Chapter 8.4 - .

The Coming of the Storm
— Another Person’s Perspective

At that time, a storm was raging inside the temple.

“So this day has finally come.”

Guido dragged his heavy feet toward the High Priest’s office. More than two weeks had passed since Angelina disappeared, and today, by royal order, inspectors were being sent to the temple. One of those inspectors had requested to question Guido directly.

He had submitted the report exactly as the High Priest instructed and prayed sincerely to the gods that Angelina would be found. However, his prayers went unanswered, and her whereabouts remained unknown. Despite her striking appearance, he had never imagined that simply taking his eyes off her for half a day would result in her trail being completely lost.

Still, it should be fine. There should be no problem with how he handled things. Mustering his courage, Guido knocked on the door to the High Priest’s office. When he received permission and opened the door, he quietly fell into despair. The looks directed at him were anything but friendly.

“Priest Guido, these two here are inspectors appointed by the state. Answer their questions honestly and without concealment.”

“Yes, sir.”

Of the two inspectors, the older man introduced himself as Raimond, and the younger as Tonio. First, Inspector Tonio held out a document—Angelina’s schedule—that Guido had submitted. Since he had provided records covering the past three years, this must have been one of those pages.

“Priest Guido, is it correct that you were responsible for managing Saint Angelina’s daily schedule?”

“Yes, that is correct.”

“How did you put it together?”

“Each day had assigned duties, which I entered into the schedule in advance. If there were requests not originally scheduled, as long as they were made by the day before and there was an open slot, I assigned them as well. For tasks with fixed dates, such as helping with festivals, I entered those ahead of time. Once the schedule was complete, I handed it to her personally and distributed copies to each department.”

Inspector Tonio nodded. Of course—there should have been nothing wrong with the procedure. Guido had been extremely careful to avoid omissions or mistakes.

“Then let me ask you again. How long does it actually take to clean the chapel?”

“Huh?”

“How long does it take to wash the clothing of all the saints and priests living in the temple?”

“W-well, that is…”

“Can’t answer? Then how about peeling the potatoes used for dinner in the kitchen?”

“L-let’s see… about thirty minutes, I suppose?”

“Oh? So you can peel two hundred potatoes by yourself in thirty minutes? That’s impressive skill. Perhaps you should become a cook—you’d earn more that way.”

“Two hundred?!”

“Oh, no need to be surprised. That was the number Saint Angelina actually peeled. On festival days, it seems she peeled four hundred. Four cloth sacks, each containing one hundred potatoes.”

Guido went pale. Potatoes were used frequently in temple meals, which was why the head cook had strongly requested that Angelina be sent as a peeling helper. He had never imagined the quantity was that large.

“According to rough calculations, it takes about an hour and a half to peel two hundred potatoes. Furthermore, when we confirmed with staff at the royal castle, cleaning a banquet hall the same size as the chapel takes two hours, and washing and hanging all the laundry for the castle’s civil officials and servants takes about three hours—even when all the maids start working from early morning. Of course, the temple’s workload is smaller, but if one person were to do everything alone, it would still take roughly the same amount of time.”

“…A-alone?”

“Yes. You didn’t know? The cooks and maids left all the work entirely to Saint Angelina. They used their free time for other tasks. The chapel cleaning was apparently helped by priests, but even then, witnesses say it never finished within the time allocated on the schedule.”

That couldn’t be true. That Angelina had done all of that alone—he had never been consulted, nor had he heard anything like that from anyone.

“Now then, here is the main issue. Please take another look at the schedule you created, Priest Guido.”

As he reviewed it again, Guido immediately understood what they were getting at.

“Every task is divided into one-hour blocks. Laundry, cleaning, peeling potatoes—one hour each. In addition, you scheduled shopping trips and helping other saints, but every single one of them is one hour. So let me ask you, Priest Guido: what was your basis for assigning all of these tasks a uniform one-hour duration?”

There was no basis. He had never done any of those tasks himself.

“I thought… that would be enough time…”

“So you assigned times purely based on imagination, without considering the actual workload.”

“But if the task couldn’t be finished, I assumed she would say she had another appointment and leave midway.”

“How could she leave midway when she was the only one there?”

Guido was at a loss for words. Then Inspector Raimond, who had been silently listening, spoke with a stern expression.

“When the previous task didn’t finish and she arrived late for the next one, do you remember what Saint Angelina said was the reason?”

“She said it was because she couldn’t finish the work within the allotted time.”

“And what did you say to her in response?”

Guido remembered. Ah—what had he done?

“……”

“What’s wrong?”

“I said… that not finishing within the time meant she was useless, and that being late to deadlines was proof of incompetence.”

“Then how do you think the person who requested the task felt when it wasn’t finished by the scheduled time?”

“They would think she was slacking off… and probably said so.”

“And how do you think the person who wanted to assign the next task felt when Saint Angelina arrived later than the time written on the schedule?”

“They may have scolded her, calling her useless!”

His last words came out almost like a scream. Guido realized that part of the responsibility for turning Saint Angelina into someone labeled incompetent, useless, and lazy lay with him. The High Priest let out a deep, exasperated sigh.

“It’s become very clear that Priest Guido had not the slightest interest in Saint Angelina.”

People often say that the opposite of love is indifference. In Guido’s case, even knowing how demanding the work was might not have changed his behavior—that was how the High Priest perceived it.

“I’ve heard that Priest Guido disliked Saint Angelina, claiming she wasn’t ‘saint-like.’ People have compatibility issues, and I never told you to like her. I only instructed you to manage and monitor her schedule. And yet even that management was careless and sloppy. Choosing the worst possible person for her was partly my responsibility as well.”

“I sincerely apologize!”

“I’m sorry to interrupt while things are heated, but this is not a place for apologies. This is a place to uncover the truth.”

The darkness surrounding Saint Angelina ran far deeper. Inspector Raimond cut in calmly.

“What we want from the two of you is not words of apology.”

“…Is there still more?”

“You were, of course, aware that Saint Angelina was not receiving her state stipend, correct?”