“What are you going to do when you meet the Great Saint?”

“I’m going to tell her to stop looking for me. Honestly, I don’t even know why Ivy is looking for me…”

“Weren’t you two like family friends?”

What is he talking about? Did I say something like that? This is the first time I’ve mentioned Ivy, and I didn’t say anything like that in our conversation just now.

“Why do you think that?”

“Just a thought. Since the Great Saint is going out of her way to find you.”

“Not at all. We grew up in the orphanage together, but we’re not even close, let alone family. Rather…”

In the original story, Ivy and Latieana are almost like strangers. They only talk when there’s something specific to discuss.

If I had gone to the temple, we might have become friends who shared our inner thoughts until death by mummification. But since I deviated from the original story, that’s as far as our relationship goes. That’s why I can’t understand the reason.

“Anyway! Please. If you let me meet Ivy…”

I hesitated whether to say this or not.

But Edan didn’t seem likely to help without a reason, so after hesitating, I raised my head resolutely.

I had to do something after all.

Edan’s brow twitched slightly as our eyes met.

“I’ll treat you well.”

For a moment, Edan’s eyes widened, and he stood there with an incredulous look before laughing out loud.

Is this really the time to laugh?

“How well are you going to treat me?”

“That… I’ll think about it from now on.”

Edan, who had been laughing for quite a while with his head down, raised his face while running his hand through his hair. Even though I hadn’t said anything about the method yet, the corners of his mouth were turned up as if he was in a good mood, imagining who knows what.

“Not bad.”

What exactly?

East of the Imperial capital, at the Ribedon Temple.

Someone approached a very secluded spot between dark rocks where little light penetrated and only small animals passed through.

It was Maxium, a priest who was Edan’s planted spy.

Maxium, wearing a robe over his priest’s garments, seemed to be waiting for someone, and soon another person appeared.

He too was wearing a robe similar to Maxium’s, with glimpses of priest’s clothing visible underneath.

After surveying the surroundings, Maxium quickly pulled him towards his side where no light reached at all.

As he removed the hood of his robe, Maxium’s face was revealed, and the other person also took off his hood.

“Cole! Why are you so late?”

Facing Maxium’s urging, the pale-faced priest Cole frowned.

“Damn. Again.”

Cole seemed to have had a very unpleasant experience on the way, and Maxium sighed as if it was a familiar situation.

“Again? How many this time?”

“Four.”

“Four of them?”

“I don’t understand. I definitely saw them eating dinner normally until last evening. But in the morning, they were mummies? Does that make any sense? Maxium, do you understand this?”

Maxium shook his head. How would he know if Cole asked him?

He was in charge of the archives, after all.

The size of Ribedon was enormous, as big as the massive rock formation behind the temple.

There was so much to manage and so much work to do. Even just the cleaning staff numbered in the dozens.

Especially after the sudden death of the previous Great Saint, the temple had entered special management.

They protected the Saint candidates more thoroughly than before for the sake of the ability users, and after the appearance of the Great Saint, the temple was managed even more strictly.

As a result, the number of priests staying, eating, and sleeping here was in the hundreds.

Among them, Cole was in charge of checking healing power.

His job was to check the condition of the Saint candidates every morning using an artifact that could detect healing power.

But this morning, three more Saints had died.

Moreover, they had sufficient healing power until the day before.

When Saints with insufficient power were in a precarious situation that could threaten their lives, the light of the artifact checking their power strength would turn a dark gray. But in Cole’s memory, their light wasn’t bright, but it was properly showing a light purple color.

“It’s really strange.”

Having witnessed mummies from the morning, Cole must be unsettled, but there was nothing Maxium could do for him.

One could be suspicious of frequently occurring events, but the sacrifice of Saint candidates was unavoidable, wasn’t it?

For Maxium, who spent most of his time buried in the archives, it was even more of an outsider’s affair. Honestly, until he heard questions from Duke Edan, Maxium had been less interested in this matter. They were just weak Saints who died from depleted healing power.

“Forget it. It’s not like this is the first or second time. At least they’re analyzing the cause through the mummies, right?”

“What good is that? It’s more suspicious that nothing comes from the mummies. Damn it! I had to see that of all things while passing by! I’ve lost my appetite for breakfast this morning! I can’t get used to it. I feel like I’m going to throw up!”

As if remembering the mummies, Cole’s face contorted. Maxium shook his head with a sympathetic look but brought up his business.

“More importantly, do you have the item?”

Cole, trying to hold back his nausea, covered his mouth with one hand and pulled out a small object from his chest pocket with the other.

“Here.”

It was the Great Saint’s potion that Maxium would deliver to Edan.

“Just one bottle?”

“Surveillance has been tight lately. And…”

“What?”

“The Great Saint seems reluctant to make potions.”

“What? Why?”

“I don’t know. They say her condition isn’t good.”

Her condition? Maxium tilted his head. He looked down at the potion handed to him.

Even in the shade, the red healing power was sparkling brightly.

“Here.”

After confirming it was a 100% pure potion, Maxium handed Cole several banknotes. Edan might think Maxium stole the potions himself, but that wasn’t the case. There were specific people who could enter the potion storage area, so Maxium had to buy them like this.

Cole carelessly stuffed the money he received into his pocket and was about to put his hood back on when he suddenly grabbed Maxium’s shoulder.

“W-what? Why?”

“Maxium… I… don’t feel… well… Ugh!”

“Aah!”

Hot liquid burst from Cole’s mouth.

After vomiting profusely, Cole looked at Maxium with hollow eyes.

“Maxium, just one favor… Check the Great Saint’s healing power for me.”

For someone with such a weak stomach to keep discovering mummified Saint candidates, how unlucky.

Maxium had planned to go back and read more books in the archives, but he nodded.

He should help since he usually owed Cole favors. It would also be a chance to observe Ivy, the Great Saint. Since Duke Edan seemed to want information about her, passing on something could be profitable.

Of course, money wasn’t the only motive.

After Empress Henzela took the throne, several families had been ruined by getting caught up in political fights, and Maxium’s family was one of them.

So he wanted to help Duke Edan if possible.

For Maxium, who lacked power, helping the illegitimate prince hated by the Empress was also a small act of revenge against her. He hoped Duke Edan would do better than Crown Prince Killian.

Maxium put the potion deep in his pocket and headed towards the building where the Great Saint stayed.

“Great Saint. A priest has come.”

As Maxium stood at the door holding the artifact with both hands on a cushion, the maids attending to Ivy announced his visit.

Without any particular response, another maid from inside opened the door.

“Great Saint, I’m coming in.”

Maxium entered Ivy’s room, feeling a bit tense.

“Good morning, priest. It’s a different person today.”

Ivy, who had been basking in the morning sunlight pouring in from the large window, greeted him with a bright smile. She looked radiant, not only because of her beautiful appearance but also because she was wearing a light pink dress.

Wasn’t her condition supposed to be poor? She looks extremely well.

Maxium felt a sense of dissonance at the sight that contradicted Cole’s words so much.

He approached her, bowed, and then held out the artifact.

“Shall we begin then?”

“Yes.”

As the smiling Ivy placed her hand on the artifact, an intense light immediately burst forth from it.

The sound of the maids standing around gasping in amazement could be heard.

But Maxium, unnoticed by anyone, gripped the cushion tightly.

‘Is this really the healing power of the Great Saint…?’

This was the first time Maxium had seen Ivy the Great Saint’s power. Being in charge of the archives, he had never observed the healing power of other Saints before. Even the reports he had given to Duke Edan about the Great Saint Ivy’s power and the measurements of her friend Latieana Merigold were information he had obtained by paying other priests.

But Maxium, who had read and absorbed more books from the archives than anyone else and possessed a wealth of information, couldn’t help but feel doubtful.

Certainly, a red, blazing healing power was rising from the artifact, but according to the records, the Great Saint’s power should have been enough to fill a space the size of a bedroom and more. But.

‘It’s weak.’

Was her condition really that bad?

No. Even if her condition was poor, there shouldn’t be this much difference in power. With an uneasy feeling, Maxium left the Great Saint’s room.

Although he came out smiling, as soon as he turned around, his face hardened.

Putting aside the fact that Ivy the Great Saint’s face looked cheerful to him.

Objectively speaking, no matter how poor her condition was, the Great Saint’s power should have shone much brighter and stronger than this. It wasn’t just groundless suspicion; there was a witness.

‘It emitted an incredibly strong light. The light bursting from the artifact was so powerful that I could barely open my eyes because of the brightness.’

That’s how the priest who had checked the healing power when bringing Ivy the Great Saint and Latieana Merigold had described it.

Then… has it weakened since then?

No. That didn’t make sense either.

Unlike in the past, the Great Saint is hardly using her power now.

At most, just three people.

Of course, the healing power she pours into those three isn’t insignificant, but they don’t always require a lot of healing.

No matter how he calculated it, it didn’t add up.

Maxium headed to the High Priest’s room to make his report. Cole was standing in front of the door, having pulled himself together to come.

He couldn’t delegate the report as well, so he had made an effort to come despite his haggard appearance.

Maxium pulled Cole’s sleeve and headed to a corner of the hallway. Cole, who had vomited everything inside him, asked in confusion with a pale face.

“W-why? Was there a problem?”

“That’s what I want to ask you, Cole. Has the Great Saint’s light always been this weak?”