Chapter 66: A Saint’s Secret Sale

I sat down in one of the chairs arranged for the visitors inside the temple.

This was a temple located in the city, not on the school grounds, which was specifically for students.

The reason I was here wasn’t to gain peace of mind or anything like that. I just happened to stop by while passing by, thinking I might check out the holy sword.

I wasn’t a devout believer to begin with, so the only times I entered the temple voluntarily were at the beginning of the first semester and when I came to see the holy sword, like now.

Otherwise, I had only been forced to visit as part of my academy’s general studies class.

I finished looking at the holy sword, but since I was here, I decided to try praying with my hands clasped together and my head bowed.

…But how do you pray? What should I wish for?

Well, maybe if I wish for something casually, they might grant it? But that would seem too greedy, and might even lead to divine punishment, right?

Oh, wait. I got lost in pointless thoughts instead of focusing on the prayer.

However, just as I was trying to refocus and offer a proper prayer, I heard a rustling sound from beside me.

It seemed someone had sat next to me, trying to pray like I was.

I realized I had once again failed to concentrate on my prayer and forced myself to ignore the presence next to me.

…I guess I could just praise the goddess, right?

After finishing my reckless prayer, which could have caused an uproar if heard by anyone related to the temple, I opened my eyes.

“Whoa! You scared me!”

“Shh.”

As soon as I opened my eyes, I felt that the presence next to me was far too close, and when I turned to look, I saw a girl sitting right next to me, almost pressed up against me.

The girl, instead of being startled by my loud reaction, raised her finger to her lips, signaling me to be quiet.

I wondered if maybe all the other seats in the temple were taken, forcing her to sit this close, but when I looked around, there was not a single person in sight, not even a bug.

In fact, even the other priest who had been praying had left their seat.

“Wh-who are you?”

“Shh. That’s not important.”

The girl placed her finger, which had been over her lips, on my mouth, silencing me.

“Do you need holy water?”

Sitting so close, she looked around as if conscious of the surrounding attention, whispering to me.

Her actions reminded me of a street vendor conducting a secret deal.

“Pardon?”

Not understanding the situation, I repeated my question, and the girl reached into her clothes, pulling out a bottle containing a transparent liquid.

“Top-grade holy water! Normally, it would be hard to get, even if you donate dozens of gold, but I’ll sell it to you for only 10 gold. How about it?”

Only then did I notice the girl’s outfit.

It was the typical nun habit seen in temples.

If this girl wasn’t impersonating a nun, she was selling holy water as a nun.

“If you buy it now, I’ll give it to you for just 8 gold per bottle! How about it?”

“Forget the price. Is it really okay for a nun to do this?”

In all my life, I had never heard of someone selling holy water in a temple.

Of course, you could receive holy water as a donation, but that was a far cry from openly selling it.

“Ah, don’t be so strict. Goddess Serena won’t say anything about it, I’m sure.”

Clatter.

Behind the large statue of the goddess, the holy sword hanging on the wall started to tremble.

The girl also heard the sound and quickly glanced at the holy sword.

“It seems the fixing isn’t done well. Should I hammer it back in properly?”

…At the girl’s words, the trembling of the holy sword stopped, as if nothing had happened.

“Anyway, how about it? It’s so cheap, you could at least buy one bottle, right?”

“Uh… something’s dripping from the eyes of the Serena statue.”

Earlier, the holy sword was trembling, but now something was dripping from the eyes of the largest goddess statue placed at the center.

Ignoring the fact that it was dripping, it would be better not to mention that the liquid was red.

“…Wait a second!”

The girl left me behind and rushed toward the statue of the goddess, who was shedding blood tears.

She then knelt down, placed her hands together, and bowed her head.

At this moment, she looked undeniably like a nun praying.

“Just this one time… at a reasonable price… please…”

If I hadn’t known what was going on and hadn’t heard the words escaping from the girl’s mouth, it would have certainly looked very holy.

After completing something disguised as a prayer, the girl returned to sit next to me with a smile on her face.

“Yep! The goddess has allowed it!”

Thinking it might be a misunderstanding, I looked at the statue of the goddess again, but there was no trace of any liquid on the face of Serena, who had been shedding blood tears earlier.

I wanted to believe what I had seen was just my imagination.

“The goddess told me to give you a special deal, so I’ll give you one extra bottle for every two you buy!”

This wasn’t a market; was she really selling holy water like this?

“How about it? With this price, not buying it would be foolish, right? Huh? Huh? You’ll buy it, right?”

“I’m starting to fear that if I buy this, I might be cursed.”

“Don’t worry! This is top-grade holy water made by an active saint. But if you’re still scared, I’ll personally give you a blessing from the saint herself! It’s a top-level blessing, you know? You can drive away nightmares, and even if a nightmare spirit comes, you’ll be able to chase it away!”

“Wait, a saint?”

When I asked in confusion about the word “saint,” the girl made a surprised expression and covered her mouth with both hands. She looked around nervously, her eyes darting about.

After a moment, realizing there was no one else around, she smiled sheepishly and lowered her hands.

“Hehe… You’ll keep it a secret, right?”

I didn’t know why she had come down to the city’s temple, but usually, she was always holed up in the academy’s temple, never showing her face, so very few people knew the face of the saint.

That’s why, even though I had seen her face like this, I didn’t recognize her identity.

“You probably won’t believe it anyway.”

If such a mysterious saint were to go around selling top-grade holy water for money in the temple, who would believe her?

It would be a miracle if she didn’t get caught for heresy and get punished.

“Hehe. Then, as a secret, I’ll sell it to you for 6 gold per bottle! If I lower it any more, I’ll really have nothing left.”

In the end, the saint was still very much a business-minded person.

“…Then, with the service included, I’ll take exactly three bottles.”

At this point, it seemed too late to back out, so I decided to buy just three bottles. The price was 2+1, a total of 12 gold.

“Yes. Thank you for your purchase!”

The transparent liquid in the bottle I received appeared to be nothing more than ordinary water.

Although I couldn’t fully trust the saint who had threatened the holy sword and bargained with the goddess… she probably wouldn’t lie using the name of the saint, right?

If you think about it, getting three bottles of top-grade holy water for just 12 gold, as she said, is practically free.

I’ll think about where I can use it later.

“By the way, what are you planning to do with all this money you’re making?”

Priests and nuns receive basic support from the temple.

They don’t indulge in luxuries according to doctrine and belief, but their lives aren’t uncomfortable.

In fact, if you’re a saint, the support must be extraordinary. I’ve even heard that small luxuries are allowed.

And yet, seeing a saint acting like a merchant, my question seemed very natural.

The saint seemed to think for a moment in response to my question, then winked with one eye and opened her mouth.

“It’s a secret! I’ll tell you when we become closer.”

I guess she didn’t want to tell me. After all, there’s no way a mere student like me would ever get close to someone as high-ranking as a saint.

If there’s any chance, it would probably be through Celian, who might become a hero later… but that would likely be an awkward situation for both Celian and the saint, so I’ll just watch from a distance.

I tucked the three small bottles into my robe and stood up.

The purpose of my visit to the temple had already been accomplished, and if I stayed here any longer, this merchant saint might try to force something else on me.

“Well then, I’ll be going now, Saint.”

“Yep. Take care! If you come back next time, I’ll give you a lot of extra services, so keep using it!”

Is she really the saint?

I almost blurted the question out loud but held it back, instead asking something else.

“By the way, what’s your name, Saint?”

Everyone just called her Saint, but I had never heard anyone mention her name.

Since she had mentioned getting closer, I thought she might tell me her name, but I wasn’t expecting much, so I wasn’t too disappointed if I didn’t get an answer.

“Hehe. My name is Mariel. Mariel. Call me by my name when you see me next time!”

“Ah, my name is…”

“I’ve already heard your name from the goddess. Well, take care, Frentz.”

It seemed like there was no way she could remember the name of a mere academy student out of so many, especially a junior, but hearing my name called by her wasn’t a bad feeling at all.

I gave her one last bow and left the temple.