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Chapter 2
Irenne looked back on her previous life.
In one word, it had been an unhappy life.
When she was young, her parents died after becoming caught up in a dungeon incident. After that, Irenne was immediately sent to an orphanage.
A priest who came there for volunteer work discovered that she possessed the power of purification.
It was an age when purifiers had become highly valued alongside the appearance of dungeons.
Irenne was adopted into the Rodiam Count’s family, the largest donor to the orphanage.
“No matter what, having a purifier around is profitable. Grow up quickly and become useful.”
The Count’s eyes were filled with greed as he looked at her.
Anyone who entered a dungeon absolutely needed a purifier who could heal wounds and cleanse demonic miasma.
Only purifiers could heal injuries caused by monsters and purify the miasma they emitted.
Because of that, the Count believed that once Irenne became an adult and formed a Pair with a knight, she would earn him a great deal of money.
However, after coming of age, Irenne’s purification rank, as evaluated by the Temple, was the lowest possible rank.
The Count, who had been eagerly waiting for her to bring in money, flew into a rage when he learned the result.
No knight wanted to form a Pair with a lowest-rank purifier.
In fact, such a useless purifier was someone people would expect to be paid to take away.
“Useless girl! At least you have a pretty face! That’s the only reason someone is willing to buy you!”
Realizing he would suffer a loss, the Count tried to send Irenne to an elderly man who had already gone through six wives.
She wanted to run away immediately, but as long as she carried the Rodiam surname, she was practically the Count’s property.
“Please give me six months! I’ll find a Pair willing to enter a dungeon with me and repay my value!”
“Who would ever become a Pair with a lowest-rank purifier like you? Even if some fool of a knight agreed, do you think you could earn back the money I spent bringing you here? And what about the cost of feeding and housing you all these years?”
“We won’t know unless I try! Please, just give me one chance!”
After begging repeatedly, Irenne managed to gain six months from the Count.
There was only one thing she could do during that time.
Find a knight willing to become her Pair during the Night of Contracts.
Then enter dungeons together and split the rewards.
There was no other way she could earn the enormous sum of 100,000 gold in just six months.
Irenne immediately headed to the fortress where the Night of Contracts was held.
The fortress was a massive stronghold built by the Allied Kingdoms in regions where dungeons appeared.
Once every month, newly adult purifiers gathered there to find knights who would become their partners and sign Pair contracts.
The event was known as the Night of Contracts.
Maybe I can find a Pair here somehow.
Holding onto that hope, Irenne attended.
Unfortunately, things unfolded exactly as the Count had predicted.
“A lowest-rank purifier… That means I’d have to share rewards while receiving no real help. I’d rather enter a dungeon alone.”
No matter how necessary purifiers were, Irenne’s power was simply too weak.
The knights all rejected her.
The few who offered contracts spoke as if they were granting her a tremendous favor.
“Well, if we only clear safe low-rank dungeons and I take 99 percent while you take 1 percent, I suppose I could sign a contract with you. And…”
The knight slowly looked her up and down before licking his lips.
“I’d like us to spend every night together. That’s probably the only way your purification will be effective. Before entering dungeons, of course—and whenever I want.”
At his demand, Irenne bit her lip.
Every Pair knew that intimate contact was far more effective than simple touch when it came to purifying miasma.
The knight was demanding what was technically his right.
But the look in his eyes made it clear that he was seeking personal pleasure as well.
And on top of that, he wanted to split dungeon rewards ninety-nine to one.
No matter how weak Irenne’s abilities were, this was little different from exploitation.
Besides…
He could sign the contract and never seriously participate in dungeon raids.
That knight could simply take what he wanted and leave.
But hesitation was a luxury Irenne could not afford.
If she rejected even this contract, she would immediately be sold to the old man.
It was then, while she stood trapped between impossible choices, that someone appeared.
Mikhail.
The Holy Knight respected throughout the entire continent.
Unlike other knights, he entered dungeons not for personal gain but solely to save those suffering because of monsters.
The only truly righteous knight on the continent.
His attendance at the Night of Contracts had not been voluntary.
The Allied Kingdoms had summoned him intentionally.
As his fame grew and he became a hero admired across the continent, they sought to restrain him.
Their excuse was simple.
If he wished to continue entering dungeons, then according to continental law, he too must find a purifier to share a bed with at the Night of Contracts.
Mikhail had only intended to show his face briefly and leave.
If Irenne had not stopped him.
The moment she saw him, she realized something.
He was the only person who would offer her a fair contract.
So she approached him and pleaded.
“Please, make a contract with me.”
Irenne begged him solely to survive.
The crowd watched with great interest.
Mikhail was a Holy Knight of the Temple.
If he accepted her request, he would tarnish the purity expected of a man little different from a priest and become someone who shared his body with a purifier.
If he refused, he would become a cruel man who abandoned someone desperately begging to preserve her future.
No matter what choice he made, his honor would suffer.
Of course, Irenne knew that as well.
But she had no other choice.
“Even if I become your Pair, I will receive no benefit from you.”
In the end, he chose to save her.
“However, to purify dungeon miasma—”
Then he immediately added in a cold voice,
“My holy power should allow me to endure the miasma somehow. Therefore, you need not concern yourself with it.”
After saying that, he turned around and left.
As if he had no need for her help whatsoever.
After that, he truly never asked Irenne for purification.
Those who had mocked Mikhail began praising him again.
And in equal measure, they directed contemptuous ridicule toward Irenne.
The woman who had stained a Holy Knight’s honor simply to save herself.
Even when she heard such words, Irenne could not argue.
Because it was all true.
From time to time, Mikhail visited her and gave her a share of the dungeon rewards.
He probably didn’t know about the price placed on her life.
Even so, the money steadily accumulated until it nearly reached 100,000 gold.
At this rate, I’ll soon be free from the Count.
And when that happened, she swore she would repay every coin to Mikhail somehow.
Not long afterward, a top-rank dungeon appeared in a dangerous region.
Many knights and purifiers lost their lives before they could even react to the attacks of a gigantic monster.
Only Mikhail survived.
Alone, he defeated the monster and destroyed the dungeon.
The problem was that he suffered critical injuries and became so heavily contaminated by miasma that he could no longer recover on his own.
That night, Irenne shared her body with him in order to save his life.
Even though he was unconscious, his instinct to survive drove him to seek her desperately.
“Ah, please… please, slower…! Ahh!”
Fortunately—or perhaps unfortunately—Irenne writhed not in pain, but in overwhelming pleasure throughout the purification.
For days, Mikhail remained unable to regain consciousness while continuing to seek her body.
And when he finally recovered his senses, Irenne clearly saw the expression on his face.
“Why is it you…? Don’t tell me I…”
Realizing he had broken his sacred vows, he hurriedly dressed and fled.
Only Irenne remained in the room where they had spent those days together.
After that, Mikhail never came to see her again.
And not long afterward, news arrived that he had been expelled from the Temple.
I… completely ruined him.
Irenne was devastated.
Even if she had only been trying to save him, that fact would not matter to him.
Meanwhile, the dungeons entered a period of decline.
It was time for knights and purifiers to dissolve their Pairs and return to their hometowns.
While everyone else left the fortress, Irenne searched for Mikhail with the money he had given her.
Now that he had left the Temple, he would have to live as an ordinary knight.
A knight as strong as him would never struggle to survive, but…
I want to apologize somehow.
She wanted to return everything he had given her.
Once she returned home, the Count would probably sell her immediately.
But that no longer mattered.
A man who had devoted his entire life to serving God had been cast out from the place he dedicated his life to because of what had happened between them.
Irenne could not imagine how she was supposed to apologize for that.
She searched throughout the fortress for Mikhail.
But she could not find him anywhere.
Then she encountered Princess Cecilia.
The same princess who had always ignored and despised her.
Normally, Irenne would never have dared speak to her.
But desperate to find Mikhail, she asked if the princess knew where he was.
Princess Cecilia let out a mocking laugh before answering.
“Do you see that remaining dungeon over there? Sir Mikhail entered it to clear it out. If you want to apologize, this is probably your last chance. Hurry and go. All the monsters have already been dealt with.”
After hearing those words, Irenne entered the dungeon alone.
She wanted to meet Mikhail and apologize.
But monsters were still inside.
And that was where I died.
Yes.
That definitely happened.
So why…
Smack!
“Useless girl! I’d be better off selling you to a merchant!”
A sharp pain spread across her cheek.
Irenne stared at the Count, who was raging in front of her.
Why?
Why was the past unfolding before her eyes once again?
