WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Potter
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◈ The Protagonist of a Romance Fantasy Only Likes Me ◈
Chapter 17: Saintess Marigold. (1)
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0.
“Karma.”
Lancel wondered what Karma had meant to his older sister, who made the game. What could she have been thinking when she put in something this shitty? Why had she suddenly taken an innocent person’s sight?
‘...Like she put any thought into it. She probably just threw it in.’
He could be certain.
His sister’s game design method was to cram in everything she wanted first. Whenever he asked about something that bothered him, it was commonplace for her to reply, “Was that in there?” She usually seemed not to know herself.
Of course, Lancel had never given the Karma stat much thought either. Even when he had test-played the game, he had only glanced over it. He had simply sensed that it would be bad if it built up.
Because he had never done anything that would make it build up.
But Marigold had.
She had done it.
She had accumulated the terrifying total of 200 Karma, something most people would struggle to gain even a little of, and lost the sight in both her eyes in return.
“Life really has it in for you, Marigold.”
With a deep sigh, Lancel made inquiries. The master of a Thieves’ Guild known in the imperial capital came to see him.
“So you want us to find a blind girl? Her name is Mary?”
“I’m certain she’s somewhere in the imperial capital. I’ll pay the reward in advance.”
“As expected of a generous young master. We’ll grab her and deliver her nicely packaged within three days.”
“Just find out where she is.”
“Ah, yes.”
Despite its confidence, the Thieves’ Guild could not find Marigold. Their excuse was that they could not find her no matter how thoroughly they searched.
Lancel began to worry.
‘Could she have met another violent death somewhere?’
Then, as he wandered through the marketplace out of frustration...
“Just one coin, please!”
He found fifteen-year-old Marigold.
1.
“Just one coin, please! Just one... Huh?”
Clink. Something fell with a cheerful sound, and Marigold froze.
After feeling around on the ground for a while, she grasped the round metal object and bowed deeply.
“May God bless you!”
“...”
Lancel pressed his throbbing head with one hand.
He had not seen wrong.
It was Marigold.
Her face was hidden beneath the deeply drawn hood of the Church of Salvation.
But that blind beggar, turning the gleaming golden object over in her hands as she tried to judge the coin’s value...
Yes.
It was definitely Marigold.
“A silver coin...? No, you couldn’t have given something so valuable. But I’ve never felt this pattern before. What is it? Pina, could this possibly be a silver coin?”
Lancel silently watched her. Before long, she let out a scream loud enough to echo through the whole alley.
“G-g-gold... Gold...!”
“It’s a gold coin. Yes, a gold coin.”
“W-What?”
Lancel stepped closer to the flustered Marigold.
“An Imperial gold coin from the Empire. Never seen one before?”
“G-Gold? Such a large sum is a little difficult for us to accept... Of course, if you’re giving it to us, we’re very grateful, and we do need it...!”
Us?
Lancel looked again at the emblem embroidered on Marigold’s hood.
The Church of Salvation. It was a relatively small and impoverished religious order.
He had thought she had simply picked up whatever clothes she could find, but perhaps that was not the case.
“Think of it as alms. I want to receive a little blessing from your god too.”
Marigold was silent for a moment with a blank expression.
“Do I know you?”
“No. This is our first meeting.”
He lowered himself until he was at eye level with Marigold, who sat on the ground.
Her clear emerald eyes had become cloudy silver.
“When did you lose your sight?”
“What? Why are you suddenly asking...?”
“Should I take the gold coin back?”
“Ten! Since I was ten!”
Ten.
That was when the game began.
Since she was fifteen now, she had been blind for exactly five years.
‘This game is really fucking terrible.’
It was hard to suppress the fury boiling inside him.
“I was just curious. I’m leaving now.”
“Wait!”
A small hand hurriedly caught his collar.
“Tell me your name. This is the first time I’ve received so much money, so... a prayer! I’ll pray for you!”
“A prayer?”
“Yes!”
Marigold’s face brightened.
“I pray twice a day. Usually, I pray to see again, but this time, I’ll offer a special prayer for my patron. How does that sound?”
Lancel let out a small laugh at the way she acted as though she were offering him something extraordinary.
“Lancel.”
The bustling noise of the street sounded far away.
In an alley set apart from the lantern-lit street, beside the foul-smelling sewers and between stone walls where a rat scurried busily, the blind woman of the Church of Salvation sat on a white cloth facing Lancel.
“Lancel Dante. That’s my name.”
“Lancel Dante... Yes.”
Marigold’s expression suggested she had remembered something.
Come to think of it, Lancel remembered that she had retained fragments of previous Iterations.
Perhaps his name was familiar to her as well.
“Sir Lancel Dante, I will pray for you. Thank you for giving me this precious gold coin. I am grateful for today’s meeting, which God has guided.”
The gold coin gleamed in her clasped hands like a sacred object.
Lancel turned away after watching her for a moment.
‘I need to figure out how to deal with that damned Karma first.’
Every time he saw blind Marigold, anger rose in him. He did not know why. It simply bothered him.
2.
============
[Fallen Noble Lady Simulation]
Creating a schedule for the second week of June.
Mon: Begging on the street.
Tue: Cleaning and laundry at the temple.
Wed: Begging on the street.
Thu: Begging on the street.
Fri: Begging on the street.
Sat: Reciting prayers at the temple.
Sun: Recruiting regular patrons.
※ Begging is difficult, but it helps the temple.
============
Lancel observed Marigold’s week from nearby.
“Receive grace for one copper coin. Give up one meal and receive God’s grace.”
Marigold sat in a busy place at the same time, dressed the same way, and continued begging.
“What do you think?”
“Someone could carry her off, and she’d never know.”
Lancel shot them a sideways look. The startled master of the Thieves’ Guild hurriedly changed their words.
“I only mean it as a figure of speech. You’re frightening, Sir Lancel.”
“I heard the Thieves’ Guild has plenty of criminals who make kidnapping their profession.”
“Oh, dear. You mustn’t confuse us with that sort of rabble. Besides, if they have no parents, it’s hard to get a ransom...”
Lancel let their continuing excuses go in one ear and out the other.
He had several guards assigned around Marigold. He did not want to see her meet another violent death somewhere for no reason.
“Receive salvation for one copper coin.”
Karma. What did he need to do to lower it?
Over the last few months he had watched Marigold, he had seen no sign whatsoever that her Karma had decreased. All he saw was Marigold endlessly begging.
‘Should I give her some money?’
She did make her living mainly by begging.
If she had enough money, surely there would be more she could do.
His deliberation was brief.
Might as well try it.
“I do not usually ask about my client’s intentions, but why exactly are you requesting this...?”
“Just do as I say.”
“Understood!”
Before long, the Thieves’ Guild carried out Lancel’s request.
“Receive grace for one copper coin. For one copper coin... Huh?”
Marigold seemed to sense something strange. Copper and silver coins suddenly began to fall around her.
“Th-Thank you. No, you need to receive a prayer before you go. Ah, thank you again! Huh? A silver coin? This? If it’s a silver coin, you absolutely must receive a prayer!”
Marigold fumbled as she gathered the fallen coins.
“Move. Th-this is my spot.”
“Ah!”
A beggar of unknown origin shoved Marigold aside. Lancel’s gaze turned cold.
“Get rid of them.”
“Yes, sir.”
“W-Who are you? Why are you... Aaargh!”
The two men loitering nearby immediately approached and chased the beggar far away.
Only Marigold remained in her place, wearing a blank expression because she did not know what had happened.
.
.
.
============
Marigold realizes she has a talent for fundraising.
============
‘Huh?’
Around then, Lancel sensed that something was strange. Marigold, who had always begged while sitting in the same place, gradually began to change.
“Ahem.”
After steadying her breath, Marigold took out something weighty. It was a three-stringed instrument.
“The grace of salvation will come, light and grace, ah, light and grace, ah!”
Lancel covered his face. What was this supposed to be?
“Receive grace for one copper coin! Ah, light and grace!”
At first, Marigold had done it alone.
Later, several people dressed in similar clothing came and began performing in time with her.
“Ah! Light!”
“Oh, day when light will come!”
They performed music Lancel had never heard before, but it was enough to draw people’s attention.
Eventually, people even came from far away just to see the spectacle.
‘A troupe of clowns?’
Before he knew it, the Church of Salvation in the imperial capital had become a master of begging.
And so, ten years passed.
.
.
.
[Play Time: 10 years, 0 days]
Marigold has turned 25.
There is no marriage partner.
There are no achievements.
[Normal Ending 85. Street Celebrity Marigold]
This ending has been added to the “Album of Memories.”
Opening album.
.
.
.
One coin.
One prayer.
One coin.
One song.
Today, too, Marigold goes out into the streets in search of the person who appears in her dreams.
[Normal Ending. Street Celebrity Marigold - fin]
Would you like to start the game again?
.
.
.
“No, this isn’t it.”
He had decided to watch and see, but he had not expected this.
She was just a somewhat talented beggar now.
============
Permanent Damage: Marigold has lost the sight in both eyes.
※ Marigold’s Karma has reached 200.
※ Until her Karma is resolved, permanent damage will occur every Iteration.
============
‘I wanted to see her Karma go down.’
How could he erase all her Karma and make sure he never saw that damned message again?
Lancel found the answer fairly close by.
When he visited the Church of Salvation himself under the pretense of becoming a regular patron, a member of its clergy offered to guide him personally.
“The doctrine of the Church of Salvation is to spread this religion as widely as possible. We will build temples across every corner of the continent, gather many donations, and attain wealth and prosperity.”
“...I did not realize the Church of Salvation was such a secular religion. Wouldn’t that make you merchants rather than believers?”
“The Church of Salvation does not save people through hollow faith. Gold and silver. Barley and honey. Wheat and olives. Oil and milk. We believe that only these are God’s blessings, and that they truly save humanity.”
Damn it.
No wonder Marigold had become obsessed with money when it did not suit her. These bastards were the cause.
‘Now I understand why they’re impoverished.’
They certainly were practical. But people did not want that kind of religion. They wanted religion to be more sublime and grand.
This did not seem right. Lancel resolved to get Marigold out of this sham heretical cult as soon as he had the chance.
“And when the temples of the Church of Salvation have spread into every corner of this vast land, only then will we finally escape the Karma bestowed by God.”
Karma.
For the first time, Lancel heard that word spoken by someone else.
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