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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: The Quest
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In front of the acolytes who helped around the Grand Temple was nothing more than a bowl of soup, practically water with no substance, and a single piece of hard rye bread.
What a miserable diet for growing children.
Staring blankly at the children's bowls, I glanced at the meals of the priests sitting beside them.
Good heavens. It wasn't just the children who were starving.
Apprentice priests, ordained priests—it didn't matter. Were they all eating just a single bowl of soup?
Was the extra piece of rye bread the only special consideration given to the children?
“…Have the children always eaten like this?”
I asked Airic, dumbfounded, and he answered with a blush.
“Our funds are… lacking.”
It was clear he, too, was ashamed of the reality that forced them to provide such meals to the children.
I slapped my forehead.
This wasn't Airic's fault. The lack of funds was due to Ordel's extravagance.
The adults slurping down watery soup? That wasn't my business.
If they were truly hungry, they were adults who could work to earn a living.
But the children couldn't!
To think that children who still had so much growing to do were eating meals without any meat!
“Did you happen to hear from Priest Dietrich? I mentioned I wanted to sell my belongings.”
“Yes. We will proceed as you wish, Saintess.”
“Please do it as quickly as possible. And if you can, use those funds to improve the quality of the meals first. Especially for the children.”
The food I had been eating here was so vastly different from what everyone else was having now.
Thick stew brimming with meat, soft and fluffy wheat bread, fresh salads with different toppings each time, and delicious juice made from freshly squeezed fruit.
Only now did I realize.
I had been living in luxury, alone, built on everyone else's sacrifice.
If I hadn't come to the dining hall, I would have never known.
“From now on, please give me the same meal as the other priests. If you have the resources to spare on me, give them to the children instead.”
I watched the children with a heavy heart.
They were all so terribly thin, as if they hadn't had a proper meal in ages. It was a pitiful sight.
And to think all of this was because of this body's original owner, Ordel.
This was insane.
* * *
Leaving behind Airic, who asked me several times if I was sure, I left the dining hall.
Before returning to my bedroom, there was something I had to check.
As I strode through the temple, those who saw me either fled in terror or prostrated themselves on the floor.
I felt a little bad, but I had no time to worry about that now.
“This is driving me crazy.”
After a tour of the Grand Temple, I finally headed to the place marked ‘Garden’ on the map system.
And I let out a hollow laugh.
“Damn this system. How is this a garden?”
A place with nothing but sparse weeds and not a single flower is a garden?
Even the dirt and gravel were a mess, making the whole area look incredibly filthy.
This completely unkempt sight starkly revealed the current reality of the Sun God's Grand Temple.
And the garden wasn't the only problem.
The pillars, meant to display the god's majesty, were cracked in places, and far from being pristine, the corners were filled with dust and cobwebs.
Ordel's room had been so opulent, yet the Grand Temple that housed it was festering.
The stark contrast was utterly bizarre.
I clutched my head and sank to the ground.
The Grand Temple of the Sun God is poor.
I already knew this premise.
But even knowing, I hadn't paid it any mind.
After all, it was a problem that would be solved once the heroine, Idella, appeared.
…I hadn't once considered that the people of the Grand Temple would continue to suffer in poverty until then.
“How foolish of me.”
Perhaps I had been deliberately trying not to think about it.
Angry at the Sun God who had forced me into a second life without my consent.
But now that I've seen this…
How can I look away?
Still sitting, I lifted my head from where it was buried in my knees.
At my will, the quest window appeared before my eyes.
【 Please Save the ‘Sun That Crawled Out of Death’!
The ‘Sun That Crawled Out of Death’ is currently on the verge of annihilation due to a lack of followers.
As the Saintess who has inherited the power of the ‘Sun That Crawled Out of Death,’ you must increase the number of followers and cultivate your divine power to save the pitiful god and the world from annihilation!
Success Reward: Wealth, honor, and power as the Saintess
Failure Penalty: The eternal annihilation of the ‘Sun That Crawled Out of Death’ and the destruction of the dimension】
The failure penalty I had deliberately ignored until now.
The critical reason the Sun God couldn't wait for the heroine who would appear in a year and had summoned me instead.
And on top of that, the system's warning that if I failed, not only the Sun God but this entire dimension would be annihilated.
Putting it all together, I could only come to one conclusion.
“This world isn't progressing exactly like the novel I read, , is it?”
If it were an identical world, there would have been no reason for the Sun God to use his dwindling power to summon me.
【This question can only be answered with ‘Yes/No’ according to the will of the ‘Sun That Crawled Out of Death’.】
【The answer to the question is ‘Yes’.】
【For a detailed explanation, please achieve 40% of your total divine power.】
Even if I couldn't get a detailed explanation right now, it meant my guess was correct.
“Haaaaah. This is driving me mad.”
If I run away, the Sun God will be annihilated, the Grand Temple will fall, and for some reason, this dimension will be destroyed.
I wasn't so heartless as to be indifferent to all of that.
Besides, if the dimension is destroyed, I, who live in this world, will obviously die too, right?
No matter how I was forced into this body, I don't want to die young again.
I want to live to a ripe old age, too!
So, what choice did I have? I had to live my second life to the fullest.
And more than anything, I couldn't just leave those children to starve.
“Hey, System. Is there any way to add to the quest's success reward?”
I had no particular interest in a successful life as a Saintess.
My job from the start was just to nurture the Sun God for a year before the heroine appeared so he wouldn't go bust.
The heroine could have all the wealth and glory of being the Saintess. I only wanted one thing.
“When I die in this life, send me to a heaven where I can truly rest without having to do anything.”
I absolutely refuse a third life.
Please, just let me live a carefree life in heaven.
【The AI system has received the user’s wish. Transmitting said wish to the ‘Sun That Crawled Out of Death’.】
After a few minutes of waiting, the system returned with an answer.
【The ‘Sun That Crawled Out of Death’ has accepted the user’s wish. The quest reward will be changed.】
【 Please Save the ‘Sun That Crawled Out of Death’!
Success Reward: Wealth, honor, and power as the Saintess, and a guarantee of the user’s choice for the afterlife.】
I smiled, satisfied with the updated reward.
“Alright, I accept the quest. I'll work hard to raise this damn temple.”
【The user has accepted the quest. From this moment, the user is now the Saintess of the ‘Sun That Crawled Out of Death’.】
【The ‘Sun That Crawled Out of Death’ has provided a reward for accepting the quest. Would you like to check it now?】
Oh, a quest acceptance reward?
So the Sun God did have a conscience after all.
“But not right now.”
Whatever the reward was, I couldn't receive it in such an open place.
Besides, someone had been watching me for a while now.
Probably someone who couldn't even come out into the garden because of me, just watching from a corner.
This was a problem. Since I was going to be living here, I needed to mend my relationships with people, but I wondered if that was even possible.
Sighing, I quietly returned to my bedroom, trying my best not to be seen.
* * *
In the place Ordel had just left.
Two men appeared.
“What on earth was she doing here?”
Dietrich looked down at the ground, bewildered.
The Saintess's footprints were imprinted on the unkempt dirt of the garden.
The footprints were deep, suggesting she had been here for quite some time.
“To be honest, at first, I thought she was crying.”
Not that I could believe it.
After Ordel had stormed out of the dining hall, Airic and Dietrich had felt uneasy and secretly followed her.
And they were stunned by what they found here.
Ordel—the Ordel who never showed a hint of weakness.
The Ordel who would throw things and fly into a rage if she felt even slightly disrespected!
To think she had been crouched on the filthy ground, her face buried in her knees.
Dietrich had been so shocked that he had unconsciously grabbed Airic's sleeve.
But Airic seemed even more startled than he was.
Dietrich glanced up at the man beside him.
Airic's face was frighteningly stiff as he stared down at the Saintess's footprints.
