I Can Hear the Saint’s Inner Thoughts

Episode 25 – Continent’s Strongest vs Holy Nation’s Worst (1)

The path to the Holy Nation’s forbidden archive. I made Pope Forcus III walk ahead of me, leading the way.

Watching him sweat profusely, his plump body wobbling as he walked, it seemed he did nothing but eat, barely moving at all.

‘How did a guy like this become Pope?’

I rested my chin on my hand, observing the Pope’s backside. Even if the gods weren’t supposed to interfere with the world, this was too much.

I wondered how much political maneuvering and backstabbing he’d done to avoid getting fired.

The chief gods, and the gods in general, can’t directly influence the world. They’re far from omnipotent.

As if bound by some sort of causal law, they couldn’t wield their own power, and instead chose agents to represent their will.

‘That’s the heroes and saints.’

I nodded, thinking of Kyle and Victoria.

‘Still, at least they picked good people for hero and saint….’

From the start, the hero was truly a good guy, and while the saint was foul-mouthed only with me, her heart wasn’t bad.

Lost in thought, I noticed the Pope’s pace slowing. It was a gradual reduction in speed, so subtle most people wouldn’t notice.

“… I can hear your gears turning, walk faster.”

“H-heeek!!”

Forcus III, startled like a child caught doing something wrong, shrieked. I furrowed my brow at the sight, visibly uncomfortable.

“Y-you’ll regret taking the Pope hostage like this, for sure…!”

Now the Pope was trying to threaten me. Though, in my experience, those types of guys who go, ‘You’ll see!’ are never the ones you need to worry about.

“Hoo-boy, is that so? Truly terrifying.”

I intentionally shuddered a little, putting on an exaggerated display. Teasing him like this was quite amusing, after all.

Everything the Pope and the Holy Knights had said just now had been magically recorded, so if any issues arose, I’d have plenty of people on my side.

“So, should we ask someone else to open the path to the forbidden library? If you’re useless, there’s no reason to keep you alive….”

“I-I’m sorry…. H-hic….”

I spooked him a little, and the Pope shut his mouth, even holding his breath. The way his legs were trembling like aspen leaves was truly laughable.

I wish Victoria could see this. She always curses this current Pope like crazy, thinking poorly of him.

‘I think I can guess why now….’

I suspected it when he tried to undress Victoria last time, but this b*stard is definitely a pervert driven mad by lust.

As we walked toward the forbidden library, we passed nuns who worked there, but they all avoided the Pope’s gaze and fled like lightning.

Their expressions held a mix of disgust, rage, and a touch of gleeful satisfaction.

“You…did you possibly lay hands on the nuns too?”

“T-that’s not possible…! I am the Pope! There’s no way I’d commit such an impure act!!”

When I questioned him, the Pope evaded the answer. His face was shiny with sweat, and his bald scalp reflected the light.

Crack.

“Answer properly, I’m already barely holding back from killing a b*stard like you if it weren’t for the forbidden library.”

I immediately twisted the Pope’s arms behind his back, forcing a proper answer out of him. I had a gut feeling that if I didn’t do this, he’d just keep lying.

“U-uhhhgh!! Yes, Yes! I did!! I’ve used money and power to silence them, all this time…!”

“…Damn it, how did this guy even become Pope?”

I covered my face with my palm and cursed. A feeling of filth kept rising up, and I felt like I had to say something.

Even if the previous Pope Raphael had been suddenly poisoned, it was a huge leap for a piece of trash like this to become Pope.

“I think the same! You, how did you even become Pope!”

Wilhelm seemed to have the same question, as he stared at the Pope with a somewhat bewildered expression, raising his voice.

“The old geezers in the Vatican are probably the problem. Maybe they set up a puppet they could control at their own whim….”

I stated the reason I had guessed. Victoria had always said so, and there was a group that didn’t like me when I came here last time.

Normally, the Vatican was structured so that the Pope held absolute power and controlled the people below him.

“…Or maybe they wanted to share power and money.”

The opposite had probably happened in this case.

They needed someone to fill the vacancy of the previous Pope, who suddenly died without leaving an heir,

And if they appointed the most incompetent and easily manipulated person, Forkus III, to fill that vacancy, it would at least make some sense.

The thought of how corrupt the very humans who preached living by the word of the Celestial Gods were made me so speechless, I was beyond disgusted.

‘Just hold on a little longer… Just a little longer and we can save Victoria…’

I kept repeating the same words in my mind, building my patience. I had come here to solve Victoria’s problem, and no matter how angry I was, I had to achieve my goal.

The Sacred Kingdom’s forbidden archive was underground, and the key to the door that led to it was only held by the Pope.

“…H-here it is! Can I go back now?!”

“Where do you think you’re going alone? How am I supposed to know what you’ll do when you’re not here?”

I grabbed the Pope by the scruff of his neck as he offered the key. His feet lifted slightly off the ground, kicking in the air from my brute strength.

“And besides, you’re the only one who can know where to find things in the archive. If it’s a place only past Popes could enter, you’d know it better than any normal person, right?”

“N-no, I haven’t even stepped a foot into the archive…”

Porcus III waved his hands in denial. He was acting strangely, like someone with something to hide.

“Really? People are usually crazy for things that are forbidden, aren’t they? I would’ve gone inside out of curiosity if it were me.”

I gently lowered the Pope, growing suspicious.

There’s no way he would have just passed by the forbidden archive, filled with records of past saints and secrets of the Sacred Kingdom.

Knowledge is power after all. Even if it’s forbidden knowledge, or knowledge that leads down the wrong path, it can be of use.

But he’s saying he didn’t go in? Then there must be a reason why he *couldn’t* go in.

My instincts as a mage were screaming.

“…You’re hiding something in the archive, aren’t you?”

The reason this lowlife became Pope is probably connected to what’s hidden in the underground archive.

I looked at the Pope with a near certain, sinister smile, and he visibly trembled with fear.

* * *

The path to the forbidden archive was dark and damp, like going through an animal’s intestines, with endless flights of stairs.

The candles were all out from the halfway point, leaving everything pitch black.

“…Light.”

*Whirr!* A white orb of light appeared from my fingertips after I completed the incantation, illuminating the surroundings.

I couldn’t understand why it wasn’t managed better. Cobwebs were everywhere, and the sound of mice scurrying away echoed throughout.

“Hey, do you even manage the forbidden archive?”

I asked the Pope, who was walking in the very front. The responsibility for this place was entirely with Porcus, after all.

*Shakes head*

The Pope just shook his head, indicating that he didn’t manage it. He told me plainly, without any excuses or lies, making me feel like something was off.

“You’re up to something, aren’t you? Are you raising some kind of demon inside the archive? Think we’ll just get eaten up if you lead us through it?”

Creak, creak.

The Pope, Porkus, moved his legs erratically at my words. Anyone could see I’d hit a nerve.

“T-that can’t be. There’s nothing in the Forbidden Archive in the first place. You’re misunderstanding. It only contains information about the past Holy Maidens…”

“Still, there must be golems or traps guarding this place, right? Isn’t it strange that there’s nothing at all in such an important location?”

*Thwack!*

I kicked the Pope hard in the shin as I spoke. I was so confused by this guy’s story, not knowing what was true or false, it was impossible to trust him.

“Uwaaah! Stop hitting me! Do you really think you’ll be safe after doing something like this!!”

“Of course. I’m the mage of the Hero party.”

The Pope whimpered again. I got a satisfying feeling when hitting him, probably because of all his flab.

*So this is why Victoria verbally abused me─* I thought, when I saw the flow of magic power begin to shimmer before my eyes.

*That’s… A mana quantity comparable to a dragon’s, but why is it so murky, mixed with impurities…*

I doubted my eyes for a moment. Upon realizing what it was, I immediately cast a defensive spell on Wilhelm and myself.

“Sacred Barrier…!”

A shield unfurled with wings of light. It barely managed to block the shadow coming straight for us.

– Die. Shed blood, vomit your entrails, writhe in agony.

The moment the shadow made contact, the language of the dead surged into my mind.

Impure words that would corrode the soul of a living being just by hearing them, leading them to death.

“…A Lich as the Pope’s backer, isn’t this a bit much?”

I couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief as I looked at the being before me.

The identity of the entity, whose magic was so thick, dark, and negative that I would never have suspected they’d be hiding in the Holy Kingdom.

A mage, clicking his teeth, nothing but bones wrapped in a golden robe.

A Lich.

* * *

– Shit, is that what that b*stard was hiding?

‘Heavenly, Heavenly Lord…! Please, maintain your composure…!’

– How can I not be angry? He not only deceived my eyes, but he also laid his hands on the nuns and is now buddy-buddy with a Lich behind the scenes!

At that moment, Victoria, who had secretly entered the Forbidden Archive with me, was barely managing to stop the Heavenly Lord from swearing.

– Kill that b*stard! In the name of the Heavenly Lord, Victoria! Anyone colluding with monsters deserves to die!

Unlike her usual self, the Heavenly Lord Lumina, was enraged, even ordering her to kill Porkus III.