When the Pope Becomes Competent - Chapter 123



Only Noblemtl

123. To meet the sage,
2024.03.02.

The guide of the count scratched the bridge of his nose at Luciana’s words that the peace of the world depended on it.

“The peace of the world…? I don’t know for sure, but please stand in line anyway. For the sake of the others who came first.”

His attitude was stubborn.

It seemed as if Luciana was telling a lie that was impossible in order to meet the sage quickly.

Luciana hesitated for a moment.

The guide seemed to not know Luciana’s identity at the moment.

If she revealed that she was a member of the Marquis Lazar family and the high priestess of the Lucid Miller religion, she

would be able to ignore the line and be guided to the sage right away.

It was unacceptable in aristocratic society to leave a high priestess and a noble from another family standing outside the door.

‘I don’t feel like it, but I think it would be better to meet the count quickly even if I reveal my identity. We don’t have much time.’

Luciana, who had decided to do so, opened her mouth to reveal her hidden identity.

“I… No, I’m not actually a regular citizen—”

“You’re being so noisy.”

The moment Luciana was about to reveal her identity, the woman standing in front of her turned around and glared at Luciana.

She was tall and had a scar on her face.

Luciana thought she was probably a knight or a mercenary and answered her.

“What did you just say?”

“You’re being so noisy, you. Do you think the people in line right now are standing because they have time to kill?”

“… … .”

“If you’re late, just keep your mouth shut and wait in line. You’re being so noisy and demanding special treatment… … .”

Luciana clenched her teeth after hearing the female mercenary’s words.

Luciana was someone who valued principles and rules.

Normally, she would have just followed orders and stood in line.

However, she had been asking for consideration because she was pressed for time, but she was being selfish and demanding special treatment, so she had nothing to say in response.

“What should I do?”

Luciana, who barely came to her senses after hearing Cheonggwang’s question, said to the mercenary,

“… … It’s urgent. I don’t have time to stand in line.”

“Do you think there’s even one person here who isn’t in a hurry? Everyone came to see the sage because of their own urgent circumstances.”

“… … .”

“My younger brother is dying of a fever and I don’t know what medicine to give him, so I came to ask the sage.”

Luciana seriously considered that. She

wondered whether she should just stand in line like the mercenary said.

However… … .

‘I still can’t waste time here. The Erased Ones are targeting all of humanity… … .’

Luciana let out a deep sigh after thinking that far.

And then she thought. Although she really didn’t want to, she thought it would be better to use her status to meet the sage.

“I’m Luciana van Lazar from the cathedral. As the commander of the Holy Knights, I’ve come to tell the count something urgent. Take him to him immediately.”

“… …!!”

The guide flinched when he heard Luciana’s identity.

He thought she was a noble, but he never thought it would be that high priestess Luciana.

He thought he had seen her face somewhere, but he remembered seeing her at the foundation ceremony and other events.

The guide bowed his head to Luciana in a panic.

“I’m sorry! I’ll take you straight to the count! Please follow me!”

After that, he tried to take Luciana and head to the count.

The reason he couldn’t do that right away was because of a harsh voice he heard from behind him.

“Wait! Are you kidding me?!”

It was the female mercenary from earlier.

She had come to take care of her sick younger sister, and she didn’t let Luciana use her identity to go see the count.

“I’ve been waiting in line here since yesterday morning!!”

The mercenary shouted as she pulled out her sword.

It was an old but sharp sword.

“Are you saying that being a noble is all you need?! If you take one more step from there, you’ll be stabbed, you idiot!!”

Luciana stared at the mercenary with calm, sunken eyes.

Then she slowly moved her hand and took out her sword.

It was the spirit sword that Nickelus had given her as a gift.

* * *

In conclusion, it was a good thing that I stopped stalking and rescued Mark.

The siren, who had been waiting for prey to fall from the bottom of the cliff, appeared in front of us, flapping her wings.

‘The nest was at the bottom of the cliff.’

Mark almost fell off the cliff and landed in the siren’s nest.

Just when I was thinking that I was lucky to have caught Mark quickly , the Siren let out a long howl .

-Kyaaaaaaaaaaahh … I immediately cast the skill and summoned the Sword of Judgement. After that, I unleashed the first form, Sharp Crescent Moon, and attacked Siren. -Kyaaak!! Siren quickly dodged the attack. It was not easy to hit the attack because she was flying around in the air. Siren immediately shot towards me like a hunting hawk. I rolled my body to the side to dodge in a hurry and shouted to Petros with my mouth. -“Take out your wings!” It was difficult to shoot Siren while standing on the ground and shooting the arrow. This was because I had left the Immortal Egg at the Baron’s house. Since the egg needed to be kept at a certain temperature in order to hatch , I had no choice but to leave it on a cushion. So I thought it would be best to give up the arrow and catch Siren while flying as well. Petros heard me and flew up with his succubus wings. I also spread my golden wings and flew after Siren. As expected, it was much easier to target her when I flew and chased after her than when I was stuck on the ground and attacked. I followed Siren closely and shouted. -“Let’s attack with a delay so she can’t dodge! Attack first!” Petros, who barely understood what I said even with the sound-blocking item in his ear, swung his spear at Siren. Then the item’s effect was activated from his spear, and a sharp gust of wind shot out. Whoosh-! Siren turned in the air and dodged Petros’ attack. But there was no need to feel regret. She knew how to dodge it anyway. Saa- I launched a second attack right at Siren, who was busy dodging the attack. The sword energy containing the aura of the crescent moon brushed against Siren’s wing. Siren was unable to dodge the consecutive attacks and ended up getting hurt. -Kaaaak!! Unlike the ferocious howl from before, a scream-like sound burst out from Siren. One of Siren’s wings that had brushed against my sword energy was slowly decaying. Siren, who had barely been able to use one wing, flapped her wings hard and moved forward. She wouldn’t be able to run away for long in that state. In fact, Siren was gradually lowering her altitude and heading toward the forest. I chased after her and shouted at Petros again. – “Let’s go one more time! Let’s completely crash this time!” Petros heard me and launched an attack. I tried to attack Siren while she was avoiding like before. But then. Whoosh- Siren suddenly changed direction 90 degrees. Siren turned 90 degrees and headed upward, and we who were chasing her closely were unable to catch up with her sudden change in direction. And soon I found out. Why did Siren suddenly change direction in the air? – “Tree ahead!! Get out of the way!!” I shouted and immediately stopped in the air. I had been chasing Siren’s huge body and had not noticed the tree ahead of me. Petros also stopped after discovering the tree late, but eventually, unable to overcome inertia, he crashed into the tree. Thud! Petros crashed to the ground with a creepy sound. I quickly landed on the ground and checked on the guy. His bones were broken here and there because he had crashed into the tree at the speed he was flying at. Fortunately, he didn’t die instantly, so it seemed like he would get better quickly if I poured him some elixir. -“Kyaaaaak! Kyaaaaak!”

Siren, who had lured us towards the tree and made us crash into it, squeaked in the air. As if she liked it.

I raised my sword with my right hand to prepare for Siren’s attack, and at the same time, I tore off the elixir with my left hand and poured it into Petros’ mouth.

‘Air combat won’t work? I can’t win against a monster that can fly from birth.’

Siren was a monster born with wings.

In comparison, we had only recently acquired wing items, so we were not very good at air combat.

In the end, we chased after Siren as she lured us to the tree, and this is what we ended up in.

‘Damn, how do I catch a flying monster?’

It was a headache for me, who had never caught a single sparrow.

Even in the midst of all this, Siren flapped her wings in the air and threatened us from time to time.

Even though one of her wings was not in good condition, she was able to fly quite well.

‘I have to think of something. How to catch a bird… … .’

I racked my brain while blocking Siren’s attacks.

To think of a way to catch a bird… a way to catch Siren.

Then an idea occurred to me.

‘Let’s set a trap.’

Let’s set a bird trap.

As soon as I had that thought, I slapped Petros on the cheek and woke him up.

“Get up! Hurry up!”

“Ugh… …”

Petros, who had been unconscious, opened his eyes and looked around.

He seemed to have recovered a lot thanks to the elixir.

Of course, it would have been better to rest more, but since I didn’t have time for that, I immediately shouted with my mouth.

-“Lure the monster somewhere else for a bit!”

-“Lure?”

-“Oh! Go around once. That guy’s wings aren’t fully developed right now, so he won’t be able to catch up. Go around that mountain once, and then come back here!”

While Petros was luring Siren, I planned to prepare a trap.

A bird trap so elaborate that even a bird’s brain would never be able to avoid it.

For that, I explained the strategy to Petros using gestures. I

repeatedly showed him ‘you’, ‘bait’, and ‘big circle’ with gestures, and fortunately, Petros seemed to understand my instructions.

-“Lure it, take it far away, and then come back, right? Understood.”

Petros answered as he did so, then flew up using an item.

Then he shouted at the monster.

-“You little shit!!”

-“Kyaaaaak!!”

As if he understood Petros, Siren screamed.

Petros immediately flew far away to lure Siren, and Siren chased after him. In

that short gap,

I opened my inventory and took out an item.