<Episode 9>
"Hmmm... Oh dear! Your grandmother is wandering by your side. Tsk, tsk..."
"What?! Saintess. Is my grandmother suffering from something?!"
I swung the rattle bell with a flashy snap.
As if a foreign spirit had entered my body, full of spirit.
Then, fear seeped into the eyes of the customers overwhelmed by the shrine and my acting.
To heighten the atmosphere, I shook the rattle bell once and opened my mouth. Jingle, jingle. The clear sound echoed through the shrine.
"...Our James. Have you been well?"
Seeing ghosts and hearing gods were both true, but unlike my previous life, I wasn't possessed arbitrarily. It seemed thanks to the protection of the eight Guardian Gods.
Well. Possession was possible, but I had no desire for it anyway.
Still, I deliberately mimicked the speech of ghosts and imitated Agatha or other gods. As if possessed.
"G-Grandma...! What did I do wrong? Why haven't you departed peacefully yet!"
"I couldn't leave because I was worried about you. Don't worry about me. More importantly, that girl you're trying to marry is a very wicked person!"
At first, acting was embarrassing, but I got used to it.
Now, far from shame, I studied more because I thought the details were lacking. I even recalled how Mom conducted readings. A sort of benchmarking, I suppose.
Thus, two months passed meeting customers flocking from across the Empire.
I'd become quite famous.
[To approach the Emperor, we probably need something even more groundbreaking.]
Still, it seemed difficult for my rumors to reach the Capital City.
If I went straight to the Capital City and started readings, I'd get marked by the Emperor before becoming famous.
First, meeting the Emperor was key.
I pondered Theodore's way of handling things and sent letters to the Empire's Morning and Imperial Newspaper.
Spreading my existence widely would inevitably provoke a reaction from Theodore.
Pretending to be a tipster, I wrote intriguingly about revealing the identity of the fraudulent saintess in Demong, even including the blessings of the eight gods.
Was it the luck received from the gods shining through?
Soon after, two reporters came as customers.
After that, I fully demonstrated the abilities of the eight Guardian Gods, and things proceeded smoothly on their own.
'I didn't expect it to make the front page.'
They must have been really short on stories. According to Agatha, the social season in the Capital City had ended, leaving no major scandals, so the newspapers were desperate for material. Perfect timing.
And today.
"Dorothy, Dorothy!"
"I said never open the door during a reading-"
"People from the Capital City, no, the Imperial Capital have come!"
"What?"
"They say they're taking the Saintess!"
"...I see. So it has come."
I stood up from my seat.
"Customers. I'm sorry, but we'll have to end today's readings here."
I quickly told the two who came from afar a method to resolve their misfortune and sent them off.
"Phew..."
The Emperor... calls for me.
The power of the press is truly great.
Especially when it's newspapers spreading across the entire Empire.
"How many people came from the Imperial Capital?"
"Three. They approached so secretly and demanded to see the Saintess. Like people on a covert mission."
"I see. Well, thank you for everything so far, Maria."
This devotee was someone who frequented the shrine and helped with chores. Even after I told her it was fine, she kept coming, and honestly, I was grateful since managing it alone was tough.
I patted Maria's head.
Her once gloomy face now brimmed with vitality.
Though I started this for a purpose, facing such faces made me feel proud.
"Ah. You won't be able to see me once you go to the Capital City."
Maria looked regretful. I smiled warmly.
"Maria. As a final piece of advice, remember this. Filter out every man who approaches you. They'll ruin your life. Got it?"
"Yes, yes! Saintess."
"Then, I'll be off."
I moved my steps.
"Saintess. That's the back door."
"Yes. The back door."
"The people from the Imperial Capital are at the front entrance."
"Yes. So I have to go out the back door."
Maria tilted her head, not understanding.
"You're not meeting the people from the Imperial Capital...?"
"Maria."
"Yes?"
"About ten minutes after I leave, go to them and relay one message."
"What message?"
"Say you waited because you can't disturb the Saintess during prayer, but something felt off so you went in, and she was gone. She vanished suddenly."
"Saintess. What on earth is this-"
"Take care."
I opened the back door and stepped out.
Thus, to evade the Emperor's summons, I headed to...
The Temple of this city.
* * *
[Can't... read the Emperor?]
Over the past two months, I'd learned many facts from conversations with Agatha.
[Yes. The 'Emperor's' seat has been protected by the accumulated blessings of the Manpelline imperial family from the first Emperor to now. No one prays for their descendants as fervently as royalty. When humans' earnest wishes pile up, even we Guardian Gods can't touch it. All Emperors have become healthy, lucky beings thanks to that power.]
Theodore was already a scary person despite his beautiful appearance...
Being unable to use my cheat key was like a bolt from the blue.
[Moreover, the problem is that as ancestors' prayers accumulate, the power grows stronger for later generations. The current Emperor has, truly, an omnipotent shield.]
What a total cheater.
[Why tell me now?!]
[Sorry. That's why I'm telling you now.]
I felt like bursting into tears.
[I don't think I can do anything, Lady Agatha. When I meet the Emperor, I'll probably just be called a fraud and worry about getting my head chopped off.]
[No! Dorothy has wisdom we lack. Overflowing with amazingly clever ideas! I believe in you, Dorothy!]
[Yes! You can do it, Dorothy!]
The usually quiet gods joined in cheering me on.
I'd planned to meet the Emperor and use Agatha's abilities to sway him and prove the gods' existence, but now, far from swaying or convincing, I'd just be treated as a fraud.
Even if famous, one misstep and I could be executed as a fraud insulting the Emperor. I didn't want to meet him.
But avoiding him brought me closer to death anyway. I'd get caught in natural disasters eventually. I had to meet him.
[I told you before. Once famous, the public's gaze will shield you. Even if the Emperor sees you as a fraud. So your head won't be chopped off-]
[But Lady Agatha. Separate from my survival, we still have no way to persuade the Emperor.]
Becoming a celebrity to use attention as a shield was a great plan, but what use if I just meet him?
From that day, I racked my brain.
How to get on the same side as the Emperor. How to draw him in line with the gods' goals without endangering my life.
What could I use...
And soon, I reached a conclusion.
If I can't make him believe in the gods' existence, at least make him think the Saintess is 'useful.'
Theodore's methods always changed based on 'utility.'
* * *
'Shield.'
I desperately needed a shield, and besides fame, there was one more way to get it.
The only group in this world that could check the Emperor.
The Temple.
Ironically, the very group I had to dismantle possessed the perfect conditions to be my shield.
And the Temple would bite at anything involving the Emperor.
Since the imperial side came for me, the Temple would take me in, Theodore would know of me but couldn't touch me under the Temple's protection.
I thought it was a brilliantly sound plan.
"I'd like to see the Bishop of this place."
Upon entering the Temple, I said in an elegant voice right away.
"Name?"
"Saintess Dorothy."
"Ah. That... famous fraud?"
The man who seemed like a guard smirked at me.
The reason the Temple hadn't come for me despite my fame was simple.
A saintess born in a gambling den. No different from a fraud. No benefit to their image, so they ignored me.
Not famous enough to reach the Capital City anyway, so no need to step in and crack down.
"Fraud? No, Asher. How irreverent. Ah, you're the irreverent one? I won't tell your wife about losing money betting at the Everdin tavern recently. It was from your bonus, right? How disappointed she'd be."
"...S-Senior."
As I rattled it off smoothly, the man paled and nudged the man beside him.
"What."
A curt reply came back.
How many more times would I repeat this? I felt a sigh coming but held my patience.
I had to go through several guards paling and calling their seniors. Senior, senior... how many times did I hear that?
And administrators, priests... gradually higher-ups, subtly exposing their secrets.
"L-Let's go up. The B-Bishop is on the top floor."
I'd finally passed the last hurdle.
Facing their ashen faces, a sigh escaped in the end.
Why not just process things promptly without forcing me to expose secrets?
"Yes. Let's go."
I could finally head to the Temple's top floor.
Riding the pulley-operated small elevator, we arrived quickly.
"Bishop!"
The man left me and ran ahead. After a while, a commotion came from the inner room.
A balding bishop overseeing this region came walking with a frown.
"Unnecessarily... You should've handled a fraud like that yourself."
"But. She's really something strange."
"Hah, really. I'm already busy and tired."
The bishop's face, full of irritation and flesh, showed no sign of fatigue at all. Good complexion.
"Hello, Bishop."
"I heard you wanted to see me. Our Temple doesn't deal with frauds like you-"
"Bishop. It's been 20 years since your demotion, so don't you want to return to the Capital City soon?"
Really, my gods are cheat keys.
"How do you know about 20 years ago..."
"Today, people sent from the imperial family came for me. I trust the Temple more than the imperial family, so I fled here."
"The, the imperial family?"
"Yes. Quite amusing news for the Grand Temple in the Capital City, right?"
The bishop's pupils shook.
Good. You corrupt humans. Become my backing and repent.
