Part Three, Section One: “A New Pope”
Chapter Eighty-seven
"Was it really necessary to interrupt our conversation? I almost made plans for tonight.”
"Weren’t you the one who insisted on staying here? What, planning to sneak into another woman’s place?”
"Well, well, sister, feeling lonely? I’m always up for cuddling—ugh!”
When I returned home, Mammon’s head came rolling towards me. Finding this scene nostalgic might be concerning.
"Yo, Philia. Welcome back. As always, I love how cool and unperturbed you are.”
Looking at me, Mammon smiled and had his body come to pick up his head.
Elsa watched him with cold eyes.
"Welcome back, Great Saint. Did you have a meaningful discussion with the second prince?”
Then she turned her gaze to me and asked if I had had a meaningful talk with Prince Oswald.
It looked like she was deliberately keeping her distance from us earlier.
“Yes, I was able to indicate a general direction and get on the same page with His Highness Oswald after discussing matters.”
“I’m glad to hear it. You did reach the conclusion to become Pope, correct?”
“Unfortunately not. I’m afraid I won’t be meeting your expectations.”
I honestly answered that I had no intention of becoming Pope. After talking it over, Prince Oswald and I decided to continue struggling to the end for our future.
“Great Saint, I’m truly grateful to you for the matter with Asmodeus. I acknowledge we couldn’t have turned down that monster without you.”
“But he targeted my soul to begin with.”
“It doesn’t matter. In the first place, if Fiana didn’t exist, this world would have perished long ago. Anyway, I’ve made a fool of myself as an exorcist, and I know I’m not in a position to say such things to you, my benefactor.”
Upon hearing my words, Elsa suddenly expressed gratitude for Asmodeus incident. It was unusual for her to go out of her way to say such things. I wonder what was gotten into her.
“Knowing when to give up is important in life too. You have no choice but to become Pope. You understand that, don’t you!? You’re smart, so why can’t you get it!?”
Raising her voice more and more, Elsa insisted that I should become Pope.
It was rare to see her yell like this.
Whenever Elsa raised her voice, it was always when necessary…
"Ms. Elsa, please don’t say such things to Lady Philia! There’s no way she would say she wants to leave this country!”
"But she left her homeland, didn’t she!? It’s the same thing, right!?”
"No, it’s not the same at all! The circumstances are totally different!”
At some point, Lina had approached Elsa and was arguing back with an irritated expression. In response, Elsa became more heated as she talked back.
"Ms. Lina, please restrain yourself. We must not quarrel. Ms. Elsa, there are still six days left. I promise to give my conclusion after those six days, so please wait until then.”
I understood that Lina was angry on my behalf and I was grateful for it. However, Elsa had her own circumstances. So I stopped their argument. Arguing here would be fruitless.
"You’re right, that was undignified of me to yell. I’ll excuse myself and go to rest first.”
Lowering her tone, Elsa apologized and headed upstairs to her bedroom. Watching her go, Lina also seemed to have calmed down from her agitation, looking apologetically at me.
"I’m sorry. I just couldn’t stand hearing you being belittled, Lady Philia.”
"I don’t intend to blame you. However, Ms. Elsa has her own situation to consider. Please don’t take it too hard.”
"Okay, I understand. I’ll apologize to Ms. Elsa later.”
Hearing my words, Lina obediently nodded. She was smart and with a kind heart, so I was sure she understood what I meant.
I’m certain they’ll make up.
"Philia, Lina, sorry about sister. She’s just a little on edge. Please don’t take it the wrong way.”
"I don’t have any ill feelings towards Ms. Elsa in particular, Mr. Mammon.”
Mammon, who had been silently observing us, uttered words in defense of Elsa. He probably wanted us to know her kindness.
“Actually, Elsa was the most opposed at the headquarters about this matter. She said depriving their benefactor of freedom was shameless.”
It seemed when she first heard about making me the next Pope, Elsa got angry. I didn’t expect that. She never said anything about it. The quiet kindness I felt from her must have been genuine after all.
“But no matter what she said, nothing helped. So Elsa negotiated with the headquarters to get them to promise you as much freedom as possible.”
Moreover, it seemed Elsa worked to guarantee I’d have freedom.
Even though if the Pope’s will truly was absolute, she could just take me away without question.
She was being exceptionally lenient.
“As long as you become Pope in Dalbhat as the will states, you can do whatever you want. Elsa would definitely guarantee that no matter what. Please, Philia, try to understand her feelings.”
Mammon must be thinking about Elsa. Perhaps he wanted me to know her kindness.
“You’re right. I’m thankful Ms. Elsa looked out for me.”
“You’re stubborn too, Philia. I love that strong-willed side, but isn’t it checkmate for you?”
“No, it’s not necessarily checkmate. About His Holiness’ will, Mr. Mammon, do you happen to know who was keeping it? I assume it was one of the archbishops?”
Mammon insisted there was no way forward, but I disagreed. I then asked him about who held the Pope’s will. This was the most crucial question for me, as I had a hypothesis in mind.
“The will? Oh, Archbishop Henry. He gathered all the bigwigs at the headquarters and dramatically revealed it.”
“So Archbishop Henry had it…”
I see. Archbishop Henry had the Pope’s will.
I strongly suspected one of the three archbishops had it. And if a certain hypothesis was correct, I guessed it might be Archbishop Henry.
Hearing Mammon’s reply, I secretly hoped that my speculation had hit the mark.
“When I heard the Pope left his will to Archbishop Henry, I naturally assumed he’d be the next Pope. In all the centuries I’ve observed, that’s generally what it meant when someone was entrusted with a will.”
Furthermore, Mammon revealed that in the history he had witnessed, there was a tendency for the person entrusted with a will to be chosen as the next Pope.
That makes sense. Since it’s a letter naming a Pope’s own successor.
“And while Archbishop Henry is a young guy in his twenties, he became archbishop at that age because of his skills. The Pope recognized his capabilities too. Of course, it was surprising that you were chosen, but I was more surprised that young lad wasn’t chosen.”
Mammon said Archbishop Henry had the undisputed ability to be Pope and was acknowledged by the Pope himself for his skill. A person whose abilities had been recognized by the devil—a representative of a race that far exceeds humans in power—must be exceptionally gifted.
“…”
“What’s up? You look deep in thought, Philia. Do you find something odd in what I said?”
After hearing Mammon’s story, I began thinking.
In other words, if my hypothesis is true, to prove it…
We need to investigate. Let’s start by looking into what happened in this country around that time.
“Thank you very much, Mr. Mammon. That was very informative.”
“Huh? I don’t think I said anything that great.”
“Ms. Himari, may I ask you to do something?”
“You called, Lady Philia?”
Having organized my thoughts, I thanked Mammon and called for Himari. This request was best suited for her. I believed she could swiftly gather the information I wanted. When I called her name, she instantly appeared before me, holding a broom.
“I have something I want you to investigate. You see…”
I conveyed the details of what I wanted Himari to do. She listened silently, occasionally nodding.
After I told her everything, Himari removed her apron, handed the broom to Lina, and promptly changed into what was known as ninja attire.
“—I understand your order, Lady Philia. Please wait a moment. I will certainly deliver results that will meet your expectations.”
With those words, Himari quietly disappeared from the scene as if she had never been there. Her exceptional abilities left no room for doubt. She would certainly gather the information I needed.
“That was fast. As expected of a ninja. I didn’t even have time to hit on her.”
Overwhelmed by her wind-like speed, Mammon added his commentary. Even he as a devil seemed astonished by her pace.
“I don’t know what you asked Himari to do, but you have six days. Although, I don’t think you’ll come up with a conclusion that satisfies Elsa. But well, you know better.”
“Don’t worry, I’ve already reached a conclusion. I have the general outline.”
“Seriously!?”
By this point, I had already solidified my plan of direct negotiations with the headquarters, as I told Prince Oswald. And I had roughly determined on what grounds I would protest.
“But since I have this grace period, I intend to use every last second of it. To ensure I overturn the order…!”
“Indeed, your eyes have the same fiery gleam. It reminds me of Great Saint Fiana, whom I saw many centuries ago. Impressive, as expected of the one who defeated Lord Asmodeus. Even in a devil’s eyes, you’re terrifying, Philia.”
Chuckling, Mammon returned to his room.
I wouldn’t waste these six days. Together with Prince Oswald, we would seize the future we desire and return triumphantly from Dalbhat to Parnacota.
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