Kenji looked at the Pope. The old man was watching them with a kind smile.
Seemingly aware of his hostility, the Pope nodded gently, his expression as friendly as any ordinary elderly man.
Kenji instinctively grabbed Pluvia’s hand. This way, if the other side showed any hostility, he could immediately run with her.
However, Pluvia shook her head.
"Since His Holiness wants to chat with us, it would be our honor," she said, then motioned for Kenji to translate.
"I don’t recommend you go," Kenji warned.
Out of all these people, the Pope had singled them out... Even though there were other Eastern faces in the cathedral, and their fake identities weren’t particularly outstanding. Why would he suddenly call them over?
Kenji could only assume their identities had been exposed.
This wasn’t impossible. Although the Holy Church seemed mystical, many of their sacred arts genuinely worked. If it was the Pope himself, he might have some powerful methods.
That’s why he didn’t recommend Pluvia go. After all, this was the Pope, and they were on church territory. If he had ill intentions...
Kenji could probably handle a few Holy Knights or even those so-called battle priests—the executioners—and still escape intact. But that would only work if there weren’t too many. Even he couldn’t fight his way through a group of Holy Knights.
"Sometimes you’re too tense," Pluvia glanced at him, then continued, "Translate. He probably doesn’t intend to harm us here."
Kenji remained silent for a moment.
In the end, he chose to trust Pluvia’s judgment and translated her words verbatim.
"Very well, please follow me," the Holy Knight replied politely, then led them toward the Pope.
The Pope said nothing. He walked in front, with the Holy Knight bringing the two of them behind, down the corridor behind the cathedral, to a rest area reserved for clergy.
"Please sit."
As the two entered the room, the Pope motioned for the Holy Knight to close the door, then smiled and pointed to the soft sofa in the room.
Pluvia adjusted her dress, then sat naturally on the sofa. She rested one arm very casually on the armrest, leaning back slightly.
She managed to make a simple sofa look like she was sitting on her throne in the great hall.
Kenji naturally wouldn’t sit with Pluvia. He sat on a separate armchair nearby, ready to act as a human translator.
"You two are my most surprising guests today," the Pope said, sitting across from Pluvia with an unwavering smile.
"It’s an honor to meet the legendary Pope, Leonosi," Pluvia nodded slightly.
"I’m also honored that the renowned Emperor of the Camelot Central Empire has condescended to come here to grace this old man with your presence," Leonosi’s white beard trembled slightly with his smile, looking somewhat adorable. "I apologize for not knowing Your Majesty would personally come today, so I haven’t prepared the proper etiquette."
"It’s fine. I came uninvited today, so I hope Your Holiness doesn’t mind," Pluvia also appeared relaxed.
They gazed at each other, both seemingly trying to read something from the other’s expression.
"Your Majesty’s willingness to come celebrate my birthday is already the greatest honor. How could an old man like me have any complaints about you?" As he said this, the Holy Knight brought in some pastries and milk from outside, placing them on the center table. "I’m just curious—in my impression, your country doesn’t follow the Holy Church."
"We don’t, but personally, I think the Holy Church has existed for so long and spread so widely that it naturally has significance. I wanted to understand what kind of religion the Holy Church really is."
"After experiencing it firsthand, what do you think?"
"It’s quite nice."
That was the only evaluation Pluvia could give.
In reality, this was basically saying, "Your Holy Church is just so-so." When Kenji translated, he deliberately made it more tactful.
"You’re too kind. As Pope, I’ve always hoped to spread the Lord’s gospel throughout the world. As a servant of the Lord, this is my lifelong duty. If you can give me such an evaluation, it at least proves we’re somewhat acceptable."
After hearing this, Pluvia couldn’t quite figure out the old man’s thought process. Stay tuned to freewebnovel
Wait, old man, you really don’t understand when someone’s being polite? You actually think I’m complimenting you?!
"Yes, I don’t oppose your church’s principles," Pluvia unconsciously switched her self-reference. "We believe that anything promoting goodness is positive. Sometimes, for a religious sect, the ideology is the purest thing, but when people interpret that ideology, they often add other factors."
"Your Majesty speaks fact," the Pope agreed. "Many believers today aren’t devout enough in their thinking, which is a problem we urgently need to solve. As for those who don’t believe in the Holy Lord’s glory, I think they simply don’t understand the Lord’s greatness, and therefore fall into the path of opposition."
"Essentially, what hinders the Holy Lord’s glory is the understanding between people. Your Majesty, do you agree?"
"Yes," Pluvia secretly kicked Kenji under the coffee table—this guy had just sneakily kicked her shin, so she had to retaliate. "Believers and non-believers both just lack understanding. However, whether they understand or not, both have their reasons. Therefore, I think mutual respect between the two is also very important."
Hearing this, the Pope’s smile slowly disappeared: "You’re right. But since we’re talking about mutual understanding, guiding others to understand our religion is also an important part of fostering that understanding. Only this way can we maximize our chances of avoiding conflict."
"I agree with your view, but such work isn’t easy to do. It’s like trying to convince devout believers not to believe in the Holy Lord. Ideals are often good, but reality frequently deviates."
"Your Majesty, the people of your country also have their own beliefs, right? That’s a good thing. It’s tragic for people to have no faith."
"That’s true, but I should clarify that Camelot has many beliefs. Overall, we believe in our ancestors. We respect the Holy Lord, but the Holy Lord seems too abstract to us."
"I see. But the glory of the Holy Lord..."
"The Holy Lord’s glory is too heavy for us Camelot people to bear. We can’t support the Lord’s grace," Pluvia finally smiled happily. "You see, the Holy Lord left almost all sacred miracles here with you. We don’t have any, so perhaps the Holy Lord never intended to give us grace."
"In Camelot, we have a saying: ’Heaven’s will cannot be defied.’ It means we shouldn’t easily go against the will of heaven. Since the Holy Lord doesn’t wish to give us grace, we shouldn’t force it."
Kenji finally understood what was happening.
Well, those two were having a standoff.
Camelot’s approach to the Holy Church was one of suppression. For a country like Camelot, no religious sect should rise above secular power.
Similar religious-like entities had appeared within the country before, but they’d been marginalized in political struggles. None had the ability to threaten secular power.
So when the highest wielder of secular power faced the highest wielder of religious power, their conversation naturally carried tension.
The Holy Church had always hoped to gain a foothold in Camelot, but from top to bottom, Camelot didn’t buy into their approach. This Pope was clearly somewhat dissatisfied with Pluvia’s attitude.
Although he appeared kind on the surface, if the Pope could actually live up to the qualities described in the Words of the Holy Lord (a book whose contents might not even be the Holy Lord’s own words), the Holy Church wouldn’t have become more secular than secular power itself.
In this world, the Pope’s wealth was almost beyond description. The entire Holy Country belonged to him, all religious buildings were his, and all profits related to religion belonged to him and the church.
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Despite this, the collection of so-called donations was commonplace everywhere, supposedly to maintain the churches’ operations.
Yet the churches weren’t becoming more inclusive. Instead, the church’s Holy Knights grew in number with increasingly luxurious equipment. They even claimed to be the spokespersons of the Holy Messengers.
Kenji looked down on such a church, but he knew they were on the other side’s territory. Pluvia had no reason to bring unnecessary trouble upon herself, so he simply kicked her gently under the table, signaling her not to talk too much.
To his surprise, not only did she ignore him, she kicked him back.
Unexpectedly, though they verbally sparred with each other, the Pope didn’t become angry. He graciously arranged for people to show them the sights of the Holy Country, and they left quite satisfied.
"Your Majesty, why did you get into an argument with that old man?" Kenji asked as soon as they returned to her carriage after leaving the Holy Country.
"That wasn’t an argument. It was making a statement," Pluvia said with a cold smile, tossing aside the gold-bound Words of the Holy Lord the Pope had given her. From this action, Kenji could predict the book’s future fate—probably gathering dust in the most obscure corner of the royal library.