Hush Now, Saintess!

Chapter 59

Translator: Yonnee

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“A bet?”

Faced with my suggestion, Owen faltered.

But contrary to his initial reaction, a visible hint of anticipation lingered in his eyes.

As a former gambling addict, he must have gotten his heart pounding at the mere mention of the word ‘bet’.

I smiled and nodded.

“Yes. Let’s have a little bet on who finds the divine beast first.”

“A bet on finding the divine beast?”

Hmm.

He put off his answer by repeating what I said.

He seemed hesitant to make a bet with someone who’s not only a ducal lady, but also a saintess.

“Oh, are you not confident? You think that you’re going to lose to me? If that’s the case, well, you don’t have to.”

“Hah, no. I’m merely worried about you.”

Gotcha.

As soon as I provoked him, he got angry and took the bait. Hook, line and sinker.

As far as I knew, he had always been in charge of dealing with the pushovers at the gambling dens.

“So, what are the stakes?”

“Oh, I don’t know. How about this?”

“……?”

“Just as a saintess who’ll lose to a priest couldn’t ever be qualified as a saintess, isn’t it that a priest who’ll lose to an incompetent saintess also can’t be considered competent enough? So…”

Tak.

As I trailed off and did not finish my sentence, I snapped my fingers together.

“Whoever between us loses the bet will quit from their job. What do you think?”

“…Pardon me? Those are the stakes?”

Puzzled, Owen asked back. He looked completely taken aback.

“Yes. It sounds fun, doesn’t it? Ah, and.”

This time, I looked at the three noble ladies.

“Since we’ve got some spectators here, why don’t you each bet on us as well?”

“B-Bet?”

“What, b-bet?”

Stammering while they answered, the noble ladies’ faces turned red.

“Why? Are you scared?”

“…What?”

I smiled, pointing my finger towards Owen at just the right time.

“From what I overheard earlier, everyone seemed to be so sure that I’d be absolutely no help. Then you can just bet on him, right?”

Of course, you don’t have to do it if you’re so scared.

When I added the last part in a whisper, one of the heavily flushed noble ladies replied with a scoff.

“No. As a matter of fact, I think this will be a lot of fun. Let’s participate.”

“Wow. That’s great to hear. Then, Mary, Oliver and Gaston. Oh, and the apprentice priest over there.”

The apprentice I was referring to was the one who had defended me when Owen and the three ladies were very excitedly hurling insults behind my back.

He asked back with his eyes wide open.

“Huh? Me too?”

“Yes, the more the merrier. Don’t you think so, Helena?”

At my question, Helena’s eyes turned to me.

Crackle, crackle.

The invisible electric currents crackled between us once more.

In time, Helena smiled innocently and nodded.

“Alright. That sounds fun.”

“Right?”

It’s going to be very, very fun.

So, in no time…

“Then, I’ll bet on Reverend Owen.”

“Me, too. What about you, Helena? You’re going to bet on the reverend as well, right?”

Helena pretended to be conscious of me, looking alternately between me and the two other ladies.

“Umm, but… I’m the one who called you here, Sister… If I don’t bet on you, won’t you feel upset?”

“What do you mean, upset? I’m quite alright, Helena.”

“Truly?”

“Of course, of course. If you bet on me, you’ll be leaving out the other ladies, won’t you?”

“Is that so…”

“Yes, exactly so. Why don’t we do this instead?”

I then recommended that the three ladies would bet on Owen, and the apprentice priest and my entourage would bet on me.

“This means that there’ll be one more person on my side. So, don’t think that this Sister will be upset with you, Helena.”

Helena looked like she was conflicted for a moment, but she soon nodded.

“Alright then. But I’m still rooting for you, Sister. Don’t be discouraged even if I’m not betting on you.”

“Oh, how sweet of you. I’m grateful, Helena.”

With such pretentious words flowing between us both, the bets were soon settled.

I looked at the people around me and said,

“So, the bets should amount to 10 million shillings each, yes? No objections?”

When the larger than expected amount was announced, everyone’s expression grew stiff in an instant.

In particular, the people on my side were utterly frozen in shock.

“Well, even if you guys lose, I’ll cover for you.”

But even when I said I’d shoulder the losses, they still seemed worried.

Regardless, I clapped my hands once and announced the beginning of the wager.

“Let’s make sure that everyone here is a witness. We can’t base the decision only on one side’s word, right? Especially for your sake, Reverend.”

“Of course. I do hope that there won’t be any regrets.”

While saying so, Owen smiled gently at the noble ladies and turned around.

While he walked further and further away, his determination to win could somehow be seen burning fiercely.