The Saintess of Calamity
The news of Olivia’s divine power verification incident at the Ashtar Theological Seminary reached even Duke Ashtar’s ears.
Yes. Up to that point, everything was fine. But when this inscrutable daughter of his somehow ended up with the Church declaring they would make her a Saintess, all he could do was let out a hollow laugh.
“Just what in the world has Olivia done that the Church wants to turn her into a Saintess?”
At the Duke’s weary tone, Katarina, standing before him, answered with careful precision.
“It seems her divine power measurement came out far higher than that of Saintess Cyria.”
“Higher than Saintess Cyria?”
Saintess Cyria was a legitimate Saintess from the Kingdom—the very heart of the Goddess Faith—and had even received official recognition from the Pope of the Holy Kingdom. It was no exaggeration to call her the strongest in terms of divine power. And Olivia possessed even greater power than that?
“Yes.”
Only recently she had been abandoned by the Crown Prince, attempted suicide, and nearly been shipped off to a monastery. Now suddenly she had divine power? Had the Goddess truly taken pity on her and chosen her?
“It is true that Olivia’s mana circuits were among the greatest in Ashtar family history, but… was that actually divine power?”
When they had tested Olivia’s mana as a child, there had been no trace of divine power. That was an undeniable fact.
“Could it be related to the change in her hair?”
“Well, those who carry Ashtar blood do tend to undergo sudden transformations. So, what does Olivia herself think about this?”
In the end, everything revolved around the new Olivia. Her opinion mattered more than anyone else’s.
“Olivia has attached conditions that the Church finds quite burdensome.”
“Even if burdensome, the Church is probably trying to show they will do what they must.”
“The Church has eaten quite a bit of humble pie over the years. To surpass both the Holy Kingdom and the Kingdom, they need a Saintess. Even if it’s a false one, they must produce one. And just then, Olivia appeared.”
In that case, it might be worth trying.
“Hmm. What conditions did Olivia present?”
“A total of seven.”
Katarina handed the Duke a note listing the conditions Olivia had imposed on the Church. After reading it, the Duke of Ashtar muttered with an utterly astonished expression.
“The Church must be truly desperate. To make a daughter who doubts the Goddess Faith itself—let alone possesses any piety—into a Saintess.”
Moreover, that Pope was a man with nothing but excessive pride. Of course he wagged his tail in front of nobles, but even so, the Duke had never imagined the man would accept a daughter who questioned the very existence of the Church as a Saintess.
“It grants them legitimacy and allows them to receive support from the Imperial Family. Above all, she is an Ashtar.”
“They can receive our patronage?”
If they gained Olivia as a Saintess, many problems would be resolved. In fact, the Church might be able to wield even greater influence within the Empire.
“Yes. Olivia intends to bring the Church under her control.”
“Well, in that case, there’s nothing to be done. The Crown Prince may favor Lily, but given her condition, it’s unclear how long this engagement will last. Securing the Church would be wise.”
He had attached Lily to the Crown Prince, but that was as far as it went. Lily’s personality and intellectual level made her lack of proper upbringing painfully obvious. Even with private tutors, she only thought of playing. Honestly, there was no telling how long it would last. If something went wrong, at the very least they needed to keep a tight grip on the Church, which had received considerable benefits from the Imperial Family.
“But was Olivia always this cunning?”
“Who knows?”
Every member of the Ashtar family had faced a turning point in their lives. Olivia must have had hers as well. The real problem was Lily. That thoughtless girl truly took after her mother. He had thought that even with a whore for a mother, proper education would improve her somewhat. But there was simply no answer.
“Will you simply leave Olivia be?”
“Isn’t it interesting? The mother controls the assassination guild, and the daughter seizes the Church. With luck, Lily will keep the Crown Prince firmly in her grasp and entangle the Imperial Family as well.”
The fact that she had gone this far without a word suggested she was that confident. In that case, it was fine to trust her and leave it in her hands.
“As expected of someone who would do anything for House Ishtar.”
“Do you have any right to say that?”
“None at all.”
Katarina shrugged her shoulders.
“Still, any other family would have sent Olivia to a monastery long ago. Rather, it seems correct to say you protected your daughter even at the cost of the family’s reputation.”
Broken engagements were rare, but not unheard of in Imperial history. There had even been families who, after their daughter’s engagement to the Imperial Family fell through, fed her poison and forced her to commit suicide.
“So in the end, it was Lily?”
“Regardless of cause or consequence, Lily is still my daughter. That’s why, even without any affection, I kept her by the Crown Prince’s side.”
He had no affection for her, but he had granted her wish and connected her with the Crown Prince. In that sense, he had fulfilled his duty as a father.
The Saintess appointment ceremony was held at the Empire’s Grand Cathedral in the Imperial Capital.
Strange, right? Yeah, I think it’s strange too. The Empire’s Grand Cathedral? Whoever named that really went all out. Anyway, this place had never had a Saintess before. If you think about it, the Goddess Faith hadn’t spread here that long ago. The Holy Kingdom didn’t recognize the Imperial Church, and the Kingdom used the Holy Kingdom as an excuse to refuse recognition as well. So I didn’t really understand the Church’s exact structure. They were basically just copying the Kingdom’s version.
In any case, the Grand Cathedral was packed with people. High-ranking officials from the Imperial Family and the Council, along with the heads of prestigious noble families, had all gathered.
And then—
“It’s truly amazing, Lady Olivia! You really became the Saintess!”
Plene and her little gang rushed forward to praise me.
“The announcement hasn’t even been made yet.”
“Announcement or not, it was obvious, wasn’t it? There’s no way that detestable Lily could be the one!”
These kids really hated Lily. Just how much had she abused her power over the commoners?
“What exactly did Lily say to you all?”
“She constantly looked down on us!”
Wow. She had her own rough times in the past, yet she still acted like that? Yeah, that girl definitely needed to be punished.
I had to comfort Plene appropriately. As the next Saintess, I had no choice but to tend to public sentiment.
“Everyone, our Empire has finally welcomed a Saintess.”
Priest Laphel stood at the front, hands clasped in prayer, and began to speak. Not long ago, a grand announcement had been made in Atelina about the Saintess’s emergence. Of course, it had only been revealed that “there is a Saintess in the Theological Seminary.” Honestly, though, everyone already knew who it was. It wasn’t strange at all. The rumors about me at the seminary had already spread far and wide. It was simply a matter of sooner or later.
“For so long, the Goddess Faith of the Empire has shed tears of blood, overshadowed by the Kingdom and the Holy Kingdom. We are the greatest nation of humanity, yet we could not produce even a single Saintess. But now, we have finally welcomed someone with divine power surpassing even Saintess Cyria, a member of the Hero Party. How can we not rejoice?”
Laphel continued with a convincingly heartfelt, earnest expression.
“Moreover, the new Saintess carries the blood of House Ashtar—one of the Empire’s most prestigious families, second only to the Imperial Family. How tremendous an event is this? Now, let us speak her name—”
“Hmph. Sister, I will be the Saintess, so know that!”
A voice suddenly polluted my ears. Of course, it was Lily. She came right up beside me and whispered into my ear. Where on earth did this girl get her confidence from?
To that Lily, I had something to say.
“Olivia Lapa Ashtar!”
The moment Laphel announced it, I turned to Lily with a bright, sunny smile.
“Yep, that’s me~”
“This can’t be. Why that woman of all people?”
Somewhere in the distance, a voice was complaining about me. Hmm, so there was a girl at the seminary who looked down on me? Unexpected. Or perhaps one of the women brainwashed by Lily’s succubus powers?
I rose from my seat and infused my voice with mana.
Yes. I had wanted to give you all a good smack at least once.
“With this, black and white have become perfectly clear. Divine power does not lie. Those empty-headed noble sons and daughters who have labeled me a villainess until now are the true evil.”
“No, that’s not right.”
The voice of the Swordsmanship Professor, who was attending the ceremony in his capacity as faculty, rang out. That man really had no sense.
And Lily was furious.
“Why does it always have to be Sister!”
Instead of always calling me ‘Sister,’ maybe she should look at her own problems.
“Honestly, I didn’t want to say this, but… do you seriously think you’re qualified to be a Saintess?”
“What are you—”
Honestly, she wasn’t.
“You know it better than anyone, don’t you? The smell of succubus is thick on you. Ugh, it stinks.”
I pinched my nose and taunted her. Lily’s face twisted comically.
“A-are you saying I made a contract with a succubus?!”
I hadn’t even said that, yet she was already feeling guilty.
“No? I just said it because you come from a whore’s bloodline. After all, people often call whores succubi, don’t they?”
“W-what did you just say?”
So she reacted when it came to insults about her mother?
“Your mother is a whore, isn’t she? You shouldn’t be ashamed. How good must she have been at seducing men for that stone-hearted father of yours to have embraced her?”
Considering Duke Ashtar’s personality, I was genuinely curious how he had ended up making Lily with her mother. I wanted to hear the story from back then.
“Have you finished talking?”
“Want me to keep going? From the looks of it, you couldn’t seduce even one man with that body of yours.”
Just what did Aslan see in Lily to get engaged to her? Her personality was absolute garbage, too. I used to wonder about that, but if she was using succubus powers, it all made sense.
At my words, Lily glared at me fiercely before immediately clinging to the Crown Prince behind her.
“Y-Your Highness the Crown Prince! Sister, she— she said this to me!”
Look at this whining girl clinging to him.
“I heard everything, Olivia.”
“Yes.”
Was he going to take her side?
“This is the Saintess appointment ceremony. Isn’t your speech a bit too vulgar?”
Hmm, so he wasn’t going to scold her over the Lily matter. It seemed his head wasn’t as broken as those of Lily’s cult followers. But so what? Was there anyone here who didn’t already know my personality? Everyone who needed to know about the Church already knew.
“Still, Your Highness the Crown Prince has some sense, I see?”
Once one belonged to the Church—especially as a Saintess—one’s status was equal to that of royalty. It was the very definition of a perfectly neutral position. Aslan could no longer treat me however he pleased like before. Of course, I was still an Ashtar young lady, but since the old me had clung to him so desperately, Aslan had probably taken me lightly. Now that I had become a Saintess, he wouldn’t be able to act recklessly.
“I don’t take Lily’s side every single time. Lily. You are my fiancée. Therefore, even if you could become a Saintess, you must not.”
Aslan calmly persuaded her and gently embraced Lily from behind.
“Even so—”
“This child wants to take anything her sister has. There’s nothing to be done about it. She’s a thoughtless child. And soon, she will bring turmoil to Atelina. She is the child who will drag House Ashtar’s reputation through the mud. In contrast, Olivia has become a Saintess and will restore our family’s fallen honor.”
“If Sister has it, then I, her younger sister, should have it too!”
“Just how much of an inferiority complex do you have toward our bloodline?”
That was why she wanted everything I possessed.
“What did you say?”
“I’m not wrong, am I?”
Otherwise she wouldn’t be rushing to steal what was mine.
“Then, we will now hear from the Pope of the Imperial Goddess Faith.”
A moment later, Priest Laphel yielded the floor to the Pope and quietly stepped back. A rather plump man ascended the platform.
“Olivia Lapa, Ashtar. Come forward.”
“Greetings, Your Holiness.”
The Pope’s impression was exactly that. A pot-bellied man with a rather sly-looking face. At first glance, he looked like the type who spent every night with women by his side, downing glasses of liquor. Of course, if he ever laid a hand on me, I planned to rip his lower half off entirely.
He whispered softly so only I could hear.
“Ahem. Although you have not received the Pope of the Holy Kingdom’s recognition, the Empire is a great power unlike the Holy Kingdom or the Kingdom. The strongest nation on the continent cannot simply bow to the recognition of a minor faith from small countries, can it?”
This guy seemed like someone I could work with. As expected, it was a mutually beneficial win-win. The Church seemed to be gaining quite a lot from this. To me, the Goddess Faith felt like nothing more than a cult that manipulated things from the shadows. Though perhaps that was only the case in the Empire. So I was becoming the formal Saintess of a corrupt religion? Once I was in, I’d have to clean up all the nuns first. I would make full use of the Saintess title.
“That makes sense.”
“Moreover, you are the daughter of the prestigious House Ashtar. Although things did not go well with Crown Prince Aslan, in the end, thanks to that, our Empire has obtained a Saintess, has it not?”
“Indeed. Wise words.”
It was exactly as he said.
“You are the future of the Imperial Goddess Faith. Olivia Lapa Ashtar.”
“Shouldn’t we finish the appointment ceremony first?”
“Ahem. Quite right.”
The Pope pulled out a note, held it at an angle only he could see, and began to read it slowly in a loud voice so everyone could hear.
“Imperial Year 1568. It has been 1568 years since the Founding Emperor opened the Armenia Imperial Dynasty and established this nation. Outside, the war against the Demon King continues without cease, leaving the borders unrestful. Internally, the people continue to groan in pain from the endless conflict. It is a truly bleak reality. However, our Empire—beginning with the Imperial Family and the Church, all the way down to the lowliest commoner—stands united against the Demon King. Thus, the Empire remains strong.”
“Of course. That is only relatively speaking. In these times when the people’s livelihood is devastated by endless war, we have longed for hope. And at last, a Saintess has descended upon the Empire. Everyone, let us welcome her with grandeur!”
Wow, he really knew how to twist words. Afterward, the Pope stood me in front of him and presented me with a custom uniform from Atelina. The base color of Atelina’s uniform was sky blue, following the color of the Moonflower. However, the Saintess version was made in white with a more refined design to set it apart.
“Then, Saintess Olivia?”
“Yes, Your Holiness.”
What was he going to make me do now?
“Do you have anything you wish to say to the participants of the Saintess appointment ceremony and to all the people of the Empire?”
Ah, that. I had something prepared.
I turned around and scanned every Imperial citizen present at the ceremony.
“I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the Imperial Family, high officials, nobles, and students of Atelina who have attended the Saintess appointment ceremony. I, Olivia, who has become the Saintess of the Imperial Goddess Faith—”
With a metallic clink, I pulled a mace from my sleeve.
“—will not forgive those who oppose the Empire. The filthy corrupt who cooperate with monsters will not be spared by my mace.”
Later historians would describe the events of this day as follows:
In Imperial Year 1268, the Saintess of Calamity descended.