Volume 6, Chapter 70 – Like a Dream

Perhaps influenced by the imposing threat from Julius before he left, even the cardinals who disliked Evelyn didn’t dare to give her any more looks. As for the high-ranking priests and hunters, they found it inconvenient to show goodwill to Evelyn due to the cardinals’ attitude. At most, they could only cast encouraging glances at her as they left one by one.

Holding the divine staff and medal bestowed by Julius, Yisi, like Evelyn, sat in her place without moving. Although from her position, she could only see Evelyn’s back, she could still feel the emotions radiating from her entire body—joy, excitement, and a sense of accomplishment that was about to burst forth. If the occasion had allowed it, Evelyn might have already been running around the outer walls of Mitters Bayer. Even her shoulders were trembling slightly with joy.

One moment she was planning how to escape the church, and the next she suddenly learned that she was going to become the Pope, and it had been sealed with a thunderous momentum by Julius. This was like a person who had gone bankrupt from a small business and was forced to sell their house. They walk out of their home penniless, worrying about whether to spend the night under a bridge or someone’s eaves, when they suddenly find out they’ve won a multi-million-dollar lottery. The drastic ups and downs were enough to plunge anyone into ecstasy, and Evelyn’s joy would only be greater than winning a multi-million-dollar lottery.

After the vast main hall was left with only Yisi and Evelyn, before Yisi could take the initiative to congratulate her, Evelyn jumped up from her seat. The irrepressible joy spread throughout her body, an expression of surprise as if she wanted to shout out loud. Her lips even trembled with excitement.

“Yisi, tell me this is real!”

Her hands clasped tightly in front of her waist, happy, crystalline liquid began to well up in the corners of Evelyn’s eyes.

Yisi stood up with a helpless, wry smile.

“Yes, yes, it’s real. Julius wasn’t joking with you. You’re now the official 24th Pope, Evelyn. If you think you’re dreaming, I can help you confirm it.”

As she spoke, Yisi made a gesture as if to slap Evelyn. Of course, it was just a gesture. She wouldn’t actually hit her like Shinku had slapped Fran back at Margaret.

However, to Yisi’s surprise, Evelyn took a step forward on her own initiative, excitedly grabbed Yisi’s hands, and made Yisi slap her own face with a smack.

Smack.

“Ow, it hurts a little… but it really is real! Yisi, did you hear that!? That old fossil, no, Julius actually announced in public that I’m the Pope!”

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“Mm-hmm, you don’t need to confirm it with me again. You should probably think about what to say at the divine bestowment ceremony in three days, Evelyn—uh.”

Poof.

Before Yisi could finish, Evelyn threw herself at her without another word. As if to imprison her, her arms wrapped tightly around Yisi, the strength in her hands constantly increasing. She let out a joyous sound from her mouth and rubbed her cheek forcefully against her.

What was this? Even the mean-spirited, prank-loving, and competitive Evelyn could show such a lovely girlish side.

But even if she was so happy that she didn’t know what to say, she shouldn’t be acting like this in a place where she might be seen by others.

Her breathing became labored due to Evelyn’s embrace, and the wry smile on Yisi’s face deepened. Perhaps she should rephrase it. It was precisely because Evelyn was too excited that she had lost her habit of thinking calmly and had hugged her regardless of the occasion. It was worth noting that Yisi could feel that the emotion contained in this hug was different from that of Camilla’s or Andrea’s. Although it was equally intimate, it was just a hug between friends, without any meaning of demand or coquettishness, which would not make Yisi not know what to do.

This was for the best.

“This is great… this is great…”

There was a faint sob in Evelyn’s voice. Yisi’s body stiffened for a moment. The hand she had prepared to pat Evelyn’s back was raised and then lowered.

Now was not the time.

She would comfort Evelyn later.

Placing her hands on Evelyn’s shoulders, Yisi gently pushed her away. She took out a handkerchief from her pocket, her doll-like, exquisite face filled with helplessness.

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“You’d better put away this expression now. If the believers see it, they will surely think their Pope is not reliable enough.”

“…Mm.” Taking the handkerchief from Yisi and wiping her face, Evelyn raised her still-reddened eyes. After taking a few deep breaths and composing herself, as if she were shy, she turned her face towards the floor beside her and let out a soft “tsk.” “You have to keep this a secret for me.”

“Of course. Secrets can only be used at critical moments. If I have no gold coins in the future, I will use this to threaten you to fund me.”

“…You didn’t get that gem coin from Andrea this way, did you?”

Yisi’s joke made Evelyn’s former disdainful expression return.

“I told you, I exchanged it for an equivalent amount of gold coins. Julius said the divine bestowment ceremony is in three days. Aren’t you going to hurry and prepare, Evelyn? The preparation that was originally supposed to take a year has been shortened to three days. Even if many procedures are cut, it will still be very busy, right?”

“It’s the cardinals who are busy. I just need to think about what to say that day. But before that, ahem—” Evelyn deliberately coughed in a pretentious manner, took a few steps back, and walked to a position where her line of sight was level with Yisi’s. She slowly bowed to Yisi.

“—I must first thank you. If you hadn’t accompanied me, I wouldn’t have been able to annihilate the demons, let alone take this opportunity to display the divine-era magic and be discovered by Julius. The reason why Julius announced so quickly that I would succeed him is probably because I displayed a magic that only the Goddess has ever used. Besides this reason, I can’t think of a second thing that could make him suddenly change his mind. So I must thank you.”

Evelyn’s sudden solemnity made Yisi a little uncomfortable. She looked at Evelyn with an expression that said, “Is this one sick in the head?”

“Are you serious, Evelyn?”

“Of course I’m serious. Mmm—a verbal thank you is not enough to express my gratitude. Tell me, what do you want? Besides this body of mine that serves God, you can make any request. I will consider it on a case-by-case basis.”

“Hey, hey… shouldn’t it be ‘ask for anything, just name it’? Considering it on a case-by-case basis is too stingy.” A smile appeared on her face. Yisi walked to Evelyn’s side and waved her hand as if she didn’t care. “No need. I never thought of asking for a reward from you from the beginning. Besides, you’re one of the most beautiful girls. If I had to say, that hug just now was the best reward.”

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Yisi deliberately glanced at Evelyn’s bosom. Although the design of the priestess’s long dress was relatively conservative and did not deliberately emphasize the chest, Evelyn was so well-developed that even the priestess’s habit could not hide the charm contained within.

Evelyn pouted in disgust.

“Tsk, you’re still the same. You already have Andrea. Isn’t the Blood Clan Queen more attractive than a Pope like me?”

“That’s not necessarily true. Each has their own charm.”

Seemingly in a good mood, Evelyn did not retort Yisi’s teasing, but instead waved her hand at Yisi as if to shoo her away, her long, narrow deep-green eyes filled with an unconcealable smile.

“Alright, alright. You should go back too. Julius gave you more than one medal, right? Your companions might still be waiting for you at the inn.”

“Then what about you?”

“Me? Since I’ve already been acknowledged by Julius, I naturally have to go to the Tower of Ymir to offer my prayers to the Goddess. If the Goddess were to suddenly send down a divine punishment in these last few days, it would surely be interpreted by those bishops as the Goddess not wanting me to become the Pope. At least for these few days, let me offer my blessings to the Goddess properly. I swear, these are the few days I have been most grateful to the Goddess in my entire life.”

“How can you say that in front of the statue of the Goddess…”

Unable to resist glancing at the statue of the goddess behind Evelyn, her hands folded over her chest as if in prayer, Yisi had a premonition that if Evelyn really became the Pope, it would surely be the moment of lowest faith in the history of the church.

“Then what about the matter of the divine power? Even if you become the Pope, your divine power will still be gone. Unless you wear gloves all the time, you’ll be found out sooner or later.”

Having been hit on a key point, Evelyn was stunned for a moment, then showed a look of not having to worry. She propped her chin with a finger and tilted her head up slightly.

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“I’ve thought about this. It can be explained as the price of using the divine-era magic was to exchange it for my divine power. With this turmoil, I’ll just need to continue to embellish the power of the demons in the future, letting the people know that the demons are so powerful that they require the use of divine power as an exchange to eliminate them. This will not only shift their attention from my divine power to my actual achievements, but also increase my prestige. What do you think, Yisi?”

“Mm… I don’t have much to say. If you really want to implement this, those cardinals will surely not stand by and do nothing.”

“Then let them try. I don’t mind a reshuffle, letting more capable people come up. The old guys should go where old guys belong. They should rest.”

Should she say, as expected of that Evelyn? When she was swapping souls with Andrea, Andrea had restricted her from doing anything too outrageous. Now that she was about to get the opportunity to hold all the power, the church would surely be turned upside down in the future.

Realizing this, Yisi added before leaving the temple.

“No matter what, don’t do something as foolish as attacking the Blood Clan, okay? Even if you’re very familiar, Andrea won’t let you harm her people. Besides, I don’t want to see a conflict between you and Andrea.”

Evelyn waved her hand quickly as if annoyed.

“Yes, yes. Even for your sake, I won’t lay a hand on the Blood Clan. Besides, I don’t think I’ll live to see the church’s power be sufficient to attack the Blood Clan. Just unifying the two human kingdoms next to us will exhaust me. This is a task that Julius hasn’t completed in his entire life. I’ve heard him say in private that without a weapon that can turn the tide of a battle, humanity will never be able to be unified.”

“Is that so? Then he should abandon magic and choose fire…” ¹ piu piu!!!

“Fire?”

“It’s nothing. I just wanted to say that if you’re ever cornered by the kingdom and the empire, just come and find me. I’ll give you something useful.”