The Saint’s Manual for Redemption - Chapter 30

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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 30
“Until His Majesty becomes familiar with the Holy Knight Order, Sir Hawelin will take charge of your protection.”
The Church didn’t give me a choice in my escort knight—they simply informed me unilaterally. It was as good as declaring they wouldn’t treat me like a true Holy Saint.
At this point, even Arden seemed to be at a loss.
I couldn’t fathom why they kept assigning him to me. Was it because Sir Arden had so little backing and influence within the Church that he was expendable, or was he simply pretending to be on my side in front of me while actually being the Church’s lapdog?
My only attendant remained Sub-deacon Rillet.
Her blunt expression and perfunctory bows hadn’t changed even now that I’d been elevated to Holy Saint.
Still, I decided to cut Rillet some slack.
She hadn’t been part of the mob that had forced a Fur Coat onto me and dragged me out to the Plaza like some massive pyre—not to burn well, but to burn at all.
Only the room had changed; nothing else was different from when I’d been a Holy Saint candidate.
“This is your Dignity Stipend as Holy Saint. It will be deposited monthly.”
There was certainly a heap of money and Jeweled Accessories for adornment, but from the perspective of a girl who’d lived as an orphan, that was considerable wealth. From the perspective of a former Holy Saint who’d led the Temple for decades, it was pathetically meager.
If I relied only on the Temple’s money, I’d have no choice but to move according to the Temple’s will. So I needed to establish my own financial channel.
First, I had to devise a strategy to seize control of the Temple.
My first objective was to grasp money and power so the high-ranking clergy couldn’t manipulate me as a puppet Holy Saint.
The lesson I learned from playing power games with the Imperial Palace and the nobility in my past life was this:
If you announce reform without careful calculation, you get eliminated. Power and money must come first.
Building my own faction within the Main Temple was also urgently necessary. Currently, the only route through which I could obtain information was through Sir Arden.
In other words—
‘I can only hear the information Arden allows me to hear.’
It wasn’t that I completely distrusted Sir Arden, but if he decided to manipulate me, I’d be swept along helplessly. That was precisely the situation I was wary of.
So I needed other operatives besides Arden—people through whom I could obtain information independently.
People with the ability to discern accurate intelligence, loyal in heart, and whom I could trust never to betray me.
As I thought about finding and gathering such people again, I terribly missed the capable, trustworthy, and devoted subordinates who had served under me before.
Benia, are you well? Are you perhaps watching me from heaven as I thrash about like this?
I learned through my reincarnation that death doesn’t grant you a second act of life watching over the terrestrial realm from heaven. But if I could just believe that you and the others were watching from somewhere, my heart would feel at least a little steadied in the middle of this corrupted Temple where I have not a single ally.
Caritas, if you reincarnated me just to have me flailing about like this, you should have reincarnated all those who worked with me in my past life with their memories intact as well.
What can sway a person’s heart?
From a humanitarian perspective: the trust and faith I show them.
And speaking bluntly: people are swayed by their deficiencies. They move not by what they want, but by what they fear to lose.
Give money and profit to those with material want, and they’re yours.
But while they’re the fastest to sway, their loyalty is also the lowest. If the opposing side offers greater wealth, they’ll flip in an instant and sell my secrets to the highest bidder.
To those with talent who haven’t received due recognition, give them a position befitting their skill and acknowledge them—shore up their pride.
To the lonely, treat them as insiders and grant them a sense of belonging.
To those with vulnerabilities or much to lose, provide protection and become their shield.
To those who believe themselves to be ‘righteous,’ offer them a just cause—make them think they’re working for a noble purpose.
Of course, each method has its drawbacks, but in this world there are no permanent allies.
But as for me right now…….
‘I have neither the money to sway anyone nor the power to satisfy their pride.’
Using the Dignity Stipend from the Temple is too risky.
The Temple could trace whoever I’ve recruited and turn them into double agents working against me.
I can boast of having sharp eyes for reading people, but human hearts are far more difficult to keep unchanged.
To put it bluntly, if you forced someone to choose between their life and their cause, how many would choose the latter? That’s why those who choose their cause are praised as noble.
So my first priority was to recover the slush fund I’d hidden away during my time as the Third Holy Saint.
***
The day after being informed I had no choice in my escort knight, I was summoned for a one-on-one meeting with Archbishop Marius.
“Do come in. I’ve been expecting you.”
As I entered his office, Archbishop Marius rose from his desk where he’d been attending to documents.
The Archbishop’s office was extraordinarily lavish.
Gold thread embroidery adorned every wall, and pillars were studded with sacred paintings and jewels to excess.
The floor was marble that gleamed the more it was polished. The ceiling soared dizzily high. And set into the walls was a massive Stained Glass window—not that it was necessary for this space, but there it was nonetheless.
‘Wow, this isn’t even in the same league as my old office……?’
It was comparable to the Imperial Palace, which had an absolute obsession with luxury.
Back in the day, I was shuttled around as the Emperor’s errand girl and saw his office many times, but honestly, even the Emperor’s office wasn’t this extravagant.
I suffered through all of it, so why is a bastard like Archbishop Marius reaping all the benefits?
You might as well have not reincarnated me as a human at all and instead bound my soul into the ≪Temple Operations Manual for Our Posterity—Written by Siella, Third Holy Saint of the Caritas Church≫.
Then I could wander about smacking these wretches upside their heads with the iron-trimmed edges of that book.
If they say the Third Holy Saint’s soul dwells within it, what of it? Would they dare burn the tome I personally designated as the Church’s law code, second only to scripture itself?
“Are you finding your life at the Main Temple to be peaceful?”
Archbishop Marius asked with a ceremonial smile.
I didn’t voice what I was thinking—that it would be blissful if they’d just stop lying to me. Instead, I answered with practiced calm.
“Very nice indeed. The room especially is quite pleasant and comfortable.”
The moment I dropped the formal speech, the Archbishop’s brow twitched faintly.
Would he be satisfied that I liked the room—the one I’d be dead in within a month—or would he take offense at my casual tone? One or the other, please.
But by protocol, a Holy Saint ranked above an Archbishop, which meant my informal speech was correct. The Archbishop knew this as well, which was why he didn’t snap at me for it.
With that subtle discomfort and power play hanging in the air between us like fog, the Archbishop moved to business.
“The date for your Inauguration Ceremony has been set.”
He withdrew a document as he spoke.
“Ah, but you were raised in the Temple Orphanage, were you not?”
Here it comes, then.
“Then you must have witnessed an Inauguration Ceremony before.”
I nodded.
“Yes. Though it was twelve years ago, so my memory isn’t sharp. And I was doing chores in the back, so I didn’t see the whole thing properly.”
At that, a thin smile crossed the Archbishop’s lips.
He was smiling? Over child labor? Over the exploitation you put me through?
“There is nothing difficult about it.”
The Archbishop continued as though nothing had happened.
“Simply follow instructions as given. This document contains the order of ceremony—do read it before the Inauguration Ceremony.”
Did he think I didn’t know what happened to people who obeyed their orders? He handed me a sheet of paper, then flipped through more documents. “Is your Dignity Stipend sufficient?”
I was tempted to ask for more, but these people would be quick to frame me as a fallen Holy Saint corrupted by greed, so I simply nodded.
“Then is there anything else you desire?”
Pleased that he’d saved money, the Archbishop smiled as he asked.
There was only one thing I wanted.

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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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