When the Pope Becomes Competent - Chapter 159



Only Noblemtl

159. The group’s nursing is excessive.
2024.04.07.

The location of a rock called ‘Skull Rock’ was marked on the map.

And there was also the word ‘Exit’ written on it.

It seemed that if you went there, you could escape the second labyrinth.

However, I couldn’t understand the word ‘Treasure’ written next to it.

“What kind of treasure… … Anyway, we know where the exit is, so is that okay? For now, let’s move toward the exit. By the way, there are a lot of monsters flying around in the sky, so it would be better to walk instead of flying.”

When I said that, the group nodded in agreement.

Now that we knew our destination and had a consensus, there was no need to hesitate any longer.

We soon began to walk toward the dense jungle.

Step by step. Step by step.

Because of the high temperature and humid air, the group was silent. We

just quietly moved our legs.

‘It’s hot. I should roll up my sleeves.’

There were a lot of mosquitoes and other flying bugs, but there was nothing we could do.

It wasn’t the kind of temperature where I could walk around wrapped up in long sleeves.

I rolled up my sleeves and continued walking, slashing away leaves like a hundred-flowered moon for the group following behind me.

After about two hours of slashing away leaves, Dionik, who was following behind, asked,

“Should I go first? Isn’t it hard to keep slashing away leaves with my sword?”

“It’s okay, just follow me.”

“You should get some rest too.”

“Are you really okay… ugh.”

The moment I was about to say that I was really okay, I felt a tingling pain on my forearm.

I immediately examined my forearm where the pain was.

I saw a small mark, like a bug bite.

“What is it…?”

Dionik asked as I looked at my forearm in confusion.

“What’s wrong?”

“I think you got bitten by a bug. It stings.”

“There are a lot of bugs here. Roll up your sleeves. You’re going to get bitten.”

Since it was just a bug bite, Dionik didn’t seem to care much.

I was the same. I just thought it was a large mosquito and ignored it.

It was about 30 minutes later that I realized how serious the situation was.

“Gasp, gasp… …”

About 30 minutes after being bitten, I suddenly started to have trouble breathing.

At the same time, I felt dizzy.

I couldn’t hold out any longer and sat down with my back against a nearby tree.

I belatedly rolled up my sleeve and examined the bug bite.

“Damn… …”

The skin around the bug bite was swollen.

Even the color of my skin was unusual.

It had turned blue, as if poison had spread.

Rubin, who saw my arm, was startled and flapped his tail.

“Nike!! What bit you?!”

“I don’t… know. What bit me earlier… must have been a poisonous bug.”

There are many poisonous plants and animals in the jungle, so I should have been careful, but my thinking was short.

As I was panting like that, Luciana immediately opened her inventory.

“I’ll give you the elixir.”

“No, that’s fine.”

I took a moment to catch my breath and continued speaking to Luciana.

“Once we get to the missionary realm, the elixir… gasp, gasp… won’t be available. We should save it until then.”

“But… … .”

“I’ll try to do something with the new skill I just acquired. I can’t use it right now because the cooldown hasn’t ended yet.”

The new skill was quite useful, but because it was an A-class skill, there was a slight drawback.

The cooldown time between using the skill once and using it again was long.

Since I had already used the skill once in the ant hole earlier, I had to wait another 3~4 hours to use it again.

I took out a handkerchief and wrapped my arm tightly to prevent the poison from spreading.

I don’t know if it was the right way to treat it, but I think I saw in a book that this is how you treat a poisonous snake bite.

“Until I can use my skill again… Let’s rest here for a moment… …” As soon

as I said that, my companions immediately started cutting down obstacles nearby.

After cutting off branches and other things to make a place to rest, they cut down several large leaves and laid them on the ground.

After that, they made me lie down on the leaves.

As I lay down on the leaves, I saw the companions’ worried faces.

They didn’t say anything and just looked at my face.

“Hey… isn’t it a little burdensome? It’s just a bug bite, so just rest comfortably.”

“How can you rest comfortably when your benefactor has turned this pale? Wouldn’t it be better to drink that elixir?”

“No. We don’t know what kind of battle we’ll have in the future, so we can’t waste it like that.”

When I firmly answered Cheong-gwang’s words, Dionic spoke this time.

“Then drink the high-grade potion.”

“No, that would be a waste—”

“I don’t know. I’ll just pour it into my mouth.”

Dionic declared war(?) and ripped open the high-grade potion.

Then he really opened my mouth forcibly and started pouring the potion into it.

“Ugh! Ugh! Hey, it’s all going into my nose!”

“It would have been better if you just quietly took it and drank it.”

Dionic shamelessly responded to my protest.

Still, after drinking the high-grade potion, the swelling went down a lot.

The shortness of breath had also subsided.

In the meantime, Cheonggwang created cold water out of thin air.

Then, Luciana soaked a handkerchief in the water and wiped my sweaty forehead and cheeks.

Her touch felt good, but I also felt a little sorry, so I grabbed Luciana’s hand and stopped her.

“… … You don’t have to do this.”

“If I were sick, His Majesty would have done the same thing.”

“Well, that’s true, but… … .”

“Shh. My forehead is hot. It seems like my fever is rising, so please rest quietly.”

I closed my eyes quietly, fearing that I would be nagged if I said more.

I liked the feeling

of the cold towel brushing against my skin. The unidentified sounds of birds and insects from far away felt pleasant at the moment.

It was the moment when I briefly forgot that this place was a ‘labyrinth.’ The strange sound I heard was… Grrrrrr

… … .

As soon as I heard the sound, I instinctively knew that it was not the sound of an ordinary animal.

Without thinking, I got up from my seat.

“Did you just hear that? There’s a monster nearby.”

“Yes, I heard that too.”

Luciana said, and for some reason, she pressed my shoulder and made me lie down on the floor again.

Luciana spoke to me in her usual calm voice, bewildered.

“Your Majesty, stay here. We’ll take care of it ourselves.”

“Just you two?”

“From what I’ve heard, it doesn’t seem to be that big of a monster. It’s okay if we go by ourselves.”

Luciana answered and then called Elodie.

“Elodie, Dionique. Stay here and protect Your Majesty. The rest of you, follow me and go hunt the monster.”

When Luciana said that, Cheonggwang and Rubin got up from their seats to follow her.

Dionique and Elodie stayed by my side as if to protect me, just as Luciana had said.

I quickly called out to Luciana.

“Wait a minute. It’s too dangerous. I’ll go with you.”

“Nickelus.”

It was Elodie who stopped me from getting up with such a firm voice.

Elodie pressed my shoulders like Luciana had done and laid me back down on the leaves.

Then she said in a soft voice,

“You’re not as weak as you worry.”

“… … .”

At that point, I had no choice but to give up following Luciana. If

I were to force myself to follow Luciana and her party, it would be an act of ignoring them.

Lying back down on the leaves, I tried to calm my anxious mind.

‘Yeah, they’ll take care of it. If I follow them because I’m sick, I’ll just be a bother.’

With that thought, I forced myself to relax.

In the meantime, the sound of Luciana, Cheonggwang, and Rubin’s footsteps grew farther and farther away.

Thump thump.

They went off to hunt monsters, stepping on the damp earth.

“… … .”

Even after Luciana and her party had completely left, I continued to listen in that direction.

I had decided to trust their strength, but I couldn’t easily shake off my worries.

As I kept glancing in the direction they were headed, Elodie asked.

“Are you worried?”

“… … .”

“Then, should we wait while making a bet?”

“… … What kind of bet?”

Elodie explained simply in response to my question.

“Whether Luciana will come back after successfully hunting monsters, or whether she will ask for our help.”

“What kind of bet is that… … .”

“I’ll bet on ‘She’ll hunt well and come back.’ I trust her.”

Elodie didn’t seem to think that Luciana would have a hard time hunting monsters.

It must have been the trust they had built up while fighting together.

Perhaps that’s why she continued to speak with confidence.

“If I win, do me one favor. If you win, I’ll do one favor for you. What do you think?”

I hesitated for a moment and nodded.

“… … Okay. I’ll do it, that bet. I’ll bet on Luciana ‘asking for help soon.’”

With that, I continued to talk about the important part.

“If I win, I’ll run to Luciana right away, so don’t stop me. That’s my request.”

If I won the bet, they wouldn’t hold me back anymore.

So I accepted the bet to go help Luciana.

Elodie nodded, and soon Dionique said,

“Okay, let’s just watch. Let’s see if Sister Luciana, Cheonggwang, and Rubin can handle the monsters on their own.”

After that, I waited with my ears pricked up. So

that I could run out right away if I heard a cry for help.

At that moment,

crunch-!

I heard the sound of a huge tree collapsing.

It seemed like the fight was getting fiercer.

I got up halfway out of worry, but Elodie grabbed my shoulder.

“You don’t have to go. You didn’t yell for help.”

“The fight seems to be getting fiercer… … .”

“Of course it will be fierce. Are you going to be quiet while fighting monsters?”

“… … .”

When she said that, I had nothing to say.

I held onto my impatience and waited for them to return safely.

After about five minutes,

rustling, rustling.

I heard the sound of something moving through the bushes and approaching.

I tensely stared in the direction of the sound.

“Luciana… … ?”

There was no answer to my call.

Could it be a monster? What happened to Luciana?

While all sorts of thoughts were running through my head, Elodie and Dionique stood in front of me.

And I took an attack stance. So that I could attack at any moment if the monster was approaching.

While I waited tensely like that, the owner of the voice finally came out of the forest shadows.