IPAMB 2

Chapter: 2

After coming down from the mountain, I safely arrived at a nearby village.

Quite a bit of time must have passed—the sun had risen long ago, and the streets were crowded with people.

‘So far, so good. Then next…’

I need to go where the protagonist is!

I thought hard.

‘In the novel, the protagonist spent their childhood at the ducal residence in the duke’s territory.’

Thanks to the many stories told by my older brother—whom I had thought was just an adventurer—I knew the empire’s geography fairly well, considering I had lived confined in the temple.

‘And the ducal residence isn’t some hidden place. If I ask around, I should be able to get there.’

But there was a problem.

‘…How am I supposed to get there?’

With my current condition, walking all the way seemed impossible.

I thought I had recovered, but perhaps because I had walked all night, my forehead felt a little warm. If I wasn’t careful, I might come down with a fever again.

‘Should I rent a carriage?’

I fumbled with the two gold coins in my pocket. I had brought them with me when I left the room.

‘The money my brother gave me as emergency funds.’

He had secretly slipped it to me the last time we met, and since I’d never had a chance to use it, I’d just kept it.

‘This is exactly what it’s for. Don’t be stingy!’

Clutching the gold coins tightly, I headed to where the carriages were gathered.

A coachman happened to be calling out to customers.

“One gold coin to the capital! Two gold coins to Liberamon! Cheap, cheap!”

Liberamon!

That was the name of the region where the ducal residence was.

‘And the price is exactly two gold coins!’

I immediately approached the coachman.

“Um, could I rent a carriage? To Liberamon.”

“Huh? Just you, kid?”

The coachman looked me up and down. I clasped my hands together and spoke.

“Yes. I have something urgent to attend to.”

“Well, sure.”

Thankfully, the coachman agreed without much fuss.

“The fare is five gold coins.”

“…Pardon?”

I froze just as I was about to hand over the coins.

“You just said two gold coins.”

“Did I say that? Hah, that’s funny. If you want to ride, stop talking nonsense and pay up.”

I didn’t have five gold coins…

When I hesitated, unable to pay, the coachman frowned and waved his hand dismissively.

“What, you’re joking around without even having money? This is why you don’t entertain kids’ games. Stop wasting my time and get lost.”

I was chased away just like that.

‘This is bad. I really need to rent a carriage… Should I ask the other coachmen?’

But the moment I looked their way, the other coachmen snickered.

“Five gold coins is way too cheap, isn’t it?”

“There’d be nothing left after that. I wouldn’t give a ride at that price. You’re quite generous.”

It seemed the others wouldn’t help either.

‘What should I do? I can’t suddenly come up with more money…’

I stomped my feet in frustration, then let out a deep sigh.

‘What am I even doing right now? If I stay this weak, I won’t accomplish anything. I already made up my mind.’

If I was going to save my brother, I had to change myself first.

‘I need to be confident! If I get intimidated and can’t do anything, it’s all over!’

I took a deep breath and approached the coachman again.

“You’re back? I told you not to mess around.”

The coachman sneered at me.

I met his gaze without blinking and spoke clearly.

“It seems like you’re the one playing games here, sir.”

“What, what? Hah, what is this kid saying now?”

The coachman let out a hollow laugh in disbelief.

But I didn’t back down and replied confidently.

“You told other people it was two gold coins, but you told me five.”

“I didn’t say that. And even if I did, so what? If I say it’s five, it’s five. Who do you think you are?”

“I’m a saintess candidate.”

I showed him the temple insignia I was wearing on my wrist. It was like an ID card given to those affiliated with the temple.

As a saintess candidate, of course I had one.

‘I never thought I’d use it like this.’

I felt a bit strange, but I pretended to stay calm.

‘Because dark magic is spreading throughout the empire, the temple’s authority is incredibly high right now. So treating temple affiliates carelessly is unthinkable.’

Moreover, since there was currently no saintess, saintess candidates were treated even better—or so I’d heard.

I’d never experienced it firsthand, since I’d never been outside the temple.

‘Even if it’s power I never wanted, I have to use whatever I can.’

No matter what, I was going to save my brother.

“A saintess candidate…? Is this real? N-no, is it truly real?!”

The coachman panicked when he saw the insignia and even changed his tone.

Silently, I infused holy power into the insignia.

It shone with a white light, flashing briefly.

“Eek!”

The coachman jumped in shock. I decided to press my advantage further.

“You just tried to cheat a saintess candidate out of money.”

“H-huh…”

“What on earth am I supposed to report to the temple…”

When I shook my head and spoke gravely, the coachman went pale and then bent deeply at the waist.

“I-I’m sorry! I’ll take you there immediately!”

Yes!

I quickly climbed into the carriage.

“Thank you. May the blessings of the gods be with you.”

“…?”

Perhaps confused by my change in attitude, the coachman stared at me blankly.

I didn’t avert my eyes and spoke firmly.

“What are you waiting for? Please depart at once.”

“Y-yes….”

Soon, the carriage rattled as it began moving.

‘Being confident suits me more than I expected.’

I thought to myself as I watched the scenery pass by.

It was already dark by the time the carriage arrived in Liberamon.

“Thank you for your hard work! I’ll be going now!”

“Ah, um…!”

I was about to pay him for bringing me here, but the moment I stepped off the carriage, the coachman drove away at full speed.

He was probably afraid I’d report his earlier behavior to the temple.

Watching the carriage disappear in a cloud of dust, I thought:

‘Is this really okay?’

Of course, it wasn’t right for him to cheat and mock me—but I was a saintess candidate.

‘I’m supposed to be more virtuous and generous than others.’

In the end, it looked like I had punished him and refused to pay.

For a saintess candidate, it was something that should weigh on the conscience, but…

“Whew, saved some money.”

That kind of generosity had nothing to do with me. It wasn’t like I wanted to be a saintess candidate in the first place.

In a situation where I had to use everything available to me, saving money wasn’t a bad thing.

‘Besides, he ran off on his own.’

I promptly forgot about it and walked on lightly.

A short while later—

“This is it…!”

After asking a passing patrol, I arrived at the Argent Ducal Residence.

“Who goes there?”

As I approached the main gate, the guards became alert.

“Hello. I’m a saintess candidate named Winiel. I have something to discuss with the House of Argent. Please allow me to meet Young Master Kain Argent.”

Once again, I invoked my status as a saintess candidate.

“What? A saintess candidate? Uh… please wait a moment.”

Thankfully, it worked again.

After checking my temple insignia, the guard looked back and forth between me and it in surprise, then ran into the mansion, saying he would inquire inside.

‘I can’t believe this is helping me so much.’

Back at the temple, I’d thought it was completely useless.

Leaning against the wall, I waited for the guard to return.

“Ah…”

Suddenly, I felt dizzy.

‘Now that I think about it, I haven’t eaten anything all day.’

Unlike the coachman, who had eaten the provisions he brought along, I’d had nothing and was completely starving.

‘I couldn’t eat properly even when I was sick.’

Hilla had given me the same hard bread as always, whether I was ill or not.

I’d forced myself to eat just to survive, but I hadn’t had the strength to chew much of it.

‘I think my fever’s worse than before.’

Feeling my forehead, which was hotter than it had been during the day, I grew anxious.

‘What if I can’t even explain properly when I meet him?’

Just as my strength was draining away and it was becoming hard to stand, the guard returned.

I quickly pushed myself off the wall and prepared to go inside.

‘Of course they’ll let me in. I’m a saintess candidate.’

But what I heard was shocking.

“I’m sorry, but it seems it will be difficult for you to meet the young master.”

“What? Why?”

“At such a late hour, appearing without notice and claiming to be a saintess candidate—it seems they find it suspicious.”

“What? You saw the temple insignia!”

I pulled out the insignia again and infused it with holy power.

White light sparkled.

But the guard merely shrugged.

“These days, even fake ones are made quite well.”

“That’s ridiculous. Who would dare impersonate one?!”

I thrust the insignia into the guard’s hand.

“If you think it’s a lie, try it yourself. If it’s fake, it should shine no matter who uses it.”

“Eh, you probably set it up so it won’t work when I try.”

The guard didn’t even try to listen.

“If you wanted to come to the ducal residence, you could’ve contacted us properly through the temple. Why show up in the middle of the night looking like that? Honestly, it does seem suspicious.”

I pressed my lips tightly together.

He wasn’t wrong. A saintess candidate could easily request an official visit, yet here I was appearing suddenly at this hour.

And it was true that I looked a mess.

“Alright, time to go back. Kid, you’re fearless. How dare you impersonate a saintess candidate? I’ll let you off just this once.”

Shoo, shoo.

The guard, now speaking casually, even came out through the gate and shoved me away.

“No…!”

I tried to brace myself and resist, but I was no match for him and was pushed back.

‘I’ll get in somehow.’

After being thrown out, I lingered around the ducal residence, looking for an opening.

But perhaps because they were knights of a ducal house, no matter how much I observed, I couldn’t find any gap to slip through.

‘What should I do? Pretend the temple sent me and make a fake letter?’

It was a ridiculous idea. I couldn’t even imagine what would happen if I got caught.

‘Then maybe I’ll come back tomorrow and try again. It might be different during the day. If they know I waited all night, they might believe me.’

But despite my resolve, my feet wouldn’t move.

‘To turn back when the ducal residence is right in front of me…’

I grew restless, wanting to run over and beg right away.

Just as I let out a sigh so deep it felt like the ground would cave in—

“!”

I sensed a murky energy from somewhere.

‘This is… dark magic?’

I quickly turned my head toward the source.

It was the forest right next to the ducal residence.

What was happening?

‘Wait—dark magic is used to summon monsters. And if dark magic activates there right now…!’

A monster would be summoned, and the temple would move to deal with it.

‘Then they might find out that I was here…!’

I have to stop it—now!

My face went pale as I ran into the forest.

Huff, huff.

I quickly ran out of breath.

Fortunately, the source of the energy wasn’t far.

‘There!’

Weaving between the trees, I came to a stop in front of a small pond.

And there, standing before a monster that appeared to have been summoned by dark magic, was—

“……”

A boy, standing blankly, holding a sheathed sword.