IPAMB 1

Chapter: 1

An ordinary dawn, nothing special about it.

I, Winiel, a saintess-in-training at the temple, was praying alone in the temple’s prayer hall as usual.

God, please let my brother return safely today, without getting hurt.

As always, my prayers began with wishing for my brother’s safety.

Ian Schnarr.

My older brother—and my only family.

He was an adventurer who loved seeing the world. Five years ago, he left six-year-old me in the care of the temple and set off on his travels.

It does sting that he left me alone in the temple.

But still, it was fine.

After our parents passed away early, my brother had raised me all by himself, even though I was six years younger than him.

My brother deserves to be free.

I could understand that.

Even if I only saw him once or twice a year.

Even if his letters came only once every two months!

I could endure all of that.

But because of that, today’s prayer felt like it would be a little longer.

But God, my brother hasn’t contacted me for a whole year. The people at the temple say he must be busy, but no matter what, isn’t this too much?

The more I thought about it, the heavier my heart became.

For nearly a year now, my brother hadn’t contacted me even once.

This was really going too far!

So I prayed.

God, please let me know something about my brother. I beg you. Please.

Clutching the necklace that was my mother’s keepsake, I prayed with all my heart.

That was when it happened.

“Huh—what?”

Suddenly, my vision flashed, and something began to surface in my mind.

Had God truly heard my prayer?

My heart started pounding violently.

I focused on the mysterious information flooding into my thoughts.

And then—

Huh? What is this?

I realized that I had been reincarnated into a novel.

It was said that people with strong divine power sometimes regained fragments of their past-life memories.

Perhaps that was the case for me.

I’ve never read a novel like this in this life. That means I must have read it in my past life…!

The plot I recalled wasn’t complicated.

It was a fantasy growth story packed with frustration—about a male protagonist, the heir to a prestigious ducal family of swordsmen, who grows through hardship and clashes with a black-magic villain organization threatening the Empire.

“Ugh…”

But I couldn’t think any further. Right after recalling the novel, I was struck by a raging fever.

Part of it was the shock of realizing I had reincarnated into a novel I’d read in a past life.

But more than that—

B-Brother…

One particular scene from the novel refused to leave my mind.

It was the scene where the protagonist discovered the corpse of a low-ranking member of the villain organization.

—

“So they planned to pin everything on him. His name is… Ian Schnarr, is it?”

—

A disposable pawn who dies after being cut off by the villains.

That was my brother’s role.

My brother is a villain’s subordinate… and he dies?!

It felt like my world was collapsing.

If that was going to happen, he might as well not have appeared at all—just like me!

Of all things, why did he have to be a dead villain underling?!

My head felt like it was about to explode.

Several days passed like that.

Yet I still couldn’t get out of bed.

The fever itself gradually subsided, but every time I thought of my brother, I couldn’t bring myself to move.

“You’ve been wandering around at dawn every day, and now look what you’ve done! How many days are you going to lie there like this?!”

Hilla, the priest assigned to me, snapped irritably as she looked down at me.

“This is your own fault, so deal with it yourself!”

She left me there without even giving me medicine.

What a personality… Is she really a priest?

Honestly, it wasn’t surprising. This was how I was treated on a daily basis.

It’s probably because I’m a commoner-born saintess candidate.

“Saintess candidate” referred to girls with divine power. Since bloodline was considered important, only noble children were originally allowed to become saintess candidates.

However, the temple hadn’t produced a true saintess for several years, despite many trials.

Because of that, even a commoner orphan of unknown origin like me could be accepted as a saintess candidate—so long as she possessed strong divine power.

But that doesn’t mean I’d be treated well inside the temple.

Unless it was the High Priest, who valued ability above all else, everyone secretly looked down on me.

Worse still, there was no one else who had become a saintess candidate under circumstances like mine, which made the discrimination even worse.

I sometimes wondered if things would improve once I became a real saintess—but that day was still far away.

You have to come of age to undergo the trial of God.

I’d heard that attempting it before adulthood would cause you to fall into eternal sleep.

I was eleven. Nineteen was still a long way off.

Honestly, I want to leave this place as soon as possible.

I didn’t want to become a saintess badly enough to endure this kind of humiliation.

But… they said maintaining my status as a saintess candidate would help my brother in his adventures.

So I endured it.

For my brother, I could endure anything.

And yet—

Now that I know the truth, it was all pointless.

I clenched my lips tightly.

Tears welled up as thoughts of my brother resurfaced.

He said he was traveling the world…

Liar.

You tricked me and went around doing terrible things.

I sniffled, and before I knew it, tears were spilling out.

Why did you go there, you idiot!

Even now, I found it hard to believe my brother was doing something evil.

In my memories, he was kind and warm-hearted—someone who would never do such things.

I rubbed my eyes hard, stifling my sobs so no one would hear.

No. I can’t give up like this. There’s still a chance. I’ll stop him, even now!

In the original story, my brother didn’t die until several years later.

I’ll persuade him to turn himself in!

I didn’t know exactly how many crimes he’d committed, since the novel never went into detail—but dying after being discarded by a villain organization was far worse than paying for his sins properly.

If he’s just a low-ranking underling, there’s no way he’d get the death penalty!

I had to contact my brother immediately!

I sprang out of bed.

But the confident steps I took toward the door soon came to a halt.

…Wait. How am I supposed to contact him?

Thinking about it, I had no way to reach my brother.

After all, my prayers—the reason I’d learned about the novel in the first place—had started because contact with him had been cut off.

Does that mean he’s just going to die like this?

Even if there was still time before his death, if I couldn’t reach him, the outcome wouldn’t change.

That can’t happen! I have to find a way—no matter what!

I paced back and forth in the small room.

Could I ask someone else? The High Priest? But he’s away from the temple right now…

The High Priest—the only person in the temple who was kind to me—was traveling across the Empire and wasn’t here.

Even if I asked the priests to summon him, they wouldn’t listen.

I’d tried before, when I asked about my brother’s whereabouts and requested to see the High Priest.

They’d ignored me without batting an eye.

So the result would surely be the same this time.

Then who can I ask for help?

As I moved restlessly, racking my brain—

“Oh, wait…”

There was someone who chased after my brother in the novel.

The protagonist!

The villain organization my brother belonged to was the true evil lurking behind the scenes.

The protagonist and that organization were locked in a relentless chase.

I’ll ask the protagonist to take down the villain organization!

If the organization was destroyed, my brother would naturally be captured as well.

But there was one concern.

I paused to estimate the current point in the original timeline.

…The protagonist should still be only thirteen right now. Will that be okay?

In the novel, the protagonist didn’t truly clash with the villain organization until after he turned sixteen.

I worried whether it would be possible if I asked now.

But then—

…So what if it isn’t?

I clenched my fist tightly.

I couldn’t just wait around and let my brother die.

The protagonist is the heir to a ducal family. If the duchy steps in, they can do it.

And I had information about the villain organization, too—I could be of help!

Yes. I’ll go meet the protagonist and ask him!

Earlier than in the original story—before my brother dies!

The moment I made up my mind, I hurriedly prepared and left my room.

Stars floated quietly in the pitch-black night sky.

Carefully checking my surroundings, I slipped out of the annex building.

If anyone sees me, I’ll be caught.

The temple staff didn’t care whether I was sick or not, but they were unusually strict about me leaving the temple grounds.

That was why I always met my brother inside the temple and never outside.

That’s why tonight is my chance!

For the past few days, everyone had avoided coming near me, saying they didn’t want to catch my illness.

Thanks to that, there were fewer eyes on me than usual. If I was going to escape the temple, now was the time.

And I know how to get out!

I’d stayed obedient for my brother’s sake—it wasn’t that I truly couldn’t leave.

I darted between statues and trees, hiding as I moved. Soon, I arrived at the wall surrounding the temple.

It should be around here… Ah, here it is!

Among the bushes pressed up against the wall, I found the largest one.

I checked my surroundings once more.

Now!

After confirming no one was there, I threw myself into the thick bush.

Branches scraped against my face and body, stinging painfully, but I didn’t stop. I crawled forward as quietly as possible.

Before long, a small hole appeared.

The temple didn’t allow my brother and me to exchange letters.

This was the spot where we secretly exchanged letters behind the temple’s back—the letters that went back and forth every two months all passed through here.

Though it’s been a long time since that stopped.

As proof, when I dug beneath the hole, a white letter emerged.

The letter I had left a year ago.

And the letter my brother hadn’t taken for an entire year.

“…Idiot brother.”

I stared down at the dirt-covered letter, then crumpled it into my pocket.

This isn’t the time to dwell on that.

Taking a deep breath, I cleared the bushes on the other side and bent down to peer through the hole.

Aside from my brother not retrieving the letters, the hole was still well connected to the outside.

Thank goodness. I can get out!

I began digging with my hands.

The hole wasn’t very big. To pass through, I had to widen it by digging out more dirt.

“Ugh…”

Digging with bare hands was no easy task.

My hands quickly became battered and torn, blood seeping out.

It hurts… but I have to do this!

Gritting my teeth, I kept digging.

Again and again.

After who knew how long, the hole had grown far larger than before.

I think I can fit through now!

I quickly pushed my body in.

“Ugh—!”

Even so, it wasn’t easy for a person to squeeze through.

“Nggh… there! I made it!”

After struggling until my entire body was caked in dirt, I finally made it through the hole.

Letting out a deep breath, I pulled a letter from my pocket.

Not the dirt-covered one—but a new letter I had written just before leaving my room.

In case my brother comes back while I’m gone.

I’d written a brief explanation.

Tap. Tap.

I pulled the bushes back into place, filled the hole, and buried the new letter inside.

Now, let’s go!

After pulling the bushes on this side back into place as well, I stood up and headed down the mountain.

The temple slowly faded into the distance behind me.

I really made it out.

Perhaps because it was the first time I’d seen this scenery in five years, it felt unfamiliar yet strangely fascinating, making my heart flutter.

…If I get caught, I’ll be in serious trouble, won’t I?

The thought of the consequences briefly crossed my mind—but I had no intention of stopping.

My resolve was already set.

Brother, wait for me. I’ll make sure you pay for your sins!

Without looking back, I ran straight ahead.