PDHTFV 15

~Chapter 15~

‘Who would have thought this gamble would work!’

It was such a relief that Aydin’s past and personality were exactly as I remembered from the original story.

Yesterday, I put on the white uniform Aydin had brought me, embroidered with the gold insignia of the Luche Knights, and stepped into the Central Temple.

For the first time since possessing this body, my steps felt light.

After passing through the main hall of the Central Temple, the road split into three directions.

The middle led to the Pope’s building and the priests of the Central Temple; the right was for the Luche Knights; the left was for other knight orders besides Luche.

Of course, I was supposed to go to the right, but I absolutely had to take the middle road at some point. There was a reason I needed to go there.

‘If I want to meet the heroine of this world… I’ll have to pass through that way, right?’

It would be difficult for now, but I vowed that I would definitely go there soon.

Until then, I just hoped I wouldn’t get summoned for anything bad.

Well, since we’re all under the same roof, maybe I’ll run into her by chance on my way in or out—that wouldn’t be so bad either.

‘Since the Central Temple and Luche are in a symbiotic relationship, I’ll probably have a reason to visit there sooner or later.’

I neatly turned my gaze from the center path and walked toward the right. I didn’t want to get in trouble for being late to work on my first day.

Of course, I’d already be labeled as a parachute (someone who got in through connections). I won’t deny it; it’s true.

But I didn’t want to embarrass Aydin, who did me a favor.

If Yushen had been the one to get me into the knight order, I would’ve just lazed around even if people talked badly about me.

“Are you Miss Montrose?”

I was admiring an enormous chandelier in the lobby of the building used by the Luche Knights, something I’d never seen before in my life.

When I turned toward the voice that called me, I saw a young man with round glasses standing there.

“I’m Taila Rosen from Luche’s medical team.”

“Hello!”

From his introduction, it looked like I’d been assigned to the department I wanted.

Taila said he was going to be my supervisor. The dark circles under his brown eyes… bothered me a bit. It meant his work was really tough.

After pushing up his glasses with his index finger, Taila chatted with me briefly and then started walking.

As I followed him… his hair, unlike the color of his eyes, was a light brown and so tangled it looked like a bird’s nest.

‘…Why does it look like he hasn’t even washed properly? Is this a different kind of department than I thought?’

Isn’t the medical team supposed to only do medical work?

I felt a little uneasy, but when I got to the medical team’s office, it seemed more relaxed than I expected, which eased my nerves a bit.

The office was a combination of general administration desks, treatment rooms, and research labs—something I’d never seen before—but the division of labor seemed appropriate.

My supervisor, it turned out, was in charge of general administration. He sat at the most corner desk, buried in paperwork. Naturally, my seat was right next to his.

‘As long as it’s not shift work, they won’t find out I don’t have divine power.’

If I’d been assigned to treatment from the start, every moment would have felt like walking a tightrope.

Taila handed me a simple, repetitive job—stamping documents—before going back to his own tasks.

Now I understood why he had such dark circles. He had… a lot of work. More than anyone else around.

‘Of all people, why do I have a supervisor who looks like he’s going to work himself to death…….’

There goes any hope of an easy job.

Maybe they assigned me to someone like this because I was a parachute.

So even here, there’s a culture of hazing newcomers, just like in Korea?

So I just kept my head down and worked. When your image isn’t great, it’s best to be as quiet as a mouse.

But as I looked around, I noticed there wasn’t a single woman in the entire medical team. Even the holy knights who came for treatment were all men.

‘I don’t think there were any women among the knights Yushen brought to the temple before, either.’

I sneaked a glance at my supervisor sitting next to me. Taila looked so absorbed in paperwork that it wouldn’t have been strange if he’d disappeared into it.

…He looked busy, but I was curious, so I figured it was okay to ask—that’s what supervisors are for, right?

‘But what should I call him?’

Taila-nim? Rosen-nim? Supervisor-nim?

If this were Korea, I’d call him “sunbaenim” or “sajang-nim,” but I had no idea what honorifics to use in this world.

“Um… supervisor-nim?”

Taila, who hadn’t moved at all, tilted his head slightly. His eyes, tired and sharp, turned to look at me.

Looks like the title I picked wasn’t wrong.

“Um… are there no female holy knights in Luche?”

At my question, his brown eyes swept around the office once, and then I heard a small sigh.

He must have been so focused on work he hadn’t even noticed there were no women.

“There were.”

“There were?”

“They all quit after a few days.”

“Why? What couldn’t they endure?”

“……”

“Was it the medical work? Or the training? Was it just too much work?”

Taila let out a sigh, adjusted his glasses, and fixed his gaze on the documents again.

“You’ll find out after a few days.”

…Is even my supervisor giving me the cold shoulder?

But that kind of thing only happens when people have the energy to haze newcomers. Everyone here looked too dead on their feet for that, so I doubted that was the reason.

By the way, now that I was actually working in Luche, I wondered if I’d ever be able to meet the heroine.

Would a bottom-rung worker like me ever meet the heroine, who’s supposed to be the strongest saint to appear once in a thousand years…?

‘Maybe I should have tried catching her on her way in and out at the temple entrance instead of inside.’

Thinking about the odds, that might have been a better idea…

But I shook my head. I knew that was just wishful thinking.

Wandering around the temple was probably faster than waiting outside.

The only downside was that the place was much bigger than I’d expected, but surely I’d bump into her at least once?

Just then, as I was mindlessly stamping documents,

“Hm?”

The once-quiet office began to buzz.

Unfortunately, my desk was in a corner behind a mountain of paperwork, so I couldn’t see the door where the commotion was coming from.

“Why are you here…?”

Judging from the hesitant voice, someone important must have come in.

It had nothing to do with a lowly grunt like me, so I just kept working, but the noise got closer and closer.

‘But… am I imagining it, or are several people looking at me?’

I rolled my eyes and looked up.

“Huh?”

The main character of all this commotion was none other than Yushen.

He was walking toward me, looking straight at me.

Maybe he was looking at someone else? I checked around, but the only person near me was my supervisor.

My supervisor seemed so absorbed in work he didn’t even care that the captain was here.

In other words, this time, it really was Yushen coming for me.

‘…Why?’

Not knowing the reason made me so nervous I could die, but the distance between us kept shrinking.

I was debating whether I should greet him like we knew each other or pretend we’d never met when—

“Captain!”

A middle-aged man who had introduced himself to me as the head of the medical team blocked Yushen’s path.

But isn’t Yushen his superior? Is it okay to just block your boss like that?

Even in fantasy novels and Korean society, it’s rude to block someone with a higher rank.

Worried that something bad might happen, I watched anxiously.

“Oh, Leher, long time no see.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be at the meeting in the Central Temple right now?”

Leher, who had just looked flustered a moment ago, was now scolding him like a child.

I stuck my head out to check Yushen’s expression.

He looked caught and awkward.

‘Oh, right. He was only mean to me, wasn’t he?’

I’d forgotten that Yushen was actually pretty soft-hearted most of the time.

“Well…”

“Well?”

“…It’s boring.”

“So you sent the vice-captain instead this time?”

Yushen avoided the question and rubbed the back of his neck. Looks like what Leher said was true.

And it probably wasn’t the first time he’d been caught sneaking off.

‘He’s secretly pretty irresponsible.’

Serves him right. Watching the guy who acted like a raging beast with me get flustered up close was so satisfying.

But there were too many people watching, so I just pretended to cough and laughed quietly.

Then Yushen spoke again.

“…Leher, I sent Winter in my place this time for a good reason.”

“And what reason is that?”

“The new recruit.”

Chill—

The moment the word left Yushen’s mouth, dozens of eyes turned to me all at once. The chill ran down my spine and I shivered.

“Miss Montrose?”

“Yeah.”

“I was planning to introduce her after the meeting anyway.”

“There’s a reason I need to meet her as soon as possible.”

With just that one sentence, the mood in the room subtly shifted. Even I thought that line could be misunderstood…

But now wasn’t the time to worry about that.

After finishing his sentence, Yushen gave Leher a slight smile and strode straight toward me.

“Miss Montrose, we have something to discuss, don’t we?”

“……”

Yushen was being unusually gentle, and for some reason, it felt like I’d gotten on my boss’s bad side on my very first day.

I had no idea how I was supposed to respond.

“Shall we go?”

“Yes!”

But if I hesitated any longer, I’d only draw more attention.

Quickly sizing up the situation, I jumped up from my seat.

Because of Yushen, everyone was staring at me, and the attention was so overwhelming that I wanted to get out of there as fast as possible.

I hurried out of the office like I was escaping, and Yushen quickly followed.

I wanted to ask what he was up to right away, but there were too many knights in the hallway, so I kept my mouth shut.

Yushen walked ahead without a word.

It seemed he wanted me to follow, so I kept my distance and trailed behind. Every five steps or so, another knight greeted Yushen.

Well, he is the captain, so that made sense. But still…

‘But why are all of them giving me those weird, meaningful glances as they look at me behind Yushen?’

It wasn’t exactly an unpleasant feeling, but… how should I put it? Creepy, maybe? Like there was some secret among the knights that only I didn’t know about.

Yushen must have sensed it too, because he cleared his throat and shot the passing knights a look as if to tell them to stop.

Honestly, I wished he’d just hurry up and go somewhere. Where on earth was he taking me?

I closed the distance and whispered quietly, just loud enough for Yushen to hear.

“Where are we going?”

“Somewhere with no people.”