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Chapter 5
Even though the contract had been made hastily while I was on the verge of death, making a contract with a spirit wasn’t all that bad. More than anything, I liked the fact that we could never lie to each other.
Perhaps because spirits were beings born from the pure energy of nature and blessed by the divine, they detested lies. There had been a small incident through which I learned that.
Near the temple, there were always crowds of people, so the area was filled with stalls and shops. In the past, all I could do was pass by them, but after I started earning money, I occasionally bought snacks for myself.
Of course, if the viscount and his wife discovered that I had money of my own, it would become troublesome, so I always ate outside in secret before returning.
That day had been no different. I bought a strawberry jam sandwich from a stall near the temple, but volunteer work at the temple had been unusually busy, so I couldn’t eat it. Instead, I secretly brought it back to the mansion.
After carefully sneaking the sandwich into my room, I went to the bathroom for just a moment.
And in that tiny span of time, the sandwich vanished completely.
There was no need to ask who the culprit was. It was obviously Oriede. Strawberry jam was smeared all around his mouth.
I wasn’t really angry—more bewildered than anything—so I asked curiously,
“Spirits eat human food too?”
[I-I didn’t eat it!]
The lie seemed to have slipped out reflexively.
And the moment he said it, Oriede’s dirt-made body collapsed, and lightning struck him repeatedly from above.
Startled, I tried to stop it, but the lightning seemed to affect only Oriede and had no effect on me whatsoever.
After about three strikes—
Oriede reformed his crumbled body back into a round little dirt doll and burst into tears as he apologized.
[Waaah, I’m sorry! I ate the strawberry jam sandwich! It looked so delicious that I couldn’t help myself…! Please forgive me!]
When I asked what exactly had happened, Oriede sniffled and explained.
[S-Spirits aren’t allowed to lie. If we lie, lightning immediately punishes us. This time it wasn’t a big lie, so the punishment was weak.]
“…Then that lightning…”
[Was punishment…]
That was the explanation I received.
It was absurd. Was this normal for spirits?
But before I could marvel at it any further, I had to spend a long time calming down Oriede, who was crying because he had lied without meaning to.
Anyway, after that incident, I learned what happened when a lower spirit lied, and realized that at the very least, Oriede would never lie to me.
As such, once a spirit entered a contract with a spirit contractor, they stood completely on their contractor’s side.
Which meant that the reason I hid Oriede wasn’t because I distrusted him.
Spirit contractors were rare in this world. There was nothing to gain from a powerless child like me being exposed as one, so I concealed my abilities.
Even if I couldn’t reveal it openly, the contract with a spirit always gave me the comforting feeling that someone was connected to me.
For someone like me, who had no family, that became a source of emotional support.
‘Though Oriede can be a little mischievous.’
Aside from that, I had no complaints.
Lost in thought, I suddenly realized I had come dangerously close to the boundary of the Cursed Forest, and hurriedly stepped back, forcing myself to focus.
I absolutely could not accidentally enter the forest.
It should be fine as long as I stay outside the boundary.
But…
Something felt strange here.
For some reason, my stomach churned and my head throbbed painfully.
Standing there, I slowly looked around.
The eerie swaying trees and the distant cries of beasts made me rub my arms uneasily.
…Was it because we were near the Cursed Forest?
[Coco, over there! There’s a human over there!]
Oriede’s shout snapped me back to my senses, and I turned toward where he pointed.
The headache vanished as if it had been a lie.
There, collapsed on the ground and bleeding, was a woman.
“…Huh?”
The woman, who had her eyes shut in pain, trembled slightly before opening them.
“You…”
She tried to call out to me, but couldn’t finish speaking.
Her pupils gradually lost focus.
I immediately ran to her and dropped to my knees beside her, checking her abdomen.
This wasn’t something I could ignore like I had with the male leads.
They had been saved by the heroine when she appeared.
But this woman could die if I delayed even a little.
When someone was dying, and I had the power to save them, I couldn’t sit there thinking about novels and plotlines.
The woman’s abdomen had been stabbed by something, and the bleeding wouldn’t stop.
I pulled out the dagger I carried for self-defense and tore off the hem of my dress.
Stopping the bleeding came first.
One strip of cloth wasn’t enough, so I had no choice but to tear away more than half the skirt of my dress and tightly wrap the wound to apply pressure.
This meant I’d only have two dresses left now, but that didn’t matter.
After barely finishing the emergency treatment, I bit my lip.
Sweat dripped down my forehead.
Now it was a race against time.
“Even if it hurts, keep pressing on it. I’ll go get help—just hold on a little longer!”
Thankfully, I had left a carriage waiting nearby.
‘Is this the person Oriede meant? The one who’d be useful to me?’
Could he distinguish useful people too, not just land?
My head filled with random thoughts as I ran, causing me to trip over a stone and tumble across the ground.
Still, thanks to that, I reached the coachman even faster.
The coachman cried out in shock at the sight of my disheveled appearance.
“Good heavens!”
“Ah… I-I’m fine! There’s someone collapsed over there! I’ll pay extra, so please help!”
Even if I hadn’t offered money, he probably would have helped anyway. With a grave expression, he gestured urgently for me to lead the way.
“Hurry!”
I quickly led the coachman back to the woman.
He looked worriedly at my limp, but I wasn’t the urgent one right now.
“W-What in the world?!”
The moment he saw the woman, the coachman gasped.
He immediately lifted her into his arms and carried her to the carriage.
After placing her inside, I climbed in after her and shouted,
“Please take us to the temple!”
With wounds this severe, she’d have a better chance of surviving if a priest treated her.
As I wiped the sweat from her forehead while she let out faint groans, I silently calculated how much time she had left.
“We’re heading to the temple now, so just hang in there a little longer.”
“…Th-thank you.”
I was amazed she could still thank me in this condition.
With injuries this severe, even breathing had to be painful, let alone speaking.
“Kid, we’re here!”
Thanks to the coachman driving at full speed, we reached the temple quickly.
Just as I was about to get out of the carriage, the woman grabbed me and spoke between ragged breaths.
“…Child. Go bring Priest Ali. You must bring only Ali.”
I didn’t know why she was insisting on that.
After saying those words, she collapsed unconscious again, and I went to find Ali just as she requested.
The moment Ali saw the woman inside the carriage, he removed his outer robe and covered her face.
Then he directed the carriage toward the temple’s back entrance.
Thinking my role was finally over, I turned to leave, but Ali stopped me with a warning.
“Absolutely do not tell anyone about this.”
“Yes, I won’t.”
I honestly didn’t care who the woman was anyway.
Perhaps because I had faithfully attended the temple all this time, Ali trusted me and said nothing further before hurrying inside.
Then the woman, who had barely regained consciousness again, weakly gestured for me to come closer.
I tried pretending not to notice and escape, but Ali was faster.
Telling me to follow him, Ali began walking away, and I had no choice but to trail behind him.
* * *
“That girl…”
Watching Coco follow behind Priest Ali, Headwin unconsciously frowned.
Coco—the very girl who had harshly criticized him before disappearing like a ghost.
Every day, Headwin had watched Coco come pray in gratitude for the viscount couple who cared for her, and he had thought she seemed kind and admirable.
Different from the people who bullied him.
Even though her life seemed difficult, she never skipped a day at the temple.
That was why he’d thought maybe, just maybe, someone as kind as Coco would let him vent his feelings for once.
But the Coco he encountered had left behind only cold words before walking away.
And now she was bringing in an injured patient.
‘So she’s only like that to me and kind to everyone else?’
Headwin let out a dissatisfied breath.
Then he asked the priest beside him,
“Priest Aru, should the temple continue accepting believers who ignore people in danger?”
Though he intended the remark as a jab at Coco, the oblivious priest merely smiled kindly and reprimanded him gently.
“If such a person comes to the temple, it means they seek forgiveness. We must welcome them generously.”
But Headwin didn’t want to.
He had felt so filthy and irritated he nearly wanted to quit the temple altogether, yet someone as unqualified as her was freely coming and going.
Then Headwin flinched.
‘Could it be that cold-hearted girl thought the same thing? That I was complaining despite already being more blessed than I deserved?’
Maybe that was why she’d mocked him.
If so, she should have just said it honestly instead of being sarcastic about it.
No matter how much he tried to think kindly of her, every single thing Coco had said still jabbed painfully at his heart.
The priest beside him, meeting the gaze of the suddenly irritated Headwin, unknowingly shrank back.
Headwin brushed a hand over his face once before giving up on managing his expression entirely.
Pretending to be nice only made people look down on him, and after meeting the Pope not long ago, he’d realized the temple needed him regardless of whether he humbled himself or not.
Since he had already decided to stay at the temple anyway, Headwin resolved not to care about others’ opinions anymore.
He had told Coco that comforting words might make him stay at the temple, but the consolation later offered by Rose Russell had felt hollow.
‘Comfort from someone who’s only ever received love…’
Suddenly, Headwin realized something.
Coco’s sharp words were what had truly made him remain at the temple.
The more he thought about it, the more it felt like he might eventually understand her.
But even so, Headwin still didn’t want to think well of Coco.
At that moment, Priest Aru clapped his hands as though remembering something.
“Come to think of it, it was thanks to Miss Coco that we learned about that matter.”
“…Pardon?”
“About how difficult things had been for you, Headwin. Miss Coco even scolded me over it.”
Smiling, Priest Aru explained everything that had happened that day in detail.
The more Headwin listened, the more bewildered he became.
She’d treated him so coldly before leaving, yet behind the scenes she’d acted so considerate?
“That yellow handkerchief I gave you back then was also entrusted to me by Miss Coco.”
Thinking about the yellow handkerchief still tucked away in a drawer somewhere, Headwin clicked his tongue.
By now, his image of Coco had already soured so much that even hearing these stories, he couldn’t accept them graciously.
If she was going to act like this afterward, shouldn’t she have avoided hurting him in the first place?
And yet…
There was no denying that Coco was the reason he’d stayed at the temple.
Whenever he thought about quitting, he remembered the way Coco had ignored him, and it made him desperately want to succeed.
Her words—You’ll give up no matter what anyone says anyway—sparked an intense stubbornness in him.
He wanted to succeed spectacularly and appear before the very Coco who had dismissed him.
He wanted to tell her to her face that he had endured everything and proudly risen to the top.
Of course, thanks to Coco speaking to Priest Aru, the direct bullying had stopped…
‘Still, admitting that feels like losing somehow…’
Did I just admit defeat?
Realizing he had unconsciously accepted defeat, irritation welled up inside Headwin all over again.
* * *
“Can’t I stop coming here now?”
Ali smiled awkwardly, looking troubled.
“I have somewhere I need to be during the daytime…”
I need to inspect land.
I needed to gather as much information as possible and buy valuable land before anyone else did.
Since I was still a minor, earning enough money to purchase land outright was difficult.
No matter how accurately Oriede could identify valuable land, and no matter how much the underworld guilds didn’t care about a merchant’s identity, being underage came with too many restrictions.
As time passed, saving money would only become harder.
If I failed to establish stable income—income from land I owned rather than simply selling information—I’d never be able to safely leave the viscount’s house.
And if that happened, I might never find that child.
Time was precious, yet because the woman I’d brought in a week ago kept asking for me every time she woke up, I’d been forced to repeatedly visit the temple.
But every single time, the timing missed.
Her injuries had been severe enough that the hours she remained conscious varied wildly.
I had so much to do, yet all I’d been doing lately was going back and forth to the temple.
Unable to bear it anymore, I pleaded with Ali.
“Could you just tell her I’ll come after she recovers?”
“I’m sorry. Could you wait just a little longer?”
Ali clasped both hands together apologetically as he asked.
Left with no choice, I nodded.
Seeing that, Ali smiled gently.
Then, as though suddenly remembering something, he clapped his hands together.
“By the way, do you remember the day we first met?”
“The day we first met?”
“Yes. At the time, I wondered if perhaps you possessed divine power, Miss Coco.”
“…Me?”
The unexpected statement made me lick my dry lips.
Could he have sensed Oriede’s pure spiritual energy?
“Yes. But after watching you faithfully come here for years, I realized it had been my mistake. Sometimes the divine briefly touches exceptionally devout believers. Perhaps the gods foresaw that you would become such a devoted believer.”
Ali smiled warmly, clearly trying to lighten the atmosphere.
Feeling a little sorry for his efforts, I played along.
‘So he really did sense Oriede’s energy. I should tell Oriede to hide it better from now on.’
Just as I made that resolution, another priest rushed in shouting,
“She’s awake!”
Ali turned toward me with a bright expression.
“Come along, Miss Coco.”
Without hesitation, I immediately followed behind him.
After today, I’d never have to see her again.
And then I could finally stop wasting time here.
