Thanks to Monica explaining why the two were angry, I was able to grasp the whole situation.
"I heard you helped when our daughter was struck. Thank you."
"...I was rude without knowing that. I apologize."
Lady Hindel and the count bowed their heads with grave expressions.
And I... was flustered.
That apprentice priest at the time—was Monica...?
Her face had been hidden by her hands and her hair was a mess, so I hadn't properly seen her.
No wonder she had taken a strange liking to me since the moment she asked to become a maid—so this was the reason.
"...No. Since it was someone from my household who caused the incident, I should be the one apologizing. I'm sorry for hurting your precious daughter."
Instead of making excuses, I chose to apologize.
I'd have to apologize to Monica separately later too.
"No, it's fine. But according to Monica, it seems the Saintess doesn't have a good relationship with the Kiris family...?"
There was no need to hide it, so I nodded in affirmation.
"That's right. Because of the donations, I haven't been able to completely sever ties yet."
"We'll resolve that for you!"
"...Pardon?"
"We'll give you double the amount Kiris donates. So don't worry and take this opportunity to cut ties cleanly!"
My goodness. A true treasure has rolled into this shabby temple.
Honestly, I wanted to grab their hands right then and laugh joyfully, saying I'd count on them.
If it weren't for just one issue.
"I appreciate the sentiment, but unfortunately, it might be difficult at the moment."
"What? Why?"
"Because I'm Count Kiris's adopted daughter. Legally, I can't just leave the family unless I'm removed from the records."
No matter how much this temple is considered extraterritorial, you can't just erase a name listed on the empire's noble registry.
To sever the relationship completely, that had to be resolved first.
"I see... That makes sense."
Count Hindel looked downcast. The gaze he had when he first looked at me like I was some kind of kidnapper was long gone.
"Don't worry. I'll..."
How old is Ordel now? If it's a year before the original story begins...
[Current age of 'Ordel Kiris': 21 years old.]
"..."
I knew he was young, but he's practically over ten years younger now.
At least he's an adult—thank goodness.
"...Since I'm not at an age that requires a legal guardian, I should be able to leave without major issues."
I'm not a biological daughter, just adopted, and I have the firm status of a temple's Saintess, so it shouldn't be too difficult.
If it gets tough, I'll just ask Lute for help.
"We hope for your swift escape from the Kiris family. And separate from that, we'd still like to offer a donation. Since our daughter is staying here, and we'd like to express our thanks as well."
"If you're offering, I won't refuse. This isn't a time for pride. I'll use the donation entirely for repairing the temple."
I made sure to emphasize that the money wouldn't be wasted, but used to completely renovate this gloomy temple.
I'll show them a changed temple.
The couple looked very pleased.
"On that note, would you consider becoming followers of the Sun God along with your daughter?"
Now that their misunderstanding about the Sun God's temple had been cleared, and they'd allowed Monica to stay here, and even offered a donation—I didn't want to miss this opportunity and proposed it immediately.
I kind of felt like a con artist, but I decided to ignore that.
"Oh yes! While you're here, go ahead and register as followers!"
My strong ally, Monica, also enthusiastically welcomed the idea.
"The Sun God is such a wonderful being. He dearly cherishes his children with warmth and kindness. I hope you both can feel that gentleness too!"
"..."
The Sun God Monica knows and the one I know feel very different.
Kidnapping a soul heading to heaven, throwing it into a villain's body, making me work, and even extorting money—warm and caring...?
Cherishing...? Really?
Maybe stop only pampering your priests and spare some affection for the Saintess you forcibly chose, hmm?
"Followers, huh..."
The couple glanced at each other. It seemed becoming a follower of a temple felt a bit burdensome.
Especially now, when the influence of the Sea God is strong.
So I decided to put on a little act.
"Since I'm still affiliated with the Kiris family as a Saintess... Even if you donate a large amount, it's hard to escape their influence immediately."
I deliberately made a bitter expression. Monica, failing to notice the act, looked at me so pitifully from beside me that I felt a little bad.
"But if you become followers, you'll have a firm relationship with the Sun God's temple, and that will allow you to exert influence much more easily."
Their expressions began to waver. The atmosphere hinted they were about to be swayed, so I pulled out my trump card.
"By the way, Duke Lute Sieri is also one of our followers."
"What? That person is?"
The effect of Lute Sieri's name was indeed tremendous. The couple's faces immediately lit up with interest.
"The reason we were able to start a business together this time was also thanks to becoming his fellow follower."
"I thought he partnered with us because he recognized the healing power of the Sun God's divinity... so that wasn't the case, huh."
The couple exchanged glances. After a brief silent conversation through their eyes, they both nodded readily.
"Our daughter said she plans to live her whole life as a priestess of the Sun God, so we have no reason to refuse. And if we're lucky, maybe we'll even form a connection with Duke Sieri."
The motivation was admittedly quite worldly, but it wasn't something I could criticize—Sieri's name carried too much weight for that.
It's not for nothing that I used that name as my trump card.
Getting Lute on our side was the best decision of this entire possession life.
I'll make sure to treat him well. Lute is the number one follower of our temple.
"Then let's proceed with the registration as followers right away."
They say strike while the iron is hot—so without delay, I registered the couple into the divine records.
[Two B-rank followers have been registered under the Sun God.]
[User's divinity has increased by 0.1%.]
And with the new followers came a precious bit of divine power as well.
I pulled Monica into a tight hug for the great job she'd done.
Since the poor temple didn't even have a proper guest room, the Hindel couple decided to stay the night in a nearby village.
I happily granted Monica special leave so she could spend time with them.
It had been half a year since she saw her parents—she deserved at least one night with them.
Seeing the wide, beaming smile on Count Hindel's face, I knew I'd made the right call.
"They really seemed to love their daughter. It was a heartwarming family."
"They did indeed."
Late that night, with Monica away, Victoria was the one staying by my side. She nodded in agreement.
"I was surprised. Their family atmosphere is so different from mine."
"What about your family?"
"If it were my parents, they would've come after me with swords for running away."
"...Swords?"
"Yes. And after disciplining me under the pretext of sparring, they would've dragged my unconscious body back home."
...That's terrifying.
Victoria herself seemed perfectly sane, but her parents sounded a bit... off?
"Are your parents knights too?"
"They're mercenaries. They run a mercenary corps together."
"..."
Not just mercenaries—but a husband-and-wife mercenary command unit.
I see. So that impressive muscular frame and bold physique of hers... must be genetic.
"They weren't pleased at all when I awakened divine power and became a holy knight. They wanted me to inherit the mercenary corps."
A family-run mercenary business, huh?
"Well... I can't really relate to that."
"Pardon?"
"You suit being a knight much more than a mercenary. Especially a holy knight—that's your calling."
I wasn't saying this just because I was close to her.
Grab any random passerby and ask, and they'd fall over backward saying, "That's a holy knight if I've ever seen one!"
"I don't know much about your parents, but honestly, I think they'd agree with me. People that strong-willed—if they really hated your choice, they would've broken your legs to stop you."
The Sun God's temple never forces people to become followers just because they awaken divine power.
That kind of crap is what the rude Sea God cult does. Here, we respect personal will.
Victoria had the right to refuse, and yet she chose to become a holy knight and stay by the Saintess's side.
If her terrifying parents were really that opposed, they would've stopped her by force. But they didn't—that means they acknowledged her decision, didn't they?
"...Thank you for saying that."
Victoria's eyes widened in slight surprise before she smiled.
A shy, yet joy-filled smile.
When it was time for bed, Victoria turned off the lights and left the room after saying goodnight.
Her heavy footsteps gradually faded.
It had been quite a day.
Less stressful than my days as a detective, yet oddly more exhausting—I drifted off thinking about this strange contradiction.
And then I immediately opened my eyes again.
BEEP!
An alarm blared—not in my ears, but inside my head.
[Warning!]
[Warning!]
[Automatic alert system has been activated.]
[AI system notifying user: a follower of another god has infiltrated the temple.]
[They are approaching the user. Caution is advised.]
Who the hell is it this time?
[T/L: Read extra chapters on my ko-fi page "Pokemon1920" : http://ko-fi.com/pokemon1920 ]