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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: An Unexpected Cost and a Trap
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I rubbed my eyes and looked at the system again.
But the message didn't change.
Even when I asked one more time, the answer remained the same.
Not 1%, not 0.1%, but 0.01%...?
Wait, then how much do I have to offer to get 100% divine power...?
【Since it takes 1,000 gold to increase it by 1%, you need another 95,000 gold to reach 100%.】
I just earned 10 gold, and now you're telling me I need to earn 95,000 more?
Just how much is 1 gold in Korean won?
【1 gold is 100,000 Korean won.】
So, if you do the math, 95,000 gold is 9.5 billion won...
To put it bluntly, it costs 10 billion won to reach 100%.
“Ha, haha.”
10 billion, 10 billion won. I have to earn 10 billion won?
“Gasp.”
The shocking amount sent a wave of heat surging from deep within my body, striking my brain.
This sensation, this pain... I'd definitely felt it before during my time as a detective.
It was a rage-induced sickness.
* * *
“I'm losing my mind...”
Sprawled out on the bed, I thrashed my limbs about, overwhelmed by a surge of frustration.
After collapsing in the kitchen, clutching the back of my neck, unable to contain my rage, I was immediately carried to my bedroom by a shocked Airic and Dietrich.
Judging that my condition was truly serious as I could only make groaning sounds like "Ugh, ughhh!", the two of them didn't question me further and left after telling me to get some rest.
Left alone, I trembled with indignation.
“Hey, God. Ten... ten bil-bil-billion! Are you kidding me! How am I supposed to earn a fortune I never even touched in my past life!”
In my past life, I struggled to save even 100 million, let alone 10 billion. How am I ever going to gather all that?
Even if I just aim for my goal of 40%, that's still 3.5 billion!
“Just to raise it by one percent... 100 million. Heh, heheheheh...”
Now, all I could do was laugh hysterically like someone who'd lost their mind.
The only silver lining was that money wasn't the only solution.
The god's power also recovers by increasing the number of followers.
In other words, as the number of followers grows, the amount of money I have to offer decreases, so I could pursue both methods at once, but...
Even so, I'd probably need at least 3 billion.
“Fuck!”
I slammed my fist on the bed in frustration.
I sincerely hoped this curse reached the sun in the sky.
* * *
After carrying Ordel to her bedroom, Airic and Dietrich were half dazed.
A series of shocking events had occurred, leaving them at a loss for words.
“...High Priest. What in the world just happened?”
Dietrich asked with a blank expression.
“Not only did she eat in the dining hall, but she also inspected the kitchen, which she never used to glance at, and then suddenly exposed the head chef's embezzlement and even found the funds hidden in a secret passage... Did the Saintess really do all this?”
Listing it all out made it sound even more absurd.
The person who, for two years, had done nothing in the temple but laze around, skip temple events, indulge in luxury, and throw tantrums, had accomplished such a feat...?
“But why did she suddenly collapse at the end?”
That was right. The most surprising thing was the Saintess's collapse.
If Airic hadn't hastily caught her as she suddenly fell, she would have hit her head on the kitchen counter and been seriously injured.
Honestly, at first, he had suspected she might be faking it to avoid explaining the situation...
But Ordel's condition in Airic's arms had been quite serious.
Unable to speak properly, only letting out wheezing gasps as if she were about to stop breathing, she was clearly not feigning illness.
“Ahem, will she be alright?”
He felt his body squirm at the thought of worrying about the Saintess, something he'd never done in his life, but it was true that he was concerned.
Dietrich glanced back at the Saintess's bedroom.
The firmly shut door had always been something he wanted to avoid, but he wondered how things had changed so much.
Was it because it truly seemed like the Saintess had changed?
“It was just a shock to her system. There were no major problems, so she should be fine after a little rest.”
“I suppose so, since the Saintess can heal herself.”
*Thud.*
At that moment, Airic's footsteps suddenly stopped.
*She'll be fine since she has divine power.*
That was something Dietrich could say only because he didn't know Ordel was a fake saintess.
The divine power she possessed was pathetic, similar to or even less than that of an apprentice priest. Therefore, she had no healing ability.
So there was no way she could heal herself.
‘Should I go back?’
He was the only one who knew this fact, so he was also the only one who could help her.
Just as he made up his mind and was about to turn back...
“High Priest.”
A holy knight appeared at the end of the hallway.
“As you commanded, Kento has been locked in the dungeon. We searched his room but found no further suspicious circumstances.”
At the holy knight's report, Airic had no choice but to halt.
Ordel's health wasn't so critical that he needed to go to her immediately.
So, for now, his duty as High Priest was to interrogate Kento, who had committed embezzlement.
His accomplices might still be roaming the Grand Temple.
But even knowing that, why couldn't he bring himself to walk away?
“High Priest?”
“...No. Let's go.”
Airic began to walk forward, toward the sinner who was waiting, not back toward the Saintess behind him.
Yet all his senses were still focused behind him.
It seemed he would have to go see Ordel after the interrogation was over.
“Ah, and the Captain of the Holy Knights is scheduled to arrive sometime tomorrow after completing his mission.”
“That's a relief. Report to me as soon as he arrives.”
Airic let out a sigh of relief at the holy knight's report.
The Captain of the Holy Knights, the leader of all the holy knights in the Grand Temple, had been away on a dispatched mission for the past half-year.
In such a chaotic time, the news of his return was more than welcome.
* * *
It was late at night, past midnight.
In a dark corner of the kitchen, untouched even by moonlight, someone was moving about busily.
The figure's movements, rummaging through all sorts of places, looked as urgent as a thief's.
“Damn it, damn it! If it weren't for that bitch! I won't let her get away with this!”
The dark figure searching under the counter spat out a vicious curse.
The face that was briefly revealed belonged to none other than Kento, who was supposed to be locked in the dungeon.
The situation was dire.
He had never imagined he would be caught so suddenly, without any warning.
And to think the one who exposed him was none other than Ordel.
He had to get out of here quickly and report this.
Kento grit his teeth, picturing the face of Ordel, who had revealed his secret in front of the High Priest.
That damn bitch. He would never let her get away with it.
“Ugh!”
Just then, a pain shot through his arm, and Kento's face twisted in agony.
His whole body ached from enduring the High Priest's brutal interrogation.
Still, compared to the threats, the torture itself hadn't been that bad.
Thanks to that, he had managed to keep secret the other places he had hidden the embezzled funds, aside from the secret passage.
But he didn't know when the holy knights might search the entire kitchen, so he had to find everything now and escape.
Now, before that terrifying Captain of the Holy Knights returned, was his last chance.
But...
“Damn it, why won't this thing come out! I can't just leave it behind!”
The secret passage was where he had hidden the most embezzled money, but the sum from the other three locations was about the same.
So he couldn't leave a single one behind.
Since the money in the secret passage had been taken, he had to take all the rest.
“Fuck!”
But the hidden money pouch seemed to be snagged on something; it wouldn't come out no matter how hard he pulled.
In the end, Kento used even his injured arm to get a firm grip on the pouch.
And with a grunt, he yanked his whole body back, and the pouch finally slid out.
“Got it! This damn thing, making me suffer like this!”
Kento leaned his back against the drawer cabinet opposite the counter and laughed gleefully as he looked at the heavy money pouch.
At that moment.
“Find your money?”
An eerie voice came from behind him.
“Aaaaaaaargh! W-What the hell! You're crazy!”
So startled that he forgot he wasn't supposed to be discovered, Kento let out a scream and scrambled back.
The door of the cabinet opened, and someone emerged.
The face revealed between strands of long, ghost-like hair belonged to none other than...
“Hello, Kento?”
Ordel, the former detective specialized in stakeouts, and current Saintess.
