When the Pope Becomes Competent - Chapter 50



Only Noblemtl

◈50. The Poison of the World

The seon-gwan, who heard my confession, dropped the fan with a thud.

Largely dilated pupils.

Hands shaking so much that they almost dropped the fan.

After trembling like that for a while, she suddenly shouted.

-“What, what?! You… you’re saying you’re a man!! How disrespectful!! This temple is a forbidden area!!”

Did I say that for nothing? Should I say it was a joke even now?

It was at a time when I was going through all sorts of worries like that. She smiled brightly.

-“It’s a joke, so relax. I’m not that stuck up.”

-“Are you… are you okay?”

-“Yes, whether you’re a man or not, it doesn’t matter. Just cleanse your body first. If you go ask Baekmae, she’ll tell you how to bathe without taking off your clothes.”

… So, I came to Baekmaedang and met Baekmae.

When she heard me say that I wanted to take a bath with my clothes on, she took me to a closed, empty room.

There were herbs left over from burning in the four corners of the room, but Baekmae quickly cleared them away and replaced them with new herbs.

“I will burn purifying herbs here. When you inhale their scent, the accumulated impurities in your body will be removed.”

“It’s amazing… …. Just by burning it and inhaling it, the waste is removed as if you took a bath?”

“Yes, it’s a bathing method I developed myself for patients who are too badly injured to wash themselves with water.”

Perhaps this was also a method that was researched and developed using the skill of the grass that blooms on that mountain.

By the way, what exactly was the name of that herbal skill?

Since it had been a long time since I saw her, my memory was hazy, so I opened her information window again.

[White plum (A)]

[Skills held]

―A Hand That Observes the Flow (A)

―Grass blooming on the mountain, grass blooming in the field (S)

―(Unconfirmed skill)

―(Unconfirmed skill)

.

.

[Karma held]

313 points

I nodded after checking the skill name.

Grass that blooms on the mountain, grass that blooms in the field… Yes, that was the name of the skill.

Perhaps, after figuring out the efficacy of each herb, he recombined them to find a medicine that removes impurities from the body.

‘Your skill application is good. Does that mean you do a lot of research for the convenience of patients? But there’s something a little strange… . . . ‘

I looked closely at the Baekmae information window.

That was when.

“Wait a minute, but come to think of it, Black Moon, haven’t you used this purifying herb before? Why are you suddenly acting like it’s the first time you’ve seen it―”

“As expected, you do your best to take care of the believers! You even developed something like this! Amazing!”

For a moment, I felt like he was trying to find me suspicious, so I quickly changed the subject.

Fortunately, Baekmae didn’t try to dig up any more of my suspicious items.

“I always try my best. The problem is that my efforts don’t always bear fruit as I would like. It would be nice if I could save people with just my efforts… … .”

Her face suddenly brightened thanks to the flames that Baekmae had lit to burn the herbs.

The face of Baekmae, which I was finally able to see properly in this place where sunlight did not shine through well…

A shadow of worry darker than the darkness of the room hung over his face.

“So, Heukwol-ah.”

“hmm?”

“What did you talk about with those foreigners?”

“… … .”

Baekmae’s soft voice was transmitted through the white smoke.

“I thought you went to give them a ‘warning’ for our believers. But I heard the mood wasn’t like that.”

“… … I heard it from the Baekmaedang doctors. From the children who came to tell me the words of the seon-gwan… … .”

“They just told me what they saw. Don’t blame them.”

As he said that, Baekmae put her hand on my shoulder.

Her thin, delicate hand could be felt through my shoulder.

Because of that, I could feel exactly how much she was shaking.

“Don’t blame others. I’m the one asking you the truth right now.”

As expected… Baekmae was also a leader of a party.

Even though it may seem easy at first glance, it is a position that carries responsibility as the head of Baekmaedang.

That’s why the expression on her face as she wrapped herself around the clothes was so fierce that it was visible even in the smoke.

Baekmae stared at me with such a fierce expression for a while, and only after a long time did she open her mouth again.

“Do you remember? The day I first came to town, you were the one who came out to meet me halfway up the mountain.”

“Yeah… … I remember. You were lying among the poisonous flowers. The poisonous air was so strong that you were crying.”

I answered like that and tried to trace back the old memories of the Black Moon that were vaguely coming to mind.

Yes, that day, Baekmae was lying neatly among the poisonous flowers.

Just like all those who were cruelly rejected by the world and eventually decided to commit suicide and climbed Mt. Dokja.

And it was Heukwol who went out to find such a white plum according to the order of the seon-gwan.

Black Moon, who found Baekmae dying from poison, gave Baekmae a mask with a poison-proof spell.

-“If you’re suffering from poison, use this. It’ll make your breathing a lot easier.”

-“you are…….”

-“I can go to the village and get treatment from the hermit.”

The mask was the only item that could block the poison of the flowers.

He gave up the only thing he had and, while being poisoned himself, he brought Baekmae back to the village with great difficulty.

Baekmae’s lips formed a bitter smile as she recalled that day, just like me.

“You remember it that way. To tell you the truth… I didn’t cry that day because of the poison of the flowers. I cried because the ‘poison of the world’ that filled the world was so harsh.”

“… … The poison of the world?”

“Anger and hatred, jealousy and contempt… all the poisons that fill the world. Those poisons took away what was precious to me.”

Baekmae continued, pointing to her own eyes that were no longer functioning.

“So when I heard that you personally purged the family of the traitor who had framed your family with a single sword, I felt relieved. Since you are so strong and resolute, you can protect anything… … . As long as I stay by your side, I… won’t have to experience the sorrow of losing something precious again… … .”

Although it was hard to see because of the smoke, it wasn’t hard to find Baekmae’s hand.

Her two hands were still shaking slightly on my shoulders.

I held her hand tightly, hoping that the anxious trembling would subside even a little.

“Baekmae. I heard that the outsiders and I seem to be on good terms, so don’t worry.”

“… … .”

“I also care about our believers. Of course, I will never do anything that would harm them.”

“… …Can I trust you?”

“Of course. The reason I am not always so harsh towards outsiders is because I think it is better to cooperate with them than to reject them.”

“cooperation…….”

“Yeah. I found out that Klaus had nothing to do with this. I think it was the work of one of his subordinates.”

“Ah.” I added an explanation to Baekmae, who let out an exclamation.

“So there’s no need to go and cause unnecessary trouble. If he just cooperates properly, we can catch the real culprit without any harm.”

“……okay?”

“Yeah, okay.”

Baekmae let out a heavy sigh as if she was in deep thought.

And then, soon―

“That’s what it was… … . That’s what it was.”

Only then did the smile that had been absent until now appear on her lips.

The atmosphere that felt sharp has become more relaxed than before.

By the time the smoke that had filled the room had cleared, she had returned to her usual white dress.

Accordingly, I also put on my clothes as if I hadn’t heard anything.

“I should go now. I have to go see the missionary at night.”

“Yeah, the story we shared today is… … .”

“I know. I’ll keep it a secret. I didn’t hear anything here.”

After that, I left Jeonghwa’s room, leaving Baekmae behind, who nodded her head in greeting.

My steps were light, as if I had shaken off all the dregs of my body and mind.

‘Since you told me so firmly to be at ease, I shouldn’t have suspected anything…? I’m a bit surprised that you suddenly said something like that.’

Surprised or not, things seemed to have worked out well, so I felt relieved.

Now the only thing left on the agenda is to meet the missionary.

I was going to rest for a bit and then head towards where she was.

But then, as soon as I came out, a bright red hair suddenly appeared before my eyes.

It was a red cloud.

“Black Moon, I’ve been waiting for you.”

“Ah, Jeokun-ah. Did you find out something? What about Cheongun? I heard they hang out together.”

Bliss was assigned to watch over the guild’s suspects, while Jeokun and Cheongun were assigned to investigate the dead believers.

I told them to do it because they said the two would act together, but it was strange that Jeokun came alone.

Jeokun answered him with a serious expression.

“I sent Cheongun on a short errand. The excuse was to get some from Baekmaedang, as the elixir that Heukwol always takes has run out.”

“To go that far… … .”

“Yes. I have personally investigated and found out something, but it is a bit difficult to report it to anyone who has ears to hear.”

Jeokun bowed his head politely and spoke in an even smaller voice than before.

“So, from now on, I would like to ask that you treat the report I am about to give you as confidential as possible, and that you also consider any additional opinions I may have added to be solely my personal opinions.”

“Okay, I won’t be quick to judge, so feel free to tell me.”

Only after I said that did Jeokun finally report.

“I found one thing in common among the believers who passed away due to illness. They all visited the same place a month before they died.”

“Where is that?”

“It’s a hundred-dollar deal.”

“……what?”

Jeokun informed me again while I was surprised.

In a voice so clear that you can’t mishear even if you try to mishear.

“All of them, every single one of them, without exception… had received treatment at Baekmaedang a month before they died.”

All of the deceased had received treatment at Baekmaedang and died without exception a month later.

The moment I heard Red Cloud’s report, I thought I knew why she had been so insistent on keeping things confidential.

‘If this becomes known, the Baekmaedang officials will… … .’

Although the believers’ suspicions and resentment were now directed at outsiders, the moment this fact became known, the situation would change drastically.

Suspicion will be directed towards Baekmaedang, not outsiders.

Her voice was quite cautious, perhaps because she was also considering that possibility.

“I checked and checked again several times just in case, but―”

“Is this information confirmed?”

“Yes, I swear on the name you gave me.”

Jinmyeong refers to the new name one receives when coming to this village.

As the leader of the Black Moon Party, Heukwol received the name “Black Moon”, and “Jeokun” was also her true name that Jeokun received here.

And to stake that truth meant to stake my entire new life here.

She proved so clearly that what I said was true, and handed me the materials she had brought.

‘Characters that are almost identical to Chinese characters… … Fortunately, there is no problem reading them.’

Although it was a completely new character that was not used in the empire, it was easy to read thanks to the memory of the Black Moon in my head.

So, the material I read through contained everything about the dead people.

When, why, and how I went to Baekmaedang.

As he was reading the material, Jeokun cautiously opened his mouth again.

“If it’s okay, can I tell you my guess? It’s something I shouldn’t say lightly, but… … .”