When the Pope Becomes Competent - Chapter 93



Only Noblemtl

◈93. You… are going to die today

What I was pointing to was the dagger item that looked the best among the products.

[Dagger with the energy of the eternal snow (B)]

– A dagger imbued with the energy of the eternal snow.

– Increases the user’s attack power by 10%.

*significant

―If you get cut by the blade of that dagger, there is a 10% chance that you will suffer frostbite.

Looking at the information window, it seems to be a (B) grade item with special effects.

If you could get that for the price of three darts, it would be a huge gain.

So when I was about to choose the dagger, the shop owner shouted hurriedly.

“Wait a minute! That’s not a product!”

Even though it’s right there on the shelf.

As if he didn’t want to hand over the expensive item, the owner belatedly tried to hide the item.

I quickly grabbed his hand, stopped it, and whispered.

“You cheated with darts and now you’re trying to cheat again?”

“A, a fraud?”

“This dart is a cursed item that misses. Should I just reveal it here and then charge it with fraud?”

There was no way that a conman with the guts to stand up to such talk would do it.

As I expected, the shop owner eventually gave up the dagger.

I turned around and walked away with Delsey after I had smashed all the darts to prevent him from cheating again.

Afterwards, he went to a secluded place and gave Delsey the dagger he had received as a gift.

“You won’t be in any danger since you’ll always be under strict guard… but there’s always a chance. It’s a good idea to have at least one weapon for self-defense.”

Delsey remained silent, hugging the sword I had given her tightly to her chest.

Then, after a long time, he seemed to have made up his mind and said:

Not through items, but with her own voice.

“Your Majesty, this may be a bit sudden, but I… am truly happy.”

I stopped walking for a moment and faced Delsey.

“okay?”

“Yes, this is my first time going out so comfortably with other people.”

“first…….”

Did Delsey’s family never even go on an outing together?

Suddenly, a question occurred to me.

Now that I think about it, Delsey has never properly revealed her past.

All I knew about Delsey’s past was that she was wandering around the slums and was found by Nickelus.

That I had an older sister I was close with.

Given that Delsey herself didn’t say anything else, it was likely that family was a taboo subject for her.

So I tried not to ask as much as possible―

“I’ve never seen my mother’s face. My father raised me by himself… He wasn’t a very caring person.”

Just now, Delsey broke her own taboo.

It was the first time I heard about Delsey’s family.

Delsey didn’t stop there, but slowly, bit by bit, revealed her hidden past.

“He would become even more violent on days when he came home drunk. If I made even the slightest noise, I would get beaten up… So I always had to stay quiet and keep quiet. Even now, I couldn’t speak freely back then.”

“Of course I couldn’t even ask her to go on an outing together,” Delsey said with a laugh.

This isn’t something to laugh about.

I carefully patted Delsey’s head, feeling sorry for the smile she had tried so hard to create.

“You must have had a hard time.”

“It’s okay. But now, Your Majesty is taking care of me like this… Ah!”

Delsey, who had been speaking, suddenly stopped as if she had discovered something.

Then, with an excited look on his face, he pointed to what he had discovered.

[I want to do that this time! Ugh!]

What Delsey was pointing to was a shabby street vendor who read tarot cards.

A shop where an old woman sits under a sunshade and reads fortunes.

As we walked there together, a smile appeared on the face of the old woman who was reading the tarot cards.

“Pretty girl, what do you want to see?”

[hmm…….]

Delsey’s gaze turned to me for a moment and then looked away.

[A way to get closer to the people you care about, huh.]

“Hehe, that’s what you want to know? Okay, this old lady will take a look right away.”

As the old woman spoke, she shuffled the old cards in her hand.

A hand that shuffles the cards dazzlingly.

I was staring blankly at it, and then I was startled for a moment.

When activating the skill, a unique energy could be felt from the old woman’s hands.

“It’s a skill… … ? Is it a skill that predicts the future through dots?”

“That’s right. It’s this old man’s only talent. It’s low-level, but he can still tell fortunes pretty accurately.”

After hearing the old woman’s answer, I looked at her information window.

The skill actually matched.

The name of the skill is “Card that knows the answer (F)”

It was a skill to predict the future or ask for advice using card reading.

‘The rating is too low to be of much use in predicting the future… but it’s still more accurate than just random card readings.’

It could be said that it was a card game that was perfect for fun.

Meanwhile, the old woman who had shuffled the cards handed them over to Delsey.

“Here, pick one from here.”

Delsey thought carefully.

After spending quite some time choosing and choosing again, I picked one.

The old woman looked at it carefully and then opened her mouth.

“Hmm… … . I guess what you need is a ‘honest conversation’.”

[Honest conversation, huh?]

“To get closer to someone special, you need to have honest conversations. Now, I’ll write it down here so you don’t forget.”

The old woman took out a pen and paper and wrote down the contents of the horoscope.

Then he handed it over to Delsey.

I watched the scene for a while, then said.

“Can I see it too?”

“What’s wrong? Just sit here.”

Even though it is a low-level skill, isn’t it still a foresight skill?

It was well worth the time.

As soon as I sat down, the old woman asked me a question.

“What do you want to know?”

“I want to know today’s fortune.”

I was wondering if I could complete the trust safely today.

After hearing my answer, the old man immediately shuffled the cards and handed them to me as he had done to Delsey earlier.

“Now, let me pick one from here.”

I picked one out of them without much thought.

I thought it was a card with a gloomy picture, and as expected, the old woman’s expression darkened.

“this…….”

“Is your fortune bad?”

“Hmm… … . Can you listen to me for a second?”

It seemed as if he wanted to tell her secretly, even though he didn’t know how bad the horoscope was.

As requested, the old woman whispered in a voice too small for Delsey to hear.

“You… are going to die today.”

“yes!?”

“It’s not like you’re really going to die, it’s just that the horoscope says so.”

Now I think I understand why you whispered.

I was afraid that Delsey would be shocked if I told her this out loud, so I told her in private.

The old man continued to speak only to me in a small voice.

“The skill I have is low-level. Its accuracy is low, so it’s basically no different from looking at cards without any skill.”

“… … .”

“So don’t worry too much. I know it’s a bit odd to say this as a fortune teller, but just have fun with it, just have fun with it.”

“If you put any meaning into fortune telling, you’ll just get tired,” the old woman said, laughing.

But I couldn’t laugh like her.

While I was still in shock, the old woman added quietly.

“Would you like to try an advice card too? It’ll cost you extra, though.”

“… … I’ll give it to you. I’ll also draw an advice card.”

At this point, I started to wonder if I had fallen for the old man’s tricks.

Could it be that he just made up a bad fortune just to make me draw the advice card?

But even while thinking that way, I couldn’t bring myself to not pull out the advice card.

I thought that since I was going to die today, it would be a good idea to seek advice even if it meant paying a few bucks.

The old man shuffled the cards again, and I drew a card again.

The old man, who was examining the cards drawn in that way, soon announced the results with a slightly more relaxed expression on his face than before.

“Don’t try to solve your problems alone, but rely a little more on the people around you. That’s the only way to survive.”

“… … I will keep that in mind.”

It was fortunate that there was a way to survive.

Even though it was a fortune telling with an F-class skill, I was still quite uneasy because the result was death.

We greeted the old woman and continued walking.

After that, I bought some cloud candy to give to Rubin, and then I went around the street vendors and bought various things.

But for some reason, even though we were looking at so many strange things, Delsey didn’t say anything.

Eventually, he stopped and quietly asked Delsey.

“It’s been quiet since a while ago. Is it because your leg hurts?”

I’m the only one who heard my horoscope, so I’m not worried about that…

In that case, it was highly likely that he simply became quiet because he was physically exhausted.

“Shall we sit on that bench over there and rest for a moment?”

[Yes. Please sit down for a moment, Your Majesty. I have something to tell you, kkuk.]

You have something to say, what is it?

Feeling puzzled, I took Delsey and sat down nearby.

Delsey didn’t say anything even after she sat down.

All I could do was fiddle with the fortune paper the old woman had written down earlier.

It was a long time before Delsey spoke again.

“It’s the horoscope I saw earlier. It’s just a horoscope, but… I made up my mind after seeing it.”

“hmm?”

“I decided to confess my past to Your Majesty.”

Considering that Delsey only speaks in her real voice when she’s serious, there was no doubt that she was being serious now.

I decided to tell you something important, following the horoscope that said, ‘Have an honest conversation.’

Delsey’s attitude was so heavy and serious that I started to get a little worried.

“… … Are you okay? I don’t know what the past is, but you’ve never told me before.”

“Yes, it’s okay. If I can get closer to Your Majesty according to the divination, I can tell you as much as I want. Even if I just cover up the wound, it will eventually fester and rot… So I’ll tell you. It’s the most painful story for me.”

So Delsey revealed her determination, and I nodded silently.

Soon, in a small but clear voice, Delsey revealed an old story she had been keeping hidden.

“As I said before, I was raised by my father. He was a violent man. The only person who helped me was my older sister, who was a close friend of mine in the village… She was a very strong and confident older sister.”

“That, that sister who looks like Luciana… …?”

“Yes. She was such a confident older sister, so I often thought that I wanted to grow up like her.”

The painful story continued to flow out from between the lips that had a bitter smile on them.

“But I wasn’t like that sister at all. I was shy, quiet… I couldn’t say a word even when my father raised his hand.”

“… … .”

“Then one day, the abuse got particularly bad. I tried to just take it quietly that day, but it was so bad that day… I thought I might die.”

“… … .”

“At that moment, I thought of that older sister. I had decided to be as confident as that older sister, but why was I just crouching around helplessly like that? … That’s what I thought.”

Delsey, who had been speaking up to that point, clenched the fist that was resting on her knee.

“So for the first time, I mustered up my courage and shouted. I barely managed to get myself up, opened the window, and shouted, ‘Please, anyone, please save me.’”

When I heard that, I finally felt like I understood.

How Delsey became an Awakener.