The Saint’s Manual for Redemption - Chapter 3

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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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Chapter 3
“It’s truly unexpected that Divine Revelation descended twice.”
She smiled, but the corners of her lips stiffened ever so slightly. Lying clearly took effort.
She knew better than anyone that what she’d received wasn’t Divine Revelation at all, but rather a performance of Holy Power staged by the priests.
“It’s not unexpected. There was only one Divine Revelation.”
The moment I corrected her myself, Calianna’s smile faltered. But she quickly straightened her chin and spoke to me in an arrogant tone.
“I have prayed in this Temple since earliest childhood, and I have served Karitas more faithfully than anyone.”
“Oh, really?”
If I counted my past life and this one combined, I’d practically devoted my entire existence to it. Comparing myself to this fake impostor was almost embarrassing—that’s what I meant.
“I have a mission to fulfill in this Temple. The Divine granted me that mission.”
“Oh, really?”
So what, you want me to give up?
I have a mission too, you brat. To cut off the heads of every one of you and all the higher-ups who conspired with you, and set this Temple right.
As I kept answering with the same words, Calianna’s smile twisted completely. Gritting her teeth, she shot back.
“I look forward to it, Saint Candidate Siela. I have no intention of relinquishing my place easily either.”
“Wonderful. Let the Divine judge which of us is closer to their will. There’s no need for two Saints.”
The sky has room for only one sun.
The moment our brief exchange ended, Calianna turned and walked away.
Rather than sending me back to the Orphanage, the Temple assigned me a room immediately.
Though it was spacious compared to the Orphanage chamber where ten of us slept together, next to my quarters from my past life, it wasn’t much more than a bathroom.
‘Still, I’ve been blessed with Divine Revelation and named a Saint Candidate, yet the treatment isn’t particularly special.’
I found myself curious about what kind of chamber they’d prepared for the fabricated Saint.
Now that I’d returned to the Temple, the hidden reserves I’d stashed throughout these halls during my time as one of the Three Great Saints came to mind. I’d left them for future generations, never imagining they’d be spent on myself.
Had they already been discovered, or were they still untouched? To check on the funds and get my bearings on the Temple’s layout, I draped a shawl carelessly over my shoulders and carefully turned the door handle.
The door I’d opened as quietly as possible suddenly stopped, then swung wide open as it overcame my resistance.
A figure blocked the doorway.
A man standing bathed in pale moonlight.
A black cloak draped over the uniform of the Holy Knight Order.
And—
The moment I saw his face, I reflexively caught my breath. A chill ran down my spine as though someone had seized my nape.
Why, of all people—
“Where are you slipping off to in the dead of night, Saint Candidate?”
An unfamiliar face wore an unfamiliar smile as he asked.
Ironically, the moment I saw that smile, my racing heart calmed.
The person I remembered could never wear such a nauseating smile. He’d always been transparent, his feelings written plainly across his face.
And I had loved him for that.
Why does this bastard have to look so exactly like my ex-lover and make my heart skip like this?
“Rather than asking me why I’ve come out, shouldn’t you introduce yourself first? You’re lingering outside a woman’s quarters, after all.”
I spoke with a hint of mockery, and the man tapped his left shoulder twice with his clenched right fist, then lowered his head in a knight’s salute. Still wearing that nauseating smile, he opened his mouth with casual ease.
“Forgive my late introduction. I am Arden Hawellin, of the Holy Knight Order, assigned to serve as your escort.”
Hawellin.
Once again, a relic of the past had been thrust before me, and I swallowed hard.
My former lover had borne the surname Hawellin as well.
He had once been a commoner, but as one chosen by the Divine—a Hero who slew the Demon King and brought peace to the Empire—he received a noble title as reward from the Imperial Palace.
I recalled he’d lived his entire life unwed, passing the title to his nephew, yet here was a distant descendant bearing such a striking resemblance.
Observing him up close now, I did notice differences from the face in my memory. Those deep blue eyes, for instance, or the slightly more delicate features.
Thanks to that, my antipathy index, which had plummeted to the depths, ticked marginally upward.
Naturally so. How many people can hold fondness for an ex-lover?
Apart from sudden unexpected death and the tragedy of parting from someone you love through circumstance, the world holds no such thing as a beautiful farewell.
Especially since we’d separated amid a spectacularly bitter quarrel, and even after parting, we continued our vicious fights until my ex-lover’s death—his span of years being shorter than my own.
The wandering minstrels who once sang love stories of the Saint and Hero had to change their lyrics to tales of fellowship, embarrassed by our presence.
A softly smiling face suddenly drew close. I’d lived long enough not to startle at such a gesture.
“Now that introductions are made, it’s my turn to hear your answer, Saint Candidate Siela.”
Pulled from my reverie by his light tone, I met the eyes of Arden Hawellin—my watchdog, whose first meeting had stirred unpleasant memories of my former lover.
The only thing I found appealing about him was those blue eyes, utterly unlike my ex-lover’s.
“How could I have ventured to such intimate reaches of the Temple? Until now, I’ve only been permitted to visit the areas open to outsiders, so I was simply curious about the Temple’s interior.”
I smoothly delivered the excuse I’d prepared in advance, though I hadn’t expected to use it before even leaving my room.
I shrugged and extended my hand toward Arden Hawellin.
“If you truly suspect me so, would you care to accompany me on a moonlit stroll?”
Arden Hawellin shook his head briefly, then slowly leaned close until his breath brushed near my ear.
“If I may offer some unsolicited advice…….”
A soft, husky voice whispered in a way that made my ears tingle. Even the voice was the same. Damn it.
“It would be wise not to wander through the Temple so unguarded. There are people in this sanctuary who regard you as a thorn in their side.”
It was less advice than a warning.
Still, it felt strange to receive something resembling concern after so long. In my past life, at the Orphanage, right up until now—people had only ever worried about my enemies.
“Have a good night.”
Arden Hawellin closed the door to my chamber with a soft click, smiling with his eyes.
From the presence I sensed beyond the threshold, he seemed to be remaining outside, standing guard over this room.
……Or perhaps watching me.
Since today’s search for the hidden funds seemed to have come to nothing, I gave it up and lay back down on the bed.
A thorn in their side…….
Of course I would be. Here I was, suddenly appearing with God’s Choice upon me, and naturally the upper echelons of the Faith would hate that.
‘Everyone! A new Saint has appeared, blessed with Divine Revelation!’
‘Oh no…… We’ll have to give the whole Temple a thorough cleaning before the investiture ceremony…….’
As I remembered it, twelve years ago they’d made the same fuss when a Saint appeared. I’d been six then, drafted along with my orphanage mates for a full week of scrubbing the Temple, and we’d all fallen ill afterward—I remember it perfectly.
To turn them into puppets they could control, the high priests had been placing the daughters and relatives of the nobility in the Saint’s seat all along.
When you look at how the number of Saints ballooned from three in five hundred years to thirty within the last generation, it’s obvious how often they were cycling through them.
And then, all at once, a real Saint appeared—one who actually bore God’s mark. And of all times, it had to be this year, when a new Saint had already been chosen.
So why, then, were these people now arbitrarily controlling a Saint’s seat that should only be granted by God’s own selection?
‘Obvious.’
Somewhere along the way, the Saints themselves had probably begun complicit in the corruption, eventually devolving into mere puppets of the highest priests.
That’s why Karitas had stopped choosing Saints.
And watching to see how far they’d go—but seeing they wouldn’t restrain themselves—God must have decided to reincarnate me and thrust me into this corrupted sanctuary.
Karitas, I beg your permission: allow me to strike each of these fools once across the head with the ≪Temple Operations Manual: A Testament for Our Descendants to Safeguard—Compiled by Siela, Third Saint of the Karitas Faith≫ that I wrote before my last eternal rest.
That tome contained everything my successors absolutely must observe, and its volume was that of an entire encyclopedia.
I’d had it bound in a handsome hardcover, and to prevent the edges from fraying, I’d had metal reinforcements riveted onto all four corners.
Of course, whether I used the cover or the corners to strike them was entirely my choice.

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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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