READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 19
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Erpa wore a surprised expression.
“Why would someone like that… be living in such a shabby apartment?”
“I told you, right? There was a massive stroke of bad luck.”
Jurgen began to unfold his story with a sigh.
“It was like a string of terrible events piled up all at once. He was a distributor moving goods back and forth between the Tramata Kingdom and the Arcal Empire, and one day during an elixir shipment, his transport vehicle suddenly exploded.”
Erpa opened her mouth in disbelief.
“It exploded out of nowhere?”
“Later research revealed that large quantities of elixir can sometimes induce static electricity under rare circumstances. That static caused the explosion. Of course, back then, we didn’t know that.”
“So what happened next?”
“Due to that, a chain reaction of explosions happened with the elixir transport trucks lined up. In no time, Jonathan’s company faced massive losses, and they were sued for damages by the nearby residents who suffered from the elixir explosion.”
“That’s nonsense.”
“It’s a real event. This incident led to the new regulation that all elixir transport vehicles must have lightning protection magic circles installed.”
Erpa was left speechless at such absurd misfortune. But Jurgen’s story was not over yet.
“But that wasn’t the end of it. The Minister of Finance from the Tramata royal family, who was supposed to pay Jonathan’s company, suddenly died of a heart attack. The royal family suspected foul play, and that led to power struggles within the royal court over the minister’s death. The payment deadline was pushed back indefinitely.”
“…….”
“Later, it was revealed that the heart attack was genuinely due to overwork, not assassination.”
“What in the world…”
“On top of that, his wife Oliviera had a complicated childbirth, which worsened her condition. Oliviera was brilliant with numbers and could track significant sums of money with ease. But suddenly, the one managing all cash flow for Jonathan’s company collapsed.”
Erpa was at a loss for words.
There was no way such a situation could deteriorate without some kind of curse lingering in the air.
Jurgen let out a big sigh.
“In the end, they had no choice but to shut down the company. But they had saved up a decent amount, and when his wife recovered and their child grew a little, I heard they started a new business with that money. It was a toy factory. It became immensely popular. At one point, every child in the capital was playing with toys from Jonathan’s company.”
“Is it really that impressive?”
“Yeah, it was that impressive. And you know what’s scarier? Their daughter Cecilia. Perhaps due to inheriting her mother’s intellect and her father’s charisma, there’s this 5-year-old girl who helped her father make various business decisions.”
Jurgen chuckled, recalling that time.
“She even conducted market research and designed toys from a child’s perspective, leading to a huge hit. I heard her business sense surpassed her father’s. She was on par with you, Erpa, among those I’ve seen, a true genius.”
“Are you saying a little child really worked with her father on business?”
“It’s no lie, really. By the age of 12, she was said to be overseeing the entire factory. That was the last I heard. After that, everything went quiet, so I thought they’d closed the business again… only to find out their daughter Cecilia dealt with some illness. Such terrible luck indeed.”
Having heard all this, Erpa let out a hollow laugh.
“I thought she was just an ordinary person, but I didn’t realize she was that remarkable.”
The self-made legend of the distribution industry.
A woman who could track cash flow with perfection.
And a child with exceptional business acumen who managed a factory at just 12 years old.
Even the source of elixir in the abandoned factory pointed to her as some sort of perfect talent.
This smooth and almost ridiculous flow of events could only belong in a novel, right?
“Miracles really do exist. Master of the Mage Tower, it can only be interpreted this way.”
At Erpa’s words, Jurgen’s eyes sparked with curiosity.
“Is this all orchestrated by the Saint of Healing?”
“Yes. He is at the center of it all. As someone who walks the path of magic, I know it’s improper to call it a miracle or coincidence… But it could be said that there’s no word other than divine miracle to express it. How can necessary beings appear exactly when needed?”
Jurgen looked as if he could hardly hold back anymore.
“You said he’s in the slums, right? That Saint of Healing?”
“Yes.”
“I think I ought to go visit him sometime. I’m curious what a true saint looks like.”
To think, in his twilight years, a subject would arise that stirs such immense curiosity in him.
Jurgen spoke with a fiery passion rarely seen in him.
At those words, Erpa couldn’t help but smile.
“I’ll introduce you. You’ll surely be astonished when you meet him.”
“Alright. Let’s meet then. I truly want to know what kind of person he is.”
If the Saint of Healing had heard this conversation, he would likely have screamed for them not to come, but fortune would have it that…
…the Saint was not present at that moment.
***
Another chaotic day flew by.
With the abandoned factory I had taken over, it had practically become a sanctuary for the impoverished.
I’d wake up on the warm stone floor akin to ondol, and in the morning, the priests from the Lilia Church would serve us free meals at the soup kitchen.
And it didn’t stop there.
“Please assign work. Provide generous wages. That is the meaning of grace.”
For the Lilia Church’s bankruptcy project, Vice President Alois implemented my orders, paying the impoverished 1 Salad per day for their labor, which was an ungodly sum.
In return, the impoverished were cleaning the slums.
Picking up trash, washing off the mud caked with filth and sewage, bringing the sick to me, planting trees in the desolate streets of the city.
They were mobilized for cleansing the area and, in return, received meals.
Still, I felt uneasy.
This was no simple matter; the elixir, dubbed green gold, was gushing out right in the heart of the factory.
While I had no doubts that our Jonathan Karma would screw it up, part of me wondered if there might be a chance it could actually work out.
To induce bankruptcy, I needed to throw more money around.
“Build public restrooms. The streets are littered with filth and urine, causing diseases. No matter how much I heal, dirt will bring back illnesses. Also, select someone to manage it and ensure it’s cleaned daily.”
“Understood! Saint!”
“Construct a bathhouse. True grace resides in a clean body. Bring water from the plumbing to build public bathhouses. Cleanliness and proper meals bestow grace. Spend generously to make the bathhouse as neat and splendid as possible.”
“Understood! Saint!”
Vice President Yodel was now in a state where he’d joyfully eat excrement if I told him to.
With him enthusiastically throwing out ‘OK’s to anything I commanded, I felt a small sense of relief.
It wasn’t like pouring water into a bottomless pit.
Spending endlessly like this would surely dry up their funds, even for the Lilia Church.
Furthermore, Jonathan Karma’s operating capital would also have to go to the Lilia Church.
If played right, bankruptcy could be within reach in a few months.
Helping people through this and facing bankruptcy could earn me some scorn, but they wouldn’t burn me at the stake for it.
Perhaps the Saint was kind yet truly inept. I imagine they would just part ways, thinking they had a filthy encounter and never meet again.
With such thoughts swirling in my mind, I tirelessly treated the sick, fed them, housed them, gave them work, built bathhouses, cleaned up, and constructed latrines, all while burning through cash.
But no matter how I thought about it, something felt off.
“Money! I don’t need it!! The Saint healed my mother! I’ll just build this as an offering!”
The public restrooms were built for free. Multiple ones at that.
“Before my hands were severed, I was quite the efficient stonemason. Money? That’s unacceptable for a human. I’ll do this myself.”
One other impoverished man, who lived like a cripple after losing his hands, turned out to be a famous stonemason.
He quickly gathered people and began assembling the bathhouse with ease.
And that wasn’t all.
“Let’s repay the grace given by the Saint!”
“Grace for grace!”
The people continued cleaning and tidying up the neighborhood with such enthusiasm that they didn’t even expect to be paid, even during the evening hours.
Within a week, the roads took such a transformation, I questioned if they were the same filthy, muddy lanes I first saw.
“For your offering.”
“It’s from my heart. Please accept it.”
“I operate a vegetable stand. Please, if you’d accept any vegetables, I’d be grateful.”
“I operate a butcher shop. If you’d accept some old meat, I’d be willing to share.”
“You healed my son’s eyes. I’ll donate all the leftover bread from today’s sales. Please share it with the needy.”
“I was once a famous chef. Give me the ingredients, and I’ll cook and share.”
The soup kitchen was flooded with donated ingredients, strange people popped up here and there tossing in donations, and those I had healed, talented cooks, voluntarily made meals to share endlessly.
“Saint, we saved an immense amount of money! We can cover Jonathan Karma’s initial operating capital with ongoing donations!”
What the heck!!
Why are you doing this to me, seriously!!
Why??
I want this to fail!
Please, let it collapse already!!
It seems my cursed fate is determined to smite me in retribution.
I’d need a different approach.
It seemed escaping through bankruptcy would be impossible.
How could I make these people leave me alone?
How could I…?
This went through my mind as I treated the sick impoverished flocking to me from early morning.
Suddenly, the crowd of impoverished people began to part.
Along with this, my thoughts and worries flew away.
A group of individuals was walking straight through the crowd toward me from afar.
And at the forefront was a witch with a sharp smile, dressed in the Mage Tower’s witch garb and sporting a wide-brimmed witch’s hat.
“Saint of Healing?”
Freckled, her boots clicking on the stone, she approached me with a beaming expression.
Feeling confused over the unfolding situation, I blinked as she giggled, looking back at the people behind her.
“What do you think? Am I right? This person doesn’t use divine power to heal people.”
The figures behind her all wore black attire.
Clad in black clothing, black masks, and black shoes and pants, they looked eerily coordinated.
The only white piece among them was a snow-white eye emblem emblazoned on their chests.
The moment I saw them, I felt the blood rush from my body.
No one from the Empire could be unaware of that emblem.
It was the insignia of the Silence Church, which serves the God of Darkness and Secrets, Le-Neri.
They weren’t a famous sect, nor did they have many followers. In fact, they meticulously selected their believers, so their numbers were few. But they gained notoriety for a reason.
They were the ones handling heresy investigations for the Holy Temple, a collective formed by the 24 authorized denominations of the Empire.
“Indeed, the manifestation of divine power has not been confirmed. Lady Tydel.”
The priest from the Silence Church spoke in a low voice. At that, the witch named Tydel chuckled with glee.
“Of course! I have a good intuition. Hey, Saint of Healing.”
She inched her high-heeled boots between my legs, smiling ominously.
“You’re a fake, pretending to be the Saint of Lilia, aren’t you?”
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