When the Pope Becomes Competent - Chapter 179



Only Noblemtl

179. The Giant Chieftain is Obsessed
2024.04.27.

At first, I couldn’t figure out what the guy Karox was trying to do.

He said he was showing off his skills, but why was he suddenly hitting the innocent ground with his hammer?

But soon I found out.

That act was the simplest way for Karox to show off his power.

Kwakwang-!

Even though he had only hit the ground with his hammer, a thunderous roar echoed throughout the area.

A shockwave was spreading out from the place where Karox had hit.

At the same time, this message appeared before my eyes.

[The character “Karox” has activated a wide-area skill. All rocks within a 5m radius of the character will be destroyed by the shockwave.]

As expected, the guy had used a skill.

A wide-area skill with a 5m radius.

It seemed to be a skill that destroyed rocks near him, as the sounds of them crashing could be heard here and there.

Then-

Kkurung!

A huge rock fell from the cliff.

The impact just now seemed to have caused the rocks above to roll down.

The giants hurriedly evacuated, and our group also flew into the air to escape.

Kwakwakwang!

The fallen rocks crashed into the ground with a loud noise.

Cloudy dust flew everywhere, blurring our vision.

Elodie, Dionique, and I flew into the air to escape, waited for the dust to settle, and then slowly landed on the ground again.

Kalox, the one who had caused this commotion by using his skill, was waiting for us there with a mischievous face.

“How is it?”

Kalox asked shamelessly.

I held back my curse and snapped at him.

“How is it… If I hadn’t dodged in time, I would have been crushed by the rocks. Why don’t you apologize first?”

“You shouldn’t be weak enough to get crushed by rocks, right? If you can even summon the Spirit King.”

“… … .”

“Tell me what you think of my vision. “You didn’t trust me, so I showed you myself.”

I looked around after hearing the guy’s words.

Even though I had only hit the ground once with my hammer, all the rocks around me had shattered.

Looking at that sight, I couldn’t help but admit it.

“… … It’s useful. If you step forward, it’ll be easier to break down the palace walls.”

Karox shrugged his shoulders with a satisfied face at my honest assessment.

“Then let me ask again. Will you accept the match I propose and borrow my strength?”

Karox added as I sat there thinking.

“If you win, as I’ve said before, I’ll personally help you. However, if you lose… you’ll become my slaves.”

“If you lose, you’ll make us your slaves? Then you won’t send me the three regular warriors you originally promised to send?”

“No, that’s not it. You’ve already won once against us. So regardless of whether you lose or win in the new match, I’ll unconditionally send you the three regular warriors. You’ll just become our slaves.”

Having heard that, I was once again lost in thought.

It was definitely annoying and dangerous to compete again.

If we lost, they would tell us to become slaves.

However, even so, I was definitely jealous of Kalox’s power.

It would definitely be a great help if I could take Kalox, the chieftain, instead of the regular giants I had originally planned to send.

After making up my mind, I looked at Dionique and Elodie one last time.

They also nodded shallowly, as if they had decided that it would be better to take Kalox.

After confirming their opinions, I answered Kalox.

“Okay. I will accept the new challenge.”

* * *

After I said that I would accept the challenge, the giants guided us to the guest hut again. They said

that since they must have been tired from competing today, we would spend the night in the hut and compete again tomorrow.

After returning to the hut, we sat around the campfire like yesterday and exchanged opinions.

“You did well, right? Accepting the challenge.”

Elodie nodded at my question.

“I have confirmed the power of that Kalocs. If we take him, we will be able to minimize the damage on our side during the siege.”

Dionic continued.

“I am a little worried about the possibility of defeat. They will turn us into slaves.”

After hearing Dionic’s words, I became lost in thought again.

“Should I have contacted Yan and heard his opinion before deciding? I wonder if it was the right thing to decide such an important matter among us.”

Elodie immediately replied after hearing what I said.

“If you really care, why don’t you contact me and ask right now? You have a long-distance communication item, right?”

“Should I ask you now?”

“I’m worried because it seems like we decided it on our own. Just contact me and ask comfortably.”

After hearing Elodie’s words, I made up my mind.

It seemed like it would be a good idea to contact Yan and hear his opinion.

As soon as I made up my mind, I grabbed the 「Spirit Communication Necklace (L)」 item that was around my neck.

[Would you like to use the 「Spirit Communication Necklace」 item?]

―Yes

―No

I immediately selected Yes to the message that came up next.

[You selected Yes. You can talk to whoever you want for 5 minutes.]

After that, I thought of Yan in my head, just like I did when I talked to Bliss before.

After waiting a bit, I was connected to Yan, and I spoke to him straight away.

‘Yan, it’s me. Don’t be too surprised if you hear my voice in your head. I’m using an item to communicate.’ ‘

Apostle? Did you use a communication item?’

‘Yes, I wanted to let you know the situation.’

After that, I told Yan everything.

That I won the match against the giants.

That they requested a new match.

That we had to take some risks because of that.

After hearing everything, Yan asked me.

‘Was the power of Kalocs worth that much?’

‘It was enough. That’s why I took the risk and accepted the new match.’

‘Then I have no objection. Just understand one thing.’

Yan said in a calm voice as I listened.

‘If you, Apostle, lose the match and are captured as a slave… We will spend a lot of money to get you back from them. You, Apostle, are the most important person in this operation. But-‘

‘But… ?’

『I don’t think we can pay the ransom for our other comrades. That is, the ransom for Elodie and Dionique.』

I froze for a moment, then let out a faint laugh.

‘That’s quite cold-blooded talk. Of course, if we had escaped on our own, we would have escaped. I didn’t intend to ask you to pay the ransom.’

『I’m sorry for talking coldly. Defeating Romun is that important to me. I don’t have the energy to worry about anything else.』

‘Hmm… … .’

Yan was so absorbed in this operation that he didn’t have the energy to worry about anything else.

After hearing that, I suddenly became curious again, so I asked casually.

‘Aren’t you going to tell me why you want to defeat Romun so badly this time?’ ‘

That’s… … .’

‘You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I was just curious, so I asked.’

Yan remained silent for a while after hearing what I said.

Last time, he tried to hide my story, and this time, he didn’t seem ready to talk.

So I just said a few greetings and was about to end the call, but before I could, I heard Jan’s voice.

“I originally had a son.”

“Huh?”

Even as I asked, bewildered by the sudden introduction, Jan quietly continued what he wanted to say.

“He was my precious only son, left behind by my wife who passed away early. Romun kidnapped him and took him away.”

“A son? Why on earth…?”

“It was because of my child’s special ability. Romun coveted that ability.”

“Ah… ….”

“I’ll stop here for now. I’ll tell you the full story when you come back.”

It seemed like he wasn’t ready to tell me the details of his past. It was

hard to believe, but if my biological son was really kidnapped by Romun for some reason… it wouldn’t be something I could easily say.

“My family was taken away… ….”

Even after I ended the call with Yan, I couldn’t shake off the suffocating feeling for a while.

* * *

The giants came to see us early this morning and started dragging us somewhere. They

said that the second match would be held a little far from the village.

I followed them with half worry and half curiosity, and the match location we arrived at was surprisingly ordinary.

“Isn’t this… just a forest?”

Kalocs, who had come with us, responded to my question.

“It’s not just a forest.”

“Then?”

“This is a place we call the ‘Guardian Forest’ among us.”

“Guardian Forest… …?”

Kalox continued to explain after hearing my question.

“A guardian lives in this forest. A guardian in the form of a beautiful white deer.”

“So that’s why it’s called Guardian Forest?”

“Yes. And the point of this match is to hunt down and bring back the guardian before the opponent.”

It seemed like a much easier match than cliff climbing.

I nodded and asked.

“Okay, what are the rules?”

“There are no set rules. Feel free to use skills or items as you wish. You can attack the opponent, and you can use any dirty tricks you want.”

“… ….”

“You just have to hunt down the guardian first.”

I had no complaints this time either.

I had a lot of good skills and items, and I welcomed it if they allowed me to use them.

I relaxed my shoulders and stepped forward.

“Let’s get started right away. Decide which of you will be my opponent quickly.”

After hearing my words, Kallox smiled ominously for some reason.

The guy who smiled ominously then walked out in front of the tribes.

Then he made an unexpected declaration.

“Your opponent is me. I will personally take on the challenge.”

“What…?”

This time, of course, I thought he would leave it to another subordinate.

It seemed that he was a bit reluctant to just watch.

He stood in front of me and smiled his usual unlucky smile.

“No one can match me in hunting. Are you scared?”

“Not scared. I am confident in hunting too.”

In fact, I have only hunted monsters, but I did not think hunting guardians would be particularly difficult.

I took out my weapon from my inventory with the most confident expression I could muster.

It was the Nerbloka Bow.

As I took out my weapon, Kallox also took out his bow and shouted.

“Start!”

With that shout as a signal, the two of us ran into the forest at the same time.