Chapter 2

After finishing the calculation quickly, I smiled brightly. It was a smile that Lily had praised as a very ingenuine, business-like smile.

“High Priest. I was taught that it’s a healer’s job to prevent allied troops from getting injured; so naturally, it is a role that deals with enemies!”

“I don’t remember teaching that.”

“I will go.”

Probably not all three-hundred gold will end up in my pocket. I don’t know how much would go to the temple, but considering the usual settlement situation, the amount left remaining for me would still be enormous.

He smiled clearly again, pretending not to notice my abrupt change of heart. Mr. High Priest, the universal truth that does not change, whether it be a hierarchal or a democratic system, is only the importance of gold.

“Weren’t you scared to go to war a moment ago?”

“The thunder that descended but a moment ago gave me a revelation from the heavens. It decreed that I should live a life dedicated to saving people.”

“……….”

The high priest’s expression clouded even further, but he didn’t open his mouth since he usually failed to coerce me into these, “missions.”

I know I said that I wanted a peaceful life without much change, but in reality, peace is only possible with money. For a person to be generous, he must have a lot of money. I can say with confidence that if I had a lot of money, I would become a saint of this religion.

In addition, if I’d had a lot of money in the past, I wouldn’t have had to suffer from assignments and exams. I could have gone to school without concerns and traveled at my leisure.

I could have been one of those people who’d linger by the window seats every day in a cafe and read books. I would have bought a building and lived a life of luxury. I really wanted to realize those dreams that I was not able to achieve before death in my previous life.

I laughed casually.

I left the office and headed to the dormitory with a light step. By the time I finished talking with the high priest, my clothes that had been wet were all dry, but I had to change into a proper uniform anyway since the customer was coming. It’s annoying, but he provides huge financial support to the temple, and since he’s the one who will be with me in the war in ten days’ time, it would be best to become closer to him.

If a dangerous situation were to arise, he would save me as an acquaintance right?

…Hm, that is, if he doesn’t kill me himself first for being an annoyance.

It was a highly probable outcome, so my hopes were instantly dashed. As I entered the room, Lily was lying on her bed and reading a book. With the rain interfering with the afternoon schedule, everyone seemed to be taking a break.

“Lily. You said you’re going to join the war efforts as a healer, right?”

I asked Lily as I slowly changed my clothes. In fact, Lily also belongs to the axis of priests with strong divine power; she is second only to me and is often requested from our temple.

Of course, only my powers had a strange origin and were able to surpass Abnel’s priests, so Lily was not technically comparable to Abnel. Regardless, in our temple her divine power was still close to the high priest’s level.

“Mhm.”

“Aren’t you scared?”

“Not really. Both the Paladin’s and the Imperial Knights’ generals will be with us. And we really don’t have to worry too much since us healers will be quietly hiding in the camp behind them. Besides, healers aren’t the targets from the enemy’s standpoint.”

I had always thought so, but Lily is very calm. I nodded, tying the buttons of the priest’s uniform with my arms in place.

In fact, not all priests can use healing powers. Being a priest itself can be done through a simple examination by registering at the temple. Although, if you have divine power, you gain more authority, and if your divine power allows you to heal, you are called a ‘healer’ and are treated as a treasure.

Of course, priests aren’t the only healers. It is also possible for magicians to use healing magic; however the the proportion of healers who are priests is overwhelmingly higher than healers who are wizards.

Beyond this, there is even further specialization among healers who have their own organization. If you’re accepted, you can join this specialized healer group, known as, “Gloria.” It would allow you to leave the temple and become an official healer belonging to the empire.

And joining Gloria to become a healer of the empire is Lily’s aim.

“Besides, it would be good experience to help me apply for Gloria, don’t you think?”

“I can’t believe it. Even this place encourages you to bulk up a resume.”

That same gaze from when we were doing laundry earlier, asking why I even bothered to become a priest, returned to her eyes. But I felt very sorry, and looked back at her with sympathy. From Lily’s point of view, why does this feel like an extra curricular activity or an imperial internship…..

Later, she may even work the war into her resume under the pretext: ‘Experience overcoming the hardships of life.’

“Are you going to join, too?”

“Yeah. I’d never miss an opportunity for 300 gold.”

“…….Well, you are about the money.”

Lily was going out for skill, and I was going out for money. Both are a little sad for some reason, but there was nothing particularly wrong about it, so I shrugged calmly.

Lily used to try to convince me to go into Gloria with her, but if I were to actually get in there, I’d become even busier than I am now, and I’d have to travel the entire empire, so it’s not that appealing to me.

Of course, getting a lot of money is pretty appealing, but what I’m looking for is not just a lot of money, but also staying away from hard work.

“Are you really determined to become a bum when you have those abilities?”

“Lily, everyone dreams of being rich and unemployed.”

Doesn’t everybody think about it at least once? A kind of situation where if you just stay in a 10×10 room for one month successfully without leaving, with food, electronics, and utilities supplied of course, then you can win $100,000. Would you accept it? It seems that 100.1% of people would say yes.

Or, maybe something like choosing between two options. If you choose button A, you have a 50% chance of getting $10 billion, but if you choose button B, you have 100% chance at $1 million. Which would you choose?

I could feel my mind wandering to strange places at this point, but fortunately Lily broke into my train of thought.

“Did you sign the application correctly? You didn’t write it strangely like last time did you?”

“Father Timotheo watched me. And I made that mistake years ago, how’re you still teasing me about it?”

“How could I forget the time you almost couldn’t participate in the capital’s religious festival because you spelled your own name wrong?”

Ugh, just forget about it already. When I turned my eyes to her, Lily laughed playfully. Hmph, your concern is just a pretense to laugh at me, right?

I am mostly called, ‘Renée,’ within the temple, but the my full name is, ‘Renesha.’ There is a very sad back-story here. It was when I first came here as an orphan, and the priest asked me what my name was.

I didn’t know the real name of the body I entered, and I couldn’t say my true name, so I just stood there blankly, making the priest look at me with sad eyes and offering to name me himself.

But I shook my head, explaining that I wanted to name myself; since I decided to enter the temple, I wanted to become a new person. Seeking justification with those words, the priest was touched.

However, that wasn’t the real reason. It was simple; since I had entered a fantasy world, at the very least I wanted a cool name! Like a ‘create-your-own-character’ game.

So I thought about it for three days. Looking in the mirror, staring at the grayish pale brown hair and green eyes, I wondered what would suit this face.

As a result, I named myself, ‘Renesha,’ which seemed to suit me.

Now that I have become a priest, ‘Renesha Elnur,’ is my full name.

Renesha. It was a good name. Father Timotheo said that it sounded classy. But the problem was… I didn’t know anything here, so I realized it too late…That it’s ridiculously hard to write.

Of course, if you look for a name that is more difficult than mine, the empire is full of them. But that doesn’t erase my problem.

Anytime the subject of my name was brought up, Lily would laugh at me. I feel a little regretful for some reason. I knew I should have chosen a simpler name. Like Lily, Laila, no… yeah, if it was Nene*, it would’ve even been possible to have an inter-dimensional product advertisement.

[tl/n: *Nene Chicken (네네치킨) is the name of a popular fried chicken chain restaurant in Korea.]

I felt like I was running late for some reason, so I grunted while struggling to put on my gown. Because of its width, I couldn’t put both my arms in at once, so I heard Lily laughing again.

Muffled by the pattering of the rain, I could hear the faint sound of a carriage coming in the distance.

* * * * * * *

Ever since the strength of my divine powers was revealed, there have been a lot more patrons visiting the Temple of El Nur. However, even though it’s relatively a lot more than in the past, in reality, it’s still a small congregation.

Most of the nobility still seek out priests of the state religion Abnel, so our only advantage comes from our prices. We have to offer our services at a lower price to remain competitive, despite them being the same treatments.

El Nur entered an era of peace; as a result, our monetary situation became ambiguous, but fortunately El Nur acquired a great benefactor. It was the Duke of the Empire.

Cabel Willard, the successor to the Duke of Willard and the head of the Imperial Division. The title of “Duke” has not been officially inherited yet, but it was confirmed a month ago, so we have been calling him, “the Duke,” amongst ourselves.

He’s a person who was nicknamed, “Grim Reaper of the Battlefield,” from a young age because he has been at war and winning all sorts of victories, with blood continually flowing from the tip of his sword.

Such a person patronizes this temple. It’s been about three years now. So, basically around the same time I formally became a priestess…

He comes here to 'sleep.”

I was shocked at first. Why the hell…? But his enormous donation to the temple was enough to clear the question from my mind.

I just had to take care of the Duke’s bed with sincerity, without question or thought, and use divine power to relieve tension and relax the body.

However, even though my curiosity was cleared away, I could understand the reason why he came the temple as soon as I saw him. It was the duke’s dark eyes; they very clearly conveyed this man’s lack of sleep.

The eyes themselves were deep, sunken even further by dark circles, so at first glance he seemed like a totally devastated person. But regardless of his obvious insomnia, the level of intensity was too severe.

The first impression the Duke makes is a king of zombies. The pale white skin in direct contrast with black hair also made the possibility of him being a vampire likely, but it was too devastating even for a vampire.

For some reason, it reminded me of myself dying from an assignment in the past…. It gave me a vague feeling of kinship….

In fact, his situation isn’t so unusual. Many nobles go to temples for help with insomnia, as they are the only ones who can afford the luxury of using divine powers rather than prescription drugs. We’re grateful for the customer, but usually such aristocrats headed to an Abnel temple.

Abnel’s position as the state religion since the founding of the empire was so strong that it was not easy to overcome its monopoly. So, there was no one who came to El Nur for sleep remedies until the Duke became the first guest.

My best guess as to why he chose El Nur is probably that Abnel has too many people; it has both too much noise and also too many eyes. If the Duke is seen coming and going, rumors will quickly spread.

It appears that the huge donation was made along with a confidentiality clause…..

I was late to come out of the dormitory because I was talking with Lily.

“Oh, there you are.”

The Duke had already entered the temple and was talking with High Priest Timotheo.

Today, as always, his face was devastatingly pale. Every time I see him, I feel like the next time we meet he’ll be collapsed in on himself.

In fact, his condition seemed so fatigued that even standing there overwhelmed him with exhaustion.

“You’re late, Renée.”

“I apologize.”

I greeted the High Priest, and then bowed a couple of times in apology towards the Duke. In response, he only gestured with his chin for me to guide him. I couldn’t tell whether it was too bothersome to answer me or if he just wanted to sleep right away.

It was very cool to see him in a neat uniform, as if he came directly from the Templars.

I walked briskly and headed to the room prepared with the blankets that Lily would have prepared just an hour ago. It was a resting room at the end of the long corridor of the temple, which had basically been designated for the Duke’s personal use. Of course, it’s also the room where I’ll likely meet my death.

Seriously, when I first met the Duke, I really almost died. The Duke is a rare master of swordsmanship in the empire, so his sharp senses are almost as scary as his temper.

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Even when he’s resting, his reaction to any noise or movement is so sensitive that the anxiety can only be described as some sort of post-traumatic stress.

But at first I had no way of knowing that. So, eventually one of the candles lighting the room went out and I naturally moved to re-light it, but instead I almost got rammed into the wall. I managed to escape with just a stumble. That time.

Since that incident, I’ve resigned myself to sitting as still as a statue during his stay. Even reading books proved to be too much of a disturbance; when I turned to flip a page, the Duke’s eyes snapped open and my heart almost fell out of my chest—It would be best to spend this time in meditation.

It feels like a room with the ability to pause time and space in exchange for enormous amounts of money….