BXBX NOVEL 221 - - 221 Through Four.
"Welcome home, Rico-sama. You\'ve both been very good.
"Mae, I\'m so sorry I babysat you all day on your day off."
"No. This is nothing.
Rico and Mei are getting along well and reporting to each other about the day\'s events. Ferris and Ruara are watching in amazement.
"Ferris, Ruara, what\'s wrong? Aren\'t you looking a little tired?"
They give me a wry smile. I heard that after the meeting with Vieille, Rico had gone to Ferris and Ruara for the first time in a long time to bring them some food. It was all fine, but then a pile of papers on the desk caught Rico\'s eye. From there, Rico\'s sister started to check the documents in a furious manner and kept pointing out all the inadequacies of the documents. The more I listened to her stories, the more mentally draining they were, and I could only smile bitterly at them.
I ordered Ferris and Ruara to take a bath first, and I asked Rico about today\'s story.
"Yes. "Yes, it was all right. I could tell from our conversation that this Vieille is a very intelligent man. I\'m sure he\'ll decide in a short time what he wants to do and what he\'s going to do.
"I see. That\'s Rico for you."
"No. I was just telling Vieille what Linos told me.
"What? I\'m Rico? What are you talking about?"
"Well, don\'t you remember? Linos said that in my room at the Miyagi Palace!
"Oh, ...... that?"
Looking at Rinos, who looked away embarrassed, Rico recalled that time fondly.
After seeing Rico off, Vieille was alone in her room thinking. Rico\'s words that he dared to be kept alive made sense to her. She wondered why she, who had denied and betrayed the woman she had believed in until now, had not lost her life. Wasn\'t she being kept alive to continue suffering until death? But if so, why don\'t you just take your own life? But that is something I cannot do now. Wasn\'t this a punishment? So what should we do? If my current situation is what is keeping me alive, what exactly am I being kept alive to do?
With a throbbing headache, Vieille thinks. Looking back over his life, he reflects on the religion of Klimiana and the Klimiana Nation. Why ......? Why ......? She contemplates, trying to resist a sense of dizziness.
The time spent with Rico had certainly given this sensitive and perceptive girl some insights. For Vieille, who had been living side by side with death, these worries were not so much worries as they were a part of her life. She was now looking back on her life, free from the stereotypes of "I must" and "I should" that she had been taught, and had come to see things from a third-person perspective. She was now free from the stereotypes of "should be" and "must be" and was able to see things from a third person\'s point of view. Her analytical abilities were about to be directed toward the religion and the country of Klimiana.
A lodge built deep in the forest. In a dimly lit room in the lodge, a boy stares blankly into the void. The clothes he is wearing are damp because of the humidity, which has become severe again recently. In the middle of the room, the boy was mumbling something with bloodshot eyes, unable to sort out the thoughts that came and went in his head.
"We\'re going to create paradise. ....... King Agartha will never allow it. ....... My head is rotten,....... I must get my sister, Sister Vieille, and my congregation back. ....... The communication has been cut off....... Are the sisters safe? No. Is Leroyance completely healed? When we receive your sister without confirmation, we\'ll be back again: ....... Contact the Church State: ....... No, first we need to get the congregation together ......"
The anxiety that kept bubbling up one after the other was seriously upsetting Cassel\'s mental balance.
"Are you going to be killed?
Who\'s there?
"Kono mamaja, korosareruzo? Minna, omaenotekidazo? Minna, omae wo waratteiru ......"
"Stop! Who the hell are you? Who the hell are you? !"
Cassel tries to shake off the voice whispering in his ear. It was an auditory hallucination, but he no longer had the strength to recognize whether or not it was an auditory hallucination.
"I will not allow anyone to laugh at me. ....... I will never, ever forgive ......."
Cassel was now on the verge of exploding.
"......Hoho. Strange things happen, don\'t they?
He muttered to himself, took his eyes off the report, and slowly pressed his right hand to the corners of his eyes. Perhaps due to old age, it has become difficult for me to see the words these days. With this in mind, he removes his right hand from his eyes and turns his attention to the woman standing in front of him.
"How may I help you? ......"
The woman asks with an anxious look on her face. For some reason, the sight of her makes me laugh.
"Hmph ...... hmph ...... hmph ...... hmph ......"
"Pope ......?"
The woman\'s eyes widen in surprise. The one who is laughing out loud with a big smile on his face is the Pope of the Order of Crimiana, Jouvancel Sain. He continues to chuckle for a moment and then exhales slowly.
"No, no, I was thinking of my youth. Yes, ...... that was when I was only about 25 years old. I was persecuted in the country of Gasillason, where I was assigned. I was holed up in a small fort with my congregation. We had no food, and no reinforcements from the Church. Under such circumstances, I thought it was the end for me, too. ....... But with the blessing of the Lord Klimiana, I managed to overcome the crisis. I never thought that Vieille and Cassel would be in the same situation as I was. ....... It\'s a coincidence, isn\'t it? I wonder how they will overcome this crisis. Especially Vieille, I hope she will not make the same mistake as her father. Well, being the smart girl that she is, I believe she won\'t. ....... Well, just watch and see. Whoever survives this crisis will probably succeed me. Now ...... who will be the one to bring back the head of King Agartha and his family?"
The Pope smiles a satisfied smile. The woman, her face frozen, opens her mouth to the Pope.
"I didn\'t ...... know. I didn\'t know His Holiness the Pope had such a past. ......"
The Pope nodded, shaking himself in satisfaction.
"But, Your Holiness. But, Your Holiness, in case Monsignor Vieille and Monsignor Cassel return to the Church without having achieved anything ....... Tsk! This is an insult. Please forgive me."
"It\'s all right. It is possible. In that case, we will find a new successor.
"New Successor: ....... With all due respect, I believe that only Monsieur Vieille and Monsieur Cassel have the blood of His Holiness the Pope in their veins and are capable of carrying on in his footsteps. ......
At the woman\'s words, the Pope smiled again.
"Then we will have children again."
"......!"
Unlike women, men can have children at any age. It might be a good idea to have children now, in case Vieille and Cassel fall. Miss Cansena, will you help us?"
The Pope, as usual, is smiling kindly. However, the bishopess called Cancerina was trying her best to keep her composure after hearing the hair-raising story she had just heard. The Pope clapped his hands as he looked at her with satisfaction. Soon a young man, a bishop, entered the room.
"Send a messenger to the village of Crimiana in Agartha. No, I don\'t care what it says. Go and see what strategy Vieille and Cassel have in mind. ...... I know that the messenger has not been able to cross the Irbezi and that he has disappeared. Increase the numbers. It is not the only way into Agartha, is it? Send people to Agartha by all means possible."
The Pope, after seeing the young bishop off, slowly opens his mouth.
"Let those who have removed those who do not follow the Way of Heaven be entrusted with that country. It will be a country that will be blessed by our Lord God. Now, I\'m looking forward to ...... seeing how it all ends."
The Pope doesn\'t know. He does not know the fact that all of the secret agents he has sent so far have been bewitched by the spirits of the forest the moment they entered Agartha\'s territory, some losing their lives, others falling prey to the demons.
The Pope, completely unaware of such things, looks in the direction of Agartha, and once again a look of satisfaction appears on his face.