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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: The Ivory Tower Exam
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“Have this first, then take a bath. A proper meal will be ready for you when you get out.”
“Okay.”
I nodded and took a big bite of the chocolate muffin.
As the sweet taste of chocolate filled my mouth, it felt like the sugar was melting away all my fatigue.
‘Chocolate muffins are the best…’
And the life of a young lady who can get treats like this in an instant is also the best…!
* * *
“Aargh!”
The high priest's eyes flew open with a scream.
He rolled out of bed, instinctively covering his head as he stared at the sky.
The fear that gold coins might rain down from the heavens and attack him again washed over him.
“H-High Priest…”
A flustered voice came from beside the high priest, who was still warily eyeing the ceiling.
Only then did the high priest snap back to his senses.
Turning his head, he saw the youngest priest, who guarded the temple entrance, staring at him with wavering eyes.
“A-Ahem!”
The high priest quickly composed himself.
He had always presented a dignified image, but to be seen like this in front of the youngest priest…
His lips quivered with embarrassment.
“Where is the Saintess? And what happened to the gold coins?”
As he forced a calm tone and asked, the tense expression on the youngest priest's face relaxed slightly.
“High Priest! You've come to your senses! I thought something terrible had happened when you hit your head…”
The youngest priest's eyes welled with tears as he recalled the sight of the high priest staring at the empty air like a madman.
“A-Ahem!”
The high priest cleared his throat loudly again and pressed the youngest priest.
“I'm fine, so speak clearly. Tell me what happened.”
“The Saintess and the Master of the Magic Tower have returned to Elpinade. As for the gold coins that fell from the sky, the Saintess left them as a donation, so we've placed them in the warehouse.”
“In the warehouse?”
“Yes. There were a whopping 280,000 of them. They were gold coins engraved with the holy sigil!”
As the youngest priest exclaimed in an excited voice, recalling the wondrous moment, the high priest's face crumpled.
“Gold coins engraved with the holy sigil?”
“Yes!”
Seeing the conviction in the young priest's eyes, the high priest bit his lip.
Gold coins engraved with the holy sigil were creations that only a god could bestow upon mortals.
‘Did the Saintess truly communicate with God?’
If this gets back to the central church…
‘All those who doubted the Saintess will lose their positions!’
The problem was that his own name was on that list.
The high priest, firmly believing the Saintess was a fake, had sided against Cardinal Bael.
This matter must never reach the central church.
The Saintess must remain incompetent, and Cardinal Bael must fall.
The high priest swallowed hard.
‘In a way, this is a relief.’
That the Saintess came to the temple he oversees, and not somewhere else.
“…Besides you, who else saw those gold coins?”
“The holy knights you summoned also saw them. About ten of them, I think.”
The youngest priest tilted his head, as if wondering why he was asking.
‘Tsk.’
The high priest clicked his tongue inwardly, lamenting his misfortune.
There were too many witnesses to simply silence them and bury the matter.
It would be difficult to handle this alone.
“…I must send a letter to Cardinal Kaltas. For now, make sure everyone who saw the coins keeps their mouths shut.”
“Keep their mouths shut?”
“Yes. An event of this magnitude should be announced officially by Kidsha. We can't have rumors spreading from a small place like this.”
“Ah! I see! I'll make sure to tell them!”
The plausible excuse fired up the youngest priest, who clenched his fists with determination.
* * *
Right after lunch, I was summoned by Duke Elpinade.
The first time, just seeing the heavy doors to his office open made my heart pound like crazy.
Now that it was my second time, it wasn't pounding like crazy, but more like it was moderately insane.
‘Is there no "steadfast heart" reward for donations?’
I'm not asking for a Legendary-grade one, just a decent Hero-grade would do!
A racing heart itself is fine.
The problem is that when my heart rate gets too high, my thoughts and actions become too childish.
If I don't do something about this timid heart, I might mess things up at a crucial moment.
“You wish to take the entrance exam for the Ivory Tower?”
the duke asked, flipping through some documents.
It seemed Axel had relayed my intentions to the duke right after I told him my plan yesterday.
‘Duke Elpinade is the chairman of the Ivory Tower's invitation committee, after all!’
“Yes.”
I nodded in affirmation.
“Curious. Why would the Saintess be interested in the Ivory Tower?”
This time, the duke looked directly at me as he asked.
‘Chilling!’
Even from the perspective of a full-grown black mage, Duke Elpinade's gaze was truly terrifying.
But compared to Duke Kroiche's gaze from yesterday, it was angelic.
With Duke Kroiche, I'd gotten a strong gut feeling of 'He's a bad guy!'
In contrast, I got no negative feelings from Duke Elpinade at all.
In fact, I sensed a clear and pure aura from him.
“Um, I'm goin' to da Ivory Tower because I'm da Saintess.”
As I answered as calmly as possible, a flicker of interest appeared in the duke's eyes.
His gaze was asking for a reason, so I continued.
“Because dere's a book of pwofecy in da Ivory Tower. It says da book will save da countwy. Da Saintess has to be able to wead it.”
My heart was beating so fast in front of Duke Elpinade that I ended up speaking even more like a child.
I tried my best to pronounce everything correctly, but my lisping continued, and I worried the duke wouldn't be able to understand me.
“The book of prophecy. A four-year-old knows of such things.”
Thankfully, the duke understood me perfectly!
Relieved, I nodded my head.
“Yes. Because I'm da Saintess. I know.”
The duke, who had been watching me for a moment, set down the papers in his hand and spoke.
“Very well. I will arrange for you to take the Ivory Tower's exam.”
“!”
I got his permission much faster and more easily than I expected!
I thought he'd ask all sorts of questions, saying he needed to confirm whether I was qualified to take the Ivory Tower's exam.
I was more than happy to skip the tedious process, so I quickly bowed my head.
“Thank you.”
“Of course, passing the exam is up to you.”
“Yes. Dat's wight. No fake tests.”
I never intended to ask for fraudulent admission in the first place.
‘After all, I have a Legendary-grade intuition, right?’
If I trust my gut and make some good guesses, I can pass any test, can't I?
Unaware of my devious scheme, Duke Elpinade furrowed his brow slightly, as if he couldn't comprehend my confidence.
“Hanna.”
“Yes?”
“I heard it was your idea to send Hanna to the mines for labor. For a four-year-old brat, you have a sharp mind, but is that also a thought befitting a Saintess?”
“Dat one…”
‘He should have just taken the credit for it himself!’
Axel has always been so inflexible.
I sighed inwardly and shook my head.
“No.”
“Then?”
“Dat was because I'm smart.”
It was a rather arrogant thing to say, but I was confident.
I have memories of my past life, so for a four-year-old, I *am* incredibly smart, right?
Right!
“…Hah.”
A sound like escaping air left the duke's lips as he watched me puff out my chest and assert my own intelligence.
He seemed a little dumbfounded.
“Well… I suppose we'll find out whether you're truly smart or not when you take the Ivory Tower's exam.”
“Yes. I'll show you.”
As I raised both hands and clenched my fists to show my determination, the duke furrowed his brow.
