Chapter Sixty: Hesitation
The night was soft and balmy.
In the northern part of the Order Royal City, near the bustling shops by the lower reaches of the Sabel River, cargo boats were busy arriving and departing, the banks illuminated by lights. Goods poured in from the docks, heavy wooden crates were moved by workers, shouting foremen dashed about, and the whole scene was a cacophony of chaos and urgency.
A few dozen meters from the riverbank, on a stone step, a girl sat cross-legged, cradling an umbrella in her arms. One hand propped her chin while her feet rested beside a half-plate of sliced honeydew. With her right hand, she lifted a piece and took a big bite, munching away as she stared blankly at the hustling people on the shore. Her eyes looked a little lazy, as if she were tired or just waking up, but inside her mind was working a mile a minute. After a moment, she pouted and spat out several melon seeds with a “puh puh puh.”
The seeds flew a few meters away, landing on the stone beach, getting wedged between rocks. The girl noticed and frowned, looking as if she was dissatisfied with something. With another big bite of honeydew, she quickly chewed while glaring at the pebbled shore. “Glug glug,” she swallowed the pulp and juice, and then inhaled sharply, tilting her head back—
Puh!
A few seeds shot out of her mouth, flying two to three meters farther and nearly disappearing into the night.
At last, she was satisfied.
But before her sweet smile could fully bloom, she recalled the worrying thoughts lingering in her mind, her expression tightened, brows furrowing as she took another bite of honeydew, slipping back into contemplation.
Today, I saw Angel, and he delivered some rather unpleasant news.
“The situation in Silgaya might not be as smooth as expected.”
When he met me, he seemed a bit distracted. Though he maintained his usual laid-back demeanor, he no longer started the conversation with irritating banter but got right to the point.
“A group of rather abnormal scoundrels has shown up, and their leader has me a little worried… I never thought it would be him, the maniac who turned Eastern Continent upside down over twenty years ago and has been missing since, the biggest headache for the Gate of Truth. I remember that not long after the great demon’s d*ath, this lunatic was severely injured while fighting Mr. Ryan. Since then, he vanished, and we all thought he was dead…”
“This news just reached me. If what’s been said is true, it’s going to get messy. That lunatic is reckless, and in terms of destruction, he’s even worse than the Abyss… I worry that the people currently dispatched over there won’t be enough to handle the situation. The Church has plenty of issues to solve right now: ensuring stability in the Royal City, stabilizing the Valen Empire, dealing with the fallout from Nero’s d*ath, and a new cardinal hasn’t even been appointed yet. A lot of work has been put on hold, and just recently, a plague broke out in the southwest… It’s a pile of trouble; I can’t pull more people over there, so I’ll be heading there in two days.”
“As for you… I suggest you stay in the Royal City. Honestly, I’m not afraid of you getting mad, but after the fight with Nero, you’ve consumed the Fire of Sin. You now possess a new power that surpasses the Abyss, a miracle gifted by the Goddess of Sin… Actually, it would be better to call it divine strength—the primal energy of a deity. Such divine power doesn’t come from a ceremony like ours, where we rely on faith to request miracles from great beings. And it’s not like the Gate of Truth, where using it costs bl**d and life to wield power that doesn’t belong to you.”
“Little Black Charcoal, you’ve utilized the characteristics of the Abyss or perhaps even transcended them, directly siphoning the ‘medium’ from divine relics. This is unprecedented. You could say your very existence is a miracle… I know this sounds convoluted and is hard to comprehend, but it’s the truth. We have no idea what’s happening; you just unwittingly consumed the relics and turned yourself into one… Uh, I’m not insulting you.”
“What I mean is, you are now a sentient, mobile divine relic. Your body has become an outstanding vessel, even surpassing the ‘Dragon Bones.’ You’ve acquired divine power, although that power might not mean much to greater beings for now.”
“But this is the direction the Gate of Truth has been pursuing all along.”
“In this direction, no one can say with certainty what kind of problems will arise… because everything is unknown, right? You understand that much, don’t you? The heretics still haven’t succeeded, and even when they have, the Church knows nothing about it. I haven’t said much during this time, but I’ve been observing you, keeping tabs on your situation at the academy. You seem fine, everything looks normal, well, at least it appears that way.”
“Maybe you think you’re fine too, but as the Pope, I have to consider a few more things, be a bit more cautious. ‘Safe’ is not a term you’d attach to your situation… That might make you uncomfortable, but I’m just being honest with you, Little Black Charcoal. This is precisely why I’ve delayed leaving the Royal City.”
“I worry something might happen to you, and if anything does go awry, those within the Church who can handle it—who could ensure they wouldn’t truly harm you unless absolutely necessary—well… there’s basically just me… Margaret might care, but she’s not good at dealing with these things and wouldn’t be able to withstand your full power.”
“I’m telling you this without limiting your actions because I want us to remain in this happy phase… No matter what you think, I see you as one of my own. I don’t want any rifts between us. To put it bluntly, I believe that nurturing our relationship through emotions is far more effective and reliable than relying on forceful measures. In fact, the Church struggles to impose any strict methods to restrict or deal with you.”
“If I were to sugarcoat it, I’m not as stuffy and overly cautious as certain old hardliners. I don’t possess the arrogance and self-importance they do, and I think we can be friends—good friends, even to the point of sharing a bed wouldn’t be out of the question.”
As soon as he finished that line, I jumped onto the table and punched him.
“…Considering the factors I just mentioned, I should be leaving now, and it’s even more imperative I take you with me. But just as I feared, you’ve already stepped onto the path that the Gate of Truth has long sought but failed to grasp. If they find out about this, discover that you’ve absorbed divine power, well, you can imagine what might happen… The heretics would stop at nothing, targeting you and even your family and friends.”
“So my suggestion to you is to stay in the Royal City… I know you’re worried about the safety of that village, but I hope you’ll leave those matters to me. Stay here, go to classes at the academy—this environment is much better for you than running off to Silgaya to cross swords with a bunch of lunatics. After I leave, if anything unexpected happens, go find Queen Elizabeth. I’ll have spoken to her; she knows what to do… Actually, she’s sought me out a few times since she woke up, asking about you.”
“She’s a clever woman, and it’s hard to fool her, so I let slip a bit about… Don’t be scared; don’t worry. She thinks you just accidentally gained power from the Abyss, that’s all I promise.”
“Thinking back, her attitude towards you is… a bit strange. I don’t know what it is; it just feels like she cares for you like a lovesick girl, which isn’t her style, but it really gives off that vibe… Oh, I’m rambling.”
“Anyway, that’s the gist of it. No bad news has come from Silgaya yet, which is a good thing, but it may be temporary. There are two Pope Knights on the Mosuri Coast; one is nearly top-tier. Compared to Carlos, she’s not lacking, possibly just a bit behind him in technique, but she’s ruthless—a hero who crawled out from a pile of corpses. Although she lacks experience dealing with heretics, she’s there, so things shouldn’t be too dire.”
“One important issue is that the bl**d Pearl you mentioned seems to have fallen into the hands of the Gate of Truth. The archbishop stationed at the Northeast Coast couldn’t stop the enemy, and that’s my biggest concern right now. What their plans are with that thing, when they’ll act, and how much chaos it will cause in the Western Continent are all unpredictable, which is why I must step in personally. In the worst-case scenario, we’ll have to engage in a heated battle in Woodward Forest. If our assumptions are correct, they will definitely take the bl**d Pearl there, and no matter what those lunatics aim to do, we can’t let them succeed; the consequences would be unimaginable.”
“Just for Silgaya, that may spell disaster…”
…………
I sat by the riverbank for nearly three hours, Angel’s words echoing in my head.
He didn’t want me to go, and I could understand his reasoning.
As the Pope of the Holy Church, he didn’t want me to lose control due to all the uncertain, uncontrollable factors. He didn’t want me to take that risk or let those heretics know I existed, knowing their monstrous experiments could actually yield results.
And as his so-called friend, Angel naturally wanted me to avoid danger and stay safe, letting me enjoy this comfortable and easy living, surrounded by ordinary, peaceful people, reducing the risk of losing control.
Because not a single person—including myself—knew what my current situation truly was. If I didn’t know, then the best course of action was to maintain the status quo.
Clearly, this was how Angel was thinking. He was worried I’d rush over after hearing the news, so he chose to inform me ahead of time, hoping I would just stay put.
I was feeling a bit hesitant.
Not about whether to go or not—I was most definitely going.
To ensure Grandma and Barry’s safety, to face those inhumane heretics and let them taste Captain Gray’s sweet revenge, and then ask them how it tasted.
Then I’d look for an opportunity to capture someone alive and find out about that woman they called the Romani Doctor, asking her about the experiments.
Angel understood my thoughts.
Before leaving, he added a few more words.
“You have two days; think it over. If you feel you absolutely must go, then come to the church the morning after tomorrow, and we’ll set off together… But you must promise me.”
He said this with a rare seriousness in his eyes.
“Whatever happens, you cannot leave my sight, and don’t use the power of the Gate of Truth. It’s best if you don’t even use Chaotic Power. If it comes to that… well, you know what to do.”
I hesitated about this.
