Chapter 18
3.
“Merry.”
Marigold started dreaming when she turned fifteen. The dreams came about once a week if it was short, or once every two to three months if it was long.
“We will meet agai—”
Fragments of memories.
Though his face and voice were blurry, every time Marigold encountered him in a dream, she felt like she was being sucked into a bottomless abyss.
Thump. Thump.
Her heart pounded. A suffocating pain surged from the depths of her lungs. She gasped for breath.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
“Marigold… a—live… was—”
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
“Young Lady!”
“Huh?”
Marigold jolted awake, startled.
The sound of birds chirping, sunlight filtering through her blurred vision to illuminate the room. Pina’s touch, pressing gently on her face, was rousing her from sleep.
“Did you forget it’s laundry day today? You’ll get scolded by the priest again if you don’t go.”
“Ah! Laundry!”
“Your patron is coming too. They say he’s a Knight and very rich!”
“Rich? Hmm, what if it’s another weird person?”
Marigold was worried. Whenever a wealthy patron visited the Church of Salvation, something strange always seemed to happen.
***
“This is the prayer room. This is where we pray every morning.”
Ransel half-listened to the clergyman’s words as he looked around.
Traces of children’s scribbles were visible in various places. The clergyman chuckled awkwardly.
“Haha, as we also run an orphanage, it’s a bit messy. They should be hanging laundry right about now, so why don’t we go take a look?”
Looking at the children. The phrasing felt a bit odd, but Ransel followed him obediently.
As they stepped out into the garden, the long, fixed clothesline was laden with countless white bedsheets.
Through the white curtains swaying in the wind, Ransel could see children moving busily. He spotted Marigold at a glance.
Her figure, struggling to hang laundry with her poor eyesight, caught his eye. She was already handling the workload of a single person, seemingly accustomed to it.
“There’s a child who can’t see.”
“Orphanages have various circumstances, don’t they?. We can’t make an exception just because someone is inconvenient.”
“I heard she used to beg for alms.”
“Ah… you knew? I thought you had only recently arrived in the capital…”
The clergyman, momentarily flustered, gave a “Ahem!” “It’s that… our patrons have been scarce lately…”
“I knew it.”
“Hm?”
“I didn’t say anything.”
As expected. There was no way that money would reach Marigold’s hands. Having already seen something similar in the previous playthrough, he had a rough idea.
“It seems your operations are quite difficult.”
“As you can see, we are in great need of patrons’ interest. People like you, Sir Ransel.”
Even so, he wondered what kind of thinking led to abandoning a blind child to beg on the streets.
Ransel, having lived his past few hundred years actively scoffing at God rather than believing, couldn’t quite be sure if the Church of Salvation was particularly materialistic or if this was the norm for obscure, minor religious orders.
‘What a tragic fate, Marigold.’
Ransel quietly watched Marigold amongst the boisterous children.
“Merry, guess who poked you.”
“Merry can’t guess because she can’t see.”
‘Those guys?’
“Have you made any decisions regarding patronage?”
“How much does it cost to build a temple?”
“Excuse me?”
The clergyman stammered for a moment.
‘I suppose building a temple and spreading religion will lower karma.’
He wasn’t sure.
He was just trying it out.
“It… it costs quite a lot of money, that amount…”
The clergyman trailed off, but the implication was clear. He wanted to ask, ‘Do you have the ability?’ And of course, she didn’t.
“I have enough money, so don’t worry.”
“It’s roughly this amount.”
“I’ll give it to you today.”
“R-really!”
‘Yeah, I’ll just borrow it.’
He could borrow it from Baron Evil Shen. He just had to write an IOU promising to pay back several times the amount in ten years. He was the type who would readily lend, trusting the goodwill of the Dante Family. In other words, free money.
“Um, then, when would be a good time for the patronage?”
Patronage?
Ransel pondered for a moment and replied,
“As soon as the temple is built.”
“Understood!”
News of the temple’s completion came after two seasons had passed.
————————————
[Fallen Lady Simulation]
-The second week of January for 16-year-old Marigold has passed!-
Charisma 42 -> 43 UP.
Morality 57 -> 59 UP.
Dignity 31 -> 32 UP.
Emotion 58.
Allure 23.
Magic Power 1.
Strength 13 -> 14 UP.
Stamina 9 -> 11 UP.
Faith 231 -> 229 Down.
Condition 41 -> 32 Down.
Karma 200.
-Mobilized to decorate the new temple and worked hard! Faith, Stamina, Strength UP!
-Fell while walking. Slightly injured my ankle. Condition, Faith Down!
-Learned about proper conduct from the nuns. Charisma, Morality, Dignity UP!
————————————
“Hmm.”
Ransel watched it silently and thought.
“It’s not going down.”
Karma level 200.
Fixed, unmoving.
4.
“Ah, you’re here. Sir Ransel.”
Ransel met the clergyman of the Church of Salvation with a much more indifferent expression.
Having realized that the doctrine he spoke of was mere hollow nonsense, there was no longer any need to develop feelings for it.
“Thanks to you, we’ve completed the temple and started receiving donations today. It’s all thanks to you, Sir Ransel.”
“Yes, well.”
Ransel replied while trimming his fingernails.
‘Whatever it is, just give me my reward quickly.’
This playthrough was ruined anyway. That was Ransel’s conclusion. He should just pass the time, like last time, and aim for the next.
“So, about that… bring her in.”
“Yes, Reverend Father.”
Ransel, who had been indifferent, widened his eyes. Marigold was entering, holding a nun’s hand.
A pure white outfit that exposed one shoulder and side, braided hair adorned with red and yellow flowers, light makeup, and a subtle hint of perfume – whoever saw her would recognize her as excessively adorned.
“I prepared this as it seemed to catch your eye last time.”
“W-what do you mean…”
“Since you sponsored us with a large sum, you should adopt a child.”
“Adopt.”
“Yes, adopt.”
Marigold, unable to see, her face stiffened with tension. Adoption. A sixteen-year-old child, adopted by a nineteen-year-old Knight.
“Won’t God be angered if He knows about this?”
“He would be pleased. Knowing that we take in pitiful children abandoned on the streets, raise them chastely, and send them to good people, He would surely bestow His blessings. The newly built temple would also please Him.”
It seemed Ransel was perceived as being hesitant.
“Merry, why aren’t you greeting him? You must bow.”
Merry bowed with stiff movements. Her expression was frozen. She didn’t even know who was standing before her yet. She hadn’t even had a proper conversation with him in this playthrough.
“I greet you, Patron.”
Indeed.
The commodification of chastity.
Is that one of the Church of Salvation’s business strategies?
“Actually, even with such exquisite beauty, no one was interested because she couldn’t see, so it’s such good fortune that such a good person has come…”
Ransel abruptly stood up and kicked the clergyman in the chest.
“Ugh!”
“Kyaaak!”
The clergyman fell backward amidst the nun’s screams. The display cabinet overturned, and flower vases shattered. Startled, Marigold fumbled around and retreated to the wall.
“Even the Thieves Guild calls selling people immoral… and you, calling yourself a priest, are selling off a child? Even if God is an idiot, He would send someone like you to hell, you bastard.”
“W-why, why are you doing this, S-Sir Ransel…!”
“Close the temple tomorrow. It was built with my money, so you won’t complain if I take it back?”
Yes. That was a temple built with the sweat and blood of Baron Evil Shen, meaning Ransel’s money. Money that shouldn’t be handed over to such a heretical cult.
“Th-that’s… where does that leave us? The money has already been spent, and it wasn’t just a small amount!”
“It wasn’t a small amount. It was my money, not yours.”
“Damn it!”
The clergyman adopted a stance and spat out a curse.
“You knew about this too! If not, you should have gone to the Church of Martyrs! Why come to a place like this?!”
From the clergyman’s perspective, it was a valid point.
Even Ransel, who had little interest in religion, knew the common knowledge that ‘The Church of Martyrs is the best.’ Wasn’t it a religion revered by the Imperial Family?
All other religious orders were merely groups surviving on the crumbs from the Church of Martyrs.
They were the ones who actively bowed and said, ‘We are your cute younger siblings, so please don’t kill us.’
The Church of Salvation was also one of them.
“Even if you go to the neighboring orders, as long as you donate, the nuns will… they’ll do everything. But we… we are just being… decent…”
Doing everything?
As the clergyman regained his composure, his words became increasingly muddled. Of course, Ransel had no intention of showing mercy.
“I will have the temple demolished, so remember that.”
“W-wait, y-you’re joking, Sir Ransel? We’ve just started our business… I mean, evangelism, and you’re going to tear it down…”
“Do you want me to show you more proof that I’m not joking?”
“Hic…!”
Ransel took Marigold’s hand and immediately left the place.
“P-Patron?”
“Follow me. You shouldn’t be here.”
“Ah, it hurts, my arm…!”
“Then let me carry you.”
“What? Kyyak!”
Ransel quickly picked up the bewildered Marigold.
‘If I had done nothing, would she really have been sold off?’
Marigold from the previous playthrough showed no such signs.
That was because the Church of Salvation was such a minor, insignificant cult that even those who claimed to patronize it turned their attention away. Moreover, Marigold, who had unintentionally become a begging genius, copied silver coins at an alarming rate, so naturally, the matter of her being sold was averted.
But if that hadn’t been the case.
If I had just left her alone.
It wouldn’t have been strange if she had been sold somewhere.
Ransel intended to at least prevent such a thing from happening to Marigold.
“Stay here for a while. Hesti, I’ll ask a favor of you. She has trouble with her eyes.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
Ransel handed Marigold, who was still in shock, to Hesti.
He intended to have her stay at Baron Evil Shen’s mansion.
‘Right. This playthrough is ruined anyway, so you just live off the maids. Live leisurely for the remaining 9 years.’
***
Some time later.
Ransel summoned the master of the Thieves Guild again. It was to help return the Church of Salvation’s temple to nature. It took a long time to build, but it only took a moment to destroy.
The problem was.
“Sir Ransel. No matter how small the Church of Salvation is, a temple is still a temple. If you just demolish it, how will others see it…”
The master of the Thieves Guild, who would do almost anything for money, expressed rare concern.
“Then what about demolishing it and building something new?”
“If you have enough money, that’s the best justification. Do you have a specific religious order in mind?”
“No.”
“Then under whose name are you going to build it…”
“Let’s see?”
Ransel pondered for a moment.
Where should this go?
‘The Church of Martyrs? No, I don’t need to do the Imperial Family any favors. Should I look for another small to medium-sized religious order? But there’s no guarantee the same thing won’t happen.’
Minor religious orders, to varying degrees, always had some sort of petty and sinister aspect.
The clergyman’s words about the Church of Salvation even arranging prostitution were probably true. In a medieval world, such practices might have been commonplace.
Ransel didn’t want to waste money on another such place. Baron Evil Shen’s pockets weren’t infinite either.
“Hmm.”
After much deliberation, Ransel reached a simple conclusion.
“Let’s build it and then think about it.”
“Sure, let’s do that.”
.
.
.
==========
—Fame Event: A “Marigold’s Church” has been established for the first time by the believers! Your legend truly begins from this very moment.
※Marigold’s Karma decreases by 1 point.
==========
“Hey, you bastard.”
“Y-yes?”
Marigold, startled by Ransel’s harsh muttering, replied.
It was a system window that appeared during a peaceful picnic in the garden.
