Chapter 543: The Cardinal's Dilemma
Chapter 543: The Cardinal's Dilemma
To be honest, I'd never really paid close attention to my girls' stats or skills until now.
Doing something like that felt too much like I was managing game characters, and I hated it.
They're living people. The people I love.
Besides, they were more than helpful enough in the dungeon even without me micromanaging their stats and skills, so I never thought it was necessary.
That's why I'd never checked their skill windows all that often or examined them in detail, but…
Looking at Leia's skill window again, something seemed off.
The levels of her High Priest-exclusive skills were absurdly high for her current level. To be precise, it was only her healing-related skills.
Her buff-type skills were overwhelmingly lower in level compared to her healing skills.
No, wait. Of course, Leia did regularly visit the slums to use her healing skills.
But even so, her healing skill levels were abnormally high for someone at her level.
The levels of her buff skills were probably what was normal for her level, right?
Come to think of it, Leia's healing magic had been strangely efficient ever since I first met her.
It wasn't that noticeable since our party also has a Hero and an Archmage, but to put it another way, she was skilled enough to hold her own as a healer even in a party with a Hero and an Archmage. And she was, for all intents and purposes, just an ordinary priestess.
How in the world was that…
"Guwon?"
As I remained silent, staring blankly into space, Leia must have sensed something was wrong. She tilted her head and stared intently at my face.
"Uh, yeah? No, it's nothing. Well, it's not nothing. The thing is... Goddess Advent... I don't think it's possible right now."
"W-What?! Wait a minute! What do you mean?!"
As I muttered this, Matilda rushed toward me with a panicked expression.
From her perspective, not knowing the situation, it was only natural she'd be flustered.
She must have her pride as a Cardinal, and now she was in a situation where she couldn't do something that even Leia could.
"Is my love for you... insufficient?!"
…So that's what she thought. That there was some problem with her Apostle Appointment, not the skill itself.
Is that why she was so flustered that she even snapped out of her pink-hued mode? Why is she so damn cute?
"No, that's not it. Looking at it now, it seems that to learn Goddess Advent, you need a High Priest's... um..."
How should I explain this?
The girls and I have a fundamentally different understanding of skills.
I see and confirm them through a skill window, and when I use them, I basically do it like I would in a game.
But for them, it's not like they can see what skills they've learned or how proficient they are.
They use skills through concepts like circulating mana in a certain way.
Because of that, they don't really have a concept of passive skills.
Although, seeing them appear in the skill window, it seems they do learn them unconsciously.
Anyway, because of all this, I wasn't sure how to explain the concept of a passive skill level being too low.
"You were originally a Holy Knight, right, Matilda? It seems your High Priest-related skill levels are too low."
In the end, I had no choice but to try and convince her with that vague explanation.
"What? That can't be right! Goddess Advent is originally a skill used by a Saintess, isn't it? And Holy Knights can become Saintesses! For your information, I was once a candidate to become a Saintess!"
But while Matilda was relieved that it wasn't an issue of her love being insufficient, she still wore an expression of disbelief.
Right. Now that I think about it, she did mention that.
"Even if you say that... hold on a second."
Flustered, I carefully examined Matilda's skill window once more.
She definitely had 'Faith of a High Priest.' But as I thought, the level was far too low.
No, but that's not the important part right now.
Matilda's point was that her Holy Knight skills should be sufficient, even if her High Priest skills weren't.
I checked the Holy Knight tab at the top of the skill window, not the High Priest one.
Among the Holy Knight skills that finally appeared, there was a skill called 'Faith of a Holy Knight,' which was also a higher-tier version of 'Faith of a Priest.'
And just as Matilda said, the 'Goddess Advent' skill did exist in the Holy Knight skill tree.
The prerequisite to learn it was maxing out 'Faith of a Holy Knight.'
However, even if I invested all the skill points she'd gained from the Apostle Appointment bonus, her 'Faith of a Holy Knight' level still wouldn't be high enough to reach the max level.
"It's true you can meet the conditions with your Holy Knight skills. But it's still not enough."
"N-No way! But then, what about Leia?!"
Matilda stared at Leia, her expression full of disbelief.
But Leia herself looked just as bewildered, unable to understand what I was saying.
Honestly, I don't get it either.
A former Saintess candidate. The rank of Cardinal. And on top of that, a higher level.
Frankly, Matilda's skill levels should be much higher than Leia's.
As proof, Matilda's overall Holy Knight skill levels were overwhelmingly higher than Leia's buff-type skills.
And yet, they still fell short of Leia's abnormally high healing-type skills.
"Honestly, I have no idea what's going on. But one thing is certain: you can't use Goddess Advent yet, Matilda."
"...Are my Holy Knight skill levels that insufficient?"
Matilda, a devout follower of the Goddess who had risen to the rank of Cardinal, seemed shocked by the news that she couldn't bring forth the Goddess herself and remained silent for a while.
But that silence didn't last long.
She looked at me with determination in her eyes and spoke.
"No. To be honest, you're a long way off if you want to learn it as a High Priest, but your Holy Knight skills are quite high. You'll probably be able to do it with just a little more growth. But since you're a High Priest now, you can't raise your Holy Knight skills any further..."
"I... I will change my job again."
Before I could even finish, Matilda looked at me with eyes full of resolve and declared.
"H-Huh?"
"But it makes sense, doesn't it? The only reason I became a High Priest in the first place was because my curse prevented me from carrying out my duties as a Holy Knight. But now that we've found a way to completely cure this curse, there's no reason for me to remain a High Priest. Considering our party's composition, wouldn't it be better for me to be a Holy Knight than to have two High Priests? My role in the party has basically been that of a Holy Knight all along, anyway."
She was right. Everything Matilda said made perfect sense.
It was a proposal that benefited both her and me, with no downsides.
But to make such a level-headed decision in such a short time.
I thought she'd be shocked by the fact that she was falling behind Leia, who had been just an ordinary priestess.
Lately, I haven't been treating her as carelessly as I used to, so I thought I'd stopped underestimating her.
But it seems I was still looking down on her a little, maybe because of how she switches to her pink-hued mode at the drop of a hat.
Just like when she confessed to me first, she's the type who really steps up when it counts. She's so reliable.
I felt like I was starting to understand what the Pope meant when he said Matilda was highly respected and had many followers.
"Yeah. If you become a Holy Knight again and focus on raising your skill levels, I'm sure you'll be able to use Goddess Advent in no time."
"Yes. You can look forward to it. I'll let you meet the Goddess soon."
"Yeah. Okay. I believe in you."
"Yeees... Guwoooon..."
No. Hey. Why does it always turn into this?
Where did my reliable Cardinal Matilda from a moment ago go?! Why is this girl shooting hearts from her eyes at a time like this?!
I mean, she's beautiful, of course, but still!
"But this is a curious tale. As I recall, Lady Leia performed Goddess Advent right after she became a High Priest. Does this mean that despite that, she had already met all the conditions for the High Priest skill?"
But Diana, who had been listening quietly, spoke up from the side with her arms crossed and a thoughtful expression.
That's Diana for you. She wasn't even with us when Leia used Goddess Advent, but she still remembered it.
"It certainly doesn't make sense. Leia, do you have any idea what it could be?"
"W-Well? Nothing in particular... Ah, maybe..."
At Sara's question, Leia trailed off with a troubled expression, then muttered something under her breath.
"Hm? Leia?"
"Ah, no! It's nothing!"
"Hmm. This could mean that Lady Leia is no ordinary priestess. I had indeed been thinking that the efficiency of her healing magic was quite high."
"N-Not an ordinary priestess... That's..."
Finding herself the center of everyone's attention, Leia muttered awkwardly.
Her reaction just now, and that expression on her face... Does Leia have some idea what's going on?
No. But if she did, there's no reason for her to hide it, is there?
This is a party with a Saint, a Hero, and an Archmage.
What would there be to hide, even if we had a slightly unusual priestess?
Besides, it's just that her skill levels are unusually high. It's not like this 'unusual' quality is something bad.
I felt a brief sense of unease at Leia's expression, but I decided to let it go, thinking that my angel would never hide anything from me.
"Hmph. In any case, it seems we now have a new objective."
"Huh? What are you talking about? We've always had a goal."
"The goal you speak of is simply to venture deep into the dungeon, as the Goddess instructed. What I am referring to is not such a vague objective, but a concrete one: to raise Lady Matilda's skill level to the point where she can perform Goddess Advent. Is that not a much clearer goal for our dungeon expeditions?"
Well, she has a point. Until now, we've just been heading deeper and deeper without any distinct objective.
Thinking about it like Diana said, I started to feel more motivated about going to the dungeon.
"Alright! I'm well-rested, so let's hit the dungeon again! Starting the day after tomorrow!"
"Not tomorrow!?"
Hearing my determined cry, Diana cut in with a cute retort.
Well, of course. Matilda has to change her job back to Holy Knight first.
And even besides that, there's still one more thing I have to do before we go to the dungeon.
I'd finished most of the things I needed to do after being rescued from the shipwreck, but one task remained.
Right, Silvia?
I was originally planning to do it today, but Silvia had to go to the palace.
As I thought this to myself and smiled triumphantly, Silvia must have instinctively sensed something, because she began to tremble in the corner.
But that was a matter for tomorrow. For today, I had other business to attend to.
After finishing our meal, I returned to my room first and waited for Diana.
My heart was already pounding, and it wouldn't stop.
And why wouldn't it? Just think about what happened this afternoon.
Diana, who had run off saying she had something to do.
Something she had to do at this time, something that would make her blush... there could only be one thing, right?
That's right. That thing. The thing I asked her for.
"H-Have you been waiting..."
And then, finally, the door opened, and Diana appeared.
That embarrassed expression. I knew I wasn't wrong.
Otherwise, there's no way Diana would be this shy just from sleeping with me at this point.
What's more, despite having washed up, she was unusually wearing her mage's robe.
And through a gap in her robe, I caught a glimpse of a large pouch hanging from her waist.
For just a pouch, the material looked expensive. It had to be a magic pouch.
That's my Archmage for you.
It seemed the items I had requested were splendidly complete.