Bezewanst was curious when he received a request for an audience from a wealthy merchant from the lower city.
It wasn't often that a merchant reached out to the Archbishop, rather than the other way around.
Perhaps their recent success had made them arrogant and they were looking for noble connections and thought that they could get them through the Temple. Fools, but if they wanted to pay Bezewanst a few bribes, who was he to say no? He could always use more money for his liquor expenses. Money had been getting tight since the purge, but the Archbishop refused to tighten his belt. If spending was going to be cut back on, it could be done elsewhere.
The Merchant, Benno, arrived at the Temple dressed as best as one could expect from a commoner, with an attendant and a young girl beside him.
Bezewanst frowned slightly, as it was considered bad form for a pre-baptism child to be in the main house of the Gods, but he wasn't going to toss the Merchant out for that. It wasn't like he was a devout believer anyways.
However, things took an unexpected turn when rather than the Merchant being the first to address him, it was the young girl. "May I pray for a blessing in appreciation of this serendipitous meeting, ordained by the harsh judgment of Ewigeliebe?" The girl asked him in perfect noble form, using the Noble Greeting, rather than the Merchant Greeting.
It was then that he noticed the ring on the middle finger of her right hand.
"...You may." Bezewanst said, curious.
"O Ewigeliebe, God of Life, may this meeting between use and the honored Archbishop be blessed." The child said, sending up a few red flakes of magic power out to bless the Archbishop.
Bezewanst stared at the girl and then turned to look at the Merchant. "Alright. What business do you have with me?"
"Your Lordship, may I present to you the young lady Tohsaka, formally of the house Zartedt of Frenbeltag. My company has been offering her shelter since the purge took her family, hoping that her relatives would one day bring her back into noble society, however they have refused her." Benno said as he introduced the girl.
"I see. An orphan of Frenbeltag's purge. That truly is saddening." Bezewanst said as he motioned for Tohsaka to come closer. "Come here child. Let me get a closer look at you."
Tohsaka did so and Bezewanst took her hand and looked at the ring. It was expertly made and shaped with a family crest within it.
Bezewanst didn't know all of the crests of Frenbeltag, nor all of their family name, but he did recall that Zartedt was one of the Archnoble houses that collapsed after the purge. This girl being the child of it wasn't an impossibility, though no one would be able to confirm it. Though the ring was definitely of that house.
So either she was real, or this was a con being played by some noble house for reasons Bezewanst couldn't even imagine.
The girl herself was pretty for a child, her long black hair pulled up in twintails. Black hair was a rarity. Rare enough that Bezewanst had ever seen naturally black hair himself, and those who had it were supposed to be favored by the God of Darkness. Further evidence that the child was a true noble's child, rather than a commoner with the Devouring.
"You want me to search for a family who is willing to adopt her?" Bezewanst asked, seeing what this merchant's angle was. He was trying to slip someone into high nobility so that he could use them as a connection later. Clever.
"It is as you say. Tohsaka is so bright that it is a waste for her not to be a noble." Benno said.
The Archbishop almost snorted. This merchant really was full of himself. Well, he was more than willing to play along, for a price. "I can put out the word and search for a good family, but it might take time and resources to find the kind that you are looking for." The old man said, hinting towards the need for a bribe.
"Of course. We are well aware that these things take time and the grace of the Gods." Benno said, nodding his head. "We hope that you would be willing to shelter Tohsaka within the Temple's walls for safety until that time comes, and we are ready to pay five large gold coins to make sure that she can live in the best of comfort."
FIVE LARGE GOLD COINS!?
That was as much as ten Blue Priests would usually bring in!
Bezewanst couldn't stop himself from laughing. "Of course! Of course! The house of the Gods would be happy to shelter the girl until a family can be found! Nora, send word to the High Priest and get him to arrange the paperwork!"
He might not be a real man of the Gods, but he sure loved money.
Ferdinand didn't know if the Archbishop's nose had been clogged by money, or if he was just so incompetent that he shouldn't smell this bullshit of the girl's story.
A lost noble girl from Frenbeltag whose extended family didn't want her back? What rubbish.
Given Frenbeltag's position, they couldn't exactly turn down the return of a girl from an Archnoble house. They were hurting for mana more than even Ehrenfest, which itself was itself in a crisis.
Well, it would be revealed if she truly had the mana capacity of an Archnoble soon enough, as after the paperwork was done and Ferdinand had arranged for her blue robes and her eventual attendants, he took her to the altar.
"Now that the paperwork is done, you will need to undergo the avowal ceremony." Ferdinand said, as he lit the incense and spoke the opening words for the ceremony. He then gestured for the girl to kneel with him before the altar and repeat the prayer with him. "I am one who offers prayer and gratitude to the gods who have created the world. O mighty King and Queen of the endless skies, O mighty Eternal Five who rule the mortal realm, O Goddess of Water Flutrane, O God of Fire Leidenschaft, O Goddess of Wind Schutzaria, O Goddess of Earth Geduldh, O God of Life Ewigeliebe. We honor you who have blessed all beings with life, and pray that we may be blessed further with your divine might."
They completed the ceremony and then it was time for the girl to offer up some of her magic power.
Ferdinand had Fran fetch the Shield of the Wind Goddess down and presented it to Tohsaka. "Please place your hand on the center stone and put mana into it."
"Alright." The girl replied and placed her hand against the stone. One of Fredinand's eyebrows almost rose as the magic stones began to fill one after another. A normal adult Archnoble could fill maybe two of the small stones before being drained dry, and Ferdinand had been expecting only a barely visible change if the girl's claims of being related to one were true. But instead of just a small change in one, the child managed to fill eighteen of the twenty-four small Feystones by herself. "Is that enough or do I need to fill it up completely?"
…And she could do more.
"This much is fine." Ferdinand said, gesturing for the shield to be taken back.
He had to contact Karstedt at once.
They couldn't allow this child to end up in the hands of one of Bezewanst's contacts.
"To think that I would be a Priestess." Rin said as she was helped into her new blue robes by an attendant gray robe woman by the name of Lizzie.
She, along with Nicola, were Rin's female attendants, as well as Fran, who was one of the High Priest's people, likely placed there to spy on her.
There had also been an eight-year-old boy by the name of Gil, but he was annoying. So after he grabbed her arm and she reversed the grab and introduced his face to the floor, she sent him back to the orphanage.
The High Priest had not been happy with her about that, but she went unpunished.
She didn't like the High Priest. Or rather, she got the impression that he was just another Fake Priest. He didn't display any emotions and was not a religious man, despite his prayers. Not that she liked the greedy Archbishop any better, she just didn't like any of them.
She knew full well that the Archbishop wasn't even going to try to find a family to adopt her so long as the money kept coming and she didn't make trouble, but that was a bridge that could be crossed later. After she milked the Temple for all the knowledge it was worth.
"Is there anywhere that Sister Tohsaka would like to go after breakfast?" Lizzie asked as she tied Rin's sash for her.
"Yes. I think I will go and visit the Temple's library." Rin said with a small smile.
The Temple's library had a surprising number of books, scrolls and other loose documents, with the more valuable books attached to the tables with chains.
Rin was happy to see it and quickly searched the shelves for what it was that she wanted, though as she searched, her smile slowly began to fade. "Fran. Does this library have a ledger to keep track of its contents?" Rin asked the young man.
"Yes, it does." Fran replied.
He was around fifteen and had been serving the High Priest for a little less than a year, ever since the High Priest joined the Temple. Rin found this interesting, since most Blue Priests entered the Temple when their families realized they were worthless. So either he was a criminal who was allowed to join the Temple as punishment for his crime, or he was someone who lost of battle for succession and hid in the Temple to escape.
Not that it mattered to Rin.
"Go and fetch it for me." Rin said before grabbing one of the scriptures and starting to read. She didn't particularly like religion, but it was written in an old dialect, so she could find words she didn't yet know. She was making a list of such words on the side when Fran returned with the ledger.
"...Fran, please request a meeting with the High Priest. You know my schedule so just find a suitable time slot for him. You don't need to go back and forth between us." Rin said before handing back the ledger.
"Yes, Sister Tohsaka." Fran said, leaving yet again.
"What is it?" Ferdinand said unceremoniously as he continued his work, despite Rin being there to meet with him.
How rude.
"It's terrible. I was looking through the Temple's library, but there appears to be five books that are on the ledger that seem to be missing from there." Rin said, causing Ferdinand to glance up for a moment.
"Which ones?"
"These five." Rin said, holding the ledger out so that he could see it and pointing at the items in question.
"...The books on magic are not kept in the Temple's library." Ferdinand said before returning to her work.
"Why not?" Rin asked.
"Because they are for nobles' eyes only."
"So can I request to see them?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because unless you are baptized as a noble and are at the very least scheduled to go to the Royal Academy, you are not a noble. By definition most Blue Priests and Priestesses are not considered nobles."
"But you are." Rin said, reading between the lines. "So you are hiding them somewhere."
"Do not make it sound like something criminal. I am merely keeping them in my secret room." Ferdinand responded. "Is there anything else you wished to ask."
"Yes, I suppose. I have been reading through the old versions of the scriptures and would like someone to translate words that I don't yet know. Would you be so kind?"
"I'm busy." Ferdinand replied curtly, wondering why she was reading the older versions rather than just sticking to the new ones.
"I can see that." Rin said before grabbing one of the wooden boards and a pen. It was a budgeting form and Rin quickly ran the numbers and returned the board to Ferdinand.
"...You know your numbers?" He said, his neutral face hiding how impressed he was with her.
"I was raised by a merchant. Of course I know how to balance a budget." Rin said flatly. "So how about this? I will assist you in your job as High Priest and you will in turn answer my questions whenever I come across words or phrases I don't know during my time here."
"...Agreed. If you can perform."
"Excellent. Now what does it mean when it says 'flower offerings' on the budgeting?" Rin asked with a clearly not innocent smile.
…Ferdinand instantly regretted his decision.
Rin/Myne is entering the Temple a whole year and a half earlier than in the canon of the story, and not with a giant fight with Bezewanst.