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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: An Unexpected Savior
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I slowly crawled out from the chest of drawers where I had been hiding.
Back in my detective days, when I was proud of my impressive muscles, hiding in tight spaces made my whole body ache. But hiding in Ordel’s slender body is quite cozy.
I can even enhance my body with divine power, so I guess I don’t need to bulk up like I did as a detective.
“You, you, you! What are you! Why are you here!”
After I was completely out and dusting off my clothes, Kento pointed a finger at me.
I was tempted to snap it right off.
“Didn’t you tell me to come to the kitchen at night? I’m someone who keeps her promises, so I graciously came. I figured you wouldn’t be able to make it, being locked up in prison, so I was just going to have a look around by myself.”
“Y-you…!”
“But then you, who should still be locked up, came waltzing in. I got curious about what you were up to, so I watched for a bit.”
Of course, that was a lie.
I had already anticipated that he would escape from prison in the dead of night and sneak in here.
According to the original novel, Kento had more than one place where he stashed his money.
I was on a stakeout to catch him in the act.
“And look what a great view I found. I guess I’m pretty lucky.”
“You’re unlucky for foolishly showing yourself to me!”
Kento, having calmed his startled heart, shot to his feet.
Sometime during our exchange, he had produced a sharp dagger.
“I was hoping to take care of you before I left anyway. Do you have any idea who I am? Huh?”
“Of course, I do. You’re a criminal who got caught embezzling and will be tortured by the High Priest tomorrow. And now that you’ve escaped from prison, you’re in for some real torture. Just imagining what kind of torture it’ll be is terrifying.”
“Torture? Don’t make me laugh. You’re just some weakling who’s probably never held anything sharper than a dinner knife. You think I’m afraid of someone like you?!”
…Oh. Ignorance really is bliss.
Who is Airic?
He’s none other than a male lead candidate in this world.
Though he wasn’t the true hero who ended up with the heroine, he was still a male lead candidate with a massive fanbase.
In romance fantasy novels, the male leads would do anything for the heroine. Did he really think Airic was some weakling?
In the original novel, Airic, unable to stand by and watch Ordel torment the heroine any longer, lent his power to kill her. He was a renowned genius of torture.
This guy was as good as dead.
“Cut the crap! Do you know who put me here? It was Count Kiris! How dare a fake Saintess interfere with the Count’s work?!”
At the sound of that all-too-familiar name, I smirked.
Right, Kento was the head of the spies that Count Kiris—the man who made Ordel a fake Saintess—had secretly planted in the Grand Temple.
The one who broke him out of prison was likely another spy.
The two biggest expenses at the Grand Temple were my dignity maintenance fees—in other words, my luxuries—and the food costs for the kitchen.
Kento always allocated a large budget for food, under the pretext of serving the Saintess high-quality meals.
If a subpar meal was served, Ordel would fly into a rage, so even Airic had to let that part slide.
But he would never have known.
He wouldn’t have known that Kento had been using it to embezzle money all this time.
And most of that embezzled money went back into the hands of Count Kiris, through Kento.
The Count had planted him as a spy for that very purpose.
The problem was that Ordel had also occasionally helped with the embezzlement, pretending to be extravagant.
That way, Airic wouldn’t notice the signs of theft.
In other words, I was now cleaning up the mess Ordel had left behind.
“If you understand, then get on your knees before me right now. If you resist in the slightest, I’ll report everything you did today to the Count in detail!”
Kento pointed the dagger at me.
Judging by his ecstatic face, he must be imagining me, a noble and a Saintess, groveling on my knees…
You’ve got the wrong person.
“Oh, my. So you were sent by Count Kiris. I didn’t know that.”
“That’s right, so get on your knees—!”
“Does that mean you’re a spy? That you’re not a follower of the Sun God? That you don’t believe in our Sun God?”
“…What?”
Kento looked dumbfounded at my sudden question.
But this was a very important matter.
If he wasn’t a follower of the Sun God, then kicking him out wouldn’t cause the unfortunate side effect of reducing the Sun God’s number of followers.
“If you were a believer, I would have used all my power to make you repent, but if not, there’s no need to bother.”
So, what was needed now?
Punishment for the one who dared to covet the Sun God’s wealth.
【Activating skill ‘Body Enhancement’.】
“What nonsense are you—!”
In a fight, you always strike first!
I drove my enhanced fist squarely into the middle of his pathetic face.
*Crack!*
With a satisfying impact, Kento’s already low nose bridge completely collapsed.
This was divine punishment, delivered in the name of the Saintess, the agent of God!
“Keuk, ack! You… you damn bastard!”
“What’s this? Was the divine punishment too weak? You’re not going down?”
Earlier today, he collapsed from a single flick to the forehead.
This time, he was staggering but still holding the dagger tight.
His nose was completely shattered, so his brain must have been rattled again.
“Why don’t you just pass out? You’re going to die if you keep this up.”
Back when I was a detective, I’d seen a guy who acted tough like that and ended up brain-dead.
But despite my sincere concern, Kento didn’t stop.
“I-it’s fine… I’ll just take yer he-head. Then the Co-Count will forgive me, too!”
The way his tongue was twisted made him sound truly dangerous.
And yet, surprisingly, he swung the dagger, aiming precisely at me.
I was just about to dodge, wondering if my enhanced body could block that dagger.
“Huh?”
Something pulled me back forcefully.
Before I could even process what was happening, a sharp *clang* rang out, and the dagger Kento had been swinging went flying through the air.
“Aaaargh!”
As a result, Kento’s wrist, which had been gripping the dagger, twisted in a grotesque direction.
“Are you alright?”
Just then, a refreshing scent tickled my nose, and a deep voice washed over me from above.
I hadn’t even sensed his presence until he pulled me back.
Startled, I quickly turned my head.
The first thing I saw was silver hair, shimmering even in the kitchen where the moonlight barely reached.
Beneath a short fringe, eyes the color of the chillingly cold winter sea looked down at me from up close.
“Hah.”
My goodness. You’re handsome enough to glow in the dark.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Uh…”
“Are you hurt?”
I was so stunned by his beauty that I couldn’t speak properly.
Misinterpreting my silence, the man glared coldly at Kento.
Simultaneously, an indescribably heavy pressure bore down on my entire body.
It was an intangible energy, something I had never felt on Earth.
It was killing intent, and it was this man’s power.
“How dare you threaten an unarmed woman with a knife in the sacred Grand Temple. Do you wish to die?”
It was terrifying.
I thought I’d stopped feeling things like fear after living as a violent crimes detective…
But this was unbearable.
Just as my legs buckled in fear.
【The AI system has detected a level of fear in the user exceeding the standard threshold.】
【Increasing the user’s mental fortitude for smooth activity.】
“…?”
As soon as the system message appeared, my body instantly calmed down.
This was more effective than a tranquilizer.
This system is pretty capable, isn’t it?
“I’m not hurt anywhere. I’m fine. Thank you so much for saving me.”
I let out a sigh of relief and stepped out of his arms.
With the sudden handsome face no longer clouding my judgment, my reason returned, and I could recognize who this man was.
A handsome face that could rival that of Airic, another one of the male lead candidates.
If the High Priest was the heroine’s shield, this man was the sword that would cut down her enemies without hesitation.
He was male lead candidate number two and the Captain of the Holy Knights of the Sun God’s Grand Temple.
He had to be Seth Noel.
I thought he was away on a dispatched mission. What was he doing here?
And why did he have to show up at a time like this?
I was planning to handle this alone. This makes things a bit awkward.
“Are you truly alright?”
I gave a vague nod to the handsome Seth’s concerned question and glanced at Kento.
He looked just as flustered by Seth’s sudden appearance as I was.
Then again, the one who should be afraid of the Captain of the Holy Knights right now wasn’t me, but the escaped convict, Kento.
Well, what could I do?
Since it had already happened, I had no choice but to make the most of this situation.
“Captain, that man was caught embezzling the Grand Temple’s funds this afternoon and was locked in prison! He even escaped!”
I started by tattling.
