Chapter 73

“Did you sleep well last night?”

“Thanks to you.”

Despite the blunt reply, the Pope smiled.

“It is a good tea to recover from fatigue. Give it a try.”

He first picked up the teacup, wanting to show that it was harmless.

“….”

Declan, who had been looking at the tea with a yellow color, glanced at me instead of holding the silver teaspoon. I then nodded my head to signify that it was okay before he took a sip.

‘He’s probably wondering why Declan doesn’t use a teaspoon.’

The look in the Pope’s twinkling eyes seemed to think that Declan believed in him.

“It tastes good.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

At that, the Pope gently bent his eyes.

“I didn’t know you would come so personally.”

“Didn’t you also want to meet me, didn’t you?”

An invisible search went back and forth between the two.

“I’ve always wanted to see you. Because the power of the temple is weak in the Empire.”

“It would be no different anywhere else.”

There was no one who did not know that the temple was only maintaining its lifeline after the holy power disappeared.

“Of course it is.”

Despite the rude remark, the Pope shrugged his shoulders lightly.

“Did you say you have a favor to ask of me?”

“I want to see the documents that record God’s revelations.”

“Oh dear, I didn’t know you would ask for that.”

Hearing his words, the Pope showed troubled signs.

“I heard it’s okay as long as you allow it.”

“The revelation is a gift from God to protect man and sustain the world.”

The Pope wet his throat with the tea and continued his words, “Sometimes, you have to move in secret to achieve that purpose.”

This meant that there were many undisclosed revelations.

“Also, the original text of the revelation has never been published. What is known to the public is the interpretation of the revelation.”

“Can’t you show me the interpretation?”

Declan asked, crossed his legs and raised his lips crookedly.

“I’m sorry.”

Although I didn’t think he’d agree right away, I didn’t expect him to say no right away either.

“…What should we do?”

When I asked with concern, Declan just blinked quietly, telling me to keep an eye on him.

“Didn’t you do anything King Ielro requested?”

It was about remembering whose hand Epist is in. Immediately, the Pope’s eyes frowned slightly as if he understood the meaning of those words.

“If you cooperate in this matter, I will decipher the words from Epist.”

“Did you say decipher?”

“I heard you saw Epist, too. You couldn’t decipher it back then, did you?”

The Pope bit his lip as if his pride had been hurt at those words.

“Well, of course, since there is no believer who can read the sacred word.”

“I am not going to deny it. It’s a known fact.”

He calmly acknowledged Declan’s remarks, clearing his face. The Pope then asked back, “But, how can Your Majesty be able to read words that even priests cannot read…?”

“Not me.”

“If it’s not Your Majesty…”

“When it comes to deciphering Epist, I promise in the name of the Emperor.”

The Pope’s eyes narrowed as if he was trying to understand the true meaning in Declan’s words.

I waited anxiously for the Pope’s reply.

‘…If it doesn’t work out, I have no choice but to sneak around.’

Even though it would take some time because I didn’t know where the secret library was, that was the only way.

“There is no way anyone other than a priest who has been called by God can decipher the sacred words.”

“That’s prejudice. The divine power was originally possessed by all humans.”

The Pope seemed to want to refute that it was not prejudiced, but when the divine power was mentioned, he shut his mouth.

“It is your choice whether you believe it or not.”

However, the chance to decipher Epist was unlikely to come again. He stretched his words, and I observed his reaction.

“…Can you make a written promise here?”

After a while, the Pope opened his mouth to bring a paper and pen and handed them to Declan. Without hesitation, he wrote down the transaction and stamped it with the Emperor’s seal on his hand.

‘I almost wandered around in the Great Temple.’

A breath of relief came out.

“Are you satisfied now?”

“I apologized. I’ve had multiple verbal contracts.”

Saying so, the Pope smiled awkwardly. Perhaps, he was quite swayed by King Ielro’s Epist.

“Then, show me right now.”

“Right now…?”

“I don’t have much time.”

Bewildered as he looked at Declan getting up from his seat, the Pope eventually quickly took the lead. The place he led was the divine hall.

“This is a place one can only enter with my permission.”

He said so and blocked the knights and Hans from entering.

When he opened the door of the divine hall, there was an angel statue in the center and a stone tablet larger than Epist. There, I couldn’t hide my surprise when I saw the vivid white light… It was the same light that I saw in Mazvin and Epist.

‘…Is that in all holy things?’

I couldn’t figure out why I was seeing such a light.

‘Because I am a soul? Then, Mazvin isn’t reacting to something special…?’

I was hoping that this might be the reason why Marzvin and Epist brought me to this world…

At that moment, I suddenly saw a familiar hand in front of me. As I lifted my head, Declan, who was standing there, gazed worriedly at me.

‘Are you okay?’

He was mouthing his words silently.

…How did he know that I was sad? Thanks to that, my subdued heart slightly improved.

“I guess it’s because I’m nervous.”

Meanwhile, the Pope opened the door next to the divine hall and entered. After following it, there was a staircase leading down to the basement. Magic lights turned on one after another, and at the end of the stairs, there was a door made of marble.

When he pushed through the door, a considerably large library appeared that I could not even see the end of.

“Wow…”

My mouth was wide open at the enormous amount of data, more than I expected. It seemed that all the records from the moment history began were gathered here.

Meanwhile, Declan was also surprised in his heart. There was little admiration on his face.

“The material of the revelation is here.”

The Pope headed to the bookshelf in the innermost center of the library.

“They are arranged according to the date of revelation.”

The date engraved on the fine leather cover shows that the most recent revelation was about a thousand years ago.

“I think I’m going to have to stay here for quite some time. Are you going to stay?”

“I have work, so I have to go up. Instead, Cardinal Revran will assist Your Majesty.”

While the word may be ‘assist,’ in reality, it was nothing more than surveillance. Perhaps, he was trying to prevent us from spying on or stealing other records here.

Declan glanced at the Cardinal who had been following him from the front of the divine hall and nodded his head. When the Pope left, he pulled out the most recent record and sat down at a long table nearby.

“I’ll take out the data on my own, so you do what you have to do.”

“Then, I’ll be over there.”

And so, Cardinal Revran sat a little further away from Declan and began to read something.

“Check from the very last revelation.”

It was because I thought that the recent interpretation would be very similar to the language currently used.

Declan nodded and opened the very last part of the book.

“Here.”

At his words, Cardinal Revran raised his head. Then, he glanced at the doll and Declan sitting on the desk before focusing on what he was doing again.

On the left were the revelations in the divine words, and on the right were the interpretations in the official language.

[ “The end of the blessing is near. Soon, the dark ages will come, and the heavens will be silent until the day the savior appears.” ]

‘What kind of apocalyptic content is it…? It’s like the last time.’

Without much inspiration, I stared at the revelation in the divine words.

“Not here. Look at the previous revelation.”

In that way, we proceeded to read the revelations and interpretations — step by step — from the very back of the book forward.

“I found it, I found it!”

About halfway through the content, the word I was looking for appeared. Declan looked at me in anticipation.

“I found one… Here it is.”

I pointed to the word ‘namos’ in the revelation. Declan, who did not know the words, tilted his head and nodded when he saw the interpretation written next to it. In the official language interpretation, namos was interpreted as ‘temple.’

“As expected, the revelation was the answer.”

“Can we find another word?”

His voice lifted slightly with the joy that he had finally solved one problem.

“We can find just one more, right?”

“Yes. Hopefully, we can finish it today.”

Declan smiled faintly as I opened my eyes in anticipation.

“Then, I’ll have to work hard to find it.”

He then turned the page again and gazed carefully at the interpretation I had read. Before long, I also found the meaning of the word ‘hodein.’

“Be a guide.”

After checking the last page, he covered the hardcover of the record book and rubbed his temples.

“You worked hard.”

Since he had been looking at this without taking my eyes away for even an hour, it could not be helped that his eyes should be hurting, and he should be exhausted.

“It was more fun than looking at the paperwork.”

“Let’s go to the room and organize the contents.”

“Right.”

At that, Declan put the revelation back on the shelf and held the doll. Seeing that, Cardinal Revran also got up from his seat, organizing his affairs.

“Did you see everything?”

“Yeah. I think we had enough looking at the revelations.”

“I think you’ve found what you’re looking for.”

The cardinal smiled and said softly.

“I have a place to go tomorrow. I guess we’ll have to go see if I’ll be able to come back on the same day.”

“I will tell the Pope that way.”

Upon leaving the divine hall, Liam’s face loosened only after confirming that there was nothing wrong with Declan’s well-being.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes.”

When I glanced up at the large window in the temple, the sky was already embroidered with stars.