Saint Marigold. (2)

3.

—Mary.

The dreams began when Marigold turned fifteen. They came as often as once a week, or as rarely as once every two or three months.

—We will meet again someday…

Fragments of memory.

Although his face and voice were blurry, every time Marigold encountered him in her dreams, she was overwhelmed by the feeling of being sucked into a bottomless abyss.

Thump. Thump.

Her heart pounded. A suffocating pain surged from deep within her lungs. She gasped for breath.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

—Marigold… alive… was…

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

“Miss!”

“Huh?”

Marigold woke up with a start.

The sound of birds singing, the sunlight filtering through her blurred vision. Pina’s touch, pressing firmly on her face, was waking her from her sleep.

“Did you forget it’s laundry day today? If you don’t go, the Cleric will scold you again, won’t he?”

“Ah! Laundry!”

“Our sponsor is coming too. They say he’s a knight, and rich, so rich!”

“Rich? Hmm, what if he’s another weirdo?”

Marigold was worried. Every time a wealthy sponsor came, something strange always happened at the Salvation Church’s Temple.

“This is the prayer room. It’s where we offer our prayers every morning.”

Lancel casually listened to the clergyman’s words while looking around.

He noticed scribbles that seemed to be made by children in various places. The clergyman chuckled awkwardly.

“Haha, it’s a bit messy since we also run an orphanage. They must be hanging the laundry right now, why don’t we go take a look?”

Looking at the children. The nuance felt a bit strange, but Lancel obediently followed him.

As they stepped out into the garden, countless white bedsheets were hung on long, fixed clotheslines.

Through the pure white curtains swaying in the wind, he could see children moving busily. Lancel found Marigold at a glance.

He saw her fumbling with the laundry with her poor eyesight. She was doing her part, already accustomed to the task.

“There’s a child who can’t see.”

“There are many circumstances in an orphanage. We can’t make exceptions just because someone is disabled.”

“I heard she was begging.”

“Oh… you knew? You said you hadn’t been in the Imperial Capital long…”

The clergyman, momentarily flustered, cleared his throat.

“Well… we haven’t had many sponsors lately…”

“I figured.”

“Pardon?”

“I didn’t say anything.”

Of course. There was no way that money would end up in Marigold’s hands. He had already seen it in the previous playthrough, so he had a rough idea.

“It seems like you’re having a lot of trouble running things.”

“As you can see, we desperately need the attention of sponsors. People like Lord Lancel.”

Even so, he couldn’t understand the idea of throwing a blind child onto the streets to beg.

For the past few hundred years, Lancel had not only not believed in God, but had actively mocked him. He wasn’t sure if these Salvation Church people were particularly materialistic, or if this was just the average for a little-known small religious order.

‘What a wretched fate, Marigold.’

Lancel quietly watched Marigold among the bustling children.

“Mary, guess who poked you.”

“Mary can’t see, so she’ll never guess.”

Those little bastards?

“Have you come to a decision about the sponsorship?”

“How much does it cost to build a Temple?”

“Pardon?”

The clergyman stammered for a moment.

‘I guess building a Temple and spreading religion lowers Karma.’

He wasn’t sure.

He was just trying it out.

“W-Well, it costs quite a bit of money, but do you have that kind of…”

The clergyman trailed off, but the rest was obvious. He wanted to ask, ‘Do you have the ability to pay?’ And of course, he didn’t.

“Don’t worry, I have enough money.”

“It’s roughly this much.”

“I’ll give it to you today.”

“R-Really!”

‘Yeah, I’ll just borrow it.’

He could borrow it from Baron Ibil Shen and pay it. All he had to do was write an IOU promising to repay him several times the amount in ten years. He was someone who firmly believed in the Dante Family’s credit and would gladly lend him the money. It was basically free money.

“S-So, when would you like the thank-you ceremony for the sponsorship to be held?”

Thank-you ceremony?

Lancel pondered for a moment before answering.

“As soon as the Temple is built.”

“Understood!”

The news that the Temple had been built came two seasons later.

——————————

[Fallen Noble Lady Simulation]

-The second week of January for 16-year-old Marigold has passed!-

Charm 42 -> 43 UP.

Morality 57 -> 59 UP.

Elegance 31 -> 32 UP.

Sensitivity 58.

Sex Appeal 23.

Magic Power 1.

Strength 13 -> 14 UP.

Stamina 9 -> 11 UP.

Faith 231 -> 229 Down.

Condition 41 -> 32 Down.

Karma 200.

-You were mobilized to decorate the new Temple and worked hard! Faith, Stamina, and Strength UP!

-You fell while walking down the street. Your ankle is slightly injured. Condition and Faith Down!

-You learned about deportment from the nuns. Charm, Morality, and Elegance UP!

——————————

“Hmm.”

Lancel watched it quietly and thought.

“It’s not going down.”

Karma score 200.

It remained fixed without budging.

4.

“Ah, you’ve arrived, Lord Lancel.”

Lancel met the Salvation Church clergyman with an even more indifferent expression.

Now that he knew that the doctrine the man spoke of was just empty nonsense, there was no need to become attached to him any longer.

“Thanks to you, we’ve completed the Temple and started receiving donations today. It’s all thanks to Lord Lancel.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

Lancel trimmed his nails as he replied.

‘I don’t know what you’re giving me, but hurry up and give me the reward.’

This playthrough was already ruined anyway. That was Lancel’s conclusion. He should just kill time like last time and aim for the next one.

“So, about that… bring her in.”

“Yes, Cleric.”

Lancel, who had been indifferent, raised his eyes. Marigold was entering with a nun holding her hand.

A pure white outfit that revealed one shoulder and her side, red and yellow flower decorations in her braided hair, light makeup, and the subtle scent of fragrance oil—she was dressed up in a way that was obviously excessive.

“I prepared this because you seemed to like her last time.”

“What… what are you talking about…”

“Since you donated a large sum of money, you should adopt the child.”

“Adopt.”

“Yes, adopt.”

Marigold’s face, unable to see, was frozen with tension. Adoption. A sixteen-year-old child being adopted by a nineteen-year-old knight.

“Don’t you think God would be angry if you did this?”

“He would be pleased. If he knew that we were taking in poor children abandoned on the streets, raising them purely, and sending them to good people, he would rather bestow blessings. He would also be pleased with the newly built Temple.”

It seemed that Lancel was seen as being reserved.

“What are you doing, Mary? You must greet him.”

Mary greeted him with stiff movements. Her expression was frozen. She didn’t even know who was in front of her yet. In this playthrough, they hadn’t even had a proper conversation.

“I greet the sponsor.”

Indeed.

The commodification of purity.

Was that one of the Salvation Church’s business tactics?

“Actually, everyone was uninterested in her because she was blind despite having such outstanding looks, but it’s so fortunate that a good person like you has come along…”

Lancel abruptly stood up and kicked the clergyman in the chest.

“Ugh!”

“Eek!”

The clergyman and the nun screamed as they fell. A display case overturned, and flower vases shattered. Startled, Marigold groped around and retreated to the wall.

“Even the Thieves’ Guild calls selling people barbaric… and a Cleric who struts around is picking up kids and selling them off? Even if God is a moron, he’ll send someone like you to hell, you bastard.”

“W-Why are you doing this, L-Lord Lancel…!”

“Close the Temple by tomorrow. I built it with my money, so you can’t complain if I take it back, right?”

That’s right. It was a Temple built with Baron Ibil Shen’s hard-earned money, that is, Lancel’s money. It wasn’t money that could be handed over to such a pseudo-cult.

“W-What kind of thing is that, the money that’s already been spent, and it’s not a small amount!”

“It wasn’t a small amount. It was my money, not yours.”

“Oh, damn it!”

The Cleric swore as he composed himself.

“You knew about this too! If not, you should have gone to the Martyrdom Church, why did you come to a place like this!”

From the Cleric’s point of view, he was right.

Even Lancel, who had little interest in religion, knew the common knowledge that ‘anything less than the Martyrdom Church is trash.’ Wasn’t that the religion supported by the Imperial Family?

All the other religious orders were just groups living off the scraps of that Martyrdom Church.

They were places that had survived by actively bowing their heads and saying, ‘We’re your cute little brothers, so please don’t kill us.’

The Salvation Church was one of them.

“If you just go to the religious order next door, the nuns will do everything for you if you just donate. We’re just… docile…”

Do what?

As he regained his senses, the Cleric’s words gradually faded. Of course, Lancel had no intention of showing mercy.

“I’m going to tear down the Temple, so be aware of that.”

“W-Wait, are you joking, Lord Lancel? We just started doing business… I mean, proselytizing, and if you get rid of it…”

“Should I give you more proof that I’m not joking?”

“Hick…!”

Lancel grabbed Marigold’s hand and immediately left the place.

“S-Sponsor?”

“Come with me. You can’t stay here.”

“O-Ow, my arm…!”

“Then I’ll carry you on my back.”

“Huh? Kyaa!”

He quickly picked up the flustered Marigold and carried her on his back.

‘If I hadn’t done anything, would she have really been sold off?’

There were no such signs in the previous playthrough with Marigold.

That was because the Salvation Church was a truly small religious order that even people who would sponsor it turned away from, and Marigold, who had unintentionally become a genius at begging, had been copying silver coins like crazy, so the possibility of her being sold off naturally disappeared.

But if that wasn’t the case.

If he had just left her alone.

It wouldn’t have been strange if she had been sold off somewhere.

Lancel intended to at least prevent that from happening to Marigold.

“Stay here for the time being. Hesti, please take care of her. She has trouble seeing.”

“Yes, young master.”

Lancel handed the dumbfounded Marigold over to Hesti.

He intended to have her stay at Baron Ibil Shen’s mansion.

‘Yeah. This playthrough is ruined anyway, so just live comfortably while enjoying the maids’ care. For the remaining 9 years, leisurely.’

Some time later.

Lancel called the Thieves’ Guild master again. It was to return the Salvation Church’s Temple to nature. Building it took a long time, but destroying it was instantaneous.

The problem was.

“Lord Lancel. Even if the Salvation Church is as small as a flea, a Temple is a Temple. If we recklessly demolish it, people will wonder…”

The Thieves’ Guild master, who would do almost anything for money, rarely expressed concern.

“Then what if we destroy it and build something new again?”

“If you have enough money, that’s the best justification. Do you have a religious order in mind?”

“No.”

“Then whose name are you going to build it under…”

“I wonder?”

Lancel pondered for a moment.

Where should he put it?

‘Martyrdom Church? No, there’s no need to do the Imperial Family any favors. Should I look for another small religious order again? But there’s no guarantee that the same thing won’t happen again.’

Small religious orders, with only differences in degree, all had some kind of petty and sinister aspect.

The Salvation Church Cleric’s words that they even arranged prostitution were probably true. Such behavior was probably commonplace in the medieval world.

Lancel didn’t want to waste money on such places again. Baron Ibil Shen’s pockets weren’t infinite either.

“Hmm.”

After much deliberation, Lancel came to a simple conclusion.

“Let’s build it and then think about it.”

“Sure, whatever.”

.

.

.

==========

—Fame Event: The ‘Church of Marigold’ has been established for the first time by believers! Your myth begins in earnest from this moment on.

※Marigold’s Karma decreases by 1 point.

==========

“Hey, you bastard.”

“Y-Yes?”

Marigold, startled by Lancel’s rough mutterings, replied.

It was a system window that appeared during a peaceful picnic in the garden.