Chapter 99
Chapter 99
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 99
Chapter Title: Sien, Kidnapped
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Melodia, the Crown Prince, and the Pope took their seats.
The Pope looked even more distracted than usual. The Crown Prince was no different. In this gathering, the only one who could at least feign some composure was Melodia.
She sipped her tea with her usual serene expression.
While watching the calm Melodia even in this situation, the Pope wore a slightly intimidated look, unlike the Crown Prince, who simply beamed with contentment. He grasped Melodia's hand and murmured affectionately.
"......Melodia."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"What did you call me here for? Not that our bond needs any particular reason......"
Gazing at Melodia's dreamy expression, the Crown Prince smiled in satisfaction.
With Melodia by his side, it felt as though everything was falling perfectly into place. The more he looked at her, the more an exquisite ecstasy washed over him.
The Pope, who had been silently watching the Crown Prince create an atmosphere as if they were alone together, cleared his throat a couple of times.
"Your Highness, forgive me, but it was I who called this meeting, not Melodia."
Hearing the Pope assert his authority, the Crown Prince frowned in discomfort.
"So, what is it, Pope?"
"Well......"
The Pope bit his molars with an anxious expression. He extended his hand toward his chest and muttered.
"Just what in the world happened? My power......"
The Crown Prince alternated his gaze between the Pope's bony hand, devoid of any flesh, and his face, then retorted in an irritated tone.
"What exactly are you talking about?"
Truth be told, it was an unpleasant interruption for him. He already lacked time to enjoy sweet moments alone with Melodia.
"My divine power......"
The Crown Prince stared fixedly at the Pope.
In the Pope's hand floated a spherical orb of light.
"......has diminished this much, Your Highness."
A pale white light dimly illuminated the surroundings.
Yet the Pope did not look happy.
His divine power had originally emitted a brilliant glow capable of filling the entire room. It was fueled by the faith and hopes of all the empire's citizens.
However......
"It's weakened."
The Crown Prince snorted derisively; the Pope's divine power had indeed grown excessively feeble. The Pope glared at him, grinding his teeth. The Crown Prince twitched his eyebrow and spoke.
"I know the reason."
Melodia chimed in clearly.
"Yes...... It's because faith has waned. But why did they start losing faith in the gods? They've continued their volunteer work as usual and even leveraged the press."
Unlike Melodia's group, who had just returned from the Path of Light, the Crown Prince had remained in the capital, ears attuned to every rumor swirling there. He scoffed arrogantly.
"It's all because of that Sien Mirmod girl."
"Sien Mirmod......?"
The Pope furrowed his brow. Hearing the name of the one who had repeatedly thwarted his grand plans made his stomach churn.
"That tiny, brazen little brat."
Melodia replied melodiously.
"If that child is defying the gods, just charge her with heresy and lock her up. Even the Mirmods can't defy the state religion, can they?"
"That's the tricky part. She hasn't founded a new religion."
The Crown Prince gestured toward the newspapers on the table, telling him to read the details there. The papers he had brought detailed everything Sien had done up to now.
Having seen it all, Melodia let out a small gasp of admiration.
"She deliberately used humanitarianism to erode faith in the gods? How clever!"
"Clever? She's just stumbling backward and got lucky."
"No, Your Highness. This child seems to know that divine power feeds on people's faith in the gods!"
At Melodia's words, the Pope and Crown Prince fell silent simultaneously.
Few living people knew that the clergy's divine power grew by feeding on humanity's faith in the gods.
The previous Pope had been obsessively averse to any weakening of the church's influence and had eliminated every potential threat to its authority.
Thus, during his reign, the reason for the Pope's diminishing divine power was taboo, and the fact that temple volunteer activities were meticulously planned manipulations was completely concealed.
"Who told her?"
"Delphia Mirmod, no doubt."
Delphia Mirmod knew the temple's weaknesses all too well.
But even with that knowledge in hand, she had never properly exploited it, and since meddling seemed troublesome, they had simply left her alone.
Which meant......
"......Sien Mirmod is the problem. Just like years ago, and now."
Melodia smiled faintly.
The Pope and Melodia had planned to seduce and manipulate the Mirmod family before destroying them, but Sien Mirmod had consistently blocked their path.
Now it was time to truly confront Sien Mirmod head-on.
Melodia and the Pope's eyes met. The Pope averted his gaze first. He chewed his lip, rose to his feet, and spoke.
"Let's go find Axel Mirmod. He might know Sien Mirmod's weaknesses."
A faint madness flickered in the Pope's eyes, but no one in the room noticed.
***
Axel Mirmod, who had lived in the Demon Realm for over a decade, was already half-dead. Yet his eyes still burned with ferocity.
As if proving the bizarre rumor that he devoured corpses, a stench of decay emanated from his body.
Even so, the Pope stared at Axel without flinching.
Axel, sprawled carelessly on the floor like some intruder, opened his foul-smelling mouth and asked.
"Did you pull me out of the Demon Realm?"
"Yes."
"With that so-called saintess...... Right, the Pope. A nobody."
The Pope's expression turned icy in an instant, as if beholding someone who had touched his reverse scale.
"What did you say?"
No matter what the Pope said, Axel seemed utterly unfazed. His eyes darted wildly as he continued.
"To be precise, Your Holiness the Pope is a nobody without the saintess."
"How dare you......"
"Why? Aren't you just the saintess's puppet?"
The Pope's face twisted in revulsion as Axel cackled hysterically.
Though he did defer entirely to Saintess Melodia's opinions, being called a puppet to his face was deeply unpleasant.
Especially now, having realized part of his divine power was gone, it made him all the more uneasy.
Sensing the Pope's inner discomfort about his position, Axel flicked his demonic tongue.
"Why did you come to me, Pope? To reclaim your proper status and hand over the Mirmods to me?"
Only then did the Pope erase the unease from his face and whisper.
"Yes, I'm prepared to give you the Mirmod family. Of course, there are conditions, but if you want the Mirmods, you'll cooperate."
"You only know half of me."
Drained of energy, Axel twisted his lips into a grin.
"To be exact, I love evil and chaos itself. If I gain the Mirmods, the world will plunge into utmost chaos. That's the part I like most."
......
Axel lifted one corner of his mouth higher while staring into the Pope's murky eyes.
"So, what's the condition?"
"Sien Mirmod's weakness."
At the words "Sien Mirmod's weakness," Axel subtly scrutinized the Pope's face. Then, as if teasing him, he whispered slyly with his three-inch tongue.
"Of course I know it."
"Then tell me."
"But you know, that saintess Melodia seems smarter than you. Can I trust you?"
At that, the Pope's expression blanked in an instant.
"I am the Pope, you foolish Mirmod scum."
"So?"
"......It means I'm the core of power, more than the saintess."
Axel nodded with a strained smile.
"Right, Pope. So you're saying you'll be the central pillar of this operation?"
"Operation......?"
In that moment, a chill spread from Axel's eyes. It was a coldness that even gave the Pope pause.
"Listen well. We need to kidnap Sien Mirmod. And as soon as possible."
"What is this......"
"No time to report to anyone else. That cunning brat will set every trap the moment you arrive. No time to consult the saintess—go now. And......"
He waved his gaunt hand in the air a few times, then clenched his fist as if grasping a noose.
"Kidnap her, and kill her."
***
A dark room.
In the pitch-black atmosphere, I blinked. My eyes were blindfolded, and my ears heard nothing.
Lately, things had felt suspiciously off......
'I thought I was being dragged to a tea party, but I fell asleep in the carriage and woke up here.'
As a noble lady running a merchant guild since childhood—which was unheard of—and the only young girl bearing the Mirmod name, I was quite welcomed in high society.
With the Pope and saintess returning from the Path of Light no less, I figured there'd be a grand festival.
But instead of celebrations, they were pulling this shady stunt to kidnap me. From the looks of it, they even planned to kill me.
'Who the mastermind is, I can guess...... But seriously, grown adults bullying a fifteen-year-old teen? Trash.'
Bound as I was, I strained to squint and survey my surroundings. But not a sliver of light pierced the blindfold—it was futile.
Blinding me too? No matter how I thought about it, this screamed the work of utter villains.
But I'm not one to crumble from a single kidnapping. If I were, I'd have died the moment I joined this villainous family.
'Get it together, Sien Mirmod. They say you can survive a tiger's den if you keep your wits!'
My head throbbed, making it hard to focus. I parted my lips, then let out a sigh.
But a strange scent wafted into my nose, and my mind began to blur. It felt like sleep potion had been sprinkled, so I wriggled my tightly bound hands and feet to stay alert.
What snapped my fading consciousness awake was a husky, deep voice.
"......en."
I struggled to open my eyes, which had drifted shut.
The blindfold was gone, and a dim light greeted me.
And right before my eyes......
"Axel Mirmod?"
There stood Axel Mirmod, nothing but bones clinging to his frame.
Though it was my first time seeing his face, perhaps from watching him so long in the original story, I instinctively knew it was Axel.