Volume 6, Chapter 27 – The Unnoticed Conspiracy

Stepping into the central temple, her vision went dark. After her eyes adjusted to the darkness, a magnificent and luxurious palace instantly appeared before her. Perhaps affected by last night’s explosion, the central temple was filled with several times more believers than the previous day. They knelt neatly in the center of the main hall, facing the statue, listening to the teachings of a cardinal below it. The solemn and dignified environment was no different from yesterday.

Led by a paladin, Yisi’s group followed the wall, circling from behind the believers to the inner side of the main hall.

“Miss Evelyn is much gentler than that old grandpa. Why are there more people today than yesterday?”

Whispering, Mary looked at Yisi in confusion.

Oh, Mary. It would be a huge mistake to believe that Evelyn is that kind of gentle big sister. She’s clearly a demon crawled up from hell—deliberately showing a weakness, then luring bandits to attack her, and when the bandits think they’ve hit the jackpot and are gloating, she suddenly reveals her identity and captures them all, enjoying their expressions of shock and their pleas for mercy. Only a little devil would take pleasure in such things.

Due to the paladin beside them, Yisi did not expose Evelyn’s true face to Mary. Evelyn answered Mary’s question.

A flawless smile hung on her face.

“Because of the magic fluctuations from the Tower of Ymir last night, everyone felt uneasy, so they came to the temple today to offer their prayers to the Goddess.”

“Miss Evelyn, what are magic fluctuations?”

“Outsiders call it an explosion.”

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“Eh? Was there an explosion last night?”

Did this one sleep like the dead?

Yisi couldn’t help but envy Mary’s quality of sleep. She was the type who woke up easily. Unless she had done a lot of physical activity during the day, she would be awakened by any slightly loud noise at night.

Evelyn patiently explained.

“Last night, His Holiness held an oracle ceremony, borrowing the power of the Tower of Alexia to request a divine oracle from the Goddess to guide the believers in their future direction. However, some unforeseen problems were encountered during the process, and the Tower of Ymir subsequently experienced magic fluctuations, which ultimately led to the failure of the oracle ceremony. Since the sun came out, this is already the sixth batch of people to listen to the sermon.”

“You have your difficulties too.” Looking at the cardinal holding the doctrine and standing under the statue, Yisi cast a look of sincere sympathy. He had been standing without rest since the morning and had to soothe the anxieties of batch after batch of believers. Just thinking about it felt exhausting. “But since it’s such an urgent time, why is His Holiness the Pope willing to see us? To His Holiness, Mary and I aren’t even believers. Instead of seeing us, shouldn’t His Holiness be rep—adjusting the Tower of Ymir?”

She almost said ‘repairing’. If she had, she would surely have been considered disrespectful. In fact, the paladin at the very front almost stopped in his tracks at Yisi’s words.

“Are you not happy that His Holiness is granting you an audience? Julius managed to find the time with great difficulty.”

While saying this, Evelyn pouted, clearly not meaning what she said. Yisi could even imagine that if it were just the two of them now, Evelyn would have said, “Who knows why that old fossil would grant you an audience.”

Yisi couldn’t help but lift the corners of her mouth.

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Passing through an enclosed corridor, the group stopped in front of a simple, unadorned wooden door. The Omniscient Map showed that Julius was in the room. Evelyn waved her hand, having the paladin stand guard by the door, then directly turned the doorknob and walked into the room.

Except for a statue of the goddess on the table, the room was no different from the reception room Evelyn had taken Yisi to before. Julius, wearing his white round cap, was standing with his back to the door by a large floor-to-ceiling window, looking down from a height of several tens of meters. His graying hair turned a platinum blond under the warm winter sun. His withered and wrinkled skin was exceptionally old. Coupled with his slightly stooped body, it reminded one of a dying tree branch, as if it would break with a light touch.

But this was only on the surface. The actual Julius was level 58, and his strength was not to be underestimated.

It was worth noting that although a person’s lifespan in this world would lengthen with an increase in level, the bonus was not particularly outrageous. Even for those who had surpassed the hero’s domain—level 60 and above—they would at most have a lifespan of about a hundred years. A human like Julius, whose lifespan exceeded two hundred years, was definitely an anomaly. Apart from those unfortunate ones sealed in ice coffins, Julius was currently the longest-lived human.

“His Holiness the Pope looks much older today…”

Mary muttered in a voice that the Pope wouldn’t hear, but as if he had sensed it, Julius slowly turned around.

“Didn’t I tell you to knock before you enter?”

“You’d know we arrived when we reached the door anyway. Don’t you often just push the door open and come in, like yesterday?”

‘Yesterday’ must be referring to when Evelyn was meeting with her. If she hadn’t reacted quickly enough, Andrea would have definitely been discovered by Julius, who had entered directly.

Evelyn waved her hand quite casually.

“I’ve brought the person to you—hmm?”

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Her voice suddenly rose a notch. Evelyn noticed that something was wrong with Julius. The turned-around Julius was staring straight at Yisi, his eyes hidden behind wrinkles as sharp as swords, making one’s skin crawl.

For a moment, Yisi had the feeling that she had been seen through. But Julius made no move, and Yisi did not act rashly either.

The tense atmosphere quickly dissipated. Julius slowly walked around Evelyn and came before Yisi and Mary.

“You are the ones Evelyn mentioned, who came from the Hels Kingdom and wished to see me? We have already met yesterday.”

His smile was exceptionally kind. Perhaps it was a psychological effect, but Yisi always felt that the Pope’s words had a hidden meaning. Coupled with his gradual approach to Mary, a trace of nervousness grew in her chest.

“Y-Yes, Your Holiness is so busy, yet I made the request to see you… I’m sorry. O-Originally, it would have been enough to just admire you from a distance…”

Very nervous, Mary clutched the hem of her skirt and stammered. But this eased the tension in Yisi’s heart.

Even if Julius made a strange move, she would be able to react before Mary was hurt.

“It’s alright,” Julius squatted down, keeping his line of sight level with Mary’s, “Putting aside my status in the church, I am very fond of… what is your name?”

“Mary.”

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“Is that so? Putting aside my status as the Pope, I am very fond of innocent and lovely children like you, Mary. With such beautiful hair and eyes, you must have been blessed by the Goddess at birth.”

Mary’s hair had been specially combed by Yisi before they entered, completely covering her short, pointed half-elf ears, so Julius had not discovered it.

Julius’s gaze soon fell on Mary’s left eye. Mary’s red left eye had always been covered by a bandage. Although it did not affect her cuteness, it easily attracted the attention of those around her.

“Your eye… were you injured?”

“N-No.”

Mary subconsciously took half a step back.

Besides the ability she would use when she picked up a weapon, Mary’s other ability was to see a person’s remaining lifespan. However, because using the ability would turn her red eye into a cat-like vertical pupil, and because the ability to see a person’s remaining lifespan could easily attract people’s resentment, making them think that Mary was an ominous person, Mary had never used this ability since being taken in by Yisi. This, like her half-elf ears, was a taboo subject.

“If you are injured, I can help you heal it here. However, your appearance suggests there is another reason. If you need healing magic in the future, you can come directly to the temple. Seeing such a vibrant child, I also feel as if I have become young again.”

Smiling kindly, Julius’s gaze then fell on Mary’s purple right eye. A hint of barely perceptible thought flashed in his dark eyes.

“That’s a rare color. Do either of your parents have purple eyes?”