The Holy Fraud - Chapter 2

The next morning. The sound of the cathedral’s grand and massive doors swinging open roughly echoed through the air. Through the intense sunlight streaming in from outside, a figure slowly walked in, silhouetted against the light.

I was sitting near the altar, preparing for morning prayer with the priests.

Apparently, the Saintess must offer a prayer every morning, or something like that. The priest who woke me up this morning had explained various things about this cathedral—or rather, the temple, as it’s called—but since I heard it while half-asleep, I didn’t remember much.

Honestly, compared to the previous life of being worked to the bone with overtime, this was a heavenly environment, but I still tossed and turned all night, agonizing over how to act in a way befitting the title of ‘Saintess.’

Now that I thought about it, the atmosphere inside the cathedral felt strangely different from yesterday. Unlike the emotion-filled reverence of the day before, there was a sense of tension in the air.

Then, the priests rose with wary expressions. The bishop stood by my side with a clearly flustered face.

The person walking into the cathedral was wearing a black uniform. It looked like a military uniform, yet it was neatly streamlined without any excess. There was a barely noticeable metallic insignia on the chest.

A dark-colored hat was pulled low, covering half the face, but the piercing gaze was clearly visible.

‘What is this? Who is that person?’

Curiosity rose within me. I wanted to check his epaulets or insignia, but it felt too impolite to blatantly scan him, so I only cast a brief glance.

He must be someone important. Judging from how everyone seemed this tense.

As he stepped a few paces closer toward where I sat, the bishop quickly moved to my side.

“Saintess, that man is…”

The bishop couldn’t finish his sentence and whispered with a deeply tense expression.

From his face, I got a bad feeling.

“Is he… someone very high-ranking?”

The bishop lowered his voice and replied cautiously, “He is the Inquisitor of Heresy, Leonard.”

I froze on the spot.

Inquisitor of Heresy.

Heresy meant a cult, didn’t it?

So he’s part of the religious order tasked with identifying and eliminating cults in this world?

Wait a second—then what about me…? I’m a fake Saintess who possessed someone’s body.

‘What the hell…?’

My mouth went dry. An ominous scene had already formed in my head.

If he’s an inquisitor, he might ruthlessly expose and punish any suspicious Saintess.

What if he immediately sees through the fact that I’m not the real Saintess?

I have no means of showing any kind of holy miracle!

My mind was in turmoil, but I swallowed hard and put on as calm a smile as possible.

There was no other option, and I thought, surely he wouldn’t just spit in the face of someone smiling, right?

The Inquisitor drew nearer. His gaze locked directly onto me. From beneath the slightly raised brim of his hat, sharp eyes glinted, and I instinctively felt, ‘This man is no joke.’

“Are you… the Saintess of this empire?”

Spoken in an extremely low tone, that question made me realize that this was the beginning. The air in the cathedral seemed to freeze in an instant. The priests stood still, holding their breath as they watched us.

‘Not going to be easy.’

I composed my expression and nodded. “Yes. I am the Saintess who has descended to this world to spread the teachings of Lord Callisto.”

At that moment, I heard the voice of the god in my head.

—How dare you say you are spreading My teachings!

I did my best to ignore the protest.

Right now, I had to focus on the person in front of me—the Inquisitor.

The Inquisitor observed me for a moment, then said in a rather stiff tone, “The order heard that the Saintess had suddenly appeared and instructed me to verify the truth. I have been dispatched here under that directive.”

‘Ah… this is basically like a company audit team. He’s here to investigate whether I’m fake or not.’

Internally, I was sweating bullets, but I kept a holy smile on my face.

“I see. Thank you for coming such a long way. Please feel free to stay here and confirm the truth as needed.”

To be honest, it was troubling to accept so readily, but refusing would only raise more suspicion. Even if I drove him out, another inquisitor would just come. For now, I had to project the image of a confident Saintess.

The bishop and priests watched me nervously. Especially the bishop, who looked at me with eyes that seemed to ask, ‘Are you really sure about this?’ I nodded.

“I am someone who must dedicate herself to this empire and the order, so if you need any assistance, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

The inquisitor’s brow twitched ever so slightly. Perhaps because I agreed more easily than he expected, he seemed a bit puzzled. But soon he responded in a voice devoid of emotion.

“Then, may I stay here for the time being and verify your holy power, Saintess?”

‘He wants to verify me… What now…’

I inwardly gave a bitter smile.

But if I said, ‘Absolutely not!’ it would only increase suspicion. I had to pretend to accept.

With a gentle smile befitting a Saintess, I replied calmly, “Of course. I also respect your duty as an inquisitor.”

At that, the surrounding priests exclaimed in unison.

“As expected of the Saintess… How magnanimous she is!”

“Even an inquisitor must only be seeking the truth before the glory of God!”

Thanks to that, the mood shifted once more to one of sacred reverence. The inquisitor looked slightly taken aback but soon returned to his cold expression. His eyes did not leave me.

‘He looks extremely sharp, doesn’t he?’

I tensed inwardly. I had planned to live comfortably off this con, but now with this sudden audit, I couldn’t relax for even a moment.

—Finally, this fraud will be exposed!

The god’s muttering echoed in my head. That gloating tone was irritating, but I couldn’t exactly lash out.

‘Even if you say that, I’m not going down that easily! Do you know what I’ve been through? There’s no way I’m letting this golden opportunity slip!’

I clenched my teeth.

Even if the inquisitor watched me with the eyes of a hawk, I would find a way to evade him.

Thus, the inquisitor, Leonard, decided to stay at the temple.

He declared that he would observe my daily life as a Saintess.

For example, morning prayers, counseling believers, and giving blessings during various ceremonies…

‘And that was when I first learned that the Saintess is supposed to offer counseling! Just yesterday, I was a regular office slave. Where on earth was I supposed to learn counseling skills?!’

My head was a mess, but thankfully the priests helped a lot behind the scenes. Even when I said something awkward, they framed it as “the Saintess’s metaphorical teaching.”

Similarly, the believers were moved to tears by my vague words, and some even made a fuss, calling it a divine revelation.

But the problem was the inquisitor, Leonard.

He watched me closely. Even when I merely pretended to pray in silence, I could feel his gaze piercing through my back. His eyes sparkled sharply, as if trying to detect any lies.

‘At this point… should I actually try communicating with the god?’

Honestly, I was already hearing the god’s voice in my head, but he kept yelling, “You’re a fake! The real Saintess is someone else!” so he was of no help at all.

—How dare you mock Me. The truth will soon be revealed.

Feigning a prayer with closed eyes, I retorted silently,

‘Can’t you just grant me a miracle? I mean, there has to be a reason I ended up here. Help me first, then go find your real Saintess or whatever.’

—Don’t be ridiculous! I do not grant My divine power to just anyone!

‘Then just stay quiet. I’ll handle things on my own.’

—How dare you… Do you even know who you’re speaking to?

Anyway, since even the god had no way of personally throwing me out, I had no choice but to continue this awkward symbiosis for now.

And that evening, the inquisitor gathered me, the bishop, and the priests to discuss the matter of ‘verifying the Saintess.’

He proposed that I perform a miracle in front of the believers.

“There is a mass scheduled for tomorrow, is there not? If the Saintess is truly blessed by God, then that miracle should manifest visibly to the believers.”