It's Overwhelmingly Convenient That the Female Lead Has Darkened - Chapter 82

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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A corrupted heroine is overwhelmingly convenient.
#82
Cluck-cluck-cluck-cluck…….
Daisy followed along behind Kkokko’s plump rear end.
Then, catching the scent of rich flowers at the tip of her nose, she lifted her head—and gasped.
“Wow……!”
The garden that Daisy had cleared for one gold per hour was now filled with wildflowers of every size and kind.
They hadn’t been scattered carelessly, that much was certain.
The clusters of wildflowers achieved a harmonious balance in size, color, variety, and shape.
“Who on earth arranged it like this?”
It never occurred to Daisy that Gael Vendermain might have done this.
There was no reason it should.
That fanatical Holy Knight couldn’t possibly have such an ability.
This had to be the work of someone hired for one gold per hour.
“Whoever it is, I’d like to hire them for my own garden someday.”
As Daisy daydreamed about her future home—sweet home—across the sea in a foreign land, mentally hiring her future gardener, that was when it happened.
Cluck-cluck-cluck-cluck!
Kkokko’s cry suddenly rose in pitch, and she fluttered her wings frantically before dashing off somewhere.
“What—what is it?”
Following after her into the depths of the garden, Daisy caught the sound of a voice and quickly hid herself behind the tall flowering branches.
“Kkokko.”
A low voice, revealing a nature that was not just straightforward but rigidly principled.
It was Gael Vendermain.
Daisy peered cautiously between the flower branches.
The massive Gael was crouched near Kkokko.
He was gently stroking the red plumage of Kkokko, who appeared almost sparrow-like beside his huge frame.
But he wasn’t merely stroking.
Daisy spotted the white light gathering at the tips of his fingers and let out a silent laugh.
So it was Gael Vendermain who had made that fire-born chicken plump and fluffy.
“Kkokko.”
He’d even given her a name.
Cluck-cluck-cluck-cluck…….
Gael continued to gently stroke Kkokko as she rubbed herself against him happily, apparently unbothered by any heat.
Each time he did, her red feathers puffed up and settled back down.
“…….”
Watching the scene, Daisy turned away without hesitation.
She’d been curious, certainly, but if the person responsible was Gael Vendermain, she saw no reason to get entangled with him.
It was just as she was making her way back to the Dormitory that it happened.
“Daisy Sabelheart.”
At that solemn voice calling her name, Daisy clicked her tongue with irritation.
When she turned, the traitorous Kkokko was pointing at her with her red wing.
‘You coward! How could you rat me out like that!’
Daisy glared at her with her eyes.
Cluck.
Kkokko turned her head away abruptly.
‘Are you really going to be spiteful? Who made you in the first place!’
Daisy continued her silent accusation.
‘I believe the gratitude for raising me supersedes the gratitude for my creation.’
Kkokko said, as if…….
“What did you just say?”
“Hmm?”
“No, did that fire chicken just…….”
Just impart something profoundly wise.
Was this a dream.
While Daisy was genuinely wrestling with the question, Gael carefully spoke as he gently stroked Kkokko’s head.
“……It’s Kkokko, actually.”
“Yeah, I heard. That’s what you call her.”
At those words, Gael’s face flushed slightly.
The expression of someone acutely aware that none of this suited him whatsoever.
Seeing that look, Daisy felt, strangely, all the fight drain out of her.
No matter how I looked at it, he didn’t seem like the strait-laced Holy Knight Gael Vendermain I knew, but there was no point dwelling on it.
By the time he became a Holy Knight anyway, Daisy would be long gone from this godforsaken empire, living free.
“Go on, play nice with Kkokko.”
Daisy waved her hand dismissively and turned to leave.
Then Gael spoke urgently.
“Wait, just a moment.”
Daisy ignored him and kept walking.
“I have something to ask you——!”
His voice, still bearing the softness of youth, reached her back.
Not that she cared.
Getting tangled up with Gael Vendermain any further would only be exhausting.
“One gold per hour!”
“There’s a bonus if you solve it?”
When Daisy spun around and crouched down, Gael looked at her as if he’d expected exactly that.
Ah, so the Earl’s daughter was mercenary after all—second time I’ve seen this side of you.
Daisy nodded with a deflated expression.
It meant: go ahead.
* * *
“I can’t believe it.”
“That’s the third time you’ve said that.”
“Gael Vendermain almost got an F in Theology?”
“That’s the third time you’ve said that too.”
Gael lowered his head.
His face was blank, but somehow he looked dejected.
Coo-coo-coo.
Kkokko, who was usually stubborn even to Gael, leaned his plump body against him as if to console him.
Ruffle, ruffle.
Every time Gael’s large hand stroked the fire bird, bright red flames flickered off its feathers.
“People with Holy Power automatically receive a P, so it was fine this time, but the professor said it was dangerous.”
It was absurd.
That fanatic almost got an F in Theology?
The same man who would follow any command from the Temple without hesitation, even if they ordered him to turn Kkokko into soup?
“How on earth did that happen? You didn’t pray?”
“I pray five times a day.”
A true fanatic indeed.
Daisy, who nearly fainted at the thought of such a prayer frequency conjuring Holy Power out of thin air, pondered for a moment before asking.
“You didn’t go to the Temple?”
She remembered Gael mentioning he didn’t want to go to the Temple the last time.
Gael shook his head.
“I only come here for evening prayers, but I always go to the Temple for my other prayers.”
“Every day?”
“Every day.”
“You have that much to pray about?”
At Daisy’s innocent question, Gael couldn’t answer right away.
Did he have that much to pray about?
Prayer was just prayer.
The same content lifted up every single day, never varying.
“Those with Manifested Holy Power must pray daily for all beings on earth.”
“Who said that?”
“The High Priest told me.”
“You know the High Priest?”
Daisy asked in surprise.
She understood he would naturally know him after becoming a Holy Knight, but she never expected him to know the High Priest even when he’d just entered the Academy.
Gael nodded as if it were obvious.
“I live in the Temple.”
“What? You live in the Temple?!”
“I do.”
“Then your parents——”
Cold sweat ran down her back.
She hadn’t realized this conversation would become so heavy.
“Ah.”
Gael, noting Daisy’s expression, offered an explanation.
“Both my parents are alive.”
“Geez, you scared me half to death.”
Daisy exhaled in relief.
“When you said you live in the Temple, I thought…”
“Those with Manifested Holy Power live in the Temple from that moment onward. Didn’t you know?”
“…”
She had no idea.
“That’s why I’ve continued living there as well.”
“From what age?”
“…”
Gael fell silent for a moment before answering.
“Five years old.”
“Five years old?! So from then on…”
“I trained to become a Holy Knight.”
Dear God,
Child abuse.
If God were listening, He’d jump up and flail his hands at the prayer Daisy offered up, though she only clicked her tongue instead.
Training to become a Holy Knight from five years old?
That’s absolutely ridiculous.
Five-year-olds should be playing.
Playing in the dirt at playgrounds, tumbling and scraping their knees, fighting with friends over dolls, making up while sharing snacks—that’s what five should be.
“So from age five, you lived in the Temple, prayed five times daily, trained to become a Holy Knight, and then entered the Academy.”
“Yes.”
Gael nodded as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
He seemed to find nothing odd about what Daisy was saying.
“What about your classes?”
“Except for Swordsmanship and a bit of Hand-to-Hand Combat, everything is Theology.”
I am an instrument of the Word.
Gael answered as if stating something obvious.
“Don’t tell me you joined a club…”
“The Temple recommended one. The Ancient Scripture Research Club.”
“…”
Now Daisy understood.
Gael hadn’t become a fanatic.
The path to fanaticism had simply been laid out beautifully before him.
He was just walking it, one step after another.
“But…”
In that moment, Gael opened his mouth.
His voice was so quiet it seemed even God couldn’t hear it.
“Lately, my Holy Power hasn’t been growing.”
“…”
“No matter how hard I try, I can barely manage the amount I use to pet Kkokko. I want to make him plumper, but I can’t.”
“…”
Kkokko already seemed plump enough…
Daisy glanced at the chicken puffed up like a balloon, but said nothing.
She’d realized this was Gael’s sincere concern.
“Even prayer doesn’t help anymore. I feel helpless, unable to do anything. Perhaps God has… abandoned me. That’s why the professor gave me an F.”
“Stop talking nonsense.”
Daisy cut him off sharply.
Gael’s eyes widened.
But Daisy didn’t take back her words.
They weren’t nonsense at all.
“I know what this is.”
“You do?”
“This is Burnout.”

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