When the Pope Becomes Competent - Chapter 126



Only Noblemtl

126. Skills You Should Never Use
2024.03.05.

Not friends, but not strangers either.

Yes, there was no word that could describe my relationship with Elodie more accurately.

That’s why I said that, but Dionic’s expression became subtle.

He stared at me for a moment, then suddenly asked,

“What kind of relationship is that?”

“That’s right… .”

I don’t know either. What kind of relationship is ours?

Anyway, one thing was certain: it was definitely not as deep a relationship as Dionic suspected.

“Anyway, what I want to tell you, hyung, is this. Don’t do anything bad to Elodie. If you make her cry, I won’t let you off easy.”

“… … That won’t happen. Never.”

“Yes, you better make sure it never happens. I’m the only bad guy here.”

After hearing what he said, I couldn’t help but tackle him.

“You seem closer to a bad guy than a bad guy.”

“What’s the difference?”

“A bad man is a man who acts cruelly but sways the hearts of women, and a bad guy… should I say he’s closer to a criminal who actually commits crimes?”

Dionik nodded coolly after hearing what I said.

“Really? Then let’s split it half and half. You take the bad guy. I’ll take the bad guy.”

“Okay.”

I think we were talking about Elodie, but when I came to my senses, we were talking about useless things again.

We continued hammering away for a while, brainless.

* * *

Thanks to our intervention, the Morning Star’s Footsteps were repaired much faster.

After about three days, its shabby appearance had been transformed into something quite neat.

And around that time, Luciana and Cheonggwang arrived.

From what I heard, they had completely resolved the dungeon break and had even met the Sage and returned.

Luciana called me aside and told me what she had heard from the Sage.

“That skill… “It’s called a sacrificial skill. It’s a skill that sacrifices itself to seal others forever.”

“Sacrifices?”

“Yes, in exchange for sealing someone, the skill user turns into a monster.”

“… … .”

After hearing that, I said in a firm tone.

“It’s an unusable skill.”

In exchange for sealing someone, the side effect was that the skill caster… namely Luciana… would turn into a ‘monster’.

It was the most shocking skill I’d ever heard of.

I sighed and told Luciana.

“Just pretend that skill doesn’t exist. Never use it, even in dangerous situations.”

“… … .”

“You won’t use it… … ?”

“… … .”

I was quite uneasy because Luciana didn’t answer easily.

For some reason, I had a feeling that if a really strong enemy appeared, she would sacrifice herself and use the skill to seal it.

Luciana would be more than capable of doing that.

I was wondering how I could convince Luciana not to use the skill when a new voice intervened in the conversation.

“Yes, Luciana. Don’t use that skill.”

It was Elodie.

Elodie, who had arrived at some unknown time, was staring at Luciana with sharp eyes from the window.

I clearly thought it was just Luciana and me.

I asked Elodie in absurdity.

“When did you come?”

“I’ve been eavesdropping since you came into this room. Then I climbed in through the window.”

“How can you be so bold as to say you eavesdropped… … .”

“Anyway, Luciana. It would be best not to use that skill.”

Elodie ignored my comment and walked towards us.

To be exact, towards Luciana.

Elodie continued her speech while staring straight at Luciana.

“First of all, we don’t know what kind of monster you’ll turn into after you use that skill. And… I don’t want you to become a monster either.”

Elodie added after saying that.

“You’re the only friend I have.”

I didn’t want to get involved because the atmosphere was so touching, but at that moment, I couldn’t help but intervene.

“You said we were neither friends nor strangers before… Now, are you a friend candidate? If you’re a friend, then you’re a friend. What’s a candidate?”

“I only recognize as friends those I’ve known for over 20 years.”

“… … .”

“Never use that skill.”

I agreed with that part.

Elodie and I stared at Luciana together.

Even though we both kept telling her not to use the skill, Luciana still hadn’t responded.

Luciana, who had been receiving our persistent stares, finally moved her lips.

The corners of Luciana’s lips that moved like that soon formed a soft smile.

“Your Majesty, and my friend candidate Elodie, don’t seem to want me to use the skill… so I won’t use it. Absolutely not.”

“Whew…” Elodie and I both breathed a sigh of relief. We

had finally gotten a promise from this stubborn knight that she wouldn’t sacrifice herself.

* * *

We had also found out the identity of Luciana’s skill, and had also gotten her promise that she would never use it.

On top of that, our ship had been completely repaired.

So we decided to return to the cathedral through a meeting.

Of course, we hadn’t found and defeated the boss monster in the Baronial Territory yet… but there was nothing we could do.

It was impossible to leave the cathedral empty indefinitely until the boss monster appeared.

After telling the Baron, “Contact me whenever the boss monster appears,” we set off together on our way back.

And now, I was standing blankly leaning against the railing of the ghost ship.

Without learning swordsmanship from Grandma Heukwol, I was just blankly standing there.

Cheonggwang approached me quietly, his silver hair fluttering.

“Benefactor, is there something bothering you?”

“That is… …”

I thought about it for a while, and eventually confessed to Cheonggwang.

“The swordsmanship I learned from Grandma Heukwol… I practiced the third form several times, but I can’t use it properly.”

“Oh… …”

“That’s why I can’t even call Grandma right now. I feel ashamed.”

It was just as she said.

I tried to put my heart into it, following Grandma’s words that I had to express my longing in order to use the third form… but it wasn’t easy.

I’ve never really missed anyone in the first place.

So, as I was sighing deeply, Cheong Gwang asked me casually,

“Is there anything I can help you with?”

“Help… … .”

I trailed off and thought for a moment. I wondered

if there was anything I could ask Cheong Gwang for help with.

I thought I could at least ask for advice, so I asked Cheong Gwang casually.

“Have you ever missed someone,

Cheong Gwang?” “Have you ever missed someone… you mean?”

“Yes. To properly use the third form, you have to have longing in your heart, Grandmother Heuk Wol said.”

Cheong Gwang answered without a trace of hesitation.

“Yes, I have.”

“Who did you miss?”

“When I was staying at the temple and taking care of the small village, there was a girl who always came to the temple to pray.”

Cheong Gwang continued to speak with his eyes tightly closed as if recalling the past.

“She was a small and cute child, but the life span of a human is regrettably short.”

The cool night breeze ruffled Cheong Gwang’s silver hair.

He slowly opened his closed eyes and continued speaking softly.

“That little child suddenly became an adult, then an old man, and returned to the embrace of nature. In such a short time.”

“… … .”

“That’s why I missed you so much. I still miss you.”

Yes, compared to a divine being like Cheong-gwang, the life of a human girl must have been fleeting.

I felt like I could understand Cheong-gwang’s sadness a little.

However, I still had difficulty understanding emotions well enough to express my longing in swordsmanship, so I let out a long sigh.

“I wonder if I will ever understand longing like you. I have experienced separation before, but I don’t think I have ever felt that I missed you because I was so busy.”

“Of course, that day will come. And you don’t necessarily have to let someone go to feel longing. Sometimes, even if they are close to me, I miss them very much.”

“Really?”

“Even if we are together now, if I think about how and when we might part ways… Even if we are apart for a very short time, I often feel a longing for them.”

Longing. That is, the feeling of longing to see them

. So longing must be an emotion that comes from the fear that I might never see someone precious.

The reason I can’t feel longing is probably because I’ve never imagined losing my people.

Because I’ve always thought that I’m strong and can always protect my companions.

That’s why I thought that maybe I was having a hard time getting used to longing.

‘Can I imagine losing my precious people right now…?’

I closed my eyes tightly and imagined.

What I would feel if I lost Luciana and the others.

It was then.

“Eun-in, that star over there… doesn’t something seem strange?”

“…?”

After hearing Cheong-gwang’s words, I opened my closed eyes again.

Then, when I looked in the direction Cheong-gwang had pointed, I saw a red star that was actually twinkling strangely.

‘What is that? A shooting star…?’

However, it was a little strange even for a shooting star.

It didn’t fall from the sky to the ground, but rather grew bigger and bigger.

It looked like—

“It seems to be getting closer to me?”

It felt like it was literally coming here.

Cheong-gwang nodded as he watched the star getting bigger.

“I think so too. It’s as if it’s flying towards me….”

Feeling a little ominous, I narrowed my eyes.

And I continued to watch the star getting closer… that strange object.

“… …!!”

As I continued to watch it, I suddenly stepped back.

It was because I had figured out what it was.

“That’s not a shooting star!”

I shouted and then gave Cheong-gwang another order.

“Wake up the group right now! Right now!!”

“Yes!”

Cheong-gwang answered loudly and ran straight into the cabin to wake up the group.

I took advantage of that moment to take out

my sword. To prepare for the mass of flames that was gradually approaching from afar.

And when all the group finally came out onto the deck, the mass of flames had gotten closer to us.

Dionic shouted at the sight of the mass of flames that had gotten closer.

“It’s a monster, right?!” It

was just as Dionic had said.

It looked like a star at first glance because it was far away, but it was a monster. It was

a bird-shaped monster that was spewing flames from its entire body.

And the ‘bird-shaped monster swinging flames all over its body’ was the only one I knew of.

I suppressed my despair as much as I could and told the group in a calm tone.

“That must be Phoenix. A Phoenix that has fallen and become a monster.”

The last monster in the dungeon that we could not defeat.

The final boss of the dungeon, much stronger than Siren.

Phoenix appeared before our eyes.