When the Pope Becomes Competent - Chapter 149



Only Noblemtl

149. Why are you speaking like that, Spirit King?
2024.03.28.

When I asked if the Spirit King would like this place, the spirits widened their eyes in surprise for a moment.

Then they started chattering away again.

“Are you going to summon the Spirit King?”

“It’ll be hard… … .”

“People with low spirit affinity have a really hard time summoning him!”

I asked, bewildered after hearing the spirits’ outburst.

“Spirit affinity… … ?”

The spirits nodded and continued to explain to me.

“There’s something called spirit affinity. If it’s low, you have to pay a lot of money to summon the Spirit King. On the other hand, if your spirit affinity is high, you only have to use a little strength.”

“Your spirit affinity is low.”

“That’s why you might collapse if you summon the Spirit King!”

I realized why I had been consuming so much divine power just by summoning low-level spirits.

I was a human with low spirit affinity.

“It’s okay. Even if your spirit affinity is low, you can still summon them… …? Since you have enough divine power, you can solve the lack of spirit affinity by pouring out all your divine power.” When I

said that, the spirits shut their mouths as if they were shocked.

They seemed to think that it was an overly simplistic and ignorant solution.

I took advantage of their silence to ask them again.

“More importantly, tell me if the Spirit King would like this place or not.”

After hearing my question, the spirits looked around the greenhouse and said.

“The location is nice.”

“It would be even better if there was some sweet fruit wine.”

“Now that you’ve answered, can you pull out my hair?”

For some reason, the spirits were obsessed with my hair.

Anyway, since I had heard everything I had to say, I let them pull out my hair. Since

I had heard this and that, I could at least give them my hair in exchange.

Feeling my hair being plucked out like that, I gave instructions to Toma, who was nearby.

“Did you hear what I just said? The Spirit King seems to like alcohol, so bring me all the types of fruit wines that the sect keeps.”

Since I didn’t know what he would like, I planned to stock up on everything I had.

Soon, Toma ran out of the greenhouse to bring the fruit wine.

I drank the elixir while he was there to fully replenish my divine power.

I needed to fully replenish my divine power in order to summon the Spirit King.

When I emptied the entire bottle of elixir, Luciana, who was nearby, asked in a quiet voice.

“Your Majesty, are you okay? The spirits just said. You might collapse.”

“I won’t die, right? Watch me from the side, and when my face turns pale as if I’m going to die, pour me the elixir.”

“… … .”

When I asked her to pour me the elixir when my face turns pale, Luciana seemed speechless and kept her mouth shut.

His lips twitched as if he was going to say something more, but in the end, all he could do was sigh.

It seemed that he had decided to adapt to my old-fashioned way of doing things.

In the meantime, colorful fruit wines were prepared in the greenhouse.

The elixirs had filled his divine powers.

Without further delay, I took the spirit summoning ticket in my hand.

“Okay, now tear it.”

When I said that to the group, they all began to stare at the spirit summoning ticket with tense eyes.

I slowly tore the ticket under their gaze.

Jiik—

A bright light began to flow out from the torn summoning ticket.

It was a signal that the spirit summoning skill contained in the summoning ticket had been activated.

What on earth would the king of spirits look like?

I held my pounding heart and waited for his appearance.

Wooooow— Wooooow—

The natural energy that had spread throughout the space began to vibrate strangely.

The natural energy that I had not been able to sense before was now vividly felt.

At the same time, green lights that were as tender as sprouts slowly gathered in the air.

Everyone was looking at me with amazement at that sight.

“… …!!”

I clutched my chest and fell to the floor.

In exchange for summoning the Spirit King, a large amount of… really large amounts of divine power was completely consumed in an instant.

The divine power, or life energy, disappeared in an instant.

I collapsed before I could even react.

“Your Majesty!!”

“Nike!!”

Luciana and Rubin, who were right nearby, called out to me and supported me as I fell.

Luciana, who checked my complexion, quickly opened a bottle of elixir and poured it into my mouth.

As the elixir went down my throat and filled my stomach, I felt my worn-out vitality slowly rising.

‘I didn’t know my divine power would be consumed to this extent. I almost died… … .’

I had expected my divine power to be greatly consumed, but when I actually experienced it, it wasn’t just a dangerous level.

The divine power that had been overflowing throughout my body evaporated in an instant, and I almost died on the spot. It

was fortunate that I had the elixir.

After I recovered somewhat thanks to the elixir, Luciana immediately asked,

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, but what happened to the Spirit King?”

“Well, something is forming in the air… … .”

I sat up and examined the air Luciana had pointed to.

Just as she had said, I could still see a halo of light gathering in the air.

It slowly… very slowly moved, gradually forming a human form.

It’s a bit slow… … ? I thought to myself.

The voice that came from the halo of light was,

“Who called you?”

It was a young woman’s voice.

I stared blankly at the halo of light from which the voice came.

The gathered lights had transformed into a complete human figure at some point.

However, even though it was in the shape of a human, it was very small, about 20cm in size.

Also, like the other spirits, it had transparent dragonfly wings on its back, and it was wearing a pink dress made of flower petals.

Golden hair that looked like it had been soaked in honey and amber eyes… …

While the group was amazed at the appearance of the spirit that seemed to come out of a fairy tale, the spirit king asked again.

“Who called you? Is it you, the one with blonde hair? Since you have the highest divine power, I think you called me?”

“Uh… Yes, I called you.”

As I said that absentmindedly, the spirit king flew in front of me, fluttering his wings.

Then he began to look me over as if he found me strange.

“You’re a human, but you have divine power that doesn’t seem human. Are you the famous last apostle?”

“Yes, that’s true… … Why are you speaking like that, Your Majesty? I’m also the Pope, so let’s be polite to each other… … .”

“I don’t know about the etiquette that humans have created on their own. There’s no such thing among spirits. I’ll speak as I please.”

“… … .”

I was flustered, but when I thought about it, I understood.

Speaking respectfully to others and such things were just etiquette created by humans.

It didn’t seem like the spirits, who lived in nature, cut off from human society, would have such stuffy etiquette.

“Okay, I’ll speak as I please.”

“Okay. But why did you call me?”

“Oh, it’s not something else—”

I looked around at the group, then said to the Spirit King.

“Please give us a blessing. They said we need your blessing to go to the missionary world.”

“Hmm… … .”

“Will you do it?”

After hearing my question, the Spirit King just looked back at me in silence.

She lifted my hair and sniffed my neck to smell my body. (…)

After examining me in such a unique way for a while, she suddenly said,

“I’ll give you a blessing. But there’s a condition.”

“Condition…? What is it?”

“Make a contract with me.”

When I stared at her in confusion, she answered me in a slightly angry tone for some reason.

“Make a contract? Do you know how great it is to make a contract with me? You shouldn’t just sit there blankly, you should cheer!”

“No, that contract…?”

“You’ve probably heard a lot about humans who make contracts with spirits. If you make a contract, you can call me whenever you want in exchange for your divine power. Then I’ll be summoned and help you.”

I nodded.

A contract with a spirit wasn’t much different from what I knew.

I give my divine power in exchange, and the spirit who receives it provides labor… That was the contract with a spirit.

However, I had another question.

“Why do you want to make a contract with me?”

“Because I find you interesting.”

The Spirit King added, as if he felt that that wasn’t enough of an explanation.

“You are the last apostle chosen by the last god. You are a unique being, unparalleled among humans. I wanted to watch the history you create from the side.”

“Ah.”

“Of course, that’s not the only reason. I like your aura, your scent, and your appearance.”

“… … That’s an honest reason.”

Liking your aura, your scent, and your appearance.

It was an honesty that could not be found in humans.

Anyway, after the Spirit King listed all the reasons why he liked me, he became irritated again.

“Are you going to do it or not? Contract.”

“I will. If only I can be blessed before I go to the missionary world.”

“Okay. Then… … .”

The Spirit King held out his hand to me, cutting off his words.

I was dumbfounded because I couldn’t understand the meaning of his actions, and she became irritated again.

“You have to kiss the back of my hand! According to the contract procedure!”

“I didn’t know it was a procedure.”

“Tsk, a contractor who has to tell you everything… … . It’s really annoying. But I can’t help it because I like you. I’ll put up with it.”

Should I be grateful for her generosity(?)? … .

Anyway, I pressed my lips to the back of the Spirit King’s small hand according to the contract procedure.

Since her hand was so small, I had to be careful not to crush it against my lips.

Pfft.

As I kissed her hand, which was smaller than my fingers, the mysterious light green I had seen earlier burst out from the backs of our hands at the same time.

The light drew a complex pattern like a magic circle, then quickly seeped into my skin and disappeared.

It felt like a brand that was a sign of a contract was engraved on me.

I felt a strange feeling and rubbed the back of my hand where the light had flowed out.

In the meantime, the Spirit King continued his explanation.

“With this, the contract is complete. Whenever you need my help, call my name. Then I will appear by your side.”

“What is your name?”

“Valeria. And you?”

“I’m Nickelus.”

That’s how we finished our introductions.

After that, I asked Valeria, who had become my contract spirit(?),

“Then please bless us now.”

“Okay. Line up one by one in front of me.”

Up until then, I had no idea how blessings were bestowed.

I thought it would be enough to simply pat someone on the head and say something fancy.

Valeria completely shattered my expectations.

“If anyone annoys you, I won’t let that happen. On my name.”

Valeria blessed Dionik, who was the first in line, with those words.

“May your future be blessed with glory,” or “May God bless you.” These weren’t normal blessings.

I felt a little bewildered and said to Valeria.

“You blessed me…?”

“Yeah. I just blessed that pink-haired guy with my own power. Didn’t you see

that?” “No, I did… What’s with the blessing?”

“I don’t know about these arbitrarily made-up etiquette things humans do! I’ll bless you with

whatever words I want!” Valeria screamed before continuing to bless Elodie, who was next in line.

“If anyone bothers you, I’ll kick their ass.”

Of course, this blessing was incredibly bizarre again.

I could only watch in silence, speechless.