When the Day We Meet Again (3)

The person who had swaggered in saying he would teach me was nowhere to be found.

“I’m not very good at teaching, so…”

“Huh?”

“…I will teach you through sparring.”

Teach prayer through sparring? Is this guy seriously the Pope only because of raw strength?

Thanks so much for clearing that up.

“Saintess. Communion with the Goddess is important, but you must not neglect physical training.”

“If someone overheard this, they’d think the temple was a training ground for martial artists.”

“Well… that’s not entirely wrong.”

The Pope stripped off his top without hesitation, the kind of behavior that made you wonder if a man of the cloth should really act like that. The rugged scars covering his body proved he was no sheltered scholar.

“Hmm… Why are you staring so hard? Have you fallen for me?”

“I’ll handle your divine power right away and cure that dementia of yours first.”

“Hehe.”

The Pope let out a benevolent laugh that would sound kindly to any stranger, then clenched his fists and stepped back to loosen up. I tried copying the hero’s boxing stance since I’d seen it before, but it was pointless. I wasn’t used to fighting with my body, and the way my chest bounced with every movement was driving me crazy.

“The way you clench your fist, the look in your eyes… I like it. You remind me of the heroes of old.”

If the Pope had stepped forward himself, the Demon King would have died a hundred times over. Why had this guy been sitting around here all this time?

“You seem deep in thought. Before we spar, I’ll begin with the body-strengthening prayer!”

“Kek!?”

How is this guy the Pope?! He looks like a fanatic or a berserker no matter how you slice it!

Startled by the roar, I hastily lifted my tightly clenched fist to cover my ears. Realizing it was useless, I started to lower my hand only to slam it back over my ears again when it felt like they might start bleeding.

The Pope’s mouth moved rapidly as he continued shouting for a while, but I couldn’t make out a single word. Only when the bulging veins on his neck finally calmed did I cautiously lower my hands. The Pope crossed his arms, and a golden aura began to envelop him.

“Hoo! That was the body-strengthening prayer. Did you understand, Saintess?”

Body strengthening? I thought he was just reinforcing his vocal cords. Even a pig at slaughter would sound sweeter and quieter than that.

No matter when it happens, I’m definitely punching that bastard in the jaw one day.

It was a distant goal, but they said you needed a target to grow.

Can you stop butting in and actually help me?

Right. If you were going to help, you would have done it from the start.

I didn’t like acting servile, but since he had offered to teach me, yielding now was simply the attitude of a scholar who never neglected learning. Yes. I wasn’t begging an enemy out of desperation because the damned Earth Mother refused to help. I was simply returning to the role of a student willingly seeking knowledge.

“…Um, could you do it one more time? A little quieter this time…”

The solid-looking shell of divine power wrapped around the Pope seemed perfect for covering up the dishonorable title of Saintess Who Died Sparring With the Pope.

“Hmm… Well… If you ask more like a proper saintess, I suppose I can’t refuse.”

What in the world does “more like a saintess” even mean?

A goddess who did nothing but watch, a muscle-brained lunatic of a Pope, and a saintess who used to be a man until recently and couldn’t even use divine power properly. There was no stranger combination in existence, one that somehow made our own party feel normal by comparison.

As I rolled my eyes, unsure what to do, the Pope shook his head as if he had no choice. Clap! He lightly clapped his hands together and spoke with a small cough.

“Can you do this much?”

“What do ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you take me for!? Like this, right?”

Clap!

It wasn’t a difficult pose or action, so when I copied it easily, the Pope nodded several times.

“There’s no need to clap. …Just bring your palms together… Yes. That’s it.”

I interlocked my fingers and rested them roughly on my chest, which I had thought useless until now. It turned out to be surprisingly comfortable.

Now I see it was the perfect stand for praying.

Everything had its own use after all.

“Now. Don’t you have something to say to me?”

Other than asking him to teach me, I had nothing, but——

Was this it?

“Sh-shall we pray together?”

“Hehe. Correct. Let’s do that. Now you finally seem like a saintess.”

Damn it…

The Pope and the Earth Mother were both just toying with me as they pleased.

“You must follow carefully. You’ll have to do it alone from now on.”

“…Yes.”

I was no fly on the wall. I never wanted to experience the humiliation of clasping my hands and praying in front of this guy ever again.

“Mother.”

The Pope’s once-vibrant voice cracked. The dry, parched tone somehow sounded reverent, yet that only made it feel more awkward. Knowing exactly what kind of being he called with such heartbreaking devotion, I couldn’t easily open my mouth to follow him.

“M-Mother.”

I had tried to match the emotion by following the Pope, but… she had stayed silent until now and only ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠popped out at this moment.

“This body you have bestowed upon this land.”

“This body you have be-be-stowed upon this land.”

She was fawning all over herself.

Sigh.

“…Could you pronounce it properly?”

“Th-that’s…”

“I will not accept any claims that the Goddess was playing around. The saintess must offer prayers even in the middle of battle, so it will be even harder than this.”

This is…

It was no different from when I first learned chanting after joining the academy.

…Just trying to do this again makes my stomach hurt.

All of this is your fault, yet you’re pretending not to know? Are you a politician instead of the Earth Mother?

Couldn’t she just give me a blessing? We could talk directly, so why make me say such embarrassing things? No… If she wanted to hear the prayer that badly, she could at least stay quiet!

The Earth Mother’s maximum blessing…

Gulp.

“This body! Bestowed upon this land! Make it move according to your will! Make it holy! Strengthen it so it will not yield to anything!”

There was no business before power. I had always dismissed that as an excuse for the weak, but I too was helplessly weak.

“Oh… You’ve finally found the will to do it properly?”

The Pope nodded in satisfaction and slowly began the prayer again.

“Mother!!”

This time it wasn’t a cracked voice but a thunderous roar that slammed into my ears. The sound was closer to a battle cry than a prayer. The moment I stood there dazed——

I had hoped he would do it slowly like before, but the Pope’s lips moved faster than the lunatic mages at the academy who could finish long incantations in seconds.

“Wh-what did you say?”

“Did you hear it properly? When the prayer reaches the Goddess, this is what happens.”

Like a child showing off new clothes, the Pope smiled while wrapped in golden light.

This bastard——?

“How am I supposed to hear that?!”

When I shrieked in a sharp voice, the Pope exaggeratedly covered his ears with his hands and smiled.

“No matter when, you must never let your guard down. Hehe. A blade made of divine power cannot be blocked by anything but divine power. Now that I’ve taught you the strengthening prayer, shall we truly begin?”

“Eh? Do it again qui——!?”

Thud! Smoke rose in front of my feet. Then another ear-splitting roar crashed over me.

BOOM!!

What the hell is this?

I stared at the Pope, who had been smiling brightly, his hand blade flashing. I was so shocked I couldn’t even scream. The golden energy was definitely the divine power that had wrapped around the Pope. I instinctively realized that mass could not be avoided without the help of divine power.

“M-Mother! Make the body you bestowed upon this land strong so I can move it as I wish!”

A golden energy almost identical to the Pope’s quickly wrapped around my body. At the same time, several golden masses flew from afar, tearing through the air.

“Hyaat?!”

I let out a shout that was closer to a scream, but I could only manage movements that barely kept pace with the hero and the Pope.

Bang! When I glanced back, the training ground floor was beautifully cratered. Lately the list of things I regretted seeing kept growing.

He’s seriously trying to kill me…

Anyone watching would think we were mortal enemies.

“See? You can do it. As expected, people only shine when pushed into a corner. Hehe.”

Couldn’t I just live as a pathetic loser? That seemed much better——

You’d understand if you were in my position.

“Anyway, well done. No matter how you offer prayers to the Goddess, never lose that heart.”

Now I finally understood why students fell asleep the moment the dean opened his mouth at every magic academy graduation ceremony——

I’ve done plenty of terrible things myself.

“You are the child the Goddess cherishes most. If you earnestly desire something, there is no way she would not listen.”

……

“I’ll throw a few more, so whether you dodge or block, handle it well.”

The Pope no longer made any sound. The moment his lips moved, massive divine power shells the size of the wild boar meat the hero had grilled flew toward me.

M-Mother! Please erase that!

Crazy woman!

“Mother, save me!”

The moment the Earth Mother’s ridiculous shout rang out, a huge barrier appeared before me. It looked larger and sturdier than anything Selba could make. Was it only natural since a god had created it? Even if the goddess was like this, her power was real.

Crack. Crack.

Crash!!

“Huk. Huuuk!”

It had looked like it could block anything, but as cracks began to form, I had to roll desperately behind it.

“Oh! You blocked that?”

I wanted to hurl every curse I knew at the mocking Pope. Why had I become a saintess of all things? If I could use even a few spells, that guy would have been slammed face-first into the cold ground minutes ago to cool his head.

“Mother. Erase what stands in my way.”

No, aren’t I the one who’s supposed to believe?! What kind of irresponsible goddess is this?

The instant the barrier vanished, countless dense divine power projectiles flew at me. Thanks to my somewhat quicker body, I managed to dodge them, but eventually I couldn’t hold on and tumbled forward in an undignified heap.

“Haak. Haaat!”

The thin scrap of cloth that looked like it would tear if tugged even slightly held up surprisingly well. What couldn’t endure was this body stuffed full of useless fat.

How can my stamina be worse than that of an old man over a hundred years old?

Because my body’s limits were worse than expected, my priest robe ended up completely covered in dirt, yet not a single wound remained on my fair skin.

I tried to stand up triumphantly again, but a stinging pain in my calf forced me to sit back down.

——I hadn’t dodged everything after all. The wounds kept healing so I didn’t notice…? Was I only able to endure thanks to the divine power?

The little nun who had come to greet me seemed far more dignified than this goddess. A goddess begging her follower for praise? The worst.

“Simply dodging won’t end the battle. As a saintess, you must seize the divine power and use it. Do you understand?”

A higher-class, higher-mana mage could wrap around and take control of a lower mage’s spell. Since I already knew that method, there was no way I wouldn’t have tried what the Pope was preaching so proudly.

Did he forget he’s the Pope because of dementia?

Seeing a guy who looked younger than my previous self mocking me was more unpleasant than I expected. It was a shame I couldn’t walk up and punch him in the jaw, but at least by twisting and turning my body I had avoided any fatal blows.

Whether because we were fighting purely with divine power or because the Pope was doing it on purpose, the divine power enveloping my body remained—— No, it was growing even denser.

The problem was this damned body that refused to get used to no matter what I did. When I thought I had dodged, the decoration barely holding the front of my robe would scream and fly off. When I thought I had been hit, a divine power lump would graze dizzyingly past my slender waist.

How am I supposed to dodge when I can’t even see one step ahead?!

I lost count of how many times I nearly fell. How was I supposed to fight while wearing this cumbersome priest robe?

“As expected of the child who receives Mother’s abundant favor. You dodge very well. Hehe.”

Praise should only be given in moderation to be appreciated. The Pope’s compliments sounded like the casual greetings I used to give students just starting to learn magic.

This is. I look like a complete mess.

Instead of just watching, would it kill you to help first?

“Do you still have the leisure to complain?”

Shooosh!

“Huk. Kyaaak?!”

Was it the sin of taking my eyes off the madman in front of me? The hem of the priest robe that had held up so well fluttered uselessly through the air.

Rather, it’s for the best.

After rolling around so much, the priest robe had become heavy with dirt. I was grateful to the Pope for lightening that heavy burden, even if only a little. As a bonus, the nuns would have less laundry to do.

“Now. The things I’ve shown you are the attacks possible with divine power.”

“If it was just a demonstration, you didn’t have to throw them at me!”

“You need to practice dodging too. Hehe.”

When would a priest ever get hit by divine power shells on a battlefield——

“Then Pope, you try dodging well too. Now it’s my turn.”

“Yes. Do as you wish. I’ll watch how well you’ve learned and go easy on you.”

I would show this crazy Pope that I hadn’t become an archmage through memorization alone.

***

I don’t know how long I ran around. For a long time I recited every attack-related prayer I could as if venting my anger, but I didn’t land a single effective hit on the Pope.

“Whew! At this rate, it seems you’ve learned all the attack prayers. You learn quite fast. This old man is very impressed.”

As if he was impressed. On the contrary, the more I fought the Pope, the more surprised I became. Was there anything more surprising than the Pope dodging with movements faster than the hero?

“Hauk! Huuuk… Aigo. I’m going to die!”

I was the one attacking, so why was it so frustrating and exhausting? Landing a punch on that guy’s jaw seemed as distant as the Earth Mother had said.

“By the way, Saintess, you are quite peculiar. You pray with sincerity, yet I don’t understand why you treat the Goddess so irreverently?”

You try it. When a life-threatening crisis is right in front of you, faith appears even if it didn’t exist before. Anyone would seek a god first!

“I think I’ve taught you enough about combat. Now I’ll teach you recovery, and then my lesson will be complete.”

Finally, the flower of divine magic—recovery? Yes. I had endured this mess because I was curious about exactly this.

“Ha… Please teach me quickly. I’m dying here…”

“First is basic wound healing. It’s not difficult, so watch and follow along.”

The Pope made a small cut on his palm, showed it to me, and began to pray. I stared at his moving lips. I was still a half-baked healer who needed to chant. I had to memorize the prayer properly to use divine power at will.

When the Pope finished, brilliant light spread across his body. To an outsider it might have looked like his body was burning, but to my eyes it looked like lumps of divine power digging into flesh and filling empty spaces.

“How does it look? Not too hard, is it?”

The Pope smiled in an annoyingly bright way. His palm was cleanly healed.

Even when shown like that, the fact that I can learn it perfectly means I’m exceptional, right?

Yes. Absolutely.

“…It’s not working?”

I had shouted something exactly like the prayer the Pope recited, yet the small wound on my palm refused to heal.

Was the prayer wrong?

When I tilted my head at the recovery speed that wasn’t much different from when I learned combat, the Pope approached, rubbed my hand gently, and nodded.

“Ah… You’re already absorbing the surrounding divine power, so even recovery magic won’t show much… What should we do?”

The Pope’s hand flashed for a moment.

“Hmm… Excuse me for a second.”

“Kyaaak!?”

The divine power shaped like his hand blade left an even larger wound on my palm and vanished.

“Hehe. Screaming now won’t change anything. Hurry and offer the prayer.”

This son of a—?!

My mouth had already screamed, but my hand was screaming even louder. If left like this I might not be able to heal it completely. I wasn’t well-versed in recovery magic, but the wound on my palm was dangerous. Even without knowledge of healing, I instinctively understood it needed immediate treatment to avoid scarring.

“Mother, with your merciful touch embrace my wound. Erase it as if nothing happened. Please make it not hurt.”

The moment I offered the prayer that was burdensome to even utter word by word, the surrounding divine power surged in.

The instant the Earth Mother’s half-hearted reply ended, my palm began healing rapidly.

“As expected, you do it well. Hehe. That’s a relief. If it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had been any later I would have done it for you.”

“How can you do that without warning?!”

Only after the wound disappeared did I shout. The Pope kept laughing in a way that really didn’t suit him.

“If you dodge you’ll only get hurt more. Hehe. Still, at this rate sealing the Demon King shouldn’t be too difficult for you.”

“Pope. How about you go instead?”

If the Pope stepped forward, the Demon King probably wouldn’t even want to revive.

If I were the Demon King, I’d refuse to revive just because it was disgusting. A hero party that put a healer like this in the vanguard? I would decline even in death.

“Don’t I have to protect this place? You must depart tomorrow morning.”

The Pope smiled kindly and waved his hands.

“Is this the end after teaching like this?”

“Time is short, so please forgive me for having no choice but to teach you this way. I will protect those who wait here, so go rampage as much as you like. Understood?”

Like a child desperately searching for his mother. Like the Pope mixing the word “Mother” into his rough breaths. The Pope’s heavy words that strangely touched my heart left me speechless.

“……”

“Only when the main base is safe can the expedition force that has gone far away fight with peace of mind, launch all-out attacks, and try all sorts of things. That is why I have remained here guarding this place until now.”

So he’s not a bad guy?

I had thought he was just playing around in the rear, but that wasn’t the case.

“The Demon King Castle is too far, so it’s difficult… Hehe. Tomorrow morning everyone will gather for a banquet, so go inside and rest now.”

“Eh…!?”

The Pope, who had clearly given an order for me to leave, waved his hand. My body floated into the air. The method was slightly different but the feeling was familiar.

Teleportation?

I blinked inside the room where I had first opened my eyes in this body.

He didn’t even listen to me and clearly sent me back to my room because it was bothersome.

Just once. Someday when the chance came, I would flatten that bastard’s sharp jaw.

Tomorrow was too soon——

——When the day we meet again comes.