Isabel Artea.
Born into the Artea Count family, she had never been fond of deities.
Having been raised in a noble environment, she viewed faith merely as a means for reputation and commerce.
She could not comprehend a belief that expected no reward in return.
It was a dungeon that instilled faith in her life, which had previously been far removed from any belief.
When Isabel had yet to inherit her family’s title, a dungeon appeared at sea.
That dungeon was of considerable size, making it a challenge that most people could hardly even attempt to conquer.
At the time, her father, the lord of Artea, summoned several famous adventurers and mercenaries to tackle the dungeon, but they failed.
Even the knights of the Artea family were not significantly different. After countless failures, the dungeon only grew in power as time went on.
Desperate, Count Artea sought help from neighboring nobles, but they all refused to assist him.
Ultimately, after exhausting all options, Count Artea entered the dungeon himself to fulfill his noble duty, leaving only the words that he would surely return.
However, a day passed, then two days, and a week went by without his return.
People began to say that Count Artea had failed to conquer the dungeon.
As time passed, a truly strange thing occurred. From the moment Count Artea's death was half-confirmed, the surrounding nobles began to express their willingness to offer support.
Those who had previously claimed they were too busy to help suddenly extended their hands as soon as the primary decision-maker disappeared. Their intentions were so clear that even the naive Isabel could detect them.
Those around her were coveting what the Artea family possessed.
Despite her awareness of this and her desperate efforts alongside her mother to protect the family, there were limits to what they could do.
The repeated failures in conquering the dungeon had led the Artea family to a decline.
The surrounding nobles applied pressure on Count Artea's family by any means necessary, and it was evident that their goals would soon be achieved.
On that day, when she heard the near-threatening words that if they did not produce proper results, they would have no choice but to act.
Isabel prayed earnestly before the divine statue for the first time.
Please let my father conquer the dungeon safely and return, so that our family can regain peace once more.
Perhaps her desperate voice reached the heavens. The next day, a miracle occurred.
The dungeon disappeared, and Count Artea returned.
In that moment, when she faced her father, who was smiling brightly despite countless injuries, Isabel came to believe in divine miracles.
It was then that she began to obsess over items related to the divine. Holding something related to the deity seemed to bring her good fortune.
Whether Isabel's faith was effective or if the various items she collected brought her luck, she succeeded in everything she undertook.
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Ultimately, she brought the Artea family to a level of prosperity that was incomparable to before.
Now, even after inheriting the family, Isabel Artea continued to thrive as one of the owners of one of the continent's largest trading houses and a significant patron of the church.
She was a formidable figure that no noble family could disregard, and one of the great nobles whom no one dared to overlook.
Despite her success in obtaining such power and authority, Isabel showed little interest in revenge.
The reason was remarkably simple. The deity instructed her to embrace the world with love rather than hatred, and she was following that guidance.
However, occasionally, very occasionally, there were individuals who she simply could not forgive or even wanted to forgive.
For Isabel, that person was Lucy Alrn.
No matter how immature she was at a young age, she had insulted many faithful and priests while attending church, even pouring water over a bishop and throwing around insults questioning the sacred water.
It was Lucy Alrn who had broken the divine statue.
If it weren't for the prominence of Benedict Alrn, that little brat would have long ago been arrested for blasphemy and faced the appropriate punishment.
Even just from the rumors she heard, Isabel had ample reason to dislike Lucy, but the reason she viewed Lucy with disdain was not limited to that.
When Isabel had purchased a necklace containing divine power at an auction, Lucy Alrn had come to her and caused a scene.
“Give it to me. That necklace would prefer being used by a cute and pretty girl like me rather than a zealot who seems like she’s just holed up in her room with a pen and a cross!”
Isabel had rejected that absurd demand. There was no reason for her to comply.
However, Lucy Alrn did not stop causing a ruckus until the various guards from the auction house arrived.
If it had ended there, it would have been a small incident, but Lucy Alrn continued to annoy Isabel in various ways afterward.
There was even an incident where she caused trouble at Isabel’s family estate, only to be resolved when Benedict Alrn arrived.
Because of these experiences, Isabel could not look favorably upon Lucy Alrn.
So, even when she heard that Lucy Alrn had come to the mansion, she refused to meet her.
She believed there could be no other reason for her sudden visit than to cause trouble.
The rumors were not wrong. Despite having developed her abilities like a member of the Alrn family, her personality remained the same.
The saintess seemed to be friendly with her for some reason, but that was thanks to the saintess's grace.
That idiot Prete’s nonsense made her momentarily wonder if it could be true.
Anyway, humans who worship the goddess of beauty and art. Does having a pretty face mean nothing else matters?
She was on her way to the Barrow family estate for work. Perhaps she should get into an accident and hurt her head along the way. After all, if she was already a mad pervert, then a head injury would normalize her.
“Lady!”
Isabel frowned at the sight of her secretary bursting into the room without permission.
“What is it?”
“There’s a commotion outside.”
“Is it the lady from the Alrn family?”
“Yes. That’s correct!”
Sigh. Seriously.
Does that brat Lucy Alrn know how burdensome it is to apologize while bowing her head to someone who could crush a mediocre army single-handedly, being a hero of the nation?
Seeing Isabel sigh, did her secretary realize something? He hastily added.
“The lady didn’t cause the problem first.”
“What?”
“The guards protecting the mansion attacked Lady Alrn.”
“...What?!”
Crazy. Crazy. Crazy. Crazy?!
Isabel threw down the pen she had been holding and hurriedly headed outside the mansion.
She didn’t care about noble decorum or anything else. If what her secretary said was true, this was a very serious matter.
If Lucy Alrn were to be injured... If Benedict Alrn were to become furious and point his sword at this side... That would be a disaster that sent chills down her spine just from the thought.
Please, let nothing happen.
Please!
“...What is this?”
After desperately rushing, Isabel finally arrived in front of the mansion, only to be frozen in place at the sight of the guards lying scattered.
It was true that they were weaker compared to proper knights. However, that was only regarding individual weakness.
Having consistently trained and learned to fight in groups, they were undoubtedly a formidable force. Isabel would never have entrusted them with guarding if they lacked even the minimum skill.
Yet, those who should have been strong were utterly defeated.
Not only were they defeated, but there were no casualties or even serious injuries among them, indicating that they had been shown mercy.
“Hey, zealot merchant lady. Aren’t you a bit too slow?”
The moment she heard that annoying, piercing voice in her ear, Isabel looked up and froze for a different reason than before.
“Get some exercise. Just sitting around makes your clothes scream for help.”
The one standing there was Lucy Alrn, but she was not the Lucy Alrn Isabel knew.
The past Lucy Alrn was merely a cocky, arrogant brat. While her appearance was beautiful, that was all. She had no value beyond that.
But what about now? Look at the divinity she was holding.
Look at that rare and powerful divine object!
Isabel, who had acquired many items related to the deity and learned how to assess their value, immediately realized Lucy’s worth the moment she met her gaze.
She was loved by the deity.
“Hey, zealot lady? Do you realize your face looks incredibly perverted? It’s kind of creepy, you know?”
Ah, so that’s why Prete said such things.
Now she understood.
There was a reason he praised her all day long!
“Hey?”
Isabel did not know what had happened in the past few years, but that was none of her business.
The important thing was that the person known as Lucy Alrn was shining with divine light more than any object.
“Are you not listening to me?”
As she swallowed hard, she regained her composure and wore a mask befitting a merchant over her face.
“I apologize, Lady Alrn. I should have knocked beforehand...”
And then she thought to herself.
She wanted to possess that shimmering object.
After Isabel's arrival, the situation was settled.
Once inside the reception room of the mansion, I found it impossible to hide my uneasy feelings.
I should have been pleased that things went better than I expected, but after seeing Isabel's indescribable gaze, I felt a chill run down my spine, making it impossible to feel joy.
That gaze was eerily reminiscent of the dumb fox's look when she had been staring at me dressed as a bunny girl.
Strange? Wasn’t she supposed to be a normal and intelligent person, except for her obsession with divine-related items?
Surely, there shouldn't have been any underlying story about her being a disgusting pedophile?!
<Girl, you said that she was obsessed with divine-related items, right?> ‘...Is that so?’ <As a saint of the deity, aren’t you the ideal object for her obsession? Isn’t it true? >
...Huh?
Huh?!
<Ha ha ha. Don’t be too surprised. There’s no way you’d have any means to discover you’re a saint of the deity. It must have been some sort of misunderstanding.>
The old man laughed it off, but I couldn’t relax my expression.
There’s no way she would have any means to discover that I’m a saint of the deity.
But she’s holding an artifact that can assess the value of divine power contained in people and objects.
That means she can feel the divine presence residing within me.
Not something that had degraded and deteriorated over time. I’m talking about the divine essence granted to me by the shabby deity half a year ago.
...Will it be okay?
No matter how obsessed Isabel was with divine-related items, there’s no way she’d abduct or confine me.
Yeah. It’s definitely just unnecessary worry.
After all, she’s someone I won’t have to deal with after receiving the slab.
Suddenly.
“Eek?!”
Perhaps because I was lost in various ominous thoughts.
I was startled by the sound of the door opening and cautiously turned my head.
“I’m sorry, Lady. I should have knocked in advance.”
Standing on the other side of the door was Isabel, wearing a soft smile.
...Whether it was my impression or not, that smile was truly chilling.