Pope Glacia (4)
"I never expected the Pope to come out like that. Honestly, it ticks me off. Suddenly going on about Noah this and that—ugh."
Celia shuddered as if the whole thing disgusted her.
"I don't like it either. But if we're being honest, you're not much different, are you?"
Back when she had no idea who I really was, she'd clung to me and wouldn't let go. Now she was talking like someone else entirely.
"A-ah, no! At first I only said you seemed similar!"
"That old woman said the same thing."
Seriously, why was everyone around me so weird? I couldn't begin to understand the reasons.
"W-well… as long as I don't get caught using magic, it should be fine, right?"
She had a point. If she was careful with the magic, she wouldn't get found out the way she had last time.
"That woman's even worse than you."
"Excuse me?"
"The fact that she's kept that young face on that ancient body is impressive enough, but do you know why she's held the papal seat for so long?"
There was always a reason for things like that.
Honestly, why would someone who acted like Emperor Number Two stay in that position for ages? And in the Holy Kingdom, no less—a place famous for being packed solid with faith in the Goddess. The Pope was practically treated like a living saint.
The political system of the Holy Kingdom itself was a mess, but the real key was that the old woman had an actual ability. And not just the one that kept her body young.
"Why is that?"
"She's very good at looking inside people."
Not merely telling good from evil—she could distinguish the colors of souls. That woman was capable of it. Of course she would have looked at mine. That was simply the kind of person she was.
If she had already noticed I resembled Noah, then she had already seen my soul. I wondered what she really thought of me.
"In what sense?"
"In every sense."
It wasn't exactly truth-seeing. Anyone with her years of experience would have that sort of insight anyway. What I meant was that she could look at the inside of a person itself—at the soul. Even I could only sense something like that for a moment when I used certain external magics. She could do it at will. Just a simple "Soul, show yourself!" level of power.
"Wait, is that actually true?"
"Have you ever caught me lying?"
What did people take me for? My lies were always the truth.
"Besides staying young, what else does she have? That woman is a complete scam. She already has the ultimate ability for a woman, and on top of that she can see inside people?"
And yet someone like her was always weak when it came to her own blood. If we were being fair, that bastard William should have been thrown out of the Holy Kingdom long ago. Who knew—maybe he was planning something now that we had arrived.
"Just in case, make sure Kise and the mage division hear about this as well. They came for the exchange."
Kise had brought the mage division to the Holy Kingdom this time. They had been a day late, but the official reason was the exchange program. She had clearly wanted to follow me, yet the responsibilities of a commander must have weighed heavily on her. Poor thing. Truly pitiful.
"Aren't you overreacting a little?"
As if this was the first or second time something like this had happened. I had already gotten a bad feeling the moment I saw William's face.
"I'm uneasy. Unnaturally uneasy."
Uneasy was an understatement. Something was definitely about to explode.
"Something will definitely happen, yes."
"Right?"
"Yes. Wherever Noah-nim is, things always explode. I'll pass the word along."
Well, she wasn't wrong. I had decided not to argue the point anymore. One look at William's face told me he was about to do something stupid. Still, this was Holy Kingdom business, and I didn't want to give the impression that I was sticking my nose where it didn't belong.
"Ah. But we still need to keep up appearances."
"Appearances?"
Had I not mentioned it? Celia would not be allowed to lounge around and freeload during this trip to the Holy Kingdom. She clearly wanted to stay by my side, watch me suffer, and enjoy the show—but unfortunately for her, she had her own suffering to do, unlike me.
"You know people already talk because a Magic Tower graduate is acting as my escort."
"Yes. That's why I came as a teddy-bear puppeteer."
Exactly. That was what needed proper verification.
"Right. The official story is that you came along as a teddy-bear puppeteer. More precisely, you're scouting locations to see whether you should open a teddy-bear shop in the Holy Kingdom."
"What are you talking about?"
She tilted her head as if she had no idea what I meant. This part was out of my hands. For my sake as well, the cover story had to hold.
"You know the mage division worships me."
"Yes."
One void spell had made the little brats in the mage division's eyes sparkle. The noble young ladies of the magical world looked at my void magic the same way they looked at a new piece of jewelry, a new dress, or new cosmetics. Praise for the one who had mastered it was only natural. After that they had witnessed my abilities during the division's missions, and the idolization only grew stronger.
And that was where the problem started.
"They worship me, and you're my closest aide."
"Yes."
Even though she was supposed to be a puppeteer, the fact that she had followed me all the way on missions made the looks she received… strange.
Could she be more than just a simple puppeteer?
Yeah, those dolls seem far too combat-oriented.
A doll that runs on mana… a doll mage trying to catch Olivia-nim's eye?
There it was. Celia the doll mage. She had been completely rebranded as a doll mage. So for now it would be better to ease the other members' wariness a little.
"You're constantly at my side serving me. That alone causes talk. Some of the members seem jealous of you. And now you've even tagged along to the Holy Kingdom? Perfect grounds for relationship rumors. So stop pretending to be a mage and start pretending to be a puppeteer."
It was extremely specific. I could practically feel Kise's blazing determination to mess with Celia. In other words, she was intensely jealous. When they were younger she had always been by her master's side, and now that same master was spending time with Celia instead. Of course it would sting.
Even knowing that, there was nothing I could do about it. Kise might feel like something had been stolen from her, but the truth was I simply found Celia more comfortable to be around.
"What the hell…"
She looked dumbfounded. Honestly, so was I. Kise wasn't the childish type—well, calling her a child felt wrong given her age—but the only person who would mess with the next Magic Tower Master this thoroughly was Kise. Rivals, maybe? The problem was that their fields were completely different. Kise was a mage, yes, but she was much closer to a magic swordsman.
"So when you go to meet Kise, make sure you're carrying a teddy bear. And leave traces that you've been looking at possible shop locations and so on."
She could handle the details herself.
"…Fine."
She could glare all she wanted; this was unavoidable. It wasn't my fault. It was entirely Kise's fault—and the fault of Celia having come from the Magic Tower.
Papal Palace
"That was far too rude. How can anyone be that rude?"
Having returned to the Papal Palace, Glacia shook her head at Elias, who was still fuming.
"Ah. That bastard—well, that woman—is allowed to be like that."
More accurately, she was the type who wouldn't listen even if you told her to mind her manners. And since she already knew her own personality was terrible, there was little point in forcing the issue.
"Your Holiness… forgive me, but even you should refrain from saying such things."
Watching him continue to scold her even now made it clear this habit of his needed correcting.
"Heh. Truly, one never knows how human affairs will turn out."
The Pope smiled bitterly.
"Pardon?"
"It seems that mage Noah is dead."
If he were still alive, his whereabouts would not be completely unknown, and someone carrying a fragment of that soul would never have come to the Holy Kingdom.
"Dead? By whose hand? Aside from the Demon King, is there anyone who could defeat him?"
Elias was not ignorant. He knew that for all Noah's arrogance, the man had been strong. No—he had been strong enough that his arrogance and insolence were almost justified, strong enough to be rude even in front of the Pope of the Holy Kingdom. That was why Elias, however angry, had always endured it.
But dead? Had he truly fought the Demon King?
"They say the Demon King is dead. The mage went alone to kill him."
"Then… surely not…"
Was that "surely not" actually true? He had only heard it as rumor and had never quite believed it. There had never been any reason for Elias to know the full details about Noah, so no one had bothered to explain thoroughly.
"Mutual destruction, most likely. They died together. Honestly, with that hopeless Hero Party, anyone would have wanted to die of frustration."
Yes—perhaps he had simply wanted to blow himself up just to get away from that dense hero. It was tragic, but that was the only interpretation that made sense. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that soul would end up mixed with the soul of House Ashtar.
"Is that truly the case?"
"Well, the Demon King was slain, so it is a good thing… yet something still feels unsettled."
The Demon King was dead, yet war still raged across the world. The Four Heavenly Kings still existed. Recently the Saint of Ashtar was said to have captured Berna, but perhaps because a mage rather than the Hero had slain the Demon King, the remaining Heavenly Kings seemed stronger than before.
"Your Holiness? If that man killed the Demon King, is that not a good thing? He was unpleasant, yes, but at least it wasn't that trash of a Hero who did it."
"Instead we have that Saint."
A Saint, of all things. She did not know the Empire's internal situation well enough to know the Saint's past, but one thing was certain: at first the girl had been infamous in Adellina as a notorious villainess. Yet looking at her now… calling her a mere villainess felt inadequate. She was worse than a villainess, yet not quite the sort who would openly court the title back in Adellina. She would need to look into it later, but one fact was already clear—this was not the Olivia of before.
Moreover… it seemed the Demon King had not completely vanished. Or rather, looking at "that thing," it almost seemed correct that the Demon King was supposed to die by the Hero's holy sword.
Why is a mage mixed with the Demon King inside the body of a Saint?
A very long time ago, Glacia had seen a fragment of the Demon King. Inside the Saint's body now resided the Demon King, the mage, and the soul of Ashtar's young lady—all of them tangled together.
"Pardon?"
"Nothing. You wouldn't easily believe me even if I explained."
If she misspoke and the story leaked elsewhere…
"What do you mean by that, Your Holiness?"
"Exactly what I said. That Saint is a person of great importance."
Whether that thing was truly the man named Noah or merely some chaotic mixture of souls, looking at her made the Hero seem completely useless. From the surface, at least, the mage appeared to be the one in control. Yes—if the Demon King had originally been an enemy that only a Hero could defeat, then was that mage not something even more wicked? One had to wonder whether a Hero was needed at all.
"Do we even need a Hero?"
"Indeed. Do we?"
Did they really need a Hero?