When the Pope Becomes Competent - Chapter 174



Only Noblemtl

174. Don’t Make That Wish
2024.04.22.

There wasn’t a single lie in what I said.

If Luciana’s wish was to sacrifice herself for me, I had no intention of granting that wish.

Because Luciana’s wish conflicted with mine.

My wish was to make no one, including Luciana, sacrifice themselves.

So I spoke again in a firm voice that might have seemed a little cruel.

“You’ll never have the chance to sacrifice yourself for me. If one person has to sacrifice themselves for everyone, it’ll be me.”

“… … .”

“So don’t make that wish, Luciana.”

As I finished speaking, I tucked her loose hair behind her ear.

Luciana’s ear felt a little hot against my fingertips.

‘Is your fever due to a cold?’

Well, it was easy to catch a cold being exposed to the cold night wind on such a high tree branch.

I thought it would be better to go back quickly, so I held Luciana’s back and below her knees with my arms.

“Let’s go back to the hideout now. Relax your body.”

“Huh?”

Instead of answering Luciana’s bewildered question, I spread my wings.

Then, holding Luciana in my arms, I soared into the star-studded night sky.

* * *

Luciana struggled quite violently as we flew to the hideout together. She

repeatedly patted my chest and begged me to let her down.

She said that she would rather walk than be embarrassed to be carried by me like a child.

Even after hearing that, I never let Luciana down.

It was because I thought I had to hurry and get her to the hideout before she caught a cold.

It was my own way of being considerate of Luciana… Luciana seemed a little angry at me for that. She

didn’t say a word to me after we returned to the hideout.

The only time she did speak to me was right before I received the skill transplant.

“You don’t plan on ignoring the oracle, do you?”

“Huh?”

“You’re undergoing this dangerous procedure because of the oracle. You don’t plan on ignoring the oracle and not undergoing the procedure… Are you really not?”

Luciana’s eyes were slightly trembling as she asked that question.

It was quite difficult to refuse while looking at her gaze, but I eventually opened my mouth.

“I don’t plan on that. Of course I should undergo it. I’m already prepared.”

“… … I see.”

Did she realize that she couldn’t stop it?

Luciana gave a bitter smile as if she had given up.

After that, instead of stopping me any longer, Luciana said this.

“I’ll pray that you’re safe.”

“Yeah, pray for me. Even if I prayed that you wouldn’t be safe, I thought you would be safe.”

Luciana also laughed along with me at my joke.

After that, I briefly greeted the rest of the group and entered the procedure room.

There was a bed there.

And around the bed were crystal pillars that seemed to be magic amplification items placed in a circle.

There was an old man standing nearby, and he seemed to be the one who would perform my procedure.

The practitioner soon gestured toward me.

“Take off your top and lie face down on this bed. I will implant your skills through the procedure.”

“Are you doing it? How long will it take?”

“It will be over in five minutes. It won’t take long. However—”

The practitioner hardened my wrinkled face into a serious expression and continued.

“It can be quite painful. There are also cases where death occurs because of it.”

“… … I see.”

I soon took off my top and lay face down on the bed.

As I lay down on the bed, the practitioner placed his hand on my back.

To be exact, on the center of my spine.

‘I can feel the magic.’

I could feel an unfamiliar magic from the practitioner’s dry fingertips.

He placed one hand on my back and held what looked like an enchantment scroll with the other hand as he spoke.

“The ancient skills contained within this scroll will be implanted soon. Get ready.”

“What do you want me to prepare?”

“I am ready to endure the pain.”

At first, I thought the old man was just trying to scare me too much.

Maybe this old man was being held captive for the fourth month and was forcing himself to do the procedure.

So I thought he might be scaring me for no reason―

“AAAAAH!!!”

It wasn’t that I was scared.

An unknown force was forcibly thrust into my body from the old man’s fingertips, and the process was truly painful.

The pain that was as if the word pain was literally reproduced was transmitted through my spine to my entire body. The

intense pain felt like I would lose consciousness at any moment.

While suffering from that intense pain, a thought suddenly occurred to me.

‘If I scream, the kids outside might get worried.’

If I screamed in pain, my companions outside might feel anxious.

Luciana in particular would feel that way.

“Ugh… … .”

I clenched my teeth and held back my scream.

* * *

The hallway in front of the procedure room where Nickelus was being operated on.

The companions who were waiting for the procedure to end suddenly became quiet.

Despite Nickelus’s efforts to hold back his screams as much as possible, their sensitive ears picked up the sound.

“Just now, a scream… … ?”

Dionik muttered first, and Luciana nodded.

“It was a scream. His Holiness… … .”

After Luciana’s muttering, a thick silence fell over the group.

Rubin paced around restlessly, Cheongwang chewed his lips until blood pooled.

Elodie bit her nails, and Dionik repeatedly washed his face to hide his expression.

Luciana, like the others, gritted her teeth and endured her impatience for a while, but eventually she could no longer bear it and called Jan.

“Hey, is the procedure going well? If His Holiness is in so much pain, something must be wrong?”

“It’s a procedure that is usually accompanied by pain.”

“… … .”

Luciana was speechless at Jan’s answer for a moment.

Such a calm attitude.

Even while Nickelus was screaming while receiving the procedure, Jan didn’t seem particularly tense or anxious.

And Jan’s attitude was enough to irritate the group there.

Dionik, who was nearby, approached Jan and glared at him directly.

“We are cooperating with you only because my brother told us to. If you make a mistake with this procedure… I don’t know how we will react.”

It was a clear threat that if Nickelus makes a mistake, he will be held accountable.

Jan, who had been silent for a moment in the face of Dionik’s threat, responded calmly this time.

“I understand your concerns, but it was the apostle who chose to take the risk of death and undergo the procedure. Even if you say this to me—”

“Shut up.”

Before Jan could finish his words, Dionik grabbed him by the collar.

His eyes, which usually sparkled with playfulness, were now filled with murderous intent.

Dionik quietly muttered with such a fierce aura.

“That’s why I’m telling you to do your best.” Even

if Jan did his best, the success or failure of the procedure was in the hands of God.

However, if he gave such an irresponsible answer, there was no way to know what Dionik would do in the moment, who was very excited.

After much thought, Jan chose an answer that would not provoke them as much as possible.

“Of course. I will do my best to serve you without any discomfort even after the procedure is over.”

Only then did Dionik let go of Jan’s collar that he had been holding onto.

In the atmosphere that had become even colder than before, the group began to suppress their impatience in their own ways.

* * *

I continued to grit my teeth and endure.

I didn’t want the group to worry when they heard me scream.

Since they said the procedure would be over in five minutes anyway, I thought I just had to endure a little longer.

But―

‘Five minutes were this long… …?’ I didn’t

know time could pass this slowly.

No matter how much I waited and waited, five minutes never passed.

It felt like time had stopped.

Eventually, I couldn’t hold on any longer and asked the old man who was performing the procedure.

“Still… gasp, gasp… … . Is it still far from over… … ?”

“Only three minutes have passed. Please wait a little longer.”

“Ha, damn it… …”

Only three minutes had passed since the procedure began.

I clenched my teeth again to endure the painful time that felt like an eternity.

How many more minutes had I waited in such excruciating pain? Finally, I could hear the pleasant words from the practitioner.

“This is the final stage. Please hold on a little longer.”

“That’s a nice thing to hear—”

“However, the last stage may be a little more painful than before.”

“What?!”

I didn’t even have time to respond properly.

The practitioner seemed to have mercilessly entered the last stage or something.

An intense pain that was incomparable to before swept through my entire body.

“Ahh… Aahhh!!!”

At that moment, I screamed because I couldn’t bear it any longer.

In the midst of that, what caught my eye was light.

A bright light was flowing through the blood vessels in my body, reflecting on my skin.

‘The power of a new skill is being transplanted.’

It was a damn painful procedure, but the effect was certain.

I could feel the power of a new and unfamiliar skill being transplanted into me.

I shuddered at the sensation and was about to lose consciousness when—

“It’s over.”

The old practitioner said.

It’s over. This painful procedure had finally been successfully completed.

“Gasp, gasp… … .”

As I was gasping for breath, immersed in the lingering pain that hadn’t yet subsided, the door to the procedure room burst open.

And the happy people poured in.

“Nike!!”

“Hyung! Are you okay?!”

Rubin, Luciana, Dionique, Elodie, even Cheongwang.

They all seemed to have been waiting for my procedure to be over and were rushing in.

I forced a smile at them.

“Everyone… We’ve been waiting for a long time… …”

They kept their mouths shut at the words I barely managed to utter. They

had complicated expressions.

Then Dionique, who approached me, spoke first.

“Is it a problem that we’ve waited so long? While you’re dying like this.”

Luciana approached him after him.

Luciana’s face soon twisted into a worried expression and she tucked my hair behind my ear.

“Your Majesty… You’ve been sweating a lot. I’ll wipe it away.”

Luciana took a handkerchief out of her bosom and started wiping my sweat. Normally

, I would have been embarrassed and pushed it away, but at that moment, I just quietly let Luciana’s hand touch me.

I didn’t have the strength to push away, and I also liked the way her hands were careful, like they were handling a piece of glass.

I waited for Luciana to wipe off some of the sweat, then sat up.

When I got up from the bed, Rubin, who was next to me, asked in a surprised voice,

“Wouldn’t it be better to lie down a little longer? You probably haven’t fully recovered yet.”

“No, I’m fine now. And I want to check it out quickly. What kind of skill is the newly transplanted skill?”

In that state, I hurriedly opened my information window.