🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 9
“I’ll definitely succeed and make things easier for you, Priestess.”
In her previous life, by the time she had achieved success, this orphanage had already disappeared.
Priestess Marceria had died young from an illness after years of hardship, and the orphans who had lost their guardian had been scattered in every direction.
Marceria smiled gently.
“Don’t say things like that. If you’re happy, that’s all that matters.”
Even though Prim knew those words were sincere, she stubbornly insisted on what she had said.
After their conversation ended, Priestess Marceria picked Prim up and carried her out of the room.
But she soon stopped and smiled.
Rozien was sitting against the wall in the hallway. It was late, and the boy had dozed off while leaning against the wall.
“Rozien.”
“……!”
At the sound of Marceria’s voice, Rozien’s eyes snapped open and he sprang to his feet.
“Are you done talking? All done?”
When the two of them nodded, he stretched his arms high.
Marceria watched Rozien yawn and asked,
“But have you been waiting here this whole time?”
“Yeah, well……”
Rozien scratched the back of his head, looking slightly embarrassed.
“Were you worried I might make Prim walk back herself?”
“That’s not it. I was worried someone might bother her.”
Prim stared at Rozien in surprise.
But Rozien’s expression remained completely calm.
“She’s just small and white, like a little dog, so there might be people who want to tease her.”
“I’m…… a dog?”
Prim blinked.
Only then did Rozien realize how strange his choice of words sounded, and he jumped.
“No, no! No. No, no!”
“You said ‘no’ five times. Strong denial is strong affirma—”
“Because you’re not! You’re a white skylark! A skylark! A cat! A chick!”
“Where have you ever seen a white chick?”
“It’s just that you feel like a white chick…… Ah, yes! Lily of the Valley! Lily of the Valley!”
Watching the two children bicker, Priestess Marceria smiled warmly.
But eventually, she pressed her lips together bitterly.
She worried about what would become of the boy once the girl left, but there was nothing she could do.
It was still before the morning sun had risen, but Prim gently tugged on Rozien in the neighboring bed.
“Rozien.”
“Mmm……? Prim?”
Rozien, who had been asleep, quickly opened his eyes.
Children who had spent a long time wandering the streets tended to sleep lightly and wake at the slightest disturbance.
“I want to go to the temple.”
At Prim’s whispered words, Rozien woke completely and climbed out of bed.
“We’ll have to come back soon, won’t we?”
Once the sun fully rose, it would be time for breakfast, so they needed to return before then and help prepare everything.
“Yeah. Even so.”
Rozien readily turned his back toward her.
Prim reached out her arms and climbed onto his back.
Rozien quietly yawned as he slipped out of the orphanage bedroom without making a sound.
“Up we go. What are you going to do at the temple?”
“I want to pray.”
“What are you going to pray for? To ask for help passing the perfumer exam?”
At moments like this, Prim suddenly felt as though her heart were being tickled.
The Rozien she remembered from her previous life had been a man who did not pray to the gods.
But there had been a time when even he had done something like this.
There had been a time when he had wondered whether he should pray to pass the exam.
Prim wrapped her arms tightly around Rozien’s neck and spoke softly.
“That’s not something prayer can solve. I have to do it with my own ability.”
“……”
Rozien fell silent for a moment.
Prim cautiously glanced at the side of his face.
Did I say something strange?
“……Well, but it’s okay if you pray for me.”
“Oh, it’s okay? You’re saying it’s okay for me to pray for you?”
Rozien’s back shook slightly.
It seemed as though he were trying to hold back laughter.
Prim hurriedly corrected herself.
“No, I mean, I’d like that. It’s a good thing.”
“What kind of answer is that? It’s not just ‘good.’ If I’m even going to pray for you, shouldn’t you be grateful?”
“You’re right. Thank you. I’ll make all the perfumes you’ll need, too. Even ones containing blessings that you can spray on your sword.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Then I really can become a Grand Lord, right?”
“Yes.”
Prim answered immediately without even smiling.
That was why she had returned.
Instead, Rozien became embarrassed.
“Hey, hey. Don’t tell anyone else……”
“Tell them what?”
“About our future plans. It’s our secret. Just between the two of us.”
“Okay.”
Prim wondered if there was really anything to be embarrassed about, but she did not point it out. She simply nodded obediently.
Rozien seated Prim in the very front of the temple, which was still dark because the sun had not yet risen, and then plopped down beside her.
On the altar a little farther away was the bouquet Prim had made and offered not long ago.
Prim clasped her hands together and closed her eyes.
Rozien looked uninterested, but he copied Prim, clasping his hands and closing his eyes beside her.
Feeling the bouquet’s slightly faded fragrance, Prim murmured inwardly.
Varin.
Soon, Varin’s sullen voice answered.
— It’s already been a day. You could at least have learned the prayer by now.
I’m in a bit of a hurry right now. I’m sorry. Varin, could you give me a divine revelation telling the Inquisitors to come here because Baron and Baroness Corvas are heretics?
The Baron and Baroness Corvas had adopted children from various places.
Naturally, it was not because they intended to raise those children well.
They wanted to use those children as ingredients to create fragrances imbued with evil power.
With the blood and tears of innocent children.
Why else would they have become so fixated on Prim at first sight, showering her with affection and declaring that they wanted to adopt her?
It was probably because she was a child who could provide blood and tears simply by standing up.
Otherwise, why would they want to take in a cursed, unsettling child?
They intended to use the fragrances they created to deceive high-ranking nobles and Electors and seize power for themselves.
All of their attempts ultimately failed.
Human bodily fluids such as tears and blood almost never functioned as fragrance materials in the first place, so their perfumery had effectively failed from the very beginning.
However, until their actions were completely exposed, Vianna was not the only one who continued to be sacrificed. Other children suffered the same fate.
The gods never accepted human sacrifice.
Therefore, murder carried out under the pretext of offering something to a god was, by definition, heresy.
Wasn’t that also why Yulberon’s followers had pursued Prim in her previous life?
Because she had caused people to die in order to create fragrances.
Varin remained silent.
Prim cautiously opened one eye.
Rozien seemed to be praying absentmindedly with his eyes closed, while the bouquet trembled faintly on its own.
— I, I don’t have any Inquisitors……
Ah.
Varin currently had no Inquisitors.
He did not even have any believers.
There were only Priestess Marceria and Prim.
— You know that all I have right now is you two!
Humiliation and embarrassment could be felt in the god’s voice.
Prim whispered again.
Of course I know. That’s not what I meant. I was wondering if you could ask Yulberon, the God of Justice and Pride.
— Th…… Ah……
There were Inquisitors directly under Luminoxia Isla who oversaw all the believers of the thirteen gods, including the six gods of Aiser, the six gods of Noxrak, and Varin, the god of the outskirts and the edge, the baked potato and asparagus.
But each individual god also had their own Inquisitors.
Among them, the Inquisitors under Yulberon, the God of Justice and Pride, were notorious for being the most ruthless.
The leader of those who had pursued Prim in her previous life had also been a follower of Yulberon.
With a god already bearing the words “Justice and Pride” in his title, what more needed to be said?
Furthermore, moving the Inquisitors directly under Luminoxia Isla required an order from the High Seat and legitimate evidence.
But the Inquisitors belonging to each individual god could act without evidence as long as they had a divine revelation from their god.
Just as they had pursued Prim in her previous life according to Yulberon’s revelation.
Prim knew of Baron Corvas’s crimes because she had witnessed the future.
But she currently had neither the strength nor the ability to gather evidence.
This was the best solution she could think of.
— ……My little Lily of the Valley.
Yes. Prim is right here.
Prim answered quietly.
— It’s not that I’m refusing to contact Yulberon just because I want to protect my pride. ……Well, um, ahem. The thing is, even the fact that I can give you a divine revelation right now isn’t possible simply because of the fragrance from that bouquet.
Varin hurriedly continued explaining.
— It takes an enormous amount of power to convey my will to a believer in such clear words. It really isn’t easy! Directly communicating a god’s will is a very serious matter!
Then how is it possible right now?
She had offered Varin nothing but a single bouquet.
So how was he able to do it?
