When the Pope Becomes Competent - Chapter 162



Only Noblemtl

162. Let’s tame a mountain goat.
2024.04.10.

Dionik expressed his doubts after hearing my words.

“A usable mount? What are you talking about?”

“Just follow me for now.”

After saying that, I took the lead and started climbing the mountain.

After a few minutes, I was able to find what I expected on the ground.

“Look at this.”

The group looked at the ground I pointed at after hearing my words.

Elodie said in a puzzled tone.

“A footprint? A monster…? It looks like a mountain goat’s footprint.”

“Good job. This is the footprint of a ‘Gruta Mountain Goat’.”

“Gruta Mountain Goat…?”

I nodded to Elodie and continued to explain.

“Do you see those eagle-like creatures flying in the sky? There are always Gruta Mountain Goats in their habitat. Gruta Mountain Goats are their staple food.”

Rubin, who was listening, asked.

“So you’re saying that there’s a Gruta ram or something living here?”

“Yes. I can confirm it because there are footprints. And Gruta rams are huge and easy to tame, so they make great mounts in these mountains.”

“That’s what I meant when I said we might be able to get a mount.”

I nodded to Rubin and continued.

“Let’s split up and look for the rams here instead of going up the mountain. They’ll be nearby. When you find them, don’t approach them carelessly and call me right away.”

After saying that, I added as a final word.

“Gruta rams can only be tamed using a special method.”

* * *

After that, we split into three teams according to my suggestion and started searching for the rams.

I teamed up with Dionik and explored the area.

While we were searching for Gruta ram footprints, Dionik suddenly said,

“You know a lot of interesting things, hyung. I didn’t even know there was something like a Gruta ram. Is that knowledge you learned in the world a thousand years later?”

“Well, that’s right.”

As Dionik said, the knowledge about the Gruta goat was knowledge I learned before I was possessed by this world.

At the time, I was hunting monsters in dungeons to make money quickly, and I also occasionally worked part-time selling potions to users.

That’s why I often went into the mountains to look for herbs.

Since I could easily go around the mountains and look for herbs by riding the Gruta goat, I knew how to tame the goat.

After hearing my answer, Dionik suddenly asked,

“When are you planning on revealing that you’re from the future?”

“… … .”

“Does Sister Luciana know?”

What should I say?

I hesitated and then told Dionik,

“You can’t reveal it yet. If you reveal it now, everyone will be divided. At the very least, you should reveal it after getting rid of Romun.”

“That’s true. Or—”

Dionik paused for a moment and looked straight at me.

“Or how about never revealing it for the rest of your life?”

“… … .”

“I don’t think Sister Luciana will be able to accept the truth that my brother is from the future… or something like that. It wouldn’t be a bad choice to just keep it a secret for the rest of my life.”

Dionik was right.

If she found out that I wasn’t the real Nickelus, but a completely different person from the future, Luciana would be shocked. She

could have drawn her sword and pointed it at me. She could have demanded that I lie to her. So

it would be right for me to keep the secret until the end, but—

“No, that’s not right. I have to tell you, someday.”

After all, it wasn’t right to keep Luciana, Delsi, and the others forever.

Right now, I had to keep the secret because I had to fight for the world, but someday, I would have to tell the whole truth.

“If I keep hiding the truth, it would be fooling everyone.”

“If that’s what you want, then I can’t help it. But know this. Even if everyone hears the truth and turns away from you, I will still be the same.”

“… … Why are you saying such out of place things? Have you suddenly become mature?”

“I said that because I was worried you’d be upset, so is that the way you should respond?”

I smiled apologetically at Dionik, who seemed upset.

The guy wasn’t really upset, because he immediately started laughing along with me.

While we were talking about this and that, we were searching the mountain.

“Ah, I found it. The Gruta goat.”

I whispered and quickly hid behind a tree.

In front of me, I could see several Gruta goats grazing.

Dionik, who had also found the goats, asked me,

“Shall I call the party?”

“Yes, I’ll be preparing something here, so call everyone.”

“Okay.”

Dionik quickly left to call the party.

I took the opportunity to wander around the area and graze.

I wasn’t just picking up anything.

The plants I was looking for were fragrant plants with yellow flowers the size of a baby’s fingernail.

I had picked so many that I could barely hold them in my hand, when Dionik brought the party over.

“Your Majesty, I heard you found the goats.”

“Yes, they’re over there. But before you go, take this first.”

I said and handed Luciana the plant I had just picked.

I then handed out three flowers to each of the other party members.

Elodie asked, looking puzzled.

“What’s this?”

“Tribute to the goats.”

“Tribute?”

I nodded and continued my explanation.

“It’s very difficult to simply capture and tame a Gruta goat. Its wild nature still remains. However—”

After saying that, I waved the plant that I had given to the group in small portions in front of their eyes.

“If you give it to them, they will become very docile. The ingredients in this plant make the goat docile. Then, it will be very easy to tame them.”

The group nodded after hearing my explanation.

Then I said to them,

“I’ll show you first, so watch from behind.”

After that, I approached the herd of goats while making quiet footsteps. As expected

, they looked nervous when I appeared. I

approached them carefully, using my experience taming goats before I became possessed.

And when I got close enough to touch their arms,

“Shhh. Are you good?”

I said and slowly held the flower out toward the goat’s snout.

The one I chose was the largest in the group, and it looked quite strong.

Perhaps it would not budge even if I carried it up the mountain.

“… … .”

The goat did not make a sound and just stuck its nose forward.

Then it sniffed the flower I held out.

I thought that soon it would not be able to stand this delicious(?) flower smell and would chew and eat it.

However—

sniff, sniff.

The one I chose was particularly suspicious, so it kept sniffing and smelling the flower.

Usually, it would let

its guard down and eat the flower at this point. I calmly waited for the animal to lose its guard.

And then finally.

‘It ate… … !’

The goat finally took a bite of the food I held out.

I waited for it to chew and swallow the grass.

And when it had finished chewing the grass, I carefully climbed onto its back.

“That’s enough… … !”

I said in a low voice so as not to startle the other goats, and then I spoke to the group.

“Did you all see what I did? This is how you tame it.”

“Amazing!” Dionik shouted as he approached the goat first.

He approached the other goat next to the one I tamed and fed it grass.

He also succeeded in taming the goat right away.

In this way, each of us approached the goat carefully, one by one, and soon all of us could become ‘Gruta goat riders.

’ “Everyone got on?”

Everyone nodded to my question.

After confirming that they were all on the goat, I shouted.

“Let’s go!”

After shouting that and slapping the goat’s butt, the goat started to run.

I grabbed the goat’s horns with both hands like a car steering wheel and steered the direction.

Knock knock knock.

The sound of the goat’s sturdy legs and hooves hitting the ground echoed cheerfully.

The exit of the labyrinth was quickly approaching.

* * *

We rode the goat down the mountain for a long time.

It would have been nice if we had just arrived at the exit of the labyrinth… but unfortunately, it started to rain in the middle.

It was getting dark, so we ended up stopping and going into a nearby cave to take shelter from the rain.

As soon as we entered the cave, Elodie said,

“It’s cold… … . Our clothes are all wet from the rain… … .”

Everyone in the group had damp faces because their clothes were soaked in the rain.

Fortunately, I had gathered some dry firewood before the rain started pouring down, so I quickly lit a fire with it.

After that, I suggested to the group,

“Let’s all sit close together so that we don’t lose body heat. Give me your wet clothes. I’ll dry them over the fire.”

Still, thanks to the quick shelter from the rain, our clothes weren’t completely soaked.

I placed the group’s coats near the fire to dry them, and sat in front of it to warm my body.

Elodie sat close to Luciana as if she was cold, and Dionic and Cheong-gwang… sat close to me.

They were so close that there was no space between them.

“… … Aren’t we too close?”

“My brother told us to sit close to him.”

“That’s what happened, but… … .”

Thanks to Dionic and Cheong-gwang sitting on either side of me, I wasn’t cold.

The problem was that I didn’t feel good when the grown men clung to me.

In the meantime, Rubin shook off his body and sat on my lap, so I was completely surrounded by the group.

‘It’s still warm.’

I quietly closed my eyes while surrounded by the group.

The sound of raindrops falling steadily was pleasant. The moderate

warmth was also transmitted.

The fatigue that had piled up heavily suddenly rushed in.

I briefly closed my eyes that I had been forcibly keeping open and fell into a light sleep.

“Your Majesty, Your Majesty!”

I opened my eyes again when I heard Luciana call me.

She was gently shaking my shoulder and calling me.

What happened? I was in a light sleep, so I quickly opened my eyes and looked around.

The group was all in a deep sleep .

Rubin was sitting on my lap, and Cheonggwang and Dionik were each leaning on my shoulders and sleeping.

Seeing how peaceful they looked at first glance, I looked at Luciana who had woken me up and asked.

“What’s going on?”

“I can sense a presence outside the cave. Something is approaching.”

“… … !”

As she said that, Luciana covered her lips with her index finger as if telling them to be quiet. Then she

quietly closed her eyes as if listening. After a while, she opened her eyes again and spoke in a more confident tone. “It’s clear. The sound of footsteps is getting closer. And there are quite a few of them.” “Many? Then are they wolves? Or some other monsters that move in packs?” Luciana shook her head quietly at my question. “Neither. The footsteps I can hear right now are the footsteps of ‘people.’”