The Saintess's Role
Kyle was next. Then it was Ivetta.
I gave Ivetta a rough outline of the situation.
“So I’d like you to check if there’s anyone suspicious among them.”
The reason Yudaf had leaked even that small scrap of information to me was to sow chaos on the imperial side.
Since he couldn’t afford to deal the temple a fatal blow, the information Yudaf had handed over was probably true. But it was unlikely to be one of the High Priest’s carefully prepared cards.
They must have investigated how the people from the poorhouse sold to the Blue Hawk had been living.
If any of the poorhouse residents had ties to the temple, the Blue Hawk would have known. The temple hadn’t had enough time to thoroughly launder their pasts.
I volunteered to go in person because it would put my mind at ease to see for myself.
Realistically, the chance that any of the High Priest’s close aides who might be useful in identifying the culprit had infiltrated the group was low.
That was why I had begun to suspect that if any of the poorhouse people were temple spies, they might have been subjected to brainwashing magic.
The High Priest’s brainwashing magic could turn someone into a mindless puppet who carried out orders like the first-round Ivetta, but it could also be used to place restrictions—preventing certain actions or forcing others.
The High Priest distrusts humans to an extreme degree. He’s not the type to rely on simple bribery or threats.
Ivetta’s divine power was specialized in healing.
It would also be effective at detecting abnormal status conditions.
Even if she couldn’t break the brainwashing, if she could identify the spy, we could at least isolate them until the High Priest was dead.
Of course, only if they had been forced against their will.
It feels cruel to make her suspect the friends and younger siblings she grew up with.
Still, the sooner the rot was cut out, the better.
After listening to my explanation, Ivetta’s expression darkened.
“If this is too much of a burden for you, someone else can go instead.”
It would be less efficient than having the Saintess accompany us, but there were artifacts that could detect abnormal conditions. If I asked Kyle, he would provide one.
But Ivetta shook her head.
“No. I’ll go with you.”
She gave a faint smile and added, “If we fail to find the spy the temple planted, the other children living with them will be in danger.”
The former poorhouse residents now under Blue Hawk protection had been separated by the periods they had lived together. Each group was staying in a different safe house.
A spy could reveal the location of a safe house to the temple, or the temple might take the people living with them hostage to threaten Ivetta.
“And if someone was forced into it against their will, we have to save them.”
Ivetta had clearly steeled her resolve.
After finishing our conversation in Ivetta’s room, we prepared to head out and ran into Beth.
“Where are you going?”
Beth pouted, apparently thinking we were leaving her behind to go have fun.
When I explained that we weren’t going to play, her pout vanished instantly.
“Then I want to come too!”
She shouted that she was joining us, then dashed to her room to get ready without waiting for an answer.
Ivetta and I looked at each other and burst into quiet laughter at the same time.
“Looks like we’ll be going together.”
“I suppose so.”
Thanks to Beth, though, a lot of the tension had melted away.
We decided to start with the group that contained the oldest members.
Even so, they were only three or four years older than Ivetta.
If the temple had planted a spy, the older ones would statistically be the most likely candidates.
After that, there are about twenty people around Ivetta’s age—sixteen to eighteen—then another twenty or so around Nancy’s age, eleven to thirteen.
Just before stepping down from the carriage at the first safe house, I gave Ivetta a heads-up.
“I heard the temple has been collecting ancient magic. They claim it’s for ancient language research, but there are rumors that some of it is forbidden magic.”
Black magic was a concept that had appeared after ancient magic declined.
But even among ancient spells, there were a few that could be used with malicious intent—similar to living black magic.
Like the brainwashing magic the High Priest uses.
“If the temple planted a spy, they might have used such magic as a safety measure. Please focus on checking for that, Ivetta.”
“Understood.”
Ivetta clenched her fist and nodded firmly.
“Want to practice once?”
To detect abnormal conditions, she needed to handle her divine power with far more precision than when she simply poured out healing energy.
From what I had observed, her divine power classes had made decent progress in theory, but she still lacked practical experience.
I held out my hand toward her.
Ivetta tilted her head, then took my hand. As she began circulating her divine power, her eyes widened.
She must have sensed the Oath of Mana I had sworn when joining the Blue Hawk.
After all, the Oath of Mana was a type of restriction.
“This… it’s not dangerous, right?”
She looked at me with worried eyes.
“It only forces silence if you try to reveal the secret. The other party to the contract learns that you attempted to break it, so the price is paid afterward.”
When I explained that while it was tricky to undo, the restrictions weren’t too severe, Ivetta looked relieved.
As expected, she also practiced on Beth, who was a Blue Hawk member, before we finally headed into the safe house.
The moment we stepped inside, Ivetta spread her divine power wide in a search. She turned to me and gave a small nod.
It meant there was nothing suspicious.
Her divine power is so abundant that she can even do wide-area detection like this.
As expected of the Saintess beloved by the gods.
Ivetta’s expression grew much lighter.
At the sound of the door opening, people came pouring out from inside.
“Ivetta!”
“Hey, you have to call her Saintess.”
“Saintess, how long has it been?”
They were people three or four years older than Ivetta, old enough to remember her as a baby.
They had clearly suffered a great deal after being sold off. Even though they were now wearing good clothes, the traces of hardship remained like scars.
Yet their expressions were bright.
An unexpected stroke of luck had touched their lives.
Beth and I watched their attitudes from a little distance away.
Ivetta seemed genuinely happy to see the older brothers and sisters she hadn’t met in so long; she was smiling brightly.
She had received occasional updates that the old poorhouse children had been found, but this was the first time she was actually meeting them.
Before long, they had moved to a large dining room and were noisily sharing stories from their childhood.
Considering the personality of the priest in charge, they must have grown up in terrible poverty, yet they all spoke of their memories as if recalling cherished moments.
Fortunately, no one seemed suspicious.
They were all kind to Ivetta and simply marveled at how much the grown-up Saintess had changed.
“You used to be this tiny.”
A woman with brown hair laughed as she held her hand near her calf.
“I was bigger than that!”
The teased Ivetta reacted with an adorable huff.
Laughter filled the dining room.
Beth and I waited patiently so that Ivetta could spend plenty of time with the acquaintances she hadn’t seen in years.
By the time we left the first safe house, the sun was already setting.
“The next safe house is an hour away by carriage. If we consider the time to return, should we go tomorrow morning?”
At this pace—visiting only one place per day—it would take four or five days to check everyone. But I wanted these reunions to remain good memories in Ivetta’s heart.
“That sounds good.”
Her cheeks still slightly flushed, Ivetta agreed, saying we should set out early the next morning.
Still buzzing with excitement, she seemed reluctant to return to the palace.
“There’s a teahouse nearby that makes the most amazing Earl Grey cake. Want to stop by? All their cakes are delicious.”
Beth, who had waited so obediently for Ivetta, clearly didn’t want to head back yet either and made the suggestion.
“Yes!”
We headed to the teahouse Beth had mentioned.
The accompanying knights, concerned about security, rented out the entire second floor.
With a generous tip and an order of “everything from here to here” off the menu, the teahouse owner became even more attentive.
As Beth had promised, the desserts were truly outstanding.
We were busy devouring cake when another carriage stopped right in front of the teahouse.
A woman with a deathly pale face stepped down, supported by attendants, and entered the shop.
“Huh? Isn’t that the Crown Princess of Bellot?”
Beth whispered after seeing the woman.
“What happened to her?”
The crown princess looked so frail she might collapse at any moment.