Chapter: 671
Uh… Hic. Hic.
After some time flew by, Visi, who had barely calmed down, buried her flushed face deep between her hands.
“Are you okay?”
Her mother’s face, filled with concern, looked down at her.
– Visi.
For some unknown reason, Adri, who was clinging tightly to her, showed no signs of letting go.
Hehe…
Lucy squinted her eyes as if watching something amusing.
Surrounded by the three of them, Visi couldn’t help but think it was humiliating and couldn’t raise her head.
Her cheeks were burning hot, feeling as if they would explode.
But what could she do? Just recalling the scenery from moments ago made tears well up in her eyes.
Her mother, knowing she was a black wizard, stepped up to protect her.
Lucy was the one who told her mother she was a good person.
And Adri was thinking, in the worst-case scenario, of taking the blame for everything.
All those scenes were warm, and standing in the middle of them made Visi feel pathetic.
Knock.
At that moment, someone knocked at the mansion door.
Unconsciously trying to get up, Visi’s mother was blocked by Lucy, who kicked the door open as if she were going to smash it.
Hehe. Quite the unexpected visit.
The Pope stood a step back, as if he had anticipated this.
“You busy pig, yet you’re so diligent, huh?”
“Old habits die hard.”
Lucy’s tone was dripping with hostility, but the Pope looked at her as if she was utterly adorable.
His affection was so visible that even those standing behind Lucy felt a chill.
“So why are you here? Want to get beaten up by me? I can arrange that?”
“It’s indeed a most charming offer, but unfortunately, I cannot nod my head to that this time. I wouldn’t want to show an ugly sight in front of my subordinates.”
With a smile directed at the bound knight, the Pope rubbed his hands together and continued.
“I propose a deal. If you hand over that child without doing anything else, I will guarantee your safety in the name of Lord Jushin.”
“Why would I? You’re just a sloppy idiot who can’t do anything to me anyway.”
“Ah, of course, I can do nothing to you. To you.”
Hearing the Pope’s words, Lucy bit her lips and hurled the knight toward him with one hand.
With ease, the Pope received the powerful throw and gently placed the knight down, thanking her with courtesy.
“Before I take my leave, may I offer one piece of advice, Apostle? Do you really think I only acted here?”
Upon hearing that, Lucy flinched and hurriedly tried to dash outside.
Seeing this, Adri quickly grabbed Lucy’s shoulder.
– I’ll let her go! Just tell me the location!
“You…”
– Just say it! Right now!
Immediately allowing Lucy to leave, Adri grit her teeth and stared at the Pope.
Faced with the ominous gaze, the Pope scoffed and shrugged his shoulders.
“Don’t worry, I’m not planning to do anything. I just made a promise with the Apostle a moment ago.”
– I get it. So this little one left you and ran away, huh?
“To believe in the Apostle of God… Quite amusing. Shall I consider this a blessing from Lord Jushin?”
To reject the embrace of the Lord and remain on Earth while choosing to trust the Apostle for the sake of someone’s safety – the Pope felt a surge of emotions and closed his eyes briefly, offering a short prayer.
Why did I come to realize how great Lord Jushin is once again?
Because He is so merciful and gracious, I decided to love Him.
Suddenly, questions arose. Would the Lord embrace even those who brought misfortune to the Apostle He loves?
“I swear to Lord Jushin, you will never be threatened here again. So let your mind be at ease.”
With those words, the Pope closed the door behind him.
The ones left inside listened to the sound of the Pope’s footsteps fading away and let out a sigh of relief.
*
Damn. Damn. Damn.
I overthought everything. How could I feel relieved just because things seemed to go too smoothly until now?
This isn’t a game. This isn’t a world with set variables.
I should rather have brought my friends here.
No, then the Pope would’ve done something, right?
So what was the best option?
What choice should I have made?
What should I have chosen in that situation?
[Lucy.]
“Grandpa, was my choice truly right? Wasn’t there a better solution? Or from the start…”
[Think about that later! Right now, just focus on running!]
‘…Yes!’
I pressed more power into my legs, using all my strength to run faster, trying to sprint ahead as much as possible.
Ignoring the rushed breaths, I smashed the ground, angling myself to find any way to run just a bit faster.
“Lucy.”
By the time I arrived, the dungeon had already been cleared.
The warriors fighting monsters outside were laughing as they healed their wounds, and my friends among them were blushing at the compliments from others.
“Oh? Young Lady, you arrived early?”
“Lucy, why do you look so frantic? Were you that worried about us?”
Seeing my friends rush toward me with smiles, each tossing a remark as they found me gasping for air.
“Hahaha. Even with that deadly expression, you’re still a girl at heart.”
“Lucy, so cute.”
“Isn’t she cute?”
“It’s a bit over the top, but Young Lady, you are indeed adorable.”
…Some of you were worried about me and ran like crazy, and yet, what are these comments?
Annoyed, I forced a smile and pressed down on Joy’s shoulder until she knelt.
Then, I signaled to the others to sit, pointing below, and those who had just been laughing hurriedly sat properly.
Only Frey was tilting her head, but when I ignored my irritation, she discreetly took her place next to the others.
After I spent some time venting my frustrations by playfully bullying my friends, I exhaled and told Phoebe to share what happened while clearing the dungeon.
“First, I took control of the overall leadership, and Joy assisted.”
“The Third Prince worked hard in many ways. I could feel how well you’d trained in leading.”
“Though I can’t say there weren’t any dangerous moments, we managed to solve that with our force. It’s annoying, but Frey really is a monster.”
“Hardly? Your highness was just so sloppy that it looked that way.”
“…And any minor curses or wounds were swiftly dealt with thanks to the Saintess.”
“It wasn’t particularly difficult. Honestly, I felt we should have prevented it beforehand.”
“Anyway, clearing the dungeon wasn’t that hard. Even if a few variables were added, I doubt it would change much. Your dungeon felt much more like hell.”
The boss battle wasn’t significantly different from clearing the dungeon itself.
Because I had informed my friends about everything concerning the boss beforehand, even down to potential variables, they easily smashed the boss and returned to the surface.
“I won’t say you did as well as me, but didn’t you all do better than you expected?”
Upon Arthur’s cheerful statement, I opened my mouth to respond but thought for a moment and nodded.
Yeah. You all did way better than I thought.
I wouldn’t deny it.
But if you ask me if I could let you handle it alone again… I can’t say yes.
Everyone else is fine. I’d gladly leave the others here, but not you guys. If any of you got hurt because of my mistake, I feel I would crumble too.
The Pope must know this too.
The moment one of you gets hurt, I’ll clearly be shaken.
So he’ll target you.
If at that time I’m not around, I might not even be able to stand up under the weight of the guilt.
“So you’re giving up on defeating me? I’m glad to see you finally know your place. That suits you well.”
“Shouldn’t you match the atmosphere a bit?”
“If you want to look good, then you better step it up. How can I praise someone who’s always looking pathetic?”
I had a lot of things I wanted to say, but I bit my tongue and retorted at Arthur.
My friends are kind. Once they realize I’m worried about them, they’ll try to prove themselves, thinking they are a burden to me.
It isn’t your problem. I just don’t know what to do about my anxiety.
Later that night, after clearing a few more dungeons, we returned to the Holy Land to rest.
I was pondering whether I should move more because I couldn’t sleep when I heard a knock on the door.
Remembering the Pope’s knock from earlier today made me flinch, but then I felt a warm divinity emanating from beyond the door, and I felt at ease.
It must be Phoebe.
“Lady, do you have a moment?”
“What for? Don’t tell me it’s something dirty? Has the Sloppy Saintess finally shown her true colors…”
“Nothing like that! Cough. It’s a serious matter.”
“Come in. I’ll entertain you, Sloppy Saintess.”
After Phoebe entered and quietly gazed at me, she took a deep breath and slowly began to speak.
“You’re worried about us, right?”
…Oh. Was it that obvious? I thought I behaved normally, thinking they really did well.
“Isn’t it natural? People like you can break down at any moment.”
Even if I got caught, nothing much would change. It’s a separate issue from whether you all get stronger or not.
“Just like you. I always worry about you, Lady.”
“Someone like you worries about me?”
“Isn’t it natural? You always head into the most dangerous situations first. You act as if it’s natural to sacrifice yourself without asking anyone else.”
I never thought it was such a noble thing. I just did what I could. I wasn’t sacrificing for anyone.
“But not saying anything means that sacrifice is inherently you. Whatever we say, you’d dive into danger again.”
Smiling, Phoebe sat beside me, cleared her throat to warm up, and continued.
“Our concern would just become your burden, so I’d rather not discuss it. However, the reason I came here is that I have a proposal for you.”
“What is it? Just something useless?”
“Let’s eliminate any chances of variables occurring. Since you currently wield such high influence, it shouldn’t be difficult. Even if various problems arise, I’ll make it manageable for you.”
In the moonlight, Phoebe’s smile seemed much more like that of a villain rather than a saintess.
“For you.”
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