It was as if frost was falling in the room. Hans, Snoc, and Lubella—of course, Weig and the Pope, who were both currently stronger than Zich—all froze for a moment. Weig’s hands instinctively reached towards the handle of his sword; that was how strong Zich’s bloodthirst was.
“Hohoho! That was very scary. Even though I understand how furious you must be, I ask that you withdraw your bloodthirst. It’s putting a strain on an old man’s heart who might not see the light of tomorrow.”
“Oops. My emotions got the better of me. I apologize.” Zich withdrew his bloodlust. Hans, Snoc, and Lubella’s faces began to look relieved. But their expressions were not fully back to normal.
The Pope continued, “I understand. I also lost my friends and comrades to those Bellid bastards. It’s a sin for those guys to exist—that’s why we have to kill every single one of them.”
Even though the Pope didn’t let out his bloodlust like Zich, his spirit was also fierce. Hans and Snoc gulped their saliva. The Pope, who had been friendly like a next-door grandpa, was now showing his force as the leader of a large and powerful organization.
“I heard that your sworn enemy is Cardinal Cullun Trislowa.”
“Yes, he is.”
“He’s an extremely vicious person. I don’t even want to say he is human. However, he is strong. Not as strong as Sir Weig, but I predict that he possesses the same strength as Karuwiman’s highest level priest.”
Weig made a groan, as he didn’t seem pleased to be compared to Cullun Trislowa. However, nobody, including the Pope, paid any attention to him, even the kind Lubella. Weig felt a little disheartened. He suddenly missed the innocent Lubella for a bit.
“Mr. Zich, I know that you are very strong considering your age, but I don’t think you are stronger than him. Are you still planning to fight him?”
“When all of you attack, I will start moving inside. I might not be a good diversion, but I won’t at least be a hindrance to all of you.”
“…You are saying that you won’t change your mind.”
Lubella looked at Zich with concern, but she didn’t say anything because she respected his decision. The Pope spoke again, “We will be extremely secretive about this plan. We can’t afford to let pests like Bellid realize this plan and crawl away. We will be strictly controlling our information about this plan in our external as well as internal factions. Even the military force that we are gathering right now don’t know they are gathering to fight against the Bellid.”
“How would you deal with the surrounding countries? People would feel threatened by a Karuwiman army.”
“We’ve already spread some information as bait. It’s not common for us to move our military force, but it’s not like it never happens. When we finish our raid against Bellid, we will then tell the truth. Even though there might be countries that express their discomfort, raiding the Bellid is a right of the Karuwiman, recognized by all sovereign nations.”
However, as the Pope mentioned, surrounding countries would definitely bring up complaints, especially countries that had land near or on the northern branch of Bellid. However, the Pope had no intentions to withdraw his plans. This was a military and a diplomatic war. Moreover, the Pope was a holy figure respected by all Karuwiman devotees, but he was also a leader of a large organization. He was familiar with the ‘trick or be tricked’ mentality and used plans that deceived others.
Weig, a knight, and Lubella, a devoted priestess, looked uncomfortable by the Pope’s words. They lightly drew a sign of the cross and begged for forgiveness to their god. Hans and Snoc were also shocked by the Pope’s words; even though they realized this was a necessity, the plan definitely relied on tricking people. On the other hand, the Pope’s complexion did not change at all.
‘A boss of a holy organization is a boss after all.’
Just a kind old grandpa who laughed, ‘Hoho!’ was not enough to lead such a large organization. Moreover, that was how much the Pope hated the Bellid.
‘Well, it’s because I knew about their aversion for Bellid that I came to them.’
Zich was satisfied.
“So I expect the three of you to also be cautious about not letting this information leak out.”
“Before we start our raid, why don’t we stay inside the temple? Won’t that also make you feel more secure?”
“If you do that, I will be more than grateful.” The Pope also thought about suggesting this to Zich, so he immediately accepted Zich’s offer. “We will treat you with the highest level of hospitality. None of you will feel uncomfortable in the slightest.”
After that, a few more conversations passed between them. After they decided that they would make more specific plans after the Karuwiman formed a basic outline of their military raid, they decided to go their separate ways.
“Ah, but would you be able to accept one request of mine?” Zich asked before he got up.
The Pope readily replied, “Mr. Zich, since we owe you a great favor, I will try to accept your request as much as possible, even if it is difficult. What do you need?”
“The title of Honorary Knight. Would you be able to give it to me?”
It was an unexpected request.
“From what I heard, when Sir Weig offered you the title of Honorary Knight, you refused.”
“It’s because I didn’t really need it then.”
“Then do you need it now?”
“Yes.”
“That’s fine. Honestly, there’s no reason for us to refuse your request. It’s also very beneficial for us to accept a person like you as Honorary Knight. You provided more than enough service for us. I will make sure that you receive the title right away.”
“Thank you.”
Lubella and Weig’s faces brightened up. Since they both wanted Zich to become an Honorary Knight, they were happy at how the situation turned out.
Then, the Pope asked, “But will it be all right if I ask why you suddenly need the title of Honorary Knight? Ah, no matter what type of reason you state, no matter how personal it is, I will never say it out loud to anyone. I’m just asking because I’m curious. If it’s hard for you to say, you also don’t have to tell me.”
Zich laughed. Even though it was not to the extent that Weig had to instinctively reach out for his sword again, Zich’s laugh right now didn’t look too great either. His laugh was sinister and conniving.
“After that boy died, a thought occurred to me. How can I make that Trislowa bastard even more furious? How can I make him go crazy with anger? While I tried to make my plans accordingly, I judged that it would be better for me to have the title of Honorary Knight. There’s all there is to it.”
Everyone, including the Pope, was left speechless.
* * *
After Zich, Hans, and Snoc left, only the Pope, Lubella, and Weig were left in the room.
“He is even more unique than I imagined.” The Pope made a hearty laugh.
“Although his personality might be like that, his actions speak differently. They are proper, and it’s actually very praiseworthy that he tries hard to do good deeds even with that kind of personality. Even if becomes a Holy Knight of Karuwiman, he won’t fall…”
The Pope’s laughter grew so loud that it could shake the whole room, and Weig closed his mouth.
“Ah, I’m sorry. Sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh at you. It’s because it’s my first time seeing you defend someone besides Lubella so desperately.”
“…Was it that noticeable?” Weig felt a bit embarrassed and nudged the table’s legs with his feet pointlessly.
“What do you think, Lubella? Do you think the same as Weig?”
“Yes, I do. Mr. Zich’s personality is indeed awful, but I believe that he is someone we can trust.”
The Pope laughed again in response. “Pffft! Even Lubella says that his ‘personality is awful’ in front of me. If it were you from before, I don’t think you would have even thought of such harsh words.”
Lubella thought that she might have talked too rashly and hung her head in embarrassment.
“But that’s right. He’s someone who has given us a lot of help.”
Zich had fought the Bellids, helped Lubella develop her character, and told them the solution to a vicious ritual; and now, he gave them the location of one of the Bellids’ important bases.
“Still, both of you have to admit that he is a very mysterious figure.”
Lubella and Weig nodded. They trusted Zich because of the enormous help they received from him, but Lubella and Weig also had to admit that Zich was suspicious in many ways.
“Don’t worry. I don’t plan on harming him just because he is suspicious. You both can continue to believe him. But I will continue to suspect him—it’s part of my responsibility as a leader of a congregation.” The Pope sighed deeply. He looked completely different from when he was laughing and looked much older than his age now. “Being a pope is difficult. I have to stand on a thin line between Karuna’s teachings and the ways of this world.”
“I admire your holiness for that reason.”
“I feel the same way!”
Both Karuwiman’s greatest Holy Knight and a candidate certain to be the Saint assured him. Soon, color came back to the Pope’s worn-out face.
“…Hoho! This old man whined a bit. Yes, I mean, what’s the problem when I have at least two people by my side?” The Pope met both of their eyes. “This war will be one of the most intense wars you might ever see. Even throughout our Karuwiman history, we have never attacked the Bellids at this scale. And you both must lead at the front. Are you confident that you can do that?”
The Pope couldn’t hide the greatest Holy Knight and future Saint from battle just because they were too precious to him.
“Of course. From the first place, Sir Zich has brought this information to us. Besides, there is no greater final deed than this for Lady Lubella to do right before she becomes the Saint. And most of all, isn’t this a holy war? Just participating in it is a great honor itself.”
“Besides the part about the final deed, I have the same opinions as Sir Weig.”
“Then, that’s enough.” The Pope nodded his head in satisfaction. “With the Holy Knights and priests that are gathering here and you both, we will be able to vanquish the Bellid’s base.”
Then, the Pope suddenly thought of something and licked his lips.
“It would have been better if we were able to call Sir Zenard.”
Lubella asked, “Are you talking about the person who received the title of Honorary Holy Knight?”
“Yes, his character is noble, and his skills are much greater than his age range. Now that I think about it, he is like Zich in some ways.”
Both of them were young, skilled, and lived with the motto to do good deeds; but of course, they seemed to have opposite personality types.
“It’s a pity that our message didn’t reach him. But what can we do? Honorary Holy Knights are not someone we can just call whenever we want.”
“Are we still talking about Sir Zenard?”
“Is there a problem?” the Pope asked in surprise when he saw that Lubella seemed a bit displeased about the topic.
“No, there’s no problem. It’s just that whenever I meet him, he always asks me if I am worried about something.”
“Sir Zenard must have an interest in Lady Lubella,” Weig laughed. He was like a typical old person who enjoyed hearing the love lives of young people. Lubella sighed. “As someone serving Karuna, I will not date or marry. Don’t you all know this?”
“Ah, I can already hear the sound of men who yearn for you, bleeding tears and blood at those words.”
“If you keep teasing me, I’m going to try my hardest to arrange a date for you.”
“But I’m too old for that.”
“Don’t you know that love in old age is more romantic?”
Weig had tried to tease Lubella a bit, but he suffered a total loss. Weig made a fake cough and turned his head—he was admitting his silent defeat.
“Our conversation went off-topic. But Sir Zenard doesn’t seem to have feelings for me or anything like that. He had a gaze like he was searching for something.”
“Hmm. He might have been trying to test you since you are going to be the next Saint. If you feel uncomfortable around him, I can say something to him. Even if his intentions are good, if the other party feels uncomfortable, we have to put an end to the matter.”
“No, it’s fine. He hasn’t been doing it these days.”
“Maybe his curiosity disappeared. But if there’s anything that causes you discomfort, please tell me or his Holiness. We will try to mediate the dispute. Your Holiness, you will also…” Weig’s sentence also trailed off.
The Pope was staring at Lubella. He seemed to be looking at her expectantly, but there was also mischief mixed into his gaze.
“…What is it, Your Holiness?” Lubella noticed the Pope’s gaze and asked him in surprise. Then, the Pope said in a clearly disappointed voice, “Aren’t you going to say that you will arrange a date for me too? I’m saddened that you only care for Sir Weig.”
A short silence followed. Lubella looked taken aback while Weig burst out in laughter.