Volume 6, Chapter 17 – Discovery

“Evelyn, what are you doing here instead of praying?”

Before they could get a clear look at the Pope’s face, his voice came through the crack of the door. An unusually fierce expression instantly appeared on Evelyn’s face. She shot up from the sofa, trying to block the space between the Pope and Andrea, but there was no time for her to perform this series of actions. Just as she took a step forward, the Pope appeared before everyone.

An old man with a hemispherical white cap, white hair, and a clean-shaven beard. Perhaps due to his age, his movements were a bit slow. His attire was the same white and gold as Evelyn’s, but it was a very simple robe without any extra patterns. His black eyes were exceptionally bright, like a falcon preparing to pounce on its prey. In addition, the old man held a white staff in his hand. From the amount of magical power, Yisi judged that it was a weapon of quite good quality.

The Pope quickly noticed the presence of Yisi and Mary. His stern expression gradually disappeared, replaced by one of peace and confusion.

“And you are…?”

While Evelyn was in a daze, Yisi gave a calm bow.

“I am a country noble from the Hels Kingdom, come to the Ymir Territory to seek refuge with relatives. My name is Yisi. The reason I am here is because Lady Evelyn determined that we had an ominous aura about us. The ominous aura has now been purified by Lady Evelyn, and she is currently comforting my family member.”

As she spoke, Yisi pulled Mary to her side. Although Mary was already an adult, her appearance was still much like a child’s. If she used the excuse that Evelyn was comforting Mary, the Pope probably wouldn’t be too suspicious. Children always elicited more patience and sympathy.

After his gaze rested on Mary for a short while, the Pope seemed to lose interest and looked back at Evelyn.

“You should be praying before the statue right now. Seeing as you are not idle, I will not pursue your fault, but I hope there will not be a next time. As for the ominous aura you mentioned, what is that about?”

The Pope’s apparent failure to see Andrea left Evelyn stunned in place, her gaze darting back and forth between the Pope and Andrea, who was sitting behind Yisi. As time passed, the Pope’s expression began to sour. After a long while, Evelyn finally returned to normal and responded with a posture that was no less imposing than the Pope’s.

“An ominous aura is an ominous aura. The Goddess gave me a revelation, and I naturally cannot waste the Goddess’s gift.”

The subtext was I can see the ominous aura and you can’t, so don’t you go making remarks—the Pope did not possess the ability to eliminate others’ negative states that Evelyn had. Or rather, in the history of the church, only Evelyn possessed it, which was why she was called the Child of God.

As if searching for something, the Pope rolled his eyes, scanned the room, and said in a deep voice.

“I can feel a dark aura here. It’s unpleasant.”

Evelyn’s heart leaped into her throat. If she didn’t know that the Pope was a man of few words, she would have thought that Yisi, Andrea, and the Pope were putting on an act together. Fortunately, she did not panic. Glancing at Andrea, she said with a calm expression.

“The ominous aura clinging to them has just dissipated. Your Holiness’s discomfort will disappear after a little while.”

“Hmph,” a grunt came from his throat. The Pope took the initiative to end the topic. “I have received a report from the paladins that you encountered a monster you had never seen before outside the city. Do you know what it was?”

“How could I possibly know? One moment the bandit was talking just fine, and the next he turned into a ball of flesh with a group of infant-like demi-humans hidden in his stomach. I’d believe it if you told me it was demonic possession.”

Evelyn’s words brought a flash of suspicion to the Pope’s black eyes, but he quickly concealed it. His aggressive expression disappeared, and he turned to face Yisi.

“The church welcomes guests from afar. If you have any questions, you can ask the others in the temple. Well then, may the light of the Goddess shine upon you.”

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Without saying more, with a soft click of the wooden door closing, Pope Julius left the room.

A dead silence.

As if she had just survived a catastrophe, Evelyn’s legs went weak, and she collapsed onto the sofa, letting out a long sigh.

“Phew—that was close. I was so scared I nearly died.”

“M-Me too… When I saw someone come in, I thought Miss Andrea was going to be discovered…”

Lightly patting her chest, Mary wore a look of lingering fear.

Yisi, also relieved, checked the Omniscient Map to confirm the Pope’s departure while dispelling the illusion on Andrea.

“It’s a good thing Mary didn’t scream, or I would have had to use my backup plan. Speaking of which, Andrea didn’t react at all just now. I thought she would at least stand up from the sofa or something.”

“T-To be honest… I was actually too scared to know what to do.”

Andrea lowered her head in embarrassment. Yisi waved her hand reassuringly.

“Anyway, it’s good that nothing happened. Let’s leave this place now.”

“Hey, you still haven’t explained what’s going on. Why couldn’t that old fossil see Andrea? I didn’t see you chant any magic.”

“It was just a small trick of the eye, making people in a specific direction see a specific scene. If the Pope had walked in your direction just now, Andrea would have been exposed. Due to the time constraint, I didn’t have a chance to use real illusion magic.”

“Illusion? You know illusion magic?”

Evelyn’s eyes widened slightly. It was the first time Yisi had seen a look of respect on her face.

“That’s right. It’s nothing special, really. If you have nothing else, I’ll be leaving now. Staying here is not good for the heart.”

“What is your purpose in coming to Mitters Bayer?”

Her voice held a new seriousness. Evelyn stood up and looked at Yisi’s back. Yisi sighed in resignation.

“Just a passing traveler. I’m not as mysterious as you think. Well then, that’s it.”

“Until we meet again, Your Excellency Evelyn.”

“Goodbye, Miss Evelyn~”

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After Andrea and Mary said their goodbyes to Evelyn, Yisi closed the door to the reception room. First, she used teleportation magic to send Andrea to the inn, then returned to the temple corridor and, leading Mary, left the central temple under the gazes of the paladins.

◇

A light snow began to fall on the city again. By the time Yisi and Mary returned to the inn, the sky was already dark. The air was filled with the aroma of dinner from the streets. Orange firelight shone through the residents’ windows, reflecting off the snow-covered streets and giving the entire city a peaceful glow.

Now, the group of seven was in different parts of the room. Yisi, Camilla, and Mary were sitting at the table trying Andrea’s cooking. Edith was holding a book with a slight frown, looking as if she had encountered a difficult problem. Refina stood by Edith’s side, and Tiffany was squatting in a corner of the room, doing something unknown.

“This is a dish I just learned recently, Lady Yisi. Even Boris, who has never supported my learning to cook, couldn’t help but nod after tasting it.”

Wearing thick cotton gloves, Andrea brought a pot of bubbling stew to the table.

Considering possible special needs, when Yisi checked into the inn, she had specially rented a room with its own kitchen and living room from the landlady. After Andrea arrived, it came in handy—the real dinner was already over. Now, everyone was just passing the boring time after the meal. Combined with the heavy snow outside in the dead of night, it had the atmosphere of a family gathered around a fireplace for warmth in winter.

Feeling the salty and savory flavor spread on the tip of her tongue, Yisi’s eyes lit up.

“Ooh! Andrea’s cooking is getting better and better. She used to only be able to make some desserts, but now she’s good at all kinds of dishes. She’s not inferior to Mary anymore.”

This stew was made with Maran red meat and the roots of Lesburg grass. The places of origin for these two ingredients were very far from the Blood Clan’s royal capital, so they would definitely not be fresh when they reached Andrea’s hands. But now, tasting it, it was exceptionally delicious. Plus, the feeling of the thick soup sliding down her throat into her stomach made Yisi feel much warmer all over.

Mary, who had also tasted it, rested her index finger on her chin and seriously gave her thoughts.

“This delicious taste… is very similar to the broth Master makes herself. Did you add soup made from stewed sea-blue grass to it, Miss Andrea?”

Sea-blue grass was a plant similar to kelp. Previously, Yisi had experimented with sea-blue grass and chicken to extract MSG and chicken essence, but both ended in failure. Out of desperation, she could only pour the soup made from stewed sea-blue grass into the meat broth to barely achieve the seasoning effect of MSG.

“Yes, I did. It’s just that there are no conditions to grow sea-blue grass in Alvier, so I was always trying to use other ingredients to replace it when I was in the royal capital. I recently finally found a suitable material and immediately added it to try. I’m so glad to have received the approval of Lady Yisi and Mary. What about you, Miss Camilla? How does it taste?”

For some reason, Camilla had tied her golden hair into a side ponytail like Refina’s today, giving her a refreshing new look.

Putting down her bowl, Camilla had a serious expression on her face.

“Barely passable.”

“Even Miss Camilla approves. My experiment was a success!” Andrea looked excitedly at Edith on the other side. “Lady Loiswell, would you like to try some too?”

“Me?” Edith closed her book, a hint of resignation on her delicate features. When it came to Andrea, she really couldn’t bring herself to be confrontational unless it was a critical moment. “If Father knew that I had enjoyed a dish personally cooked by Her Majesty the Queen, he would probably consider me the pride of the family… It’s not a bad thing.”

Edith walked to the table step by step, her hip-length white hair bouncing up and down behind her.

“Mm—a good taste, but it’s still a little way off from Yisi’s.”

“Ehehe… I’ve tried for two years and still haven’t surpassed Lady Yisi’s cooking skills. I’ll probably have to spend a few more years to catch up to Lady Yisi.”

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“Two years?”

As if she had noticed something, Edith frowned.

Andrea’s mouth fell open in a daze.

“Ah…” In her excitement, she had let it slip. Andrea quickly played dumb. “Ahaha, it’s nothing. Just a dream I had.”

“That’s a strange dream indeed.”

Seemingly full, Camilla put down her utensils. The clatter of the knife and fork against the plate was crisp.

“Onee-sama, did you and Mary run into any trouble at the temple today? I thought you would be back before noon.”

“Ah, that. Camilla, do you remember the novice priestess we met outside the city yesterday? The one named Shalu Ymir.”

“Yes. Did she give you a hard time today?”

Concern appeared on Camilla’s beautiful face. Yisi had a premonition that if she answered ‘yes’, Camilla would definitely not give Evelyn a pleasant look the next time they met.

Biting her fork, Yisi said indistinctly.

“…She didn’t give me a hard time. Shalu Ymir’s real identity is actually Evelyn Anna Ymir Shalu, the next Pope of the Ymir Church. On the way back, I asked around about her. She seems to enjoy playing pranks on people. The most common method is to pretend to be an innocent girl, put on a defenseless look, and deliberately pass through places like deep alleys and slums to lure people with ill intentions to attack, and then subdue them and reveal her identity as the next Pope for her own amusement.”

“Low-class humor.”

“Her actions will only shake the church’s righteousness in the hearts of the believers.”

Camilla and Edith each gave their opinions, especially Edith, who did not hide the contempt in her expression.

Yisi sighed.

“Don’t be fooled by her hobby. She’s actually a very sharp person, and her personality is better than I imagined. When the Pope suddenly barged in, her first reaction wasn’t to betray Andrea, but to help hide her.”

“Hoh, someone from the church helping the Blood Clan Queen. Could she be a spy planted in the human world by the previous queen, Alvier VI?”

“If that’s the case, how long must the previous queens have been planning this?”

Although the fact that Evelyn and Andrea had the same necklace was very suspicious, Yisi’s intuition told her that it had nothing to do with Andrea’s mother.

“Did she use her status to threaten you, Onee-sama? Is that why you stayed there until the afternoon?”

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Sitting obediently by Yisi’s side, Andrea took the initiative to answer for her.

“No, she didn’t. Lady Yisi was probably there because of me… I had told Lady Yisi before that I wanted her to pass a message to Evelyn. As a result, Lady Yisi brought me directly to the church’s territory and let me talk to Evelyn face-to-face about some past events, which is why it took so long. Although I was startled at first, I still have to thank Lady Yisi.”

“You’re not an outsider, Andrea. You don’t have to thank me. Besides, you’re only half right. Besides the matter with you, we also mentioned the magic medicine, the one made by mixing Camilla’s and Refina’s blood last time, the magic medicine that can allow a Tier 1 magic caster to use a Tier 2 spell.”

“You didn’t promise to give it to her, did you? You still refuse to tell me how to make it.”

“There’s a reason I’m not telling you. Besides, I didn’t promise her. Speaking of which,” Yisi looked at Tiffany, who had been squatting in the corner doing something unknown. Although she had said before that she would punish Tiffany, her anger had mostly dissipated after returning home. She only symbolically tapped Tiffany on the head. “What are you doing, Tiffany?”

Only two words came in reply. Tiffany didn’t even turn around.

“Mutation.”

“Huh?”

“The slime has mutated.”

Tiffany poked something on the ground with a wooden stick, turned around, and showed it to Yisi—a lump of black, viscous substance. If the Omniscient Map hadn’t reported that it was a slime, Yisi would have definitely mistaken it for a coal briquette.

Slimes were common creatures on the continent, and due to different living environments, their colors and habits also varied. So far, Yisi had only seen ochre, green, and blue slimes, never a black variety.

—It was worth mentioning that ochre slimes had no blood and tasted like chewing wax, while green and blue ones were mostly fruit and vegetable flavored. Tiffany was an anomaly among slimes.

Faced with a slime as unappealing as a coal briquette, even the adventurous Yisi had no desire to taste it.

“…Is there anything special about this slime?”

“Tiffany isn’t thinking of eating it, is she?”

Not just Yisi, but everyone else also looked at Tiffany with hesitant and distant gazes. But no one in the room expected Tiffany’s next move.

—Swinging the nearby stool, she smashed it directly onto the coal briquette slime.

With a smack, the coal briquette slime’s HP dropped to 0. But unlike ordinary slimes, the black slime did not turn into a puddle of liquid or scattered sand. Instead, it actively ejected its magic core from its body and turned into a piece of shaped, black substance.

Ignoring the magic core, Tiffany picked up the lump of black substance. To show it to Yisi, she held it up with both hands and pulled it forcefully to the sides. Then, she directly cut off a small piece with a dining knife and threw it into the nearby fire. The black lump quickly curled up and burned.

The luster reflected in the firelight and the familiar properties reminded Yisi of a certain material.

Rubber.