“Ah, you’re thinking something like this right now, aren’t you? ‘She’s just a pathetic girl with her head too far up in the clouds~'”
Serenity giggled mischievously at the Pope’s expression before speaking. The Pope sighed.
“…I wasn’t thinking it to that extent. Though I did think her head was in the flowers.”
“In the end, you were thinking it, weren’t you? Not that I particularly care though.”
With that, Serenity turned her back on the Pope again and began walking through the flower fields.
Her clear and beautiful figure was incredibly mysterious. As the Pope followed after her, he spoke.
“It’s overly idealistic talk. This conflict between the Goddess and Demon God has gone on for far too long. A fairytale ending where everyone lives happily ever after can’t possibly happen.”
“That might be true.”
“You know this and yet… With things continuing as they are, humanity is likely to be driven back. It’s no longer a simple war. It’s a survival competition. You, me, the kids in that mansion over there… If we lose to the demons, we might all die.”
“That’s right. Just thinking about it still makes my chest ache.”
“…Huh?”
A statement as if she had experienced such a thing before. When the Pope asked in disbelief, Serenity laughed as if realizing she’d made a mistake.
“Oops, slipped up. Yeah, if we lose, we might all die in the end.”
“…”
“But Grandma… No, Your Holiness knows too, right? The same goes for the demon race.”
“That’s…”
“We may call them the wicked spawn of the Demon God, but doesn’t the Pope who’s often been on the frontlines know? They bleed the same and have responsibilities too. They wield weapons to protect their homes, face the fear of death, and ultimately leave nothing behind as they die meaninglessly…”
“…”
“It’s always been this repeated reality… For humans and demons alike…”
After muttering something incomprehensible for a moment, Serenity smiled again as she turned back to the Pope.
“Your Holiness seems to want me to see reality, but I’m not some naive and ignorant girl, am I? Simply cycling through reality endlessly won’t change anything anyway. After all, isn’t it always those who dream of ideals that change the world? Like the heroes in stories.”
“…This world is reality, not a story.”
“No, the world itself is also a story. Whether it becomes a romantic fairy tale or a realistic tragedy depends on the people involved.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Sure? I already said it, didn’t I? I just believe. In a way, it’s close to faith.”
“…Belief alone won’t change the world. Especially if you just stay here doing nothing. To even attempt to change the world, you need to move.”
“Then how should I move?”
“…”
“What kind of movement would achieve my ideals?”
“Are you asking me that?”
“Well, I haven’t found the answer yet. Always been that way.”
As she kept wandering through the flower fields while saying that…
Looking at her like that, the Pope recalled when he first met her.
***
She was here back then too.
A flower field blooming with pure white flowers.
When he arrived upon hearing news of a powerful divine reaction one day, there was a vast expanse of pure white flowers.
-Ho… What is this…
The place used to be a wasteland. Seeing plants and flowers spread across an area where all life had once withered away left him quite perplexed.
It wasn’t just that either.
-…Ugh…
-…What’s that sound?
A sound like a baby’s babbling. Hearing that sound coming from the center of the flower field, the Pope approached.
-…A baby?
And sure enough, there was a baby there.
Surrounded by flowers and grasses as if protecting the pure white baby, the baby slept peacefully there.
The baby looked different from the norm. Unlike regular chubby babies, this one resembled a small fairy-like little girl because of its size.
Like a flower fairy child, one could say. Looking at such a child, he instinctively realized that this child was the cause of the miracle here.
Moreover, his own holy power was reacting to and amplifying around the baby. Feeling that life-filled energy, he couldn’t help but tremble. This truly was a great miracle.
-…Ughhh…
-!
Soon, the baby opened its eyes. His reflection appeared in those large and mysterious pure white pupils.
And soon, tears began welling up in the baby’s eyes.
-…Waaaah…
That was the first voice the girl who always smiles beautifully now gave to this world.
……
Afterwards, seeing the surrounding pure white flowers, the Pope named the baby “Serenity,” meaning the goddess of flowers, and began raising her secretly and carefully.
Deep down, the Pope regarded the baby as a reincarnation-like existence of the goddess. That’s why he raised her in secret, considering those who might covet her.
Still, the Pope marked Serenity as a symbol of the Holy Kingdom, the new saintess, and even a potential successor to himself as Pope. He believed she would lead humanity to salvation as a miraculous reincarnation of the goddess…
But starting from when exactly?
Once Serenity grew up under the Pope, she wanted to leave the Holy Kingdom.
She strongly expressed her desire to be with abandoned children at the place where she was born.
In any case, Serenity was like a daughter to the Pope. Ignoring her strong wish was difficult.
Thus, they built a huge mansion at the place where she was born, where the great miracle still remained, and gathered orphans from all over the world.
That’s how it is now.
“Serenity, I don’t understand why you’re being so stubborn.”
“…”
“While knowing all that… You’ll just sit here believing in nothing and do nothing? Is that really your will?”
At that question, Serenity stood still for a moment, looking up at the sky. Because of the blinding sunlight, Serenity raised one hand to slightly shield her vision.
“Your Holiness, have you ever believed in something?”
“…What do you mean suddenly?”
“Just a normal question. Have you ever believed in something, whether it’s the heaven above that may or may not exist, our goddess who only gives us revelations and power, or even a complete stranger?”
“…”
“Or, have you ever been believed in by someone?”
At Serenity’s question, the Pope thought silently for a moment.
Believed? He’s believed in god all his life. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be sitting on the papal throne now.
Been believed in? As the Pope, many people in the Holy Kingdom depend on him. Many people have placed their trust in him, and he’s always lived feeling the weight of that.
So naturally, he replied.
“Of course. I am the Pope after all, Serenity.”
“Do you think those beliefs are meaningless and vain?”
“…”
The Pope fell silent at that question, unable to answer.
For some reason… He couldn’t answer that question.
Why?
“You don’t, right? I think the same.”
“…”
“I believe that the world ultimately loves people.”
“Hmph…”
At that, the Pope unconsciously tried to refute it.
There are countless people abandoned by the world. Harsh nature often takes lives.
It’s an incredibly cruel world.
And yet, she believes the world loves people?
Though it wasn’t a thought a believer in god would have, the Pope was rather pragmatic.
Still…
“…”
Recalling their recent exchange, the Pope couldn’t say anything.
Facing the Pope’s silence, Serenity continued looking up at the sky and spoke.
“So I’m waiting.”
“…Waiting for what?”
“Hmm…”
“For someone I believe in?”
Upon seeing Serenity tilt her head with a vague smile, the Pope questioned.
“…Who is this person?”
***
Meanwhile, Ain (Saint John) escaped from Succubus Queen Lillian’s stronghold.
Tap, tap!
“Reaffirming, it’s quite a long journey ahead…”
-Rrrr!
“Yeah, Blacky. Without you, it would’ve felt much longer. I’m really grateful to you.”
-Rrrr!!
“Not happy with the name ‘Blacky’? Then we’ll go to a naming shop later and pick another one. Can’t help it, my naming sense is kinda bad.”
Currently, he’s traveling through the forest with his luggage on a black wolf ‘magic beast.’
Yeah, magic beast. Literally, an animal born imbued with mana.
They’re mainly raised by demons since their techniques for raising magic beasts are more advanced.
Generally, magic beasts imbued with mana are apex predators in the ecosystem and thus very hard to tame.
However, demons, having endured harsh times with internal conflicts and various problems until the Demon King appeared, developed diverse skills, especially among weaker sub-species who needed to survive.
One of those skills was raising magic beasts to borrow their strength instead of relying on their own.
Before Lillian’s appearance, succubi, who belonged to a weaker sub-species, tamed many magic beasts using their unique charm abilities to protect themselves. Hence, Lillian’s stronghold housed a variety of tamed magic beasts.
Ain—since it’s Ain’s body now, let’s just call him Ain—took a large wolf-type magic beast… temporarily called Blacky, who was in good condition and relatively obedient, and escaped from there.
It was an unavoidable choice. Lillian’s stronghold is located in demon territory. Of course, it’s quite far from human lands and the Holy Kingdom he originally belonged to.
Naturally, he couldn’t walk such a distance, so he needed a mount. And the result was…
-Rrrr!
Literally, he’s now riding a black wolf and galloping away.
Of course, since he originally had no horse-riding skills…
[Riding: Level 3]
“Still, being a player does have perks like this.”
Maybe because he became a player? Thanks to the status screen, simply starting to ride Blacky created and started developing a skill. Now he can ride smoothly.
Moreover, thanks to the unusually cooperative Blacky, Ain can easily embark on this long journey.
Honestly, at first, seeing only magic beasts and no horses in the stable, he just picked the strongest and most obedient one, but Ain began to genuinely feel immense gratitude and camaraderie towards Blacky.
“You’re better than most people. Let’s stick together forever.”
-Rrrr!
Blacky growled. Roughly meaning ‘okay.’
Tap, tap, tap!
With a wolf’s speed, Blacky quickly breaks through the forest. Moreover, thanks to the inherent robustness of magic beasts, he doesn’t get tired easily.
He’s the best mount. Plus, the fluffy fur provides a soft seat. It’ll be great to lean on it during camping.
‘Without Blacky, I’d probably be filming The Revenant.’
My life genre would’ve instantly turned into National Geographic. Maybe I’d have to travel hundreds of kilometers for six weeks like Hugh Glass.
Though, compared to Hugh Glass who suffered terribly and got torn apart by a bear, Ain’s situation with his cheat powers is much better.
‘Anyway, I wonder if anyone’s chasing me. Lillian must’ve sent pursuit teams…’
Meanwhile, riding Blacky, Ain thought about this.
Of course, his escape speed was extremely fast. The time stop he activated affected the entire castle area and nearby regions, lasting nearly a whole day.
During that time, packing up and escaping with Blacky, he’s moving out of demon territory much faster than the pursuers expected.
Moreover, since time stop allows choosing targets unaffected, Ain occasionally used it while excluding Blacky, allowing him to move quickly while everything else was frozen. Naturally, the pursuit team couldn’t catch up.
“…Well, I should be able to reach the Holy Kingdom smoothly like this.”
Honestly, even if problems arise, there’s no real worry. Wild game powers will handle it somehow.
Just avoid unnecessary trouble.
***
“Stop right there! Don’t move! I’ll turn you and that magic beast into Swiss cheese if you do!”
“Your mouth is the problem, buddy. Smooth sailing my ass.”
Looks like I’ll have to watch my words day and night from now on.
