Pope Maria Queenpin (2)
The prayer room falls deathly silent in an instant, so quiet it chokes the air.
All eyes fix on the holy power orb hovering high above my head.
Queenpin, who had just been sternly scolding Valoa moments ago, is nowhere to be seen.
She's frozen in place, mouth agape, looking like she'd topple over at the slightest touch.
Bella, the captain, stands beside her, slowly tilting the holy sword cradled in her arms to the side.
Valoa, still not grasping the situation, glances around nervously with a dazed expression.
Lumina rubs her eyes incessantly, as if seeing a ghost, her brow furrowing deeper and deeper.
Everyone wears an expression straight out of a painting of utter shock.
"...No owner?"
"W-Wait... That's holy power?"
Queenpin's question finally breaks the silence, and I nod calmly.
"Yes. It is."
"Th-That's impossible... But just now..."
My nonchalant reply drains the color from her face, turning it as white as a sheet.
Just as I suspected from the start—Queenpin must be the owner.
"So that's what it was. In that case, neither Her Holiness nor I could possibly be the owner."
No sooner do my words end than Captain Bella draws a firm line, straightening her posture seamlessly.
"Her Holiness has devoted her entire life to the Goddess. And as captain of the holy knights, I too have upheld my faith without blemish."
Queenpin hurriedly composes herself at Bella's confident declaration, nodding cautiously.
It feels a bit forced somehow.
But that's not enough to conclusively pin her as the owner of this orb.
"Y-Yes, quite right. I think so too..."
"At this point, who else but Valoa could possibly qualify?"
Captain Bella drives the nail in without a hint of hesitation.
Overpowered by her sharp intensity, Valoa frantically shakes her head, panic mixing with her confusion.
"N-No...! It's really not me..."
"So everyone here is saying it's not theirs?"
With everyone denying it so firmly, there's no point dragging this out—it's just a waste of time.
My head's starting to ache anyway, so let's wrap this up.
"Fine then. We'll just pretend this orb dropped from the sky and shove it into the holy sword."
I force my overloaded, fogged mind to cool down and stride toward Captain Bella without hesitation.
"W-Wait... Put it into the holy sword? That's far too hasty...!"
ZZZAP! ZZZT!!
Queenpin's desperate voice tries to stop me, but too late.
The holy power orb has already touched the holy sword indifferently.
Sparks fly in a strange dance, flooding the dim prayer room with radiant light in an instant.
.
.
.
.
Sword of Salvation
Grade: Mythic
Attribute: Light
Wielder: Lumina Evangeline
"......"
"......"
After a brief moment, the prayer room sinks into another suffocating silence.
As the light fades and my vision clears, a translucent status window pops up right in front of me, as if on cue.
"Oh, it's complete."
To think the holy sword, which Joachim's power couldn't even touch, finished in one go.
Whoever it belongs to, they're impressive.
The appearance hasn't changed much.
But the aura emanating from the blade is incomparably purer and clearer than before.
"Oh, right—how'd the appraisal go?"
After a moment of admiration, I glance at Queenpin and Captain Bella in turn.
Captain Bella, who had been spacing out, snaps to attention, her eyes flashing as she stammers in bewilderment.
"Ah, uh... The appraisal? Well..."
"It's definitely a holy sword... No room for doubt..."
As Bella hesitates, Queenpin, standing dazed beside her, answers in a trembling voice.
"It contained a light so overwhelming it makes one question Miss Vivian's true nature..."
Tears well up in Queenpin's eyes for some inexplicable reason.
It wasn't this intense back in the sanctum...
Has she only now realized the true magnificence of the holy sword I made?
"Overwhelming might be a stretch, but glad the appraisal checked out."
"But there's one thing... Something beyond our expertise."
She says it gravely, taking a small breath.
She wets her dry lips and continues cautiously.
"Captain Bella swung it several times, but for some reason, not even a fraction of its power manifested."
"That's obvious. It's a holy sword."
"No, I mean... It felt like an utterly ordinary lump of metal. Eerily powerless."
My head tilts in growing confusion as her serious tone persists.
She just said no doubt it's a holy sword—now what's this?
"It holds such overwhelming light, yet its power can't be used at all..."
"That's because it's not the owner's hand wielding it. I told you—this sword belongs to Lumina."
Her expression twists oddly at my calm reply.
"...So if it's not the owner, the holy sword's abilities can't be used at all?"
"Why are you acting like this is news to you...?"
I'm mid-sentence, utterly baffled, when—
"Its power has never fully vanished in history—not even once. It merely halves."
Queenpin's low, heavy words hit my ears like a thunderbolt.
"Even in unworthy hands, a holy sword has always revealed its essence at minimum."
Hmm, so holy swords in this world aren't exclusive to their owners.
Just a halved-power penalty, no other restrictions.
Handy info I stumbled on by accident.
"I had no idea holy swords had such constraints. The more I learn, the more fascinating."
"You didn't know either, Lumina?"
"No. Holy sword intel is state secret. No grunt like me would know."
Lumina murmurs softly, clutching the holy sword tighter to her chest.
"To think such a tremendous relic is mine... Still can't believe it."
"It was half-baked just a bit ago. Glad it's fixed."
Well, holy sword aside.
Right now, the real priority is that holy power orb from earlier.
No owner showed up despite everything, so I had no choice but to use it on the sword.
But Queenpin's reaction afterward was suspicious as hell.
Tears glistening out of nowhere.
Trailing off her words oddly.
Red flags everywhere.
"By the way, Lumina—how well do you know Her Holiness?"
"Pardon? Well, to some extent."
"How much?"
She looks puzzled at my earnest question but soon takes a breath, pondering deeply.
"Hard to say. A bit more than the average commoner, I suppose..."
"Mind if I ask something then?"
"What is it?"
She grows even more confused at my follow-up.
But I don't flinch, turning casually to her as we walk side by side.
"Is Her Holiness's faith genuine?"
The unexpected question makes her shoulders jolt.
"Wh-What do you mean by that all of a sudden...?!"
"That orb earlier. Something's off about it, no matter how I think."
"Off? You suspect it's Her Holiness's holy power?!"
I nod calmly at her sharp retort.
"Not certain, but that's my hunch for now."
"Impossible... What sin could Her Holiness have committed against the Goddess...?"
"That's why I'm asking. Just in case."
If Queenpin really is the owner.
What did she do wrong to the Goddess?
Too late for collective punishment now, and suspecting others lacks evidence.
"I can't imagine it. Her Holiness would know if her holy power vanished."
"Yeah. I think so too."
"...Pardon?"
Lumina's jaw drops at my words, as if replaying them in her head to confirm.
"I must've overthought it for once. Forget what I just said."
No owner emerged anyway.
The orb's already neatly absorbed into the sword.
No point brooding now—it changes nothing.
Just chalk it up to sky-fallen holy power, like I thought at the end.
"...Where are we headed now?"
"Huh? Village tour."
"Ah, the village tour..."
She nods slowly in agreement at first.
But then—
"Wait?! A village tour now?!"
"Yeah. Any issue?"
"The sun's completely set!"
"Just avoid looking straight at the cathedral's front, right?"
Panicked, Lumina blocks my path, breathing heavily.
"Weren't we going to the lodgings Her Holiness prepared?!"
"Can't enter the sanctum, so village tour it is."
"Strolling the village this late won't yield anything..."
"Nah. Nighttime means more to gain."
She looks even more crestfallen at my cheerful reply.
A demon like me touring the village at night must unnerve her.
"It's fine, Lumina. Might as well test the holy sword's power while we're at it."
Deep in the papal palace's inner chambers, in a pitch-black office untouched by candlelight.
Queenpin returns with Captain Bella Rosewell of the holy knights and finally slumps in exhaustion.
"You've worked hard, Your Holiness."
"Hardship? If anything, my own powerlessness brings tears to my eyes."
She stands blankly in the office center, drawing a deep breath.
Swallowing hard, she breaks the heavy silence in a low murmur.
"To think the Goddess's child would set foot on this land... I never even imagined it."
"Same here. But why a demon, not even human...?"
"What does it matter now? If it's the Goddess's will, we humbly accept."
Queenpin speaks calmly, lightly brushing a small holy water vial on the desk.
"Miss Vivian isn't a saintess. She's something far higher."
"Far higher than a saintess...?"
"Yes. Her holy power dwarfs any saintess in history."
Bella's eyes widen slowly at Queenpin's faintly trembling voice.
"And that holy power orb Miss Vivian showed us earlier..."
"Ah, whose could it have been? No human body could produce such overwhelming power."
Queenpin snorts softly at Bella's cautious question.
Her head droops suddenly, as if drained, and she speaks plainly.
"You're right. It absolutely wasn't human holy power."
"...Pardon?"
Bella's brow furrows deeply at the shocking words.
"I was closest to Miss Vivian, so I saw it clearly."
"S-Saw what...?"
"A sight both wondrous and chilling."
Queenpin grips the desk edge tightly as she murmurs.
After a long pause, she continues in a voice laced with awe.
"When that orb burst from Miss Vivian's body, I couldn't contain my shock."
"...?!?"
"And then, without hesitation, she fed her own holy power into the sword..."
Queenpin whispers with a faint smile.
But she doesn't know.
That awe-inspiring moment she witnessed was just a ridiculous coincidence piled on coincidence.
The holy power orb they saw was merely...
A lump of Vivian's holy power that resonated with the cathedral's sacred aura, overflowing past the threshold.
"Perhaps it was a silent warning from Miss Vivian to the irreverent Valoa—or to us."