Chapter 31 - And So, He Lived Happily As a Saint... Or Did He?

After the lip-smashing incident with Erpha at dawn.

I returned to my daily routine.

Of course, it wasn't exactly the same routine.

Sometimes when I saw Erpha, she would wave at me with a face that looked like she was dying of happiness and throw herself into my arms, and I would also smile at her with a goofy expression.

Apart from that, not much had changed.

I was still healing the sick in the slums.

Of course, occasionally when nobles called, I would go and treat them too.

In return, the nobles would give donations or introduce people needed in the slums through their connections, and so on. They repaid me.

It was peaceful and quiet.

Karma Company was doing well.

Beyond just doing well, it was a company that received absolute support from people from the three slum districts.

This was because Karma Company said they would provide elixir at half price to people doing business in the three slum districts, creating numerous jobs.

Moreover, the clinic in the Magic Tower temple was also operating successfully.

Because of this, I no longer needed to see simple injuries like colds or bruises.

I only saw severely ill patients who couldn't recover with ordinary miracles or healing.

And when that happened.

Life suddenly became very leisurely.

I ate three meals a day and slept well.

Now that I was no longer seeing patients non-stop all day, I even had time for walks.

The people in the slums were still sweeping, cleaning, and managing the streets well according to my instructions.

They followed my words so well that on weekends, an enormous number of people would gather on the street in front of the Magic Tower temple to worship and then disappear, and it was even cleaner after worship than before.

The three slum districts were no longer the dirty and hideous places they used to be.

Trees were planted, maintaining a pleasant appearance, and the shacks teeming with hideous rats, mold, and filth had been transformed into decent and impressive large-scale housing complexes.

People worked, laughed, ate, and drank with hope.

Children started going to school, and people who finished their day would stop by the bathhouse to wash their bodies and return home with happy smiles.

As I walked the streets with more leisure, everyone recognized me and greeted me.

The poor in the three slum districts were now mostly Lilia believers.

Everyone revered and worshipped me.

I had gotten used to it now after experiencing it so much.

Of course, it didn't feel bad.

At this point, my thoughts turned into conviction.

I increased the number of believers, didn't I?

I made the Lilia Order wealthy, didn't I?

I purified the slums, didn't I?

I raised influence among the nobles, didn't I?

I did everything, didn't I?

Kwaak! 

Faith normalized right away.

Seeing this, the Goddess must be moved and overlooking me.

Personally, I felt like I wanted to keep doing this job forever if there was no divine punishment from the Goddess.

It suited my aptitude well, and I had discovered another use for these trash adult game skills that I thought were useless for anything except doing naughty things to women.

Money was piling up astronomically.

Everyone respected me and on top of that...

I even got a woman I was kind of dating who kissed me.

Right.

They say you should do what you're good at rather than what you want to do.

When the situation was favoring me this much, it was more foolish to keep trying to run away.

I was just going to keep living like this, pretending to be a saint.

"Saint! The temple has finally been completed!"

One day, as I started reading the Book of Grace that I had obtained with the intention of having proper faith for once, Jonathan Karma came to my room and proudly exclaimed, "135 floors! A height of 600 meters! It's 20 floors taller than the Mars Magic Tower, which was the tallest in the capital! A large-scale elixir mining site and refinery have been built underground! We've even signed contracts to supply elixir to most of the automated factories, magic lamps, and car fuel stations in the capital!"

"Well done, Mr. Jonathan Karma. Thank you."

Before, Jonathan Karma was a villain interfering with my plan to ruin the order, but now I see him as a bundle of fortune.

Right.

Isn't that right?

I don't know how it turned out like this, but I've discovered such a genius businessman, and elixir is gushing out.

I've done a fucking good job, haven't I?

Don't you think?

I'm thinking of having faith now.

There's no need to be afraid of divine punishment at all.

Thanks to such thoughts, unlike in the past when I was crying inside while smiling on the outside, I could now give a genuinely warm smile.

"Please keep up the good work. Thank you, Mr. Jonathan Karma."

"We're planning to hold a commemorative banquet inviting representatives of major orders from the Pantheon, various nobles from the capital, and people from the imperial family for the completion ceremony. Would you grace us with your presence?"

Well.

I'm the one who did the big job of making elixir gush out in the middle of the capital and purifying the three slum districts.

Of course, I should go and show my face, shouldn't I?

I don't even want the Lilia Order to fail anymore.

The Goddess is overlooking me, so what?

I was going to settle down here and live well.

While diligently playing the role of a saint.

It was said that if one bought a chicken restaurant for an undercover investigation while working as a police officer and it did really well, they should just quit being a police officer and work as the owner of the chicken restaurant instead.

I wasn’t going to try to run away anymore.

"Of course, I should attend. When is the banquet?"

"Three days from now."

"I understand."

I could just wear priest's robes and go.

It was really sweet that I didn't have to wear uncomfortable clothes like a tuxedo.

Ah.

I feel at ease.

Right.

Why try to run away?

If things have turned out this well, I should just think of it as fate and live as a real saint.

***

Three days later.

The banquet was held.

The temple interior was filled with various nobles and important people dressed in splendid dresses.

And the highest person in the country came too.

"We greet His Majesty the Emperor. It's an honor to meet you."

The Emperor of the Empire came to see me personally.

Theobil von Arcal.

I remember the Emperor, who looked like a stern man in his 50s, always appearing in newspapers with a serious face.

But such a person stopped me as I was frantically trying to bow, not knowing the proper etiquette, with a contented face as if seeing me for the first time, then took my hand and quietly kissed the back of it.

"Human glory is but fleeting, while the grace of the Goddess is eternal. The honor is rather mine, Saint Amael."

Polite and dignified tone.

Quiet but weighty actions.

So this is charisma.

I could naturally feel it just standing nearby.

"I'm not well-versed in etiquette, so I don't know how to behave. Please forgive me if there are any mistakes."

"It would be stranger to insist on etiquette for a noble person like you. I've wanted to meet you at least once. Saint of the Slums."

At the Emperor's words, I felt my nose rising higher.

I even received recognition from the Emperor.

Could there be a smoother path than this?

My life.

Let's walk only on flower paths from now on.

"I, the ruler of the human empire, will give an inadequate gift to the saint who appeared after 300 years and the first Saint of Healing."

The gift-giving time began.

Starting with the expensive grandfather clock the Emperor gave me as a gift, various people presented gifts to me.

Some people gave me a car as a gift, and some gave me expensive tea leaves.

Seeing the mountain of luxury goods piling up, I felt tears welling up.

In my entire life.

Including Korea and the Arcal Empire, had I ever been so recognized and celebrated?

For the first time, I thought it was good that I reincarnated.

I thought there couldn't be a more useless isekai reincarnation than this because of the useless adult game skills and the prophetic ability I couldn't use even if given.

I thought it would have been better if I just got TS’d in Korea, and became a VTuber.

Who knew things would turn out this well?

"Thank you all. However, I will use all these gifts well so that not only I, but everyone can be happy."

I threw in a line like this because I was thinking of playing the saint role seriously.

Honestly, many of the gifts were too burdensome for me to use.

It was a statement made with the thought that it might be better to share them with people who needed them or decorate the Magic Tower temple so that everyone could see them.

Everyone applauded at those words.

I felt proud.

Right.

This is what being a saint is!

The banquet continued for a long time after that.

Laughing, chatting, greeting, eating, and drinking.

The banquet that continued until late in the evening finally ended, as all events do, and…

I, too, was about to leave the banquet hall and head to my room.

"Saint of Healing. A moment."

Huh?

These people.

They're the ones I saw at the Pantheon, aren't they?

"High Priest Zerba of the Prophecy Order greets the foreseer and apostle of grace. Saint. May the temple built on this land be glorious forever."

Ah! Right!

It's the people from the Prophecy Order!

They were the ones who served Rupiel, the God of the Future, right?

It was the people from the very order that made me a foreseer.

"Nice to meet you, Zerba. What brings you here?"

"We haven't given you the gift we prepared yet."

Just as I was wondering what kind of gift they would give, they presented me with a gift truly befitting them.

"Lord Rupiel has given me a prophecy for the new saint. Could we talk alone for a moment? It's a principle to show prophecies only to the person concerned."

A prophecy?

Well.

Alright.

Let's hear it.

What kind of prophecy it is.

I'm curious too.

About how I will live from now on.

"Of course, High Priest. Please come to my room."

I took Zerba to my room without much thought.

After closing the door and telling Grandpa Yodel not to let anyone in, I was left alone in the room with Zerba.

"I will tell you Lord Rupiel's prophecy. I will now lose consciousness for a moment. Lord Rupiel's words placed inside me will speak directly to you, Saint."

"Please go ahead."

As soon as the words ended, Zerba closed his eyes.

After trembling for a moment, he opened his eyes.

His eyes were completely white, and a brilliant golden light in the shape of an eye began to burn between his forehead.

The two human eyes and the third eye made of golden light looked at me.

[Human.]

A voice that was clearly not a human flowed from the priest’s mouth.

It was an eerie yet sacred voice that made my knees weak just from hearing it, a voice that anyone would think was the voice of a god.

[I will tell you your future. This is a prophecy given directly by the one who sees the future, so it will surely come to pass.]

I focused with a slightly nervous expression.

What will my future be like?

Surely.

Surely after all this, it won't be an ending where the Goddess strikes me with lightning as divine punishment and I suddenly die.

If she was going to strike, she would have done it already.

No.

It definitely won't be that.

I'm trying to have faith now, and I've been diligently taking care of the poor and weak all this time, right?

Let's get a definite confirmation this time.

Let's get confirmation and just be at ease.

That would be better.

While I was thinking that.

The eerie voice began to recite the prophecy.

I listened with half expectation and half tension.

[You who have risen high in the name of grace. You who are mistaken. You who deny and try to run away but ultimately cannot escape your destined fate.]

High Priest Zerba slowly pointed at me with his finger.

[Also, you who came from another world. You who are ignorant and foolish and will continue to suffer alone. The abilities in your hands are ugly and base.]

The smile disappeared.

My body stiffened at the words that pierced my core.

Could it be a bad prophecy?

It can't be.

It won't be.

Please...

[On the day your most intimate secret is revealed. You will die at the hands of those who love you. Death will overtake you at your happiest moment, and you will not be able to escape it.]

I felt my blood run cold.