When the Pope Becomes Competent - Chapter 96



Only Noblemtl

◈96. How to acquire new skills

“I think I can try,” Delsey said, clenching her fists.

Contrary to her confident words, her fists were shaking a little.

‘I’m scared. But I can’t let it look like I’m scared. Then they might notice the weak points in my skills.’

Those who know about Delsey’s skill, ‘Voice that Moves the Soul’, say that it is an invincible skill.

But Delsey, the master of that skill, knew of its three weaknesses.

First of all, the first blind spot.

In order to use a skill, you must clearly know the target of the skill.

For example, even if you commanded with a voice full of the power of skill, “No one should attack me,” you could still be ambushed by assassins at any time.

If Delsey wasn’t clearly aware of the assassin’s presence, then the skill wouldn’t work on the assassin.

And the second blind spot.

The voice that moves the soul was a skill that exerted its power through ‘words’ as a medium.

In other words, the skill could only be effective against someone who could hear and understand it.

The skill did not work on foreigners who did not understand the Imperial language, those with hearing loss, or animals.

And finally, the third blind spot.

‘You have to subdue it quickly. It’s not a skill that can be used multiple times.’

There was a limit to the number of times Delsey could use a skill.

Five times.

It was the total number of skills she could use per day.

‘But it’s okay. My skills aren’t properly known to people yet. Besides… they seem to be letting their guard down right now.’

As Delsey had thought, the circus troupe surrounding Delsey and Rubin all had relaxed smiles on their faces.

Among them, a brown-haired man approached Delsey with a smiling face.

“The birds I serve have very sharp beaks. They are perfect for eating meat like eagles.”

“… … .”

“Aren’t you curious about how much it would hurt to be bitten by this beak?”

Even as he spoke those cruel words, he was still smiling.

That was because I expected the girl, who was so frightened, to kneel before me and beg for her life.

Of course, the plan was to capture Delsey and Rubin ‘without harming them’ as Michelin had ordered, but until then, he had intended to scare them a little and play with them.

Because it was a time when we needed something to entertain ourselves.

But as he had expected, Delsey did not kneel.

Instead, I took a step forward.

“I don’t wonder. I have only one thing to say.”

Are you asking for my help? The man stared at Delsey, swallowing his anticipation.

And Delsey’s lips moved.

“Send the birds back.”

“… … ?”

At first I didn’t understand what was happening.

The moment the man felt something strange was when his body started moving on its own and he unsummoned the birds he had summoned.

“Uh… Uh… …?! It’s a mental skill that uses the voice! Everyone, cover your ears—!”

“Don’t move.”

Delsey’s second command was faster than the man’s shout.

The man stopped moving in the same position he had been in when he had been shouting at her to cover her ears.

It was the same for the other members. Everyone froze as if time had stopped at once.

Even Rubin.

Delsey realized that Rubin was also affected by the skill and used the skill again.

“Rubin, you can move.”

Rubin’s body finally moved after Delsey told him to move.

Rubin immediately shouted excitedly.

“Wow! Is this your skill? It’s even cooler than what I heard from Nike!!”

Rubin, excited by Delsey’s performance, ran around and shouted.

“I just said a word and they froze up and couldn’t move… Huh?”

Rubin, who had been shouting excitedly, stopped belatedly after realizing Delsey’s ideal.

Delsey, who had been fine until just now, was now leaning her upper body against a tree, panting.

“Delsey? Are you okay? What’s going on?”

“It’s okay… Ah. I just feel a little dizzy.”

He said it was just simple dizziness, but it was actually a depletion of divine power that came after using a skill.

Delsey’s skills had a drawback in that each use would greatly deplete her divine power.

In particular, the more ‘impossible’ the command given using skills was, the faster the divine power would be consumed.

For example, giving a simple command to walk or run was fine, but giving a command to activate or release a skill would consume a lot of strength.

‘It was a big blow to release the skill to send the birds back earlier… ‘

But it didn’t matter.

Since they had already been affected by her skill, there was no way they would use their skill again to attack.

Delsey opened her mouth, thinking that things had been resolved perfectly.

“Now let’s catch these people and―”

Delsey’s words did not end.

Because the anesthesia needle that flew in from the side during the procedure was stuck right in her neck.

As the strong anesthetic took effect, Delsey soon collapsed on the floor.

“Delsey!!”

Delsey barely moved her gaze as she heard Rubin’s urgent cries.

After that, he examined the person who had injected him with the anesthetic needle.

‘That person is definitely… … .’

Apparently, it was one of the circus performers who had fallen for Delsey’s skills.

He, who should have been standing still due to his skill and power, somehow managed to move normally and shoot the needle.

As soon as Rubin realized the situation, he ran towards him, but he was caught off guard and couldn’t move quickly.

Another member standing behind Rubin threw a net with electric magic towards Rubin.

He was also one of the members who had been caught in the skill earlier and stopped moving.

【Abnormal current detected. Power off.】 That message appeared above Rubin’s head.

It was an ancient message that Delsi could not read.

Afterwards, Rubin was left hanging beneath the lively net, never to rise again.

Meanwhile, a brown-haired man who had escaped Delsey’s skills like the other members approached, nodding his stiff neck.

“Ah, I almost froze like a statue. It was a good thing I had prepared the item beforehand.”

Hearing that, Delsey’s gaze barely moved towards his wrist.

His and the other members’ wrists were filled with what appeared to be items.

‘A mental skill defense item… … ? Perhaps an L-grade… no, an out-of-spec grade… … ?’

If it had been an L-class item, it would not have been able to escape Delsey’s skill in the first place.

But (??) grade… that is, if it was a grade outside the standard range, it was a different story.

It is not possible to completely block skills as they originally functioned, but it is possible to escape their power by stalling for time while under the effects of the skill.

‘Where on earth did you get such a high-grade item…? It’s not something that even royalty can easily possess…? Could it be that guy Michelin…? But how did he know about my abilities and prepare in advance…?’

Even though my thoughts were clouded by the anesthesia, I tried to grasp the situation.

Meanwhile, the members continued to chat.

“That’s right. I was wondering why Michelin suddenly asked me to bring an item, and it turns out he was a kid with a mental skill. I was surprised.”

The man who shot Delsey with the tranquilizer gun chuckled.

Then the member who threw the net item at Rubin grumbled.

“Michael, you too… If you had told me sooner, I wouldn’t have been so surprised. Don’t just tell me to take the items and go.”

“Shut up, Anton. Why are you complaining to the person who saved you from being drugged and dying in a back alley?”

“Oh, right. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have been able to find such a fun job.”

The group slowly surrounded Delsey while chatting.

We have to get out. We have to run away and bring people with us.

I thought so, but my body, under anesthesia, didn’t move at all.

One of the members tapped Delsey’s side, which had become stiff, with the tip of his foot.

“What should I do with this kid?”

“What should I do? I should take you to Lady Michel.”

“Would you like me to take a look at your hands before I take you away? I’m sorry for startling you.”

“No. Have you forgotten that I told you to bring him here unharmed if possible? If you touch him for no reason, you’ll get in trouble. Just give him the restraining item.”

“Then let’s tie up that big bastard first. He’ll be a pain in the ass when he wakes up. He’ll be under anesthesia anyway so he won’t be able to do anything.”

“Okay then.”

The members began to tie up the unconscious Rubin with restraint items.

Items of restraint usually have a function that restricts skill use.

So, if you are bound by a high-grade item, it becomes nearly impossible for even the strongest Awakened user to free themselves from it.

So she had to get up quickly… but the anesthetic was still strongly affecting Delsey’s body.

‘I’m dizzy… … . What’s happening to me right now… … ? Where is His Majesty… … .’

Suddenly, Nickelus came to mind.

That day… That day, when I was waiting alone in the alley for the moment to die, was like this.

The whole world seemed to be in blurry black and white.

A world without color, not beautiful.

A world that is cold and lacks warmth.

Since I had no regrets in such a world, I thought it would be okay if I just died like that.

Until Nickelus came into the alley and held out his hand.

From the moment Nickelus reached out his hand, Delsey’s world regained color and warmth.

The gray sky began to shine beautifully blue, and the sunlight that had never felt warm finally began to embrace her with warmth.

Her world, which had seemed dead, had come back to life.

Thanks to Nickelus. Thanks to the hand he reached out to.

‘His Holiness…….’

I recalled that day and called out to Nickelus in my mind.

She was hoping.

Even though everything was blurry and confusing due to the anesthesia, I desperately hoped that he would reach out to me again.

It was then that I heard a conversation that I couldn’t just ignore.

“What happened to that blond guy?”

As the sergeant approached Delsey to tie her up with a rope, he suddenly asked her this.

The brown-haired man who was asked the question answered nonchalantly.

“I would have either died or become a dumb beast. You know what kind of skills Master Michelin has.”

“Ah, that’s right. If Master Micheln’s skill turns you into a four-legged animal just by touching it, how could something like me withstand it?”

“If we don’t want to become beasts like him, we shouldn’t provoke his feelings… Huh? What the? This little brat opened his eyes? Did you shoot the tranquilizer gun properly?”

At one point, the brown-haired man looked surprised when he saw Delsey’s eyes wide open.

After that, they started talking amongst themselves and making a fuss, but Delsey didn’t listen.

She was just repeating in her head the words she had just heard.

‘You’re using a dangerous skill… on His Majesty…?’

The one who brought color and warmth back to her world―

The person who showed me that life is worth living in―

He said that such a person was in danger of being struck by a terrible skill.

A surge of intense emotion welled up inside me.

And just as intense as that emotion, a force also surged up along the flow.

Just like a long time ago, when I first awakened my new skill while in danger of being killed by my father.

* * *

‘Delsey and Rubin… have they arrived at the cathedral safely by now?’

As I was thinking about that for a moment, the beasts rushed at me.

I instinctively tried to slap the beasts that looked like bulls and leopards, but I just jumped to the side and dodged their attacks.

My guess is that those beasts were humans.

An innocent human who was transformed into that form because of a cursed skill.

The kidnapping gang kidnapped innocent people, placed a curse on them, and turned them into circus animals.

‘I must not kill them. It is my job to lift their curse and rescue them.’

Fortunately for me, breaking the curse was easier than killing.

I didn’t swing my weapon again at the beast that was charging at me.

Instead, jump with all your might—

-Crrrrr… … ?

It rested lightly on the back of the bull-like beast.