Chapter 17: Chapter 206

⟬The Scale that Judges Souls gasps at the bold statement.⟭

I decided to remain calm and listen to what Tesilid had to say.

As I watched with wide eyes, he continued in a low voice, "What if I've tricked you? What if I'm... not trustworthy?"

"You sound like you're hiding something from me."

"Well..." he murmured, trailing off.

What was I supposed to do, when he'd just acted like he was about to confess something life-changing before suddenly stopping himself short? Although I wanted to know what Tesilid had intended to tell me, the complicated expression on his face was riddled with pain, and I didn't want to make him more miserable than he already looked.

Graciously, I shrugged and suggested, "Let's just forgive each other and move on."

Regardless of what Tesilid was hiding from me, I'd already successfully created a safety mechanism for my status as a heretic saintess. A look of surprise started to spread across Tesilid's face, so I decided to distract him before he understood the underlying meaning behind my words.

"More importantly, there's somewhere we need to go."

"Huh? Where?"

"I'm thinking of going away on a short holiday. I was planning on going by myself, but I don't really want to be away from you."

This seemed to be a successful diversion, for Tesilid instantly showed interest. "A holiday? With just the two of us?" he asked as light returned to his sparking ocean eyes.

"Yes, just the two of us."

"Where do you want to go?"

"To Wevrille Island."

Perhaps I was mistaken about his mood improving because the light I had spotted in his eyes just seconds before instantly vanished.

"Isn't that in Wallenstein Duchy?"

"Um, I believe so."

"Why Wallenstein Duchy, of all places?" The previously pleased expression on his face continued to fade, so I decided it would be better to wrap the conversation up quickly.

"Anyway, don't worry about all that. You wanna go?"

"Fine," he murmured reluctantly.

I smiled, pleased that he had been so easily swayed. The reason for my sudden interest in going on a trip, of course, was due to the fourth Voiceism quest.

⟬«Quest» Fifth [Calling of the Grand Priest of Voiceism] (Difficulty Level: Unknown)

Leave for a long holiday on Wevrille Island, located in the far west. No need to prepare for anything as everything has already been arranged.

Reward Upon Success: ???

Failure Penalty: None⟭

The fourth quest pushing me to travel was clearly a ruse for what Lord Voice had in store. Once I got there, I could use the ticket I had been granted upon completing the third quest. Lord Voice was leading me to my reward.

What Could Happen on a Holiday

Since I now had a parish and a church, I decided to make Feronsa the base for the Silver Citadel and moved all of our things from the Vatican to the dorm we'd created next to the Church of Saint Agnes. Everyone was satisfied with the outcome. I was obviously pleased to move to my grandfather's land, while Tesilid was happy to leave the Vatican because it meant there was no one around to pester him. The other members of the knight division were simply happy with the improvement of their room and board.

For weeks following the move, I was extremely busy. I spent my time executing various rituals to gather more followers, teaching Hilde the role of a vice bishop, and dueling my grandfather when my schedule allowed. I also caught up with my parents.

I took my mother to the mermaid dungeon so that she could help gather potion ingredients, and discussed with my father how we might develop medicine and acquire ingredients in preparation for the plague to come. And when all of my to-do list had finally been checked off—

"Let's go, Tez!"

"Sure, Allie."

We decided to leave for Wevrille Island, just as we'd promised.

"How long will we be gone?" asked Tez.

"Around four days to a week at most?"

⟬The Scale that Judges Souls is disappointed and corrects you that this is a short holiday, not a long one.⟭

Lord Scale pointed out the instructions for the quest, but it couldn't be helped as it was already autumn. The Walpurgis Night, the Grand Festival of the Demons, was going to take place before the start of winter, which meant I didn't have much time to prepare for the dungeon bursts and sinks that were going to erupt in each of the capitals.

I proceeded to take out the Wevrille Island teleportation stone I'd received, when Tesilid gently grabbed my hand to halt me.

"Hold on, Allie."

"What is it?"

"Let's report our vacation plans to the Vatican first."

I couldn't help but frown at his complete inability to be flexible. Why would you choose to go there when you know exactly how you will be treated?!

I was about to shout, when Tesilid added something just in time. "Something's bothering me, so I'd like to go and check it out."

"Something's bothering you?" I asked. "What is it?"

"The religious order was surprisingly lenient with the idea of you moving out of the Vatican. Didn't you find that strange?"

"Ah."

Now that he mentioned this, two possible explanations came to mind. I decided to share one of my guesses with Tesilid.

"You know how I rose to Tier 9 Divine Power recently, right? I think that made them realize that they can't control me, so instead they want to remove me from the Vatican in order to limit my influence."

Essentially, my permanent move to Feronsa, far away from the Vatican, was advantageous for both the Holy Prosecution Ministry and the Ministry of Gospel because the two could continue to battle each other in private without me interfering with the ecosystem of the Vatican.

To that, Tesilid nodded. "I see. You've become such a critical individual that those who have not joined the Holy Prosecution Ministry or the Ministry of Gospel will begin to shift their support to you instead," Tesilid said with dawning realization. "In fact... they might gradually grow into a third independent faction and attempt to establish you as the next pope, regardless of your interest in the position."

"I don't think they 'might.' I think it's an inevitability," I confirmed. "It's quite annoying, really."

"That is why the Holy Prosecution Ministry and the Ministry of Gospel want you far away from central politics."

"Exactly."

The politics of the Vatican weren't all that different from that of secular countries.

Giving him a passionate nod, I grabbed the teleportation stone to Wevrille Island again and said, "Now that you understand the situation, let's—"

"Wait."

"What is it this time?" I asked, trying not to sound too exasperated.

"While everything you said makes sense, it's not enough to explain such a sudden change in the Vatican's attitude. They were too quick to cut ties with you."

Tsk. He's too smart for his own good.

Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to tell him the second reason myself.

Noticing my internal struggle, Tesilid took out a Vatican teleportation stone from my inventory and suggested, "Let's go and find out what's really going on."

"Ugh, all right."

What can I do if he's set on finding out? Do whatever you want, Tesilid. Soon, his large hand gently pulled me toward him by my shoulder, and everything turned white as the sensation of weightlessness came over me.

⟬«System» Transported to Fanel, the capital of the Holy Kingdom of Elfenheim. Time zone has changed to the local time.⟭

Although I was more or less dragged there, I stood tall and straightened my back as I took the lead when we arrived in the courtyard of the Vatican. Sharing greetings with the priests and knights we passed along the way, we walked straight into the council rooms. It was obvious the cardinals were dying to make comments as soon as Tesilid walked inside.

Don't you dare ask stupid questions. I glared over the crowd with an intense look in my eyes.

Cardinal Dekal, the Gospel minister, spoke first, attempting to maintain some formality through a typical exchange of greetings. "It is an honor to have you here, Your Eminence."

"Thank you. It's good to see that you're all doing well," I replied politely.

"By the way, we were told that you have achieved Tier 9 Divine Power..."

"Yes, that is correct."

I could hear various cardinals gasp quietly even though I hadn't made a display of my power, but it was Cardinal Dekal's composed voice that broke through the tension in the room.

"Congratulations, Your Eminence."

"Thank you. Apologies for not visiting sooner. I've been busy with my parish."

"No problem at all. We should have sent someone to you first and followed the standard procedure to confirm the news. We apologize for the delay caused by the Canonization Ministry."

As Dekal said this, another cardinal in the room pulled his shoulders up to his ears with anger, and I recognized him as the minister of the Canonization Ministry.

«How shameless,» Agnes muttered. «He's blaming the Canonization Ministry when I bet the Ministry of Gospel and the Holy Prosecution Ministry pressured him to delay the official recognition.»

I quickly turned to the minister in question and sent him a look to convey that I knew his hands had been tied. He quickly relaxed, clearly having understood my message. With that, I turned my gaze to Cardinal Dekal again.

Judging from our conversation and his attitude so far, it seemed like he wanted to exclude me from the goings-on inside the Vatican without inciting conflict. This was hardly a surprise. No sane human would want to butt heads with a Tier 9 Divine Emissary.

Oh, except for Reed. Anyway, this wasn't a bad thing for me because I was a Voiceism believer from the start and I never once wanted to be an influential member of Order and Goodness. Instead of wasting my energy on such a useless conflict, I wanted to be more productive by strengthening my religion within Feronsa.

"Your Eminence."

This time it was Cardinal Vegalius, the minister of the Holy Prosecution Ministry, who spoke up. I instantly turned toward him as his voice, that of an authoritative and rigid man, rang in my ear.

"Things have been rather chaotic at the Vatican lately, so we hope that you continue to expand your parish at Feronsa for the time being in hopes of keeping you away from the trouble here."

He couldn't have expressed his intention more blatantly. Although I appreciated him unintentionally playing into my original plan, I was still put off by his delivery.

"Oh... So that's how the Vatican feels..." I said, letting the disappointment ring clear in my tone.

"I expected it, but to hear it in person... No, never mind. I will respect your choice."

I pretended like I was disheartened by their unfair treatment.

⟬The Architect of the Skyscraper of Suffering applauds your excellent acting.⟭

⟬The Critic for Balance is taken aback by how out of character that was.⟭

⟬The Scale that Judges Souls likes how you sounded like a female lead experiencing tragedy.⟭

My voice and expression must've moved some hearts, for a few of the cardinals cleared their throats with guilty looks on their faces.

Even Tesilid reacted, "Allie..."