When the Pope Becomes Competent - Chapter 54



Only Noblemtl

◈54. Your identity

Yeah, I had to admit it.

I was stupid to have hoped, even for a moment, that some good method would come out of it.

I closed my eyes tightly, indicating that I would not listen any more.

Despite this, the incubus continued to chattering without stopping.

―Keep listening. I’m not joking. Right now, you’re too focused on catching the real culprit, but there’s no need to be. In the end, all you have to do is relieve Seon-gwan’s resentment, right?

“… … .”

– First, fabricate the evidence. By fabricating it like that, you can fool the eunuch into thinking that the first emperor is the real culprit.

“… … .”

―Then, if you offer his head, the seon-gwan’s grudge will be resolved. Regardless of the truth, the seon-gwan himself will believe that he has caught the real culprit and taken revenge.

The important thing is not to actually catch the criminal and make him take revenge, but to make him ‘believe’ that he has caught the criminal and taken revenge.

… the incubus added.

If absurdity had a lethal dose, I’d probably be dead by now.

After listening to that incubus guy’s words, I couldn’t just sit still, so I opened my eyes again.

“They say that if you die in your dreams, you’ll become a wreck in reality… … I came here to lift that curse, but are you actually telling me to turn the person in question into a wreck?”

– So what? That man would welcome it. He would sacrifice himself and the terrible curse that had been passed down through the generations of the royal family would disappear. He would also be able to save his younger brother’s life.

“Wait a minute, how did you know that Ernen was going to die because of the curse? You weren’t eavesdropping on our conversation, were you?”

I know you know about the imperial curse, but I didn’t expect you to know about Ernen’s situation.

The incubus guy ignored me as if he hadn’t heard me and continued talking.

―Are you reluctant to sacrifice someone because you already knew them? Then it would be okay to sacrifice someone else. For example, that woman named Jeokun.

It was as if he was expecting that to happen.

I glared at the incubus and struggled to get up from the bed.

“Ah, now I understand. Why you put Bliss and me in the seon-gwan’s dream.”

– Really? Tell me.

“You wanted to see me ‘sacrifice’ my own people… people like Bliss. Right?”

The guy smiled silently as if telling me to keep going.

“You tried to prevent my identity from falling into the hands of those who had been erased. So you even tried to kill me.”

-That’s right. Unfortunately, it failed.

The Incubus guy slumped his shoulders, as if he was truly sorry that he couldn’t kill me.

I continued speaking, suppressing my rising anger.

“Yes… Since it would be difficult to kill me after failing once, I wish that people would become more ruthless. So that I wouldn’t end up taking my precious people hostage and walking into the clutches of those who were erased in an attempt to save them.”

– Exactly. If Hyung falls into their hands, things will get really complicated. That’s what we’re hoping for.

The man continued speaking in a lower, more sinister voice than before.

―I hope your heart becomes stronger than it is now… so that even if they take Luciana hostage and try to manipulate you as they please, you won’t be swayed by them… … .

My teeth ground out on their own.

I asked the guy, barely able to suppress the torrent of emotions that was welling up in me.

“I said I wouldn’t sacrifice anyone, was it really that bad that I tried to protect my people until the end?”

―Those who have been erased are not opponents that can be stopped with such a soft heart. That is why I created this stage specifically to teach my brother a lesson.

“Lesson… …? If it’s a lesson that tells me to become a cold-blooded person who doesn’t care whether my loved ones die or not in the name of justice, then I don’t really want to learn it.”

―… … .

“That’s why I won’t kill anyone. Not Luciana, not Bliss, not Red Cloud, and not even myself. I’ve already decided that.”

The incubus opened his mouth as if to ask something, but eventually let out a sigh of resignation.

―Ha… … I don’t know why you would turn back and take the easy way.

“Don’t be too fond of shortcuts. If you try to get there quickly and take a wrong path, you might get lost and end up wandering around like a beggar for days.”

The guy ruffled my pink hair nervously.

“I thought no one could talk more annoyingly than me!” … he screamed.

It was only after the guy gave up on trying to convince me that my brother finally spoke up.

-You won’t regret that decision.

“I won’t do it.”

It was an answer I gave more firmly on purpose, fearing that he would continue to pester me and try to persuade me.

But surprisingly, the circus side didn’t get annoyed with me or anything.

Rather, he nodded with a face that seemed a little relieved.

-Then show me that you were right. Here in my dream.

“Of course I was going to show you. Just open your eyes and watch. I’m going to show you that you can get through anything without killing the wrong people.”

For the first time, the succubus laughed.

It seemed like this was the first time he had ever smiled genuinely, except when he was laughing to mock someone.

Their figures gradually blurred as if they were about to leave, and their smiles also faded away.

In the end, all that remained was a single piece of advice she left behind.

―If you really want to show it, you should first stop those who came after your life.

“hmm?”

There was no need to ask what that meant.

Because those ‘those who came looking for my life’ showed up of their own accord.

‘That smoky stuff… poisonous smoke… … ? A surprise attack?!’

As soon as I discovered that white smoke was seeping in through the cracks in the windows and doors, I covered my respiratory system with my sleeve.

Is this toxic smoke from items or herbs?

Anyway, this wasn’t the time to be doing this.

“Bliss! Stop looking for the vials and come out! We have to get out now!”

“Calling him won’t do any good. That foreigner is locked up in a separate room.”

I called Bliss, but all I heard was Baekmae’s voice.

Soon, two people with cloth wrapped around their faces and wearing respirators like masks walked out of the room.

One was Baekmae, and the other was one of the Baekmae Party’s officials.

The man who came out with the white plum blossoms was holding a ‘snow forest painting’ in his hand, and when I looked at the information window, I saw that it was an item.

[Winter Tiger Forest (L)]

―The person designated by the owner of the item is sealed in the virtual subspace “Winter Tiger Forest.”

―It contains the spirit of a tiger that became ferocious because it could not find food during the winter.

It seemed to be a sealing item used to trap people or monsters.

Baekmae nodded and spoke to me.

“If you put it in here, you probably won’t come out alive. You’ll probably wander through the snow-covered forest and end up in the tiger’s stomach.”

“… … Don’t be hasty. If their leader doesn’t return, those outsiders won’t stay still. Get them out before things get worse.”

“Take it out… … ? Are you worried about that stranger? It seems you were in cahoots with him. When I reported that you invited a stranger into your home… I trusted you until the very end… … .”

Judging from the fact that he said he had received the report, it seemed that he had ordered his subordinates to keep an eye on me.

If there was one thing I didn’t expect, it was that Baekmae’s surveillance was more persistent than I thought.

I just thought they were watching my comings and goings from outside.

It seemed that they were even monitoring the ‘house’, as they had discovered the fact that Bliss was visiting.

‘Anyway, I have to clarify this quickly.’

There wasn’t much time.

I was losing consciousness, whether it was because of the smoke they were smoking or something.

“First, calm down and listen. After investigating, it seems that the culprit who killed the people was not an outsider. I’m saying that they may have been falsely accused.”

“… … .”

“Maybe the real culprit is inside Baekmaedang. There’s evidence on the desk. Take a look.”

Baekmae turned his head briefly as if he was interested in the desk where the materials were placed.

But that was it.

Instead of asking her subordinate to read it, she quietly came towards me.

“Black Moon, I’m disappointed in the fact that you’re colluding with outsiders. Whether they’re the ones who killed people or not is not important right now.”

“What…? It’s not… important?”

“The important thing is that you, who are fully aware of the ugliness of the outside world, deceived us and made contact with outsiders. And, I already know that they are not the culprits.”

You know? For a moment, my blood ran cold.

People who died after receiving treatment at Baekmaedang―

The life absorption skill that I acquired after smelling the incense of purification given by Baekmae―

And up to this point… … .

All these clues were leading me to the identity of the culprit.

No, I must be wrong, I thought to myself, but Baekmae’s fingertips were pointing at herself.

“The real culprit is here.”

“… … .”

Why… why on earth didn’t I notice it sooner?

Sighing inwardly, I finally opened her information window.

[White plum (A)]

[Skills held]

―A Hand That Observes the Flow (A)

―Needle that pierces the flow (A)

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

―Noble Sacrifice (L)

.

.

[Karma held]

313 points

Two skills of Baekmae that were hidden before clearing karma can now be seen.

Among them, I looked into the detailed explanation of “Noble Sacrifice (L)”.

[Noble Sacrifice (L)]

―The target who inhales the smoke released by the skill caster will have their vitality or illness absorbed by the caster. (Life Drain Effect)

-The caster can create medicine out of the absorbed life force or disease and share it with a third party.

*significant*

―If the absorbed life force is shared with a third party, the skill caster’s karma points will not be damaged even if the target of the absorbed life force dies.

The moment I read all the words written in the special notes, a flash of realization flashed through my head.

‘… … So that’s why it was like that.’

Why were the corpses so twisted and dried, as if the life had been sucked out of them?

Why were the causes of death of the corpses neither disease, poisoning, nor curse?

Why did Baekmae heal so many people, but her karma point only went up by 1 point?

All the doubts that had been weighing on me became clear in that single moment.

‘That’s why it happened, damn it.’

Simply put, the corpses were twisted and dried because their life force was absorbed by Baekmae.

The life absorption skill is a skill that literally ‘steals away’ life force.

It was different from skills that ‘inflict’ harmful powers, such as poison, disease, and curse skills.

‘The cause of death of those hit by Baekmae’s skill is ‘depletion of vitality’… That’s why it didn’t show up as poisoning or illness when checked using the cause of death investigation item.’

Above all, since it was an L-class skill, it would not have been measured with A-class or B-class items no matter what was done.

Since it wasn’t a curse skill, it wouldn’t have been possible to purify it even with the purification skill of a sage.

‘And Baekmae’s karma points. It was strange that it only went up by 1 point compared to when I saw it before… … .’

The day she took a bath with herbs, she felt a sense of discomfort in her karma points.

If you treated patients at Baekmaedang, that good deed should have been reflected in your score, so you should have earned much more than 1 point.

It was only after reading the *Special Notes* of the Noble Sacrifice skill that I finally understood why.

*significant*

―If the absorbed life force is shared with a third party, the skill caster’s karma points will not be damaged even if the target of the absorbed life force dies.

The number of people she killed by draining their life force.

And the number of people she saved by sharing her life force.

If the two numbers are equal, the karma points will remain similar, since plus and minus are zero.

‘Damn, that’s why I treated so many people but only gained 1 point. I killed as many people as I saved… … !!’