Chapter 130
Chapter 130
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 130
Chapter Title: The Popes' Blessings
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“……The Pope could pull that off, huh.”
I’d briefly wondered who on earth could barge in like that without a care, but then it hit me—if it was the Pope herself, the one who’d given me this brooch, of course she could do it no problem. I couldn’t help but nod in understanding.
Floretta entered the room with her usual warm, benevolent smile like the sun itself, her elbows tucked to her sides and arms slightly spread in that signature pose of hers.
“His Holiness the Pope of the Sun?”
Her expression flickered oddly for a split second when I addressed her by her title, but then she spotted Minerva sitting across from me and broke into a beaming smile again.
Our relationship with the Popes was a closely guarded secret from the public, after all.
“How did Your Holiness find your way here……?”
“With such a distinguished guest returning to the Holy Kingdom, how could I possibly sit idle? Thus, I had no choice but to come here myself.”
Floretta turned her head to meet Minerva’s gaze, still beaming that warm, benevolent smile at me. Minerva watched us both with a rather subtle look on her face.
“O Mage of Eternity, in the name of the Pope of the Sun, I welcome you to the Holy Kingdom.”
“Skip the pleasantries. Just tell me why you’re here. From what I know, the Pope isn’t supposed to leave the Grand Cathedral willy-nilly. Has doctrine changed in the meantime?”
Minerva didn’t use any honorifics with the Pope of the Sun either. It felt like the bare minimum of courtesy. Considering the age difference, it might’ve been par for the course.
“O Mage of Eternity, it seems you’re under some grave misunderstanding.”
Floretta chuckled softly.
“How could meeting a guest precious enough to receive this brooch count as wandering outside recklessly? Pray, reconsider.”
“……Hmm.”
Minerva’s eyes narrowed.
Her silver eyes flicked between Floretta and me, then she crossed her legs and looked away, as if telling us to talk it out. A steaming teacup appeared in her hand.
She’d definitely sneakily ask later what our relationship was—or even if she didn’t, she’d harbor massive curiosity about it.
As Minerva turned her head first, Floretta looked back at me. Her soft hand gently clasped mine. Her arms drew slightly inward, pressing against the sides of her breasts.
“What brings you back to the Holy Kingdom, O distinguished guest?”
“Back?”
The word choice felt a bit off. Did she seriously think I’d end up settling here in the Holy Kingdom instead of the Empire?
“Haven’t you heard why we’ve come here, Your Holiness?”
I awkwardly steered the conversation elsewhere. Now wasn’t the time to probe Floretta’s thoughts.
“Indeed.”
“If you hadn’t heard the reason, how did you know we were waiting here……?”
“There are ways. No need for you to worry, O guest. So, what brings you back to our Holy Kingdom?”
I was curious about those “ways,” but since she wasn’t volunteering, I didn’t want to pry. I answered obediently.
“I’ve come for holy water infused with light.”
“Holy water infused with light…… Understood. How much will you require, O guest?”
“About one vat.”
“You wore that brooch just to take a single vat? How modest. Even if you’d asked for a hundred, I’d have given them to you gladly, without charge.”
A playful smile bloomed on her face.
“However, O guest. Do you know how to transport that holy water?”
At the question, I sighed inwardly.
Right now, we had the perfect solution in Minerva, but it reminded me of the hell I’d gone through in the game to clear this quest without such a cheat.
Why was holy water infused with light so ridiculously expensive? Sure, production was limited, but the transportation was an absolute nightmare—that was the real killer.
Even players who griped “Why’s this stuff so pricey for just holy water?” would do a total one-eighty after trying the quest to deliver it to Ceres once.
Without this holy water, the weapon quest from Ceres wouldn’t have such a notorious rep. It’d just be mildly annoying.
“Yes. Lady Minerva has agreed to help.”
“The Mage of Eternity……”
Floretta’s emerald-green eyes flicked toward Minerva on the sofa. For a moment, the faint smile at the corner of her mouth seemed to vanish.
It was so quick I wondered if I’d imagined it.
“By the way, Your Holiness. Has the Pope of the Moon not come?”
I glanced around. No sign of Luna. There was no way Floretta would come alone and leave her sister behind. Either they came together, or not at all.
Floretta smiled and closed her eyes.
“Isn’t my sister right here?”
“Pardon……?”
Before I could voice my confusion, Floretta’s hair turned silver in an instant. Not just me—even Minerva, sipping her tea with legs crossed, startled and looked over.
The long, wavy golden locks that had trailed nearly to the floor had become a radiant silver-gray, shimmering like moonlight.
Her closed eyelids slowly lifted. Where green eyes had been were now violet ones, like purple sapphires.
Silver-gray hair and violet-tinged eyes.
“Long time no see, O guest.”
The voice that emerged from her lips was unmistakably Floretta’s, but far colder and stiffer than before. A familiar voice, a familiar tone.
“Your Holiness the Pope of the Moon……?”
It was Luna.
“I’m delighted you remember me.”
“How…….”
“It would be accurate to say I have ‘descended’ into Evangeline’s body. I could explain in more detail, but you likely wouldn’t understand. Would you still like an explanation?”
I shook my head. Luna descending into Floretta’s body? Was that even possible? But with the evidence right in front of me, I had no desire to deny it.
Besides, what good would a detailed explanation do if I couldn’t grasp it anyway?
“I deeply regret not being able to serve you in person and meeting you in this form. Please forgive my rudeness.”
Floretta—no, Luna in Floretta’s body—bowed her head slightly. In the corner of my vision, Minerva watched us with brimming curiosity.
“You needn’t be so formal, Your Holiness. There’s no need for you to bow.”
“Our relationship demands even greater courtesy.”
Her stiff rebuttal nearly made me blurt out, *What kind of relationship are you talking about?* Sure, the three of us had that physical connection, but I doubted that’s what she meant.
I didn’t have the guts to ask.
“Even we cannot maintain a descent for long. Thus, as a final gift to you, O guest.”
“What gift?”
“A blessing. The moonlight seems dimmed, so I shall reignite it.”
With that, Luna pulled my head down and hugged me tightly. It sank deep into her ample cleavage. The fruity, fleshy scent of her breasts flooded my nostrils.
She squeezed me hard, over and over, then whispered softly.
“May a clear full moon always grace the sky this lamb gazes upon. Even in any darkness or abyss, may the blue full moon light the way.”
Finished, Luna lifted my head and began planting kisses. Once on the forehead, once on each cheek, and finally on the lips. Up to here, it was the same as before.
“……?”
But what came next was different.
Ten seconds passed, twenty, thirty—and her lips showed no sign of parting. Last time, it had been about ten seconds, but now it stretched past a full minute.
If anything, our lips pressed even closer. Her arms around my back tightened, her breasts squishing softly against my chest.
“Chuuup…….”
She’d even slipped her tongue between my lips. I startled and tried to pull away, but her embrace didn’t budge an inch.
I could buy it when my strength was 1, but now it was over 20. What the hell?
Luna, borrowing Floretta’s body, tangled her tongue with mine in a sticky deep kiss for what felt like ages before finally pulling away after a few more minutes.
My mouth was filled with Floretta’s taste.
“It is done, O guest. I eagerly await the day we meet again.”
Luna licked her lips seductively and bowed. The silver-gray hair reverted to gold, and when she raised her head, her eyes were green once more.
That signature beaming smile confirmed it—Floretta was back.
“Did you receive the blessing properly, O guest?”
“Uh…… well…….”
“I too hate to let you go like this, but it seems our time is up. Thus, I shall add my own blessing and take my leave.”
“Time’s up—what do you m—mmph.”
Mushy softness—Floretta buried my face in her cleavage again. Sweet fragrance rushed into my nose. Hands pressed firmly on the back of my head, enveloping me.
“May a radiant sun always shine on this lamb’s path. Even amid any turmoil or hardship, may you advance toward the bright sun.”
Lips met again. Once on the forehead. Once on each cheek. Then the lips—and instantly, Floretta’s tongue invaded my mouth.
“Ngh…… mm…….”
Unlike Luna, Floretta even let out soft moans as she kissed me. Tongues and saliva mingled.
She kissed me practically clinging, arms around my back, thighs entwined, breasts rubbing as we shared breaths.
I accepted this so-called blessing deep kiss in an awkward half-embrace. My hands were in a weird spot, but I had no time to care. Controlling my lower half took all my focus.
“Chuurp…… chuup.”
The wet sounds of saliva mixing marked the end of the long kiss.
A silver thread stretched between our parting lips. Floretta snapped it with her finger and sucked it off seductively. Clear saliva glistened on her extended index finger.
While I sat there stunned, Floretta swiftly straightened her clothes, clasped her hands at her abdomen, and bowed slightly.
“I shall take my leave now, O guest. Next time, I’ll offer even better hospitality. Until then.”
Before I could respond, she glanced at Minerva and dissolved into radiant sunlight.
The lingering peach scent and the warmth in my mouth were the only proof it hadn’t been a dream.
“Sorry to keep you waiting! O guest!”
A holy knight’s booming voice echoed from outside the door.
Snapping to my senses, I first turned to Minerva.
She’d just watched the Popes and me embrace and swap tongues for nearly ten minutes straight. Who knew what she was thinking.
“Got something to say to me, kid?”
But Minerva’s expression was calmly nonchalant—way more than I’d expected. It surprised me more than anything.
“……Nothing.”
I held my tongue.
If the eyewitness was this unfazed, how could I ask why she was so calm after seeing me deep-kiss the Pope?
*Well, no reason for Minerva to be shocked, I guess.*
We weren’t anything special to each other, and it wasn’t some sudden PDA—it was clearly the Popes bestowing a blessing.
Given all the common sense warped by the mod so far, she probably just thought they’d laid on the blessing a bit thicker.
Even though she’d been baffled by Aurora Stella’s heresy detection method.
“Sorry to keep you waiting! Here’s the holy water infused with light you requested!”
The booming voice rang out again. Minerva’s eyes naturally turned forward. I followed suit.
*What the—why’s it so huge?*
I was floored by the size of that “one vat.” The vat I’d pictured was worlds apart from what the holy knights carried in.
I’d imagined something like a regular water bottle, maybe a 1.5-liter PET at most. But this?
The holy knights held a glass bottle big enough for me to crawl inside with room to spare.
I turned to Minerva with sheer disbelief. But her face was perfectly calm. That massive thing was indeed her idea of “one vat.”
While I stood speechless at the absurd scale, the holy knights approached with utmost caution, setting the bottle down with equal care.
They backed away five steps from it, as if terrified of touching it wrong, then knelt and bowed their heads.
“We’ve brought it! O guest!”
“……Yeah. Good work.”
“Thank you! Is there anything else you need?”
“No, that’s all. We’ll handle the rest, so you’re dismissed.”
“Understood!”
The holy knights rose, bowed 90 degrees to me once more, then tiptoed out of the building.
Impressive they could mince on tiptoes in that heavy plate armor.
“You look quite shocked, kid.”