Infinite Value
The Holy Grail had not appeared before the public for more than two thousand years, and that alone had bred a thousand rumors and wild theories, scattering them across the world.
It probably doesn’t really grant eternal life...
And yet James’s skin, reflected in the glass tabletop, was clear and luminous, as if he had only just turned twenty again.
Suzie even asked me the other day what kind of skincare I was using...
He had written it off as a side effect of putting a stop to his magic show and enjoying an easy vacation, but if he thought carefully about the timing, the change had begun after he found Master Arthur’s treasure in England. More precisely, it had started after he poured water and wine into the Grail and drank them.
“...Hah.”
Even if it was not some special power, it was obvious that the Grail and the Holy Paten were extraordinary relics, and he could not deny that they were in his possession.
But they aren’t mine...
It was not the fact that he had used them as a drinking cup, or even that he had used them to serve food.
Even if I’m not a Christian, either.
They were relics whose value he could not possibly dare to measure.
...They’re not something to be handed over for money.
Arthur’s gold coins were one thing; no matter how many he sold, he could never feel a shred of guilt. But the Holy Grail and the Holy Paten were different.
Let’s hand them over. Cleanly...
Once he reached a conclusion between Madeline from the British Museum and Father Stefano from the Vatican, he intended to meet Stefano privately.
* * *
“Me?”
Jake, Madeline, and Father Stefano had called James in and were pressing him to decide where the land should be sold.
“......”
“......”
“......”
“...So you still haven’t come to a conclusion?”
After a long negotiation, they had still failed to settle the matter and had put the decision off on James.
“That’s right. No matter how you look at it, driving up the price between ourselves is unreasonable.”
“Brother, I’d spend more without hesitation, but it seems the British Museum is not of the same mind.”
“...Father, are you really going to start this all over again after it’s already over?”
“Hmph. Of course I am.”
It looked as though the tension between the two of them might flare up again, so Jake quickly stepped in.
“James, the amount both sides agreed on, as I mentioned before, is thirty million dollars.”
Since the figure had not climbed any higher after the last offer, it was clear that Madeline had exerted a heavy influence.
“It was agreed that if James chose between the two of them, the land would go to that side. Please make the decision. The fee has been set at a reasonable level, and no one will suffer a loss no matter who receives it.”
“I...”
James could not bring himself to make the Vatican spend money for nothing.
“...I’ll side with lovely Madeline.”
“Good choice!”
“Brother James!”
Father Stefano shouted, losing his composure, but James only shook his head.
“You should yield, Father. Land belongs to someone.”
“And who knows what might be buried there...”
Father Stefano worried that the Grail might still be hidden there, but his concern was unnecessary.
There’s nothing there, Father.
“I came today to sell the land. So that’s my part finished, yes?”
“We’ll prepare the lawyers and the paperwork at the British Museum.”
“Please contact me. It would be better to move quickly before I change my mind.”
“Hoho. I’ll contact you right away, James.”
Madeline barely completed the motions of a handshake and hurried off at James’s words, leaving behind a crestfallen Father Stefano and an awkward-looking Jake.
“Jake. I had a conversation earlier with Father Stefano that I wasn’t able to finish. Would you mind stepping out for a moment? I brought the rest of the gold coins too, so I’ll give them to you on the way out.”
“Ah, then I’ll wait outside.”
Jake, who had already found Father Stefano difficult to face, quickly took the opportunity to leave.
“......”
Stefano had his eyes closed, as though deeply disappointed in James.
“Father. Are you upset because I didn’t hand over the land?”
“...I only hope it isn’t there.”
“Really? Wouldn’t it be fine as long as it was found somewhere?”
“...If the British Museum finds it, they will never surrender it. They’ll deny it was found there from the beginning. If that happens, then we will never...”
In truth, the British Museum possessed many cultural relics from other countries, and quite a few of them had been taken in what amounted to outright plunder. If the Grail were found there, they would certainly hide it away to avoid any ownership dispute with the United States.
“Father Stefano. The device you put in your bag earlier... turn it on again.”
“!”
Stefano’s waist, which had been leaning back against the sofa, jerked forward.
“You should turn it on quickly. I have a date soon.”
“J-just a moment...”
Father Stefano fumbled in his bag and began setting up the anti-eavesdropping device.
“There. It’s done. It’s done.”
James leaned across the table in a whisper as Stefano, anxious and leaning forward with his face stretched toward him, drew close as well.
“Please let me meet the Pope.”
“!!”
James was deeply satisfied with the shocked expression on Father Stefano’s face.
“I’m going to return the Grail, which the Vatican values above all else. Shouldn’t I deliver it to the Pope himself?”
“Br-Brother James!”
“If you say it that loudly, people outside may hear you even with the anti-eavesdropping device.”
“Ah... s-sorry...”
It was not Stefano who should have been apologizing.
“...Really. Really?”
“About what?”
“...Whether you really have it.”
“I’m almost certain. A crude cup cast in gold was lying there beside Arthur’s gold coins.”
“Hngh!”
Father Stefano clapped a hand over his mouth to keep from crying out in triumph.
“......”
James gave him time to be happy.
You may rejoice as much as you like, Father.
The priest, who had been thrilled by the fact that he had found the Grail, the object he had taken as his life’s goal, kept smoothing a hand over his chest and trying to calm himself. And then he understood why James had not handed the land over to them.
“So Brother James...”
“Yes. There is nothing in Texas. As I have already told you more than once.”
“Ah...”
“But I had no reason not to sell it when I was being offered a high price. Madeline wanted my land so badly that I had no choice but to show her some goodwill.”
Stefano could picture Madeline’s face perfectly, the same woman who had so confidently insisted on buying the Texas land.
“Hahaha. That leaves only one thing for Sister Madeline to be terribly disappointed about.”
“And one thing left for the Vatican and Christians all over the world to rejoice over.”
“Hahahaha!”
After laughing heartily, Father Stefano suddenly stiffened, as if a thought had struck him, and opened his mouth again.
“...Brother James.”
“Go ahead, Father.”
“...How much do you intend to ask for the Grail? Before I tell the Pope, you should at least tell me separately...”
“......”
James had never thought of him as a party to the transaction in the first place, but now he was curious.
“How much is the Vatican thinking?”
“......Hah.”
As expected, the biggest obstacle is...
The auction price set on the gold coins, which served as a clue to the Grail, had already reached five million dollars. Then, for the land where the Grail might be hidden, they had offered thirty million dollars.
“The Vatican...”
“I hope it’s not a blasphemous amount.”
“......”
At James’s words, Stefano calculated the largest sum the Vatican could possibly mobilize.
One billion dollars... only? No. Then two billion dollars?
“......”
But even more than twenty billion dollars could not be confidently called a blasphemous amount.
“...How could I, a priest of the Lord, dare put a price on the Holy Grail?”
Stefano could not find a sum that was not blasphemous. Even if he emptied all the assets owned by the Vatican across the world, it would be impossible.
“I, who am not even a priest, feel the same way, Father Stefano.”
“?”
“I understand very well that the Grail is not an object to be priced and traded. I can’t accept even a single dollar for it.”
“!!”
“Thanks to the Vatican and Father Stefano, I learned that what I have is the Holy Grail. I think of myself as nothing more than a courier delivering it safely to where it belongs.”
“Oh... Brother...”
The corners of Stefano’s eyes grew damp with emotion.
“However, because it is so important, I can’t let anyone else handle the delivery of the Grail. I’ll deliver it safely to the Vatican myself.”
Father Stefano had to make sure the Grail was safe first.
“Then... where is the Grail right now...?”
“In a place no one knows about.”
“Wherever that place is, it’s dangerous, Brother.”
“No. It can never be found. I can guarantee that.”
It was resting safely inside James’s inventory.
“......”
“And for the record...”
There was more than one piece of good news.
“Not only the Grail, but the Holy Paten was there as well.”
“!!”
The Grail was important, but the Holy Paten was no less a sacred relic.
The Lord’s precious blood and body...
“Oh, Lord.”
Overcome with feeling, Father Stefano sank to his knees on the spot and began to pray.
* * *
After practically tossing the remaining two gold coins to Jake at Sotheby’s, James returned to the hotel and was packing his bags.
“Father Stefano’s pretty impatient...”
He had been insisting that James leave for Rome and the Vatican with him immediately. Thanks to that, James had to postpone his date with Suzie and head for the Vatican instead.
- Oppa! Where are you going now?
“Rome. The Vatican.”
- ...You’re suddenly going on a trip like this?
“It’s not a trip. I have to meet the Pope.”
- The P-Pope?
“A meeting came up all of a sudden.”
It would have been more accurate to say he had arranged the meeting under pressure rather than on his own, but since he was bailing on a date, blaming someone else was mandatory.
- Was he even someone who could arrange a meeting with you? Tell me the truth. Where are you going right now?
“It’s true. I’ll take a selfie and send it to you later.”
He even explained in detail why he had to postpone their plans, but Suzie still sounded as if she couldn’t quite believe him.
- If you send me a fake photo, you’re dead!
“You really think I’d deceive you?”
- How long will you be gone?
“Not long. As soon as the audience with the Pope is over, I’ll come right back.”
In truth, even James could not predict how long it would take.
If the Vatican hangs on to me, it’ll take longer.
- ...You’re really meeting the Pope?
“My flight’s about to leave. I’m going with the father who oversees the Vatican Museums.”
- Holy shit.
After ending the call with Suzie and packing his things in a hurry, James was about to leave the hotel when he suddenly turned back and went inside again.
If I don’t look at it now, when will I ever?
James’s hand passed through the black space and drew out the golden cup.
“Hah.”
When he had not known it was the Grail, he had used it lightly; now that he did, he could feel its heavy weight. It was a sacred relic that Christians all over the world would one day revere.
This is Jesus’s Holy Grail.
The plain cup, worn by the marks of age, suddenly seemed different to him.
“......”
After holding the Grail in his sight for a moment, James took out the other one as well.
The Holy Paten.
Clink.
After setting the Grail and the Holy Paten on the table, James began to draw geometric patterns with his finger. He was casting magic.
Mana of the beginning...
After finishing all the work, James stored both relics back into his inventory and left the hotel room.
“Ah, right!”
The moment he stepped out, James hurried back in and pulled the Grail out of his inventory again.
“It’s something I won’t be able to use anymore, so just a little...”
It was preparation for the future.
“Sorry. I won’t use much. Please forgive me.”
* * *
“......”
Father Stefano, who boarded the plane with him, wore a face full of dissatisfaction.
“Are you disappointed you didn’t get to see the Grail?”
Stefano had arranged a private plane using the name of the Vatican Pontifical Curia and had not doubted that James would bring the Grail and the Holy Paten. But no matter where he looked through James’s luggage, there was no Grail or chalice. Even after James’s luggage had gone through the X-ray, there had been no trace of any metal object.
“...I reported to Cardinal Andrea, and I’m sure the Pope has already been informed as well.”
“Well done.”
“But... if you have fooled me...”
“Haha. Do you think you were fooled?”
“...Where exactly did you keep it?”
“I’ll tell you when we reach the Holy See.”
“Is there someone else entrusted with it in the Vatican? Is that person on the way to the Vatican now?”
“No. No one at all. I left the only person I know in Korea.”
“......”
That only made the suspicion worse.
“I already told you. No one can find it.”
“Ha... I don’t know where to believe you and where not to.”
“Believe me. Heaven will be granted only to those who believe.”
“Ha! Are you preaching at a priest now?”
“Puhuhu.”
James pulled down his eye mask, leaving Father Stefano seething with frustration.
“Wake me when we arrive.”
“......”
After glaring at James for a while, Father Stefano made the sign of the cross and prayed.
“Lord. Grant me deep patience...”
At that prayer, James lifted the edge of his eye mask and said,
“Pray for faith in people, not patience.”
“Nggh!”
James immediately lowered the mask again, and the corners of his mouth seemed ready to rise right off his face.
“Say it quickly! Where on earth is the Grail!”
“Why don’t you just go on television and advertise that you’re looking for it?”
“Ugh.”
The plane was empty except for the two of them, but there were flight attendants beyond the curtain.
“Let’s stay quiet. All right?”
Father Stefano’s glare, filled with suspicion and anger, met the picture of James lying back comfortably with his eye mask on.
“...Lord. Rebuke my foolish heart.”
“Now let me sleep.”
“......”
Even with his veins bulging at the temple, Father Stefano was still displaying superhuman restraint.