Saint Marygold (1)
0.
“Karma.”
He wondered what that word could possibly mean to his sister, the one who'd made the game. What the hell kind of intention had led her to shove something so dogshit into it? Why the fuck had she suddenly stolen an innocent person's eyesight?
…As if she put any thought into it. She probably just tossed it in.
He was certain of it. His sister's game directing style was to cram in whatever she felt like, whenever she felt like it. Whenever he'd question something that bugged him, her response was always, “Oh, this was here?” It was a daily occurrence, and she always acted like she had no clue herself.
Of course, Lancel hadn't given much thought to the karma stat either. Even during his tester playthroughs, he'd just skimmed past it. He only had a gut feeling that piling it up was bad news. He never did anything to accumulate it in the first place.
But Marygold had. She'd gone and done it.
She'd stacked up a terrifying 200 karma—a number even hard for others to reach—and paid for it by losing sight in both eyes.
“Life's so fucking unfair, Marygold.”
Lancel let out a deep sigh and put out feelers for her. The master of the thieves' guild, said to be well-known in the capital, came to him.
“So you're asking us to find a blind girl? Name's Mary?”
“She's definitely somewhere in this capital. I'll pay the reward upfront.”
“As expected from a bold young master. We'll nab her within three days and package her up nice.”
“Just find out where she is.”
“Ah, yes sir.”
Unlike their confident boasts, the thieves' guild failed to locate Marygold. No matter how hard they searched, she was nowhere to be found—that was their excuse.
Lancel felt a chill of anxiety. Did she croak screaming somewhere again?
Frustrated, he wandered out into the marketplace.
“Spare a coin!”
And there he met fifteen-year-old Marygold.
1.
“Spare a coin! Just one coin… Huh?”
Clink. Something fell with a cheerful jingle, and Marygold's movements froze.
She groped around the ground for a while before grasping a round metal object and bowing her head flat.
“May God's blessing be upon you!”
“……”
Lancel pressed his throbbing temple with his hand.
No mistake. It was Marygold.
Her face was hidden under the deep hood of the church commonly called the Salvation Church, but that blind beggar fiddling with the shiny golden object, gauging its value… Yeah. Definitely Marygold.
“Silver…? No, no way you'd give something that valuable. But this crest is unfamiliar. What is it? Pina, is this silver by any chance?”
Lancel watched quietly as she fumbled with it.
Soon enough, she let out a scream that echoed through the entire alley.
“G-G-Gold… Gold…!”
“Gold coin, yeah. It's gold.”
“Wh-What?”
Lancel stepped up beside the flustered Marygold.
“Imperial gold coin. First time seeing one?”
“G-Gold coin? Like, actual gold? That's way too much money for someone like me… Of course, if you're giving it, I'm truly grateful and I really need it, but…!”
Someone like me? Lancel glanced again at the emblem on her hood. Salvation Church. A small, impoverished sect.
He'd thought it was just some rag she'd picked up, but apparently not.
“Think of it as charity. I wouldn't mind getting a blessing from your god myself.”
Marygold stared blankly for a moment, speechless.
“Do we… know each other?”
“Nah, first time.”
He crouched to meet her eye level as she sat on the ground. Those brilliant emerald irises were now clouded silver.
“How long have you been blind?”
“Huh? Why do you ask so suddenly…”
“Want the gold coin back?”
“Since I was ten! Ten years old.”
Ten years old. The game's starting point. She was fifteen now, so exactly five years blind this year.
This game is such bullshit.
It was hard to swallow the boiling rage inside.
“Just curious. I'm heading out.”
“Wait!”
A small hand grabbed his sleeve in a panic.
“Tell me your name! It's my first time getting this much money, so… I'll pray for you! Yeah, prayers!”
“Prayers?”
“Yes!”
Her face lit up.
“I pray twice a day. Usually for my sight to return, but this time I'll pray specially for my benefactor. How's that?”
Lancel chuckled at her eager expression, like she was offering something grand.
“Lancel.”
The noisy street sounds drifted from afar. In an alley a bit away from the lantern-lit road, amid the stench of sewers where rats scurried between stone walls. The blind Salvation Church follower in her white cloth and Lancel faced each other.
“Lancel Dante. That's my name.”
“Lancel Dante… Yes.”
He could see something flicker in her expression, like a memory surfacing. Come to think of it, Lancel recalled she retained fragments from previous loops. His name might ring a bell.
“Lancel Dante, I will pray for you. Thank you for the precious gold coin. Thank you for this meeting guided by God.”
She clasped her hands and chanted, the gold coin gleaming like a holy relic in her grasp.
Lancel turned away after that final sight.
Got to figure out how to fix that goddamn karma stat first.
Every time he saw blind Marygold, fury welled up. He didn't know why. It just pissed him off.
2.
Fallen Lady Simulation - Schedule for the 2nd Week of June
Mon - Begging on the streets.
Tue - Cleaning and laundry at the temple.
Wed - Begging on the streets.
Thu - Begging on the streets.
Fri - Begging on the streets.
Sat - Reading prayers at the temple.
Sun - Recruiting regular donors.
※ Begging is tough, but it helps the temple.
Lancel observed Marygold's week from nearby.
“Gain grace for a single copper! Yield one meal and take God's grace!”
In crowded spots, she sat at the same time each day in the same outfit, begging relentlessly.
“What do you think?”
“Someone could snatch her up without her noticing.”
Lancel shot the guild master a side-eye. The man flinched and backpedaled.
“Just a figure of speech, sir. Scary stuff, Sir Lancel.”
“I hear your thieves' guild is full of kidnapping pros.”
“Hey now, don't lump us with those thugs. Orphans don't fetch much ransom anyway…”
Lancel ignored the excuses. He assigned guards around Marygold. He didn't want to witness her screaming death somewhere again.
“Gain salvation for a copper coin.”
Karma. How the hell do you reduce it?
Over the months Lancel watched her, there was zero sign of karma dropping—no matter how he squinted.
All he saw was Marygold begging endlessly.
Maybe give her some money?
She lived off begging, after all. With enough cash, she'd have more options.
Decision made quick. Just try it.
“I don't usually pry into clients' motives, but why this job…?”
“Just do it.”
“Got it!”
The thieves' guild soon carried out his request.
“Gain grace for a copper! One copper gets you…”
Marygold sensed something off. Coppers and silvers suddenly rained around her.
“Th-Thank you! No, you need prayers first—ah, thank you! Huh? Silver? This? Silver requires prayers!”
She scrambled to pick up the coins.
“Move, this is my spot.”
“Eek!”
Some beggar shoved her. Lancel's gaze turned icy.
“Handle it.”
“On it.”
“Wh-Who are you? Why… Aaaah!”
Two lurking men dragged the guy off far away. Stunned Marygold remained alone, clueless.
……
Marygold senses she has a talent for fundraising.
Huh?
Lancel sensed something wrong around then.
Marygold, always begging in her spot, started changing as time passed.
“Ahem.”
She steadied her breath and pulled out something heavy. A stringed instrument with three strings.
“Salvation's grace shall come, light and grace, ahh, light and grace, ahh!”
Lancel covered his face.
What the hell.
“Gain grace for a copper! Ahh, light and grace!”
At first, just Marygold alone. Later, others in similar robes joined, harmonizing.
“Ahh! Light!”
“The day of light is upon us!”
Unheard-of music, but it drew crowds. Soon, people came from afar to watch.
A clown band?
By the time he snapped out of it, the capital's Salvation Church had become begging geniuses.
Ten years passed like that.
……
[Playtime: 10 years 0 days]
—Marygold has turned 25.
—No marriage partner.
—No achievements.
“No, this isn't it.”
He'd meant to just watch once. But he hadn't expected this.
She'd just become a talented street performer.
※ Marygold's karma has reached 200.
※ Permanent damage occurs 'every loop' until karma is resolved.
I wanted to see the karma drop.
How to wipe it clean and never see that damn message again?
Lancel found the answer closer than he thought.
Visiting the Salvation Church as a would-be regular donor, a church priest offered to guide him personally.
“The Salvation Church's doctrine is to spread this faith as widely as possible. Build temples everywhere across the continent, collect massive offerings, and achieve wealth and glory.”
“…I didn't realize Salvation Church was so worldly. Sounds more like merchants than believers.”
“We don't save souls with empty faith. Gold and silver. Barley and honey. Wheat and olives. Oil and milk. Those are God's true blessings, the real salvation for humanity.”
What the hell. No wonder Marygold was obsessed with money in a way that didn't suit her—these bastards were the cause.
Explains why they're so poor.
Practical, sure. But people don't want that from a religion. They crave something loftier, greater.
This wasn't it. Lancel decided to pull Marygold out of this cult as soon as possible.
“Thus, when Salvation Church temples blanket every corner of this vast land, we shall finally escape the karma God has bestowed upon us.”
Karma.
Lancel heard the word from someone else's mouth for the first time.