Only My Magic Levels Up - Chapter 148
Only Noblemtl
Episode 148 The Vatican (2)
The year was also coming to an end while Galen was finishing his treatment in Cairo.
The late winter of the old year has passed and the early spring of the new year has arrived. The winter in the southwest is as warm as in the south, so the temperature change is not felt much.
“Happy birthday, brother!”
“Lilia too. It’s a new thing, though.”
It’s not like they were born on New Year’s Day… they were both orphans, so they just decided to count that as their birthday.
Whatever the circumstances, Galen is now twenty-four years old by current standards, and Lilia is twenty.
“I told you that you should get some rest. You look much brighter now.”
“Oh, was it dark until yesterday?!”
“It’s not that bad… but it’s a little noticeable. You can’t be completely tiring. Even if you’re Lillia.”
It was true that the poison that was tormenting Galen would not let him sleep at night, so it was necessary to monitor his progress and treat him throughout the day.
Lilia stayed by Galen’s side for days, refusing to rest or even sleep. She said she had to keep an eye on him until he was fully healed.
Galen, who couldn’t stand to watch, asked Diana to put Lilia to sleep almost by force last night.
Although it was a reluctant break, it was helpful, as Lilia thankfully showed up refreshed.
“Devotion without self-care is no savior, Bishop Lilia.”
Diana, who had been checking on Galen’s condition all night in place of Lilia, spoke sternly.
“Furthermore, you are now going to be an archbishop. I am not saying that you should not cherish the one person in front of you, but you should think about the ten, the hundred, and the thousand people who will come after you.”
“It wasn’t like I was pushing myself that hard… … .”
“Why would Brother Galen have asked me to do something like that? Even he thought it was too much.”
“Eek.”
“Okay, okay. Lilia.”
Galen beckoned to Lilia, who had become gloomy. He gently wrapped his arm around her shoulder as she approached him, patting her on the shoulder.
“I’m not trying to scold you. Of course I appreciate you taking such good care of me. I’m just saying that you should treat your body with the same care and respect as Lilia.”
“…yes.”
“You haven’t eaten yet? Would you like to eat together?”
Lilia nodded. Galen smiled and looked at Diana as he asked.
“If it’s okay, would Bishop Diana like to join us?”
“Ahem, thank you for the offer.”
Diana cleared her throat.
“I’m not that clueless.”
“…I’m just eating breakfast.”
“That… is not it.”
Diana tried to refute Galen’s protest, but stopped herself.
She had been riding in a carriage with two people for quite some time, coming from the South to the Southwest.
Even at that time, I already thought that the two of them were not close friends.
Should I say that the distance between us has narrowed a bit now? Even if it’s just the slightest contact, it’s still so easy to do so.
It would be really tasty to eat a meal with someone I don’t have any special business to attend to.
“I have to take care of my crew members too. I’ll eat separately.”
“Oh, yes. Thank you for the night.”
“Not at all. There wasn’t much I could do. Well then, I’ll take my leave now.”
Diana, choosing a wise retreat, took the example and retreated.
Galen, with a bitter smile, took Lilia to the restaurant.
I don’t eat anything fancy for breakfast. Galen said, warming up his stomach with warm onion soup.
“It’s been a really tough year.”
In the spring he tracked the cavalry, in the summer he mingled with the earth elves, in the fall he tamed the Assassins, in the winter he cleared his homeland, and at the end he even fought the orc wizards and such.
Looking back, I spent last year very frugally.
Lilia, who had already returned to her usual routine, agreed and added.
“Right? I think last year was twice as busy as the year before.”
“I guess it was because I was absent half the year before last.”
“oh?”
It is not easy for the life of a young priest who had never left the vicinity of Abaca before meeting Galen to be dynamic and spectacular.
Most of the memories that remain strong for Lilia are those from after she started her pilgrimage, which began in late fall the year before last.
Even if we take the time from when the two first met, they only spent about seven months together the year before last, while they were together the whole time last year. It wasn’t just a feeling, but in reality, they had more incidents last year and were that much busier.
“Come to think of it, it really hasn’t been that long. I think it’s been about ten years.”
“At that time, Lilia was ten years old.”
“That’s what I’m saying!”
Lilia’s expression, which had been slightly sharp, soon relaxed.
“Still, it’s nice to be twenty.”
“Is that so?”
“You’re in your twenties, just like your brother! Teenagers tend to be… a bit ignored.”
“People who only look at the surface often make the same mistake.”
After your eighteenth birthday, you are considered an ‘adult’, but it feels like you are not considered an ‘adult’.
In this respect, it is a strangely similar sentiment to the modern Earth. Just as the image of college students is that of ‘young youth’ rather than ‘mature veterans’.
In fact, even Galen was still at an age where he was treated as a child, so the prejudice against Lilia due to her young appearance would not change whether she was nineteen or twenty… but there is no need to point that out here.
“Well, once you become an archbishop, you’ll be a world-famous celebrity, so there won’t be any more of that.”
“Ugh, I’m suddenly feeling embarrassed… Even the portraits are all turned around… … .”
“Oh, really?”
“After all, they are the highest level. The faces of the Pope and the archbishops are distributed to churches all over the world. You can’t help but recognize them.”
“The performance is certain. Now, as long as I am by Lilia’s side, I will not need to vouch for her at all.”
Galen asked, chuckling.
“So what is the schedule? Will the Pope himself consecrate the archbishop?”
“Yes. I need to go to the central region. But I don’t think I need to go right away. Bishop Hamel and Bishop Diana’s reports have been submitted, so I can go when the summons comes down.”
“aha.”
“So, until then, I’m going to stay down.”
“yes?”
Lilia smiled a little awkwardly.
“I think my brother’s treatment will be completely finished by tomorrow or the day after. Then I’ll go help the others. The south hasn’t completely calmed down yet.”
Fortunately, Kairouan was not hit hard, but the towns and cities along the path the orc wizards took north suffered significant damage.
Unfortunately, the places at the beginning of the route were almost completely scorched earth, and the closer you got to Cairo, the higher the percentage of ‘patients’.
It sounded strange, but it was true. When you die, you become a ‘deceased’. This meant that the more recently the area was affected, the more survivors there were who had not yet died and were still holding on.
“Let’s go together, then.”
“Huh? It’s dangerous!”
“Haven’t you already been exposed to the most concentrated poison?”
“That doesn’t mean you become immune.”
“You can just press it with your magic. There’s no way the poison is still so vicious that it won’t work.”
If that were the case, there would be no need for medical assistance. They would have already died.
“I’m also an expert in dealing with residual toxicity.”
“Honestly, if you just rest, no one will say anything… … .”
“That’s what I should tell Lilia.”
“I’m a priest?”
So the two left Cairo and headed south.
Hamel and Diana repeatedly advised her to rest, but they could not break Lilia’s stubbornness. Galen gave her a warning.
“Since I can’t stop it anyway, please just help me. So that I can treat it as efficiently as possible.”
“Okay.”
In fact, it wasn’t the case that Lilia was forcibly squeezing her power to the extent that they were worried. If that had been the case, Galen would have stopped her from the beginning.
Her sexual power, which had increased even more as she reached the level of Archbishop, was even doubled thanks to the star fragments, so she had plenty of room for improvement.
“Okay, that’s it!”
“Thank you, thank you!”
“No problem. Sister, where is our next patient?”
When Lilia was added to the medical network that the church was already diligently maintaining, the effect was outstanding.
Originally, as the level of the priest increases, not only the quantity but also the quality of the power increases. There is a noticeable difference in the effects of the healing miracles used by priests and the healing miracles used by bishops.
What’s more, the power of Lilia, who reached the rank of Archbishop, is something of an exaggeration. She killed a hundred priests on her own.
“Please throw away that blanket. I need to ventilate the room. Um, I guess I should burn this right now.”
“Hey, are you talking about here?”
“There’s no need to spread it out in the hallway.”
“Oh, it’s fire!”
“Oh, I said it’s okay.”
Galen also played a more licorice-like role than expected.
Over time, the poison had clearly dispersed, but there were still cases where it remained long enough to torment the weak elderly or children, and Galen would quickly remove it.
‘To be honest, it wasn’t a completely pure-hearted service like Lilia’s… … .’
The newly learned Death Mist skill leveled up quickly just by self-studying, but separate from leveling up, the ability to apply magic increased as you gained various experiences.
The entire area became a practice field for the fog of death, such as sensing the venom spreading in the air with the sense sphere, delicately controlling the fog of death to select only the venom, neutralize it, and then throw it away. Of course, since precise control is not yet good, if anything, it would just burn it whole.
In the meantime, we also discovered the unexpected effect of star fragments.
Before reaching the self-study limit level, it was possible to grow very quickly as experience points came in as much as magic power was consumed, but thanks to the star fragments doubling the magic power, the growth speed of Death Mist also doubled.
[Death Mist Lv.30]
[8% progress to next level]
Just two weeks after leaving Cairo, Death’s Mist had already surpassed the silver level. It was a growth that would make the orc wizard extremely angry in the afterlife.
‘Well, even if my heart is a little impure, as long as the result is good, it’s all good.’
Saving people while gaining experience and leveling up. Isn’t this the perfect combination of public and private interest?
Although it wasn’t intentional, my reputation was also rising. Even though Lilia was the main and Galen was the sub, anyway.
It was around that time that a summons directly from the Vatican arrived to them via Hamel.
“I wish I had arrived a little later.”
“You have done enough. It is to the point where other priests are starting to feel sorry for you. When the superiors work too hard, it is hard for the subordinates.”
“There’s nothing we can do about it. It was delayed again as it was delivered from Cairo to here… … .”
Lilia muttered with regret as she looked through Hamel’s letters.
“Well, I guess only one came.”
“What else is there?”
“I only have my summons.”
Of course, since they are summoning Lilia to be ordained as archbishop, shouldn’t there be a summons?
Galen, who had been puzzled, immediately understood after hearing Lilia’s hesitant words.
“Brother, I didn’t receive a separate invitation… Would you like to go with me?”
“Then you were planning to go alone?”
Galen asked back with a playful smile. Lilia’s face brightened.
“no!”
“Then let’s go get ready.”
“yes!”
* * *
The two men returned to Cairo, said goodbye to Hamel, and left the city.
The destination is chroma.
It was a city located almost in the center of the Central Archdiocese, and was also called the center of the world.
“Usually it is not called a city, but the Papal States. It is where His Holiness resides.”
Diana and other members of the Knights Templar were in charge of guiding and escorting the journey to the northeast.
They had originally been dispatched to ‘investigate’ the plague, but now that they had caught the culprit and the quarantine was almost complete, there was no reason for them to stay in the southwest any longer. They were ordered to escort Lilia on her way back.
“You don’t have to worry about it this much… The road is not rough at all, it’s very well paved.”
“I understand that Bishop Lilia wants to be on friendly terms with Duke Galen, but―”
“That’s not it?!”
“Anyway, we don’t think there will be any particular danger on the way, but His Holiness values Bishop Lilia so much that we are doing this. We ask for your understanding.”
The carriage journey from Cairo to Croma took twenty full days.
A taller and more massive wall than any city Galen and Lilia had ever seen appeared.
The Vatican was likewise more magnificent than any church they had ever seen.
“Please wait a moment.”
Diana led the two to a reception room somewhere in the room that was so large that they could really get lost, and then left.
When she returned a while later, a slightly bewildered look appeared on her face. Lilia tilted her head.
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh, that’s… His Majesty wants to meet Duke Galen.”
The person the Pope called was Lilia, and Galen simply followed along without permission.
However, Diana, who was in the position of delivering the message, couldn’t help but feel embarrassed when Galen, who had not even made an appointment, suddenly asked to see Lilia before her. After all, he was not just any wizard, he was a jewel.
“I guess you’re very curious, brother!”
Lilia said brightly. Galen grinned and shrugged.
“Well, I don’t mind. Right now?”
“Yes… I’m sorry… … .”
“I don’t mind. Please guide me. I’ll be back, Lilia.”
“Have a nice trip!”
Galen followed Diana, escorted by Lilia.
The Vatican was so large that it took a long time to walk outside the reception room.
After a while they arrived in front of a large door.
Diana knocked sharply, waited a moment, then carefully opened the door and stepped aside.
Galen nodded slightly and went inside alone, and the door closed quietly behind him.
At the far end of the large room, which was more like a palace than an office, was the back of an old man looking out the large window.
When Galen, walking calmly, was halfway across the room, the old man slowly turned around.
Galen did not know the Pope’s face, but that did not matter.
The moment I saw the stigmata in those eyes that were as bright as the sun and at the same time as clear and calm as a lake, there was no need for any explanation.
The most powerful priest in existence looked into Galen.