This Wasn’t an Erotic Game?

Chapter 14
I’ll Buy This Garbage Land
『 Translator – Divinity 』

I re-entered the slums with a long line of people trailing behind me.

I figured the most useless and trashy land in the capital would likely be found in the slums.

As soon as I stepped into the slums, a huge crowd began to follow me.

“Saint!! Saint! Heal us!!”

“Bestow your grace upon us, Saint!!”

There were so many people following me. Wouldn’t I get arrested by the police for leading an illegal gathering?

Damn it.

I quickly looked around the slums and found the trashiest, most useless-looking land I could hope for.

Dilapidated buildings on the verge of collapse and an eerie, abandoned factory.

A gloomy place where no one would want to set foot even if you paid them, filled with scattered industrial waste and garbage.

It looked like the kind of place where junkies would be snorting white powder in some corner.

I don’t know anything about feng shui, but living here?

It felt like I would create my own path to ruin and misfortune, even if I didn’t have one before.

Absolutely perfect!!

If I caused a huge loss to the Lilia Church, they would curse me out and leave!!

As I tried to enter the abandoned factory area with a large crowd behind me, a man who appeared to be a security guard approached me.

“You can’t go any further! This is the property of the Karma family!”

The old guard seemed to have poor eyesight, as he didn’t recognize me.

I slowly approached him and placed my hand on his head.

[Casting skill Body Modification!]

I restored the old man’s eyesight and healed his arthritis. Only then did he recognize me and freeze.

“Can you see now?”

“Y-Yes, I can! I can see! Saint!!”

“Go and bring the owner of this land.”

“Y-Yes sir!! Right away!!”

The guard, with surprising agility for his age, quickly ran off somewhere and soon reappeared with an elderly, middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man looked exactly like…

Scrooge.

A gruff and hardened middle-aged man who looked like gold coins would spill out instead of blood if you stabbed him.

He approached me with a skeptical expression, alongside the guard.

“I’m the owner of this factory. You wanted to see me?”

“That’s correct.”

“What’s your business? If you’re asking me to let those beggars in, I’ll have to refuse.”

I shook my head at his words.

“Give me this factory site. I will pay a fair price.”

At my words, the factory owner burst into laughter.

“Alright, I’ll admit it. You must have heard the rumors, right? I built a doll factory here, but it didn’t go well. But even so, this factory site is huge. Do you even have the capital to buy it all?”

I shook my head.

No.

All the money I had was what I earned working part-time at the restaurant.

Even if I combined it all, would it be enough to buy this factory site?

“The Lilia Church will purchase it.”

Of course, the Church should pay.

The Lilia Church was one of the major religious sects in the Empire, without a doubt.

No matter how expensive it was, they would have more than enough to pay for it.

I looked at the High Priest.

The High Priest looked at me.

His eyes were saying, “You can’t be serious. You want to build a temple on this garbage land?”

Yes.

Exactly that.

What I wanted was to spend money on a place that had no chance of success, cause losses to the Church, and on top of that, spend money so lavishly and recklessly that you’d get sick of it and leave.

“Purchase the land even if you have to use all the money the Church has. This place is essential to fulfill the Goddess’s will.”

I made something up.

Of course, I didn’t know anything about the Goddess’s will or any of that.

I just bought it because it looked like the most useless land in the slums.

If I poured all sorts of money and manpower into building a luxurious and extravagant temple here and lived a dissolute life every day instead of acting like a saint, they would leave on their own, right?

“…I understand. If that is the will of the Goddess.”

The High Priest stepped forward.

And approached Scrooge.

“I am Yodel, High Priest of the Lilia Church.”

“Jonathan Karma. I’m only saying this because I built a factory here for cheap, but this land has no merit other than the fact that it’s dirt cheap for land in the capital. I don’t know what you’re planning to do by buying this, but it won’t go well. I guarantee it.”

“This is something the Goddess has commanded. We must purchase it.”

Scrooge, no, Jonathan Karma looked at us with an expression that said, “What a bunch of idiots…” then gestured with his hand.

“Follow me. Let’s draw up the contract at my house. It’s better for me to get rid of this useless land that only incurs taxes anyway!!”

And so, we headed to Jonathan’s house.

***

I thought he would be living in a grand mansion since he was a factory owner, but Jonathan Karma was living in a shabby house near the slums.

He wasn’t living on the streets like the poor, but judging by the state of his house, he seemed no different from a poor person with just a roof over his head.

“Honey, you’re back?”

As we entered Jonathan’s house, a haggard, thin woman who appeared to be his wife greeted him with a cough.

Jonathan shouted at her.

“Why the hell are you crawling out of bed when you can’t even take your medicine properly? Get back in bed and lie down!!”

“I was trying to make you something to eat…”

“There’s no food in the house!! Just get back in bed and lie down! You useless woman, wasting money on expensive medicine!!”

He was the spitting image of a domestic abuser, shouting crudely.

It was obvious what had happened.

It seemed like he had tried to start a business by building a factory, but it hadn’t gone well.

That’s why his family relationships were strained.

Jonathan’s wife coughed and cautiously went back into the room.

A sour smell of mold and a stuffy, rotten stench from poor ventilation permeated the house.

Even the High Priest frowned slightly at the intense smell that assaulted his nose.

“Now, I’ll need at least 40,000 Saleds. That’s my condition!”

Jonathan shouted.

The High Priest’s eyes widened at his words.

“You want 40,000 Saleds for that crumbling land?”

“That’s right!”

“You’re asking for that price even after seeing all the garbage and waste scattered across that factory site?”

“Take it or leave it!! 40,000 Saleds! That’s my condition!!”

It was a thuggish price, unfit for such a trashy piece of land.

But it didn’t matter.

The Church was going to pay anyway.

My goal was to buy useless land at an unnecessarily high price and waste money.

The High Priest seemed to be contemplating.

But after glancing at me, he nodded with an expression full of faith.

“I will contact the Lilia Churches across the country. That amount requires the consent of the churches in various regions, so please wait a moment.”

“Tomorrow! Bring it all tomorrow!! Otherwise, there’s no deal!”

The High Priest’s expression crumpled further at those words.

“Even for us, tomorrow is impossible. Please give us a little more time. Considering the amount you’re asking for, we need some time to prepare…”

“If you can’t do it, there’s no deal!! Get out!!”

Even I found his insistent tone infuriating.

If it were me, I would have cursed him out or left, but perhaps because he was in front of me, the Saint, the High Priest didn’t contort his expression much.

“Let’s step outside and talk for a moment.”

The High Priest took me outside the house.

“Saint, these are absurd conditions. Not only is the land price excessively high, but we’re also being forced to take on the responsibility of handling the waste and various garbage. On top of that, he’s being greedy and demanding we bring the money tomorrow. It would be best not to proceed with this deal.”

“But we must do it.”

I had already decided to cause losses to your Church. That’s the only way you’ll think I’m an idiot and leave me, right?

“…Then I will obey, but according to the Church’s rules, any amount exceeding 10,000 Saleds requires the consent of each regional church to be used. Even for us, bringing the money tomorrow is impossible. We need a little more time, Saint.”

High Priest Yodel had a very apologetic expression.

Seeing that, even someone as selfish as me couldn’t help but feel a pang of conscience.

I was doing this to survive, but these were innocent people who suddenly decided to revere me as a saint.

I was trying to cause them losses, and on top of that, I had to give in to Scrooge’s unreasonable demands.

“I’ll take care of it.”

Even a scoundrel like me, whose conscience had long since worn away, had some sense of responsibility. Since I was the one who made the unreasonable demand, it was only right that I resolved it.

“I apologize for disappointing you with my incompetence.”

I’m truly sorry.

Seeing High Priest Yodel bowing to me, a con man trying to cause losses to the Church and then run away to avoid being punished by the Goddess, filled me with an indescribable sense of guilt.

Unable to meet the High Priest’s eyes, I quickly went back inside the house.

I said I would take care of it, but of course, I had no way to change Scrooge’s mind and buy more time to get the money.

Should I just use Absolute Hypnosis on him and make him listen to me? Just like that?

No.

If Scrooge suddenly started being nice to me without any proper buildup, it wouldn’t look holy; it would look incredibly suspicious.

It would be like tarnishing the name of the Goddess, leading to divine punishment plus the Lilia Church, now suspicious of me, might burn me at the stake for heresy.

How…

How could I convince Scrooge to give us more time to bring the money?

With that thought in mind, as I went back up the stairs to Jonathan Karma’s house, I suddenly heard a scream and a commotion.

“Aaaaaaaaagh!!”

At the sound of the desperate scream, I quickened my pace towards the source.

Entering the room, I saw people staring at the center of the room with horrified expressions.

“By Lopers! By the Sun!! It’s the Rotting Plague!!”

“You kept a Rotting Plague patient in the capital? This is illegal!! Jonathan Karma!!”

I heard the paladins of the Sun Church and the police officers shouting in shock.

Pushing past them and entering the room, I saw Jonathan Karma and his wife, with panicked expressions, blocking the way in the midst of an even stronger stench of rot and mold.

“Don’t come any closer! Don’t come near my daughter!!”

“Our daughter can be c-cured!! Even the Rotting Plague can be cured!! We’ve been giving her medicine to suppress the contagiousness! There’s no problem with her being here! Please!”

Scrooge’s expression was completely different from before, utterly broken.

Scrooge, desperately trying to protect his daughter by waving his arms, and Mrs. Scrooge, sobbing while holding her daughter, looked utterly miserable.

And it was understandable.

Their daughter, whom they were trying to protect, had her whole body gruesomely rotting.

Was this what leprosy looked like?

Black pus was constantly oozing from her festering skin.

Her condition was so terrible that it was a wonder she was even alive.

And in that state, their daughter was writhing in pain.

“It hurts! It hurts! Kill me!! Kill me!!”

Their daughter screamed and thrashed.

The police officers, unable to bear it any longer, drew their pistols.

“Jonathan Karma!! You are under arrest for illegally hiding a contagious disease patient in the capital without permission!! Step away from your daughter right now… Saint! Saint! No!!”

I lowered the police officers’ pistols and slowly…

Approached Jonathan Karma and his wife.

“D-Don’t come any closer!! Don’t come any closer!! She’s my daughter! I can’t abandon my daughter!!”

He was shouting, but surprisingly, unlike before, he didn’t seem threatening at all.

He just looked like a poor, old, sick, and world-weary middle-aged man.

“I don’t believe in any Healing Saint!! Do you, do you know how many scammers like you there are? My property! My money! Do you know how much they’ve all swindled from me with the excuse of curing my daughter? You must be the same!! Don’t come any closer!! You scammer!! You bastard!!”

Jonathan Karma threw a punch at me.

His fist connected, and blood spurted from my nose.

“Saint!!”

“That bastard hit the Saint!!…”

The paladins moved to draw their swords, but I stopped them.

I wiped the blood from my nose and quietly looked at Jonathan Karma and his wife.

“Step aside.”

I had intended to bleed the Lilia Church dry and cause them losses…

But the situation had changed.

Look at that girl suffering.

Even though I’m a selfish coward, leaving someone I can heal to suffer would be too cruel.

Besides, if I healed their daughter, maybe they would give us more time to bring the money.

Perhaps feeling pressured by my unchanging expression despite the blood dripping from my nose, the couple trembled and hesitantly stepped back.

I approached the screaming child.

“It hurts!! It hurts!! Kill me!! Aaaaagh!”

I placed my hand on the head of the girl who was crying, screaming, and convulsing.

The young girls selling matches in the back alley…

And this girl too…

Putting aside my own circumstances…

Aren’t they just too pitiful?

“It’s okay.”

I activated the skill.

“You won’t be in pain anymore.”

With a cracking sound…

The girl’s body began to change.