Chapter 43
At first, everyone gathered together for worship.
After that, I invited them in one by one for private consultations.
Most people didn’t want to reveal their deepest secrets in front of others, after all.
Whether he’d anticipated this or not, Kaiden had even built a small private room beside the chapel.
It made things much easier.
“You tend to make impulsive purchases?”
“G-Gasp… Y-Yes…”
“And you’re quite stubborn, which causes frequent arguments with your wife.”
“H-How did you know?!”
“For now, you should listen more carefully to what your wife has to say.”
The readings went smoothly.
Just like before, I’d start with their personality, then reveal one secret after another that only they themselves should know.
People naturally found themselves drawn to me.
I also made sure to add a little theatrical flair now and then.
“I think it would be best if you had your late grandmother’s portrait repainted.”
“Pardon? Her portrait?”
“Your grandfather is very dissatisfied with the current one. So much so that he’s even appeared in your dreams because of it.”
“But… how could anyone repaint someone who’s already passed away?”
“Well… Ah, the nose should be a little higher. And the chin should be rounder…”
During these consultations, there was almost always a ghost or two attached to the client.
Sometimes they were malicious spirits.
But more often than not…
They were ancestors who simply wanted to look after their descendants.
[No, no! My precious girl didn’t look like that! Saintess, listen carefully. Her lips should be fuller! And her smile… the corners of her mouth curved so beautifully when she laughed!]
In this case…
It was an affectionate but rather overbearing grandfather.
“…If you make those adjustments, he says you’ll finally be able to sleep peacefully.”
“I’ll do exactly that! Thank you, Saintess!”
That made four people.
Including Kaiden, only about six people had gathered today.
Which meant…
There was only one person left.
“Next, please.”
And that final person…
Was accompanied by one of the “malicious” spirits.
There he is.
A pale-faced woman entered the room and sat across from me.
Behind her stood an evil spirit.
[That spirit’s resentment runs incredibly deep. I understand why… but if this continues, he’s going to kill someone, Dorothy.]
[Please don’t drive him away just yet, Agatha.]
[Of course… I was simply worried.]
Just as they had done for me before…
The gods could chase away evil spirits.
It didn’t seem to involve divine power exactly.
It was more like physically throwing them out.
Every time they did it, the spirits would cry, “Agh!” as though they’d been punched, covering themselves with their arms while fleeing.
[I know. Just a little longer.]
I’d deliberately guided this woman into attending today.
I needed this encounter to leave a lasting impact.
I glanced toward the spirit.
He was a short man.
His muscular build suggested he’d spent years doing manual labor.
His face looked utterly exhausted.
At the same time…
It was twisted with rage and resentment.
“…Greetings, Saintess. I am Charlotte, head of House Russell.”
Charlotte sat across from me, her face dark with fatigue.
There wasn’t an ounce of strength in her voice.
She nervously looked around the room.
As far as I knew…
Charlotte wasn’t particularly devout.
“Welcome, Countess… You look terribly unwell. Has something happened?”
“For some time now… whenever I try to sleep… I hear footsteps. Tap… tap… tap… They always sound like they’re approaching my bedside. But every time I turn around in fright… there’s nothing there. Yet I swear I hear them. Tap… tap…”
Charlotte’s face gradually became more strained.
“And that’s not all. I also keep hearing what sounds like someone digging through stone. Bang… bang… bang…”
“I see.”
House Russell.
They weren’t nobles who openly associated with the High Priest…
But they were certainly one of the noble families involved in that business alongside him.
“May I ask… have you recently begun a new business venture?”
“…Pardon? Ah… of course. You would already know.”
Charlotte looked surprised for a moment before nodding.
“The Beza Mountain mining operation. As you’re surely aware.”
Just as I thought.
The High Priest had clearly been using the Saintess’s name to recruit investors and expand the business.
“Could… could this business have something to do with what’s happening to me?”
“Yes.
Very much so.”
“W-What do you mean?”
“Your family is responsible for supplying laborers to the Beza Mountain mining project.”
“Yes.”
“And the mine itself is currently being excavated.”
“That’s correct.”
“Are you aware that someone has already died during the work?”
“…What?”
Charlotte looked genuinely shocked.
Apparently she hadn’t heard anything about it.
Then again…
During an era when industry was still developing, miners occupied the lowest rung of society.
To a high-ranking noble involved in business…
The death of a laborer probably wasn’t considered important enough to report.
“I-I wasn’t informed of such… insignificant matters…”
“A person’s death is never insignificant.”
“…You’re right.
That was an unfortunate choice of words.
I apologize.
What exactly happened?”
Charlotte asked anxiously.
“An evil spirit has attached itself to you.”
“To… me?”
“The soul of the man who died is following you.
He bears a deep grudge against you, Countess.”
“…I see.”
“Judging by your reaction…
Something comes to mind?”
“My dreams have become increasingly strange…
I’ve begun seeing things that aren’t there…
Th-Then…
Would compensating his family help?”
Charlotte immediately proposed a solution.
Human lives aren’t something you can simply compensate with money.
The thought left a bitter feeling in my chest.
“If we’re going to resolve this…”
I answered in a calm, emotionless voice.
“I’d like to visit your estate first.”
If I wanted to prevent tragedies like this…
If I wanted people to value other human lives…
Then those who treated others as disposable needed to face appropriate consequences.
Whenever someone wanted to expose wrongdoing…
They needed evidence.
And I…
I’m going to your house to examine your ledgers.
Intended to gather that evidence myself.
“…My estate?”
“Yes.
I need to investigate personally to determine how to drive away the spirit.
Simply speaking with you here isn’t enough.”
“Has… has the spirit infested the manor as well?”
“Yes.”
I nodded gravely.
“If this continues…
Your home will eventually be consumed by malevolent energy.”
That part was a lie.
But Charlotte nodded repeatedly.
She was one of the merchants whose name appeared on the Beza Mountain mining project.
Her trading company supplied workers and handled distribution.
In other words…
She was one of the key figures managing the operation itself.
The very business the High Priest is trying to push.
House Russell wasn’t the only merchant involved.
Quite a few trading companies had joined the project.
What Agatha had discovered during her investigation of the Beza Mountains…
Was that the High Priest’s true objective was the mining operation.
The Beza Mountains were famous for their treacherous terrain.
Most of the range had remained untouched by human hands.
I assumed it was already a mining region because the gemstone in my bracelet came from there…
Apparently not.
As Kaiden had explained when he gave me the bracelet…
There was a mine in the Beza Mountains.
But it was only a tiny mine near the edge of the range.
It produced little more than enough gemstones to make souvenir bracelets like the one I wore.
The quality of the ore wasn’t especially high, and it was difficult to process.
As a result…
The gems were inexpensive.
No one had been particularly interested in exploiting the mountains.
Partly because they were considered sacred.
Then…
Recently…
A single exceptionally high-quality emerald had been discovered inside that tiny mine.
Naturally…
Greed spread.
People began wondering what treasures might lie hidden deeper within the untouched mountains.
Eventually…
One merchant sent an exploration team.
They discovered valuable gemstones not in the deepest reaches…
But halfway into the mountain range.
Now they’re constructing mines.
Tearing apart the mountains themselves.
All for profit.
Even before mining officially began…
The High Priest had already taken on the role of promoting the mountain range.
Even the ordinary souvenir minerals were said to carry “the blessing of the spirits.”
Now imagine this.
The mountain already believed to contain the First Saintess’s remains…
The newly reincarnated Saintess visiting it as part of her official ceremony…
That’s when they’ll spread the fake oracle.
They would declare that the gods themselves had permitted the excavation of the sacred mountain.
That hidden within it lay “a divine gift.”
Using both the First Saintess and the current Saintess as justification.
It would be perfect advertising.
Not only would it massively increase demand…
It would also shield them from criticism for desecrating sacred land.
Minerals blessed by the spirits…
Approved by the Saintess…
Protected by the gods.
It would take time to mine and process them.
But during that time…
Public curiosity would only continue growing.
It wasn’t difficult to imagine how dramatically gemstone prices would rise.
Of course…
There’s nothing inherently wrong with making money.
But…
Someone has already died.
[If they continue disturbing the Beza Mountains, the spirits won’t remain silent.]
According to Agatha’s investigation…
This particular death hadn’t been caused by angry spirits.
It had resulted from poor safety management.
But once the spirits truly become enraged…
And they’re already neglecting worker safety because of greed…
The death toll would only increase.
If the displaced spirits’ anger continued building…
It would eventually trigger natural disasters far beyond anything they’d yet experienced.
[For centuries we’ve taught humanity that the gods are one with nature… and now even that is ignored. By the High Priest, of all people…]
Agatha’s troubled voice echoed in my ears.
Just like in the original novel… he’s becoming greedier and greedier.
In the original story…
Theodore had ultimately been able to destroy the Temple because the High Priest became obsessed with expanding his businesses and accepting illegal kickbacks.
His greed gradually exposed his true nature.
Evidence accumulated one piece at a time.
The donations collected by the Temple were never enough for him.
And as his business empire expanded…
The Temple’s abuses—and its victims—only multiplied.
The difference now…
Was that everything was happening much earlier than in the original story.
Originally…
The High Priest hadn’t begun moving seriously until around the fifth year of Theodore’s reign.
Is it because I appeared?
Having a Saintess who could supposedly communicate with the gods…
Made an incredibly convenient marketing tool.
Especially when partnering with corrupt businessmen to build wealth.
This entire operation was simply an excuse to receive under-the-table payments under the guise of raising funds for the Temple.
He’d convinced investors that holding the Reincarnation Ceremony there would increase publicity…
Driving gemstone prices even higher.
By now…
The mining project had progressed to the point where excavation was about to begin.
I don’t need them immediately…
But I do need those ledgers.
Inside them would be records of illegal payments…
As well as evidence tying both the High Priest and the Temple to those transactions.
Now that is real evidence.
The secret vault would certainly hurt him.
But this…
Was even worse.
He had involved the Saintess’s own Reincarnation Ceremony for the sake of a business venture.
He had even fabricated the burial place of the First Saintess…
All for personal profit.
Theodore is going to absolutely love this.
I’d planned to ask him for assistance once Charlotte was firmly on my side anyway.
I should visit him today.
“U-Um… Saintess?”
“Ah, yes? Please go ahead.”
I smiled warmly.
I’d become so lost in thought that I’d nearly forgotten my important client sitting before me.
“When… were you thinking of visiting my estate?”
“Whenever it is most convenient for you, Countess.”
“I know this is an unreasonable request…
But I truly haven’t slept properly in so long…
Could you possibly come…
As soon as possible?”
Dark circles hung heavily beneath Charlotte’s eyes as she pleaded with me.
Of course I can.
I’ve been waiting for you to say exactly that.
“Naturally.
I am a messenger of the gods.
Helping those who suffer, like you, is precisely why I’m here.”
I smiled gently.
