The Cardinal’s Ring
Even as the Vatican Swiss Guard and Camerlengo Yosef hurried here and there, James was taking his time meeting Father Stefano.
“I came to say goodbye before I leave for America, Brother James.”
“We’ll probably see each other again later anyway, won’t we?”
The Sotheby’s international auction was still ahead of them, so there was a good chance he’d run into Stefano again before or after it.
“Even so, I should thank you properly.”
“Ah. I already got my thanks from His Holiness, though...”
“In Korea, I was told this is how one should greet someone. Thank you very much, Brother James.”
Stefano bowed the way James had when greeting the Pope.
“Oh. Getting a thank-you from a priest isn’t bad at all, haha.”
“……”
But when Father Stefano kept his back bent, James tilted his head and asked, “Are you planning to stay like that until I lift you up myself?”
“...I was told I should remain bowed until my gratitude has been fully conveyed.”
“It’s been fully conveyed.”
“I have not yet conveyed all of it.”
“……”
He came back from the internet having learned the strangest manners.
And gratitude was not the only reason for Stefano’s visit.
After spending quite a while bent at the waist and pouring out his thanks, Father Stefano finally straightened up with a refreshed look and held out the item he’d brought.
“The Camerlengo asked me to bring this to you, Brother James.”
“What is it?”
“I didn’t check what was inside. He said you would understand once you saw it.”
“A special gift for honored guests? Heh heh heh.”
James opened the lid and peered inside.
“Uh...”
It definitely wasn’t a gift for honored guests.
“Why would you give me this outfit... Wait, this is what I think it is, right?”
Seeing the puzzled look on James’s face, Father Stefano craned his neck and looked into the box as well.
“...Gasp.”
Inside were the Vatican’s distinctive crimson garments and a hat. Resting on top of them was a heavy gold ring.
Father Stefano, who had checked the contents together with James, hurriedly clutched the box shut.
“Ah, I think this was sent to the wrong person. These vestments and this ring are only for cardinals...”
The outfit was the crimson soutane and red biretta reserved for a cardinal appointed by the Pope, along with the ring that symbolized that office.
“Right? The Camerlengo did say he was giving me a ring, but this is a little...”
There’s no way the Camerlengo would make a mistake like this...
“...Did His Holiness say anything else?”
James casually told him about the conversation he had held with the Pope.
“His Holiness said he’d recognize me as an honorary citizen of the Vatican and give me some kind of director’s post. I thought it was no big deal.”
!!
Father Stefano snatched his hand away from the box and took a step back. A title like director was equivalent to a ministerial post in the Vatican Curia, and it was the kind of office that could only be granted once someone had become a cardinal.
A cardinal can only be appointed if the man is already a priest...
More often than not, it was bishops—priests of priests—who were elevated to the cardinalate. But James was neither priest nor bishop. It was a direct violation of canon law.
“B-Brother James. I think there must be some sort of error...”
“Ah. It was a secret appointment made only in the presence of His Holiness and the Camerlengo, so it won’t be publicly announced. I’ll just accept the ring, then. Please return the rest to the Camerlengo.”
If he had actually found and brought back the true Holy Grail, perhaps they could have paid James a modest reward for the tremendous service he’d rendered in recovering it.
He hasn’t even recovered the Grail from America yet...
But as far as Father Stefano knew, the Holy Grail was still in Las Vegas. They were handing out an outrageous reward before the great task had even been completed.
“Wow. The ring is pretty. It’s heavy, too.”
“……”
He decided there was no helping the ring itself.
James has already been made a minister of the Vatican by the Pope’s authority.
“...I’ll return the soutane and biretta to the Camerlengo.”
“Have a safe trip. And while you’re there, enjoy the shows in Las Vegas too. There are plenty of interesting ones.”
“……”
Father Stefano was not going there to sightsee.
“In case you don’t know what I mean, should I recommend a few? I’m a little worried, though, because some of the shows have women stripping all the way naked...”
“N-no, that’s enough. I’ll come back right after the Grail is recovered.”
“You weren’t planning to come back if you failed, were you?”
“That’s not going to happen!”
I wonder if it’s the opposite.
Father Stefano’s chance of recovering the Holy Grail in Las Vegas was zero percent.
“Hah. Fine, then. Make sure you do.”
“...Then I’ll be on my way.”
James waved him off, then took a selfie with two fingers raised in a V-sign inside the antique guest room that felt almost like a palace.
Click.
Tap tap tap.
Then he started sending a text.
I’m staying in the Vatican guest quarters. I did meet the Pope yesterday, but it looks like it’ll take a little longer before I can head back to Korea. The schedule’s running long, so I’m just keeping you posted.
Buzz.
Back in Korea, Suji stared blankly at the text and the photo that had been sent along with it.
“……”
“What are you spacing out over?”
Hojeong was still with Suji, just as she always was in Korea.
“Uh... James sent a photo from the Vatican.”
“He really went to the Vatican? He wasn’t lying?”
Hojeong had heard from Colt, not just Suji, that James had gone to the Vatican, but it was still hard to believe.
“He even took a picture with the Pope?”
“Look for yourself. ...Huh!”
Hojeong was horrified by James’s prank, with his fingers thrown up behind the Pope’s head so that it looked as if little devil horns were sprouting from him.
“Has James lost his mind? Taking a photo with the Pope and...”
“...Why on earth did James even go to the Vatican?”
Hojeong’s expression hardened as she looked at Suji.
“Suji. What if James gets ordained as a priest in the Vatican and comes back to Korea?”
“What?!”
“Heh-heh. I’m kidding. Just kidding.”
Buzz.
James could barely contain his laughter after receiving Suji’s reply.
James. You’re not about to become a priest, are you?
“Pfft. This girl really knows how to make me laugh. Me, a priest? As if I’d ever be that crazy...”
But then he remembered the ring on his finger symbolized a cardinal, and a mischievous smile spread across his face.
“Heh. Ahem.”
Click.
He took a picture of the ring on his finger and sent another text.
...Too late, Suji. His Holiness already ordained me as a priest. He even gave me Vatican citizenship.
Buzz.
“Yikes!!”
“What now?”
“Look at this. ...He says he’s already been ordained as a priest. He says the Pope granted him Vatican citizenship and ordained him...”
“Pffft!”
Hojeong, who had been trying to hold back laughter, finally lost it and burst out laughing.
“Bwahahaha!”
“What’s so funny about that?”
“Can’t you tell at a glance? He probably just found some gold-plated ring somewhere and is messing with you. Do you think becoming a priest is that easy? You have to study at seminary for at least ten years just to become one. And even then, I heard a huge number of people wash out along the way.”
“Hey! He’s always fooling around!”
“Hahaha. Anyway, James has done magic shows for so long that his performance game is strong. And they don’t give out rings like that just because someone becomes a priest!”
“They don’t?”
“Only cardinals get rings like that.”
“Tch! I totally fell for it!”
But apart from the part about becoming a priest, James’s message was mostly true.
Father Stefano had been assigned to the Holy Grail recovery operation and was staying close to Cardinal Augustino, the man in overall command of the deployment.
“...Shall we go, Your Eminence?”
Father Stefano’s face was unusually rigid.
“Yes. Let’s go.”
“...Are you enjoying yourself?”
“Of course. I’m looking forward to it very much. Hahaha.”
Father Stefano had to work with Cardinal Augustino on this deployment, and he was supposed to obey his orders faithfully. But Stefano had also received a separate command from the Camerlengo.
“……”
“He is not Cardinal Augustino. Many experts besides me were certain he was an entirely different man.”
!
So Brother James’s suspicions had all been true.
“Also, thanks to handing over the device you were using, Father Stefano, we found solid evidence. We intend to keep using it from now on.”
Stefano had already felt doubts growing in a corner of his heart, so he could accept a reality he didn’t want to believe.
“Then... what am I supposed to do?”
“Take this.”
“……”
What Stefano received was a bundle of documents wrapped in exactly the same way as the materials in Cardinal Augustino’s leather bag.
“You have to switch them before the plane lands. Hand the swapped documents over to the Vatican Swiss Guard traveling with you. Of course, all personal items, including the anti-tapping device, must remain in the bag.”
What he himself had to do next was important, but there was something even more pressing on his mind.
“Then what happened to the real Cardinal Augustino?”
“...We don’t know yet. As soon as the plane takes off, we’ll work with the Italian government to begin the search. We have to move without alerting them, which is why this has taken so long.”
“Ah...”
Brother James said the real cardinal had probably been dead for a long time...
Even on his own, Stefano couldn’t imagine Cardinal Augustino still being alive.
“Sob... Cardinal...”
“There’s no time to grieve, Father Stefano. This may be the only chance we have to catch them all at once.”
“Sniffle... Camerlengo...”
“We must love them and forgive them too, Stefano.”
With Stefano’s eyes full of sorrow and resentment, Yosef said a few more words.
“……”
“Of course, we must also give them a chance for severe reform.”
The Camerlengo’s demand that they forgive their enemies was not a demand for unconditional forgiveness.
“...I will do my best to create a fitting chance for reform for those sinners, then.”
“Exactly. That is true love.”
The chance for reform that could lead them back into the light was nothing more than bringing them before the judgment of the law.
“……”
Remembering his conversation with the Camerlengo, Stefano waited inside the plane until the right moment came.
I will certainly complete this mission.
After the flight had been underway for quite some time, the opportunity finally came.
Snrrrk. Hrrngh. Khehrrngh.
Stefano glared at Cardinal Augustino, who had collapsed into a deep sleep, snoring like a chainsaw.
You... I swear I will drag you before the judgment of the law!
When he turned his head toward the Vatican Swiss Guard seated farther away, the man gave him a tiny nod.
Stefano, sitting in a seat near the aisle, rose as if to stand and casually slipped a hand toward the bag resting on the seat beside him.
There...
Whoosh.
But just as he lifted the bag, the cardinal’s hand rose with it.
!
The bag had been tied to his hand with a cord.