As the morning sun began to paint the sky, the central temple of the Lumenster Order basked in its brilliant light.
Towering over the northern hills of the capital Aurelion, it enshrined Luceria—god of light and purification—and stood as the spiritual heart of the Asterion Empire.
As always, the main hall carried its solemn atmosphere. The sacred relic repository, however, was anything but quiet.
"Saintess Ariel, um… how about we wrap it up?"
At the fidgeting apprentice priest's words, Ariel tightened her grip on the mop and turned her head.
Her eyes blazed.
"Don't tell me you're planning to leave the floor like this?"
"Huh? It's definitely clean enough…"
"Enough?"
Ariel glared intently at the marble floor.
"Do you really think this is good enough? Shouldn't we scrub it more? Look at this tiny smudge right here."
Tommy leaned in to look where she was pointing.
To his eyes, the floor wasn't just polished; it was spotless.
"I-I don't see anything."
Ariel clicked her tongue, flicking her flowing blonde hair over her shoulder.
"Priest Tommy. What day is it today?"
"Today? It's the 11th day of the Month of Light."
Ariel let out a heavy sigh.
"And where are we?"
"Um… The repository?"
Tommy looked up at her with a bewildered expression.
Round face, round eyes, and even a round crop of red hair. Staring at her with flushed cheeks, his face was the perfect picture of innocence.
Cute.
It was a known fact that cute things deserved kindness. Ariel leaned in close to Tommy. Then, cupping a hand beside her mouth as if letting him in on a juicy secret, she whispered.
"There's a massive holy relic purification ritual happening right here today."
"R-right. I heard a lot of higher-ups are coming, so we can't afford to make any mistakes."
"Wouldn't it be embarrassing if they find a single speck of dust? Think about it. The priests could have easily handled this alone. The only reason they called us in is because they want everything sterilized. Which means," she raised a finger, "they're paying for perfection. Fifty percent more than usual."
Tommy's round eyes grew even wider.
"I-is that true?"
"That's why we have to work hard."
"I see…"
"Did you look at our monthly stipend yesterday? I know we're low-rank, but the pay is honestly a joke. I'm sure it's not much different for an apprentice priest, right?"
"I-I didn't really think it was…"
"Anyway!"
Ariel slammed her mop against the floor with a thud.
"Money doesn't just grow on trees. So should we not scrub this marble until it shines—not with complaint, but with joyful, thankful hearts?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Ariel gripped the mop tightly with both hands again. She even channeled the last of her meager divine power into the mop, scrubbing the floor vigorously.
Moments later, the microscopic smudge wasn't just gone. The entire floor was blindingly bright.
Tommy hesitated for a moment before letting out a small sigh.
"…Understood. I'll go back to scrubbing the other side, then."
Instead of answering, Ariel pushed her mop even harder.
She was once worshipped as an S-rank guide, but now she was only a D-rank saintess with a mop. The lowest of the low.
Yet, there wasn't a single shadow of gloom on her face.
They feed me, they house me, and even though they're stingy, they still pay me for working. Where else am I going to find a gig like this? I'm going to save up so I can live as a rich, comfortable slacker when I get older. Yep, yep.
Her frustration at being a D-rank had been short-lived. Instead of lamenting her miserable reality, she mopped with even more vigor, dreaming of the sweet bonus pay she'd rake in today.
* * *
The hall of Holy Light, located inside the sacred relic repository, was now packed with people.
Noblewomen in extravagant dresses, aristocrats covered in polished medals, merchant guild leaders wearing jewel-encrusted rings on every finger—all of them were big shots in the empire.
"Wow, look over there. It's the marchioness of Melbourne."
"Where? Oh my, look at that necklace. Is it real?"
"Of course it's real. They say just one of those diamonds is worth a hundred years of our salary."
The low-rank saintesses squatted in a corner, putting their heads together and chattering away. Ariel squeezed in among them, silently scanning the necks and wrists of the nobles. Everything sparkled so brightly it made her eyes ache.
How much is all that worth?
Just as she started to drool—
Accompanied by the grand swelling of a pipe organ, a group of high priests draped in elaborate gold-threaded robes slowly entered.
At their center was head priest Hariel, one of the central temple's key figures. Originally, purification abilities were practically the exclusive domain of saintesses, but he was an incredibly rare exception—a man born with powerful purification abilities.
As the priests stopped in front of the altar, a cursed holy grail was placed before them.
"Ooh!"
"Is that the grail corrupted by demonic energy?!"
Exclamations erupted from all corners of the room.
Outwardly, the grail looked like nothing more than an ordinary, rusted iron cup. And yet, the air around it lay cold and still—far more unsettling, somehow, than if it had been outright spewing pitch-black demonic energy.
"Honored guests! Please, put your minds at ease."
Priest Billian, who had pulled out a magitech megaphone, shouted loud enough to blow the roof off the hall.
"To purify this ominous holy grail today, the great head priest Hariel has graced us with his presence!"
Hariel didn't so much as glance at Billian, as though long accustomed to the man's excessive, groveling flattery. He simply gave an imperious nod, signaling the twelve high priests lined up behind him.
Not just the nobles, but even the watching saintesses and priests collectively held their breath. The chattering mouths snapped shut, and every eye locked onto the grail.
A holy relic purification, huh…
It was a spectacle she had never witnessed—not in this life as a saintess, and not in her previous one as a guide.
Without realizing it, she leaned forward.
"Begin."
At his command, the dozen priests moved in perfect unison.
As Hariel stepped up to the grail, the priests cast a solid barrier around them. It was a double safety measure to prevent any potential leakage of demonic energy.
Once the barrier was complete, a woman walked inside it.
With dazzling platinum blonde hair, she exuded a noble aura that could be felt even from a distance.
…Who is that?
When Ariel tilted her head to get a better look, Marie, a low-rank saintess standing next to her, whispered.
"Even Saintess Leticia came."
Ah, Leticia.
She had heard of her. A high-rank saintess hailed as the order's greatest talent and the top disciple of head priest Hariel. On top of that…
"She's probably here because she's a candidate for the next head saintess, right? Since there are so many nobles around."
"I guess."
Even while giving Marie a half-hearted reply, Ariel's gaze naturally lingered on Leticia.
Soon, Hariel and Leticia began chanting a prayer. When the two reached out their hands simultaneously, divine power poured forth. Two massive pillars of light merged into one and wrapped around the grail.
"Ooh…!"
"What a spectacle!"
Gasps of awe broke out among the nobles.
But Ariel, watching with her arms crossed from behind a pillar, narrowed her eyes.
Something is wrong.
She summoned her status window to check the condition of the grail.
[Target: C█▓▒ed H█ly Gr▓il (Ancient Artifact)]
[Effect: ⚠ Additional information unavailable. (%$@!^#)]
[Status: Int�rn�lly T�ngled / Highl� Uns��ble]
Frowning, Ariel stared at the status window. It offered no extra info and the text was garbled with errors.
Tsk. Well, I guess this is the limit of a D-rank.
It didn't state it clearly on the screen, but the grail's current state looked awfully similar to the causes of esper rampages she had seen countless times in her past life.
The internal energy was tangled like a knot of yarn, destroying itself from the inside out.
Something like that couldn’t be suppressed with brute force. The wavelengths needed to be delicately tuned, like untangling a ball of yarn.
And yet here they are, trying to brute-force it. At this rate, it’ll just explode.
Even so, it wasn't her place to step in.
Ariel took a step back and clicked her tongue.
CRAAACK!
A bizarre, tearing sound rang out, and immediately after, the grail swelled like a balloon and levitated.
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