Because the odds were the highest ever, people kept asking who the winner was.
Originally, there were only three winners in this horse race.
Any adult citizen of the Empire can participate in horse racing, but since each person is only allowed to bet on exactly one horse, one has no choice but to be cautious.
After all, no one wants to lose money.
And at the end of that caution, no one expected Bisan to win.
Just three people. It was Gisu, who was with Bisan, and his family.
Originally, they should have all taken the prize money, but this time the number of first-place winners increased to ten.
And even though there were ten people, the average prize money per person was a whopping 520 million.
As it was a national festival, the amount of money exchanged was substantial, but this horse race was also exceptional.
Anyway, thanks to that, the High Priest probably made quite a fortune.
Because at least five out of those ten people likely put the money in disguised as the High Priest.
'Still, it was unexpected that he came all the way down to the Duchy.'
In fact, she had no intention of coming down to the duchy this quickly, so she was planning to send someone later.
"Roselyn, your fever has gone down a lot. Your swollen eyes are fine too; it looks like you overexerted yourself."
"Yes."
"Take your medicine for now and get some more sleep."
Roselyn frowned at Cherty's words.
"I've been taking medicine and sleeping for three days straight since coming here, and you're telling me to sleep again? I can't sleep now."
"You slept after taking the medicine, didn't you?"
Roselyn frowned.
"Feeling sleepy means your body hasn't recovered yet."
"Father."
"..."
"Dad."
"Yes."
Roselyn smiled.
"Anyone who is prescribed medication containing sleeping pills falls asleep."
"..."
Cherty Bellion, who had been assaulted by the truth, quietly averted his gaze.
"Anyway, I don't want to sleep anymore. Please call that person so I can talk to the High Priest."
"..."
Cherti
Y Bellion stared at Rosyn for a moment, then let out a small sigh and nodded.
"Visiting hours are only 30 minutes."
Cherty Bellion took out his pocket watch to check the time, looking displeased, and spoke as if he were doing a favor.
"Yes?"
"Typically, the patient's visiting hours are determined by the guardian or the attending physician."
What on earth am I supposed to talk about for 30 minutes?
Roselyn frowned.
“One hour.”
“...35 minutes”
“One hour.”
"4..."
"Father."
Cherty Bellion frowned at his daughter's harsh call that cut him off.
"If you keep acting so narrow-minded, I won't call you Dad either."
At Roselyn's threat, which was beyond cute and absurd, Cherty Bellion fell silent for a moment, as if speechless.
He let out a hollow laugh.
"...Rosyn, do I look like someone who would back down over something like that?"
"..."
"It’s exactly one hour. You promise not to get out of bed in this room."
She backed off.
Roselyn straightened up, leaned against the headboard of the bed, and nodded.
“I will.”
“Wait.”
Not long after Cherty left, the door opened, and the benevolent High Priest slowly walked into the room wearing pure white clothes.
Thump, the door closed.
At the same time, the High Priest rushed over with sparkling eyes, knelt at Roselyn's feet, and smiled broadly.
"Master! How can your subordinate help you?"
Roselyn looked down at the High Priest with a sour expression.
The dark circles that seemed to extend down to his cheekbones were gone, and he looked plump and radiant.
Even the fabric of the clothes looked slightly different, so it was clear that he had picked out new items in the meantime.
Roselyn opened her mouth, thinking that the pure white priest's robes were also available in a wide variety of materials.
"I didn't expect to come this far."
"Hey, no matter where the master is, this subordinate must rush to you! How dare I make you wait while the master is right here!"
The High Priest snapped his fingers.
Something translucent and like a small circle appeared from the air and poured gold bars onto the bed she was sitting on.
"Here is double the amount you lent me!"
"There was no need to pay interest."
Roselyn spoke dryly as she looked at the mountain of gold bars piled on the bed under the blanket.
"Oh, it is information you provided me, Master. How could I possibly do that again? Of course, it is a fair price."
The High Priest grinned upward, unable to hide his splitting lips, and spoke quickly.
"It seems like the person has changed."
"Thanks to you, we finally renovated the High Priest's residence this time! We also repaired various parts of the temple... and fully stocked it with the supplies the priests begged us to provide."
He knelt on the bed, rubbing his cheek against the gold bars he had poured, and spoke ecstatically.
"And I bought a whole bunch of new items from the boutique I'd been eyeing, and I've just commissioned some new clothes as well."
There is probably no man who fits the word snobbish as well as this man.
Roselyn nodded with a look that seemed to say, "What is so good about this?"
"And I'm even considering buying a casual outfit at the Fluer boutique."
“Good.”
The High Priest let out a laugh.
"It's heavy, so move this away."
"Oh, I wouldn't mind dying crushed by gold bars..."
"..."
"I will clean it up, Master."
Smiling sweetly with a benevolent expression, as if he would forgive everyone in the world, the High Priest quickly flicked his finger and built a tower of gold bars next to the bed.
'So that's how you can use a defensive Abyss.'
As Roselyn looked at it without hiding her curious gaze, the High Priest smiled and spoke.
"Are you curious what this is? If you're curious, come up 5 million!"
"Not really."
Roselyn answered coldly.
The High Priest paused, scratched the back of his head, and plopped down on the bed where Roselyn was sitting.
"Can't you be curious?"
At the voice asking with a charming smile, Roselyn glanced out the window and opened her mouth.
"More importantly, why did you come all the way here? I don't think it was really necessary to come."
The High Priest lowered his head at Roselyn, who spoke only what she wanted to say in a way that was not just cold but heartless.
The High Priest snapped his fingers.
"This isn't the Abyss I received through Lord Nerva's grace; it's my own Abyss. Shield."
“Uh, I know.”
“...You know?”
"Right. I also know that the Abyss you possess is the strongest defensive Abyss in existence."
Roselyn spoke calmly.
"The fact that you form a small shield like that, then adjust the light transmittance like a chameleon to make it invisible, and then use it like a subspace..."
The High Priest's eyes widened slightly at Roselyn's words, which showed she knew more details than expected rather than just guessing.
"And that the source of that Abyss is your life force."
And at the words that followed, the High Priest's expression hardened.
Watching that, Roselyn opened her mouth again.
"Let me change the question. Did you happen to visit this area to deal with monsters?"
At Roselyn's question, the High Priest narrowed his eyes, then relaxed his stiff, rigid expression and curled the corners of his mouth.
He opened his mouth with a sly smile.
"May I ask how you know information that I haven't even uttered a word about?"
"You don't need to know. Our deal would have been made the moment you accepted my help."
Roselyn firmly cut her off, but the High Priest looked at Roselyn without a word.
His eyes widened slightly after staring at her for quite a while.
"...Ah. I really didn't know you were a pilgrim."
He pressed his palm firmly against his eyes once as if he had discovered something, then lowered his hand again and looked at Roselyn.
"Pilgrim?"
"So, Princess, you used the power of the devil to jump across worldlines."
High Priest Irbon let out a low gasp as if he had read something from Roselyn after a long while and spoke.
Demonic power?
Ah. Are you talking about the demon that made a deal with Garen Wilbreed?
"I never imagined I would find traces of Basin here."
"Basin...? What is that?"
At Roselyn's question, the High Priest rose from the edge of the bed, plopped down on a chair, and spoke.
"It is a fallen demon."
"...That’s a strange way to put it. Demons are inherently fallen beings. Why do you say they are fallen?"
"Basin is one of the strongest demons, but he is famous for being an eccentric."
Roselyn tilted her head slightly at the High Priest's explanation. As if noticing her bewilderment, the High Priest fortunately continued speaking.
"According to records, Basin is said to be a demon famous for being cruel, ruthless, and elusive, yet ironically, he sometimes grants human requests without expecting anything in return and frequently hunts other demons."
He stretched out his index finger and explained leisurely while moving it in a circular motion.
"But the most unique thing is this Basin's ability."
"Ability...?"
“Are you curious?”
"Yes."
At Roselyn's words, the High Priest spoke with a mischievous grin.
"If you're curious, give me 5 million."
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