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Inside the temple, I took a seat among the chairs arranged for the visiting believers.

This wasn’t a temple built on school grounds for students; it was located in the city.

The reason I came here wasn’t to seek peace of mind—far from it. I simply thought, “Hey, why not stop by and take a look at the Holy Sword on my way?”

After all, I’m not exactly a devoted believer, so the only other time I visited voluntarily was at the beginning of the first semester, just like now, to check out the Holy Sword.

Aside from that, I was more or less dragged here due to some humanities class at the Academy.

My tour of the Holy Sword was over, but since I was here anyway, I thought I might as well clasp my hands and bow my head to pray.

…But how does one even pray? What should I wish for?

Hmm, maybe if I make a wish or something, they’ll grant it? But then again, that might seem too desperate and attract divine wrath.

Oh dear. I got so caught up in useless thoughts that I nearly forgot the whole point of praying.

But just as I was about to refocus and try a proper prayer, I heard a rustling sound next to me.

It seemed someone had sat beside me, intending to pray just like I was.

I realized I couldn’t concentrate on prayer with this distraction and forced myself to ignore the presence beside me.

…Maybe I should just mumble something like praising the Goddess or something.

Having concluded my haphazard prayer that might drive the temple staff to a frenzy, I opened my eyes.

“Whoa! You scared me!”

“Shh.”

The moment I opened my eyes, the presence I had tried to ignore felt so close it startled me. A girl was sitting right next to me, practically glued to my side.

Instead of being surprised by my outburst, she just raised a finger to her lips, signaling me to be quiet.

I wondered if all the other seats were filled and she had to squeeze in next to me, but looking around revealed not a single soul, not even a bug.

In fact, the other priest who had been praying had abandoned his spot.

“W-who are you?”

“Shh. That’s not important.”

She pressed her finger, the one that had been on her lips, over my mouth, stopping me from speaking.

“Do you need some holy water?”

She was sitting so close, glancing around as if conscious of the surroundings, whispering.

She looked just like a shady dealer conducting a secret transaction.

“Huh?”

In my confusion, the girl reached into her clothes and pulled out a bottle filled with a transparent liquid.

“Top-quality holy water! Normally, you’d have to donate dozens of gold to get a piece, but I’ll sell it to you for a special price of just 10 gold. What do you say?”

It was only then that I noticed what she was wearing.

It was the typical nun outfit one would expect to see in a temple.

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

“If you buy it now, I’ll give you a special price of 8 gold a bottle! How about that?”

“Pricing aside, is it really okay for a nun to do this?”

I had never heard of holy water being sold in a temple before.

Of course, you could receive holy water in exchange for donations, but that’s a far cry from selling it outright.

“Aw, don’t be so uptight. Goddess Serena wouldn’t say much about it either!”

Rumble, rumble

Behind the large statue of the Goddess, the Holy Sword hanging on the wall began to tremble.

The girl, noticing the noise, glanced back at the sword.

“Looks like it’s not properly fixed. Should I hammer it back in?”

…As if it had never trembled, the sword abruptly stopped shaking at her words.

“Anyway, what do you think? It’s pretty cheap, so buying one shouldn’t hurt, right?”

“Um… there seems to be something flowing from the eyes of Goddess Serena’s statue.”

Earlier, the Holy Sword was trembling, but now something was flowing from the eyes of the largest statue in the center.

Ignoring the color of that liquid seemed like a good idea.

“…Just a moment!”

The girl left me behind and dashed toward the statue, which was shedding tears of blood.

Kneeling down, she clasped her hands together and bowed her head.

This moment, just looking at her, she undeniably resembled a nun.

“If you could just… allow this one time… at a fair price…”

If I didn’t know the situation, I would have thought it was a very holy scene what came out of her mouth.

After finishing whatever prayer she had, she returned to my side with a smiling face.

“Yup! The Goddess allowed it!”

Skeptical, I turned back to the statue, and indeed, the traces of tears were nowhere to be found on Goddess Serena’s face.

I hoped desperately that what I saw earlier was just a trick of the light.

“Since the Goddess said to give you extra, if you buy two bottles, I’ll throw in an extra one for free!”

Are we shopping at a market? Holy water is being sold like this?

“What do you think? At this price, would it be silly not to buy? Huh? Huh? You’ll buy, right?”

“Buying this, I can’t help but wonder if I’d be cursed.”

“Don’t worry! This is top-quality holy water made by an active saint. If you’re still scared, I’ll personally give you a special blessing! It’s a top-tier blessing, okay? You could ward off nightmares and send any evil spirit packing!”

“Wait, a saint?”

I couldn’t fathom what she meant by “saint,” and when I asked, the girl slapped her hands over her mouth, her eyes darting around in a panic.

After a moment, confirming I was the only one around, she lowered her hands and smiled bashfully.

“Hehe… You won’t tell anyone, right?”

I didn’t know why she’d come down to the city temple, but she always stayed cooped up in the Academy’s temple, showing her face very rarely. So, few people knew what the saint looked like.

That’s why I’d seen her face up close but still had no clue who she was.

“Honestly, you probably won’t believe it anyway.”

If a mysterious saint is wandering around selling top-quality holy water for money, who would ever believe that?

It would be more likely for her to get dragged away for blasphemy or something.

“Hmm. Then, as a secret, I’ll give it to you for 6 gold a bottle! If I go any lower, there really won’t be anything left for me!”

Despite everything, the saint was still very much in sales mode.

“…Alright, just three bottles, including the service.”

It felt a bit far-fetched to walk away empty-handed now, so I decided on just three bottles. With the discount, that would be a total of 12 gold.

“Thank you for your purchase!”

The liquid in the bottles I received looked like ordinary water at first glance.

Though I wondered if I could trust a nun who threatened a holy sword and negotiated with a goddess… surely a saint wouldn’t lie just to save face.

Following that logic, getting three bottles of top-quality holy water for 12 gold was practically a steal.

I’d think later about how I could possibly use them.

“But what do you plan to spend the money you earned on?”

Priests and nuns receive basic support from the temple.

Though they don’t indulge in extravagance according to their doctrine and beliefs, they live quite comfortably.

Considering her position as a saint, the support should be quite substantial. I even thought a little luxury would be permitted.

So it made perfect sense I was curious about why a saint was acting like a vendor.

The saint considered my question for a moment, then winked and opened her mouth.

“Se..cret! I’ll tell you later when we get to know each other better.”

That was probably her way of saying she didn’t want to talk about it. What could a lowly student like me possibly have in common with such a high-ranking saint?

The only chance I had would be if I developed some connection through Selian, the future hero… and that might not sit well with either of them, so just admiring from afar would be better.

With the three small bottles tucked away, I stood up from my seat.

Having long achieved my original purpose for coming to the temple, I worried that lingering here any longer would result in being pressured into buying something else by this merchant saint.

“Well then, I’ll be on my way, Saint.”

“Okay. Take care! When you come next time, I’ll be sure to shower you with services, so visit often!”

Is she really a saint after all?

I almost voiced the question, but instead, I asked another.

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

Everybody just called her “Saint,” and I’d never heard anyone mention her actual name.

Since she just told me we’d get to know each other better, I thought she might at least share her name.

Of course, I wasn’t expecting anything in return, so I didn’t have high hopes.

“Hehe, I’m Mariel. Mariel! Remember to call me by name when we meet next!”

“Oh, my name is…”

“Your name? I already heard it from the Goddess. Now, take care, Frentz.”

Out of all the countless Academy students, just a junior like me recalling her name until next time seemed unlikely, yet I felt strangely good about having my name called.

I bowed once more toward her and made my way out of the temple.

 

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