The Saint’s Manual for Redemption - Chapter 111

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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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Episode 111
“What’s wrong, sister?”
Vivian tapped my arm. I pulled myself from my thoughts and turned to her.
“What do you mean, what’s wrong?”
“You looked all forlorn just now, then suddenly you grinned like some villain.”
A villain—and directed at a Saint, no less. What sacrilege.
“But sister, have you been up to anything lately?”
“Out of nowhere?”
“I overhear things while I work, and people have been mentioning you way more often than they did during the Saint Sierra Festival.”
I lifted an eyebrow slightly.
“What are they saying?”
“Some say you’ve been poking around annoyingly at everything, and others say it’s only right to correct what’s been wrong to begin with. Either way, there’s been plenty of chatter about you.”
Vivian paused, then asked carefully.
“Did you maybe grab the Archbishop by the hair over the indulgence thing, because you wouldn’t follow the Third Saint’s wishes?”
I stared at Vivian, utterly incredulous.
“What exactly do you think I am?”
“Given that it’s you, I figured you were perfectly capable of it.”
So my image had shifted from the dependable big sister of the orphanage to some madwoman who’d assault the elderly without hesitation.
Still, listening to Vivian’s account, it seemed my intentions were beginning to take root—the notion that the Saint was trying to set something right was spreading through the Temple.
Of course, not everyone would embrace it favorably, but I hadn’t expected them to anyway.
Anyone who attempts reform first always gets painted as a nuisance.
It was the same when I was the Third Saint.
When I tried transforming the Temple from an organization obsessed with an image of purity into one that knew how to seize practical advantage, the Imperial Palace and the nobility treated me like I was nothing but tiresome and exhausting.
At least the people within the Temple, despite some opposition, ultimately trusted and followed me. Thanks to that, I managed to avoid a stress-induced illness and saw it through to the end.
Now the situation was reversed. I had to rebuild the interior before I could touch the exterior.
Vivian glanced around cautiously, then lowered her voice.
“And Dino says to tell you not to worry—he’s somewhere safe right now.”
I went silent for a moment. Relief washed over me at the news that Dino was safe, but guilt followed just as quickly. He’d been dragged into this mess because of me and suffered greatly for it.
Yet I couldn’t tell him to hide somewhere completely beyond the Religious Order’s reach. The heretics, especially the Ecclesia Church, had been moving too brazenly of late.
A heresy interrogation was preferable to becoming a sacrificial victim for those idolaters.
At least the Religious Order was handling heresy cases swiftly.
Recently, we’d dug into a charity and trading company that the Count Norwald’s family had been steadily supporting, traced the flow of funds in reverse, and discovered three or four similar disappearance cases in the process—that’s what the interim report said.
Knowing better than anyone how insidious and relentless the Ecclesia Church was, part of me wanted to step in directly. But the timing wasn’t right yet.
If I gallivanted around outside before I’d even secured control of the Temple itself, I’d only burn myself out first.
“I really should go now. If I slack off much longer, I’ll get caught.”
“You could rest a little longer.”
“Just because you’re a Saint doesn’t mean I get an iron rice bowl too.”
Vivian scrambled to her feet.
After seeing Vivian off, I turned my attention to the package lying on the desk.
It was a reply from Croen. More precisely, not a letter but a package.
My heart fluttered a little as I tore open the wrapping. Would he have understood? The page I’d hidden in the Doctrinal Text I’d sent him, and the meaning concealed in the page after that?
Inside the package were a brief note and a novel.
This is the book you asked for previously, Your Highness.
I’d asked for no such book. I smiled slightly and opened it.
Finding the bookmarked section wasn’t difficult. The marked page showed the scene where the protagonist’s wife is caught committing adultery with another man.
I turned to the next page. And there I found my answer.
The protagonist had already known of his wife’s infidelity. He knew everything, yet only pretended ignorance because of the dowry she’d brought—that’s what the passage said.
I stared at those lines for a long moment, then smiled slowly.
Of course. The Duke already knew. He’d known all along that the Emperor had planted Prakti around him.
Yet he hadn’t driven him away. The fact that he’d deliberately chosen this particular page to send made his reasoning clear.
By keeping the Emperor’s man close, the Duke gained something in return.
Eyes that saw only what he wished them to see. A channel that leaked only the information he wanted spread. He was already thinking exactly as I was.
I closed the novel and reached for fresh paper, taking up my pen.
Since the Saint Benia Festival was drawing near, inviting the Duke to the Holy Sanctuary would make an excellent pretext.
I wrote out a brief invitation.
It asked whether he could attend the Saint Benia Festival ceremony. On the surface, it was simply a natural invitation from a Saint to her betrothed to join an official Temple event.
But the Duke would understand well enough. It was time to move beyond Remote Instruction through books alone—we needed to meet face to face and align our steps.
***
Before the Saint Benia Festival arrived, Count Norwald’s execution was carried out.
The charge: apostasy and participation in heretical acts.
The Imperial Palace granted the Religious Order’s condemnation the moment they learned what Count Norwald had done.
As word spread that ten people had been sacrificed at his private estate, the people’s horror and hatred of heresy deepened across the empire.
The head servant and steward who had participated most zealously were sentenced to burning. For knowingly turning a blind eye to her husband’s and father’s apostasy—and moreover, for taking part in some of their acts—the former Countess Norwald, the current Count, and Lady Edeline were all sentenced to hanging.
The hangings would take place first, followed by the burnings the next day.
I was curious whether Lady Edeline would follow the advice I’d given her in her cell. Would she accept her fate meekly, or would she struggle against it?
On the day of execution, the Public Square overflowed with crowds.
It was only natural—a grand purge of heretics before the Saint Benia Festival. The masses hurled curses at the condemned, invoking the name of God as they damned those who had betrayed Him.
I stood apart, watching the entire spectacle unfold.
And then Lady Edeline’s turn came at last.
Just before the noose could be placed around her neck, Lady Edeline suddenly thrashed, her body convulsing.
“This is unjust!”
The crowd’s murmurs grew louder. Lady Edeline’s voice tore through the square.
“My father became an apostate because of an Indulgence issued by the Religious Order! If Indulgences truly forgive sins, why did it not spare my father from the divine punishment that befell him?”
Every word Lady Edeline spoke was exactly what I had suggested to her in the Underground Dungeon.
Cling to the Indulgence. Hold fast to that complaint, and they won’t dare execute you on the spot, not with all these eyes upon them.
And the timing was crucial—mere days before the Saint Benia Festival.
Here, at an event designed to magnify the Temple Organization’s authority and sanctity through a grand heresy purge, the condemned herself was now crying out that “Indulgences are worthless.”
This was no longer a mere plea of personal grievance.
If they carried out the execution before the crowd as planned, the rumors would spread unchecked. It would appear the Religious Order was trying to cover up the scandal.
But if they halted the execution, even temporarily, and promised to verify the facts, they could at least maintain the appearance of fair inquiry.
And as I’d anticipated, the Priest overseeing the execution hesitated, his hand rising in alarm.
“Stop the execution!”
The execution was suspended. Relief washed across Lady Edeline’s face as she stepped back from death’s threshold. It was an expression she could never have worn with the bodies of her hanged family beside her.
She was bound once more and dragged back to the Underground Dungeon. I watched her go without a flicker of emotion crossing my face. It had gone exactly as I’d planned.
At that moment, Arden, standing beside me, spoke in a quiet voice.
“Was that why you asked Count Lerbon whether anyone in his circle had received an Indulgence for assault or murder?”
I turned slowly to face Arden.
He no longer seemed to care about hiding the fact that he’d read the letter first.

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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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