When the Pope Becomes Competent - Chapter 95



Only Noblemtl

◈95. Cursed Circus Animals

I looked at the captain carefully… ‘Michelln’.

‘If the contents of the trust are true, then that bastard must be the one who planned the kidnapping?’

I knew that, but that didn’t mean I was going to take out my weapon and swing it right now.

Because we still don’t know where the people are being held.

For now, I was planning to just sit back and watch the situation and then take action when they let their guard down.

‘I wonder what he’s doing… I tried opening the information window… but it won’t open?’

I tried to check Micheln’s information window, but it wouldn’t open.

It is not an awakened one.

‘They’re not even Awakened, and they don’t seem to have any particularly dangerous items… … Were they just a bunch of kidnappers? I was getting nervous for no reason.’

It seemed like it would be okay to just watch and take care of things a bit, then rescue the kidnapped people.

While I was lost in thought, Michelin smiled in an unusually lively manner.

“You are most welcome, sir. The show here features adorable animals you won’t see anywhere else in the world.”

“… … .”

“So you must be having fun… um… , I hear a lot of people around me say you’re a reserved person. You don’t react much.”

He was talking really well about kidnapping people.

Don’t you feel any guilt or even tension?

Far from feeling guilty or nervous, I could even catch a glimpse of joy in the golden eyes of the man I was looking into.

That was when I thought he was really a strange guy.

“By the way, is there anything wrong with you, young lady?”

As he spoke, he turned his attention to Delsey this time.

Delsey looked quite stiff at first glance, just like the bastard said, and she seemed nervous because I had warned her in advance to be careful when coming here.

At that moment, the bastard tried to reach out his hand towards Delsey, who was frozen.

“If it hurts anywhere―”

“Stop talking nonsense and get the show started. How long are you going to keep your guests waiting?”

He said that as he slapped away the hand reaching out to Delsey.

Then―

“… … .”

The guy glared at me with a murderous gaze.

Should I just capture this state and slowly look for people?

As I was thinking that, the bastard’s mouth opened first.

“Excuse me. I’m sorry I kept you waiting so long. The show will start soon.”

Soon the bastard disappeared from sight, and the inside of the circus barracks became dark as if night had come.

Then, a ‘pop!’ sound rang out as if something was turning on.

The lighting item was activated, shining a spotlight onto the stage.

Soon, the long red curtain was lifted, and magnificent circus equipment appeared.

Tall ladders, tightrope walking ropes, etc.

I took the opportunity to look around.

‘The internal structure is simple. There shouldn’t be any other hidden spaces besides the stage curtain. Are there people there…? Then Rubin shouldn’t have missed it, but that’s also strange….’

I looked behind the stage curtain and this time focused on my hearing.

The hearing of an S-class Awakened user was quite good, so they could learn a lot just by listening.

If you listen closely,

‘… … I can’t hear the cries of people who are scared.’

As Rubin had said earlier, there was no sign of the kidnapped people.

‘Did you put it to sleep with medicine or a skill…? I’ll pretend to go to the bathroom later and take a closer look inside.’

As my thoughts continued, the animal that was to perform the first performance walked out from behind the stage.

The moment I saw that animal, my train of thought suddenly stopped.

‘That’s… … .’

It was a beast that was literally unfamiliar, something I had never seen before in my life.

‘Giant chameleon… …?’

A strange-looking beast, almost like a bipedal chameleon enlarged in size.

But what surprised me wasn’t its appearance.

I have encountered many curses so far, and so I can quickly recognize the unique aura that curses have.

And, that strange aura was being felt from the beast that had just appeared on stage.

-Keeeeeek… … .

The beast climbed onto the ridiculous ball, making a strange noise.

After that, he rolled the ball on all fours and stared at me.

Those eyes that stare like that are just… … .

‘No way, no way, that can’t be… ‘

I tried hard to deny the guess that suddenly occurred to me.

I wanted to believe that it was all my fault, that it was just a wrong guess.

If not, this incident would be much more terrible than I expected.

But the more animals that appeared in the show, the more certain the guess became.

“Now, the next star to appear is Peter, who can jump over the ring of fire!”

As I watched the giant leopard emerge onto the stage and begin to leap through the ring of flames, I was finally able to be certain.

‘It’s clear. I can sense the power of the curse from the animals. They are not naturally born creatures.’

I felt the power of a strong curse.

That was also a very, very strong curse… I could feel the curse’s power, probably cast with an L-rank skill.

People who have been kidnapped but for some reason cannot be found.

Animals with strange appearances that seem to be found nowhere else in the world.

And the powerful force of the curse felt from those animals.

All these clues were telling me that my terrible guess was not wrong.

“The next star is the master of tricks, Nettie!”

As my thoughts continued, the captain’s shout was heard again.

Then, the beast called ‘Netie’… a hairless kangaroo-like beast walked out from behind the stage.

“… … .”

Netty, who had been walking out quietly, suddenly looked in our direction.

My side, to be exact.

And then―

Krrrrrr!

He stamped his feet, making a hissing sound.

As if it was trying to run towards me.

It was at that moment that the circus ringleader took out his whip.

Thud! Thud!

The captain soon struck Nettie’s back with a thick leather whip.

The eerie sound of whips and flesh snapping and falling… … .

It continued without interruption for a while.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

The leader, who had been swinging his whip as if he was in a state of trance, finally stopped his movements.

“Even if you feel happy, you have to hold back, Nettie. We’re in the middle of a show right now.”

The beast called Neti, who had been whipped so hard, finally turned away from me and started to perform tricks.

Delsey, who had been watching the scene with me, grabbed my sleeve tightly.

“Your Majesty, Your Majesty, here… something is strange, something… … .”

“It’s okay, Delsey. It’s okay. You don’t have to see any more of this.”

I got up from my seat, hiding Delsey behind me.

As I just said, there was no need to watch the show any longer.

Because we had already figured out where the people were.

I stood up from my seat and asked Rubin a favor at the same time.

“Rubin. Take charge of Delsey and get her out. This… seems like it’s a lot more horrific than I expected.”

“Did you find out something?”

“Yeah, those guys were a kidnapping group. I think they found out where the kidnapped people are.”

As soon as I said that, Delsey immediately shook her head.

“I want to help you too, Your Majesty! You said that I was your strong support!”

“I’m sorry, Delsey. I just… didn’t want to get you involved in anything dangerous.”

This incident is brutal.

If the full truth of the incident were revealed, it could be very traumatic for the young Delsey.

So I gently placed my hand on Delsey’s shoulder and asked her a favor.

“Please, get out of here.”

“I am…….”

“It’s not just you staying with me that helps me. No matter where you are, you’re always a great help to me. I can fight harder because you’re here.”

“… … .”

Speaking of which, Delsey didn’t say she would stay any longer.

He just hung his head as if he was depressed.

I called Rubin during that gap.

“Rubin, get Delsey out of here.”

“… … Are you sure it’s okay?”

“Yeah, it’s okay.”

Rubin soon transformed into a large guardian mode.

The changed Rubin immediately tried to leave the barracks with Delsey on his back.

At that moment, the voice of the leader of the show on stage was heard.

“Sir, the show isn’t over yet. You can’t just leave like that.”

“Shut up. We came here to see an animal show, not to watch you do crazy things.”

“Hmm, really? Then the show—”

The guy continued talking with a grin.

“Shall we just put an end to it?”

It was right after that.

The bastard’s whip swung wildly and struck Nettie’s back.

“Netie! Go get that girl and that big dog!”

-Kurururuk!!

Neti, the huge beast heard the captain’s command and rushed towards Rubin and Delsey.

I had already prepared, so I immediately took out my hammer.

After that, I quickly activated the Blasphemy skill and swung it around, hitting the guy in the neck.

puck-!!

-Cruck… … !!

The neti guy rolled around on the floor.

Maybe that guy was just a normal human being who was cursed, but he didn’t have time to worry about that right now.

‘What happened to Delsey and Rubin… …?!’

I looked back and sighed in relief when I saw that the two had escaped safely.

‘thank god…….’

If we had sent them out of the barracks, we would have felt safe.

With Delsey’s skills and Rubin being able to fly, it would be easy to avoid being caught.

The leader of the troop chattered leisurely again, looking at the entrance to the barracks where the two had disappeared.

“Oh, I missed it. I get tired of having people over.”

“You don’t have to worry about that part.”

I swung the hammer in the air and then caught it properly.

“Because you’ll be dead before anyone even gets here.”

* * *

“… … !!”

Just after leaving the barracks.

Rubin, who was about to fly up, suddenly stopped.

It was my fault for the obstacle that flew right in front of my nose.

“Whoa!!”

Because Rubin stopped abruptly, Delsey’s body, which was on top, also tilted forward.

Delsey, who had barely managed to keep herself from leaving Rubin’s neck by hugging him tightly, soon opened her closed eyes again.

Then they looked at the things that were blocking their way.

“A flock of birds… … ?”

A flock of hundreds of birds blocked Delsey and Rubin’s path as they tried to escape.

It was definitely not a flock of birds that had gathered naturally.

Perhaps the work of an Awakened being with skills in handling animals.

There was no need for Delsey and Rubin to go out of their way to find that Awakened One.

Because the person in question soon appeared in front of them.

“The person who sold the ticket earlier… … !”

Delsi shouted as she confirmed the face of the Awakened One that had been revealed.

I remembered his face clearly because he had an ominous aura from the ticket booth.

It had to be the brown-haired employee who sold the tickets to Nickelus and Delsey.

It wasn’t just him who showed up.

Soon after, three people who appeared to be members of another unit also slowly approached the area.

‘The whole circus troupe was in on it.’

While Delsey was gritting her teeth, the brown-haired man who had sold the tickets waved his hand.

Then, hundreds of flocks of birds began to circle around them in a dizzying manner, blocking their view.

Right now, it’s just hovering around, blocking my vision.

But if they all rushed at once, their flesh would be eaten in an instant.

Rubin took a step back and asked Delsey.

“You, that voice skill… … .”

“It’s a skill that uses language to power up, so it doesn’t work on animals that don’t understand language. So you can’t stop those birds. But in this situation—”

Delsey stopped talking and glared at her group.

“I think I can do something about it.”