When the Pope Becomes Competent - Chapter 175



Only Noblemtl

175. Transplanted Ancient Skill
2024.04. 23.

I quickly checked my information window.

Among them, I was able to confirm the newly transplanted skill in the skill list.

[Nickelus Van Lucidmiller (L)]

[Owned Skills]

― Perfect Mask (B) (new!)

― Hand of Salvation (A)

― Blasphemy! (S)

― Non-Aggression Pact (S)

― Legion of God (S)

― Deification (L)

.
.

[Owned Karma]

689 points

The first thing that caught my eye was my Awakened rank. My

Awakened rank had been upgraded from S-rank to L-rank.

Next, the newly transplanted skill caught my eye second.

‘So the transplanted skill was a B-rank skill.’

My Karma points had also changed slightly… but that wasn’t important right now.

I went straight to read the detailed description of the newly acquired skill.

[Perfect Mask (B)]

– You can transform into the appearance of anyone you want.

*Skill Duration: 6 hours

Upon checking, the newly acquired skill was the ‘Transformation Skill’.

A skill that allows you to transform into the appearance of anyone you want.

‘You transplanted a pretty useful skill, didn’t you?’

Since my only goal was to raise my rank and pass through the palace barrier, I didn’t think it mattered which skill was transplanted.

However, I didn’t feel bad when I actually saw that a useful skill was transplanted.

‘Anyway, with this, I’m an L-rank Awakened. I’ll be able to pass through the palace barrier without any trouble.’

The palace barrier problem, which had been the biggest obstacle in the operation to eliminate Romun, had been resolved.

A little excited, I soon followed my group into the treatment room and asked Yan,

“Are the other operation preparations going well?”

“Of course. The necessary items are also being prepared smoothly.”

“Then how about bringing the start date forward a little? There’s no need to delay.”

“No.”

When I suggested that we bring forward the operation date, Jan firmly shook his head.

The guy who came over covered my body with a blanket and continued,

“Your Highness just received a skill transplant. He must need rest.”

When Jan said that, Dionik and Cheonggwang also spoke up one after another.

“Yes, hyung. Don’t rush too much. I think it would be better to just focus on recovering for now.”

“I think so too. Your benefactor hasn’t had a proper rest since he came here, right?”

Rubin and Elodie also agreed with me and began to persuade me.

“That’s right, Nike. It must have been hard, so let’s rest a little more.”

“If you, who are the key to this operation, collapse from overdoing it, everything will be useless.”

I looked at Luciana one last time.

Since everyone else was opposing bringing forward the operation date, I wanted to hear Luciana’s words one last time.

Luciana, who received my gaze, quietly studied me and then blurted out,

“You probably already know what I’m going to say.”

“Just rest?”

“Yes. Don’t even think about bringing the opening date forward. Just get some rest until then. Leave all the other little things to us.”

As expected, it was true.

Luciana also recommended rest to me.

Since everyone else was recommending rest to me except me, I couldn’t resist any longer.

I let out a ‘huh-’ sigh and said to Jan.

“Okay. Then, finish all the preparations perfectly by the opening date. I’ll hurry up and recover as well.”

* * *

After that, I focused all my attention on recovering my stamina.

I could have recovered completely if I drank a bottle of elixir, but… I decided to save the remaining elixirs for when I entered the palace.

If I were to invade the palace and take Romun’s head, I would first have to deal with the troops guarding him.

So I had to get enough rest so that my body could recover naturally, but there was a problem.

The group wouldn’t give me any time to rest comfortably on my own.

-“Nike!! Karina gave me something delicious! Let’s eat together!”

-“Hyung, how are you? If you’re bored, should I read you a book?”

-“I want to read to my dad too!”

-“Can I give you a full body massage to help your benefactor recover? It’s a massage technique I learned back in the Eastern Continent where I used to live, and I think it will help him recover.”

Whenever they were bored, the group would come by in turns and annoy me.

Everyone must have come here because they were worried about my condition… but honestly, I couldn’t help but get tired because they kept barging into the recovery room.

Eventually, I couldn’t stand the attention and occasionally had to evacuate from the recovery room. Fortunately, there was a good shelter.

It was Jan’s office.

Except for me, none of our group came to Jan’s office because it seemed like they found Jan a little difficult.

So if I hid there, I could hide safely without anyone finding out.

“I’ll stay here for a while.”

I said that as I sat down on the sofa in Jan’s office when I visited him again today.

Jan asked me with an indifferent expression, as if he had expected me to come.

“Did you run away today too?”

“Yeah, it’s good that you’re interested, but everyone’s worried too much.”

Jan let out a light laugh after hearing what I said.

“I guess everyone really cares about you, Apostle. All that interest must come from affection.”

“Affection? “Well, they’ve all been through life and death together with me for a long time.”

I said, then continued.

“I’ve grown attached to them. That’s why I’m always worried about them. I brought them all here, but if possible, I want to keep them safe. This operation as well.”

“I know. That’s why I changed the operation a bit according to the apostle’s opinion. In the direction of maximizing the safety of Lady Luciana and the others.”

As Jan said, I had once heard an explanation of the operation from Jan, and had requested a change in the operation.

It was because I thought it was an operation that put our group too much at risk.

However, I hadn’t heard about the changed operation yet.

I was about to ask how it was changed, when Jan spoke first.

“While we’re on the subject, I’ll briefly explain the changed operation first.”

As he spoke, Jan took out a rolled-up piece of paper from the bookshelf.

When I opened it, it was a map of the palace with the interior drawn in detail.

Jan showed it to me and explained.

“First of all, you must infiltrate the palace first, Apostle. You are the only one who can ignore the palace barrier and infiltrate.”

After saying that, Yan continued to point to the tower on the west side of the palace with his fingertips.

“After that, you must destroy the ‘barrier item’ at the top of the west tower of the palace.”

“Yes, up to this point, it is the same operation as before… Didn’t you say that you changed the operation so that my comrades could be as safe as possible?”

“The next step has been slightly changed.”

Yan finally pointed to the direction of the palace’s main gate marked on the map.

“The original plan was for Lady Luciana and our fourth moon combat personnel to make a frontal assault into the palace after the barrier was destroyed… However, a frontal assault would be too risky.”

“So?”

“That’s why we decided to join hands with the demons. The demons who have existed in this world since the beginning, the ‘giants.’”

“… … Continue.”

Yan nodded and continued to explain.

“We plan to use the teleportation item to summon the giants on the spot outside the palace walls. Using their power, we can destroy the walls from three directions and neutralize them—”

“Are you planning to force your way into the palace?”

“Yes. The giants are originally a violent and greedy race, so it would be quite dangerous to join hands with them. However, we have decided to bring the giants in to prioritize the safety of those precious to the apostle.”

Having heard that far, I asked a simple question.

“Is cooperation with the giants certain?”

“They are a greedy race, so if you give them a generous price, they will cooperate.”

“What price?”

Yan shrugged and opened his mouth.

“First, we plan to offer them half of our family’s wealth.”

“… Hmm? They were nobles?”

“So you are from a noble family with a fairly high reputation here. The funds for the fourth month’s activities were also provided by our family.”

Yan burst into laughter as if he understood now.

Well, if you think about it, it must have taken a lot of money to maintain such a hideout and organization.

I had always wondered where they got the money from, but if the guy was a noble, it would explain it.

I nodded and continued to ask.

“Half of the wealth of such a family is given to the giants…? If that’s true, isn’t that a huge sacrifice? Is there a reason why they want to get rid of Romun so badly?”

“… … .”

Was this part a bit of a personal question?

Yan, who had been readily answering my questions until now, remained silent for the first time.

The guy kept silent for a while and then blurted out a somewhat trivial answer.

“It’s an old story. You’ll probably be bored.”

“… … .”

It was a clear expression of his desire not to talk any more.

I thought maybe he had suffered greatly from Romun in the past. I

didn’t want to forcefully ask someone who didn’t want to talk about the past, so I didn’t open my mouth any more.

After that, we stayed silent and quietly focused on our own work.

He worked on preparing the operation more thoroughly, and I worked on recovering.

Our daily routine didn’t change much over time.

I continued to visit his office the next day, and the day after that.

As time went by like that, one day, for some reason, Jan called me to his office first.

It was rare for him to call me first, so I could sense that

something important had happened .

I hurried to his office to find out what was going on, and he was waiting for me with a box.

He was holding an unidentifiable box and told me in a gloomy voice.

“The Giants have responded.”

“What did they say?”

Jan didn’t answer verbally.

Instead, he opened the box he had been holding and showed me what was inside.

I frowned and asked him.

“… … This is?”

“The severed body part of our fourth moon member who came forward to negotiate with the Giants.”

As Jan had said, the box contained someone’s body part… a severed arm.

The severed arm was placed in the box.

I felt a little disgusted and asked Jan.

“The Giants sent us their response… …?”

“Yes, so in conclusion—”

He sighed and continued.

“It seems our proposal was rejected.”

I nodded in agreement when Jan said that the proposal seemed to have been rejected.

Sending the severed arm of the member who had been at the negotiation table was clearly an expression of ‘refusal’.

However, I was curious.

The reason why the greedy giants refused our offer despite the considerable wealth.

It was Jan who happened to be the first to explain it to me.

“The giants are greedy and greedy, but at the same time, their pride is also quite strong. That’s why they seem to not want to cooperate with a race weaker than them.”

“Is that why they refused our offer of cooperation?”

“Yes. They sent us this letter along with their forearm.”

Jan took out a blood-soaked letter and showed it to me.

I didn’t feel like touching the blood-stained letter, so I asked Jan.

“What does it say?”

“They say that if you want to join hands with them, you have to prove your strength first. If you don’t, they won’t cooperate.”