Please join our discord to get fast update and assistance for purrpoins
I went back to the healing room after leaving Ian’s room. The head priest was glad to see me again.
“You’ve come back! I’ll give you drugs right away. Please rest a little.”
“Painkillers are just fine.”
I gave a head shake. Except for short bouts of coughing, there wasn’t much pain.
“Instead, I’d like to know how I got the wound on my throat.”
“I, too, was trying to find out something.”
The forehead of the head priestess’ head wrinkled up in confusion.
“From what the saintess said about the symptoms, esophagitis or laryngitis is thought to be the case, but as a result of direct observation of the esophagus, no such symptoms were found. It was definitely a traumatic wound.”
“It’s a trauma… But it makes no sense to have that kind of scar on the inside of the neck.”
Do I suffer from internal trauma? No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t figure out how to grasp that line.
The chief priestess nodded cautiously.
“It doesn’t happen very often. As for the people in general.”
“Common people?”
“I have met patients who had the same symptoms as Saintess Irene on occasion… They were all priests with great power.”
What a strong power!
Even though I didn’t understand what she was saying, the head priestess kept going.
“Saintess Irene, have you ever heard of the word stigma?”
“Stigma, what do you mean?”
I don’t remember reading those words in the original novel. Seeing my expression, the head priest opened her mouth again.
“It’s a concept that leaves a scar on the body that cannot withstand the power after exploding strong divine power. Saintess Irene, have you been using your power too much lately? You gave strong foreknowledge or something.”
“No. I have never…”
Then a familiar voice rang in my ears again.
‘You guys get out of here!’
‘Do not come!’
Those shouts were uttered with intense hatred. I touched my forehead at a memory that came to mind as vividly as the day before.
“While not often seen, stigma tends to appear as scratches on the inside of the body most of the time. It’s a symptom similar to that of Saintess Irene’s neck.”
I nodded slowly.
There were many corners that were not clear. If the reason why stigmata appeared was only when I exerted really strong divine power, then this story didn’t apply to me, who was a fake.
But even so, a strange intuition began to take root. My intuition was close to certainty that this would be a clue.
“I will ask the commander for help, Miss Irene.”
At the words of the chief priestess, I woke up from my thoughts and looked back at her.
“It’s not easy to treat the stigma. It is also necessary to identify the cause of its appearance. I myself have little knowledge in that area, so I have to borrow the wisdom of the sages.”
“What about the Saintess of Wisdom?”
“Stigma was manifested a lot in ancient times when many priests with powerful divine power appeared. You can learn a lot from the medical books written at that time, but you won’t find them in common libraries. It will most likely be on the shelf in the restricted area.”
Restricted area bookshelf. I repeated it.
“There are a lot of steps to getting permission to enter, but if the commander gives us just one order, we can skip them all. If I tell Saintess Irene that stigma seems to have manifested, the captain will definitely step out.”
“… Well.”
I smiled faintly and muttered in a voice that the head priestess couldn’t hear.
When I went to see Ian earlier, the conclusion had already been reached. He didn’t want to tell me what was going on inside my body. I don’t know why it was clear, but it was.
“Pardon? What did you say, saintess?”
“It’s nothing. Sir Ian, I’ll tell him myself. Head Priestess Rebecca, there’s nothing you need to do.”
“But……”
“Thank you for your consideration, Rebecca.”
I respectfully ignored Rebecca.
“It was a big help. I’ll stop by again if I need more help. See you then.”
“Saintess Irene! Do you really not need painkillers?”
“I’m fine now.”
As I was getting ready to leave the healing room, I heard a group of steps coming towards me.
“Priestess Rebecca, you are seated… Oh my goodness. Saintess Irene?”
A lady coming into the healing room noticed me, and her eyes widened. I exclaimed in delight.
“Lady Cordelia. Hello!”
I don’t know how old Cordelia is.
I do not know if my immunity to her beauty has disappeared, her blonde hair is brighter than before, and her green eyes seem to shine more beautifully.
Besides that…
‘Huh?’
One of Cordelia’s best friends, Ray Monaghan, was looking at me with mischievous eyes.
When my eyes met Ray, no. Rizello gave a cheeky wink.
“It’s been a while, this. I thought you were not in the capital.”
Cordelia gave me a quick glance when Rizello suddenly walked into the room.
How can you say that you’re sad in such a sweet way?
I quickly let go of my thoughts.
“Please forgive me, Lady Cordelia. I didn’t even have time to go to the salon because I was so busy. You haven’t forgotten about me in a while, have you?”
“I almost forgot you. But, whatever. It’s nice to see you again like this.”
Cordelia said while shrugging her shoulders.
“By the way, what’s going on in the healing room? Are you sick?”
“It’s just that my throat seems to be a little bad.”
I smiled and grinned. It seemed that the word stigma should not be taken out easily.
“Oh my. You need to be careful because the seasons are changing.”
“Many things have gotten better because of the priestess. What is Lady Cordelia up to?”
“I have something to deliver to Priestess Rebecca. Rebecca, here you are.”
Saying that Cordelia handed Rebecca the box she was holding in her arms. Rebecca was delighted, and she accepted it.
“Ah, thanks again for this month. You have no idea how helpful Cordelia’s tea is.”
Rebecca laughed as she unwrapped the box on the spot.
Inside was a teapot with an elegant pattern engraved on it.
‘It’s Cordelia’s flower cart!’
It turns out that Cordelia donates a certain amount of flower tea made with her own power to the healing room every month.
‘How. She also has a soft heart.’
Even though Cordelia’s pretty heart was very touching, it was time for me to leave the healing room.
“I’ll go first, Lady Cordelia. Catch you soon!”
“Already?… That’s too bad. It’s fine. Don’t forget that my salon is open every day.”
At her plaintive request, I smiled and nodded.
As I left the healing room, a person followed me. I turned around and rolled my eyes.
“… Ray?”
Rizello smiled and followed me.
‘Why are you doing this?’
I hope you won’t act like you know me in the cathedral, besides pretending to.
Fearing that they might have ears to hear, I couldn’t even speak openly, so I only walked quickly. Rizello continued to catch up.
“You must be going the same way, haha. It’s a coincidence. Shall we go together to that fork in the road?”
As soon as I turned around to ask him to get away, Rizello answered nicely.
“That’s right, our route is the same. How far are you going, Madam Irene?”
“I’m just taking a walk.”
There was quite a distance from the healing room to the library, but Rizello brazenly followed me to the front of the library.
“Oh! I was just about to borrow the book. What a coincidence.”
Rizello smiled brightly, as if saying something that wouldn’t work.
Why do you keep following me? I glared at him with winces in my eyes, for he was suspicious of his existence alone. Seeing that he was persistent today, I didn’t think he would give up.
‘… Well, it doesn’t matter.’
I’m just here today to figure out how to get in and out of the restricted area bookshelf anyway.
I ignored Rizzelo and strode into the library.
There was, surprisingly, no one inside. As if even the librarian was away, the inside of the large library was filled with silence.
Through the stillness, I made my way through the many bookshelves. I’ve heard that the restricted area bookshelf is located in the deepest part of the library.
Could it have been that long?
Finally reaching the end of the huge library, I blankly looked up.
‘… There’s nothing.’
What I encountered in the deepest part of the library was an empty wall.
Did I miss something along the way? No, all I saw on the way here were ordinary-looking bookshelves.
It was around this time that I began to suspect that the bookshelves in the restricted area might be located in a completely different space.
“You seem to be looking for some special books, right?”
Rizello, who had been following me around quietly the whole time, finally spoke up after a long time.
When I turned around, he was smiling with a flawless face.
“Do you know what, saintess?”
“… What are you saying?”
Speaking in a vigilant voice, Rizello’s smile deepened.
“We are close now, but in the past, there was quite a lot of interaction between the old Magic Tower and the cathedral.”
Suddenly, what is this story about?
I looked at the smiling Rizzello with winced eyes.
Ignoring my suspicious eyes, Rizello continued his words.
“They say that even the 5th Magic Tower Master, for example, helped a lot when he built this cathedral.”