And They Lived Happily as a Saint... Not a Chance?
And They Lived Happily as a Saint... Not a Chance?
After the early-morning beak-smashing incident with Erpa.
I returned to my daily routine.
Of course, it wasn't the exact same routine as before.
Whenever I saw Erpa, she waved at me with an I'm-so-happy-I-could-die look on her face and threw herself into my arms, and I, in turn, gave her a huge, silly grin.
Apart from that, nothing much had really changed.
I was still healing the sick in the slums.
Of course, sometimes when nobles called for me, I would go to them and heal them too.
In return, they offered donations or used their connections to introduce essential people to the slums, and so on. They always gave back.
It was peaceful and quiet.
Karma Company was doing well.
Beyond simply doing well, it was a company that enjoyed the absolute support of the people from Slum District 3.
This was because Karma Company had announced it would provide elixir at half price to anyone doing business in Slum District 3, which created countless jobs.
On top of that, the clinic at the Magic Tower Temple was also operating successfully.
Because of that, I no longer had to see minor injuries like colds or bruises.
I only saw patients with severe conditions that could not be cured by ordinary miracles or healing.
And once that happened.
Life suddenly became so much more relaxed.
Three square meals a day, sleeping soundly.
Gone were the days of treating patients without a moment to spare from dawn to dusk, and I even had the leisure to take walks.
The slum dwellers, following my instructions, still swept, cleaned, and maintained the streets diligently.
They followed my words so well that every weekend, a massive crowd gathered on the street in front of the Magic Tower Temple for worship and then dispersed, and the street was actually cleaner after the service than before.
Slum District 3 no longer looked like its former filthy and hideous self.
Trees had been planted to maintain a pleasing aesthetic, and the shacks that once swarmed with gruesome rats, mold, and filth had been transformed into decent, impressive large-scale housing complexes.
People worked, laughed, ate, and drank with hope.
Children started attending school, and after finishing their day, people stopped by the bathhouse to wash up before returning home with happy smiles.
Now that I had more free time, whenever I strolled through the streets, everyone recognized me and greeted me.
Most of the poor in Slum District 3 were now followers of Lilia.
Everyone revered and worshipped me.
I had been subjected to it so much that I was simply used to it by now.
It didn't feel bad, of course.
At this point, thoughts turned into certainty.
Hadn't I increased your followers?
Hadn't I made the Lilia Order wealthy?
Hadn't I purified the slums?
Hadn't I raised your influence among the nobles?
Hadn't I done it all?
Kyaah! Faith was right back on track.
Seeing this, the goddess was definitely touched and was letting me off the hook.
And personally, as long as there was no divine punishment from the goddess, I felt like I wanted to keep doing this work forever.
It suited my aptitudes, and I was discovering new uses for the trashy eroge skills I'd thought were utterly useless for anything but creepy things with women.
Money was piling up astronomically, too.
Everyone respected me, and on top of that...
I even had a woman I was involved with, someone I'd even kissed.
Yeah.
They say you should do what you're good at, not what you want to do.
When the situation was biased this heavily in my favor, it was stupider to keep trying to run away.
I would just keep living like this, acting as a saint.
"Saint! The temple has finally been completed!"
One day, as I was finally getting serious about having faith, having procured a Scripture of Grace and was reading it with determination.
Mr. Karma came to my room and shouted proudly.
"135 floors! A height of 600 meters! It's a building 20 floors taller than the Mars Mage Tower, which was the tallest in the capital! A large-scale elixir mine and refinery have been built underground! We've even signed contracts to supply elixir to most of the automated factories, mana lamps, and automobile filling stations in the capital!"
"You've worked hard, Mr. Karma. Thank you."
Before, Jonathan Karma had been a villain obstructing my plan to ruin the Order, but looking at it now, he was simply a godsend.
Yeah.
I was right, wasn't I?
I didn't know how things had ended up this way, but I had even unearthed a genius businessman like this, and elixir had even burst forth.
I'd done a damn good job, hadn't I?
Was I wrong?
I even planned to have real faith.
There was absolutely no need to fear divine punishment.
Thanks to thoughts like that, unlike in the past when I would cry inside while forcing a smile on the outside, I could offer a genuinely warm smile.
"Please continue your good work. Thank you, Mr. Karma."
"They say a commemorative banquet will be held for the completion ceremony, inviting representatives of the major orders of the Pantheon, various nobles of the capital, and members of the Imperial Household. Would you grace the event with your presence?"
Well.
The one who did the great work of making elixir gush out in the middle of the capital and purifying Slum District 3 was none other than me.
Of course I should show up and make an appearance, shouldn't I?
I didn't even wish for the Lilia Order's downfall anymore.
Especially since the goddess was overlooking me.
I was going to put down roots here and live well too.
While diligently playing the saint.
It's like they say, if a chicken shop you bought to run an undercover investigation as a cop becomes too successful, you quit the force and run the chicken shop full time, right?
I wasn't going to try to run away anymore.
"Of course I will attend. When is the banquet?"
"In three days."
"Understood."
I could just wear my priestly robes and go out, couldn't I?
Not having to wear uncomfortable clothes like a tailcoat was an absolute win.
Aah.
I was at ease.
Yeah.
Why had I been so determined to run away?
If things worked out this well, I should just accept it as fate and live on as a real saint. That was all there was to it.
***
Three days later.
The banquet was held.
The temple interior was filled with numerous nobles in splendid dresses and high-ranking officials.
And the highest person in the land also came.
"Your Majesty. It is an honor to meet you."
The emperor of the empire came to see me in person.
Theovilo von Arkal.
The emperor, a stern-looking middle-aged man in his fifties, was someone I remembered always appearing in the papers with a grave face.
But seeing him now, with a look of satisfaction I'd never seen before, he stopped me as I, not knowing court etiquette, was about to bow clumsily, and instead took my hand and quietly kissed the back of it.
"Human glory is but fleeting, yet the grace of the goddess is eternal. The honor is mine, Saint Amael."
A courteous and dignified manner of speech.
Quiet but weighty actions.
So this was charisma.
Just standing beside him, I could feel it naturally.
"I am not well-versed in court etiquette, so I fear I do not know how to conduct myself properly. Please forgive any mistakes I might make."
"It would be stranger to expect a noble person such as yourself to adhere to formalities. I have very much wanted to meet you. Saint of the Slums."
The emperor's words made me feel like my nose was rising into the sky.
Even the emperor acknowledged me.
Could there have been a smoother road than this?
My life.
From here on, I only wanted to walk on flower paths.
"To the first saint to appear in 300 years and the first healing saint, the ruler of the human empire offers a modest gift."
Gift time began.
Starting with the high-quality grandfather clock the emperor gifted me, various people presented gifts to me.
Some gifted me a car, and some gifted me high-quality tea leaves.
Looking at the mountains of various luxury goods piling up, I felt tears prick my eyes.
In my entire life.
Including both Korea and the Arkal Empire, had I ever been so acknowledged and celebrated?
For the first time, I thought reincarnating had been a good thing.
I'd thought there was no worse otherworld reincarnation than this, with useless eroge skills and a prophecy ability I couldn't even use.
I'd thought it would have been a better path to just live in Korea, undergo a gender transformation, and become a VTuber.
Who knew things would work out so well?
"Thank you, everyone. However, I will ensure all these gifts are used well so that not only I, but everyone can be happy."
Since I planned to seriously play the saint, I dropped a line like that too.
Honestly, a lot of the gifts were too extravagant for my personal use.
I said it thinking it would be better to distribute them to those in need or decorate the Magic Tower Temple with them so everyone could enjoy them.
Everyone applauded at my words.
I felt proud.
Yes.
This was what a saint was!
The banquet continued for a long time afterward.
Laughing, chatting, greeting, eating, and drinking.
The banquet, which lasted until late in the evening, eventually ended as all events do.
I, too, was about to leave the banquet hall and head to my room.
"Healing Saint. A moment, please."
Huh?
These people.
Weren't they the ones I had seen at the Pantheon?
"High Priest Jerba of the Prophecy Order greets the Seer and Apostle of Grace. Saint, may the temple built upon this land be forever glorious."
Ah! Right!
They were from the Prophecy Order!
They worshipped Lupiel, the God of the Future, right?
They were from the very Order that had made me a Seer.
"Pleased to meet you, High Priest Jerba. What brings you here?"
"We have yet to give you the gift we prepared."
Just as I was wondering what kind of gift they would give, they presented me with a gift truly befitting them.
"Lord Lupiel has bestowed upon me a prophecy for the new saint. Might we speak privately for a moment, just the two of us? It is a principle that a prophecy is shown only to the person concerned, you see."
A prophecy?
Yeah.
Well.
I might as well hear it out.
What kind of prophecy it was.
I was curious, too.
About how my life would unfold from then on.
"Of course, High Priest. Please come to my room."
Without much thought, I led Jerba to my room.
After locking the door and telling Old Man Yodel not to let anyone else enter, Jerba and I were left alone in the room.
"I shall relay Lord Lupiel's prophecy. I will momentarily lose consciousness. Lord Lupiel's words, placed within me, will speak directly to you, Saint."
"Please do."
The moment he finished speaking, Jerba closed his eyes.
His body trembled briefly, and then he opened his eyes.
His eyes were completely dyed white, and between his brows, a brilliant golden light shaped like an eye began to blaze.
His two human eyes and the third eye, made of golden light, looked at me.
[O human.]
A voice that was absolutely not a human voice came from his human mouth.
It was an eerie yet sacred voice that made my knees go weak just hearing it, a voice anyone would call the voice of a god.
[I shall speak of your future. This is a prophecy delivered directly by the one who gazes upon the future, and so it shall certainly come to pass.]
I focused with a slightly pounding heart.
What would become of my future?
Surely not.
Surely it wasn't an ending where the goddess struck me with lightning as divine punishment and I died suddenly after I'd come this far.
If she were going to, she'd have done it long ago.
No.
It absolutely wouldn't be that.
I was trying to have genuine faith now, and it was true that I had diligently cared for the poor and the weak all this time.
I decided to get a definite confirmation while I was at it.
To be confirmed and just put my mind at ease.
That would be better.
Just as I was thinking that.
The eerie voice began to recite the prophecy.
Half expectant, half nervous, I pricked up my ears.
[O, you who have been raised high upon the name of grace. O, you who are mistaken. O, you who deny and try to flee, yet shall not escape the fate that is ultimately decreed.]
High Priest Jerba slowly pointed a finger at me.
[Also, O, you who have come from another world. O, you who shall be ignorant and foolish and suffer alone in the times to come. The abilities in your hands are ugly and lewd beyond measure.]
The smile vanished from my face.
A single phrase that pierced my core made my body freeze.
Could it be a bad prophecy?
It couldn't be.
It mustn't be.
Please...
[On the day your most secret secret is revealed. You shall die by the hands of those who love you. At the moment of your greatest happiness, death shall descend upon you, and you shall not escape it.]
I felt my blood run cold.