"Just now… what did you say?"
Lute's voice trembled faintly.
It was the same voice he had used the first time he was freed from pain, thanks to the divine artifact.
"I said I'll look for a way to completely cure you. Honestly, keeping the sacred relic on you all the time is dangerous. If it gets lost or destroyed, the pain will come back."
"…"
"And you need to receive my blessing every month. But what if, for some reason, you can't?"
Lute's hand flinched slightly, as if the thought had already crossed his mind.
"That's why we need to cure the disease completely. You need to be truly free from pain."
"Is… a cure even possible? Is there really a way to heal it completely?"
Lute was trembling even more now than when he had first clung to the divine relic as his lifeline.
Well, it had only been recently that we found a way to suppress the pain at all.
His face, completely devoid of expectation that he could ever be cured, looked pitiful.
"I've been thinking about it ever since you left the temple. First, those black stains on your body—only I, the Sun God's saintess, can see them."
Compared to the last time she'd seen them, the black stains had clearly weakened.
But had their number decreased significantly? Not exactly.
It was more like they were being suppressed.
If he were to remove the relic, those stains would probably become active again immediately.
"And the pain that vanished completely the moment you put on the sacred object imbued with my blessing."
"…Ah."
"Maybe… with the Sun God's divine power—my power—I might be able to fully cure your illness."
Worried he might become overly dependent on her divine power, she quickly added:
"Of course, there's a chance it might not work. But given the current situation, it's our best shot."
In the original story, there was a moment where Idella wondered whether the disease could have been cured using the divine power of the Sun God.
At that time, however, Lute's body had already been far too corrupted to be saved.
But now?
As long as he continued to wear the sacred relic containing her blessing, the chance of him turning into a villain was extremely low.
This world had already diverged completely from the world of Holy Idella, so she believed that a full cure was now possible.
"I can't cure you immediately. If I could, I would've already healed you, secured your eternal gratitude, and milked every benefit from you."
If that were the case, she would've demanded a hundred billion as compensation—that's 100,000 gold. That would solve everything.
But if she asked for the money upfront and failed?
The consequences would be terrifying.
She didn't want to take that kind of gamble.
"To be honest, I'm pretty underpowered for a saintess. That's why I have to recharge my blessing every month."
Since things had come this far, she laid all her cards on the table.
Besides, Lute couldn't betray her anyway—he needed her blessings to live.
"Still, the reason I'm a saintess is because my divine power grows stronger over time."
Well, she added a bit of flair to that statement—but it wasn't a lie.
"It grows stronger?"
"Yes. Right now, I'm nowhere near the level of the Grand Saintess or Saint, but that's only temporary. One day, I'll definitely surpass them both."
In the original story, Idella did indeed surpass the Grand Saintess and Saint.
If she reached 100% divine power, she'd have strength no one could rival.
Of course, unless a hundred billion fell from the sky, that 100% would remain out of reach.
"But when that time comes, I'll definitely be able to cure your illness."
And if she failed, she could always ask Idella.
"Also, as my power grows, so will the strength of my blessings. Eventually, I'll be able to give you blessings that last two or three months instead of just one. You won't need to come to the temple as often."
"…"
Lute, who had been staring at her as if spellbound, suddenly frowned.
His face was full of discontent.
What now? Is it that he still doesn't believe me?
"…If you doubt me, there's nothing I can do. I can only explain it with words—I don't have any proof."
If he really couldn't trust her, they'd just have to go with a 70-30 split… 60-40 was not an option.
It would be a problem for both of them if they fell out now, so she mumbled, trying to propose a compromise.
Yeah—no point in killing the goose that lays golden eggs just to make a quick buck.
"…If I insist on 60-40, are you saying that even if you find a cure, you'll just leave me be?"
After a long silence, Lute asked.
…Did he really just ask that so bluntly?
I looked at Lute, then at the ceiling, then at the floor, shifting my gaze around for a long moment.
Then, finally, I clenched my fists tightly and practically spat the words out.
"…I wouldn't do that."
If Lute were already a hopeless villain beyond saving, I probably wouldn't have cared whether he lived or died—and I would've drained everything I could out of him without a second thought.
What I learned while working as a detective was that you don't need to give second chances to those who deliberately commit the worst crimes.
People like that tend to treat mercy as permission to commit more crimes.
But Lute now… is different.
In fact, it was thanks to the support he gave that everyone in the temple was able to enjoy a full meal for the first time in ages.
They rejoiced over being able to eat good food.
If you think about it, I'm not the only one saving him—he's also saving us. How could I just turn my back on him?
…Yeah. Trying to leverage his life to increase my share was going too far.
"It was wrong of me to use your treatment as a bargaining chip. I apologize."
Since it seemed likely we'd continue working as business partners, there was no benefit in souring our relationship. So I decided to back down.
"…Even though you're holding such a powerful weapon, Saintess, you don't seem interested in wielding it."
Lute muttered as he looked at me with an unreadable expression.
Why is he suddenly saying weird stuff again?
"Well, not all weapons are meant to be used. Something like this can't be used as a weapon, so I won't swing it around."
I mean, who in their right mind would use someone's life-saving treatment as a weapon?
When I gave him a baffled look, Lute let out a small laugh.
It looked like a mix of disbelief, amusement, and maybe a bit of irritation… or was it joy?
I couldn't read his emotions at all.
That just confirmed it—he wasn't just a character from a novel anymore, but a living, breathing person standing before me.
"…Understood. Then let's compromise—the terms will be 70-30. Also, here's a small advance payment I've prepared."
Lute pulled out a small pouch from his coat.
"My goodness. You really are the perfect business partner, Duke."
An advance payment? That hadn't even crossed my mind.
Not that I had any reason to refuse—I promptly took the pouch.
I wondered how much was inside.
[3,000 gold.]
"...."
I had been vaguely hoping for something like 1 million… but what I got was an incredible 3.3 million gold.
Wow. And to think I almost tried to bargain with his life.
Ugh, shame on me.
"…Even if I get my hands on a weapon, I'll be sure to quietly put it away. Thank you, Duke. I love you, Duke."
"Love me as much as you like. My generosity is just as good-looking as my face."
Well, who could argue with that? You're always right, Your Grace.
I snuggled my cheek against the pouch filled with 3,000 gold, grinning like an idiot, and Lute let out a quiet chuckle.
It was the happiest expression I'd seen on his face so far.
A few days later, the two alchemists Lute and Monica had respectively found arrived at the temple.
And it was… oddly fascinating.
When I faced the two alchemists in the reception room, I blinked in surprise.
One was a man with curly brown hair and bright orange eyes full of mischief.
The other had straight, jet-black hair and stubborn green eyes hidden behind glasses.
The former had been scouted by Monica, and the latter by Lute. Their images were so drastically different, it made me wonder if they'd coordinated on purpose.
"First, can you each tell me your names?"
At my question, the curly-haired man responded immediately, as if he'd been waiting for it.
"Jenrik Luang. Twenty-nine years old. A self-proclaimed genius alchemist! When it comes to creativity—the essence of alchemy—I'm your guy!"
…He certainly looked confident. Whether he was an actual genius or a self-declared one, we'd have to wait and see.
"Creativity?"
"Yes! Whether it's condensing commonly used recipes or discovering new alchemical formulas that didn't exist before—those are my specialties!"
So, in other words, he's good at applying and adapting formulas.
If that's true, he's definitely someone Monica would have scouted.
Our goal is to develop a new potion that combines divine power and alchemy.
Next was the black-haired man's turn.
"Wolfgang Schmidt. I specialize in designing alchemical formulas. I became interested after hearing you were attempting to create a potion that combines divine power with alchemy."
Oh—so Wolfgang specializes in formulating, and Jenrik is skilled at applying those formulas.
How did they manage to find two people whose strengths and appearances were so perfectly opposite?
If we play this right, the synergy between them could be phenomenal—I was already getting excited just thinking about it.