My Lord Who Is Being Prudent! [EN]: Chapter 93

§ 93. Doubt (1)

Sian spoke, noticing Aria’s dazed expression.

“Don’t tell me you were planning to get my help for free?”

“…It’s not about ‘using’ you. Wasn’t that the understanding?”

“Her? Since when is anything free in this world?”

“But this happened because the demon detector you gave me didn’t work properly.”

That was also true.

If the demon detector had worked properly, Aria would have handled the situation herself.

But.

“What are you talking about? You just saw it work. The demon detector isn’t broken. Why would I give you a refund when it’s not my fault?”

As demonstrated earlier, the demon detector was functioning perfectly.

Aria was momentarily speechless.

Because she had no argument to make!

Aria remained silent for a long time.

How much time had passed?

Aria slowly opened her mouth.

“…Can’t I offer something other than money?”

“Something other than money?”

Aria cautiously broached the subject.

“Couldn’t I… offer my body as payment…?”

“I don’t need it.”

Sian refused outright.

He was so firm, it was as if the idea wasn’t even worth considering.

For some reason, Aria felt a blow to her pride.

“Why not!”

“Why do you ask? What use would I have for your body?”

There really was no use for it.

First of all, it was completely incompatible with Sian’s needs, so he had no use for it at all.

And there wasn’t anyone particularly ill in the territory either.

No, even if there were sick people, it would be pointless.

That’s because Ruben already had ‘Miracle Healing Center Lv.4’ and Ellie.

Even minor ailments like colds disappeared as soon as one entered the healing center.

Even severe injuries like fractures healed in a day.

In effect, the saintess’s miracle was constantly available in Ruben.

Well, the value of the saintess was immeasurable beyond that.

“Stop talking nonsense. How much?”

To Sian, there was no value greater than gold.

Aria was truly speechless at Sian’s resolute attitude.

And at the same time, she realized.

The demon detector from earlier.

That it wasn’t broken.

Because.

“How much are you willing to offer?”

He’s a demon. He was definitely a demon.

He was definitely a demon of money!

“How much do you need…?”

Aria asked with a sigh.

A cardinal being a demon.

At stake was, at the very least, the Holy Empire.

And at stake, more broadly, was the crisis of the continent.

Given the gravity of the matter, one shouldn’t be thinking about expenses.

And with the funds held by the Holy Empire, they could meet any amount Sian demanded—.

“About 10 million gold?”

“You crazy bastard!”

Aria shouted without realizing it.

W-what?

10 million gold?

Not 1 million gold, but 10 million gold?

What else could he be if not a crazy bastard!

Even for Aria, 10 million gold was out of the question.

Was that some dog’s name? Did that even make sense!

“What? Doesn’t the Holy Empire have 10 million gold?”

Of course, the Holy Empire did have 10 million gold.

The Holy Empire was one of the two strongest powers on the continent, rivaling the Charlotte Empire.

Compared to the funds they held, it was a drop in the bucket.

But that wasn’t the issue right now!

“No way!”

Aria exclaimed.

It seemed quite firm, with no room for negotiation.

Indeed, 10 million gold.

Even Sian thought this was a bit much.

“Hmm… then let’s do this.”

So Sian slightly changed the conditions.

“I’ll take your ‘body’.”

The expression was quite strange, but…

Well, anyway.

“I’ll give you a special deferred payment plan.”

“Deferred payment?”

Sian nodded and continued.

“We’ll settle up after the job is done. If the job ends easily, I’ll take less money. If the job is more difficult than expected, I’ll take more money.”

Well, he needed a lot of gold to spend, but.

What was urgent for Sian now was the story-linked quest, ‘The Truth Kyle Faces’.

Performing that was the top priority.

If the job ended easily, he wouldn’t earn much gold.

But he could ‘borrow’ Aria’s body, so it wasn’t a loss.

At first, he wondered where he could use Aria.

But when he thought about it, there was a job where he needed Aria.

None other than about 5 months later.

When Sian abandoned the name of Elandur and made Ruben independent.

The saintess was the most famous figure on the continent, not just in the Holy Empire.

If Aria supported Sian and Ruben.

It would become the overwhelming justification and power that Sian currently needed.

So even if he received less money, it wasn’t a losing deal.

“…Okay.”

Aria slowly nodded.

There was nothing bad about this from Aria’s perspective either.

“Okay. Then…”

Sian spoke again.

“Can you give me 50,000 gold as a down payment… no, just 100,000 gold in advance? So I can reinforce my armor.”

The armor Sian was currently wearing was still S-grade.

The probability itself was 100%.

But to reinforce it to SS-grade, he needed 50,000 gold.

But Sian currently had about 19,000 gold.

Even if he wanted to reinforce it, he couldn’t!

“…”

Aria was momentarily stunned.

100,000 gold down payment?

Armor reinforcement?

“I’ll deduct it from the settlement amount later, so give it to me in advance.”

Was he really… a demon of money?

Aria had to seriously consider it.

#

Aria eventually decided to give 100,000 gold as a down payment.

100,000 gold was by no means a small amount.

But Aria could handle that much on her own.

That’s how the deal was made.

“That Cardinal Rachel. Can I meet her now?”

Sian started working right away.

There was no point in dragging it out.

And a demon whose demon detector didn’t work.

It wasn’t certain if she was exactly a demon.

But Sian could find out by meeting her in person.

Sian’s senses were more accurate than the demon detector.

At least he could notice if something was wrong.

The problem was that the cardinal was not someone you could meet so easily.

“That’s not difficult.”

If he used Aria’s influence, this wouldn’t be difficult either.

No matter how high the cardinal was, second only to the Pope.

Aria was a saintess.

Arranging a meeting was not difficult.

But.

“She’s not at the Vatican right now.”

“Not at the Vatican?”

Aria nodded and replied.

“She’s in the south.”

“The south?”

If it’s the south…

“The area you’re going to soon?”

“How do you know that?”

That’s because he overheard the conversation of the strange priests earlier.

Sian didn’t bother to elaborate.

“Why is the cardinal there? And why are you going there?”

Aria looked at Sian for a moment.

“You’ll hate it if I give a complicated explanation, right?”

“Of course.”

Aria sighed and said.

“An unprecedented epidemic is raging in the south. Cardinal Rachel went to provide support, but the situation hasn’t improved. So I’m going there myself.”

Sian nodded in satisfaction at the easily understood explanation.

And.

“Does that mean I have to go to that dangerous place now?”

“I’m here, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

Well, if it’s Aria, there’s nothing to worry about.

And even if Sian caught the epidemic.

Aria could just heal him with divine power.

The problem was…

Aria’s divine power was the worst possible epidemic for Sian.

The epidemic raging in the south.

The epidemic right next to Sian.

It was a terribly dangerous area for Sian, as he had to carry around a double dose of epidemics.

“And it’s there.”

“What is?”

“The Muriel’s ruins you’re looking for. It’s also in the south.”

In this case, he couldn’t *not* go.

He was secretly hoping it was in a secret place in the Vatican.

Like an underground place that exists but doesn’t exist.

It was in a completely unexpected place.

“Why is it there?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t make it, so how would I know?”

Well, that’s true.

Sian shook his head.

“Let’s go.”

And then he got up from his seat.

“Where are you going?”

“Where else would I go? The south.”

“Now?”

Aria opened her eyes in surprise.

She didn’t expect him to move right away.

“Weren’t you going anyway?”

“That’s true, but…”

Even Sian thought it was sudden.

There was no point in delaying.

He had to build overwhelming justification.

And now he had to prepare for the war with Elandur.

5 months was not a lot of time.

“Then let’s go right away.”

At Sian’s words, Aria slowly got up from her seat.

#

“Young master. Please use this.”

Laura, the bishop who assists Aria, handed something to Sian.

A mask that covers the entire face.

The mask, which resembled the face of a crow, was characterized by a large beak that protruded out.

Sian accepted the mask that Laura handed him.

In the stuffy field of vision, he felt a sense of revulsion.

Why was that…

He could feel divine power emanating from inside the beak as he breathed in and out.

It seemed that they had put something containing divine power inside.

And by making a hole at the end.

The impure air from the outside was purified by the divine power and entered the inside of the mask.

The problem was that the divine power was also an epidemic for Sian.

But it was better than catching a real epidemic.

Sian just suppressed it.

With that view, all sides were filled with crow beaks.

But there was only one person.

There was someone who was confidently revealing her face even in the midst of the crow’s beaks.

“Aren’t you wearing it?”

It was the saintess, Aria.

“Me? I don’t need it. I won’t get sick anyway.”

It was an annoying thing to say, but it was true.

Aria was a saintess whose body itself could be said to be divine power.

She was also Aria, who possessed the most powerful divine power in history.

All poisons and diseases had no effect on such Aria.

Even if such impure things entered her body.

It would be purified by the divine power that filled her.

She was truly a being sent by God.

A living miracle.

What would be the problem, even if it was an unprecedented epidemic in history?

“Yeah, you’re great.”

Sian shook his head.

At the same time, the large beak was swung around.

This was quite uncomfortable and… quite amusing.

Sian tilted his head a few times and played around.

But he soon got tired of it.

More than anything, divine power leaked in every time he shook his head, so it was a bit… much.

Anyway.

“That’s not the point…”

Sian calmly looked around.

And he looked at the people who were wearing crow masks like Sian and asked.

“Why are those people following us?”

They were none other than the priests who followed from the Vatican.

They were the priests who were said to be of the Twilight Sect, including Archbishop Lahir.

“I don’t know either. They were so opposed to going to provide support. Why are they suddenly doing this now?”

When Sian and Aria headed south.

They were the ones who suddenly came running, saying they would go with them.

In terms of justification, it was the escort of the saintess.

It was support for the south…

There were still one or two suspicious points.

First of all, he had overheard the conversation of the priests at the Vatican.

But what could he say to someone who was coming to help?

However, it seemed necessary to keep an eye on them.

Anyway.

That’s how they arrived in the southern part of the Holy Empire.

The Holy Empire, Lutea, existed even a thousand years ago.

Although it was not called an empire at that time.

It began to be called an empire after Muriel’s birth.

To be exact, it was after the demons disappeared from the continent.

However, in terms of history, it could be said to be older than the Charlotte Empire.

Perhaps because of this, history was gradually revealed in the places they passed by on the way.

Moreover, this southern region was known as Muriel’s hometown.

‘So that’s why the ruins are here?’

It was just a guess, but it was plausible enough.

Anyway, as such, it could be said to be quite prosperous with believers and other people.

But for some reason, there was no sign of people now.

No, only the shadow of death was reflected.

“Cardinal Rachel is here, right?”

Aria nodded at Sian’s question.

Sian turned his gaze back to the front.

A village that could be seen in the distance.

It was a village called Juren.

And it was a fairly large village, and he could immediately tell that the well-paved roads and buildings were quite developed.

There was no doubt that Juren was a very good place to live.

“Augh…!”

“Haa…!”

Now, groans were flowing out from within.

Only a desolate atmosphere was present.

It seemed that Juren had not escaped the clutches of the epidemic either.

Sian waited, taking in the scenery of Juren.

And how much time had passed?

A priest approached from inside Juren.

He seemed to be the priest in charge of Juren Village.

Soon, the priest said with a troubled expression.

“Cardinal Rachel is temporarily away from her post right now…”

Rachel was away from her post.

It seemed that the priest did not know the exact situation either.

So, why she was away from her post.

And it seemed that he didn’t know when she would return.

Aria looked at Sian with a bewildered expression.

Sian just shrugged his shoulders once.

Well, what could he do?

He had to wait until she came.

Going to find her was also an option.

But it was troublesome to stir up the dangerous epidemic zone and risk catching the epidemic.

Just as he was thinking that there was no other way.

“Um…”

The approaching priest carefully opened his mouth.

“If the saintess is willing, could you please take a look at the patients…?”

At the same time, he gestured to a group being carried on stretchers behind him.

Of course, they didn’t come close and kept a safe distance.

Even so, the priests who followed took a step back.

Because they were patients with the epidemic.

They seemed worried that the disease would be transmitted.

“They are those who have contracted the epidemic… their condition is too serious. For some reason, even when the priests stay by their side, their condition does not improve… Please, saintess, could you take a look at them?”

“Of course.”

Aria moved without hesitation.

She was a brat with a terrible personality.

But the saintess was still a saintess.

There was no hesitation in her walk.

Well, the fact that she didn’t have to worry about getting the epidemic also played a part.

But that wasn’t a mindset that could be easily had.

Sian didn’t bother to follow Aria.

Aria didn’t have to worry about getting the epidemic.

Sian did.

However, he was curious about how Aria would treat them, so his gaze naturally turned to that side.

It was a bit far away, so he couldn’t see it in detail.

He could barely recognize the shapes of the children.

But.

‘……What?’

It was strange.

It was quite strange.

Sian had almost no medical knowledge.

So there was no way to explain it.

Even so, Sian could clearly feel the strangeness.

The condition of the child that could be seen from afar.

He could feel a strange *something* taking root inside that child.

It was taking root in the child’s body and sucking away their energy.

Perhaps… that was what was called the epidemic.

But.

‘Why can I feel that?’

Why could that be felt by Sian’s senses?

The epidemic is a disease.

Its exact cause has not yet been revealed.

Ellie, the healer of Ruben, said that it originated from something called ‘germs’.

Things that are life, but cannot be defined as life.

Then she said something else, but he didn’t remember it well.

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand it at all and just ignored it.

Anyway.

It was extremely harmful to humans.

From their point of view, it was a desperate struggle for survival.

So there was nothing Sian could do about the epidemic.

To be exact, there was nothing he could recognize.

But now, something was felt from that child.

He couldn’t know what it was.

However, the energy that was perceived by his senses was quite familiar.

It was quite similar to the energy of magic.

Among them, it was similar to the energy based on evil.

However, the magic that Sian handled was the original magic.

Even if it was a power based on evil, it could not do anything to Sian.

He even had the thought that he might be able to purify it…? Like how Sian purified the top-grade mana stone full of magic.

So, if he combined these facts with Ellie’s words.

‘That’s… not a disease?’

That was not something to be defined as an epidemic.