Chapter 188 – Saint Seren (4)
Saint Seren spoke in a softer voice than when we first met.
“In order to break the seal on the Tentacle Mushroom, Pope Francis and I must attempt to lift the barrier at the same time… But I don’t know if the Pope will agree.”
The two pillars that support the Church of the Sun are the saint and the pope. The saint is the spiritual leader and face of the religion, and the pope is the administrative leader. According to the novel, Saint Seren has a moderate and warm disposition, while Pope Francis has a radical and militant disposition. Although the two have contrasting personalities, they have the same pious faith in the sun god, so they have a close friendship that complements each other’s shortcomings even while bickering. In the novel, when the Demon King’s army invades the Church of the Sun, Pope Francis swings his mace around Saint Seren and crushes the skulls of the monsters until the end before he dies a heroic death.
“If the saint persuades us, won’t the Pope listen?”
“Phew… I don’t think that will be easy. After Lord Saule gave an oracle to help Lord Zeon to prevent the end of the world, and the god of the continent disappeared, the Pope changed. He is avoiding me or hiding more things from me, and is preaching that we must incite radical believers on campus to slaughter heretics. In the past, it was said that heretics should be caught and given a chance to repent, but these days, everyone is tortured and brutally killed as an example. It seems like he wants to prevent the apocalypse himself.”
“I guess the Pope doesn’t look upon me favorably.”
“Yes. He has great pride, as he has devoted everything to fostering the Sun religion since his youth. “You won’t like the sudden appearance of you.”
“I guess the Pope would have been against helping me?”
“The Pope said he would not prevent me from helping him. But he has no intention of helping you. He sees the apocalypse as a trial given to him by God, and with or without you, he wants to prove that he is a true warrior to stop the apocalypse.”
“Will the Pope allow tentacle mushrooms?”
“I will try to persuade the Pope.”
I am not confident in Saint Seren’s voice.
“What if the Pope says he won’t help?”
“Then we have to think of a way to break through the seal. The Pope is someone I respect and is a great adult in the Church of the Sun, so he cannot force it. He asks you to do a favor. “Please don’t touch the Pope.”
‘What. If I leave it to my wives, they will be able to break through the seal.’
“All right. “I will do that.”
“Thank you. I think I’ve said everything I need to say. We’ll take you to your accommodation, so you can stay comfortably until you achieve what you want. We will deliver important information to your accommodation.”
Afterward, I, Aris, and Jenny stayed in the VIP floor of a large inn run by the orphanage. This inn was a place where teenage boys and girls from the Sun Orphanage worked as clerks to earn pocket money, and the facilities were quite good. Because it is an inn managed by Saint Seren, a priest always stays to ensure safety, and there is a hot spring imbued with divine power, so you can relieve fatigue.
We were able to get additional information as we walked the streets. The scene of the apocalyptic massacre in the square is said to be the work of Pope Francis. And the city’s children are disappearing. Citizens believe that the Apocalypse Church is kidnapping children for evil rituals, and their anger toward the Apocalypse Church is at its peak. That is why Pope Francis’ bloody suppression of the apocalyptic religions is receiving considerable support. While Pope Francis is leading the indignant believers to search for and eradicate heresy, Saint Seren is supporting the affected families and working to ensure the safety of her children.
In my opinion, Pope Francis’ efforts are of little significance in saving the continent. He is only looking at the trees, not the forest.
‘It has nothing to do with me anyway. I just need Prince Thorkell and the Tentacle Mushroom.’
When I, Aris, and Jenny returned to the dorm after playing outside for a bit, Father Bernard was waiting at the door.
“Hello. “I have come to deliver Saint Seren’s letter.”
Priest Bernard disappeared immediately after delivering the letter. When he tried to open the envelope, a bright light came out and the envelope was torn open. Aris is slightly impressed.
“Amazing. A sacred seal was placed on the envelope so that only Zeon could open it. I can’t believe you used such great sacred magic in a letter. After all, she is a saint.”
When I read the letter, it detailed the location of the Empire’s Prince Thorkel’s lodgings, his entourage, and patrol times around the area. Prince Thorkel stays with his retinue in the main room of a high-end inn right next to the Cathedral of the Sun Church, and paladins and priests provided by the Sun Church guard the area around the inn. Of course, there are outstanding knights, wizards, and soldiers among Prince Thorkel’s entourage.
“The vigilance is more severe than I thought. How do I get in here?”
“Zion. “We can win everything with our military force, right?”
I shook my head at Jenny’s words.
“You must not leave a bad impression on the Sun Bridge. If we openly cause a big problem, it will be difficult for even a saint to resolve it. The outside world must not know that we are going to catch Thorkell. Either sneak in or brainwash those you encounter.”
“Then why don’t you call Lena? She, Lena, can teleport.”
“Right. “It’s Lena.”
“You called me?!”
As soon as I called, Lena came out of thin air. Lena can teleport next to me or to my house.
“Lena. Let’s go catch Prince Thorkell.”
“Adventure go!”
Me, Jenny, Aris, and Lena went out into the streets in the middle of the night to catch Prince Thorkel. There were soldiers patrolling the streets, but because we had Lena’s invisibility and soundproof magic on us, people didn’t notice us. The closer we got to the cathedral, the more troops were patrolling or standing guard. When we were about to see the inn, Lena stopped us.
“For a moment. From here, we have to disable her invisibility magic and her soundproofing magic.”
“Lena. Why?”
“A powerful sacred barrier is installed around the cathedral. This barrier has the function of detecting and disarming suspicious magic or black magic and sounding an alarm. “If you enter the barrier while maintaining the magic, you will be discovered and attacked.”
“Then how about teleporting into the inn?”
“It’s impossible because of the sacred barrier.”
“A wizard of your caliber?”
“Ugh… I’m sorry…”
When Lena doesn’t meet my expectations, she makes a gloomy face. The Cathedral of the Church of the Sun is a sacred fortress built by numerous saints, so it would be natural for even Lena to find it difficult.
“Lena. Are you okay? Open your face~ Pretty Lena~”
“Hehe~”
“Cute Lena~”
“Puing!”
Lena opened her face again. But the problem has not gone away yet.
“How do I get into the inn? Should we plan a spy operation?”
The area around the inn is heavily defended by soldiers, and if you use magic, you will be caught in a sacred barrier. I came here without thinking, trusting only Lena, but I regret that I should have analyzed her letter sent by Saint Seren in more detail and planned her strategy. The answer may come out if you carefully consider the troop patrol time, movement route, guard shift time, and commuting time of part-time workers at the inn.
‘I should have brought Jazlyn.’
While we were reading the letter and wrapping our heads around logic problems, Aris broke the silence.
“Zion. I think I can get in with my space sword.”
“Are you really going to separate all the soldiers?”
“Puhup! What do you think of me? “I am not a psychopathic killer.”
“Oh… I’m sorry.”
“I can split the space with my space sword and create a wormhole passage leading to the inside of the inn.”
“What?! “Could you do something like that?”
“This is my first time, but somehow I think it’s possible. I got inspiration from a space magic book I read in hopes it would be helpful for the space sword. This world is three-dimensional, and you can move like a teleporter from one space to another through a passage called a wormhole that exists in a higher dimension.”
“Try to talk about it easily.”
“If the world is two-dimensional on paper, the only way to get from one point to another is by crossing the paper. However, a being that can move in three dimensions can go to another point by jumping. To people who can only perceive two dimensions, it will look like teleportation. “It is different from teleportation in that it is not related to magic circles or mana arrays.”
“Wow… Aris looks knowledgeable.”
“I, too, use my head when I use it!”
“Wouldn’t it be blocked by the sacred barrier?”
This time Lena responded with a fuss.
“No, no! With Aris’ space sword, it is possible to enter without being detected!”
“Really?”
“Huh! The sacred barrier hanging here is a three-dimensional magic, so it cannot recognize higher dimensions. So, if you pass through the high-dimensional wormhole that Aris created by cutting out space, it is possible to go into the inn without being noticed by anyone!”
“That’s amazing.”
“However, we must assume that Aris’ wormhole is safe. We have no idea what exists in higher dimensions. To match Aris’ example of a 2D space, this is a case where you jump on a piece of paper and a 3D bird catches you. “2D people on paper won’t even know what happened.”
“I get help from the world. “High dimensions are also part of the world, so wouldn’t it work out well?”
“Ugh, maybe it’s possible~”
We gave Aris her expectant look.
“Aris. “I only trust you.”
“I won’t disappoint you.”
Aris held her sword with both hands with a serious look on her face.
“Divide space!”
Easy profit
When Aris lowered her sword in one go, a black solid line appeared in the air along with the sound of the wind cutting, and then widened to become a dark oval without any light. Lena shouts urgently.
“It’s a real wormhole that only existed in theory! “You have to get in before it closes!”
We jumped into the wormhole, trusting our luck.
“Let’s go!!!”
As soon as we jumped into the wormhole, we emerged into another space on the other side. It is an unrecognizably short amount of time. What you see is a sink and numerous toilet stalls. But there is no urinal.
“This is… The women’s restroom.”
Jenny checked outside through the bathroom window and informed us.
“Zion. Luckily, it’s the inn’s women’s bathroom.”
Shhhhh
At that time, we all froze when we heard the sound of someone urinating.
I whispered in a low voice.
