The Empire Is a Money-Giving Machine (1)
Raphael spoke those four sentences and then faded away like smoke right before everyone’s eyes.
The observers who had witnessed the scene all stared at one another in shock. Then they began offering prayers of gratitude toward the angel named Raphael.
“Oh my god.”
“Lord Raphael…”
“Thank you for answering our prayers…”
“May the Empire enjoy eternal glory…”
A few of them even wept. After roughly ten minutes of prayer, they all disappeared.
The Sealed Angel has gained 20 Faith.
Wow. So this is what sincere prayer feels like?
If I manifest every once in a while and speak, my Faith is going to shoot through the roof.
I said all that, but there’s no way Ian can’t heal him, right?
…Ian, you can do it.
Hurry up and fix him, then squeeze every last coin out of the Empire.
Who was there to listen to Raphael’s own prayer? While she was busy praying, Ian was sound asleep. Could that boy truly bestow grace upon the Empire?
The next morning, Ian headed for Class S. Thanks to the consecutive duels she had fought the day before, the princess had risen to rank two. The moment Ian appeared, every student in the class grew wary of him. They had seen his power with their own eyes. Ian ignored their stares and walked straight up to the princess. She simply stood there, watching him approach. Finally he stopped in front of her.
“Princess, may I speak with you alone for a moment?”
“How dare you plot something against me…!”
“Princess, cut the nonsense. This is about the watchers you sicced on me.”
“Nonsense, you say… Very well, let’s talk in private.”
The princess and Ian left the classroom and moved to a secluded spot.
“So. What do you want to tell me?”
“I really am a healer, so please stop investigating my background and tailing me.”
“…! Hmph. You have sharp eyes. But why reveal to me that you’re a healer?”
“Because I know the relationship between the Empire’s bloodline and healers.”
“You… Who exactly are you?”
The princess drew the sword at her waist with blinding speed and pressed the blade against his throat.
“I was told you were an orphan. How do you know classified information about the imperial blood?”
“Answer me!! Ian!!”
That was classified…?
Damn it, Master… You should have told me it was a secret!
Ian’s mind was in chaos and he couldn’t speak.
“You refuse to answer?”
“Shadows! Bind this boy!”
Srrrk— From the shadows that had been invisible in the dim corner, figures dressed in black emerged and began to surround him. One of them, clearly a watcher, looked at Ian and muttered.
“The blessed one…?”
The princess heard it too and frowned.
“The blessed one? What does that mean? Shadow, where did you hear such a thing?”
The shadow who appeared to be a watcher recounted everything that had happened the previous day in detail. At first the princess refused to believe it, but when she learned that several watchers had experienced the exact same symptoms and that every one of them had felt a divine power strong enough to prickle their skin, she accepted that they had truly encountered an angel.
“…I see. You shadows would not lie to me.”
“An angel… It is said they went extinct long ago… I must look into this.”
“Shadow. Where did you see this angel?”
“Reporting! In front of the angel statue in the plaza!”
“Isn’t that the place where Ian always prays in the evening?”
“Ian. Is the place you pray the spot in front of that statue?”
Ian, still dazed, barely managed to answer.
“Y-yes. That’s where I pray.”
“Hmm… Then let’s go there. I will see it with my own eyes and decide.”
Step, step. The angel statue stood nobly in the center of the plaza, a sword in one hand and medicinal herbs in the other, gazing down at all the students. The princess stopped in the middle of the square and spoke.
“Angel. Are the words you spoke true?”
“I asked whether it is true that you blessed someone named Ian so that he may heal His Majesty the Emperor.”
……
“There must not be the slightest falsehood in what you said.”
……
“You will not answer…? Then I will smash you to pieces.”
Ian turned pale and tried to stop her. The princess had already wrapped her entire body in aura and was charging at the statue. Before he could intervene, she drove an aura-clad fist straight toward it.
At that instant, an alien energy poured from the statue, annihilating the aura. The princess’s hand struck the stone and blood sprayed from her knuckles.
“Kuaaaaaagh! What the—!”
She clutched her hand and screamed. Then she rounded on Ian.
“Ian… what exactly is your connection to that statue?”
“The energy that came from it was unmistakably similar to the power that erased my aura.”
“Speak clearly, Ian! What is that statue? What secret are you hiding?”
Ian remained silent, simply watching. The furious princess released her aura once more to strike him—when suddenly the statue began to glow. A warm, gentle light flooded the entire plaza. The princess looked around, then down at her injured hand.
“The imperial blood is supposed to nullify all supernatural abilities…”
“So this is divine power…”
She murmured as she stared at her completely healed hand. Ian gazed at the statue in astonishment.
“Master…”
“…? Ian, did you just call that statue ‘Master’?”
The princess had not missed his mutter. As she moved to press him again, a voice rang from the statue.
“Princess. Why do you oppress a fellow student?”
“…! It really is… an angel…?”
“Yes. I am Raphael, the angel of martial might and healing. Princess Belinda, why do you oppress a fellow student?”
The princess was stunned by the angel’s question, as though she had never imagined it.
“I commanded that the Emperor be healed through Ian. Yet you, Princess, oppress and suspect the very one who heals.”
“Ian, I retract the order I gave you.”
The princess slammed her forehead to the ground.
“No!! Please, have mercy… bestow your mercy… mercy upon His Majesty the Emperor…!”
“Very well. In return, grant one wish that Ian desires.”
“Now the Emperor shall regain his health.”
No further voice or light came from the statue. The princess, still unsure whether what she had experienced was real, spoke to Ian in a daze.
“Ian… I won’t ask for the details. Please heal my father.”
“…Yes, I understand.”
“And if there is anything else you desire, speak. I will grant it all.”
As though he had been waiting for those words, Ian held out a small book to the princess.
“Hm? What is this book?”
Ian beamed.
“I want everything listed in this book.”
“…..? Ian…?”
“Yes, Princess! Please say it!”
“You… want what’s written in this book?”
“Exactly! Surely the princess isn’t saying she can’t manage it, right?”
Ian began to prod at her pride.
“I believe in you, Princess. Just so you know, I only accept payment in advance.”
“Y-you… insane…”
The princess fainted on the spot. All because of the book Ian had given her. It was a devilish catalog filled with every kind of jewel, accessory, delicacy, magic tool, and, on the final page, the Dragon’s Heart. The malicious intent to wring the Empire dry practically dripped from its pages. Overwhelmed by the combination of Ian’s “beautiful” personality and this demonic book, the princess collapsed. The shadows who had been watching emerged, carried her to safety, and looked at Ian as if he were filth.
Raphael, who had been observing the entire scene, thought:
Ian, that’s it! That’s the one!
My boy… you’ve grown so well…!
I never imagined you’d write down everything you wanted and hand her the whole list.
But the divinity… it’s such a waste I could cry!!
It had been spent the moment Raphael spoke to the princess. When the princess tried to shatter the statue with her aura, Raphael had unconsciously activated a skill from her previous life. She had come dangerously close to truly dying. Only then did she realize that even as a statue she could still use her old abilities. She had employed her power to heal the princess, a divine force strong enough to ignore the girl’s special constitution. It seemed that ascending to angelhood had elevated the very quality of her divinity.
Everything had been fine until that crazy kid Ian called her “Master” and threw her into confusion. At that exact moment, a window appeared.
You can transmit your voice by expending 1 Divinity.
Will you use it?
Remaining Divinity: 70.
Left with no choice, she spent the divinity to project her voice. The situation seemed to have calmed for now, but what was she supposed to do about those children…? The students who had been dueling in the plaza had all turned their attention to the statue. In the process of healing the princess, she had accidentally healed every single one of them as well. Thankfully it seemed her voice had not reached them, but the students who had received the healing were now approaching the statue with overwhelming interest.
What was she going to do…?