Episode 83

“Bring out the orphanage priests who collected fines right now!”

The Pope thundered, pointing sharply at the booth where the headmistress and the priests gathered.

“Gasp!”

“Ugh!”

They paled, panic spreading among them as they stumbled about, realizing that this might not have been solely the headmistress’s doing.

“Didn’t you hear the Pope? Hurry up and come forward!”

The young priests prodded them urgently, leaving them with no choice.

With a face drained of color, the headmistress stepped forward, carrying a heavy pouch. Following her were the lower-ranking priests responsible for the orphanage, including the two female priests who had mocked me earlier behind her back.

‘Serves them right.’

I couldn’t resist sticking my tongue out at one of them when our eyes met.

Her face twisted into a miserable scowl, but it was soon drowned out by the Pope’s angry voice.

“Priest Loren! Explain yourself! Fines? What is the meaning of this?”

“W-Well, Your Holiness!”

The headmistress, leading the group of priests, stammered in response.

“Y-You instructed us to handle rule violators flexibly rather than expelling them, didn’t you? So, we…”

“Yes, but that applied to the adults. I told you to handle the children with care so they wouldn’t feel disheartened, not to impose fines! Fines?”

“…Y-Your Holiness.”

“And why is it that Belze was fined 50 talents? Even 10 talents is a significant amount for children, but 50?! Have you been embezzling talents in this manner?”

“Em-Embezzlement?! No, Your Holiness! Absolutely not, we would never!”

The headmistress and the priests vehemently denied the accusation, practically leaping out of their skins.

‘I knew it would come to this.’

It was just as I suspected—the fines were something the headmistress had made up for her own benefit!

After the whole mess with the wild dog incident, I realized that the Pope was at least a rational figure, which was a relief.

Clearly mortified by the disgraceful incident unfolding before the esteemed guests, the Pope’s face turned a deep shade of red as he shouted.

“Summon the Holy Knights immediately and have these people removed! Return every single talent they extorted to the children!”

“Your Holiness! Please, let me explain! There’s a reason for…!”

The headmistress pleaded desperately, but the Pope paid no attention.

A couple of priests ran out of the event hall to fetch the Holy Knights, while the remaining ones swiftly seized the pouch from the headmistress, hurriedly opening it to distribute the money back to the children.

“Your Holiness! There’s far more money here than expected…”

One of the priests hesitated, looking puzzled as he inspected the contents of the pouch.

“The total fines recorded in the ledger add up to just 80 talents… but this pouch holds well over 200 talents!”

“What?!”

The Pope’s eyes widened in shock.

As the behavior of the orphanage priests unraveled into an increasingly scandalous affair, the nobles began murmuring among themselves, their whispers growing louder.

“Does that mean the headmistress is the thief who stole the 100 talents?”

“Oh my, what a disgrace! The world is truly in decline!”

“How could such corruption happen within the temple walls…?”

The murmurs from the nobles filled the hall, and the Pope’s face contorted with rage as he glared at the headmistress.

“Priest Loren! Have you truly resorted to theft now?! How could you…!”

“N-No, it wasn’t theft! I swear, Your Holiness, it wasn’t!”

The headmistress shook her head desperately.

“Then what are all these talents for?!”

“Well, that’s…”

“Your Holiness!”

At that moment, the Holy Knights that the young priests had summoned arrived, storming into the open space.

The Pope, unwilling to hear any more, snapped and issued a stern command.

“Seize these women immediately and imprison them! They will be judged according to the laws of the temple for embezzling the temple’s funds—”

“I was following orders!”

The headmistress, who had been hesitating all along, suddenly shouted.

The unexpected words made the Pope’s eyebrows twitch in surprise.

“Orders…?”

“Yes! I was told that if I imposed a fine of more than 50 talents on Belze, I would receive an extra 50 talents as a reward!”

Her outburst threw the entire hall into chaos.

Theft was a serious crime, but if adults had manipulated an event meant for children for their own gain, the matter would be even more severe.

I immediately turned my gaze toward Marquis Barelotte.

He stood frozen, eyes wide in shock.

The Pope’s face reddened with fury.

“Who dared to give such orders in the sacred temple?!”

“That… that would be…”

“Answer me clearly, Priest Loren!”

The headmistress, seemingly resigned to her fate, shut her eyes tightly before she spoke.

“M-Marquis Barelotte!”

Her revelation brought a chilling silence over the hall, as if cold water had been poured over the crowd.

And it didn’t end there. The headmistress continued with more revelations.

“It was Marquis Barelotte who gave me those instructions! He also gave me the additional 100 talents later on!”

“Sh-Shut up—!”

The Marquis, panicked by the sudden attention, clumsily tried to deny it.

“I-I only gave you 50 talents! What nonsense are you spouting?!”

But it was a grave mistake.

‘He should have just played dumb and claimed it was a setup. Tsk tsk.’

I clicked my tongue as I watched the Marquis dig his own grave.

“What do you mean, Your Lordship?”

The headmistress, now emboldened, glared at the Marquis in disbelief.

“You’re the one who came to me right before the event ended and handed me the extra 100 talents! I tried to refuse, saying it wasn’t necessary, but you insisted! You were adamant!”

“Lies! When did I ever do such a thing, you thief?! You stole the money, didn’t you?! You must have had one of the other maids swipe it when you took the initial 50 talents from me!”

“Oh, my goodness! Who’s the liar here?! Look at him, denying everything without batting an eye!”

The argument between the Marquis and the headmistress grew increasingly heated.

Their expressions both seemed genuinely aggrieved, making it difficult for the onlookers to discern who was telling the truth.

But that was to be expected.

Because the one who had actually delivered the 100 talents…

Was me.

‘Well, technically, Ismail was the one who brought it over.’

I allowed myself a secretive smile, recalling the events that had taken place just before the end of the event.

* * *

“Didn’t you come here to participate in the event today? You’ll regret it if you realize what I can do.”

“I can make you a Saintess.”

“So, listen to me, Belze.”

 

That was what Ismail said to me, looking straight into my eyes.

As his words echoed in my mind, almost as if he was whispering right into my ear, a sudden flash of bright light filled my vision.

Flash!

The light faded, and when my vision cleared, Ismail was standing right in front of me.

 

“So, are you going to do what I say now?”

 

He held my shoulders gently, asking in a soft tone.

‘He’s used his power.’

I quickly realized that he had done something to me. But much to his disappointment, I felt no difference in my body.

I immediately slapped his hands away and gave him a firm shove with both hands.

 

“No way! Why should I do what you say? I have somewhere to be, so move!”

“Oof! Wh-What…!”

 

He stumbled back from the unexpected push, barely managing to regain his balance, and stared at me in shock.

 

“Why… why isn’t my power working?”

“Hey! Why are you using your power like it’s nothing? You’re such a bad kid!”

“…You treated me without asking, too.”

“I was going to leave you, but you begged me to save you!”

“…”

 

Ismail, unable to respond, hung his head, looking dejected.

I glared at him before issuing a warning.

 

“I’m leaving! If you try to stop me again, you’re dead! I’ll tell everything to Grandpa Gordon!”

 

As I turned to leave, Ismail called out desperately.

 

“I-I wasn’t using it with bad intentions!”

“…”

“I told you, I wanted to repay you. I was just trying to help you…”

“…”

“I wasn’t lying when I said I could make you a Saintess! I can make sure you earn a lot of talents! Or… I could make Diana’s talents decrease instead?”

 

I paused mid-step at his last words.

I didn’t care about earning more talents. I had already made plenty with my own abilities.

But the idea of adjusting Diana’s talent count… that was tempting.

 

“…How?”

 

I glanced back at him, and Ismail, looking a bit nervous, replied.

 

“Well… I can control people.”

“Control?”

“Yeah. Only for a short time, but… if they hear my voice, they do what I tell them. Earlier, I even made one of the guys who hit me wet himself in front of everyone.”

“Ew, gross…!”

 

Control powers? It was a startling revelation!

As I looked at Ismail with wide eyes, an idea suddenly struck me.

 

“Then… will you do what I tell you?”

“What are you going to ask me to do…?”

“So, like, if you go to Diana’s booth, there’s this really ugly, fat guy called Barellutte.”

“His name’s Barellutte?”

“No, it’s Barellotte!”

“Barell… lotte?”

“No! Barell! Lotte! Looootte!”

“…”

 

It seemed like I had a plan in mind, and the gears in my head started turning as I considered how to turn this situation to my advantage.