I Don’t Want to Know That!🐶
“You’re the High Priest?”
“Yeah.”
“Then why do you look like that?”
“How do I look?”
If I explain that out loud, I feel like I’ll get arrested.
I looked at the man before me.
Smooth silver hair, pale and delicate features, and dense eyelashes the same color as his hair.
And eyes like a delinquent’s that erased that entire reverent impression in one stroke.
‘The kind of face that would pretend to like only me while cheating with 180 people behind my back.’
And this man was the High Priest?
‘I can’t believe it.’
The High Priest.
The master of the Great Temple, which stood shoulder to shoulder with the imperial palace at the center of District 1, the head of the Order, and the only person in the current era who could hear the voice of god.
His name was probably… Cassian, wasn’t it?
I’d heard that he rarely appeared in public, so aside from a few high-ranking nobles, no one knew his face.
Don’t tell me that was because of his looks.
Because the believers who saw the High Priest’s face might start having wicked thoughts?
“Fine, whatever. That’s all well and good.”
The fact that the High Priest was an extremely handsome man wasn’t important right now. I crossed my arms and tapped my foot against the floor.
“Why did you hide your identity and watch me?”
“Because I couldn’t trust you?”
Cassian crossed his arms, imitating me.
“I did receive an oracle telling me to make you the Magic Saintess, but that doesn’t mean your qualifications or character have been verified.”
If I left you to act however you wanted, you might make a mistake or cause trouble. Of course I had to check, didn’t I?
“You had to hide your identity to do that?”
“Because if you knew who I was, you might whine at me to help you.”
“……”
Look at the way he talks……
“You helped me quite a lot for someone saying that.”
“I wasn’t helping you. I was helping the puppy.”
“I’m not a puppy, woof……”
Dubu’s protest was ignored.
Cassian, who had been looking down at me as I closed my mouth, lifted the corners of his lips in a grin. With a shrug, he said obnoxiously,
“Anyway, sorry for getting caught. I apologize.”
“……”
“Let’s get along from now on.”
I looked down at the large hand suddenly held out to me.
‘I can’t exactly put my finger on it.’
But this man was extremely unlikable.
“What are you doing? Not going to take it?”
When I took the hand that was wiggling slightly, he wrapped his fingers firmly around mine. Unlike the smooth shape of his hand, his palm was hard with calluses. And a little cold.
‘But are priests allowed to hold hands with women?’
“We can even marry.”
As if he had read my thoughts, Cassian said,
“All priests of the Order can marry and have children. They just can’t date.”
“How do you get married if you can’t date?”
“You can only love one person in your entire life. And you marry that person.”
“Goodness.”
“That’s basic common knowledge, and you didn’t know? You have no faith.”
“It’s probably common knowledge only to believers.”
I don’t believe in god.
“What has god ever done for me that I should even know about priests’ private lives?”
“He pays your salary. The Magic Saintess salary.”
“I get that in exchange for my labor, you know?”
If someone heard him, they’d think I got it for free while lazing around doing nothing. I glared at him in disbelief, but Cassian only smiled.
Cassian lightly pulled my captured hand toward him and whispered into my ear as I was drawn closer.
“Be careful.”
“About what?”
“The Ingrid Merchant Guild is famous for receiving support from countless noble families and repaying that favor. Do you really think the Ingrid Merchant Guild alone was profiting from its crimes?”
“……”
“Those who bear a grudge over this incident may try to find the Magic Saintess.”
“……”
Looking down at me as I kept my mouth shut, Cassian deepened the smile on his lips.
“Magic Saintess.”
“What?”
“If you fail a mission and get caught, I’ll pretend I don’t know you.”
“……”
“No matter what kind of danger you fall into, you’ll have to get out of it on your own. The temple will deny your existence and provide you with no help whatsoever.”
“……”
“Even if you’re thrown in prison, I absolutely won’t come save you.”
I was certain now.
This man was unlikable.
‘Is he cursing me to get caught or what?’
How unlucky!
“That’s a useless worry.”
This time, I pulled our joined hands toward me.
Even though I hadn’t used much strength, Cassian was dragged along obediently. I stared into his sky-blue eyes.
“I have no intention of asking you for help either.”
“Really? That’s good.”
“Yeah. Rather than expect help from someone as frail as you, I think it’d be faster to get myself out on my own in that time.”
“Who are you calling frail—”
Squeeze!
“Agh!”
“Hmph.”
See? Frail.
I released Cassian’s hand, which I’d squeezed with all my might.
Just from that, red marks had appeared on his fingers. Perhaps it had truly hurt, because tears had even gathered in Cassian’s eyes as he opened and closed his hand. I copied him and lifted the corners of my lips in an equally obnoxious way.
“I’ll let you off for deceiving me with this much.”
“What do you mean, this much? My hand almost broke……!”
“It’s not my fault you’re frail.”
“…Fine, then, Miss Sturdy Magic Saintess Seraphina.”
“What?”
“There’s another mission.”
“Again?!”
“So you’re saying I’m supposed to personally choose which one of these people to help?”
“Yeah.”
“This is also part of that ‘checking process’?”
“Yeah.”
I looked back and forth between the three documents Cassian had pushed onto me and Cassian’s face.
‘I could say I’ll think about it and tell him this evening… but somehow, that hurts my pride.’
I don’t want to sound weak to this jerk. Because he’s annoying.
While imagining myself hitting Cassian on the head with a toy hammer, I scanned the documents.
They contained brief summaries of three different people’s personal information and the recent events they had experienced.
1. Newlyweds living in District 15.
One day, a member of the Capital Guard came and interrogated them about whether they had stolen a neighbor’s chicken. In the process, a scuffle broke out, and the husband was seriously injured. They protested to the Capital Guard, but the Guard dismissed it, saying they had “only done their duty.”
2. The most popular actor in the capital at present.
However, recently, she was seen having an altercation with a reporter at a hat shop.
Before the incident, a certain reporter was said to have boasted at a teahouse he frequents, saying, “That actor is finished now.”
3. An heir whose parents recently passed away.
However, because there were ambiguous points in the will, the jewels in their possession were unfairly taken by their uncle.
—Who will you help?
“Number 2.”
“Why?”
“In the case of the newlyweds in Number 1, it only says the husband was injured. It doesn’t say they didn’t steal the chicken.”
If they hadn’t stolen the chicken and the guardsman had interrogated them unjustly, shouldn’t their first reaction have been that it was unfair?
“And what the heir in Number 3 needs isn’t me, but a highly skilled lawyer. There’s nothing I can do.”
Even if I stole the jewels back from the uncle and returned them to the heir, it would only end with the uncle reporting it to the Guard.
“I don’t know what the story is with Number 2 either…… but at least it looks like there’s something I can do.”
I said that as I handed the documents back.
Was that the right answer? I watched his expression, but that Cassian bastard didn’t say whether I was right or wrong.
He only smiled slyly and clapped his hands once.
“Good. Then our Magic Saintess will personally find out what kind of trouble Miss Rosena, Number 2, is in, won’t she?”
“Rosena is this actor’s name?”
“You don’t know? She’s the most popular actor these days.”
“Excuse me, do I look like I have time to go watch performances?”
I work at the dress shop all day, and at night I go around catching villains, you know? I glared at Cassian.
“That’s true.”
I forgot our Magic Saintess is busy. Speaking in a tone I couldn’t tell was sarcastic or not, Cassian naturally sat on the box he had thrown aside earlier when I attacked him.
He crossed his legs and interlaced his fingers, placing his hands on his knee. The series of movements was as elegant as flowing water.
‘So he’s the only one who gets to sit.’
He had no manners, and he was seriously annoying.
‘But I’ve been casually speaking informally to the High Priest this whole time.’
If he was the High Priest, wasn’t his status practically similar to a duke’s?
Come to think of it, I felt like I’d heard that High Priest Cassian was originally the youngest son of a ducal family with a place in the line of succession to the throne……
Whatever. Who cares?
Cassian explained.
“Rosena is an actor who appeared like a comet not long ago. She quickly became famous for her outstanding acting and appearance. Last year’s performance was even personally attended by His Majesty the Emperor.”
“Oho.”
“Soon, a new play starring her will open at Opera Cernier.”
As every imperial citizen knows, performing at Opera Cernier is the greatest honor an actor can receive.
“But.”
“But?”
“As written here, lately some reporter has apparently been harassing her. I don’t know the details, but it seems she has some shameful secret that must not be exposed.”
“……”
“I’d like you to look into her trouble and resolve it.”
Hmm…
“But Cassian.”
“Yeah.”
“How do you know Rosena is the victim, and the reporter is the perpetrator?”
Magic Saintess Seraphina