Chapter 286

〈 287화 〉 281화 – The True Intention of the Cardinal

*

“You’ve annoyed me since back in the day.”

Hearing the Cardinal’s words, Caressy felt honestly confused.

Though the teachings of the church conflicted with each other,

there hadn’t been any direct contact with the Cardinal.

Of course, while Caressy actively engaged in outside activities and promoted the church’s influence here and there,

none of those actions were tied to the Cardinal at all.

Not even a tiny bit of connection.

‘Yet that fucking shit still keeps getting in my way.’

Even if many obstacles thus far had stemmed from the Cardinal’s personal grudge, that was somewhat understandable.

But the fundamental part still didn’t make sense.

“Why on earth do you have a grudge against me?”

With no clue as to why, it was only natural for Caressy to voice her question.

At that, the Cardinal’s face began to twist even more than before.

“The nerve of an orphan calling herself a Saintess!”

At those words, Caressy felt slightly unjust.

Just because she was the orphan picked up by the Pope, it didn’t mean she was treated specially by others.

In fact, she had faced subtle discrimination and silent contempt throughout.

Yet, in order to repay the Pope, she endured painfully.

Ultimately, through harsh training and faith, she became a Saintess.

“I rightfully claimed the position of Saintess!”

“Why, of all things, the position of Saintess!!!!”

While Caressy was still wearing a puzzled expression,

the Cardinal started screaming at her.

His voice mixed with envy and injustice.

“That position of Saintess was mine!!!!”

At the Cardinal’s shocking declaration, a momentary shroud of silence fell.

Since it wasn’t the kind of thing you could just casually respond to, nobody easily spoke up.

The silence was cautiously broken by Caressy’s voice.

“…What did you just say?”

“I mean it literally! I wanted the position of Saintess, not to be some Cardinal!!!”

The more the Cardinal spoke, the less Caressy understood.

The position of a Cardinal, one of the second highest powers in the Beastman Kingdom.

And yet, the position he desired was nothing less than that of a Saintess.

‘This guy must be out of his mind. That bastard seems insane.’

Though Caressy scrunched her face in disbelief, the Cardinal continued on his own,

not sparing a glance at Caressy or the Pope.

With a dazed look, as if he were staring into the distance.

“I originally dreamed of being a princess.”

“Are you for real, you idiot?”

Since the Cardinal was in the body of a boy’s love, it seemed like even his head had turned into that of a boy’s love.

And it’s no wonder.

“A princess means the daughter of a king. Not a guy.”

“Ah, that?”

It didn’t even remotely fit the meaning of the word “princess.”

Yet, the Cardinal simply continued his speech, unfazed by Caressy’s comment,

as if discussing common sense.

“It doesn’t matter. I can create a Beastman Kingdom where a guy can be a princess.”

“……I thought you were just an idiot, but you’re a total fucking idiot.”

Then suddenly, Caressy asked a question that she couldn’t hold back.

It stemmed from her instinctual question regarding her catgirl identity.

“Are you secretly the nickname The Great Emperor of Priconne? So you want to be a princess, huh?”

“Ah, no!”

“Fuck.”

The Cardinal seemed stung by her words and quickly kicked at Caressy.

At the same time, the Cardinal began to grind his teeth.

As if he were annoyed by unresolved issues.

“That betrayer Kyaru who didn’t even come to help! I should have dealt with that backstabbing bitch ages ago!”

“So what if Kyaru betrayed? They’ve all forgiven her anyway.”

“Not me!”

It was a bonus that Caressy got hit again for bringing up the topic.

Now, she finally understood what personal grudge the Cardinal held against her.

The position of a Saintess was akin to a princess in the theocratic Beastman Kingdom.

The thought that he couldn’t take that position while Caressy did made him hold such a grudge.

‘…That fucking shit is just ridiculous.’

Without even realizing it, Caressy’s body relaxed,

feeling unjustified about having suffered due to such a dumb grudge.

Then a thought hit Caressy.

“But why the hell are you treating this whole thing like boy’s love? If you want to be a princess, you could just be a woman.”

“Huh?”

If he did that, there wouldn’t even be a need to complicate matters this much.

He could simply take the position of Saintess himself.

If they could switch positions, Caressy would be grateful.

The position of a Saintess was more restrictive than she thought.

But the Cardinal only grew angrier at Caressy’s words.

“Being a boy’s love is the ultimate form of femininity, don’t you realize that yet!!!”

“You seem like you’d match well in a bullshit battle against Shinwoo. I mean, seriously, Shinwoo might even lose.”

Caressy half-wondered.

Though he was the king of nonsense, this would be hard to win.

Just managing to tie would be praiseworthy.

“Seriously, you are an idiot. I’ve never met anyone more of an idiot than Shinwoo.”

But the Cardinal didn’t back down.

In fact, he began to step up to Caressy even more confidently.

“You’re the idiot here!”

“…Why is that?”

“A princess finds out she’s a guy? Where else is there such a horny situation?”

As a result, Caressy let out a sigh of resignation.

It was clear enough now that she was tired.

“I thought you were just an idiot, but you’re a complete idiot.”

Then, all of a sudden, Caressy dropped an unbearable question.

“Isn’t that just gay?”

“I’m not gay, I just like guys!!!”

The Cardinal was exceptionally sensitive to the word “gay.”

However, no matter how much she thought about it, Caressy couldn’t express it in any other way.

It could only be explained that way because, if he wasn’t gay, what else could it mean?

“That’s fucking gay!!!!!”

“Shut up!!!!!!!”

Perhaps having run out of words to rebut with, the Cardinal seemed ready to throw a fist at Caressy.

Still, to Caressy, there was some worth in listening to this bullshit.

Because.

“You got that right, Caressy.”

“Shinwoo!!!”

The star she so wanted to see appeared at last.

“Did I arrive too late?”

“No, not at all.”

Upon hearing Shinwoo’s words, even with her body all battered and drenched in blood,

Caressy shook her head violently and flashed a bright smile.

“I’m glad you came just in time!!!!!”

*

Hearing the Cardinal’s shout from above, it was well worth running faster.

At the moment I arrived, the Cardinal was about to throw a punch at Caressy.

“Kim Shinwoo, you fucking bastard!!!!!”

Noticing my appearance, the Cardinal retracted his fist aimed at Caressy and directed his intense hostility at me.

Regardless of what the Cardinal did or said, I turned my gaze to the Pope and Caressy.

The Pope was already unconscious.

And Caressy was covered in blood.

Seeing that made a wave of guilt rise sharply in me.

It was because of me.

I was too late.

If I had come just a little sooner, things might have turned out a bit different.

“I’m sorry. You must’ve been in a lot of pain, right?”

“It’s fine. Thank you for not being late.”

Simultaneously, I swore not to let the Cardinal off easily.

I couldn’t forgive him for injuring them over that trashy reason.

Calmly swallowing my intent to kill, I began to think of words that would make the Cardinal furious.

Soon, those thoughts started to take the form of words and appeared into the world.

“Crossdressing boys, otokonoko, girly boys, messy boys, shimeil.”

With those words, I conjured a hand axe in my right hand.

Pointing it at the Cardinal, I grinned.

“In the end, aren’t they all gay?”

“What’s up with you, you bastard!”

[…Wasn’t it originally about TS and futanari?］

‘Ah! In Nopia, TS means female. And futanari has a dick attached to a woman.’

This was a given.

TS refers to a state where the body is completely female.

What remains is merely female corruption

Or it could be yuri.

[Well, there’s also the saying ‘The belly of TSus is one.’ So you might be right about that. A female body with a female mind will inhabit it.]

‘…Sometimes I think he’s less sane than me.’

[Shit.］

I was starting to feel that the rank of top-tier nonsense might be at risk.

To even have my only identity threatened is quite troublesome.

Meanwhile, the Cardinal bared his teeth at me, ready to pounce.

“Apologize! I’m not gay, I’m just an admirer of the same sex!”

“No matter how much I think about it,”

I didn’t respond to the Cardinal’s words and only said what I needed to.

After all, seriously engaging with him would only bring harm to me.

Unless I could piss him off, I doubted I’d feel any better.

“That means you’re gay.”

Then I continued speaking to rebut the Cardinal’s earlier nonsense.

How audacious to claim he wanted to occupy the position of the Saintess while still being a guy.

“The position of the Saintess? If you’ve got a penis, you aren’t a Saintess, you’re just a man, you piece of shit.”

“So what if a guy is the Saintess! It’s just a little dick!!!”

[These days in Nobelpia, having a male Saintess seems to be all the rage, right?］

‘But those people just vanish.’

[Oh, right.］

Despite the Cardinal’s words, I approached him without flinching.

I began to mumble softly.

“In the end, you have a dick, so…”

Without saying anything more, I stared back angrily at the Cardinal, who approached me.

His intent was to punish me with violence instead of words.

With a head as empty as that of a boy’s love, he really seemed to have run out of vocabulary.

Facing that Cardinal.

I grinned as crookedly as I could.

“You’re gay, you fucking bastard.”

*