When the Pope Becomes Competent - Chapter 129



Only Noblemtl

129. The Kidnapped Emperor
2024.03.08.

“Tell me again, what happened to the palace?”

I asked, still unable to believe the news I had just heard from Toma.

Toma bit his lips and barely managed to tell me.

“The palace… has been taken over by monsters. His Majesty the Emperor has gone missing.”

“… … .”

I hadn’t misheard. It was true that the Emperor… Ernen had gone missing.

While I was frozen in shock, Toma continued.

“According to eyewitness accounts, ever since His Majesty went on a business trip to another territory, strange things have been happening in the palace. They say they’ve heard the roar of a monster coming from somewhere… … .”

“… … .”

“Then this morning, a crack suddenly appeared in space, and monsters poured out from there… That’s what I heard.”

“… … .”

“Most of the palace staff have evacuated, but His Majesty the Emperor and his guards are missing.”

Crack. Monster. Occupation. Many words floated around in my head.

I slowly collected my thoughts.

‘They didn’t invade from the outside, but monsters suddenly poured out from within?’

If that were true, it would have been difficult for the palace to respond. They

would have been thoroughly prepared for an invasion by foreign forces, but who would have thought they would be attacked from within?

That must have been why they were occupied so quietly.

‘This time, it must have been the work of the Erased Ones. They probably planned to attack the palace and the cathedral at the same time.’

That must have been their plan.

However, the cathedral was safe because our group moved first and defeated the monsters, but the palace didn’t seem to be able to do that.

Since they said the monsters poured out from within, even the high-level Awakened ones would have been helpless and unable to deal with them.

At that moment, the office door opened wide and Bliss came inside.

“Your Majesty, Ernen—”

“I know. I just heard the news.”

I gestured to Bliss, who seemed a little excited, to calm down.

Then I said in a firm voice,

“Let’s go to the palace right now.”

* * *

While preparing to go to the palace, I heard more detailed news.

Two dungeons that we had not yet cleared. It was said that a dungeon break had occurred there as well.

The problem was that the monsters that had appeared due to the dungeon break had all disappeared overnight.

The disappeared monsters… … .

And the palace suddenly occupied by monsters… … .

When I thought about it that far, I thought I knew where the monsters that had disappeared from the dungeons had gone.

It was clear that someone had used a skill that distorted space and released the monsters that had appeared due to the dungeon break into the palace.

In any case, time was of the essence.

I spread my wings with my party, looking very nervous.

Our destination was, of course, the palace.

* * *

Ernen, who had lost consciousness, slowly opened his closed eyes.

He looked down at his body, tightly tied to the throne.

His head was dizzy as if he had been hit, his body was tightly bound with rope, and his mouth was gagged.

Not long after waking up, he thought back on the situation with a dazed head.

‘How did it end up like this… … .’

It had certainly been peaceful until this morning.

Recently, several servants and maids had said that they had heard the roar of a monster, but… he had not thought much about

it. Since monsters could not be heard in the palace, he thought that he had simply misheard them due to fatigue.

However, this morning, during a royal meeting, a strange crack suddenly appeared in the first audience room.

At first, he did not know what it was.

It was just that something like a sparkling liquid appeared in the air, so he thought that he had seen it wrong because of a foreign substance in his eye.

The seriousness of the situation began to be felt when one of the ministers shouted during the royal meeting.

– “It’s a monster!!”

At the shout of that unknown substitute, ugly monsters began to burst out from the cracks that sparkled in the air.

The three monsters that poured out killed all the substitutes in an instant and even threw the guards into their stomachs.

There was no time to run away.

Everything happened so quickly.

And when everyone there had fled or been killed and Ernen was left alone in front of the monster, he thought.

I will soon be in the monster’s stomach too.

It was then. A ‘person’, not a monster, walked out of the crack.

– “There’s a kid that’s good to use as a hostage.”

The man who walked out of the crack said that while looking at Ernen.

A kid that’s good to use as a hostage… I didn’t know exactly what that meant, but I thought I knew one thing.

Unlike those who died earlier, I would be able to survive.

As expected, the man continued.

– “Don’t worry. If you stay still, I’ll kill you.”

After that, the man clenched his fist and hit Ernen in the face with it.

He lost consciousness from the shock, and when he woke up, he was in this situation.

‘Yeah, he called me a hostage. What’s the hostage for?’

In any case, he couldn’t stay tied up like this forever.

Ernen tried to move his arms as hard as he could to break free.

However, as an unawakened being, it wasn’t easy to break free of the restraints with his body that didn’t even have decent skills.

It was when he was wriggling his body over and over again.

Woo-woong―

A strange sound was heard, and another crack appeared in the air.

The one who emerged from there was the white-haired man who had struck Ernen in the face earlier.

The man’s pitch-black eyes turned to Ernen.

Ernen gritted his teeth as he glared at those eyes.

‘You possess the skill to distort space… … . You released monsters into the palace with that ability… … !’

“Woof, wow!” Ernen groaned through his gagged mouth as he protested.

The man who appeared, Julian, smiled unexpectedly and kindly at Ernen.

“Calm down. I came to tell you good news.”

Julian’s voice was very affectionate.

While Ernen was bewildered by that affectionate voice, Julian approached him.

Then he patted Ernen’s head with an equally affectionate hand.

“It seems the Pope is coming here. Is that all well?”

For a moment, he spoke in such a kind and gentle tone that he wondered, “Is he a good person?”

Even though he knew that a human who appeared with a monster could never be a good person, he did so.

However, the moment he heard Julian’s words that followed, Ernen regretted thinking that he might be a good person, even for a moment.

“I think we’ll be able to capture the Pope and make him ours soon.”

“Bow, bow!! Bow!!”

Capturing the Pope, Nickelus.

Ernen, who had learned of the situation, struggled with his tied body and rebelled.

Julian’s face turned cold in an instant when he saw that.

“… … I thought I told you to be quiet… Do you need education?”

“… … .”

“It’s nothing. Just be quiet. Until I capture the Pope.”

“… … .”

Ernen clenched his fists in anger.

This was not the time to be held captive like this.

There was nothing he could do right now.

Not wanting to admit that fact, he struggled even harder.

Until the ropes binding his wrists dug into his skin and blood oozed out.

Julian clicked his tongue as he looked at Ernen’s swollen wrists.

“You won’t calm down. If you keep struggling, you’ll get hurt.

I guess you’ll need education.” Julian lowered his body as he spoke meaningfully.

After he matched Ernen’s eye level like that, he activated his skill.

“… … .”

“… … .”

The skill that activated while they were staring at each other in silence, “Education (L).”

It was a skill that brainwashed anyone who made eye contact into a puppet.

Ernen, who had fallen for the skill, stared at Julian as if waiting for an order.

Julian smiled faintly and then gave Ernen an order.

“You need to stay quiet.”

“… … .”

Ernen’s body sagged at that order.

Without even the slightest movement, still.

Julian, who confirmed that Ernen was properly caught in the skill, smiled and began preparing to welcome Nickelus who would come soon.

* * *

The situation where he arrived in front of the imperial palace leading his comrades and the Holy Knights.

Contrary to expectations, the imperial palace was extremely quiet.

The sounds of monsters could be heard occasionally, but that was it.

It was to the point where it was impossible to find anything strange from outside the palace.

So before storming the imperial palace, I took a moment to discuss the strategy with my comrades.

“Bliss, you said there is a secret room in the imperial palace where you can hide in case of an enemy invasion, right?”

“That’s right. If Ernen is safe, there’s a high chance that he’s hiding in that secret room.”

“Then it would be best to look for that place as soon as we enter the palace. Here’s a map showing the location of the secret room—”

“Here, I’ve prepared it.”

Originally, the secret places where the royal family hide were not even known to the royal vassals, so we almost didn’t know where they were.

Fortunately, Bliss, who had learned about the secret room when he was the crown prince, drew a map of its location for us and showed it to us.

I memorized the palace perspective drawing of the secret room’s location in my head.

“One in the first audience room, and one in His Majesty the Emperor’s bedroom… … . Two groups in total. Let’s split into two teams and search both rooms at the same time.”

After saying that, I continued with my instructions.

“The dreamers, follow me to His Majesty’s bedroom. Then, Bliss, take Cheonggwang and Petros and search for the first audience room. Luciana, lead the Holy Knights and take out any monsters you see in the palace.”

“Yes!”

The group answered with a loud voice.

After that, we each dispersed in our respective directions as we had planned.

Bliss, Cheonggwang, and Petros to the first audience room.

Luciana went with the Holy Knights to the first banquet hall of the palace.

Then, the Mongma siblings and I flew to the third floor of the main palace.

Clang!

We entered the third floor of the hallway, shattering the glass window.

Elodie and Dionique looked at the front of the hallway first, and I also quickly looked at the back of the hallway.

There were no monsters.

However, we could not rest assured.

I stared at Ernen’s bedroom at the end of the hallway and muttered quietly.

“I hope His Majesty is safe in that room… … .”

Elodie nodded after hearing my muttering.

“He must be hiding safely. He must have gone to the secret room and hid as soon as the monster popped out. Or he must have hidden in the room near the audience room.”

“I hope so. Should we go in now?”

I said that and stood in front of Ernen’s bedroom with careful steps.

And I opened the door wide.

I was determined not to be surprised even if a monster jumped out.

But―

“Huh… …?”

There was no monster there.

It wasn’t like there was a normal bedroom waiting for me either.

As soon as I opened the door, I was surprised by the scenery that unfolded, so I stopped and muttered.

“Why is there a forest here… …?”
　

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