When the Pope Becomes Competent - Chapter 183



Only Noblemtl

183. Yan and Romun’s Deal
2024.05.01.

I hesitated for a moment, wondering whether to run away or quickly deal with the soldiers.

Fortunately, I was able to make a decision without much difficulty.

‘Let’s deal with them quickly. If we just leave them alone, they might make a fuss saying

that there are intruders.’ If I just leave them alone and they scream that they saw an intruder, the palace will be in an uproar like a hornet’s nest.

As someone who had to sneak into the west tower quietly, this was something I absolutely did not want to happen.

Yes, let’s deal with them before that happens. That was the moment I made up my mind and was about to swing my item.

“What are you guys doing?” The

newly appeared guards behind me said that and approached me.

The regular soldiers who had sensed my presence and were yelling at me to show up asked them in bewilderment.

“What, is it already time to change shifts?”

“Hmm? ‘Already’? If you don’t want to change shifts, just stand here a little longer.”

“No, that’s not it… … . “I felt a presence nearby. Was it you? I heard footsteps.”

When the existing guard asked, the new guy snickered and replied.

“It must have been us. There’s someone else here besides us.”

“Damn, I was startled for nothing. I thought there were intruders.”

The soldiers who had heard my footsteps finally lowered their weapons.

It seemed that they had mistaken the footsteps of the new soldiers for the sound of intruders.

For me, it was a very fortunate thing, so I let out a deep sigh of relief.

“Anyway, since we’re here, let’s go in quickly and rest.”

“Okay, thank you.”

The situation was resolved as the existing soldiers disappeared to rest and the new soldiers began to stand guard.

I started moving toward the west tower again with much more cautious gestures than before.

Fortunately, I didn’t encounter anything that could be a threat on the way.

I did encounter a few more soldiers standing guard, but thanks to the invisibility item, they didn’t see me.

That’s how I was able to arrive at the west tower safely.

‘Now all I have to do is climb to the top of this tower.’

Fortunately, the tower wasn’t that high.

The soldiers patrolling nearby didn’t see me either.

I threw the hook item toward the terrace at the top of the tower just like I did when I climbed the wall.

Thud!

The sound of the hook being caught was quite loud, and I flinched.

I quickly looked around, and the guards patrolling were far away.

Thanks to that, they didn’t seem to hear anything.

I felt relieved and grabbed the rope attached to the hook.

Then I carefully started climbing the tower.

‘This isn’t a thief… … .’

As I was climbing the wall like a thief in the middle of the night, that thought suddenly occurred to me. I never thought

I would become a pope and do something like this.

It was something I couldn’t have imagined until a few days ago.

I diligently climbed the tower while feeling that slight sense of inferiority.

And finally.

‘I’m all the way up.’

I was finally able to climb to the top floor of the western tower, where the barrier item was stored.

As I crossed the terrace, the inside of the tower was completely visible.

And in that completely visible interior was the item I had been searching for.

‘That’s it, the barrier item.’

A crystal ball-shaped item was lying in the empty interior of the top floor.

That was the barrier item that formed the barrier of this palace.

If I were to destroy that, the palace barrier would collapse.

Then, those waiting outside could rush into the palace.

I was about to enter the tower from the terrace to quickly destroy it, but suddenly stopped walking.

‘Wait, isn’t that a little strange…?’

It was suspicious to just go in.

I stopped walking for a moment and stood on the terrace, lost in thought.

‘Why aren’t there any guards here when such an important item is stored?’

Just as I had placed guards outside, I should have placed four or five soldiers near that item.

If it was an item forming the palace barrier, it must have been that important.

But now, there was no one here guarding the item.

‘… … Something is strange?’

I opened my inventory and took out an item that looked like a pendulum.

It was a detection item, and it would detect and notify me if there were any trap skills or items installed nearby.

While holding the item in my hand, I tried to detect the inside of the tower―

“… … .”

There was no response from the detection item.

It meant that there were no trap items or skills installed.

I put my doubts aside and slowly walked again.

Thump. Thump.

The sound of my footsteps echoed particularly loudly inside the empty tower.

Feeling my nerves tense, I slowly approached the barrier item.

And when the item was right in front of me, I took out the hammer from my inventory without hesitation.

The best weapon item for destroying items, the hammer.

I held it in my hand and swung it hard, striking the barrier item.

Crunch!

There were three mistakes I made up to that point.

First. Feeling uncomfortable when I first came here, I simply used the trap detection item to check the surroundings.

Second. Not checking the information window to see if the barrier item was really a barrier item.

And third. Trusting Yan.

Yes, I had three chances to avoid misfortune, but I missed them.

And my mistake finally appeared before my eyes as a ‘crisis’.

‘Something’s strange… …’

A bright light flowed out from the broken barrier item.

It was a different reaction than when I usually smashed an item.

Then, a strange message also appeared before my eyes.

[Summon item “Voice of Calling the Swamp Master (L)” has been activated. The monster “Swamp Master” is summoned near the user.] A

summon item was suddenly activated.

Only then did I realize that it was a barrier item and opened the information window of the crystal ball that I had broken.

When I checked, it was not a barrier item.

[Voice of Calling the Swamp Master (L)]

– An item that summons the monster “Swamp Master.”

– If you break this item, you can summon the Swamp Master.

Yan had definitely said so.

The thing stored in this tower was a ‘barrier item’.

If I break the item here, I can destroy the palace barrier.

But suddenly it’s a summoning item.

‘Trap… …?’

I let my guard down because nothing showed up when I used the trap detection item.

There were many ways to set traps without using trap items or skills.

I regretted my clumsiness later, but the situation had already spread beyond repair.

When I broke the crystal ball, the item had already started to function, and the master of the swamp was summoned there.

―Keuuuuuuuuu… … .

The summoned monster roared strangely.

It was a monster without a set form, made up of sticky swamps.

The swamp mass rushed toward me.

“Where!”

I struck the monster with the iron mace I was holding.

However, I could only feel the squishy sensation in my hand, and I couldn’t feel the impact.

Since it was a formless monster, it seemed that normal attacks wouldn’t work.

Meanwhile, the monster that had attacked me began to restrain my limbs.

A slimy, sticky texture surrounded my entire body.

That wasn’t the only problem.

[The monster “Swamp Master (L)” has activated the Life Drain skill. Your divine power is absorbed by the monster.]

It seemed to be a monster that could use the Life Drain skill.

I felt the divine power that filled my body being absorbed by the Swamp Master.

‘It’s dangerous… …! I have to use the skill right now… …!’

The time it took for the divine power to be absorbed was extremely fast.

I quickly activated the Deification skill before my divine power completely ran out.

However.

[The monster “Swamp Master (L)” has activated the skill “Incompetent Prey (L)”. The “Deification (L)” skill is canceled due to the effect of that skill.]

The Swamp Master also seemed to have a skill that canceled the opponent’s skills.

Thanks to that, I was helplessly absorbed without even being able to activate my skill, and I soon lost most of my power.

That was when. The tower door opened and a familiar-looking human stepped in.

“I’m sorry, Apostle.”

“… … Jan!!”

Surprisingly, it was Jan who appeared there.

I quickly thought about it while my strength was being drained.

Of course, I didn’t have to think about it, the situation was simple, and I immediately shouted at Jan.

“This son of a bitch!! How dare you betray us!!”

The fact that Yan was here, unaffected by the palace barrier, meant that he had the permission of the Emperor or Lomun. He

had received a passage permit to enter and exit the palace from the Emperor or Lomun and had warped here.

Hearing my cries, Yan responded with an incredibly shameless face.

“I had no choice. To save my son… … .”

He approached me and snatched the invisibility item necklace that was around my neck.

When the invisibility was released, his gaze was fixed directly on me.

I glared at him and said,

“You… said your son was already dead.”

“That was a lie. If I said he was alive, the Apostle wouldn’t have believed me.”

“… … .”

Yan smiled faintly in front of me, who was silent without finding words.

“My child is alive. He is alive as a hostage.”

“Hostage… … ?”

“Lomun is a hostage who uses me as his subordinate.”

It was the first time I heard that Romun needed Yan’s ability.

Yan explained to me, who was bewildered.

“I told you before, my child had a special ability, so Romun kidnapped him.”

“… … .”

“Actually, that was a lie. My child is an unawakened being, with no abilities. What Romun needed was not my child, but me. More precisely, this sealed item that our family possessed—”

Yan took out a cube-shaped item from his inventory after saying that.

It was an item that I had seen before.

It was the item that Yan had shown me, who didn’t believe him, saying that he would show me his secret weapon.

[Dimensional Prison (??)]

―Forcibly transports a specific target to another dimension, sealing them in another world.

The item that Yan was currently showing me from his inventory was a sealed item called ‘Dimensional Prison.

’ Yan continued his explanation while holding it in his hand.

“Romun wanted this item. He ordered me a long time ago to seal you in this sealed item and bring it to you.”

“… … .”

“But I was unconvinced. This item was a precious item passed down from my family, and I didn’t want to capture and take you, someone I didn’t even know.”

“… … So you kidnapped your son?”

Jan nodded obediently after hearing what I said.

“Yes, he said that if I properly seal you and hand you over this time, he’ll release the kidnapped son. The child is still alive and well.”

After hearing that, I felt something strange for a moment.

It was like there was sand in my mouth.

That uneasy feeling of discomfort that I had been feeling all along became clear at that moment.

‘It’s strange. Why doesn’t this brat ever call his son by his name… …?’

Jan never called his son by his name.

He always called him by titles like ‘son’, ‘child’, etc.

I decided to put aside the strange sense of discomfort that I felt because of that.

Before that, there was something else I wanted to ask.

“Then what about the fourth month? Were Karina and Dian all in cahoots with you?”