue Wing I had treated earlier.
As I wondered whether I should stroke its little body, Cass spoke.
“You know that bird?”
After thinking for a moment, I nodded.
Strictly speaking, we’d only met today.
Cass continued,
“It’s a bird that has been highly trained. It never approaches anyone except its master. I’m surprised it’s already become familiar with you.”
I looked at him in confusion.
“Wait… is this bird yours, Marquis?”
Cass answered in his usual emotionless tone.
“That’s right. I thought it was practically dead. Were you the one who saved it, Saintess?”
His indifferent attitude made me frown.
There was something in the way he spoke that instinctively repulsed me.
“I wasn’t the one who saved it… but are you saying you abandoned a bird that was dying?”
The accusation slipped out before I could stop myself.
The weight of the bird on my shoulder reminded me of the weight of a living life.
According to the novel, Cass was practically a highly socialized sociopath.
He judged and measured everything in the world by its economic value.
He had no interest whatsoever in other people’s emotions or suffering.
His ability to increase wealth and expand businesses was almost artistic.
But aside from that…
He was an incredibly cold man who lacked emotion.
Of course, even he would eventually change after meeting the heroine.
But that wouldn’t happen until much later.
“I judged that there was no benefit in keeping a bird that was going to die anyway.”
There wasn’t even the slightest trace of guilt in his eyes.
Silence settled between us.
Finally, I spoke calmly.
There was no point criticizing this man.
He wouldn’t understand anyway.
“If something like that happens again…”
I looked him straight in the eye.
“…then kill it instead.”
“…Pardon?”
The image of the bird flashed through my mindā
Its mangled body.
Its dimming eyes.
Its broken wing.
“If I’d happened to find it too late, and hadn’t been able to use divine power…”
“It would have died anyway.”
Cass’s eyebrow twitched.
The air between us grew tense.
Even so, I continued to meet his gaze without looking away.
“You mean… with my own hands?”
It certainly sounded cruel coming from the mouth of a saintess.
“Isn’t that more merciful than forcing it to endure hopeless suffering?”
That’s why euthanasia exists in the modern world.
After speaking calmly, I gently lifted the Blue Wing from my shoulder onto my forearm.
To be honest, I wasn’t normally the type to interfere in other people’s business.
But one thing I absolutely couldn’t tolerate…
…was animal abuse.
And by my standards, abandoning a bird in that condition was completely unacceptable.
“Thankfully, this little one recovered.”
I finished speaking and lightly brushed off my hands.
The Blue Wing immediately flew back and settled on Cass’s shoulder.
“It follows you, after all.”
I could feel his intense gaze resting on me.
A faint trace of curiosity flickered in his eyes before disappearing.
After a moment, he smiled.
“What an unexpected person you are.”
It was a deep smile.
Yet somehow…
It also looked strangely empty.
“You’re nothing like the rumors say, Saintess.”
It was an incredibly rude thing to say upon our first meeting, but I answered calmly.
“I don’t know what kind of rumors you’ve heard.”
“But now you’ve made me curious.”
Then I politely added,
“In any case, I’ll be returning to the temple now. I hope you and the High Priest enjoy your time together.”
I regretted letting my anger over the abandoned bird get the better of me.
I’d stuck my nose into something that wasn’t really my business.
Still…
We’d probably never meet again anyway.
“We’ll see each other again soon.”
“Yes.”
And inside my heart, I whispered a farewell.
No.
Let’s never meet again.
Cass gave a slight nod.
With a flawlessly handsome face and an elegant smile, he raised a hand in farewell.
Back at the temple, I shut myself inside my room and pressed a hand against my forehead.
Life was already busy enough just doing what absolutely had to be done.
Yet I’d gone and saved a bird…
And even given Cass advice he would never understand.
Cass…
He was someone I should avoid getting involved with.
I didn’t regret saving the bird with my divine power.
But still…
“I need to leave this temple as soon as possible.”
Muttering to myself, I restored the transparent status window to full visibility.
[Would you like to receive the reward for achieving the accomplishment: First Use of Divine Power?]
(Yes / No)
There was no reason to hesitate.
I selected Yes.
A reward? I’ll gladly take that anytime.
New messages immediately began flooding the screen.
[Mission Complete Reward: Revelation EXP has increased.]
[‘Revelation Lv.2’ has been unlocked.]
[The God of Destruction, Ciel, has entered your Revelation.]
[Occupancy: 4/4]
[ā ā ā ā ā ā , who failed to enter the Revelation, flies into a furious rage.]
[ā ā ā ā ā ā , who failed to enter the Revelation, lets out a deep sigh.]
My Revelation had leveled up.
From Level 1…
To Level 2.
And another god had joined?
As I stared blankly at the unfamiliar name in confusion, another message appeared.
[The God of Destruction, Ciel, celebrates entering your Revelation and bestows a blessing upon you.]
At that instant…
It felt as though a strange gust of wind was being drawn directly into the pit of my stomach.
“Ciel…”
That was the very god I’d mentioned during the Crown Prince’s banquet to cover up the exploding statue incident.
A thought suddenly crossed my mind.
I cautiously grabbed the back of my chair.
“As I thought…”
Nothing happened.
The moment I let goā
CRAAACK!
A horrifying sound echoed through the room.
I stared in shock.
The chair had split cleanly in half.
Its broken remains lay scattered across the floor.
Wasn’t this supposed to be a romance fantasy reverse-harem novel…?
At this rate…
The genre seemed to be changing altogether.
I stood frozen in speechless disbelief.
Normally, a blessing from the gods lasted around three hours.
However…
The blessing system wasn’t perfect.
A person could only receive one blessing per day.
No matter how much a god favors me, they can’t bless me more than once a day.
I absentmindedly spun a pen between my fingers while organizing my thoughts.
Still…
There was no denying that blessings were incredibly powerful buffs.
Their effects looked like this:
(Image 19-1)
As for Ciel, the newest member of the Revelation…
His blessing was practically overpowered.
The chair was completely destroyed beyond repair.
I’d simply told Daisy that I’d accidentally knocked it over.
Then I asked her to bring me a Hard Peanut fruit.
Its shell was said to be about twice as hard as a walnut’s.
After she left, I squeezed one in my hand.
Crack!
The shell instantly crumbled into powder.
Juice from the fruit oozed across my palm.
“…”
After carefully wiping my hand with a handkerchief, I folded both hands neatly atop my dress.
Thankfully…
My touch didn’t destroy absolutely everything on contact.
And when I touched my own body, nothing happened at all.
I hadn’t tested it on another person…
But there was no doubt this was an incredibly dangerous ability.
“In a way…”
“…this blessing is amazing.”
The previous blessings had all been wonderful.
But the ability to destroy anything I touched?
It was practically like having a superpower straight out of a movie.
Even if an assassin appeared in an alley while I was shopping for artwork…
I could probably protect myself without Dwayne.
Assuming Ciel happened to bless me at the right moment, of course.
It almost made me feel like I’d become an overpowered protagonist.
Just then, another message shyly appeared.
[The God of Destruction, Ciel, blushes happily at your admiration.]
I’d imagined the God of Destruction as some muscle-bound giant.
Instead…
He seemed surprisingly shy.
Come to think of it…
Wasn’t there a god who had supposedly been puffing out his cheeks while waiting to enter my Revelation?
Could that have been Ciel?
At that moment, more messages appeared.
[The God of Knowledge, Hesed, shoots Ciel a glare.]
[The God of Love, Odysseus, begins spreading nasty rumors about Ciel.]
“…Excuse me?”
I stared blankly at the messages before speaking aloud.
“Are you… jealous?”
The window remained silent.
“So it’s territorial behavior instead?”
Seriously…
How could these gods be less mature than actual children?
Then, making sure they could “hear” me, I deliberately muttered,
“Ciel’s blessing is amazing…”
“But Hesed’s, Monde’s, and Odysseus’s blessings are wonderful too.”
I remembered watching a parenting program once about dealing with jealous children.
The advice had been to praise each child’s strengths so no one felt left out.
“Really.”
“They’ve all been such tremendous help to me.”
I hadn’t expected it to work.
After all, these weren’t real children.
But then…
The messages exploded across my vision.
[The God of Love, Odysseus, excitedly asks if you’re telling the truth.]
[The God of Knowledge, Hesed, wants to know which god has helped you the most.]
[The God of Art, Monde, confidently declares that no god has been more helpful to you than he has.]
“Oh, for goodness’ sake…”
You gods…!
