Please Stop The Pope

Chapter 117

The Calm Before the Storm?

   1.

The tense night of the welcoming ceremony passed, and the next morning arrived.

In the temple’s office, an early morning meeting was taking place with the senior staff.

“…So, today, everyone will remain at the holy site. While the possibility is low, there is a chance that the Chinese Awakened may try to start something. The new players will undergo physical training and doctrinal education at the training facilities inside the holy site today. Luna will handle the physical training, and Archbishop Rapart and Archbishop Leo will be responsible for the doctrinal education.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Understood.”

The attendees of the meeting were entirely from our order: Leo, Luna, Archbishop Rapart, and Toby.

I instructed them to remain quiet for today.

The gaze of the Chinese Awakened members as they left the guesthouse last night was far too ominous.

People like them would surely cause trouble.

Even with just a bit of conversation, it was obvious that they were armed with strict Sinocentrism, and there was no way they would stay quiet for a whole day.

“I don’t understand why these Awakened make such a fuss about flying. Don’t you think so, Your Highness? If flying a little makes them lose their condition, they should just stay home instead of causing trouble in another country.”

“Please refrain from using such language in my office, Archbishop Rapart. When you conduct the doctrinal education later, make sure to educate Luna as well. Something like the dignity she must maintain as the Grand Master of the Knights Templar, you know?”

“I will certainly educate her.”

“Hmph.”

Indeed, there was no better card than Archbishop Rapart for handling Luna. As soon as the Archbishop nodded, Luna covered her mouth with her hand.

Well, Luna wasn’t exactly wrong.

The Chinese side had requested a rest day today.

The reason? To ensure the best condition for the upcoming battle.

They rambled on with absurd excuses like needing to adjust to the time difference and recover from the fatigue of the flight.

The time difference between Shanghai, where their flight took off, and Seoul was only one hour.

And the flight time, even if the route was altered due to flying monsters, was at most 3 hours and 30 minutes.

Seeing the Japanese side stay quiet, it was clear that the Chinese were just making an unreasonable excuse.

Ordinary people might feel fatigued, but no Awakened person would feel that exhausted for such a short flight.

“During the exchange battles, police and security personnel will be reassigned to the vicinity of the holy site. Oh, and Toby, how is the progress on teaching the government the mithril refining technique?”

“Hmm, it’s going very well. The technology the humans possess is flawless. The only issue is their weakness when it comes to refining with magic. We are currently focusing the training on that. Don’t worry about it!”

There had been a question among recent inquiries sent to our order.

Has the Ark been completely destroyed? If so, does that mean all the minerals, such as mithril, inside the Ark have disappeared as well?

The answer, to begin with, was “No.”

No matter how much Limen helped me with the production, she wasn’t a completely reckless goddess. Limen was, after all, the Goddess of Mercy.

She wasn’t ignorant of the human plight to the extent that she would waste resources invested in the Ark.

Naturally, the materials used in the construction of the Ark were neatly gathered and stored in a vacant lot. I then returned these materials in full to the government.

If Limen hadn’t been considerate in this way, the government would have surely been in a much worse situation right now.

“The exchange of mithril that was used in the Ark will be done in exchange for technology transfer. Please take extra care. We must continue maintaining a good relationship going forward.”

“We’re doing our best! Last time, we even went to a world beer joint to have a meal together, and it was great. Next time, I plan to treat them to beer made from holy water.”

By the way, Toby had recently become one of the fastest-rising figures on our sect’s MyTube channel.

He had earned the title of the first non-human species to appear before humanity.

Originally, Toby had planned to keep his existence hidden, but one day, he was found drunk in Jongno’s Youth Street, which changed everything.

He had thought that people would dislike him because of his Dwarf origins, but apparently, he even had a fan club now.

The name of the fan club was… or something?

Adding a Dwarf to an order full of crazy people didn’t really change much.

“Drink in moderation.”

“No worries. Thank you for your concern.”

I had worried about Toby being lonely without others of his kind, but he was adapting to Earth just fine.

I was relieved.

With most of the urgent matters sorted out, I slowly got up from my chair and spoke.

“Leo and Luna, make sure to manage your condition since you’ll be fighting tomorrow. Luna, don’t go out drinking tonight. If you go out and pick a fight…you know what happens? You’ll be stuck with Archbishop Rapart for doctrinal lessons for a week.”

“…Yes, Your Highness.”

“Then let’s conclude the meeting…”

Just as I was about to finish the meeting smoothly, Leo quietly raised his hand.

“Leo, what is it?”

“Considering the attitude of the Chinese side, I think additional security should be assigned to protect Your Holiness’ family members as well.”

Seeing things like this, I realized just how meticulous Leo was.

I smiled and looked at Leo.

“Are you that worried about my family?”

“Those who walk the path of evil never hesitate to use any means necessary. There’s no harm in being cautious, don’t you think?”

“Good suggestion, thank you.”

Thanks to Leo’s suggestion, I had a perfect excuse to make.

“Archbishop Rapart.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Since Leo mentioned it, I suppose I should stay with my family until the Chinese leave, right?”

When I said ‘security,’ I really meant taking a break at home.

Would I refuse when it was about my family’s safety?

“Hmmm, understood.”

Archbishop Rapart nodded obediently.

Even our nagging priest couldn’t deny such a perfect reason.

“Well, I’ll be going home first to protect my family’s safety.”

With that, I cheerfully stood up and casually walked over to Leo’s side. Then, I spoke in a very quiet voice.

“But there’s no need to worry that much, Leo. You know who I’ve placed beside my family, right?”

“Aiden…?”

“Not Aiden.”

“Oh.”

When Leo realized the meaning behind my words, he nodded readily.

“I see. I understand Your Highness’s intent.”

Of course, he had no choice but to agree.

The one I had placed beside Siyeon and In-wook was…

2.

-Kim Siwoo, Kim Siwoo’s family, even Kim Siwoo’s acquaintances. Go and investigate everything related to that guy. Lin Tao. Following Li Jie, I don’t think you’ll disappoint me this time. If you produce results that satisfy me, I’ll back you up. Prove your worth for why I brought you to this small country.

The spy from the Department of Ability Management, Lin Tao, recalled the words Wang Wei had said to him early in the morning.

The reason he joined this goodwill delegation, despite having no notable combat power, was solely for information gathering.

His ability to erase his presence was specialized for espionage activities rather than combat.

A camouflage ability that even most S-class hunters would find difficult to detect. His skill of hiding using minimal magical power, which is not easily discovered by magic detectors, was Lin Tao’s specialty and only weapon.

‘This is my chance to gain Wang Wei’s trust.’

If he could get close to Wang Wei, one of China’s power brokers, a golden future would unfold for him.

And Wang Wei certainly had the ability to offer him such a future.

Lin Tao, hidden near the building where Kim Siwoo’s family lived, slowly looked around.

As befitting the residence of an Irregular’s family, personnel who seemed to be Korean awakeners were positioned everywhere.

‘Korea’s detection abilities are world-renowned. I’ll need to be careful.’

Anyway, his purpose was not to attack Kim Siwoo’s family. He was just recording their movements and collecting unusual details.

How those pieces of information would be used was entirely up to Wang Wei.

‘I don’t feel good. Li Jie, that woman was making ominous remarks…’

The story he heard from Li Jie before leaving the dormitory early in the morning suddenly came to mind.

-Lin Tao. I truly value your abilities. Losing you would be a significant loss for our Department of Ability Management. So don’t even dream of being reckless. The opponents are monsters. You must absolutely not go against them. Remember my words.

He remembered that Li Jie, who usually didn’t even look at him, had eyes that were constantly trembling while saying this.

Eyes that seemed terrified of something.

She had been in a situation where she was disliked after failing the mission assigned by Wang Wei last time.

‘She must be afraid that I’ll monopolize Wang Wei’s trust. How vicious.’

Considering Li Jie’s usual personality, she might have been afraid of being distanced from her career path.

She was certainly capable of that.

At least, that’s what Lin Tao thought.

How long had Lin Tao been waiting?

‘Here she comes.’

A young girl walked out of the building. She was Kim Siwoo’s younger sister, who had been included in the information he had prepared the night before.

Seemingly heading to an academy, a light pink backpack was slung over her shoulder.

This was his first achievement after waiting since early morning for five hours.

As soon as the girl appeared, the Korean security personnel positioned around also began to move.

They still seemed unaware of his presence.

‘Tracking her movements will be easy.’

Things might unexpectedly go smoothly.

Lin Tao slightly nodded and began to move slowly.

No, he was about to start moving.

Myaaaa-

‘…A cat?’

A white, baby cat suddenly appeared in front of him.

Even with cats’ sensitive senses compared to humans, there’s no way it could detect his concealment.

But it was too coincidental.

The white cat was precisely looking directly at him.

‘What in the world…’

Lin Tao, surprised by a situation he had never experienced before, tried to step back. But then—

‘…Huh?’

His body wouldn’t move.

Though he tried to lift his feet, they were stuck to the ground as if glued.

-Myaaaa.

The cat slowly approached. Finally reaching his legs, it pressed its front paw against his leg.

Then, an unbelievable sight unfolded before Lin Tao’s eyes.

The cat instantly expanded in size. Before he could even fully open and close his eyes, the cat had become a house-sized white tiger.

‘Yōkai.’

The word that came to Lin Tao’s mind upon seeing the white tiger.

-Grrrrrr.

The white tiger looked down at Lin Tao. The terrifying aura emanating from the white tiger constricted Lin Tao’s breath.

“Spar…spare me…”

Lin Tao couldn’t even think of fighting back. How could someone like him possibly defeat such a monster?

His vocal cords, invaded by terror, were paralyzed, and his words barely emerged.

Lin Tao recalled the advice Li Jie had given him earlier.

-They are monsters.

Only now did he understand the fear Li Jie must have felt.

But it was already too late.

-Kwauuuuu!

As the white tiger opened its massive jaws and lunged at him, Lin Tao screamed.

“Aaaaaack!”

At the moment the tiger’s large teeth were about to pierce his neck,

Myaaaa-

“Ugh…”

With the cat’s cry, the white tiger vanished without a trace.

Lin Tao quickly felt his neck.

‘…Hallucination?’

Myaaaa-

Before he could even sigh in relief, he made eye contact with the cat.

And an inexplicable voice reverberated in his mind.

[Are you really just thinking it’s a hallucination?]

Lin Tao shook his head.

His pants were wet from urinating, but that was insignificant in the face of survival.

[There won’t be a next time. By the way, I enjoy eating while keeping my prey alive, starting from the legs. Understand what I’m saying?]

Lin Tao could only desperately nod.