I Cured the Mastermind and Failed to Run Away - Chapter 20

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 20

“A Commoner’s identity will do. Not Royal Family.”
“A Commoner, yes. If you wish, I can also arrange for you to pose as someone well-established in the region. We have Guild Members stationed throughout the city we could employ.”
“No, there’s no need for all that. But it can’t just be any Commoner—I’d prefer to be registered as a seventh-rank Purifier, if that’s possible?”
Levelin let her words flow naturally, deliberately not pausing between thoughts.
“A seventh-rank Purifier.”
Karl repeated the identity she’d requested, his tone measured. As the head of the Information Guild, he would certainly know that Levelin was a tenth-rank Purifier.
But why she’d ask for seventh-rank credentials was something he wouldn’t naturally understand.
‘I need to be careful not to let on that my rank has increased.’
Their eyes met in the air between them.
Silence settled.
‘He wouldn’t suspect anything just from this, would he?’
A Purifier’s rank advancing was unusual enough that he likely wouldn’t jump to suspicion, but caution was still warranted.
He wasn’t the head of the Empire’s largest Information Guild for nothing.
What would she say if he pressed her on why she wanted seventh-rank credentials? Levelin held his gaze without flinching, her mind working quickly.
Karl opened his mouth.
“Understood.”
“…?”
The reply came surprisingly calm and measured, contrary to what she’d braced for. He didn’t press further.
Karl rose and instructed the aide standing outside to prepare everything, then returned.
“It can be arranged at once, miss. While you wait, please help yourself to some tea and refreshments so you won’t be bored.”
“At once? Just like that?”
“Yes. We keep several Commoner identities in reserve for precisely these situations.”
Karl set the tea and refreshments on the table.
But Levelin, still guarded, didn’t touch anything.
‘…Is this how Sophia feels?’
The thought struck her that she should look after Sophia’s meals more carefully when she returned home.
“Miss, the fact that you’ve hidden your face, come alone without an escort, and are preparing a false identity suggests you’re concealing something even from your family.”
“Most people who use the Guild are like that.”
“Are you preparing to flee?”
“I didn’t realize reasons were required along with payment.”
Karl laughed lightly.
“No, we don’t typically ask. Such matters don’t usually reach my level. But since this concerns you, I wanted to help personally, so I thought I’d inquire.”
Though he’d offered an explanation, Levelin didn’t answer. She had no intention of giving Karl more information.
“Are you planning to visit the Commoner Purifier Bureau?”
If a known noble was quietly obtaining the identity of a seventh-rank Commoner Purifier, it was easily inferred.
Levelin said nothing, but Karl continued his own line of reasoning.
“The Commoner Purifier Bureau is located deeper in on 3rd Street. It would be difficult for you to slip away from your escort each time.”
She knew that already.
She might manage it a few more times like today, but that wouldn’t work indefinitely.
Karl rested his chin on his armrest and watched Levelin, who responded with silence—neither confirming nor denying.
“Use the Temple.”
He offered his suggestion as though he was accustomed to such noble evasiveness.
“Given the recent incident involving the Contaminated Zone, it would seem natural if you said you were going to pray for peace of mind. Many nobles actually do use private prayer chambers there.”
Private prayer chambers? Levelin, still resting her chin on her hand, tapped her cheek thoughtfully with her fingertips.
“The Temple connects to 3rd Street, so it will be convenient for movement.”
At first glance it seemed like a perfect plan, but there was one significant problem.
“I’ve thought about it before, but private prayer chambers have a Priest guarding the entrance. I can’t just wander off.”
“True. But I’m here, am I not?”
Karl pointed confidently to himself.
“…? What does that have to do with anything? You’re not a Priest.”
“I’m not, but we have people from our Guild at the Temple.”
“What?”
“Our man will pretend to guard the prayer chamber you enter, then show you to the rear exit. You’ll have free access.”
Only Priests with years of service and proven trust at the Temple were permitted to stand guard outside private prayer chambers.
Just how far had this guild extended its influence, and for how long?
She found herself suddenly certain that the offer to create a Royal Family identity was no mere boast.
“I did mention that the guild stands ready to serve you at any moment, did I not?”
“You’d help with something like that?”
Levelin swept Karl with a glance of pure suspicion.
“That day, Miss. When you said you liked the pocket watch I made.”
A pocket watch? Levelin searched her memory.
Now that she thought about it, she had claimed to have wandered into the shop without reason, mentioned that antique collecting was her hobby, and praised the pocket watch. All of it a careful lie.
And she remembered how strangely flustered and delighted he’d seemed.
“It’s my passion, but the guild officers always call it a useless hobby. I’ve never heard anyone say it was impressive or that they liked it—not once.”
“Ah.”
“So when you singled out the pocket watch I made and told me you liked it, I was truly moved.”
Karl clasped his hands together tightly.
“You recognized the worth of my passion, and you even saved my life. Naturally, I must help you in return.”
Suddenly, she felt far more secure.
‘This man… for a guild master, he’s surprisingly earnest. Everyone else scrambles to befriend a guild leader, and I just got lucky.’
Who could have imagined that the head of the empire’s finest Information Guild would light up at having his hobby appreciated?
Karl extended his hand to Levelin for a handshake.
“Next time I make something other than a pocket watch, I’ll show you that too.”
Karl’s eyes gleamed, delighted to have someone to share his passion with. Levelin regarded him with bewilderment for a moment before clasping his hand.
In any case, there was no reason to refuse when the head of the Information Guild had agreed to stand with her.

* * *

Two days had passed. Levelin collected her fake identity and headed toward the Temple.
But it hadn’t gone smoothly, exactly as Karl had warned it might not.
The moment she mentioned that next time she’d pray for nothing to go wrong in a Contaminated Zone again, her father and Arent were so startled they called a doctor!

—Ruby wants to calm her alarmed heart through prayer! We need to check if she’s suffered a serious head injury at once!—
—My sister always ran away whenever we suggested going to the Temple to pray. Who are you? Why are you wearing my sister’s skin?—

She was at her wit’s end. Arent especially went so far as to hunt for magical tools that didn’t even exist, demanding to know if this was Illusion Magic.
Arent only believed her after taking a hit from her, and her father had to receive confirmation from the doctor that nothing was wrong before he’d let her go out.
‘This overprotective household!’
Levelin entered the Temple with an exasperated expression.
Her escort would wait outside the Temple, she’d told them, and Sophia had insisted on accompanying her inside.
When Levelin said she was just going to the Temple, Sophia suddenly declared she couldn’t let her go to such a dangerous place alone and volunteered to come along.
‘In the original work, the Temple was on Sophia’s side.’
No matter what Levelin said about the Temple not being a dangerous place, Sophia wouldn’t hear it.
She was so full of distrust that Levelin thought it best to let her see with her own eyes, so she relented.
‘Karl said one of his people would guide me. They should be here.’
Levelin looked around for the person Karl had mentioned. Her eyes met those of a man in priest’s robes deeper inside the Temple.
Light brown hair and golden eyes. His appearance matched Karl’s description perfectly.
The man with unusually short hair had shoulders far too broad to pass for an ordinary devotee, and his bearing was altogether different from the other priests.
‘That must be him.’
She recognized him at a glance.
‘Didn’t Karl send someone way too easy to spot?’
His appearance was so conspicuously out of place she worried someone might see through him.
When their eyes met, the man walked slowly toward Levelin.
“Is there something I can help you with?”
“It’s my first time here. I came to pray in a private prayer room.”
“Then allow me to show you the way.”
It was definitely him!
Levelin nodded, breaking into a bright smile.
“Sophia, I’ll be praying for a while, so feel free to look around. It’ll take some time, so you can head back in the carriage if you’d like. Understood?”
Sophia gave the man—who clearly was no priest—a suspicious once-over and whispered quietly.
“I’ll wait at the Temple entrance. If anything seems off, call out loudly and I’ll come rescue you, Miss.”
Typical Sophia, brimming with wariness and doubt.
“Got it. I’ll be back soon.”
Levelin followed the man-priest down the corridor toward the private prayer rooms. As they entered the hallway, the number of people thinned out.
“You are Miss Ethélion, aren’t you?”
The male priest asked, as if double-checking something he already knew.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“I never expected Miss Ethélion to visit the Temple to pray.”
Though he knew she hadn’t come to pray, the priest—or rather, the Guild Member—spoke as though nothing were amiss.
He seemed to be acting for the sake of the watching eyes around them.
‘Then I should play along too.’
Levelin drew a breath, as if placing a hand over her heart.
“After being caught up in the Contaminated Zone, I was so frightened. I thought praying to the Divine would ease my mind.”
“I understand completely. Each time I venture into the Contaminated Zone and emerge, I find myself anxious and worried—so I always offer prayers to the Divine. I’m certain it will help you as well.”
“……?”
Levelin tilted her head.
But you’re the Guild Member who infiltrated the Temple, aren’t you? What business would you have entering the Contaminated Zone?
‘This man seems far too invested in his role.’
The man who had been walking stopped in his tracks.
“This is a private prayer chamber. You may pray here.”
What he showed her was a genuine prayer room. Strange—surely Karl said he would guide her through the rear entrance?
She sensed something had gone wrong.
Levelin turned to face the man with a smile.
“Thank you for the guidance. If it’s not too much trouble, might I ask your name?”
Once she had his name, she could find Karl and confirm whether this man was truly a Guild Member.
“Ah, forgive me. I neglected to introduce myself.”
The male priest took Levelin’s hand and bowed his upper body, as courteously as a knight observing ceremony.
“My name is Lanuah Kallen.”
The moment she heard the name, Levelin’s breath stopped.
“I am the one who leads the Paladins who guard this Temple.”
Lanuah Kallen.
‘Why is the male lead here?’
He was one of the male leads who, along with his brother Arent, courted Sophia.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————