When the Pope Becomes Competent - Chapter 45



Only Noblemtl

◈45. Egg of the Immortal

The egg of immortality.

That was the relic that caused all the trouble.

The first emperor took it away and was cursed by the hermit, and the current emperor tried to lift the curse by giving it to me in return.

The thing that will be the starting point and the end point of all events… … . The seon-gwan was talking about it now.

-“We call that egg a ‘holy relic’ because it is a sacred object passed down from our ancestors… but the name is fine. What’s important is that it contains mysterious powers and strong divine forces.”

-“Interesting. What kind of mysterious power is it?”

-“For example, this coin here―”

The officer who was speaking took a coin out of his pocket and showed it to me.

It was a crude coin that seemed to be the currency used within the village.

-“You can’t buy much with just one coin like this. At best, you can buy a snack. But if you bring it to the Egg of the Immortal, you can do something a little different.”

The official continued his explanation, rolling the coin he had taken out between his fingers.

-“The egg of the Immortal swallows a small piece of iron like this, and in return, it grants a small wish. For example, I normally cannot shoot an arrow at the small fruit on that tree, but if I offer this coin to the egg of the Immortal and pray, ‘Please let me shoot that with an arrow’―”

-“It hits the target accurately… …?”

-“That’s right. The applications are endless. You could hand over a coin and make a wish to pick up two coins.”

According to the seon-gwan’s words, the immortal egg, like its name suggests, would be a power source that would never die or break and would provide the power of ‘wish’ forever.

Can such a thing exist? Is it really against the laws of the world to infinitely multiply one coin into two, and then two into four?

… When I had such a question, the seon-gwan explained it exactly as if he had read my thoughts.

-“But it is the law of the world that when you gain one, you lose one. If you pick up two coins, two coins will disappear from someone’s pocket. You can’t increase it indefinitely without losing anything.”

-“… … That’s surprising.”

-“It’s so amazing that it’s called a holy relic. So―”

The seon-gwan lowered his voice secretly and brought up the main topic again.

-“If I were to use the power of the Egg of the Immortal as my driving force, and pay you for it as ‘ship fare’… then do you think this ship would be able to transport all the believers?”

The first emperor smiled with shining eyes, like a businessman who has seized the opportunity to make an important deal.

That’s why I was sure of one thing.

‘The First Emperor… I guess you noticed.’

It wasn’t that the missionary openly begged for the believers to move.

Even so, as the first emperor, he could not have failed to notice the purpose of the eunuch.

He asked in such a desperate manner whether he could be selected as the top.

‘That’s why I didn’t try to steal the holy relic right away.’

The first emperor already knew that the desperate Xuanzang would ask the village believers to move the holy relics even if it meant paying for the ship fare.

So, he wasn’t stupid, and he knew full well that he was going to have it soon, so there was no need to get his hands dirty and steal it.

Although they ended up stealing the holy relic later on, it seemed there was another reason for it.

In any case, the current first emperor would not have thought of taking it away.

‘This makes it clear. It wasn’t the First Emperor who spread the disease and killed the village believers. There’s no room for doubt since Bliss, who was possessed by the First Emperor, even said so. However… that doesn’t mean we can confirm that all the guild members are innocent.’

The conversation between the two took place in secret. The believers were very wary of outsiders, so the sage must have asked first to keep the conversation secret.

That is why the believers who knew nothing were afraid. They were afraid that outsiders would kill them and steal the holy relics.

The opposing guild members must have wondered why the first emperor did not covet the relic even though he knew of its existence.

And among those puzzled guild members, there must have been some who were even more dissatisfied.

For example, ‘Why is the guild leader just sitting there with the holy relic right in front of him? It’s so frustrating. I have to take action.’

… there may have been an author who secretly planned to harm the believers.

[Memory transfer skill “Memories we enjoy together” has ended.]

As soon as the skill ended, I said to Bliss.

“Let’s go outside first. I need to investigate all the guild members. But before that, there’s one thing… Just one more thing.”

Bliss gave me a puzzled look.

I lowered my voice and asked the guy carefully.

“Are you really Bliss?”

“… … ?”

“So, you too, like me, are possessed by another body. Like me, you seem to share some of the memories of your previous body owner. Because of the two memories being mixed up, you became confused as to whether you were Bliss or the first emperor… … .”

The reason I ask this question is because I am currently experiencing similar symptoms.

Of course, I am not Black Moon. However, after the ice ceremony, I felt like the way I spoke unconsciously had become similar to hers.

Even though the Heukwoldang subordinates were originally complete strangers, I felt strangely concerned… … .

I wondered if I had become too immersed in her life because I had received the memories of the Black Moon.

It’s like someone who is overly immersed in a movie and identifies with the main character.

‘No matter how much I think about it, it doesn’t seem like the first emperor was behind it… but it can’t hurt to check several times.’

Since I had seen the memories of the first emperor, I thought I would check it one last time, just one more time.

If Bliss is overly obsessed with the First Emperor, things will get quite complicated.

At that, Bliss smiled, stroking my chin.

“In short, are you worried that my ego has been swallowed up by my ancestors’ ego?”

“That’s right. If you are now identifying yourself with the First Emperor… that is, Klaus, then you may be hiding real information in order to cover up his shortcomings. The memories you just showed may also have been selected from all of your memories to only show you the parts that are unlikely to be suspected.”

“Oh, indeed. That could be the case.”

“Answer me properly. Are you the Bliss I know? Or perhaps… Your Majesty the First Emperor?”

He asked quietly, pretending to be joking and speaking politely, and waited for an answer.

Normally, it would have been a question that would have made one laugh out loud and say, “No, what kind of ridiculous suspicion is that…?”

But this guy didn’t answer or smile.

He just stared at me with an eerily static gaze, then slowly opened his lips.

“… … You have good instincts.”

“What!? Wait, you really mean His Majesty the First Emperor… …?”

Has Bliss’ ego really been swallowed?!

He gave me a relaxed smile, typical of a ruler, as I was taken aback.

“Yes. I am Klaus Van Frisk, the one who will plant the first imperial flag on the land of the Empire. If you understand, bow down before the royal family.”

“… … ?”

“Ah, before that, I think it would be best to get an oath first. Promise me that you will share all the letters you receive from Ernen with me from now on.”

“… … It’s Bliss, you’re talking nonsense.”

It was clear that Bliss was showing serious symptoms of a brother complex.

The bastard’s ego still remains strong.

‘This kid is playing around with something so useless at such a critical moment… … Anyway, I guess I can trust him since his ego doesn’t seem to have been swallowed or anything. The memories he just shared are probably unedited memories as well.’

Based on that memory and Bliss’s testimony, the first emperor was completely innocent.

So what we have to do from now on is… … .

“Gather the guild members outside. Oh, and were there any particularly suspicious people among them?”

“premier?”

“Yes, someone with skills related to epidemics, or someone who is well-versed in poisons, or someone who has their eyes on poisonous relics… … In any case, someone who would kill the villagers. Remember the first emperor’s memories in your head and guess.”

“A few come to mind… I’ll tell you outside.”

The guy led me straight out.

In the meantime, Cheongun also seemed to have completed his mission.

As I had promised beforehand, I blinked my eyes to send a signal.

‘Blinking three times means you haven’t found anything… … Tsk. That son of a culprit, being so needlessly thorough… … .’

I was possessed by a cockroach and searched the inside, but I couldn’t find anything, so I wondered how neatly and thoroughly they had hidden their traces.

‘I must find the culprit.’ With that determination in mind, I followed Bliss along with my subordinates.

Then Bliss glanced at my men and whispered to me in a voice they couldn’t hear.

“And let me tell you one thing in advance. I think it would be best if you didn’t show any extreme words or actions in front of the guild members.”

“Why? Is there a separate reason?”

“I was attacked last night.”

“attack…….”

Then Bliss held up three fingers.

“Three guild members were attacked in the middle of the night. They say they didn’t see what was attacking them because it was night, but they are now suspicious of the townspeople.”

“Aha. So that’s why the atmosphere was so cold earlier.”

I was wondering why he was staring at me so strangely when I was walking across the camp.

I just thought the thief was doing that because his feet were numb, but now that I look at it, I guess it was a look of suspicion.

By the way, an attack? Did a wild animal come out?

“Anyway, Your Majesty, please be careful.”

I nodded shallowly to Bliss and continued walking.

The empty space at base camp that we arrived at soon after.

There were about 50 to 60 guild members there, and from what I heard from Bliss, that was all of the guild members.

Relieved that no one was out anywhere else, I checked the karma points while looking at everyone there.

‘There’s no one with such low points.’

If you kill a lot of believers, your points will be -500 or less.

Oddly enough, there was no such person.

In that case, I had no choice but to search for those with disease and poison skills, so I asked Bliss to call them.

Soon, two guild members who had responded to his call gathered in front of me one by one.

* * *

A temple located in the very center of the village.

The seon-gwan, who looked down at the village from there and sighed every day, worrying about its future, let out a slightly different voice today.

To be exact, it was this morning when I saw off Heukwol and began to use the power of the spirits to divine her future.

“It’s really strange, it’s really strange… … .”

“Is Heukwol’s fortune telling bad?”

Baek-mae, who was examining her from the side of the doctor, asked quietly.

The officer then looked more closely at the grains of rice scattered on the table.

“Hmm… … .”

Grains of rice that at first glance appear to be scattered randomly and haphazardly.

However, if it was scattered with the Seon-gwan’s future prediction skill, “Good or Bad Fortune (L)” activated, then the arrangement of those grains of rice was by no means a coincidence.

Scatter grains imbued with the power of the spirits on a table, and read the messages about the future sent by the spirits from them… … .

That was the gist of “Good and Bad Fortune (L)”.

In short, it could be said to be a skill that tells fortunes by throwing rice grains.

Today, I felt a strange sense of alienation from Heukwol, so I tried to check it out by using my skill to have my fortune told… … .

“It’s not so much bad as it is strange. The spirit may have been grumpy, but he never gave me a difficult answer. If I die tomorrow, I die, and if I live, I live. But this… is really strange. It’s a fortune that has never come out even once.”

The horoscope of the Black Moon is ‘strange’.

Baekmae asked the hermit with an anxious heart.

“What does the spirit say about the Black Moon?”