I Level Up With In-app Purchases

I Raise With In-app Purchases – 37

EP.37 Violence Increases Persuasiveness (2)

I placed the sacred relic in Fran’s outstretched hands. Her trembling grew more intense, as if she was revving up. I thought giving her the unique equipment would calm her down, but I had miscalculated.

“Shall I put it around your neck?”

“Is it really okay for me to use this? Do I deserve it?”

“If not you, then who else would use it? I don’t think there’s anyone more deserving than you.”

“But I’m such an inadequate person…”

Her low self-esteem had always been a problematic issue. Not that I had any grand plans to fix her problematic personality. However, seeing Fran, who should have turned completely dark after being stabbed, not fully becoming the ‘Madwoman’ evoked a fresh sense of wonder.

‘In the scenario, that’s when her new illustrated appearance starts to show.’

The darkened Madwoman’s illustration depicted her in a black nun’s habit, eyes closed in prayer. With heavy eyeliner and red lips, she looked nothing like a saint.

‘And the daring exposure…’

Though it was a nun’s habit, it was heavily modified. Her pale thighs and cleavage were so exposed that it was questionable whether it was a nun’s habit at all. Male players loved the illustration, praising the seductive depiction of Fran.

‘And I’m no different.’

Her thighs were quite…

Was it because I was thinking about the illustration? My gaze had unconsciously drifted to her thighs. Fran shyly twisted her legs.

“Not yet… it’s not okay.”

– Gulp. –

I had no idea what she meant by “not okay,” damn it. This seductive creature should be grateful she was a minor. I took a deep breath, thinking that saying nothing would help me maintain my patience.

“So, do you think you can use that to dethrone the church leader and become the leader of the church yourself?”

“I’ve received such overwhelming grace, I can’t afford to disappoint you. I’ll definitely do it.”

“The church leader will use the noble followers to deal with you. It would be best to show your power and persuade them in advance.”

The best way to deal with an awakened individual was to use another awakened individual. The church leader knew this, so he would be persuading the nobles who made substantial donations. He would pin his own crimes on Fran and whisper lies into the nobles’ ears. One might wonder why nobles would fall for a church.

‘In fact, nobles are often so sheltered that they are easily deceived by such things.’

Most nobles spend their twenties to thirties on the battlefield. Although I haven’t been to the contaminated zones myself, they are said to be so harsh that even awakened individuals struggle to survive there.

‘When the mind and body are exhausted, people often turn to gods.’

In that sense, the church leader’s smooth tongue, offering comforting words, would have been enough to provide solace. Consequently, the church had a surprisingly large number of noble followers. Of course, they knew the church was a sham, so they didn’t participate publicly. The church treated them specially, providing private prayer rooms, so it was unknown which nobles were followers.

“As a saintess, you know who the followers are, don’t you?”

“Yes, that’s right. They liked to confess to me. They often said that confessing to me made them feel refreshed and at peace.”

Confessing to a saintess. It must have been very appealing to nobles who enjoyed being treated with reverence. Although she was currently a saintess of a church, Fran was genuinely chosen by the gods. It wasn’t just a feeling, confessing to her genuinely made people feel refreshed and peaceful.

If her birth circumstances hadn’t been so twisted, she would have been living a respected life at the academy by now.

‘Her life turned out so differently just because of whose womb she was born from…’

Of course, I’m not in a position to pity her. It’s like an unemployed person worrying about a celebrity. Still, it’s strange not to feel sympathy for a child who should have grown up well but ended up getting stabbed in the stomach.

“Go to those nobles and show them your abilities. They’ll probably side with you over the church leader.”

Nobles would recognize Fran’s abilities and understand who was more valuable. Naturally, they would lean towards her, an awakened individual with powerful healing abilities, rather than a powerless commoner as the church leader. From the church leader’s perspective, it would feel like a bolt from the blue.

‘He’ll feel betrayed. He never imagined his position could be shaken by just a few words from Fran.’

Commoners could never understand the ecosystem of the nobles, no matter how hard they tried. The church leader would think the nobles had ‘betrayed’ him. But from the nobles’ perspective, they were simply choosing the better option. With Fran being an awakened individual and far more competent than the church leader, there was no reason for the nobles to side with the church leader over Fran. I was confident in that.

====

***

====

“I’ve been betrayed. The seemingly docile cat had hidden its claws.”

After losing Fran due to an unexpected ambush, the church leader hurriedly tried to stabilize the church and swiftly met with the nobles. It was the first time the church had been so thoroughly overturned, making it difficult to maintain the facade of a benevolent leader in front of the followers.

‘Should I have stabbed her heart for sure back then? I shouldn’t have hesitated… Showing mercy has caused this trouble.’

He was excessively flustered because it was an unplanned event. He hadn’t anticipated that Fran would flee to a place outside the church. Fran had been a child he had carefully watched over since she was young. Yet, the obedient child had caused a major incident. He hadn’t been able to sleep for days due to the betrayal.

“The saintess did such a thing? I can’t believe it.”

“I’d like to think she just went astray for a moment, but she caused such a big incident and left. I’m worried if we can bring her back to the church. The followers are extremely agitated. They’re all terrified.”

He couldn’t understand why she had rebelled. Where did things go wrong? If she had issues with the sisters proselytizing through prostitution, she should have come to him.

‘I raised her with such care. How could she defile herself with a vagrant from the dirty streets? This is why you shouldn’t take in street urchins.’

Perhaps he should have hidden her within the church instead of sending her to the academy. Someone at the academy must have seduced her. What did they tell her? What kind of temptation led Fran to betray him?

‘From now on, I must never trust anyone. Showing mercy only brings betrayal.’

He had been certain that Fran would never betray him. He never saw this betrayal coming.

“So, what happens now?”

The noble, unable to grasp the situation, asked irritably. But as the church leader, he couldn’t afford to act emotionally. He needed this noble’s power to reclaim Fran.

“Unfortunately, the planned blessing cannot proceed.”

“Tsk! I trusted you with this, and you disappoint me like this… I didn’t know you were so irresponsible.”

The planned blessing. We referred to taking Fran’s virginity as a ‘blessing.’ We intended to invite many nobles, have them receive health blessings from Fran, and give the one who donated the most the opportunity to take her virginity.

The rest of the attendees would have to be satisfied with receiving a handkerchief stained with her virgin blood. Despite this, many nobles were eager to attend and brought money with them.

“I am deeply ashamed. They say you can know the depths of water but not the depths of a person’s heart. I overlooked that and trusted the child too deeply, which led to this situation.”

Fran’s blessing, which should have been sold at a high price, was stolen. Just thinking about it brought tears to his eyes. Being highly emotional, he found it hard to contain his sorrow.

“I will endure this trial, believing it to be a test from above.”

“The years I’ve endured, hoping for a great blessing, have been so long. I would like to end this meeting now. I will contact you later.”

The noble who had donated the most for Fran’s blessing couldn’t hide his disappointment and eventually refused to meet any longer, dismissing him. Fran, defiled by a vagrant, no longer met their aesthetic standards.

“Damn it, how picky!”

In the carriage back to the church, the lost donations haunted him.

“Even if she’s no longer a virgin, she still has some value, but they won’t even look at her?”

He felt a surge of defiance. There were still nobles among the followers who might be interested in what was left. Fran, whom he had raised with such care, couldn’t be seen as worthless just because she lost her virginity.

“I have to persuade them somehow.”

After several visits to noble houses, he finally secured the support of a noble willing to help. Despite losing the opportunity for the blessing, Fran’s appearance was still appealing enough to attract interest.

‘Once I recapture her, I’ll confine her to the church.’

He shouldn’t have sent her to the academy. Once he recaptured her, he planned to confine her in the church and declare her dead to the academy. He thought he could handle the situation with some money, as it wasn’t unheard of for students to die during training. With the right paperwork, it could be covered up.

“Sigh~ I’m exhausted.”

“Church Leader, you’re back.”

“Yes. Nothing unusual today?”

“No, nothing unusual.”

He bestowed a benevolent smile upon the followers and entered his room. Dealing with nobles was much more exhausting than dealing with other followers. He longed to lie down and relieve his fatigue.

– Srrrk— Srrk. –

He didn’t notice the shadow moving in the darkness.