TPFR 09

Chapter 9

“I’ll definitely succeed and make things easier for you, Priestess.”

In her previous life, by the time she had achieved success, this orphanage had already disappeared.

Priestess Marcellia had died young from an illness after years of hardship, and the orphans of the orphanage, now without a guardian, had been scattered in all directions.

Priestess Marcellia smiled gently.

“Don’t say things like that. As long as you are happy, that is enough for me.”

Even though she knew Marcellia was sincere, Prim stubbornly insisted on what she had said.

After the meeting ended, Priestess Marcellia picked Prim up and carried her out of the room.

But she soon stopped and smiled.

Rosien was sitting against the wall in the hallway. It was late, so the boy had fallen asleep while leaning against the wall.

“Rosien.”

“……!”

At the sound of Priestess Marcellia calling him, Rosien’s eyes snapped open and he quickly stood up.

“Are you done talking? Are you done?”

When the two of them nodded, he stretched his arms.

Marcellia looked at Rosien as he yawned and asked,

“But have you been waiting here all this time?”

“Yes, well……”

Rosien scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

“Because you thought I might make Prim walk back by herself?”

“It’s not that. I was worried someone might bully her.”

Prim was startled and looked at Rosien.

But Rosien’s expression remained calm.

“She’s just small and white, like a little dog, so there might be people who want to bully her.”

“Am I…… a dog?”

Prim blinked as she asked.

Only then did Rosien realize how strange his words sounded, and he jumped up in panic.

“No, no! No. No, no!”

“You said no five times. Strong denial means strong affirma—”

“I said you’re not! You! You’re a white skylark! A skylark! A cat! A chick!”

“Where have you ever seen a white chick?”

“She feels like a white chick…… Yes, a lily of the valley! A lily of the valley!”

Watching the two children bicker, Priestess Marcellia smiled warmly.

But soon, she pursed her lips bitterly.

She was worried about what would happen to the boy after the girl left, but there was nothing she could do.

It was still before sunrise, but Prim gently shook Rosien in the bed beside hers.

“Rosien.”

“Hmm……? Prim?”

Rosien, who had been asleep, quickly opened his eyes.

Children who had spent a long time wandering the streets slept lightly and would wake up at even the smallest disturbance.

“I want to go to the temple.”

At Prim’s whisper, Rosien fully woke up and climbed out of bed.

“You’ll have to come back soon, though.”

Once the sun fully rose, it would be time for breakfast, so they had to return before then and help prepare everything.

“Yeah, but still.”

Rosien readily turned his back toward her.

Prim stretched out her arms and climbed onto his back.

Rosien quietly yawned and slipped out of the orphans’ bedroom without making a sound.

“Up we go. What are you going to do at the temple?”

“I want to pray.”

“What are you going to pray for? To pass the perfumer exam?”

At moments like this, it felt as if her heart suddenly became ticklish.

The Rosien she remembered from her previous life was a man who did not pray to God.

But even he had once been like this.

There had been a time when he wondered if he should pray to pass the exam.

Prim tightly wrapped her arms around Rosien’s neck and spoke softly.

“That’s not something prayer can solve. You have to do it with your skills.”

“…….”

Rosien was silent for a moment.

Prim secretly watched his expression.

Did I say something strange?

“……Well, but it’s okay if you pray for me.”

“Oh, it’s okay? It’s really okay if I pray for you?”

Rosien’s back shook slightly.

It seemed like he was trying not to laugh.

Prim hurriedly corrected herself.

“No, I mean, it’s good. It’s a good thing.”

“What’s that supposed to mean! It’s not just ‘good.’ If I even pray for you, shouldn’t you be grateful?”

“That’s right. Thank you. I’ll make all the perfumes you use, too. Even ones containing blessings to put on your sword.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I really can become a Great Lord, right?”

“Yeah.”

Prim answered immediately without even smiling.

That was why she had returned.

Instead, Rosien became embarrassed.

“Hey, hey. Don’t tell other people……”

“Tell them what?”

“About our future. It’s our secret.”

“Okay.”

Prim wondered if there was really any reason to be embarrassed, but she did not point it out and obediently nodded.

Rosien sat Prim down in the very front seat of the temple, which was still dark because the sun had not yet risen, and then plopped down beside her.

On the altar a little farther away was the bouquet she had made and offered not long ago.

Prim clasped her hands together and closed her eyes.

Rosien looked uninterested, but he followed Prim’s example, clasping his hands and closing his eyes beside her.

Feeling the slightly faded fragrance of the bouquet, Prim spoke silently in her heart.

‘Varin.’

Soon, Varin’s grumpy voice came back.

— You could at least have learned the prayer after a whole day had passed.

‘I’m in a bit of a hurry right now. I’m sorry. Varin, could you give me an oracle asking the heretic inquisitors to be sent here because Baron Corvas and his wife are heretics?’

Baron Corvas and his wife had adopted children from various places, but of course, it was not because they intended to raise them well.

They wanted to use those children as ingredients to make perfumes containing evil power.

With the blood and tears of innocent children.

Why else would they have taken such an immediate interest in her the moment they saw her and eagerly declared that they wanted to adopt her?

It was probably because she was a child who could provide blood and tears simply by being made to stand up.

Otherwise, why would they want to take in a cursed and ominous child?

They intended to use the perfumes they made that way to deceive high-ranking nobles and prince-electors and gain power.

All of their attempts eventually failed.

After all, human bodily fluids such as tears and blood almost never function as perfume ingredients in the first place. In other words, they had essentially failed from the very beginning of the perfuming process.

But until their actions were completely exposed, not only Vianna but also the other children continued to be sacrificed.

The gods never accepted human sacrifice.

Therefore, killing someone under the pretext of offering something to a god was, by definition, heresy.

Wasn’t that also why the followers of Yulberon had chased her in her previous life?

Because she had caused someone to die in order to create a fragrance.

Varin remained silent.

Prim slightly opened one eye.

Rosien seemed to be praying randomly with his eyes closed, while the bouquet was secretly trembling.

— I-I don’t have any heretic inquisitors……

‘Ah.’

Varin currently had not even a single believer, let alone a heretic inquisitor.

There were only Priestess Marcellia and Prim.

— You know that you two are all I have right now!

Humiliation and embarrassment could be felt even in the god’s voice.

Prim whispered again.

‘Of course I know. That’s not what I meant. I was wondering if you could ask Yulberon, the God of Justice and Pride.’

— Th-that…… Ah……

There were the heretic inquisitors directly under Luminoxia Ayla, who oversaw all the believers of the Six Gods of Aiser, the Six Gods of Noxrak, and even Varin, who was from the outskirts and the edge and represented roasted potatoes and asparagus, making thirteen gods in total.

But each individual god also had their own heretic inquisitors.

Among them, the heretic inquisitors under Yulberon, the God of Justice and Pride, were famous for being the most ruthless.

The leader of the people who had pursued her in her previous life had also been a follower of Yulberon.

After all, the name “Justice and Pride” was already attached to the god. What more needed to be said?

Furthermore, to mobilize the heretic inquisitors directly under Luminoxia Ayla, an order from the Seat of the Gods and valid evidence were required.

But the heretic inquisitors belonging to each individual god could move without evidence as long as they had an oracle from their god.

Just as they had pursued her in her previous life after receiving Yulberon’s oracle.

Prim knew of Baron Corvas’s crimes because she had seen them in the future, but she currently had neither the strength nor the ability to gather evidence.

So she had thought this was the best option.

— ……My little lily of the valley.

‘Yes. Prim is here.’

Prim quietly answered.

— It’s not that I can’t contact Yulberon because I’m trying to protect my pride. ……Well, um, ahem. The thing is, even being able to give you an oracle right now isn’t possible with only the fragrance of that bouquet.

Varin hurriedly continued speaking.

— It takes an enormous amount of power to convey my will to a believer in such clear words. It really isn’t easy! Directly communicating a god’s will is a very serious matter!

‘Then how is it possible right now?’

The only thing she had offered to Varin was a bouquet of flowers.

If you want, I can also keep all character names, god names, titles, and perfume terminology consistent for Chapter 10 onward.