Chapter 7 : Chapter 7
Chapter 7: The Plan
Yuna was temporarily settled.
Near the Saintess’s residence, maid rooms were the most abundant. When Fia pulled the cat girl by the hand and knocked on the door to enter, they happened to arrive just as the girls had finished work and were gathering inside to cook hot pot together.
The spicy aroma rushed straight into Fia’s nose, which had become unusually sensitive after reincarnation.
So the Saintess rubbed the cat girl’s head.
Surely no one thought the Saintess would be so lacking in manners that she would sneeze in public and ruin everyone’s appetite.
【Morality -1】
【Evaluation: Caring for stray cats】
“Your Holiness the Saintess!!”
Voices rang out one after another.
The maids’ faces were filled with embarrassment.
Fia found the expression very familiar. It was exactly the same look she used to wear when she was secretly playing questionable games in her dorm room and the counselor suddenly discovered her.
But the Church was not a school.
And the girls were not students.
There were no rules forbidding them from freely gathering for meals during their spare time.
“Would you mind adding two more pairs of chopsticks?”
At moments like this, there was no need to put on a formal smile.
Fia simply smiled naturally and gently pushed Yuna forward so she could get acquainted with everyone.
“Of course!!”
Perhaps overwhelmed by the sudden joy—or perhaps they had drunk a bit too much—the girls’ cheeks were flushed red. They hurriedly welcomed the two of them over with enthusiastic movements.
Their actions were far less cautious than usual.
One of them even pretended to accidentally brush against Fia’s hand. After letting out a satisfied sigh, she promptly fainted.
“Take my chopsticks, Your Holiness!”
“Have you no shame? Your saliva is still on them!”
After the commotion died down, everyone made space on a bed for Yuna.
The cat girl herself did not occupy much room. The only reason Fia had not brought her into her own bedroom was because of Arius’s instructions—and her own lingering PTSD.
—Hot Pot Time—
After eating and drinking their fill, Fia returned to her room under the maids’ reluctant gazes.
Maintaining friendliness while also maintaining distance—this was the work experience she had imagined for herself.
After all, no one who had never served as a Saintess had the right to comment.
She lit the magic lamp and used Chinese to write her plan in detail in her diary.
Her native language from her previous life could now function as an encrypted language in this other world, saving her considerable effort.
“Security will be handled by the personal guard unit. The arrangements from the Pontiff are also being implemented. Arius can suppress a high-level assassin in direct combat.”
She paused and tapped the word “direct.”
“If we eliminate the possibility of an attack occurring in full public view, then the most dangerous moment will be during the withdrawal stage after the ceremony, when we return to the inner palace.”
“At that time, the Pontiff and everyone else will have their attention focused on the summoned Hero. They will have no time to watch anything else.”
She pulled a map of the inner palace from the bookshelf.
Fia carefully traced the route from the Saintess’s residence to the location where the ceremony would be held, marking several intersections.
For the plan in her mind to succeed, she would need assistance from the Church’s construction team.
Considering the limited time and the need to avoid drawing attention, large-scale modifications would be inappropriate.
However, connecting several paths together should not be difficult.
“And even if the assassin problem is resolved, it only avoids one side storyline. The truly crucial part still lies with the Hero.”
Once she stepped onto the main storyline, it would be no different from jumping directly into a fire pit.
This was no longer the time when she could ignore every problem as long as she enjoyed herself.
She had not even had the chance to enjoy her second life yet.
She certainly would not allow those lurking monsters and schemers to benefit from it.
Fia took out the ritual layout book she had legally obtained from the Church’s ritual officials through her Saintess authority.
Unlike the general magic books she had studied before, this was essentially the blueprint for the Hero Summoning Magic Circle.
With this, the roles of the three key fragments became much clearer.
“Isn’t this just three gacha pools with different ranges?”
The book’s description of the possible summoning targets was extremely vague—very similar to astrology from her previous life.
But after comparing it with her memories of the game, Fia quickly guessed the approximate parameters.
“The yellow fragment emphasizes divinity. Since it cannot summon a true god, only the former Hero known as ‘the Man of Myth’ meets the requirement.”
“The red fragment emphasizes beast nature. Lorinna’s fragment was diluted, which is why she summoned a sea beast.”
“Only the Pontiff’s blue fragment represents humanity… and it summoned that thing.”
Once the principle was understood, a solution naturally appeared.
Since two was greater than one, if she obtained Lorinna’s cooperation and persuaded the ritual officer to modify the magic circle, she could steal part of the humanity from the blue fragment and alter the results of the other two summons.
Very simple.
“Simple my ass!”
Fia threw the book aside and leaned back in the chair, collapsing helplessly while revealing the elegant curve of her body.
There was absolutely no way she could run to Lorinna and casually discuss it.
“Sister, help me out. Let’s pull a big stunt on the Pontiff.”
Even leaving aside the mysterious forces backing Lorinna, the red-haired candidate Saintess would probably mock her on the spot.
She would likely hang the entire story on the meeting table and broadcast it loudly.
“You know that Saintess? She pitifully begged me to help her.”
“Oh? Really? What did you say?”
“Of course I rejected her! Hahaha! Come, look at this picture I recorded with a magic crystal. Have you ever seen the Saintess like this? What a pathetic loser!”
Fia slapped her own head and erased the imagined laughter from her mind.
After calming down, she recalled everything she knew about Lorinna.
And realized there might actually be a chance.
She glanced at the time.
Lorinna should currently be holding her routine gathering, preaching doctrine to the citizens who had come to the Holy City and trying to increase her public reputation so she could remove the word “candidate” from her title as soon as possible.
According to the map, Lorinna’s residence was also marked.
To demonstrate her independence, Lorinna had deliberately applied for a residence located symmetrically opposite Fia’s along the central axis of the palace.
It was neither too high nor too low in status—perfectly positioned along a horizontal corridor.
Once she had the idea, Fia immediately acted.
She extinguished the magic lamp, changed into casual clothes, checked outside the window to ensure no one was nearby, and jumped out.
Keeping close to the walls of the building, she moved toward her destination.
Meanwhile—
“Greetings, Lady Lorinna.”
Lorinna nodded slightly in response to the maids greeting her.
Even though her reputation was not very good, she still held the public identity of Candidate Saintess. No one dared to treat her with disrespect.
Lorinna was in a terrible mood.
Not only had her scheduled gathering been canceled due to “force majeure”—namely, the Pontiff strengthening security measures—but several of her close companions had also brought her news about that woman.
Saintess Fia.
Instead of staying obediently in her residence performing daily prayers, she had gone to the knight training grounds to play.
And for some reason she had even brought back a beastfolk girl.
Completely improper.
A blatant insult to Church discipline.
Lorinna gritted her teeth.
She woke up early every day. Her appearance and clothing had to be perfectly arranged.
Her schedule was fixed.
Her strict tutor monitored her while holding a ruler, forcing her to memorize prayers.
And while hitting her, the tutor would constantly praise that woman.
She could not even choose her own meals.
That woman… that woman…
She was eating hot pot!
Lorinna slammed open the door.
Ignoring the guards pointing and whispering in the distance, she carefully hung up her Saintess robes before collapsing into a chair.
She had been the one who brought her here.
Yet she never showed any special care.
She treated everyone the same.
It was all lies.
Bad woman.
Once I take your position, I will step on your face with my foot and make you properly reflect on your mistakes. And then… and then…