Ch.9898. The Saint

I had just arrived in another world for only a few hours.

“Saintess” Gang Hannah blankly observed the theater of absurdity unfolding before her eyes and unconsciously let out a hollow laugh.

“Your Majesty! Please tell the Merchant Guild to stop the refunds! I’m dying here!”

“Drag him out.”

What on earth was this?

Come to think of it, the Goddess herself had been suspicious from the start.

She hadn’t been suddenly chosen and brought here. The Goddess had sounded out her intentions over several days.

On the first day, the Goddess had used all kinds of flowery language asking her to save the world, but from the next day, she suddenly changed her story, saying the situation had changed—a fickle Goddess indeed.

If it had gone any further, Hannah would have suspected her of being some evil spirit.

It meant that Hannah’s own circumstances had been so terrible that even that strange Goddess’s proposal seemed attractive… anyway.

“I’m sorry, child.”

In the end, that’s what the Goddess had said when entrusting her with the duties of a Saintess.

She had received various warnings before coming. She’d been cautioned that this was a world where all kinds of negative emotions ran rampant.

‘I know. I expected things to be rough, but…’

I never imagined it would be this bad.

How nice it would be if this were just some kind of initiation prank prepared to tease her.

Gang Hannah wasn’t the type to enjoy being teased, but she was willing to force a smile to humor them if necessary.

But this clearly wasn’t an initiation.

Even now, there was a man approaching her, staggering like a zombie. A holy knight was pushing him away with an irritated expression.

“Please let me meet the Hero… wait, just a moment.”

“It’s all over. Above all, that person is not the Hero but the Saintess, the Saintess.”

“It has to be a female Hero, I’ve lost everything, why…!”

“It’s not like I’m the one who made you lose it. And don’t talk about losing money in the Papal State.”

The roughly pushed man eventually fell on his backside, but undeterred, he staggered to his feet and tried to approach again.

At some point, he even wore a bizarre smile. It felt like he was looking at her as if she were some kind of savior.

Eventually, he was forcibly dragged away. This couldn’t possibly be a made-up prank.

‘They don’t seem interested enough in me to play pranks anyway.’

She had drawn some attention immediately after her arrival, but that was it. After exchanging a few words with a bishop named Rowan, she had been thoroughly neglected.

Except for a few lunatics, no one spoke to her or approached her. It felt like she had become invisible.

‘Am I really invisible?’

Still, she decided not to complain. Watching how things unfolded, she could roughly guess what was going on.

It wasn’t that she was particularly perceptive.

She was often told she was rather oblivious. She was also quite ignorant about worldly matters, having spent most of her time working part-time jobs.

But the behavior of these frenzied people felt all too familiar.

The attitude of denying the reality before them, the angry outbursts, and the desperate attempts at negotiation.

Though she hadn’t seen the next stage, she could guess what it would be. They would wait for the next game, hoping to somehow recover their losses.

How did she know this?

‘These people are gamblers.’

Because they resembled her own father perfectly.

It was eerily similar, giving her a sense of déjà vu. Only their appearance and attire were completely different.

She didn’t understand why gamblers were running amok in a world of magic and heroes, but she could tell they were causing enormous trouble.

If they were acting up even in such a solemn place, they must be quite something in everyday life.

‘Alright, I’ll try to understand.’

Half-resigned, Hannah fidgeted for a while before finally speaking to the holy knight beside her. She couldn’t bear keeping quiet any longer.

“How much did those people lose to act like that?”

“Lose…? What do you mean?”

The holy knight asked with a puzzled, innocent face.

Ah, perhaps the terminology was different here. Hannah felt her face flush, but stopping now would only make it more embarrassing.

“Um, no. It just seems like they lost a lot of money.”

“…Ah, yes. I apologize for showing you such an unseemly sight. It’s disgraceful, but there are those who gambled on the summoning ritual. I only hope that you, Saintess, will understand.”

“I do understand. But you should be careful.”

“Saintess…?”

“Some people move on to cryptocurrency after that.”

Hannah was about to add “like my father” but closed her mouth. No matter how strange the situation, it didn’t seem right to badmouth her father to someone she’d just met.

Now that she’d said it, she felt she’d spoken out of turn.

“Just something I said offhand, Sir Knight. Please ignore it.”

“Did you just say that was something you said offhand?”

Hannah suddenly felt the atmosphere grow tense.

Looking around in confusion, she noticed several people eyeing her suspiciously.

The gazes were not friendly. Some stared at her with tightly closed lips, while others sighed with dejected expressions.

Even the Hero was now watching her.

While getting attention from the Hero who had previously ignored her might be positive, unfortunately, he didn’t seem pleased.

‘Ah, I should have just kept quiet.’

It seemed she had only accumulated ill will by muttering a few words out of boredom.

She wished she could take back what she’d said, but it was too late. The Hero exchanged glances with the others and strode purposefully toward her. Hannah swallowed hard as she looked at him.

“Let’s talk for a moment, Saintess.”

Those were the first words the Hero had spoken to her. And they weren’t friendly either.

***

The Saintess, in appearance, was just a woman who looked like a frightened rabbit.

It was clear she was far from being a fighter. Unlike the nuns who learned basic self-defense, she only possessed holy power.

‘And she probably doesn’t even know how to use that holy power yet. Not yet.’

Still, a Saintess was a Saintess. The Goddess had chosen her, so there was no way to reverse it. There was also no law saying she couldn’t use her position as Saintess to spread poison.

Above all, once the word “cryptocurrency” had come from the Saintess’s mouth, verification couldn’t be delayed.

It was unfortunate for the Saintess who had been dropped into a strange world, but confirming now was best for her too. If I could prove her harmlessness, she could live in a somewhat more comfortable environment.

“Saintess. I’d like to ask you a few questions.”

“Did I—”

“You haven’t done anything wrong yet. This is just for confirmation.”

The Saintess nodded silently, seeming to accept her fate.

“I’m Gang Hannah.”

“Yes, Saintess.”

The investigation began immediately. She started opening up without any need for an intimidating atmosphere.

Her background seemed ordinary. Or at least, it appeared to be.

“I dropped out of college in my first year. My family circumstances were… difficult.”

“Was it a prestigious university?”

“Pardon?”

She asked back, then added, “It wasn’t, but it was in the healthcare field.”

The Saintess seemed curious whether the concept of prestigious universities existed here too. I was about to mention someone who had spent all day bragging about his medical student brother and his own academic credentials, but I refrained. Now wasn’t the time to discuss that.

‘If she dropped out due to financial circumstances, she’s different from Gwon Heejin.’

Gwon Heejin had been a person of power in his own world too.

To be precise, his father had been powerful. I couldn’t count how many times I’d heard him say, “Your prosecutor and a South Korean prosecutor are on completely different levels.” Apart from his success, having a son like Gwon Heejin was unfortunate.

But the Saintess seemed to have suffered rather than benefited from her father.

“My father was a tile worker. My mother ran away when I was young.”

She said her father had been earning decent money and living honestly until one day he suddenly got into gambling. At first, it was just for fun, but eventually he started skipping work and became addicted to gambling.

“Once he won big, but even then he got scammed. When he tried to request a withdrawal, the entire site had disappeared… I wish I could explain it better, but I don’t know much about it.”

“Continue. I understand well enough.”

“Eventually he moved on to cryptocurrency. He trusted some streamer and bought coins, but ended up ruining himself. He exploded because of that, caused an accident, and now… yeah.”

So that’s how it was.

I could roughly understand her story. She didn’t seem to be lying. If she were skilled enough to deceive me, she wouldn’t have been fooled by the Goddess and come here.

‘She seems to hate gambling. Could that be why she was chosen?’

A woman whose youth was ruined by her father’s gambling.

I wondered if this was the best choice, but my suspicion of Gang Hannah had certainly decreased. After all, there were plenty of people here who had suffered because of family members addicted to gambling.

Yes, this should be enough.

I leaned back with a sigh.

It was absurd that my first act as the Hero was to verify the Saintess’s character, but it was better than leaving a risk unaddressed.

“That’s enough, Saintess. For the time being, you’ll be under the protection of the priests and learn sacred laws. I have business to attend to and will be returning to the imperial capital, but we’ll see each other again soon.”

“By the way… are there many people like that in the Empire? Like those I saw earlier.”

“Yes. Many. The damage caused by the disastrous existence known as Gwon Heejin is enormous. You’ll learn about it soon enough, whether you want to or not.”

“Ah, I see.”

The Saintess nodded with a more relaxed expression, but soon began to look puzzled again. She frowned as if something had occurred to her.

What part of what I’d said had confused her?

Surely not, right?

I mentioned one name to the still-pondering Saintess.

“Saintess, have you ever heard the name Gwon Heejin?”

Ah.

A low exclamation escaped from the Saintess’s lips.