“There is no need to be afraid.”
The priest leading us down the corridor to see the Pope was talking nonstop, but everything he said went in one ear and out the other. White-robed priests who appeared to be high-ranking clerics walked beside us. Some of them were the scum of the world in the original.
“We know that the gods will take care of us,” one of them said, “and against all the Disasters that have befallen the world, humanity has been able to stand firm.”
I kept my face stoic, hiding my desire to snort, wondering if you’d survive if I told the people of Bactin’s that. It was more likely he was talking for self-affirmation.
“Of course, all thanks to your heroic efforts against the Third and Fourth Disasters. This is the will of the gods.”
(You did a good job, you don’t have to be a god to be offended, Elroy.)
The Holy Sword comforted me. The clueless priest was nodding to himself.
“Anyway, thank you again for stepping up to the plate, Hero. It’s not just for the Holy Land; it’s for all of humanity. Sometimes I envy you, Marianne.”
Marianne glanced at me, then turned away again. The priest led us on, not caring if his words were ignored.
“Now, this is the place. His Holiness will be waiting for you inside.”
Two paladins in cumbersome-looking armor guarded the door to the reception room. They didn’t move or speak, just staring at me like statues.
“God bless you, Hero.”
The priest said and walked away. When the gatekeepers showed no sign of moving, I approached the door. It swung open as if it had never been closed, and I walked past the gatekeepers and into the pure white marble of the reception room.
The Pope sat at the far end of the room. I’d been told he was not the best-looking, and it was true. His hair was bleached white. The eyes that lurked beneath his pale eyebrows were piercing, with deep dark circles beneath them. A sharply curved hawk’s nose under his eyes looked similar to the actual animal.
“It’s good to see you, Hero.”
The Pope’s voice was rough. I bowed politely and looked at him. He sighed and gestured to a chair.
“Please take a seat, but first, thank you so much for coming here.”
The Pope greeted each party member and then came to the table where I was sitting. He didn’t have the majesty of a monarch, but the aura he exuded told me he was a force to be reckoned with.
“The Kingdom has been quite busy lately, so you’ll have to forgive me for appearing in such a shabby state.”
“What do you shabby? It is just the signs of a busy man.”
The Pope had just been working. His eyes flickered as if it bothered him, but he quickly abandoned it and turned to me.
“With a Disaster in the Holy Land and the current chase of the doomsday situation, it’s not a good situation, to say the least. I have way too much on my hands now.”
Well, I didn’t mind the Pope’s grumpy attitude. At least he wasn’t out to test me like that guy up north.
“Hasn’t Bishop Andrei been bothering you before to help with the doomsday cult? That basta… no, the Bishop did it on his initiative and reported it to me, so maybe he hasn’t bothered you since then.”
“…No. He’s been a great help to me, and so has Marianne.”
“Well, I’m glad to hear that, then. Please, if he gives you any trouble, let me know. Right now, he’s running around in snow up to his eyes, trying to catch heretics.”
I have a rough idea of what Bishop Andrei is like in the Holy Land. He probably owns about a tenth of the shares in the Pope’s dark circles under the eye.
“Well, I suppose I’d better cut the formalities short and tell you what’s going on because we’ll have to deal with this as soon as possible.”
The Pope was uncharacteristically quick and reasonable.
“I don’t know when it started, but that ‘fog’ has now swallowed half the Holy Land and is lingering in the territory. We’ve managed to keep the rest of us safe, but we don’t know when or how it might approach, so we’ve kept a watchful eye on it, and it doesn’t seem to be advancing at the moment.”
The Pope glanced at the window.
“Contact with the fog has been strictly off-limits. We don’t know how far it extends, we don’t know where it can reach, we don’t know its features, we don’t know what’s going on in there, and we don’t want to imagine what’s going on in the half of the land that has been devoured by it.”
With that, the Pope lifted his teacup and sipped his tea.
“To be honest, I have no idea how to prepare for it, so all I can do now is hope that the fog doesn’t come upon us out of nowhere. I don’t know if I’m lucky or unlucky that I don’t have a monster rampaging….”
“You did the best you could. You couldn’t have handled it any better.”
How to deal with the Mist? Building a wall won’t stop it, and shooting magic at it won’t disrupt it. The only way to deal with this Disaster is to force it to use up the magic that sustains it. Once it is exhausted, the fog will disperse and disappear on its own.
“Do you have any ideas, Hero?”
“Not that there aren’t any.”
I dismounted. I planned to let it use all its mana, but if the Mist came into contact with people, it would drain their magic and use it as fuel. In other words, the people in the fog are slowly dying and most likely not dead yet.
“Before I tell you how I’d like to look at the situation.
“By all means.”
The Pope jumped to his feet, his eyes lighting up as if he were pleased with my words– or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that they glowed.
“Let’s see it together because it’s better if I tell you in person.”
The Pope left the interview room. An escort quickly followed him.
“Where are you going, Pope?”
“I’m going to check on the state of the Mist. You should see it, too.
His stride was faster than I’d expected, uplifted by the news that there was a way out or glad to be out of the fray for a while.
The Pope’s breath puffed out of his mouth as he walked. We came to a place where nothing was left but a region of white. Beyond it, an all-too-familiar presence lurked in its depths. A terrifyingly ominous power. I gripped the hilt of my Holy Sword.
“…Beyond that, there was a town. It was mainly an alley where the priests lived, but a few lay people also lived there. It was also a land of small farming and grazing areas.”
The Pope said grimly.
“I hate to think that all of them are dead. I can’t even begin to imagine how far the fog spreads. What happened to all the kingdoms and duchies beyond the Holy Land.”
The Mist stood before us like a wall. From the ground to the sky, it was as if we were looking at a reinforced “border.” A pure white, deep, hazy smoke that refused to let us see ahead. Like a swirling vortex, the fog was constantly reshaping itself in place.
We moved a little closer to the fog.
“It’s… the Mist.”
Daphne looked at the fog with fear, then stretched her arm to touch it. As soon as I saw it, I instantly gathered all the mana in my body to pull her back.
“You can’t touch it!”
I grabbed Daphne’s wrist, her eyes wide with fright. Luckily, I pulled her away before she came into contact with the fog. I looked at her as I dragged her backward a few steps away.
“The moment you make contact, you’ll disappear into the fog. The Mist will recognize you instantly and eat you, and there’s no way we’ll be able to find you.”
I warned, lowering my voice.
“Never take more than one step closer to the fog. And neither should anyone else.”
Daphne nodded, her face blank. I breathed a sigh of relief and let go of Daphne’s wrist. Daphne was rubbing her wrist.
“…I’m sorry, I had to stop you.”
“It’s okay. I’m the one who’s sorry, Elroy….”
The Pope was looking at me in surprise.
“…You seem to know quite a bit about that, Hero.”
“I found out by accident.”
Daphne spoke up cautiously from the side.
“I couldn’t read the flow of magic at all. The fog somehow blocked my mana, and I have no idea what’s happening there. From the outside, it’s like a whole other world we can’t interfere with.”
The Pope nodded nervously, then spoke up.
“Why don’t we tie a person to a rope and send them in so that if it’s an emergency, we can just pull the thread or line and get them out.”
Daphne shook her head.
“At that moment, the string and everything connected to it would be sucked into the Mist together. An isolated world wouldn’t fall to tricks like that. There’s no way to do anything about it from the outside.”
“…God.”
The Pope sighed. The Mist seemed to be closing in on us at any moment.
“Is there anything you can do about it?”
The Pope looked at me, and I nodded. I wasn’t entirely confident, but I did know there was a way to take it down.
“Yes. We can do it.”
The Pope stared at me, then let out a short sigh.
“…I’ve been hesitant to tell you anything since the crown incident, but I’d like to invite you to come with me to the Reliquary; perhaps there are some Holy Relics that you might find useful.”
I shook my head. The Pope raised an eyebrow in surprise, and the party around me looked at me curiously.
“I’m fine.”
I looked at my companions behind me. I had already crossed the line of being powerful without relics. I have the Holy Sword, the power of the crown, and, in the worst cases, my dual-wielding. My body is strong enough to withstand the Giant’s fist. Some relics can help me, but there is probably no relic to help me fight the Mist.
“I would be very grateful if you could lend one of your relics to each of my companions on my behalf.”
“Elroy.”
Georg and Daphne looked at me in surprise, and I shrugged, one corner of my mouth twitching upward. You guys are definitely in need of a power boost.
“This time, we don’t have the help of someone as powerful as the Northern Archduke. You need to get stronger, don’t you think?”
At my words, Georg smiled bitterly and nodded.
“…Yes. It can’t hurt to be stronger.”
I turned to look at Marianne, who was unimpressed, staring at me as usual. I nodded to her and then looked back at the Pope.
“If you don’t mind, Your Holiness.”
The Pope raised an eyebrow and looked me in the eye, then dropped his gaze and shook his head slowly.
“Of course, I will allow it. Whether I lend you three or four won’t make much difference, so why don’t you look around?”
Opening his eyes again and looking at me, the Pope’s eyes seemed to pierce through me. I met the gaze, and he shook his head again as if he couldn’t win and started to walk away.
“Follow me. I’ll take you right away.”
