The Scripture They Worship
"Truly admirable."
The way Cedrian looked at Audrette had changed entirely. He no longer thought of her as some lunatic of a guild master — merely a lunatic, yes, but a lunatic with qualities worth respecting.
Every word the intermediate priest named Charles had shrieked inside the reception room had carried clearly to them as well. They could see that Audrette had fabricated a false weakness to protect Morian, and that she had been trying to keep him from being shackled by a company loan.
But the information about the Temple….
Until now, Cedrian had assumed Audrette simply obtained her information legitimately, as the Temple's subcontracted guild. Yet the attitude the priest from the Temple had shown her left a bad taste in his mouth.
She's been extracting information while being treated like that?
Susanna had even told him that whenever something went wrong at the guild, they were dragged to the Temple and made to work overtime until it was done. That Audrette had sacrificed herself more than once, pulling all-nighters in the process.
Having heard all that, Cedrian no longer felt comfortable simply leaving everything to her.
Miss Lavendel shows such a responsible side as a guild master… and I've been taking her sacrifices for granted, haven't I?
Just as Cedrian was fretting over Audrette, his receiver rang. It was a number only a handful of people knew, so he picked up at once.
"Hello, Rian? It's Audrette Lavendel."
The caller, as it happened, was Audrette Lavendel herself.
"…Yes. What is it?"
"Ah, I'll soon be able to visit the Temple in person, so I called to give you an interim report."
"Hmm, visiting the Temple. I see."
"Yes — I've become an intern priest at the Temple. Now I'll have official entry access, and I can reach far more information."
"I see…."
It was information he already knew, but Cedrian hesitated before asking anyway.
"Is there any danger when you pull information out of the Temple?"
"No, I'm fine."
"Really? Nothing difficult?"
"…Sorry? Yes. Yes…."
Watching Audrette answer, again and again, that she was fine, Cedrian felt something clench oddly in his chest.
She really is remarkable….
Originally he had planned to gather information quickly at this guild and move on, but now he found himself reluctant to leave. For one thing, as "Senior Associate Cedric" he still lacked clearance for the Temple's intelligence anyway….
Leaving Miss Lavendel to handle this alone would be dereliction of duty.
He knew exactly how much she toiled to get her information. He decided he would stay by her side, help with the work, and watch over her.
"Right then. Keep up the good work."
Having offered Audrette his encouragement, Cedrian hung up the phone and resolved to remain at the guild a while longer.
"What's gotten into you? You're being so nice today."
Tilting my head, I hung up the receiver and set out for the Temple. Our guild worked weekdays, so I had arranged to clock in at the Temple every Saturday instead.
I worried whether this little workload was really acceptable for someone calling herself an intern priest, but Aria had readily agreed to look after me.
What endeared me to her is probably a scheme to build her own faction.
According to the original story, the Temple had four High Priests. And because the infighting between their factions was brutal, Aria seemed to have decided that I, having made a decent first impression, deserved her favor — so she could put me to use as one of her people.
With the identity card Aria had given me, I strode boldly through the Temple's front gate. Unlike my days as an outsider, I could now use the main entrance with my head held high. Of course, the side gate was still restricted to intermediate priests and above.
"You would be Audrette Lavendel, guild master of the subcontracted guild?"
"Yes, sir. A pleasure to meet you."
"High Priest Aria spoke of you. I am Intermediate Priest Olson."
He extended a hand to me, and I clasped it with both of mine, bowing at the waist as I shook it. Intermediate Priest Olson's face took on a satisfied look.
"Haha! A fine talent indeed — you'll fit right in at the Temple!"
Right. So at the Temple, I just handle the higher-ups the way I handled my black-company bosses. As servile as possible, waiting on them hand and foot….
"Today I'll walk you through the Temple's layout."
Following at his heels, I committed the Temple's interior structure to memory.
"The only building available to intern priests is this one."
Inside, there was a single enormous desk in the middle of the room, ringed by chairs.
"This is where you'll work."
"…Yes, understood."
No dividers whatsoever. Genuinely the worst possible seating arrangement….
"There are no assigned seats, so sit wherever you like if you need to."
"Yes, sir."
"The truth is, intern priests aren't yet considered to have reached the stage where they can carry out the Temple's true work, so you'll begin with the study of doctrine."
"Studying doctrine…? You mean the Prophet's Holy Scripture?"
"Yes, precisely that."
That's what the Crown Prince mentioned! To learn more about the scripture, I made my eyes shine.
"Would I be able to see the actual scripture itself?"
"The original scripture is on display in the museum at the center. Interns may view it only from a distance of five meters."
"Yes, sirrr."
"The scripture is written in a mysterious script, and deciphering it was an immense undertaking. Fortunately, through linguistics we mastered the patterns of the letters and achieved a measure of interpretation. Even so, there remain many passages that our ignorant level of understanding simply cannot grasp."
Something suddenly surfaced in my mind.
Hold on. In romance fantasy, when there's a mysterious script… it's practically the unspoken rule that it's Hangul, isn't it?
In which case, I would be able to read that scripture!
And the Prophet might be Korean!
Given how these stories go, it could be the diary of a Korean who crossed dimensions into this world long before me — or, wild as it sounds, the original novel itself….
The moment the orientation ended, I decided, I was going straight to see the scripture.
"Intern priests first learn the doctrines of the scripture and are then examined on them. Only those who fully comprehend the doctrine may become junior priests. From intermediate rank onward, one may even take part in interpreting the doctrine directly."
"What sort of people are the High Priests?"
"Those who have drawn close to Miracle itself."
"You mean the Grand Priest's ability?"
"Yes. Those ones have experienced that Miracle firsthand…."
It was an ominous, loaded remark, but I paid it little mind. What mattered to me right now was the true nature of the scripture.
"So while I'm here, I'll be studying doctrine — is there any other work I should be doing?"
"It's not as though intern priests have no duties at all. What would an intern's duties be, I wonder? Why, that too is part of the doctrine."
"…Emptying the trash? Cleaning? Photocopying documents?"
"Oh!"
Intermediate Priest Olson turned to me with an expression of genuine astonishment.
"I suppose living by the Temple's doctrine comes naturally to you, being from a Temple subcontract! Precisely correct!"
"Th-thank you, sir."
I had no idea what this so-called Temple doctrine actually contained, but apparently treating it all like a black company's upper management was the way to go.
Once Olson's tour concluded, I headed for the central museum alone.
"This place is pretty grand…."
The Temple priests must have long since grown used to it — I was the only person in the central museum.
At the center of the hall, a single book stood on display inside a glass case.
I wanted to get close, but someone might appear at any moment, so I resolved to keep to the intern priest's mandated five meters.
"So that's the scripture…."
Squinting, I glared at the book — and cocked my head.
"…Wait. What?"
I knew that book.
The title letters were hard to make out, but the cover was familiar.
"No way."
It can't be. Any sane person would say that's impossible.
But the design was far too familiar.
And when I strained my eyes to their limit, the book's title faintly came into focus.
Impossible.
The title of the book revered in this world as the 'Prophet's' 'Holy Scripture' was as follows:
Park Geo-seong: Starting the Glorious Second Act of Life
The Prophet worshipped by the Temple was none other than Mr. Park Geo-seong, president of some no-name little company. This absolute lunacy.