EP.124 The Little Priest
At first glance, it looked like a mess, but I was thoroughly skimming through a neatly organized list of priests sorted by year and rank.
As I flipped through the pages, my bewilderment grew exponentially like a snowball, causing my eyes to widen.
“What on earth…?”
“Hmm? What’s wrong, Father?”
The cheerful voice of the Hero, rising from my waist, almost made me jump out of my skin.
From rookie priests just starting on their clerical paths to the high-ranking priests whose names were even in the textbooks.
The list containing the names and faces of all the priests under the Vatican was shamelessly marked with X’s that boldly crossed through that information.
Who in the world would do such a thing?
No matter how much this list was a manuscript with an original copy somewhere else, it was still unacceptable.
To tamper with such a holy document recording the history of the Vatican like this?
Although the instigator was currently unknown, if the Sister Beltein got her hands on this, it would certainly not end well for them.
It wasn’t just anyone who used this office, which was taboo for even decent clergy to enter; it was primarily her.
Though it’s nice to say she uses it a lot, I could consider this place practically her personal room.
“Umm!?”
At that moment, while I sighed in disbelief and flipped through the towering pile of documents with chwa-reul-leug, the Hero suddenly exclaimed with awe and snatched something from my grasp.
“Father! Excuse me for a moment!”
“Y-You, Hero!?”
The paper that the Hero took from my hand was my list, which was mixed up in countless piles of documents.
I couldn’t help but admire the Hero’s sharp eyesight for pinpointing my document among thousands of profiles.
But because of a certain fact that dawned on me, I could only dwell on that thought for a fleeting moment.
“T-This is!”
“Hero! W-Wait! Just a second!”
The Hero, trembling all over, stared at the thin paper like she would pierce it with her gaze.
She easily evaded my frantic attempt to snatch it back, kneeling on the floor, with her face pressed so close to the paper that it seemed like she might kiss it, and I felt her overwhelming exhilaration.
“This, this is! The treasure I’ve only dreamt of! The fantastical secret I imagined in my dreams!”
Due to the Hero’s reaction, as if she had discovered a treasure chest, my face instantly flushed.
I could easily tell my face was red without even looking in a mirror.
What the Hero was looking at was various photos I had submitted to the Vatican for identification.
Among them was a particularly dilapidated photo from my boyhood.
At that immature time when I had no grand dreams and couldn’t recall my past life’s memories.
The image of me, on the verge of tears, blinking as I’d been dragged into a photo studio without a clue while playing with my friends at the orphanage, was undeniably that of a runt.
A past so embarrassing that it couldn’t be easily shown to anyone, not even a promised partner or a life-debt benefactor.
Having such a painful secret exposed to the Hero herself, it was only natural for my thoughts to tumble like a boat in a storm.
“Hero! Give me that document! P-Please! Quickly!”
“N-No way! This treasure is mine! This child! This adorably cute child is my child! This little priest is my child!”
“W-What…?”
The Hero muttered something so nonsensical that I doubted if her brain had connected the dots.
She curled up on the floor like an armadillo facing a predator, which was quite cute, but it wasn’t the time for such thoughts, so I steadied my mind again.
“Hero! Stop joking around and give me that document!”
“There’s nothing here that Father is looking for! You must have seen incorrectly!”
Still awful at lying, huh?
It was certainly something to be glad about that the Hero, who had been overly altruistic until now, was increasingly being honest about her own desires.
That showed her true self, which had been suppressed under the guise of being a Hero, was slowly coming back.
But realizing that her target of desire was solely fixed on me after multiple instances like this made my feelings more complex than joyful.
“Alright. Then just a moment! Just a moment will do! Please show me that document! Then, I’ll give you that photo you wanted!”
“…Really?”
Immediately, the golden armadillo that hadn’t budged at all stirred a tiny bit.
That was the first crack in the sturdy barrier that felt like it wouldn’t break even if the sky split open.
Thanks to the Saintess.
Having spent the days with the Saintess, I had long perfected how to soothe a woman throwing a tantrum.
Honestly, the Hero was much easier to handle than the Saintess due to our mutual understanding.
“I promise! You promised me!”
“Yes. I’ll pinky swear on it.”
After intertwining our pinkies to solidify our promise, I was finally able to safely retrieve my document that had almost been buried in the Hero’s embrace.
She was holding it so tightly that the paper was slightly warmer.
“I trust you! Father!”
Leaving behind the Hero, who was kneeling and shooting me trust-filled stares that would never forgive a betrayal, I took a moment to look over the document.
Just as expected.
I noticed my brows furrowing sternly.
X marks were plastered across the line-up of rookie priests, mid-level priests, and high priests alike.
However, among all that information, this paper, my profile, was the only one that had escaped that monster’s mark.
And not only that.
The paper in my hand boldly displayed a mark directly opposite to those I had mentioned earlier.
A large circle drawn in bold.
And just beneath it were familiar scribbled characters.
It couldn’t be mistaken; it was definitely Sister Beltein’s handwriting.
“Finally found it…?”
I accidentally read the opening line aloud, absorbed in the sentences filled with unfamiliar and unheard concepts and information.
It was written by none other than Sister Beltein.
So, I could guess it wasn’t something I could brush off as mere fantasy or scribbling.
But that belief only deepened my confusion.
If everything contained here was true, then the meticulous Sister Beltein wouldn’t have left such an important document so carelessly unattended.
No matter how much this place only allowed those with special positions like me and the Hero to enter, leaving critical information not in a vault but carelessly tossed on a desk visible from the entrance was something I couldn’t believe she would do.
Indeed, it felt like…
“Please, it’s as if someone is begging me to take a look at this…”
Was it Sister Beltein herself? Or someone else I didn’t know?
I couldn’t rashly jump to conclusions, but it was clear that someone’s intentions were at play in the situation I was currently in.
How long had passed?
While pondering deeply with my hand on my chin, the Hero cheerfully chirped at me.
“Father! Have you finished everything you needed to do?!”
“Ah, s-sorry, Hero! Yes. I’m done, here, take this.”
“Yes─!!!”
Wait! Like a puppy that was commanded to wait, the Hero, who had been squirming with suppressed desires while I was lost in thought, blossomed into a radiant smile upon receiving the photo.
I still felt uneasy, but a promise is a promise.
Plus, seeing the Hero so excited over a photo of my embarrassingly young self like that…
The shame that had been lingering in the corners of my mind began to fade somewhat.
“Thank you! Father! The little priest you blessed me with is my hope! I will treasure it! I swear on my life to protect it!”
“Ah, y-yes…”
After gently tucking the photo I gave her into the pocket at her abdomen and cautiously placing both hands over it, the Hero once again expressed her profound gratitude.
Her eyes glistening with tears while constantly reliving her emotions made the atmosphere slightly awkward, but then again, it wasn’t like anyone was watching. I didn’t have to care too much about it.
“Ah, I can feel it…! Inside this…! This little priest is alive and breathing…!”
“Umm, Hero… What you do with the photo is up to you, but could you maybe refrain from looking at that spot with such tender eyes? Someone might misunderstand…?”
Clang.
“R-Regis Priest…!”
Suddenly, a noise burst into my ears, and I turned my head towards the entrance in shock.
A dazed-looking Ranobel Priest and his fiancée immediately filled my view right after.
Ah, not that jerk again.
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