Holy Water of Miracles
"Hoo."
Finding the explanation difficult, the prefect of the Apostolic Palace asked the captain of the guard, who had come into his quarters with James, for help.
"Captain. Please explain it to Brother James."
"...Very well. First, we need to look at the beginning of this incident, before the recovery phase for the Holy Grail."
After that, James was able to condense the captain’s account into a brief summary.
"The Holy Grail was stolen?"
So the fake Holy Grail had appeared at the public display event because the real one had been taken.
In short, it ended with "It was stolen," but the story behind it was far more complicated.
"The media announced that the criminal organization targeting Vatican City Museum had been dismantled, but some of the bastards were never caught. The Italian police and the Vatican Guard were still tracking the remaining stragglers."
"Haa."
The theft of the Holy Grail that had just taken place was an extension of the previous incident. The prefect of the Apostolic Palace added to the captain’s explanation.
"I thought it was all over once David and his gang were handed over to the police."
"And then?"
The case that had begun with the criminal organization targeting the artworks of the Vatican Museum had been smashed to pieces by James’s intervention, but it ended without the leader being captured. Still, the boss was not the only thing left behind.
"And then the Vatican obtained new information."
"...It must have been information serious enough to mobilize the Vatican Guard?"
"Yes. When those men claimed that Cardinal Augustino was still alive, we simply... "
"...You were fooled, then? Even though there was no chance he could still be alive?"
It was not Yosef but the captain who answered James.
"We were able to rescue Cardinal Augustino."
"!"
James had not expected the cardinal to still be alive.
"However, in the process, security within the Holy See was breached."
"...So while everyone was looking outside, they went after the inside."
The head of the criminal organization named Frank had failed in his first attempt and put a new plan into motion. Besides David, there were still agents hidden within the organization.
"Only after everything happened did we learn where their people had blended in."
The Holy See believed all of Vatican City was sacred ground, and there was no awareness that crime could be carried out here.
"...Because you had grown accustomed to peace."
Since no one had ever really stayed on guard against them, they had been caught easily. On top of that, they had recently thwarted the criminal organization’s attempt and recovered the Holy Grail, so the days had felt peaceful.
"There is no excuse for it."
"...The Holy Father was unharmed?"
"Once we received word that Cardinal Augustino had been found, the Holy Father went there with me as well, and at the time only a minimum number of people remained inside the Holy See."
"Then they only realized it after they made off with the Holy Grail."
"...Not only the Holy Grail."
"When I checked earlier, it seemed the Holy Paten was fake too... "
James had thought the Holy Grail and Holy Paten had been stolen, but Yosef’s next words made it clear that was not the end of it.
"Not only the Holy Grail and Holy Paten... but a large number of artworks from Vatican City Museum were also stolen."
"Just how lax was security here?"
The captain replied to James, who was at a loss for words, almost as if making an excuse.
"...Cardinal Augustino explained what had happened over the years."
"Ah. It is a miraculous thing that he survived, yes... "
But James thought that was no excuse for the breach in the museum’s security.
"The cardinal said that after years of torture, he had revealed all the information inside the Vatican to them."
"...I see."
Only then did James understand how they had obtained the internal information. Cardinal Augustino had been the chief administrator of Vatican City Museum, and he knew everything about both the museum and the Holy See. Even without blueprints of the museum, they would have been able to map out the inside.
Plan A was to cause a traffic accident, kidnap the cardinal, and disguise someone as him. Plan B was to learn the inside information and infiltrate directly. Or maybe it was the other way around... Either way, they were meticulous bastards.
James could see just how carefully they had prepared for this.
"Prefect. Who is pursuing them?"
"......"
Yosef could not answer.
"...You can’t even find a trace?"
"That is correct. We are not even certain whether they headed toward Eastern Europe or Western Europe. What is certain is that they did not use a flight... "
"Why are you so proud to say that’s certain? If they left through diplomatic pouches, they wouldn’t even pass through security!"
"......"
Even with James’s rebuke, Yosef had no reply.
"Haa. So you only came looking for me after everything had already been stolen?"
"...We were unable to tell you over the phone, so we kept asking, under the pretense of an invitation, for Brother James to come."
"And now you’re only just worrying about security?"
Yosef motioned to the captain, who quickly excused himself. Only then could Yosef reveal the real reason he had invited James.
"...We need the special power Brother James possesses."
"So I really shouldn’t have shown it casually."
"We are not asking for anything else. Please... "
"Go on. I’ll try my best. But this won’t be free. The free service ended with the last incident."
James had assumed they wanted him to recover the stolen artworks of Vatican City, including the Holy Grail and Holy Paten, but that was not the prefect’s wish.
"Please... save Father Stefano."
"Huh? Why him?"
Father Stefano was the priest in charge of Vatican City Museum, and on the night the incident occurred he had remained in the museum. He had faced the criminals directly.
"Stefano tried to stop them, and then... "
"!"
"...He was badly injured."
"......"
Through Yosef’s eyes, James could tell he truly did not want anything else.
"What was lost was only a thing of this world. But Stefano cannot be replaced by anything."
So that’s why there was no contact after that...
When he left the Vatican, James had thought Yosef would send Father Stefano to Korea. But Father Stefano never contacted him and never came to Korea. So James had assumed Yosef must have had his hands full with the Holy Grail, but apparently the priest had been there when the art theft took place in the Holy See.
"How badly was he hurt?"
"He is barely hanging on in the intensive care unit."
"!"
"Stefano was shot five times that day."
"Ah."
James recalled the days when he had been shot twice and left teetering between life and death.
"Can you... do it? Can you save Stefano with your power, Brother?"
Yosef was asking James with the desperation of a man grasping at a straw.
"Let’s go. Right now."
The stolen Holy Grail and artworks were important, but they were not more important than a human life.
"The reward is more than enough... "
"...I don’t ask for money to save lives, Prefect."
"...Please."
* * *
James arrived at the hospital with Yosef and met Stefano, lying alone in the intensive care unit.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
From the tangle of tubes attached all over Stefano’s body, James could tell just how dire his condition was.
"......"
"So healing with James’s magic is possible, then? Stefano will survive, won’t he?"
But James could not show Yosef any more magic.
What I showed them then was already too much.
He had used magic to explain how he had been able to bring the Holy Grail back hidden away, and thanks to that he had been able to prove that he was Merlin’s disciple. But revealing magic to the outside world had kept pushing him toward places he did not want to go.
That’s it for magic, for them.
"Magic is not omnipotent, Prefect."
"!"
"And I thought I told you the power of healing belonged to the Holy Grail, not to me?"
"The Holy Grail... "
It was difficult to be certain that the Holy Grail truly possessed healing power. It had been stolen before its power could even be scientifically verified.
"That doesn’t mean there is no way."
James slipped a hand into his coat and took out a small bottle. A transparent liquid sloshed inside it.
"What... is that?"
"I kept it stored away just in case. Looks like this is the day it gets used."
Plop.
James tipped the mouth of the bottle to Stefano’s lips and let the contents flow out as he spoke.
"Holy water I made in advance, out of caution, before returning the Holy Grail. Its effect is still the same."
"!"
...Mana.
Through mana, James opened Father Stefano’s mouth and let the holy water be swallowed down his throat. He used no other magic. He truly did not use any healing spell.
Gulp.
The small bottle was empty in no time.
"Prefect. Now all that’s left is to pray."
"......"
Yosef, who had been hoping for a miraculous healing through magic, stared at James with a dazed expression.
"...Did you want me to become your god?"
"Th-that’s not... "
"That look in Yosef’s eyes just now... It might be the reason magic is considered heresy in religion."
Thud.
Yosef dropped to his knees, covering his face with both hands.
"Ah... what have I... done... "
He had realized that instead of praying to the God he believed in, he had been hoping only for a miracle through magic.
I couldn’t use healing magic, but the Holy Grail of God is real...
James believed more strongly than anyone in the power of the Holy Grail. So he had been certain that he would not need to use healing magic himself. That was James’s firm conviction.
"I’ve heard the God you believe in is one who forgives. Believe without doubt. Stefano will be healed not by me, but by your God... "
And then James witnessed a miracle.
"...Look."
At James’s words, Yosef lifted his head and saw that James was pointing somewhere.
"......"
"Your God really does not hesitate when it comes to giving miracles."
Beep. Beep. Beeeeep!
At the spot James pointed to, Father Stefano, who had been unconscious and hovering between life and death, had opened his eyes and was removing the devices attached to his body.
Thud. Tap.
"Wh-where am I... what happened to the men! You caught them, didn’t you? You caught them, right?"
Father Stefano’s memory was still trapped in that day.
"Oh! Lord!"
At the very moment Father Stefano’s body was healed by the miracle of the Holy Grail, a priest who had been losing his faith because of magic was regaining it through the miracle of the Holy Grail.
* * *
James had returned to the lodging where he had stayed before. Thanks to Father Stefano’s recovery, the prefect of the Apostolic Palace had provided him a room and asked him to stay for a few days.
"Is this place mine now?"
The first time he had come, he had been too busy taking photos of the artworks displayed inside to think much of anything else. Now it all felt so familiar.
Knock, knock.
Hearing the visitor’s presence, James assumed it was one of the people he had met before and said, "Come in."
Creak.
"Brother."
"Uh... "
But the person who entered the room was someone James had never met before, and yet, ironically, someone familiar too.
"Cardinal Augustino?"
He looked familiar because James had once seen a man with the exact same face, altered by plastic surgery.
"I heard you played a major role in my rescue. I came to thank you, albeit late."
"Ah... "
James had not played any real role in rescuing him; he had merely offered advice on catching the criminal organization that was targeting Vatican City.
I was certain you’d died.
That was all he had confirmed through the mouths of the prefect and the captain. Because he had judged Cardinal Augustino’s chances of survival to be low, he had never even formed a plan to rescue him.