The Madhouse of Miracles
It was an absolute madhouse. Though this time, it was in a positive way for the church.
Tens of thousands of people had gathered, and most of them were naturally demanding currency exchanges with the single thought that they should buy gold first. I had to admit it was an attractive product. As long as the injury wasn’t a serious surgical disaster, it could be healed cleanly in one go. This ability would have been completely broken even if I’d descended on 21st-century Earth. Rheumatism? Why bother with metal implants? Unexplained chronic back pain? Why waste time at a clinic? A soccer player tore his hamstring? A pitcher’s shoulder is shot? Someone took a bullet? Lost a finger, an arm, or a leg on the job? As long as you’re not dead, I’ll save you! I only accept gold! Who could possibly turn that down?
“Saintess, you have worked so hard today as well. At this rate, it seems you will not need to step forward personally by the day after tomorrow.”
Out of the tens of thousands who swarmed in every single day, even if only ten percent were urgent cases, that still meant thousands of people. By letting them exchange first and encouraging immediate use of the gold the moment I minted it, we could carry out an incredibly powerful monetary policy.
Collecting currency that had flooded the market in a single stroke, then reissuing the exact same amount while preserving its full value—if that wasn’t monetary policy, what was?
“Ugh, it does improve a little more each day, but it’s still exhausting. No, forget everything else—the speed at which the crowds are shrinking is far slower than I expected.”
From the perspective of someone being ground to dust every day, it was impossible not to wonder. Endium was a prosperous city of five hundred thousand, yet after three straight days of tens of thousands pouring in, why wasn’t the number dropping at all?
“The rumors have spread to the surrounding cities, and people are flocking from there as well. It appears the news is expanding wider and wider.”
Ah, that. I had deliberately provided “samples” of the product over several days as viral marketing, telling them they didn’t need anything else—just write good reviews and spread the word far and wide. It seemed to have worked far faster and far more effectively than I had imagined. So many people were rushing here after hearing the rumors.
“Are all the spare personnel from the Great Cathedral currently assigned here?”
“Correct. The influx of funds is overwhelming as a result. This is all thanks to you, Saintess. It is clear that the exalted one looks upon us with favor.”
Thanks to that, the Church’s finances were improving at a rapid pace. More than anything else, the Great Cathedral was absorbing the existing high-quality currencies in massive quantities, so it would have been strange if things didn’t improve. On the flip side, however, the Great Cathedral was now pushing the limits of its administrative capacity. Everyone was being ground down by the endless cycle of exchanging, organizing, and redistributing the gold.
Cardinal Rondel seemed to view it as a good sign, and I somewhat agreed, but the fact that nothing else could get done because of it was a serious problem.
“The rough draft of my kingdom tour schedule should be ready by now, yes?”
“Finalizing the details will still take more time.”
“Still, you must have at least decided the first destination and the general order of visits.”
“That… we have, yes.”
He seemed to sense something unsettling. The fact that he could pinpoint it even without any prior hints proved he possessed the knowledge and intuition fitting for a cardinal. The only issue was the rigid, conservative mindset that couldn’t be helped given the era. Once I solidified my position later, I would need to pick someone bolder and more decisive to serve as his assistant.
“Release the full itinerary and schedule publicly. Post it as a proclamation, and hire town criers for those who cannot read.”
“That would expose your entire schedule, Saintess.”
“That’s exactly why I’m doing it. Won’t this reduce the number of people flocking here? Otherwise they’ll all swarm exclusively to the capital of Endium—both the people and the gold.”
“That would indeed be problematic. While I remain concerned about exposing your schedule so openly, I understand the necessity. We will reinforce the Holy Knight Order and hire additional mercenaries.”
“No, how long has it been since we even got any money? Skip the mercenaries. Instead, try to borrow troops from noble houses that would accept gold as payment. We can cover that amount with new issuance outside the original plan without causing any disruption.”
Mercenaries were expensive. These were people who ate “sword rice,” risking their lives for coin. There was no way they would price themselves cheaply. Moreover, from what I had gathered through various books, their reliability was somewhat questionable. The method to guarantee that reliability would be to hire extremely expensive mercenaries, but the Church had only just gained some financial breathing room—it hadn’t suddenly become rich. Above all, if gold was given as compensation to such a strictly limited group, even if we covered it through additional issuance, it shouldn’t disturb the currency’s value.
Nobles’ sense for money was somewhat lacking compared to capitalists, but they could certainly detect that this was real money. And right now, far more people were buying gold for savings or investment purposes than for immediate use. Yes, it was still closer to a commodity than a currency. Naturally, it would be absorbed far more easily and at higher value by nobles, who were more sensitive to such matters than mercenaries.
“Borrowing noble private troops will create… connections.”
“Those connections already exist. You haven’t forgotten that I must head to the academy in just a few weeks, have you? So let’s get started quickly. This is something that must be done.”
“Hmm, understood. However, how do you wish to handle the visit to Romano where His Holiness the Pope resides?”
“We’ll stop there, then head straight to the academy without returning to the Great Cathedral. If I’m lucky, I might even join up with the hero who is supposedly training in swordsmanship there.”
The Brien Kingdom was located slightly north on the continent. It had coastline to the east, shared a border with the Empire further north, touched the Tellaia Kingdom—which housed the Pope’s seat in its capital—to the west, and bordered the knightly nation of Bordel to the south. Since the academy sat at the tri-border point of Brien, Tellaia, and the Empire, touring the Brien Kingdom, stopping at Romano, and then heading to the academy would leave no time to return to Endium.
“Then you will only return next year.”
“That should also help thin out the crowds gathering here. During the time I’m gone, I’ll entrust everything to you, Cardinal, and the other clergy.”
After all, I wasn’t the only clergyperson. There was the cardinal, and since this was the capital of a rather capable nation, there were quite a few excellent clergy members. Now that the excessive bubble of divine power demand—created by the gold’s success that far exceeded expectations—had been deflated somewhat, there was sufficient capacity to handle the remaining demand.
“I am sorry I cannot accompany you all the way to the academy.”
“What are you saying? Cardinal Rondel, you are my most steadfast supporter. Whether you are near or far, your very existence is reassuring, so please don’t speak that way.”
Still, things were manageable for now. The royal family, though they had their conditions and hidden motives, had decided to support me—or more precisely, my policies. Even though the Church had split, they were not yet directly intervening. At least not yet. The things I had intended were unfolding better than expected. Though if I were honest, the only real thing I had intended was creating the miracle-based currency called gold.
“I will include several books necessary for your studies. As for a personal tutor…?”
“Etiquette. Please find me one for etiquette. I think I should at least know the basics.”
“As you wish. I will carefully select a former royal maid who has taught young ladies from several distinguished families.”
That should be enough. Actually, this was exactly the kind of cliché element you’d expect when someone’s gender flips upon arriving in a fantasy world. Being granted an audience with the king had been pure luck. If he had been even slightly more of a stubborn old fossil, or if the meeting had included other officials and ministers instead of a private audience, I might have faced considerable trouble. The fact that I had simply breezed through it was fortunate.
So until then, I had to keep pouring out divine power almost nonstop to deflate the miracle-demand bubble, rest briefly when I returned, study the necessary common sense for a while, and repeat the cycle. It was a forced march that would make even the worst black companies look generous.
“Ugh……”
“You have truly worked hard, Saintess. To think you continued like this until the day of departure……”
“No, thanks to you all handling things so well, I was able to wrap up cleanly. The effect is clear too—the number of people flocking to Endium has decreased noticeably.”
The news that I would tour the kingdom, stop at the Papal Court in Romano, and then head straight to the academy had caused the number of people blindly coming to Endium to drop sharply starting the very next day. Instead, I heard that crowds were now gathering at the next or subsequent tour destinations, but that was something I could handle as I passed through. Moreover, most of those planned stops already had bishops or equivalent clergy, so they should be able to manage moderate fractures locally. The miracles I would perform would be limited to the level of severed limbs or body part regeneration. No matter how poor the medical system was in this world, there couldn’t be that many patients requiring such high-level intervention. Even if there were more than expected, if I focused my power it wouldn’t take too long.
“It is all thanks to you, Saintess.”
“It is all thanks to you, Cardinal, and everyone in the Church. Well then, I’ll be departing now. Let’s meet again around next summer.”
“Yes, Saintess. May peace and safety fill your entire journey.”
Yes, may peace and safety fill it. Of course, I already knew that was impossible. The path I had chosen to walk was already far too distant from anything resembling peace. Besides, since I was the Saintess and this world had Demon Kings and monsters, eventually I would have to face them and fight directly. Thinking that, I realized I should probably build up some personal combat ability.
“Pardon? You wish to learn it yourself, Saintess?”
“I’m not asking for anything grand. Just enough that if someone attacks me, I can use the element of surprise—like how you reacted just now—to attempt one counterattack or buy some time.”
Even though we were traveling, I mostly just sat blankly in the carriage, so there wasn’t much physical exertion. The suspension was medieval, but thanks to magic the carriage moved smoothly without shaking. Therefore, even though I wasn’t particularly active, I was starting to feel restless. Since the carriage didn’t travel twenty-four hours a day, there was plenty of time for training.
“Then I will teach you only the most basic fundamentals of martial arts.”
“Ah, and horseback riding as well.”
“……Yes, horseback riding too.”
Among the escort troops, the Holy Knights were both outstanding as knights and extremely polite toward me, so although they hesitated slightly, they did not refuse to teach me the basics. Besides, I was a soul who had come from another world. Just look at the divine power. Because I firmly believed in the existence of a god, it poured out abundantly. It was only natural that my physical ability, potential, and talent would be overwhelming too! Or so I had hoped.
“Whoa……”
“Are you all right, Saintess?”
“I didn’t expect to end up like this after only thirty minutes.”
Theory on very basic stances for martial arts and elementary practice. Just those thirty minutes had drained every ounce of strength from my body and left my bones aching.
“It is like that for everyone at the beginning. Still, your basic stamina is better than I expected, Saintess.”
“R-really?”
That was true. I didn’t know exactly what kind of body this was, but it didn’t seem like one that had exercised regularly. I had hoped for more after staying surprisingly fine while walking through the slums, but this was how it turned out.
“What would you like to do? Shall I continue training you in the future as well?”
Even though it felt harder than expected, the answer to that question was already set in stone.