成人本色

I nervously grabbed my left hand and made motions to pull something.

The Spirit King’s Harp String was pulled tight.

After a while, Thesilid, which turned its back on the castle just before it disappeared, was found at the end of the bridge.

“Sorry. I stayed in the rear to make sure no one was left behind.”

“Just run for it!”

Kwagwagwang!

The center of the bridge I stood on began to collapse.

<Ellet!>

Right then I felt a firm arm snatching my waist and in the meantime, my vision was engulfed in light.

The subspace spat me out into the real world. Only then did I realize that I had passed through the gate safely.

“Sigh…”

A long breath came out of itself as the tension was relieved. Looking around, the knights seemed to be of the same mind, sitting down on the ground and consoling each other.

“Oh, god……”

“Li-lived.”

“Ha, we almost fell into the garbage dump in the Demon World……”

I glanced up to the side.

Thesilid’s face was clean, showing no signs of any tension of losing his life to a dangerous situation.

“Is it because you’re a regressor?”

“What?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

I waved my left hand.

Then, the Spirit King’s Harp String, which had been tied to Thesilid’s left arm to prevent missing children, was recovered.

“Thank you, Eli.”

“Glad you know it.”

Then Clovis and Rex, who had finished catching their breath, came this way.

The two captains looked at each other, and one of them opened his mouth reluctantly. It was Clovis.

“Your Grace, congratulations on successfully completing the first subjugation.”

“Thank you. The Sirs also had a hard time following me.”

“Now that we have to report the subjugation to the Council of Cardinals, how about returning to the Vatican with us?”

I could feel the fear that I would disappear again taking only Thesilid with me.

I laughed lightly without even realizing it. Perhaps interpreting my reaction incorrectly, Rex hurriedly stepped forward.

“A residence for The Holy One has been carefully prepared inside the Vatican. You will love it when you see it.”

“Well, I don’t know about that. Are you going to give me a single room for priests on probation like last time?”

“……Hick.”

“It’s just a joke.”

“Haha, yo-you are a mischievous person, Your Grace. Ha ha ha ha ha.”

Last time, I only escaped from the Vatican because the aftereffects of Descent of Divinity could not be discovered.

This time, there was no particular reason to not go to the Vatican. As Clovis said, there was also the matter of meeting the Council of Cardinals.

“Hmm.”

When I was pretending to be worried about what to do, Thesilid stepped up.

“With all due respect to the Holy One, I will personally take her to the Vatican. The two Orders of paladins should return first.”

“Thesilid.”

“Hold on, Sir Thesilid. Why do you have to……”

Clovis and Rex called him sternly as if asking why he was sticking his nose in someone else’s business. If that’s the case, I can’t help but take sides.

“Our Sir Thesilid says so. You can go first, Captains.”

“……I understand, Your Grace.”

“I would appreciate it if you could return as soon as possible……”

“Yes, I won’t stay out overnight.”

Clovis and Rex looked really relieved with just this promise. Apparently, I am the Saint with the lowest expectations ever.

[‘The Critic who adjusts the balance’ says that you have done well to make a bad first impression from the beginning.]

[‘The World-building God’ demands correction of treatment by overpowering them.]

The Knights Templar and the Knights of Grace lined up and politely bowed to me.

Soon, the transition stones were broken here and there in the groups, erasing their appearance from my sight.

Alone with Thesilid, I looked up at him.

“Do you have something to say?”

Thesilid smiled instead of affirmation and started to talk.

“About the next dungeon.”

“Yes.”

“Can I choose it?”

“Of course. Which dungeon do you want to go to?”

In fact, there are only a few S-class dungeons open at this point.

Among them, if it is a dungeon that makes the protagonist of the 17th episode motivated to move first……

Thesilid’s lips twitched and I silently nodded my head at the expected answer.

✠

Upon returning to the Vatican, I was immediately summoned to the Council of Cardinals to report on the subjugation. The two knight captains, Clovis and Rex, were also there on standby.

The Hall of the Council of Cardinals had the feel of an amphitheater.

A total of 10 people, five each from the Ministry of Prosecutor and the Ministry of Doctrine, greeted me while sitting on the terraced chairs.

Among them was the Minister of Prosecution, Vesalius Argent, and the Minister of Doctrine, Dekal Revanice.

“Begin.”

The report came through the mouths of Clovis and Rex.

I only had to stand still and make sure they didn’t say nonsense.

Fortunately, they talked about what happened in the dungeon based on their objective memories.

A dungeon trap that was triggered due to Sir Senail’s mistake, the story of Thesilid killing most of the army of snow specters, the story of procuring food and feeding the two orders of paladins, the story of entering the boss room alone with me and coming out safely, etc. During this time, the cardinals could not hide their confused eyes.

They hoped that the Saint would realize that a subjugation party of only two people for S-class dungeons was not enough and asked for help.

However, it seems that it was very regrettable that it did not go as they expected.

In order, it seemed that a reprimand had to be made for Sir Senail and Captain Clovis, but the cardinals exchanged glances with each other and skipped it, agreeing to do it later.

It seemed like they were trying to do their incoherent faction fight in my absence.

A cardinal asked me with a tone tinged in light disbelief.

“Your Grace, did you really subdue the Snow Queen alone?”

“Yes. Sir Thesilid tanked and I dealt damage. Didn’t you see the evidence? A series of magic books of Ice Magic.”

Where else would an S-class skill book drop from if it weren’t for an S-class boss?

Oh, sadly, this skill book was not in my hands at the moment.

As long as I belong to the Vatican and carry out subjugation activities, item distribution must follow the rules of the Vatican. All resources acquired in the dungeon are first taken and appraised by them and then distributed to subjugation participants with the exception of 1/3 that is passed to the Vatican in the pretext of donation.

<In my time, it was half of the spoils. I envy you……>

“……”

There is not much demand for magic books in the Holy Country, so the appraisal value will be smaller and the liquidity will be bad.

The day when distribution money would come into my hands seemed distant.

“Your Grace, can you explain what happened in the boss room in more detail?”

“Yes, of course.”

The series of steps to subjugate the Snow Queen was explained along with strategies.

I also spoke in detail about the fact that there was a real boss who ruled the area, and that we had to stage a desperate escape from the ice castle because she forcibly closed the dungeon.

Then an old blond cardinal asked in a cold voice.

“The real boss of the dungeon was the Mirror Princess, not the Snow Queen?”

“Yes. A demon in the form of a teenage girl.”

“Then I wish to ask your Grace a question……”

“Please speak.”

“Strictly speaking, the Holy One was not able to subdue the owner of the dungeon, right?”

Wow, are you going to come out like that?

“Your honor, Cardinal Carnoil.”

Thanks to Clovis’ low calling, I learned the name of the cardinal who had made the bold statement.

I smiled.

“No. Strictly speaking, if we had subjugated the Mirror Princess, it’s correct to count it as two S-ranks.”

“Subjugation is based on the number of dungeons closed, Your Grace.”

“According to what you said, we must agree that the subjugation was even more successful. One of the dungeons closed and disappeared.”

“Your Grace wasn’t the one who closed it…”

It seems he was trying to turn the discussion around using a fragmentary rebuttal.

I cut it off because it wasn’t worth listening to anymore.

“I risked my life to subjugate the dungeon and you still won’t give me the credit? Did Cardinal Carnoil find a boss ranked 401st in the Demon World a funny pun?

“I fail to comprehend what Your Grace means with that information.”

“Yes. I think you have no idea what I mean, so I’ll have to explain in detail. In order to make it more realistic, I will compare it with a recent Boss that everyone knows in The Vatican. Eleon O’Drek, the owner of the Demon Sword, was in the mid-500 rank at best. The Snow Queen is much stronger than he was. Do you understand now?”

“……!”

Was he that impressed by my well-thought-out words? Cardinal Carnoil’s eyes widened and trembled.

<Why such a strong reaction?>

Something was a little strange, so I questioned it as well, but Clovis whispered softly next to me so that only I could hear.

“Excuse me, Your Grace.”

“……Why?”

“I don’t know if you know but……Cardinal Carnoil’s last name is O’drek…”

Oops.

Carnoil was Eleon’s father?!

<Oh, come to think of it, they do look alike, right?>

[‘The Critic who adjusts the balance’ admires your immoral skills of ad-libbing insults.]

‘No, why is this immoral ad-libbing!’

[‘The Critic who adjusts the balance’ asks back, if referring to a dead child in front of their parents is not immoral, what is.]

[‘The Spoiler Inspector’ agrees that talking about dead parents to their children and dead children to the parents has the same results.]

[‘The Eyes that watch over the chaos of all things’ says the mood is as heavy as tree whole days of stillness.]

(Note: So, the word used here is a specific slang word – immoral ad-lib- that means, ‘Using the parents or family to insult someone’, like ‘Your Mom is as fat as an elephant.’ Or, ‘Your common sense is dead, like your Dad.’)

But no one ever said anything to me.

Cardinal Carnoil seems to have judged that he went too far first, in the meantime, Minister of the Doctrine Decal, who was on the same side as him, started damage control.

“That’s enough for the subjugation report. Thank you very much for your hard work, Your Grace the Holy One.”

“Ah, yes.”

When a polite answer jumped out without me knowing, Decal spoke benevolently, adjusting his refined monocle.

“Then, now that you’ve returned to the Vatican, let’s discuss the duties of a Saint.”

“A Saint’s duty? What is that?”

“It is to preach the gospel by officiating a sacrament and managing confessions every week at the main chapel of the Vatican, making pilgrimages to churches all over the country, and providing healing services to those in need.”

“Ah, that one.”

As I nodded my head, Decal’s face became even more benevolent.

“There is nothing you do not know about the rules and traditions of the Vatican. Indeed, Your Grace the Holy One is a full-fledged Saint. So when will you start the pilgrimage……”

“Please have another Saint do it.”

“……What?”

Not only Decal, but all the cardinals shared a blank face.