When the Pope Becomes Competent - Chapter 171



Only Noblemtl

171. Dian’s Apology
2024.04.19.

I stopped walking after hearing Dian’s casual remark.

“A children’s library…? Is there such a place?”

Dian nodded her head in a still curt manner at my question.

“Follow me.”

I didn’t know that the guy who had beaten me up so badly yesterday would volunteer to be my guide.

That’s why I was momentarily flustered, but I soon followed him obediently.

On the way, I asked him,

“Aren’t you taking me somewhere weird?”

“What? What do you think of people as…?”

“Well, you’re the guy who used your skills to kill me, right? It’s understandable for me to be suspicious.”

“… … .”

Dian kept her mouth shut as if she had nothing to say. She

just strode ahead with a gait that seemed filled with discontent.

Then, after about three minutes, the guy suddenly opened his mouth.

“Tsk, I’m sorry for picking a fight during the welcoming ceremony.”

“Huh?”

“I’m sorry for suddenly picking a fight during the welcoming ceremony.”

Honestly, I didn’t think I would receive an apology.

As I blankly stared at him, he continued.

“When I thought about it after I cooled down, I realized I was a bit harsh. You were innocent after all. I was so obsessed with getting rid of Romun quickly that I even showed my teeth to you.”

After hearing that, I let out a chuckle and replied to him.

“Why are you apologizing for something that happened in the past? I had no intention of harping on you anyway.”

“… … .”

“Thank you, though. For apologizing honestly.”

Tsk, the guy clicked his tongue and averted his gaze from me.

He looked embarrassed, which didn’t suit his large size like a bear.

The guy guided me deep into the library.

Inside the library, as he had said, there was a special library space for children.

And Rubin and Cheong-gwang were there.

Rubin, who had found me, shouted,

“Nike!”

“Shh, Rubin. You should be quiet in the library.”

Then Dian, who was next to me, told me,

“You can be a little loud in the children’s library. There are noise-cancelling items installed.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes. So your son can run around here as much as he wants.”

Dian then carefully picked up Arom.

Arom, who knew that he wasn’t a bad guy, didn’t reject Dian’s hand.

Dian picked up Arom and placed him on the soft, matted floor.

Rubin, who was quietly watching, said,

“Nike, I’m seeing things. It’s like Arom is right in front of me.”

“I’m not seeing things. Arom actually came all the way here.”

After that, I briefly explained to Rubin and Cheonggwang that Arom had acquired the ability to teleport.

Rubin and Cheonggwang, as expected, congratulated Arom on his second ability.

I waited for their excitement to die down a little and then asked.

“But Cheong-gwang, Rubin, why are you here? This is a children’s library.”

Cheong-gwang looked a little embarrassed at my question and replied.

“Oh, that’s… All the books here are written in a language I can’t read. I came here with Rubin to find out if there were any books written in the Eastern Continent script I used to live in.”

“Oh, really?”

I asked, and when I saw Dian, she nodded.

“You probably can’t read the books here either. You came from the finite world. The language here is different from yours.”

“The books here are all written in ancient languages… So in your terms, they’re books written in the language of the Prisilean Empire?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, then it doesn’t matter.”

Dian wiggled her eyebrows as if she had difficulty understanding my answer and asked.

“It doesn’t matter? Can you read our language?”

“Of course. I can read an ancient language as if it were my native language.”

One of the abilities I gained while being possessed here was the ability to speak ancient languages.

Thanks to that ability, I was able to enter ancient ruins, and I was able to talk to Rubin without difficulty when I first met him.

I smiled at Dian, who was still standing there in disbelief, and said,

“Recommend me some interesting books. I can read while Arom reads.”

* * *

After that, Dian recommended several books to me.

Then, as if he still found it hard to believe, he asked me several times if I could really read Prisilean letters.

So, in order to dispel his doubts, I read the book he recommended on the spot.

He looked quite surprised, as if he really didn’t know how to read their language.

“What, where did you learn it?” he shouted.

I wondered why he was so surprised, but when I heard that Prisilean language was quite difficult to learn.

That’s why there were quite a few illiterate people among the same Prisileans, and he was surprised that I, who came from the finite world, could read such difficult letters.

Anyway, I read a bit there, borrowed a few books that seemed useful, and came up to my room with Arom.

‘Is Dionik still at the arcade?’

Dionik, who was sharing the same room with me, hadn’t come back yet. He

seemed to be absent-minded because he was playing around at the arcade.

Arom had just fallen asleep, so I opened the oracle window for the first time in a long time.

[The Tenth Main Trust – Defeat the Caretaker Julian (Complete)]

Sub Trust (1) ― Head to Chelos Island within a week! (Complete)

Sub Trust (2) ― Enter the ‘Labyrinth’ that Julian created on Chelos Island! (Complete)

Sub Trust (3) ― Defeat Julian in the Labyrinth and escape safely! (Complete)

The tenth main trust had already been completed early.

However, I had been so out of it that I hadn’t been able to press the complete button since I had come to the Evangelism right after defeating Julian. Since I was

alone in my room right now and there was nothing urgent, I pressed the complete buttons for the trusts one by one without worrying.

‘Hmm, there’s no reward for completing the sub trust. Is there only a reward for the main trust?’

Feeling a little disappointed, I pressed the complete button that appeared next to the main trust.

[The tenth main trust has been completed! [Would you like to receive the reward?]

―Yes

―No

I pressed Yes without hesitation and the reward was immediately paid out.

There were two rewards.

[Trust Completion Reward]

―A Mirror Reflecting the Past

―The Flesh of the One Who Stole Eternal Life

I first examined the Flesh of the One Who Stole Eternal Life.

The Flesh of the One Who Stole Eternal Life was contained in some kind of opaque glass bottle, but since the bottle was opaque, I couldn’t see it well.

When I shook the bottle, it made a rattling sound, so I assumed there was something inside.

‘If you collect the Flesh, Breath, and Bone of the One Who Stole Eternal Life, you get eternal life?’

I remembered that it clearly said so in the item description.

Suddenly curious, I opened my inventory and took out the Breath and Bone of the One Who Stole Eternal Life that I had previously acquired.

Then I placed them together with the Flesh of the One Who Stole Eternal Life that I had just acquired―

saaaaah―

the three set items glowed and came together.

The flesh, breath, and bones that had been gathered together in that way soon transformed into a completely different type of item.

I picked up the completed bead-shaped item and examined it closely.

[Jewel of Eternal Life (??)]

– Whoever swallows this will have a body that can never die.

The jewel, made from the flesh, breath, and bones of the person who stole eternal life, was literally an item that would give one an immortal body.

At first glance, it seemed like an amazing item, but I didn’t feel like swallowing it.

‘You will have a body that can never die… …?’

It was a sentence that felt somehow eerie.

It seemed to mean that one would become a body that could not die even if they wanted to.

I carefully put the Jewel of Eternal Life back into my inventory.

Now that I had examined all the eternal life set items, there was only one reward item that I had yet to check.

‘A mirror that reflects the past… What is this item?’

The item I received after completing the tenth main oracle, a mirror that reflects the past.

It was a table mirror a little larger than two palms put together.

At first glance, I couldn’t guess its purpose, so I immediately checked the item’s information window.

[Mirror that Reflects the Past (??)]

― Shows the user’s past.

I opened the detailed description and checked the item’s usage.

Since the usage wasn’t that difficult, I tried using the item right away.

“Show me the past 10 years ago.”

When I said that according to the instructions, the item soon began to glow.

The light that had been softly radiating from the mirror’s surface for a while slowly died down.

On the now silent mirror surface was a familiar face reflected.

‘This is… me. And that’s me in middle school.’

The mirror was showing me my real face exactly 10 years ago, before I became Nickelus.

The face of a middle school student born into a poor family, slowly realizing despair.

‘… … It’s an interesting thing. It’s not very useful, though.’

I stared at my past self in the mirror for a while in silence.

A strange feeling pounded my chest painfully.

Maybe it was because the me in the mirror 10 years ago was looking at me now, Nickelus, with such pitiful eyes. It

seemed like the guy was saying something like this. Who the hell are you? Why are you wearing the shell of another stranger?

“… … .”

I stared blankly at the mirror for a long time before opening my lips.

The request I made to the mirror afterwards was a request born purely of curiosity and impulse.

“… … Show me my past life.”

I threw a command at the mirror and waited for a moment.

This mirror was a mirror that showed the past, so I thought that maybe my past life would come to mind.

Contrary to my expectations, there was no response from the mirror.

‘Isn’t this kind of command really not enough to activate the item?’

Suddenly, I burst out laughing, feeling bewildered by my own behavior.

No matter how much of an item it was that showed the past, there was no way it could show my ‘past life’.

Nevertheless, the reason I made this absurd request to the mirror was because of some impulsive thought.

Maybe I was Nickelus from the beginning… that is, from my ‘past life’?

Maybe I was Nickelus in my past life, reincarnated in Korea, and returned to my past life? Did I not take

Nickelus’ body and life away, but simply return to the past?

‘… … It’s a vain delusion. It can’t be.’

Yes, it must have been a delusion born of vain hope.

I felt guilty that I was possessed by Nickelus and lived pretending to be the real Nickelus.

That’s why I wished that I was the real Nickelus in my past life.

Then, it would mean that I did not take someone else’s body, but that I returned to my previous life’s body. I would be innocent.

‘I did something useless. I don’t need the mirror for now, so I should put it in my inventory—’

‘I should put it in.’ That was the moment I picked up the mirror.

Before I opened my inventory, a message I couldn’t ignore came to me from the mirror.

[Would you like to see your previous life?]

―Yes

―No