When the Pope Becomes Competent - Chapter 102



Only Noblemtl

◈102. To awaken the soul contained in the Ego Sword

Luciana pretended to look serious when she heard my question.

And then he said.

“If you just get close to the dungeon―”

“If I just approach you?”

Was he trying to scare me?

Suddenly, she made a ghostly claw shape with her hand and raised it eerily.

Then he spoke, his voice very low.

“They say they can hear a creepy woman crying. It’s a very creepy cry.”

“Hmm… that’s a little creepy.”

“Is that so? Up until now, monsters have flowed out of the dungeon, but I’ve never heard them cry.”

I thought it might be a dungeon where vengeful spirits, or ghosts, would appear.

A ghost dungeon?

This was somewhat bad news for me, who doesn’t really like watching horror movies.

Luciana also let out a long sigh as if it was ominous.

“That’s why I’m worried. If something suddenly threatens something and something big happens to Your Majesty… … .”

“That won’t happen. You’re going in with me.”

Suddenly a look of surprise crossed her face.

I added to her that:

“I trust you. As my knight. So you should trust yourself a little more.”

Sure, the ghost dungeon was a little… just a little scary, but he still said it so believably.

Trust yourself to keep me safe. So don’t worry.

Fortunately, Luciana seemed to sense sincerity from me.

“… … Sometimes I am surprised. You say things that catch me off guard.”

“okay?”

“Yes, you are right. It is not my job to prevent Your Majesty from jumping into danger.”

Luciana, who had spoken up to that point, continued with a slightly more determined look in her eyes.

“I guess that’s my role, to keep you safe even when you’re in danger.”

If I had said this much, she wouldn’t have to worry about me anymore.

Because you said you would protect yourself.

So, I got straight to the point.

“Okay, then I need to decide specifically who I’m going to take to the dungeon… … .”

After that, I took out a pen and paper and wrote down the names of the people I was going with.

Petros had to be taken with him since he had sinned against Luciana, and it would have been nice if Cheonggwang was with him too.

After writing down several other names, he handed the list to Luciana.

Luciana, who was checking the list, suddenly frowned slightly.

“… … Are you planning to take Ambassador Bliss with you?”

“It’ll be a big help. You look a bit shaky. Do you not like it?”

“It’s not that I don’t like it… I think it’ll be awkward for Sir Petros. Don’t you know that there’s been a war of nerves between the two of them since day one?”

“Yeah, I know.”

How could you not know? Bliss even threw the teacup.

I already knew about the incident, so I answered with a smile.

“That’s why I’m taking you.”

The purpose of this dungeon raid wasn’t simply to collapse the dungeon.

Taking Petros and Bliss, who had become awkward with each other, together.

This will help to improve the relationship between the two more than before.

That was my secret second purpose.

* * *

All preparations are complete to leave for the dungeon.

I also took two bottles of elixir, and other items and weapons were properly organized.

Now, all that was left to do was to leave… As expected, Petros looked uncomfortable when he heard that Bliss was going with him.

Bliss, on the other hand, didn’t seem to care at all.

It seemed like he didn’t have any particular thoughts about Petros, and just said that he would work hard to participate in the dungeon raid.

So, the dungeon raiding party consisting of me, Luciana, Bliss, Petros, Mongmas, and Cheonggwang set out for the Marquis’ Territory.

The atmosphere was awkward as usual due to the awkward atmosphere between Bliss and Petros.

Fortunately, Cheonggwang came out and broke the awkward atmosphere.

“Benefactor, how about learning martial arts until you reach your destination?”

“Martial arts?”

Cheong-Gwang nodded his head to my question.

“Yes. Until now, your benefactor has relied solely on the power of supernatural powers. It seems like you have never systematically trained in martial arts.”

“Um… right?”

Cheonggwang was right.

The reason I’ve been able to fight so well until now is entirely thanks to my skills.

He simply swung his weapon with brute force, made much stronger by the power of his skill, and there was no system to it.

It was literally a battle based on instinct.

I nodded to Cheong-Gwang and asked.

“So you’re saying that if I learn how to fight properly, I’ll be better than I am now?”

“Yes. Of course, your benefactor is already great, but if you learn properly, you will develop even more.”

At that moment, Bliss, who was leaning against the railing of the ship, suddenly intervened.

“I agree.”

“you also?”

“I saw you swinging it around wildly before. You would throw whatever you could get your hands on… … .”

It seemed like he was talking about the time when he was fighting with the letter Ernen sent.

Because at the time, I threw the decorations to obstruct the guy’s view.

The guy shook his head as if recalling that time.

“Even though you are very good at street fighting, if you don’t learn systematically, there will be limits to your ability development.”

“Yeah, I’ll learn. There’s nothing to do until we get to Lazar’s Marquisate anyway.”

I answered yes willingly.

I was already feeling the need to build up my strength.

It was only thanks to the power of the Divine Judgement Ticket that I was able to defeat Netelon, and when I fought Micheln without it, I had a hard time.

If you learn martial arts properly and build up your strength, you won’t have to go through such hardships anymore.

“Then I have to decide who I will learn what from… … .”

Having decided to learn, I looked around my group to find someone to teach.

At that moment, Dionik, who was chatting with Elodie on the deck, suddenly spoke.

“Learn from me, hyung. I’ll teach you that the most primal attacks are the most powerful.”

The guy wiggled his fingers while holding the claw that he had previously received as a reward for clearing a dungeon.

Even when transformed into a beast form, he mainly used scratch attacks, so he showed considerable talent when handling those claws.

I wonder if I should learn some of that guy’s scratching skills? Just as I was thinking about that, Dionik added.

“Oh, and as a bonus, I can teach you a fatal seduction technique that will make anyone, regardless of age or gender, fall for you.”

“… … .”

“I guess it’s not often you get a chance to learn seduction techniques from an incubus?”

After hearing that, I completely gave up on learning anything from the guy.

It was obvious that he would be whispering useless nonsense in my ear all day long, claiming to be teaching me how to handle a claw.

The next one to step forward after Dionik was Bliss.

“The sword of light I saw before… It stretched. If you’re looking for ways to handle a long weapon, I can teach you.”

As she spoke, Bliss cracked the blade of her chainsaw.

As I watched him smiling sinisterly while holding a weapon that looked like a guillotine blade, for some reason… I lost the desire to learn from him.

I shook my head in horror, but this time it was Elodie who stepped forward.

“While we’re on the subject, that sword of light, when it was extended, it looked exactly like a whip. If you could learn how to use a whip from me, it would be quite helpful, right?”

“whip?”

“Yeah. Succubi like me are usually good with whips. Don’t ask why.”

“… … .”

“Anyway, it’s not difficult, so you’ll get used to it soon. You’ll learn it after getting hit a few times.”

Why are succubi so good with whips?

Anyway, after getting hit a few times, the words ‘learn’ really bothered me.

It felt like he was going to beat me up like he was teaching me.

For that reason, let’s give up on learning from Elodie, and this time, Cheong-Gwang and Luciana took turns.

“Although my skills are lacking, if you wish, I will teach you the Eastern Continent style of swordsmanship. I think it would be best to start with a year of meditation training first.”

“Just learn from me. I received rigorous training from my father ever since I could walk.”

I gave up learning from Cheong Gwang when he told me to do meditation training for a year.

Finally, I looked at Luciana and she spoke in a confident voice.

“If you learn from me, I will transform Your Majesty into a great weapon of mass destruction within a month… no, within two weeks.”

“… … .”

He said he would turn it into a lethal weapon within two weeks… I could clearly see how he would handle it.

They’ll probably train you so hard that you’ll want to run away to hell.

At this point, I was wondering why there was no one willing to teach me properly.

Meanwhile, the group was staring at me intently.

As if urging me to decide quickly who to learn from.

To him I said this:

“Okay, I’ve decided. I won’t learn from you guys.”

Dionic snapped immediately.

“What! I wanted to teach you this and that!”

“Give up. I won’t learn anything from you even if I die.”

“Tch, then who are you going to learn from? You have to choose from among the people here anyway.”

I nodded at Dionic’s words.

“Yes, you have to choose from the people here. But you don’t have to choose from the ‘living’ people.”

“huh?”

Without further ado, I opened my inventory.

There were two things taken out of it.

The first is the “Advanced Weapon Enchant Scroll” that you received after completing the 7th main trust.

And the second item he took out was the “Baekhwamyeongwoldo” that Cheonggwang had given him.

At that moment, Cheong Gwang recognized his sword and asked about it.

“Isn’t that the Baekhwamyeongwoldo I gave you?”

“Yeah, that’s right. The teacher I need right now is… this sword.”

Elodie gave me her signature frown when she heard my answer.

“The sword is your teacher? What are you talking about?”

“This isn’t just a knife.”

I continued speaking quickly before Elodie’s eyes could distort any further.

“A sword with a soul… aka the Ego Sword.”

After that, he waved the enchantment scroll he had just taken out of his inventory to the group.

“From now on, I intend to use this advanced weapon enchantment scroll in my hand to awaken the soul sleeping in this sword.”

Weapon enchantment scroll.

This was an item that contained a skill that ‘improved’ the performance of a weapon.

For example, if you use this, your weapon will have a special effect or―

Someone’s soul is in the weapon―

Or else, it could be said that the spirit that is inside can be awakened.

‘If you use a superior weapon enchantment scroll, you will be able to awaken the soul contained in the Ego Sword.’

A sword imbued with a spirit, the Ego Sword.

Usually, this ego sword was imbued with the soul of a famous swordsman of the time.

The stronger the soul, the more powerful the power contained in the Ego Sword.

This Baekhwamyeongwoldo is said to be an object that was forged over a thousand years by a god with divine power, so it must contain a great spirit.

It was my plan to awaken that spirit and make him my swordsman.

“Just watch. Something great will awaken soon.”

I said this to my companions and held the upper-level weapon enchantment scroll with both hands.

And according to its usage, it was ripped in half.