Eternal Life
“And most importantly, the power of the Holy Grail is... the forgiveness of sin and the eternal life promised to mankind at the Last Supper. Isn’t that the very source of the faith Christians believe in?”
“Gah!!”
Those words were, in a sense, the foundation of their faith, but only as the basis of belief; it was hard to accept them as meaning the Grail literally granted eternal life. And yet James was openly speculating that he might already have obtained eternal life through the Grail.
“From now on, I intend to live my life and find out whether this so-called rumor is true. If I don’t die and live forever, then it won’t be a rumor anymore, will it?”
“W-well... has something changed?”
“My body is definitely better. I was healthy before, of course, but now I feel even healthier. My skin feels like it’s gone back to baby-soft skin, and no matter how much magic I used, I never felt tired.”
“It’s worth studying...”
“So, Camerlengo Yosef, don’t get distracted by the treasure I have and worry about the Holy Grail and Holy Paten that entered the Vatican instead. If they really possess healing power, wouldn’t that prove a miracle to the whole world?”
“Ah... then that would truly be something remarkable.”
In the end, that was why he had brought up the power of the Grail and the Paten.
“As for my treasure, I’ll sell it and use it when the time comes...”
There was no need to say the rest. Yosef wasn’t listening to James at all; he was too busy thinking about the power of the Grail and the Paten.
“First, through experiments... and then...”
“Sigh. Go get my flight arranged. I’m heading straight back to Korea.”
“Ah, then I’ll take my leave.”
Whether he had heard the last words or not, Yosef rose with a dazed expression and drifted away. Before long, however, James was able to get his plane ticket. It hadn’t been delivered by Camerlengo Yosef himself, but that hardly mattered. Whoever sent it was irrelevant.
“So, you’re leaving now, are you?”
“Yes. Cardinal Andrea.”
The man who delivered the ticket was Cardinal Andrea, whom James had met in the Vatican through Father Stefano’s introduction.
“I heard about the Holy Grail. You told them where it was being kept.”
“Ah...”
So they still haven’t told the others inside?
The Holy Grail and the Holy Paten were already in the Vatican, but the cardinals still hadn’t been informed. That was because they were worried about the criminals who had been after the Grail. But now that those criminals had been arrested, the truth would soon come out.
“There will be good news before long, I trust? Allow me to congratulate you in advance.”
There would be both good news and bad. The bad news was the real Cardinal Augustino’s situation.
“Ho-ho-ho. It will all be thanks to you, Brother James, no doubt.”
He could not reveal that he had already delivered the sacred relics. Even up until the moment James entered the Vatican, the relics had not been in his possession.
“When Father Stefano returns later, please give him my regards.”
“Of course. The guard will escort you all the way to the airport.”
“That’s a relief. I was wondering whether I’d have to hail a taxi.”
“Ho-ho-ho.”
James stirred mana as he left the Vatican with the Swiss Guard. Though he was traveling with them, none of the guards noticed that he was using magic.
Vmmmm.
Let’s see...
The mana that had stretched out from James ran beyond the entrance they had just left and deeper into the Vatican complex.
Then it reached its destination and relayed the information there to James, its master.
Still safe.
The final stop of his mana was the Pope’s secret vault, where the Holy Grail and Holy Paten were being kept. Even knowing James was a mage, no one would have been able to guess it.
Right before handing the relics over to the Vatican, James had taken them out at the hotel and left a trace of mana on them. He had done it so that if anyone stole them, he could find them again.
Wouldn’t it be a disaster if I forgot where they were?
The Holy Grail and Holy Paten inside the secret vault were resonating with James’s mana, producing a faint hum.
He had transferred ownership of the Grail and the Paten to the Vatican, but James still had one foot in the door when it came to the relics themselves.
Suzy was waiting for James at the airport, because he had told her when the plane would arrive.
“Just you wait till he gets here. I’m going to find out exactly what he’s been up to all this time...”
“Suzy!”
James came sprinting out of the departure gate with a bright smile on his face.
“James!”
Suzy forgot whatever she had been thinking a moment before and threw herself into her lover’s arms.
“I missed you, Suzy.”
“Me too. I missed you too.”
“I’ve got so much to tell you. Come on, let’s go.”
“I’ve got plenty I want to ask you too.”
“Haha. See? We really do get each other.”
“Heh. Don’t even think about lying to me.”
Crimson flames seemed to flare in Suzy’s eyes as she looked up at him from within his arms.
“...”
“Looks like you’ve got something to hide.”
“I’m innocent.”
“Oh? Did you rehearse that one in advance? That answer was awfully quick.”
“Let’s just go to the hotel already. I’m tired.”
“Tch. I suppose I’ll postpone the interrogation for now.”
The lover’s interrogation didn’t begin until late that night, but James took it seriously and answered every question with equal dedication.
“James. If I get home late again today, I’m dead...”
“What? What have you been doing while I was away that you keep coming home late every day? Spill it!”
“No comment.”
“Oh, really? You’re not going to talk?”
“Kkhahaha! It tickles! I’ve just been late these days because of my graduation thesis. Seriously. Hahaha! Stop it~.”
Late at night, after seeing Suzy off, James lay down to sleep, only to wake up and find that morning was already breaking.
“Hup.”
As always, he sprang lightly to his feet and spent a quiet moment in meditation. The rest of his day was no different from usual. James changed into light workout clothes and headed for the hotel gym.
“James, you’re late?”
“...You’re already done working out?”
He ran into Colt on the way out as Colt finished his exercise.
“I always come at the same time.”
“See me later.”
“Actually, I had something to talk to you about too.”
“Colty.”
“Heh. Sure.”
Even when James called him Colty, Colt just laughed, said hello, and headed back to his room.
“...What’s with him?”
It was strange that Colt wasn’t calling him JimJim as usual.
“Did something good happen while I was away?”
Colt had been waiting for this very moment when James would return.
“While you were gone, we got the expected auction estimate for the meteorite.”
“A meteorite, no matter how much you get for it...”
James was already slated to receive five million dollars apiece for King Arthur’s gold coins, along with thirty million dollars for the Texas house lot. So he didn’t think much of a meteorite, something he could retrieve from outer space whenever he wanted.
“Seven million.”
“What? How much?”
“Jake at Sotheby’s said it’s a whopping seven million dollars.”
“That expensive? ...Why is such an ugly meteorite worth that much?”
“How should I know?”
“Then do you think I know?”
“...”
“...”
It was a price set by certain people who valued the meteorites scattered throughout space.
“Anyway, the auction hasn’t started yet, but I don’t think this is right.”
“What isn’t right?”
“Let’s split it. I’ll only take half.”
“...”
There goes that gullible idiot, being gullible again...
If the gifted meteorite turned into a windfall, that should have been the end of it.
“Colt.”
“Ah. I already talked it over with Hojung too. She said that if a meteorite we were given sells for that much, then for the sake of our friendship, we absolutely can’t just pocket the money and run.”
“Ah...”
After hearing the whole story about James, Hojung had made the decision on this matter. It had something to do with Colt having followed James into investments and made a lot of money, as well as the way James’s magic had helped him keep rising higher and higher in the past.
Hojung wanted them to keep a good relationship and secure steady profits for the future, rather than create unnecessary noise over the meteorite auction and cut open the goose that laid the golden eggs. Of course, there was also the excuse that it was to preserve the closeness between the two of them.
“What friendship? Hojung’s just quick with the math, that’s all.”
James knew he trusted Colt, and he also knew very well how their relationship looked from the outside.
Hojung really does seem to have a head for this sort of thing.
Though Colt was the one she was dating, Hojung felt more like the kind of person who was similar to James himself than Suzy did. The way she was quick on her feet with human relationships, and always clear and direct about everything, made her seem undeniably like his kind of person.
“Maybe.”
“Like Colt said, the auction hasn’t even started yet. If it fetches a good price later, then we can think about it again.”
“...Wouldn’t it be too hard to part with by then?”
“That’s exactly why I’m saying it.”
It was obvious Colt would get too attached to want to hand it over, so what was there to split?
“I won’t miss it at all, so please just keep the whole thing.”
“...I’ll talk it over with Hojung again.”
“Before you go consult her, you should hear me out too, right?”
“Ah, right. You said you had something to talk about too.”
James had one more reason not to split the meteorite.
“I decided to put another artifact up for auction at Sotheby’s. That’s why I have to go there now.”
“Oh? You’re putting more gold coins up for auction? Then won’t the high appraisal they’ve already set come crashing down? You have to think about scarcity...”
“It’s not gold coins.”
“...Then what?”
“King Arthur’s crown.”
“...”
“The estimated price is impossible to guess. Even Sotheby’s can’t tell how high the final bid will go.”
“...JimJim.”
“And you thought I’d split a meteorite with you? Spend the change on dating Hojung.”
“...Damn it. So the meteorite really was just pocket change!”
Of course, that only meant pocket change compared to James, not to Colt.
“It still isn’t pocket change when it’s seven million dollars. Don’t waste it just because you suddenly have money; save it. You won’t even be able to touch the funds in my portable vault carelessly.”
“Should I try going into business in Korea? Like... a café?”
“With that face of yours, you’re halfway there already. The women will line up outside just to see Colt.”
“Heh. Right?”
But one should always hear people out to the end.
“Though you’ll have to lose what’s below the waist. Hojung might be a little disappointed.”
“...”
“Or is it more like she’ll be very disappointed?”
The warning that James would castrate him with magic the moment Colt strayed still very much stood.
“...Damn it.”
James nodded as he watched Colt slowly clamp his thighs together.
“I’ll be watching you.”
“...I didn’t make Hojung cry even once while you were gone. Seriously.”
“Good. The next part is simple. I heard you can use a U.S. driver’s license in Korea too.”
Korea had a system where, if you submitted a simple medical checkup, your passport, and a few other miscellaneous documents, they would recognize a U.S. driver’s license. But James didn’t know exactly which papers were required, so he needed someone to look into it.
“While I’m out handling things, check the list of documents you’ll need to submit and get them ready.”
“...Damn it, you’re giving me work the second you get here? I have a date today.”
“We’ll call this work worth half the meteorite money you said you’d give me.”
“...!”
That meant a little errand worth as much as three and a half million dollars.
“Leave it to me! Hojung and I will get everything ready for sure!”