Chapter 3

Afternoon break.

As Coco was drinking the tea that Natalia had brewed in her room at the convent, a gentle knock came at the door, and a serene-looking nun peeked in. She seemed to be a bit older than Natalia.

“Lady Coco~”

“Oh, what’s up, Dorothy?”

“Lady Coco, please call me Sister Dorothea.”

This was Natalia.

The nun in charge of administrative duties, with a gentle demeanor, smiled and handed Coco a small bag.

“I’ve brought it from the Papal Office. It’s your salary from last week, Lady Coco~”

“Oh! I’ve been waiting for it!”

The saint, the symbol of the Götland Church, ran over with a noisy clatter of footsteps and took the small linen bag carefully.

If the contents of the bag were candies, it would be endearing to see her acting like a tomboy, but the contents of the bag that the saint grabbed were gold.

◆

Coco is the saint of the Götland Church, chosen by divine revelation from the goddess.

The saint is the goddess’s representative on earth and the face of the church.

Incidentally, those in religious positions do not usually receive salaries in any church.

Serving the god is a service based on conscience and faith, not a job for a living. If money is received from the church, it is for operational funds, not as personal compensation.

So why does the saint, the symbol of the church, receive a salary?

To put it very simply... Coco is not a believer in the Götland Church.

Eight years ago, the new saint, Coco, found by the goddess’s revelation, had extremely exceptional conditions.

One. She is not a believer.

As an orphan, Coco had never even attended church or been exposed to the teachings of the god.

One. She is not from the upper class.

While not all, at least the last twenty or so saints were all daughters of royalty or nobility. In contrast, Coco was from the common folk, or rather, the poor, and was an orphan to boot.

One. She has not received education.

As an orphan and a poor person, not even placed in an institution, and at the age of six when the revelation came, she had no opportunity to receive education.

And finally. Not only is she not a believer, but she has no faith at all.

She did not even know the teachings of the god, let alone believe in any religion. As a street child, she had no parents or relatives. She only believed in her own pickpocketing skills.

It was impossible for such a girl to properly fulfill the role of a saint.

However, making her a saint was the will of the goddess.

When the background of the next saint was revealed, both the Papal Office and the royal court of the Vignege Kingdom, where the church’s headquarters were located, were in an uproar. However, since it was the will of the goddess, they could not promote a second candidate. The upper echelons of the church struggled to find a way to control the problematic saint candidate... and after much trial and error, they found a way to make Coco work seriously. The method was,

“Bribe her with a reward.”

This is a serious matter.

For the past eight years, the upper echelons of the church have been making great efforts to cover up Coco’s behavior to maintain the image of the saint.

◆

Coco took the bag and hurriedly returned to her desk, pulling out a ledger from a nearby shelf. She stacked the copper coins from the bag on the desk, counting them and comparing them with the written content.

“Hmm...”

“What is that?”

The two nuns, curious about the ledger, peered in from both sides. It was filled with numbers.

“This? It’s my work record. I check it every time I receive my salary to make sure the old man hasn’t cheated me on the amount.”

The education Coco received was effective in strange ways.

“Cheating on the salary... Only someone like Lady Coco would worry about that with the Pope...”

Natalia sighed and placed her hand on her forehead, but the saint argued seriously.

“What are you saying, Nuts! The great predecessors have said it, haven’t they?”

“What?”

“‘When you see someone, think of them as a thief.’”

“Are you going to say that to the Pope!?”

If the saint, chosen by divine revelation, is the representative of the god, then the Pope is the top of the church’s organizational structure, the god’s spokesperson for missionary activities. In other words, the Pope is the most devout and long-serving priest in the church.

“Nuts... Even the old man is human. He might be tempted to take a little of my meager salary.”

“So are you going to say that to the Pope!?”

“There are no exceptions. As proof, the saint is a pickpocket.”

“...When you put it that way, I can’t say anything.”

Coco, an orphan who lived on the streets, naturally had no adults to rely on. Until the saint search team found her, Coco mainly made a living by pickpocketing and stealing in the market.

... Whether this is the right way to describe it, Natalia doesn’t know.

After finishing the ledger, Coco stood up again, took the money bag, and opened the cabinet at the far end of the room.

Inside were...

“Oh...”

Natalia was taken aback.

“This always surprises me, no matter how many times I see it~”

Dorothea sighed in a drawn-out voice.

The cabinet was filled with mountains of silver and copper coins in various containers. Each container was sealed and labeled with the dates of the period when the coins were collected.

Coco picked up a glass bottle that only had the start date and dropped last week’s salary into it. She looked through the glass at the coins inside and smiled.

“Oh, I work just to enjoy this moment.”

“Lady Coco, that’s not something a saint should say.”

“Who cares... Alright.”

Coco closed the lid of the glass bottle and placed it back on the shelf with a satisfied look.

The mountains of currency in this cabinet are the wages and donations that Coco has diligently saved since being appointed as the saint.

She didn’t waste the meager salary like a child’s allowance and kept the donations in her pocket instead of delivering them to the Papal Office, using her modest saintly authority to gather her treasure.

“Lady Coco~. Even if it’s your salary, isn’t it wrong to keep the alms you receive from believers in your own pocket~?”

When Dorothea asked, Coco wagged her finger proudly and clicked her tongue.

“I always say, ‘It will be used for the goddess’s service’ when I receive it.”

“So, isn’t it wrong to embezzle it~?”

Dorothea’s second point was met with a nod from Natalia. However, Coco was unconcerned.

“That’s what I’m saying. ‘For the goddess’s service’ means ‘for the goddess’s representative, little Coco.’”

“Oh, that’s the logic~”

“You shouldn’t accept that, Sister Dorothea!”

“Either way, since I received it, it’s mine.”

“Oh! You’re being blunt~”

Coco’s term as a saint is limited.

In ancient times, there was no term for the saint.

It is said that a saint, whose generation is unknown, directly appealed to the goddess, “It’s too hard to dedicate my whole life,” and the goddess understood. The one who made the request was probably as secular as Coco.

Therefore, Coco will return to being a regular person after serving her twelve-year term. She currently lives and works in the church, but she will need money for living expenses until she finds a new job as a regular person. That’s why Coco collects small amounts of money, even if it’s called profiteering.

After putting away the money with a satisfied look, Dorothea asked Coco, who closed the cabinet.

“Lady Coco~. Even if it’s the back of the convent, isn’t it worrying to keep cash like this~?”

Sister Dorothea’s family is in business. She is more aware of the risk of theft than the noble Natalia. To Dorothea, Coco’s treasury seemed too dependent on the convent’s society, which is based on the assumption of human goodness, and thus precarious.

On the other hand, Coco, who was once a poor person, had seen thieves many times. In fact, she was one herself. So she understood Dorothea’s concern and had taken precautions.

“Don’t worry, Dorothy. That’s why...”

A bluish-white light leaked from Coco’s hand as she closed the door. The mysterious light, bright enough to be blinding, spread over the entire double door, as if licking its surface, and then quickly seeped in and disappeared.

“What was that? Just now?”

When Natalia, with wide eyes, asked, Coco puffed out her chest proudly.

“That was a very strong protective spell I cast using my holy power. Not even the kingdom’s knights with a battering ram could budge this door.”

“What are you using your holy power for!?”

“Of course, to protect my precious savings!”

As she put the ledger back in the cabinet, the saint started to laugh.

“Hahaha, I’ve saved this much in eight years as a saint. I’ll work hard until my term ends and save even more, then live a carefree life afterward!”

“Even if you say you’re retiring, it’s only four years from now! You’ll be younger than I am... Try to have more dreams, like a young maiden. Is it right for a saint to prioritize money?”

Natalia, who sighed, pointed at Coco.

“Fool! Asset formation doesn’t work without planning! One who laughs at a copper coin will cry over a copper coin!”

As the saint struck a pose, declaring a wise statement, and her colleagues applauded...

“I’m the one who wants to retire... I can’t take it anymore, such a saint.”

Sister Natalia looked up to the sky with a face that seemed about to cry.