When the Pope Becomes Competent - Chapter 49



Only Noblemtl

◈49. Another way to earn karma points

It was only after hearing the following questions from the eunuch that I realized that I was wrong.

“What is the reason?”

“Why… … ?”

“I’m asking why you came back to this distant past, even using the devil’s power. No matter how much I think about it, I still can’t figure it out.”

“… … .”

The officer continued speaking as if he was puzzled, facing me in silence.

“Even if only ten years have passed, the mountains and rivers have changed, let alone hundreds of years… … Why did you, a descendant so distant, come to meet a mortal like me with the power of the devil? After all this time, there must have been no connection between us.”

I sighed inwardly.

‘There are still questions left that are more difficult to answer than the ones I was asked earlier.’

Until just a moment ago, I was just wondering how to convey the fact that this place was a dream from the past and that all the believers had passed away.

I thought that was the most awkward thing to talk about.

I had momentarily forgotten that there was a story several times more awkward than that left.

“First of all… in reality, you are not just a dead person.”

“hmm?”

“You died, but you didn’t go to the afterlife like the other believers. You―”

It wasn’t easy to tell the truth.

As soon as she vomited it out, it would become a blade that would cut into her heart.

That’s why I had to struggle desperately to spit out the words that kept getting stuck in my mouth.

“You… have become a ‘vengeful spirit’, wandering the world with a grudge.”

* * *

“I returned safely after delivering the commander’s orders to Heukwol.”

The two doctors who had gone to the base camp in search of the Black Moon returned to Baekmaedang and reported as follows.

Baekmae, who was sitting on the veranda trimming herbs, greeted them with a smiling face.

“Okay, you worked hard. Now go back and rest.”

“Um, but… there’s one more thing I’d like to tell you.”

“hmm?”

“We may have seen it wrong, but it’s too much of a concern to just ignore… … .”

“What are you worried about? It’s okay, just tell me everything.”

Baekmae put down the herbs she was cutting for a moment, feeling as if something serious was about to happen.

The doctors, who had been hesitating for a moment, soon opened their mouths.

“You must have gone there to ‘warn’ those outsiders, Black Moon?”

“That’s right. Black Moon himself said he would come and warn you. But why?”

“It didn’t seem like that to us.”

The doctors hesitated a little longer than before, then continued speaking.

“You said you gave a warning… I didn’t sense any coldness between Heukwol and the leader of the outsiders.”

“… … Don’t you feel the cold air?”

“Yes. I watched them from afar, and we whispered to each other and laughed together occasionally. It was as if we had known each other for a long time.”

Baekmae ended up dropping the basket of herbs she had trimmed to the ground.

The herbs I had painstakingly trimmed were scattered all over the dirt floor, but I didn’t have the energy to pick them up.

Collusion with the enemy. Those were the only words that came to Baekmae’s mind after hearing about Heukwol’s actions.

‘They seemed to be on good terms… … .’

Have you had a chat with him?

You said you’d come to warn us so we wouldn’t even dream of doing something stupid, so why are we laughing and talking to each other?

Baek-mae barely managed to organize his jumbled thoughts and asked the doctors.

“… …Who else did you tell about this?”

“This is the first time I have reported to you, Baek Mae-nim.”

After hearing the answer, Baekmae was momentarily lost in thought.

‘It’s definitely suspicious that they’re laughing and talking, but… … .’

However, there is still nothing certain to confirm whether it is collusion.

It was something that should not be judged hastily.

“I see. I will look into it in detail, so you should forget what you saw today.”

“Yes, Baekmae-nim.”

The doctors soon bowed their heads in greeting and returned to their individual quarters.

Baekmae, who was left alone, blankly left the fallen herbs alone, then picked up a few of them and carefully wrapped them in white paper.

* * *

You died and became a vengeful spirit. – That was the beginning of my confession to the seon-gwan.

From the fact that she became a vengeful spirit with the power of a curse because she resented the first emperor, to the fact that I came here to relieve her of that resentment.

The seon-gwan listened to me the whole time while my story went on and on, but the only thing he said was this.

-“So you are… no, you are holding a memorial service for me? And you are taking such a long time to do so.”

Of course, I answered, “Yes.”

Because it was a remark that hit the point exactly.

Afterwards, I was certain that it was not the first emperor who spread the disease.

It seems that someone is trying to sow discord between the two groups, as even guild members were attacked.

They even said that the disease must have been spread by someone, so they had to catch that person.

The eunuch said―

-“I’ll call you again tomorrow, I need time to sort things out.”

… and sent me away.

This morning, a day had passed like that.

She called me back and asked me right away.

“You said that your ‘ability to see other people’s abilities’ isn’t perfect?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Yesterday, I told the detective that I wanted to use my information window checking ability to catch the culprit.

Of course, they didn’t tell me about the ability as it is, but only explained it as something like a skill.

It was for the sake of the captain’s mental health.

It must have been a huge shock to her just knowing that this was a dream.

But what if I told you that this isn’t just a dream, but a dream within a game called ‘Death Note’, and that I’m a human from outside the game, so I can see the information windows of the game characters?

She could literally pass out.

For that reason, I was careful to hide the story about the game, the information window, etc. as much as possible.

“It’s because of the karma I accumulated in my previous life… aka ‘karma.’ My karma score is low, so I can’t see through other people’s abilities perfectly. Because of this, I’m having a hard time finding the culprit.”

“Hmm.”

“It may take some time, but if we solve it step by step, we will definitely be able to catch the real culprit someday.”

“I will help you.”

I raised my head at the words the seon-gwan suddenly brought up.

Unlike me who was surprised, her gaze was calm as usual.

“As a celebrant, I have performed countless memorial services, and have seen countless vengeful spirits. Those who suffered in life and still cry after death, unable to forget their pain… … I have always pitied them.”

She took a sip of tea.

The words he spat out again afterward were still heavily laden with bitter emotions.

“And the more I sympathized with them, the more I became afraid. I was afraid that one day I would become a vengeful spirit like them.”

“ah.”

“They say I can comfort their souls, but when I actually die… who will comfort my sorrow then?”

“… … I guess so, definitely.”

She nodded as I agreed briefly.

“You said that you were only doing my memorial service for your own benefit, but that doesn’t matter. I will express my gratitude to those who have worked hard for my peace. Of course, I will not only express my gratitude in words, but also help them directly.”

I could understand.

The one who knows the fear of the sea best is the fisherman, and the one who knows the fear of the tiger best is the tiger hunter.

She, who had been helping the vengeful spirits from up close, must have been more afraid than anyone else of becoming a vengeful spirit herself.

And if that fear was real, then the gratitude toward me would also be genuine.

Therefore, I decided to willingly accept her help.

“Then I will tell you what I need as I pursue the criminal. For example, when I am short on manpower or funds… If you could help me out every time, things would be easier.”

“No, that’s not all I can do to help you.”

“… … ?”

In fact, I thought that there was nothing more the ambassador could do other than provide manpower and money.

She already had plenty of other things, such as high-performance items and useful information, so she didn’t need to add anything else.

But my pride was soon shattered by her next words.

“This is my special ability, ‘Salpuri Dance, Hanpuri Dance’. You call this a ‘skill’, right? … ? Anyway, I will use this skill to relieve you of your karma.”

“… … ?!”

It relieves karma.

What this meant was that Nickelus would restore the Karma points he had ruined by “-2382” points.

‘You can restore karma points with skills…? Isn’t that something that can only be done by completing trusts one by one?’

While I was half in doubt, the officer explained in more detail.

“To be exact, I’m going to use this skill to pray to the spirits. I’m going to ask them to forgive your sins. If you do that, you’ll be able to check all the skills of others. Right?”

“… … Yes, that’s right. I guess it’s probably because of karma that I can’t see other people’s skills properly.”

Just as skills were locked due to low karma points, the ability to check information windows became incomplete due to low karma points.

If the points weren’t negative, the skills that appear in other people’s information windows wouldn’t have been listed as (unverifiable skills).

The messenger continued with a hopeful smile.

“Yes, then if we reduce the karma, we will be able to properly examine who has skills related to poison and disease, and it will be much easier to find the culprit.”

It was all true.

If we could then examine other people’s (unconfirmed skills) that we couldn’t see at the moment, it would be much easier to find the culprit.

And that’s not all?

‘If you relieve your karma, one or two of Nickelus’ original skills that were locked due to karma points may be unlocked.’

So, if it were possible, it would be a really, really cool thing.

If only it were possible.

but-

“It will probably be difficult. My karma is much deeper and heavier than others’.”

“Is that so? It seems like you did a lot of things that deserved to be cursed at in your past life.”

“Yes, usually not serious crimes. Theft, robbery, murder, arson… .”

As I continued speaking, the officer’s expression hardened.

“… … You committed all those sins in your past life?”

“No. I have only listed the sins you can imagine. My sins are more serious than all of them combined.”

Than the karma of watching the destruction of the world.

Of course I don’t know, but in the Nickelus information window, [You who just watched the world fall apart! You are currently a villain who is comparable to a traitor!]

…because it said so.

The seon-gwan furrowed his brow as if he was thinking deeply about something.

“I have committed a sin worse than all the sins I can imagine combined… … .”

“Yes, I have committed a very terrible sin. So, it will be difficult for you to relieve me of my karma.”

“hmm…….”

Now that you’ve said that, I think you’re about to give up.

I liked that too.

Trying something that won’t work will only be a waste of time, and if you’re unlucky, it could put the ship in danger.

It was definitely like that… … .

“You know how to arouse people’s competitive spirit.”

When I raised my head, which had been bowed at the unexpected words, I saw the face of the seon-gwan.

She was smiling.

You haven’t given up yet, have you?

I opened my mouth urgently.

“I’m telling you this because I’m worried about you, sir. If you try to do something and something goes wrong, it’ll be bad, so just-”

“It’s okay. If you’re worried about me, then don’t worry about me. After all, I’m not the one fighting karma.”

“yes……?”

“I’ve relieved others of their karma in the same way before, but every time I just stood by and watched. In the end, the story is that you are the one fighting your own karma.”

I stared blankly, wondering what she was talking about, and she added with a smile.

“The spirits and I are simply giving a chance. A chance for those who have accumulated karma to face their karma… … So, stop talking nonsense and come to the ‘Prayer House’ at ‘Jasi 2gak’.”

She didn’t explain further.

He just said something like, “At midnight, you’ll know everything.”

“Let’s check then. Is the karma you accumulated from all the shit you did in your past life really too heavy for you to handle on your own?”

* * *

After falling for the guidance of the missionary, I ended up promising to do as she said.

However, the process was fraught with difficulties from the start.

Before performing the ritual to relieve karma, I had to first cleanse my body through a bath… My soul was now possessed.

It is not just a virtual body, but it is the body of a person who actually existed in the past, called ‘Black Moon’.

In this situation, it would be extremely wrong to take off your clothes and take a bath… … .

So after much thought, I told the officer honestly.

-“Actually, I am a man.”