When the Pope Becomes Competent - Chapter 61



Only Noblemtl

◈61. Unlock new skills

I never thought I would wake up from my dream and see a system message about Baekmae.

That unexpected situation suddenly brought me a sharp pain in my heart.

I slowly read the message, recalling Baekmae bursting into sad laughter before she died.

[You have received karma for lying to the dying “Baekmae”. Your karma points will decrease by -100 points.]

It was a little unfair, but it wasn’t wrong.

When Baekmae asked me before he died, “Did you pay the price for Hoyeonse?”, I lied.

That they paid their fair share.

Hoyeonse had tricked Baekmae without even knowing where he was.

Even though it was a lie to comfort her, the system of the Ministry of Destruction seemed to have judged it as an evil act.

‘Well… I guess that’s a pretty good price to pay for making a dying person feel comfortable.’

It’s not even a thousand points, it’s only a hundred points.

So even if I were given another chance, I would have lied to Baek-mae the same way.

Tsk. Clicking my tongue a little bitterly, I checked the last message as well.

[I have paid off the karma by comforting the sorrow of this “Baekmae” who is dying from a white lie. Karma points increase by 200 points.]

“Ah.” A new exclamation escaped my lips.

Karma for deceiving Baekmae with lies, -100 points.

And the virtue of comforting Baekmae with a lie, +200 points.

In conclusion, I lied to Baekmae and got +100 points.

‘Did I underestimate the system of the Extermination Department?’

He didn’t take points away from me with a simple judgment like ‘lying is bad.’

What this meant was that the system of the Ministry of Destruction was sophisticated enough to understand the concept of a white lie.

I was about to close the message window, feeling a little surprised.

[You can now unlock one of your locked skills by recovering Karma Points. Would you like to unlock it now?]

―Yes

―No

A skill unlock ticket received at an unexpected moment.

Even though I had been surprised many times before, I couldn’t help but be surprised again by that message.

* * *

“Your Majesty, His Holiness the Pope has arrived at the palace.”

“You’re quick. Tell them to come in quickly.”

Despite the order Ernen gave with a cheerful expression, the vassal who brought the news hesitated a little.

As if there was something more to say.

Then, a little later, so as not to surprise Ernen, he added slowly.

“His High Priestess Bliss van Wieselev also came.”

Ernen’s pupils dilated for a moment after hearing what Gasin had added.

After that, Ernen muttered softly.

“Brother… … .”

Bliss has been away from the palace since Ernen became the target of the curse.

In the hope that if Ernen were to be kept at a distance and his affection for her cooled, the curse might disappear.

So it was really a long time since the two met again.

“Bring him here quickly. We cannot delay this long-awaited reunion any longer.”

At that moment, Timor, who had been listening to the situation from the side, intervened with a look of discomfort.

“Ahem, isn’t it a little dangerous? If the curse manifests again because of Bliss-nim… … .”

“Why, didn’t you guarantee that as long as you brought me tea leaves, I wouldn’t have to worry about the curse at all?”

“That, that is… … .”

“But are you saying that just seeing you will bring back the curse? Despite all the shouting, the tea leaves don’t seem to have much of an effect.”

Ernen, who had a lot of things stored inside him, taunted Timor’s tea as if he had been waiting for it.

In fact, there was a situation where Timor claimed, ‘If you just drink tea, you will never be cursed again.’

That’s why Timor couldn’t refute and just tossed and turned uncomfortably.

‘Why did you come with that guy?’

Timor’s nerves were on edge at the thought of seeing Bliss again, whom he had been reluctant to see.

In the meantime, Gasin left to guide the visitors and returned shortly thereafter.

Take Nickelus behind me.

* * *

First, I entered the audience room alone.

Bliss will come in after I’m done checking?

After such an agreement, I followed Gashin alone and entered the second audience room of the palace.

There was one more person there besides Ernen.

‘Who is the human next to Ernen?’

He was a man with a rather fussy look, with his gray hair neatly slicked back.

‘Why does your face look so familiar?’

As I stared into the man’s gray eyes behind his glasses, someone suddenly came to mind.

‘Are you by any chance Argelio’s family…?’

It seemed certain.

The impression and style are so similar.

A face that looks like it belongs to the same bloodline to anyone who looks at it… … .

If my guess is correct, that man was the Duke of Timor Van Freeburn, Argel’s older brother.

After roughly guessing the identity, I asked Ernen as I had originally intended.

“What about the curse? I held a memorial service and came here to see if it was effective.”

I’m not very familiar with royal etiquette, and my priority right now is to confirm the curse, so I skipped the greeting.

But unexpectedly, there was a person who tackled me.

“How insolent, Your Holiness! Humble yourself before His Majesty and show proper respect!”

The one who was whining was the Timorese kid I had just observed.

Does the Duke of Freeburn have some kind of ill-fated relationship with me?

That guy Argel and that guy too, whenever they tried to do something, they would always start a fight like that.

As I was wondering if I should say something, thankfully Ernen spoke first.

“Enough with the ramblings about etiquette, Duke. The Pope is the one who lifted the curse from the imperial family.”

“However, Your Majesty, it is not certain whether you are truly the one who lifted the curse.”

“You still say that… … . Do you really believe that the curse was lifted thanks to your tea leaves?”

From what I heard, it seemed like Timor was claiming that Ernen’s curse was lifted thanks to the tea leaves he had brought.

Ernen, who had been so considerate, was now making a blatant expression of disgust at how much he had been coaxed.

At that point, I decided to step forward.

“I solved it correctly.”

The Timorese child made a stupid face.

Did I say that too abruptly? I think I explained it insufficiently, so I added a little more.

“As I said before, I lifted the curse through the memorial service.”

“Above, above… … .”

“Yes, that curse was a curse that arose from the grudge of a certain apostle long ago. I consoled her by clearing up her misunderstanding, and so the curse was naturally lifted.”

I thought you’d understand since I told you this much.

As expected of a human of the same bloodline as Argel, he was quite tenacious.

“But how did His Majesty attempt that so-called memorial service?”

“hmm?”

“As far as I know, Your Majesty… hmm, it would be… … .”

“You don’t think I have the ability to do that?”

I feel like I’m slowly crossing the line.

He added belatedly, his eyes distorted.

“I’m talking about skills. I understand that His Majesty doesn’t have the ‘consolation skills’ to comfort that strong grudge. That’s why you were always absent during the founding of the country… ahem…?”

“… … .”

“I apologize if I have offended you, but this is a matter that must be made clear as it concerns the imperial curse.”

I keep mumbling about it, but in the end, it means I don’t have that kind of ability.

I was starting to get a little annoyed seeing him make excuses like, “It’s an issue that needs to be addressed,” after already saying enough rude things.

It was then that a flash of realization occurred to me.

‘Wait a minute, now that I think about it… Isn’t it because of this guy that the royal family has been pressuring the religious order all this time?’

The Imperial Family has always maintained a position of keeping the religious order in check, but from what I have personally met, Ernen was not the type to do so.

So when we first met, I was a little surprised to see Ernen bow his head and apologize obediently.

I had a feeling that that Timorese duke was moving Ernen from behind.

Just looking at the guy’s current arrogant attitude, it was a pretty credible guess.

‘I’d better take this opportunity to greatly reduce Ernen’s trust rating so that he won’t be able to trust him anymore.’

Judging by the look of disgust on his face whenever he saw Timor, Ernen seemed to already be displeased with Timor.

But I needed to be more certain.

If that Duke was really moving Ernen from behind the scenes, then his influence had to be reduced somehow, for the sake of the religious order.

“That car… … Are you saying that the curse was lifted because that car had some kind of mystical power?”

When I asked him that based on the information I had learned from Ernen’s words earlier, Timor shamelessly nodded.

“Yes. These are not ordinary tea leaves. They are something close to medicinal herbs, carefully selected and grown by our family from the seed. If you wish, I can call an Awakened person with the relevant skills and have them verify the efficacy of this tea. What do you think?”

As Timor confidently stepped forward to verify, Ernen also looked a little anxious.

He was nodding his head slightly behind Timor so that only I could see him.

It’s a signal not to accept it.

In fact, Ernen had no intention of asking Timor for proof even if he didn’t do it.

Because it was obvious that they would bribe Awakeners with relevant skills to manipulate the proof results.

I shook my head for a moment, slowly thinking of another way to reveal that the bastard’s tea leaves were fake.

“That’s okay. I don’t want to doubt your words that much.”

“Oh… … . But Your Majesty, shouldn’t you be suspicious in such an important matter? As I said before, I am suspicious of you.”

“… … .”

“So… Your Majesty, can you prove it? That the curse was lifted through your memorial service?”

It seemed like he also wanted to use this opportunity to completely suppress me.

I was being pushed to prove my abilities in some way.

If that was the case, there was only one answer I could give.

“Well… you can, prove it.”

“I see. I understand.”

As soon as the words “I can do it” came out of my mouth, a big smile appeared on his face.

“There is a banquet scheduled to be held today, so please prove it on the spot. Or… will you not attend the banquet like you did during the founding of the country?”

In short, it meant that he was going to make excuses and run away again this time.

According to the vague memories of the original Nickelus that remain with me, the original guy always seemed to make excuses for being sick whenever there was a foundation ceremony.

Anyway, it was not in my nature to just ignore such provocation.

“There’s no way I’ll miss the banquet today. Even if I break my legs or my arms, I’ll still attend.”

“Ah, that’s fortunate―.”

“However, you should also be prepared for that. As you said earlier, this is an important matter, so from now on, I have decided to be thoroughly suspicious of you.”

He took a half step closer to the bastard and warned him in a lowered voice.

“It means that I am not the only one who has to prove the truth today.”

“… … .”

The guy who had been giggling just a moment ago finally started smiling.

Gulp. I could see the bastard’s throat rippling as he swallowed dry saliva.

“Okay. Let me prove the effectiveness of my tea today.”

* * *

Afterwards, Timor returned to his mansion, saying he had something to prepare for the banquet.

Maybe he was in a hurry.

Because we need to hurry and buy off the owner of the skill that can ‘manipulate the effects of tea leaves’.

After the Duke left, Ernen finally opened up his heart.

“I’m worried. The Duke of Freeburn is a thorough man. He’ll surely prepare thoroughly things that can prove the efficacy of tea. And—”

Ernen continued speaking, his eyes distorted with anxiety.

“He’s going to meticulously plan to embarrass you. I believe you have the ability to do it, but… Are you really okay with it? If you fall for his tricks, you’ll lose face in front of the nobles attending the banquet… .”

“Don’t worry about me. I’m not so foolish as to be embarrassed so easily.”

“Is that so…?” I smiled confidently at Ernen, who asked back.

Then he reminded me.

Something very important that he had been missing because he was so deep in worry.

“Wouldn’t it be better to focus on the joy of reunion rather than worrying right now?”