PMEVBO 17

‘…Does this man have spaghetti noodles in his head instead of a brain?’

To be so certain that His Holiness’s favor had ended merely because Lucariel had been exiled. For the first time, Tykvana envied his simple mind.

‘No, if His Holiness truly wanted to punish him for attacking the cardinal, he would have locked him away in the underground dungeon, “Hell.”’

…Instead of bringing him along during the Season of Salvation, which had arrived after seventeen years.

The Season of Salvation.

It referred to the extremely rare period when the Pope, who spent most of his time in the Holy City, would appear in public.

Traditionally, the Season of Salvation returned every ten years, but this time, for some reason, it had arrived after a full seventeen years.

For clergymen who lived their entire lives confined within the Holy City, the Season of Salvation was a once-in-a-lifetime honor, the chance to accompany the Pope outside the city walls. Consequently, the position of Apostle, who assisted the Pope during the Season of Salvation, was always fiercely contested. Now, it had solidified into a position only accessible to those of rank equal to or higher than Archbishop.

Yet during that very Season of Salvation, Lucariel, a mere priest, gained the opportunity to remain close to the Pope, second only to the Apostles.

‘And that was after knocking out a cardinal who was one of the confirmed Apostles, forcing him to step down from the position.’

The Pope issued an exile order to Lucariel, and it was indeed the first punishment the Pope had ever imposed on him.

‘In name only…’

Tykvana recalled the conversation he’d shared with the Pope on the day the exile order was issued for Lucariel.

‘…Then, how long will Priest Nebella be exiled to the Duchy of Hayut?’

‘Until the Season of Salvation ends.’

In other words, it meant the Pope himself would stop by the place of exile to take him when he returned to the Holy City.

‘How is that a punishment?’

How could that possibly prove the end of his favor?

“Ah, but before coming to the dining hall, I happened to see something. A letter sent by Duke Hayut entering His Holiness’s office.”

“What?”

Though six months had passed since Lucariel’s exile to the Hayut Castle, this was the first time the duke had sent a letter to the Pope.

…Did Atsula’s poisoning attempt succeeded?

It was then that a servant from the Frozen Sea Castle entered the dining hall.

“My apologies to interrupt your meal, but both of you should go immediately. His Holiness is summoning you.”

***

Upon entering the Pope’s office, Tykvana and Atsula bowed in reverence.

“We greet His Holiness the Pope, warrior of the Creator God Debiamas, representative of Hail, immortal hero, Emperor of the Saints, and Lord of Punishment. May the blessings of Debiamas always be with Your Holiness.”

“Yes, may the blessings of Debiamas always be with you as well.”

The Pope, Jin, responded with a calm smile.

Black hair like gathered night skies, neat eyebrows between it. A straight nose bridge and a sharp tip. Eyes that froze the heart the moment they met yours. And red pupils of unfathomable depth, as if proving the ages he had lived.

Had this been the usual Tykvana, she would never have dared to look away from the Pope’s divine, sculpted countenance. Like Atsula, who seemed ready to drool, she would have been unable to tear her eyes away from him.

But now she stood with her trembling hands clasped behind her back, head bowed like a criminal awaiting judgment.

The moment she heard the Pope had summoned her, her heart began pounding like mad. Pale as death, as if all the blood had drained from her body, she stood there while Atsula idly muttered:

‘Wow… Hey, looks like that bastard Lucariel really bit the dust.’

‘…….’

‘Just a word of caution. Don’t say anything useless to His Holiness. Remember we’re in this together.’

Who’s in this together?

‘…It’s all your own doing.’

But Tykvana couldn’t say a word. After all, she herself had wished for Lucariel’s death more than anyone else.

“I summoned you because I have a request. Would you go to Hayut Castle in my stead?”

“For what reason, Your Holiness?”

Atsula’s narrowed eyes glistened with excitement as he asked.

Why not just say that you killed him?

The very person who had told her not to speak nonsense was now giving away every single clue.

But Tykvana wasn’t entirely blameless either.

‘If Lucariel died and His Holiness doesn’t even go there himself, maybe he really withdrew his favor…….’

The hope that began spreading like poison through her guilt-ridden body was something even she couldn’t control.

Jin, who had been staring at the two archbishops standing before him, spoke with a smile that looked carefully drawn.

“A petition has arrived from Duke Hayut. He requests severe punishment for Lulu, who killed his maid.”

In the sweetest voice in the world.

***

Sub quest: Generating Reward…

Is this for real?

I still hadn’t received the reward for the quest I cleared last night.

Seriously, the sun’s already high in the sky. Is this right?

Anyway, this damn game’s updates were ridiculously slow.

I pulled my gaze away from the status window and noticed the wild asparagus I’d just harvested. Pulling one out of the basket overflowing with them, I fiddled with it and thought.

Ah, this would be so good dipped in cho gochujang (dipping sauce).

But this was a bleak, dark fantasy world where there wasn’t even fermented soybean paste, let alone cho gochujang

Guess I’ll just steal some hot sauce to dip it in instead?

But I wonder if Iser even likes spicy food.

The praise quest targeting Iser ended yesterday, but my desire to cook him a delicious meal was still the same.

Well, I won’t be keeping him around much longer anyway.

────【 Help 】────

Time remaining until next skill cast:

D-6 (149h 50m 12s)

────────────────

Approximately 6 days until the Discernment skill’s cooldown ends.

There were no major changes to the plan. I would outsource my brain to the Discernment skill as soon as the cooldown ended. The key was how to fill the reward slot for the Discernment skill.

I make the right judgment to ensure Iser Hayut safely escapes Hayut Castle and lives a healthy and happy life.

“…Can this even be achieved with such an abstract and vague reward?”

There was a reason the reward crammed into those quotation marks was so meager.

Recalling when the reward was my own life, the Discernment skill made judgments solely for achieving that reward. It thoroughly excluded all other factors in the process.

So if I’d recklessly set something like ‘Iser Hayut’s escape from Hayut Castle’ as the reward, I had no idea what would be sacrificed.

Moreover, I had no clue where Iser wanted to go or how he wanted to live after leaving the duchy castle.

He always got strangely uncomfortable whenever escape came up…

Until now, being tied to the quest had prevented me from delving into topics that made Iser uncomfortable. But now it’s different. With only about five days left of the promised fortnight, I could no longer avoid it.

I must talk to Iser about escape today. I made up my mind and rose from the dirt floor where I’d been sitting and resting.

No, I tried to rise.

Sub quest: Generating Reward…

Sub quest: Reward Generation Complete!

────【 Skill Draw Ticket 】────

Would you like to use the Skill Draw Ticket (1x)?

Yes/No

────────────────

Since this was the long-awaited appearance of the Skill Draw Ticket, I quickly pressed ‘Yes’.

─────【 Skill Draw 】─────

Choose a number between 1 and 100

and try your luck at the Skill Draw!

Skill Draw Ticket: 1

⊠ 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20.

.

.

81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90

91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100

────────────────

“What? I can’t pick number 1 again?”

The ‘1’ slot where I’d previously drawn the Discernment skill was marked with an X.

……No way is this some setup where I have to pull all 100 times before I can go home?

But more important than such useless worries was the question of which number to choose. Anyway, I’m not the type to rely on luck in these random draws, so whatever.

In the end, I decided to choose number 2.

──────【 2 】──────

Loading…

────────────────

“Spit out something useful, please.”

Fortunately, it didn’t take long to see the result of the draw.

───────【 2 】───────

⧓ Guidance ⧓

Congratulations!

You have acquired the skill ‘Guidance’.

────────────────

“What the hell does ‘Guidance’ even do…?”

Just like the Discernment skill, their naming sense is something else. Aren’t skill names supposed to be intuitive?

“…If this were a real game, it would’ve gone bankrupt ages ago.”

Up to this point, the progression was identical to when I drew the Discernment skill. So maybe the lack of tension was the problem? Something completely unexpected happened.

───────【 Inventory】───────

Inventory capacity is insufficient!

The skill ‘Discernment’ will be automatically deleted from your inventory.

─────────────────────

“What…?”