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Chapter 04
As expected.
The temple was full of scum to the bone.
[Asking for tributes like that is really suspicious. In the end, only the high-ups in the temple benefited. What rotten people.]
I rattled off my deductions as a reader.
[…Exactly. It’s already dirty to the core.]
At that, Agasa’s voice carried a tinge of frustration.
If I, just a reader, felt anger, how much harder must it have been for Agasa to witness it firsthand?
[The prophecy we delivered… it really was about the plague.]
[Huh? So it wasn’t entirely fabricated?]
[You could call it manipulation if you want. The plague came from the temple—they secretly gathered people in the Grand Temple, treating them like livestock in unsanitary conditions, which caused the disease. The temple created the plague, and then they used it to extort more money.]
[Insane…]
[We chose devout and honest people to deliver the prophecy, so it wouldn’t be corrupted. So that the former emperor could have ways to prepare… But it didn’t end well.]
They were worse than what the book had described. At this point, it was less a temple than a criminal syndicate.
How unjust must the gods have felt?
[Dorothy. We are too weak right now to interfere in human affairs. All we can barely do is prevent massive natural disasters.]
[What truly awful people.]
[Right? So, Dorothy…]
Agasa’s voice, previously heavy, softened into a gentle tone.
[I have a request.]
The situation was dire, yet somehow it felt unsettling.
From everything I had heard, it seemed likely that the request would be something I couldn’t handle.
[You must convey our story to the emperor.]
[Huh?]
[You need to persuade him to understand us. Tell him we’ll even help overturn the temple. So let’s heal the empire together.]
[Are you seriously asking me to speak to the emperor one-on-one and convince him?]
[Yes. Dorothy. Only you can do it.]
[What? No, my hearing must be off. I didn’t catch that.]
The emperor was a saint to his people, but merciless to anyone considered an enemy. He didn’t hesitate to kill evildoers, which meant countless corrupt officials’ heads were displayed across the empire.
And on top of that, he was brilliant—strategic in politics, willing to sacrifice for his goals, outwardly charming yet trusting no one. He was stubborn too.
[Dorothy. I’m asking you.]
[I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that!]
I desperately ignored her and climbed onto the bed.
The situation was pitiful. I wanted to help.
Since I had decided to survive by relying on the gods, I wanted to assist in some way.
But the emperor? The emperor?!
It was practically walking to my death. I was supposed to team up with the gods to survive, not march straight into danger.
Better to sleep through it.
[Dorothy.]
I tried to ignore Agasa’s voice, spreading my blanket and lying back.
Then.
Crack,
Bang.
“Ahhh!”
The bed collapsed beneath me.
“Agasa… could it be… the gods…?”
[…Uh, our knight captain got a little angry.]
Of course, gods were temperamental.
How hot-blooded do you have to be to break a bed?
[We didn’t intend to break it; we were just angry…]
[Then why did it break…?]
[Because Dorothy resonates with us, our divine power manifests. It’s strong, like the power we used to have… We’re all shocked.]
So even without intention, it happened “because of me,” “because of my nature.” Even though their divine power had weakened, the old strength appeared!
[We really didn’t mean it. Sorry.]
If one gets angry like this, what would happen if all eight got mad?
Even worse. I felt my life could be at risk if I didn’t cooperate.
“Okay, okay.”
Just don’t kill me.
[I’ll cooperate.]
[Dorothy…! Sob. Thank you. If divine power disappears, we might vanish. And if the gods vanish, that’s a huge problem.]
Honestly, I wouldn’t mind if the gods vanished.
I, who fed on misfortune, had become somewhat cynical.
[If we vanish, the spirits come next. The mountains, water, wind. If those who govern nature disappear, everything will collapse. Animals die, insects, plants… humans slowly wither away.]
Images of streets swept away by floods and burning mountain ridges flashed in my mind.
Far worse than gods going rogue.
Because this is a romance-focused story, the empire’s post-reform fate wasn’t detailed.
So there was no way to know the outcome for the gods or the empire.
But if the gods were correct, after the emperor’s victory, a massive natural disaster would have wiped out humanity.
[I’ll do my best!]
I had to stop the gods from cursing, and prevent them from disappearing. Either way, I was likely going to die.
So I nodded reluctantly.
[Ambitious! Good! Once you convince the emperor, I’ll help you live happily from then on.]
[Happily? How?]
[What do you want? Wealth? Fame? A handsome man? A healthy life?]
The list was surprisingly bluntly worldly. These gods didn’t demand moral purity.
[I…]
Of course, all of Agasa’s suggestions were nice, but what I had wanted for a long time was simple:
To be invisible to others, even to myself.
To become utterly ordinary.
In both my past life and this new life, it was the same desire.
But helping Agasa meant a potential deal. Maybe, just maybe, I could change this cursed nature of mine…
[I… can’t think of it right now. Can I tell you later?]
Still, I couldn’t say “don’t talk to me” to Agasa’s face, so I deflected.
[Then tell me when you remember. Anything, anything! I’ll grant it. One—maybe two wishes. No murder, no theft.]
[Anything, anything?]
[Yes. Think carefully.]
[…Okay!]
[Now, gather your courage. Let’s go meet the emperor!]
Cheering me on was nice, but the latter part dampened my spirits.
[But meeting the emperor will be extremely difficult.]
The problem: I was a wanderer, not even a background character in the original novel.
Meeting the emperor? Just seeing his face would be a miracle.
[The best way is to go to the temple and declare yourself the saint…]
[I don’t want to align with the temple. The emperor dislikes them.]
[True. If we side with the temple, the emperor might avoid us.]
Avoiding would be lucky. The emperor was grinding his teeth at the temple.
The saint appearing benefits the temple, and if the emperor noticed me first, he might eliminate me without hesitation.
I needed a shield.
Not a literal shield, but something that would prevent Theodore from killing me on a whim.
For example, fame.
If enough people saw me and knew of my existence, even the emperor couldn’t remove me recklessly.
[I need to become famous.]
Solution found.
[Then I can meet the emperor, and the eyes of the public will shield me.]
“Becoming famous.” Spreading the rumor that the saint has appeared, even so the children on the street know.
[Reasonable, Dorothy! If you’re known as a master strategist in war, it would be easy… but the world is at peace…]
[War?]
Come to think of it, Agasa, as human, had been a strategist in the founding war.
Her brilliant strategies won battles with minimal sacrifice.
Her tactics became more famous than kings or generals.
She was revered as a supreme deity. That’s how incredible she was in strategy.
[Or become a priestess, known for accurate prophecies. If you become famous individually, the Grand Temple might not leave it alone though.]
[They wouldn’t.]
We considered a few options, but nothing was realistic or helpful.
[…]
Then a very familiar idea crossed my mind.
Having seen it the most in my life, I couldn’t avoid it.
[What about… fortune-telling?]
[Fortune-telling? What’s that?]
Agasa asked, confused.
Mom… the daughter who resisted so fiercely ends up becoming a shaman.
