Cancel the Service
James asked because he had the feeling that, so long as it wasn’t guns, Colt could handle just about anything.
“...He could even bring a gun?”
But even if they came armed, it wasn’t as if there was no way to respond.
Colt had a shotgun, a handgun, and even a mini-rifle.
James had set aside a few firearms he had bought in the United States, specifically for Colt, who would have to protect the house alone.
...Then this could get out of hand.
If a gun incident broke out in Korea, the police would respond, and so would the military.
I’ll do my best to stop it, and if it looks like something’s about to happen, I’ll report that they were carrying firearms.
Good work. But if anything does happen, text me right away.
If armed men tried to break into the house, he was planning to teleport from the Vatican to Korea in an instant.
Yep!
With that, James ended the call with Park Jin-tae and stepped out the front gate for his last errand before departure.
Buzz.
It was a call from Su-ji.
“Ah... I dawdled too long.”
He checked the time and saw that only twenty minutes remained before their appointment. He had been sparring with Colt and hadn’t realized the hours had slipped away like that. On top of that, the back-and-forth with Park Jin-tae had delayed him even further, and that was how he had ended up in this mess.
It’s all Colt’s fault. We should’ve left two hours ago...
It was because he couldn’t afford to miss Colt’s high-level swordsmanship lecture, something Colt had learned through hands-on practice.
“Yeah. Su-ji, I’m on my way. I’m almost there.”
Of course, it was a lie meant in kindness.
- Come on, hurry. The show’s going to start soon.
“Yeah. Yeah.”
As James answered, he closed the gate he had just opened and went back inside.
Clunk!
At the sound of the gate, Su-ji asked suspiciously,
- What was that? I just heard a door close. You’re not still at home, are you?
“...What? No way. Hang up. I’ll be there in a minute.”
James hurriedly ended the call and checked the venue again.
“The rock festival stage...”
The concert was being held far away in Incheon.
Coordinates confirmed. Clear. Location fixed. Clear. Spatial link. Clear. Teleportation action.
Flash.
James’s figure vanished from where he stood.
Flash.
Then he reappeared in Incheon, more than fifty kilometers away, in a place with no people around, just as he had checked in advance by sending mana ahead of him.
“Phew. Made it, barely.”
James entered the park where the concert was being held and was looking for Su-ji when his phone rang again.
Buzz.
“Yeah, Su-ji?”
- Tell me the truth. Where are you right now?
“Behind you.”
“Huh?”
Su-ji turned around and saw James holding the phone.
“Heehee. I thought you’d just left home.”
“...Don’t tell me.”
If not for magic, they might have ended up in a serious fight.
“Traffic was awful, so the taxi was a little late. I got out and ran.”
“Right. The roads around here were totally jammed because of the festival.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
James had only just learned that traffic had been bad.
“It’s starting! Scream for him! Oppa!”
“YEAH!!!”
Crash! Boom boom boom.
The electric guitars and drums burst from the concert speakers as if they meant to tear them apart. Su-ji was enjoying the show with James, but deep inside, she still carried worries about the future.
Yet no matter how hard she thought about it, this was not something she would be able to settle in her heart.
Yeah... for now, just forget everything and have fun.
“Hahaha.”
For the sake of her lover, who was laughing so brightly and enjoying himself, she couldn’t bring herself to tell the truth.
But James was a wizard, and he could read hidden feelings to some extent through mana.
Has she had something on her mind lately?
Among the mana Su-ji gave off, he had caught a fleeting glimpse of a deep blue hue.
* * *
Soaked with sweat from having fun at the concert, Su-ji had arrived at a bar with James.
“Ahh. Beer really does taste better after a show. Don’t you think so, oppa?”
She spoke after taking a hearty drink of ice-cold beer.
“Yeah. The beer here’s pretty good.”
James sipped at his own beer before asking cautiously,
“...Su-ji. Is something not going well these days?”
“Why ask that all of a sudden?”
“You’ve looked a little dark lately.”
“......”
She wondered if it was showing on her face that much, but she quickly hid her embarrassment and answered casually.
“What do you mean, something not going well? I don’t think I’ve ever had days this happy lately. College life is so much fun... and especially with the wild wolf I adopted at the end of my studies in the U.S., I don’t even notice time passing.”
“That wolf wouldn’t happen to be me, would it?”
“Who else would it be? Hee hee.”
“Honestly. I was worrying for nothing. Anyway, if anything ever starts bothering you, tell me. I’ll take care of it, whatever it is.”
“......”
Even with James’s dependable words, Su-ji could only smile bitterly.
No one can fix this.
Even if it was a problem that could not be solved, there was something she still wanted to know.
“Oppa.”
“Yeah?”
“Have you ever thought about marriage?”
“Marriage?”
“I’m just curious.”
“Uh... is this one of those situations where the answer changes everything? I feel like I read something online about how to handle this...”
“I’m not telling you to answer with me in mind. You and I are still young, after all.”
Worried as he had been, James decided to tell the truth at Su-ji’s light tone.
“Honestly... I’ve never seriously thought about marriage yet.”
“Mm. That’s what I figured.”
“Still, if I ever do want to get married someday, I think you’d be the first person I’d think of.”
Su-ji was the first woman James had ever met seriously. Though their relationship was still under a year old, she already occupied a large place in his heart.
“Is that the model answer you checked online?”
“Nothing like that came up. It’s how I really feel.”
“Hmph. Well, it does make me feel better.”
The small worry Su-ji had been carrying began to blur under James’s confession.
Was Su-ji worried about our future?
But it was too early to be worrying about a future that would go from marriage to children.
If that was all she was worried about, then it’s nothing serious.
James felt reassured as the blue mana around her grew faint, and he mentioned in advance that he would be leaving for the Vatican tomorrow.
“If I go to the Vatican tomorrow, it’ll take a few days.”
“I want to go with you too, but... I’ve got a mountain of assignments to submit to my professor.”
“I’ll come back as quickly as I can.”
“Of course!”
Under Su-ji’s bright, shining gaze, James felt all the worries in the world were pointless.
How good would it be if I could live like this forever.
“...You’re kind of extra sweet today, oppa.”
“Want to sleep holding hands with your extra-sweet oppa?”
“Heh heh heh. What are you talking about?”
There was still green light between them, but the green light of a traffic signal was always bound to turn yellow someday, and soon enough, red.
* * *
James had arrived in the Vatican and was surprised by the enormous crowd.
“Wow. Looks like it won’t be easy to meet the Chamberlain today.”
It seemed he would only be able to enter the Apostolic Palace after the public Holy Grail event in front of St. Peter’s Basilica was over. After showing his invitation at the square entrance and entering without trouble, James sat down in the seat assigned to him and waited leisurely for the event to end.
“They must have sent the invitation because they wanted me to watch the ceremony anyway.”
Up until then, James had believed this event was being held as part of the public unveiling of the real Holy Grail. Having returned the Grail, he was perfectly entitled to be invited.
!
But only after the Pope appeared and the Grail was placed upon the altar did he realize that something had gone wrong.
The Holy Grail...
The Grail on the altar was not the real one James had returned, but a cleverly crafted fake.
“Why?”
He couldn’t understand why they would bring out a counterfeit Holy Grail.
Did they think it was too risky?
That might have made sense, given how sacred the cup of Jesus was, but this was St. Peter’s Square, the seat of the Vatican. James couldn’t begin to guess what Yosef, the Chamberlain, was hoping to accomplish by announcing a public unveiling and then bringing out a fake.
The real Holy Grail is safely sitting in the Pope’s private vault...
James was tracing the mana he had left on the Grail when he suddenly stood up in shock.
!!
Please rise for the congregation.
Since everyone was standing at that moment anyway, his rising a little early was dismissed as nothing more than a minor lapse. But James was not paying attention to the Mass at all now; every ounce of his focus was fixed on the Grail.
Why isn’t it in the vault?
The Grail he had left his mana on could not be felt inside the Pope’s private vault. James turned his gaze away from the papal residence and glared at Yosef, who sat beside the Pope with an expressionless face.
Where exactly did you hide the Holy Grail and the Holy Paten?
After that, James had to wait until the Vatican’s public Holy Grail Mass was over.
“The Lord took the cup, gave thanks, and then...”
“Haa...”
In fact, James had already prepared a special spell for the moment the Grail was lifted in the Pope’s hands.
I was going to make a cross of light appear in the sky...
It had been one of the miracles he planned to show during the Mass, but now that he knew the Grail was a fake, there was no need to display such a service spell.
Customer. Cancel the order!
* * *
As soon as the event ended, James headed for the place where the Pope was staying.
“This area is off-limits. The Mass is over, so please return.”
“...Please call Chamberlain Yosef for me.”
James held up the ring he had received last time and showed it to the guard protecting the Vatican.
“Uh...”
“I’m James Kane.”
The guard recognized the distinctive ring worn only by cardinals, but James was not a cardinal, and that was causing confusion.
“Or call the captain of the guard, if you prefer. He’ll recognize me.”
“...Please wait. But you will certainly have to explain how you obtained that ring.”
Other guards approached James and took up positions around him, intending to prevent him from fleeing.
......
Clank. Clank.
They lowered their spears on an angle and stood watch behind him.
“Well, then.”
James’s wait was not long.
“Brother James!”
“Ah. You’re here.”
The captain of the guard recognized James thanks to having seen him come and go here before, and quickly led him inside.
“The Chamberlain has been waiting for you.”
“...I didn’t tell him I was coming this way.”
He had known James would attend the event, but going to meet the Chamberlain had not been part of the plan.
“The Chamberlain has been waiting only for Brother James to arrive.”
......
Please, let this be nothing.
James feared this was going to tangle him up with the Vatican again, and his prediction was right on the mark.
“...Brother James.”
......
Unlike when he had been beside the Pope earlier, Yosef now wore a face full of worry.
“A problem has arisen.”
“Ah. Well, there can always be problems. The Vatican is a very large place, after all.”
Even then, James still had no idea how big a problem had just struck the Vatican.