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Chapter 8 …
Secrets Suddenly Popping Out
“W-Who are you?”
The moment the hut’s door opened, I was slightly startled. Warm air rushed out from a house so shabby it looked ready to collapse.
How could it possibly be this warm in the middle of a blizzard? In a house this small? Impossible. This was clearly—
“Magic….”
One of the knights muttered behind me.
Right, this was magic cast by a mage. Protection from the cold and heating magic too, layered together so carefully. Kind and delicate.
As expected of the care suitable for a princess and saintess.
And the woman who emerged from that tiny house was equally unusual. Elegant and beautiful. Her face practically had “born noble” written across it.
If this woman wasn’t Pythia, then what was I, a peasant’s daughter?
I stepped forward past everyone else, removed my hood, and bowed according to court etiquette.
“Arian of House Danyer greets the Head Priestess.”
“Ah, the daughter of the chamberlain. You resemble your mother.”
Excuse me?
My expression froze instantly. In our family, being told you resembled my mother was not a compliment.
What was that supposed to mean? That I looked terrifying? That I looked capable of grinding someone’s soul into minced meat with words alone?
As I stared at the Head Priestess in confusion, she smiled softly.
“Louise is truly beautiful.”
“Ah, ah. Thank you, Head Priestess.”
Ah, beautiful….
Mother really was beautiful. And I did resemble her.
Ah, but strangely enough, I’d never once looked at Mother and thought “beautiful.”
My brothers were probably the same. The only people I had ever seen describe our mother as “beautiful” or “lovely” were Father and Grandfather on Mother’s side.
That’s right—even Grandmother never said things like that.
The woman before me was the third person.
I couldn’t help feeling goodwill toward her. It had been a very long time since I’d met someone who praised my mother and nothing else. It was difficult to dislike someone who viewed my mother positively.
Besides, this woman was surely around my mother’s age, yet she still retained an almost pure, untouched grace.
She truly gave off the feeling of someone far removed from worldly affairs.
“Oh my, I’ve kept you standing outside in the cold. Please, come in, everyone.”
The knights and I brightened immediately and stepped forward, but the guides shook their heads and retreated instead.
Why again?
Well, I think I finally understood why Paul had acted like, “What a shame. I thought you’d become a regular customer, but it seems you’ll only be a passing traveler.”
He must have decided I wouldn’t be much help after entering such a poor temple.
But why insist on staying outside in this freezing weather?
Still, the two men looked absolutely determined not to enter. Even if they were peasants, leaving them standing in a blizzard felt too cruel.
If I ordered them, they would come in, but seeing how strongly they resisted, I couldn’t bring myself to force them.
In the end, the door closed, leaving the two guides outside while only my knights and I entered the “temple”—if one could even call the hut that.
And honestly, I was shocked.
…There’s nothing here?
When Head Priestess Pythia said “come in,” she had literally only meant come in.
As I entered, I had naturally assumed someone would serve us tea.
I had imagined—no, expected—myself drinking refreshing tea suited to the image of a temple while discussing life as a disciple.
But this house had nothing.
Forget tea; there didn’t even seem to be any food.
It was to the point where I genuinely wondered how Pythia was even alive.
Seeing our confusion, Pythia guided us toward a small divine statue. It was a statue of Gerka—and unbelievably, it was a household-sized one.
Though small enough to fit in one’s palm, it still stood properly within a temple.
And this temple, though it looked like a tiny hut at first glance, stood within the historic sanctuary where the gods had ended the war—the majestic Grand Hall itself.
Like a human heart.
How could anyone enter a sacred place and stand before a divine statue without paying respect?
Did we want divine punishment?
Besides, there were no atheists in this world.
The only person who could possibly qualify as one was me, a soul from twenty-first-century Korea—but the problem was that I knew gods truly existed.
Naturally, all of us knelt and offered reverence.
And then I heard the voice of a god.
{It is Gerka.}
Was I hallucinating?
{I do think… I may have delivered a somewhat troublesome revelation.}
Definitely a hallucination.
“Somewhat”? What kind of shameless god says “somewhat”?
{…To assist in the completion of this revelation, I intend to offer convenience. I shall grant you one necessary ability. Anything within the scope of my authority is possible. Speak now.}
Maybe not a hallucination after all? Very godlike. Straightforward too.
I covered my mouth and moved my lips slightly.
‘Do I really have to decide right now? I’d like to think seriously about this. I want to carefully consider what ability is truly necessary to complete the revelation—’
{Now. Immediately.}
‘Is teleportation possible?’
{I am the god of wisdom and learning.}
‘Then maybe duplicating money.’
{Do you believe that has anything to do with wisdom and learning? If your next request is not proper, this offer will be withdrawn.}
Strange.
Rather than a god, this felt more like a workplace supervisor.
I’d never worked a full-time job, but I had done part-time work before. My manager’s tone had been exactly like this.
Anyway, what kind of ability could the god of wisdom and learning even grant?
Prophecy? No, there was a separate god for prophecy. So that wouldn’t fall under Gerka’s authority.
I suddenly realized something.
Gerka was useless.
How could a god be this incompetent?
After thinking hard for quite a while, I finally came up with one ability Gerka might actually be able to give me.
If I hadn’t read web novels back in twenty-first-century Korea, I never would have thought of it.
‘Let me see statuses. Extremely detailed versions.’
When I finally opened my eyes after praying for a long time, my vision didn’t return immediately.
As I squinted against the brightness, I faintly saw Pythia.
Ah, once my sight recovered a little more, I should check Pythia’s status first.
In the end, Gerka had granted the ability I wanted.
The reason I had needed to “pray” for so long wasn’t because I had to persuade the god to grant the ability to view statuses.
It was because it took forever to explain what a “status” even was.
Eventually, without even knowing whether Gerka fully understood, I had no choice but to trust the god’s words—“I understand. I shall grant you that ability now.”—and end the prayer.
Honestly, I doubted the god understood at all.
Still, maybe it would help somehow.
To gain the goodwill of the people of Hamilkar, understanding what others needed was important.
If I could see statuses, it would surely help at least a little.
After some time, my vision finally cleared, and the first thing I saw was Pythia.
More specifically, Pythia holding a chipped bowl.
The moment our eyes met, Pythia smiled shyly and said,
“Gerka is pleased by your sincerity.”
I froze at the palm-sized bowl she held out while delivering lines that blatantly demanded donations.
Only then did I realize what she was doing to me.
She was extorting offerings….
Pythia—the princess, saintess, and Head Priestess of this temple—was shaking down twelve-year-old me for donations?
And with this chipped bowl? After making us worship in front of a tiny household statue?
If this wasn’t robbery, then what was it…?
At that moment, I unconsciously turned around.
Those guides from earlier. The reason they hadn’t entered was probably because they already knew a bandit masquerading as a saintess lived here.
I couldn’t fight with Pythia.
Not because she was a saintess. Not because she was a princess. Not because I had to survive here for years. Not because I needed her support.
But because there was no greed in her face.
She genuinely looked as though receiving this was only natural.
This was probably how she had managed to survive.
It must have been the only way for her to stay alive atop this mountain where blizzards raged even in summer.
I couldn’t condemn her for this.
I could condemn the younger brother and father who had thrown her into this territory, though.
Politely, I placed three gold coins into Pythia’s bowl.
“Oh my.”
Pythia looked genuinely startled.
Of course, it was a large amount, but still—to react so openly to just three gold coins. She had once been a princess.
While she stared blankly into the bowl, I called up her status.
‘Tell me of Pythia’s body and soul, life and destiny.’
What an absurdly grand summoning phrase, I thought.
And at that moment, countless things appeared before my eyes.
[ Saintess Pythia ]
The words floated randomly in the air. I couldn’t tell by what standard they were grouped together, but some information clustered while other information floated separately.
Countless fragments sparkled throughout the space.
[ 44 years old, female, divorcée, Head Priestess of the “Majestic Grand Hall of Gerka,” saintess ]
[ Likes sweet foods and dislikes bitter foods, wants to try smoking, the being whose wavelength matches Gerka most closely ]
[ Possesses prophetic abilities ]
As I read through the lines, I suddenly froze.
Hadn’t I just passed over something I absolutely shouldn’t have seen?
I searched for the words again and reread them.
[ 44 years old, female, divorcée, Head Priestess of the “Majestic Grand Hall of Gerka,” saintess ]
Divorcée?
Princess Pythia was divorced?
Impossible. If Princess Pythia had ever married even once, there was no way I wouldn’t know.
She had never married. She had been chosen by Gerka as a priestess while still a young girl.
And after becoming a priestess, naturally she couldn’t… marry….
Wait.
No way.
Had she secretly married someone?
And even divorced them afterward?
I checked the status again.
It clearly said “divorcée.”
Not widow.
“Th-That’s not right.”
The words slipped out before I realized it.
This wasn’t the kind of secret I wanted.
I had only wanted to know small wishes or hidden lacks people carried around. Something useful for flattering and negotiation.
Then why were nuclear-bomb-level secrets suddenly popping out?!
