Somebody Stop the Pope – 106



Episode 106

6.

The Minister’s Office located in the headquarters of the Ministry of Ability Management.

Minister Yoo Seon-ho quietly exhaled while looking at the sunset beyond the window.

Knock knock-.

“Come in.”

The door to the minister’s office opened and Director Kim Dong-sik who had just arrived at the Department of Abilities Management entered the room.

“Minister.”

“I got the general report. Take a seat for now.”

Director Kim Dong-sik bowed his head and sat down on the chair. Minister Yoo Seon-ho offered green tea to his loyal subordinate and continued speaking in a soft voice.

“Who is Kim Si-woo’s awakener?”

“We returned to the temple via helicopter.”

“Our Director Kim always works hard. But thanks to you the relationship between the awakened Kim Si-woo and the government is maintained smoothly. I am always grateful.”

“I just did what I had to do.”

“Be humble. Sometimes it’s good to show off a little. If you’re too humble you might hear people say you don’t like the taste of food.”

Minister Yoo Seon-ho said with a small smile.

At his boss’s playful advice Director Kim Dong-sik smiled faintly following his boss’s example.

The tension that had settled in the conference room melted away and Minister Yoo Seon-ho smoothly got to the main point.

“How was the aftercare?”

“The sword that was the target’s weapon was retrieved by the awakened Kim Si-woo. According to him it is a special object that controls the human mind.”

“What did it look like to you?”

“Just looking at it a terrible scream echoed in our ears. It must have been difficult for us to bear.”

Minister Yoo Seon-ho slowly nodded his head in response to Director Kim Dong-sik’s report.

“Then the Limen Church will take care of it. They must have taken it because they have a way to deal with it.”

“I think so.”

“It would be right to deal with it properly before such a dangerous object falls into the wrong hands. Is that the end of it?”

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“Yes that’s right. There were no additional casualties except for the four injured negotiators. Property damage was also not as severe as feared.”

“You’ve worked hard.”

“no.”

Director Kim Dong-sik’s report ended like that and Minister Yoo Seon-ho looked out the window again with his mouth shut.

‘Ironically we had the help of the Irregular Special Act.’

It was a law that was enacted to support Kim Si-woo’s activities but in the end it was the government that benefited from the law first.

If he hadn’t helped the Disaster-class returner would have caused a disaster worthy of the name Disaster.

‘All the hard work I’ve put in so far has been for naught.’

Until just half a year ago it was necessary to coordinate the opinions of guilds including the Jeon Gak-ryeon in order to deal with a single gate.

There was a constant war of nerves between the Jeon Gak-ryeon and the Jeon Gak-ryeon and nothing could proceed with ease.

But everything changed since Kim Si-woo appeared.

The Jeon Gak-ryeon which had been harassing him for a long time began to split and the government’s power increased significantly. The same was true of relations with Japan. They were the first to bow their heads and come in even though they were proud.

All of these things were ultimately made possible because of Kim Si-woo’s existence.

‘It’s fortunate that he is the head of a religious group.’

If he had been the head of a special interest group like a guild things might have turned out differently.

Minister Yoo Seon-ho slowly organized his thoughts while looking at the sunset. Then he spoke to Team Leader Kim Dong-sik.

“I will report to the President myself. I will give you three days of special leave.”

“Are you talking about vacation?”

“Haven’t you been busy lately? Take this opportunity to score some points for your wife and children. I’m giving it to you because I don’t think you’ll have a chance to rest for a while if not now.”

Under the leadership of President Seo the unprecedented event of the Northeast Asia Exchange was confirmed. Since there was not much time for preparation the power of the Ability Management Department had to be poured out soon after.

“Thank you for your consideration.”

“I think the crazy days will start after your vacation ends. This exchange will be a very important turning point for our Ability Management Department. Since the President is strongly pushing for it we must also do our best to support it.”

The balance of power in Northeast Asia was greatly distorted due to the appearance of Kim Si-woo. In this situation President Seo Shin-woo’s holding of a big event called the Northeast Asia Exchange Festival was also an intention to create a new game centered around Kim Si-woo.

Minister Yoo Seon-ho leaned back in his chair and let out a small breath.

“Once the supplementary budget is passed I plan to use that budget to strengthen the Awakened Forces. I have also begun behind-the-scenes negotiations with some of the Hive Guild Hunters who are currently in a great crisis.”

“You seem busy Minister.”

“I’m about to retire so I need to leave a mark don’t I? Until then please help me out.”

Minister Yoo Seon-ho was always talking about retirement but somehow Director Kim Dong-sik thought that this time his words might not be a joke.

“Haha. Okay I guess I can go out now.”

“Then I will take my leave now.”

“Have a good time with your family. Family is always what matters.”

Talk.

Minister Yoo Seon-ho smiled happily as he watched Director Kim Dong-sik leave the room.

There was still work to be done for those who would succeed him.

“That’s still good.”

But he didn’t particularly dislike this setback that came at the end of his career.

The old man nodded drinking his cold tea.

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7.

I returned to the Holy Land by helicopter.

It may be a bit grandiose to call it a holy place but people actually called it a holy place.

Leo and Luna have mentioned it a few times in interviews and it’s much easier to call it Ground Zero than the old one.

After getting off the helicopter I headed straight to the newly built blacksmith shop with my magic sword in hand.

In the blacksmith shop which was the size of a high school gymnasium Toby and Archbishop Lapart who had been contacted in advance were waiting for me with the fire in the holy arsenal lit.

“Are you here?”

“Okay are you ready?”

Toby nodded to my question.

“Yes I have heated up the holy fire sufficiently as Your Majesty has said.”

“I need to melt this.”

I carefully placed the demon sword which was perfectly sealed by the sacred barrier on the floor.

Toby’s expression darkened when he saw the sword.

“It’s a demon sword. If it smells this horrible it must have been covered in countless amounts of blood. And….”

“You see the poor souls possessed by the sword.”

Archbishop Laparte said in a pitiful voice. The reason I kept him here was because of those souls.

“I would like Archbishop Rapart to pray for the souls of the deceased.”

“I will do so as much as I can.”

They are souls who have suffered for a long time after being eaten by the devil’s sword. It is our duty to comfort them as they suffer in the abyss.

Whoosh whoosh.

As Toby swung the torch a few times the pure white flames inside the torch soon began to burn fiercely.

It was a holy fire that rose from the highest grade sacred stone placed in the furnace. As it was made from the highest grade sacred stone the holy fire in the furnace was extremely hot and intense.

“You can put it in now.”

“yes.”

I quietly picked up the Demon Sword and approached the entrance to the Holy Fire. The Demon Sword sensing the end began its final struggle but nothing changed.

“It’s messy to the end.”

Touhou.

As the demon sword was thrown into the Holy Flame a terrible scream erupted a moment later.

-Kkaaaaaaaaaah!

The demon sword maintained its form in the Holy Fire for quite some time as it could not purify the numerous bloody calamities in one breath.

The screams continued throughout the time but no one there said a word.

And when the screaming finally stopped

Sarrururuk.

Finally the demon sword began to melt little by little and pure white sparks flowed out from its blade.

The sparks slowly spread around the bonfire. Then Archbishop Lapart who had been quietly watching the scene cautiously began the first verse of the prayer of consolation.

“Merciful Limen please hear my prayer and open the door to these lost ones.”

The pure white sparks that spread into the air as the archbishop’s voice silently stretched out gave off a bright light.

I clasped my hands together as I looked at the sight. Then I slowly closed my eyes.

“The souls who were imprisoned in the abyss cry for your mercy. Please have mercy on them and save them from their sins. Grant them eternal rest. Let eternal light shine upon them. We pray to you relying on your great love and our faithfulness.”

It was when Archbishop Laparte had quietly finished his prayer for the souls of the deceased.

The sunset glowed through the glass windows installed in the blacksmith’s ceiling and the glow warmly illuminated the pure white embers floating in the air.

The sunset reflected off the sparks and created rays of light connecting the sparks to each other.

It was truly a beautiful sight.

The rest of the people except me just watched the miraculous scenery in silence.

[Your Lord answers your prayers.]

[Souls from other dimensions. The system of <Dimension: Earth> tolerates the intervention of <Dimension: Eden>’s main seat <Limen> and respects your good deeds in saving countless souls. This incident is excluded from the <Causality Compliance Review>.]

[Your good deeds that saved a hundred thousand souls have caused the <Shinmok> to grow….]

The pure white embers slowly melted into the sunset and I held my breath as I watched them until the very end.

How much time has passed like that?

Before we knew it not a single spark remained around us. Limen had taken every single soul that had been freed from the sword.

“Thank you for your hard work Archbishop Lapart.”

“I am grateful to Your Holiness for entrusting me with this glorious task.”

Archbishop Laparte bowed his head and answered humbly.

This concludes everything.

It was a long day. I had interviews in the morning dealt with disaster-level returnees in the afternoon and comforted the victims at the end. It was a dynamic day that I hadn’t seen in a while.

“Then everyone let’s get off work now….”

On days like this when there’s so much going on the best thing is to lie in bed and stroke Snow White’s cheek.

They say that the sacred tree grew in the process of freeing the soul so it would be a good idea to stop by and check it out along the way. Snow White must have grown a little bit too right?

But then

“Your Majesty it’s not over yet.”

Toby approached me holding a lump of shining white metal.

I don’t know where it came from but it was a metal that gave off a very pure divine energy.

“This is the result of melting the magic sword through the Holy Fire. The evil energy and magic power have been completely destroyed by the Holy Fire. I don’t know what metal was used to make the sword but it seems that the properties of the metal change depending on the smelting environment. Would you like to raise your hand?”

Following Toby’s words I placed my hand on the metal. Then a familiar heat was transmitted to me.

“Holy fire?”

“Yes! This is the first metal that even this dwarf has ever seen in his life. A metal that holds a sacred flame! I am itching to try refining it right away.”

“What can I make with this?”

“Anything you want. If you ask me to make a holy sword I can make one. If you ask me to make a shield I can make one.”

A metal that holds a holy flame?

It was truly an unexpected income.

Although the Holy Fire was a power that was manifested through divine power after it was manifested it possessed properties that were completely different from divine power.

The power to burn evil.

In other words it acquires the properties of a strong perm.

If it was a metal with such holy characteristics it would clearly exhibit a powerful level of magical power compared to other alloys made from sacred stones.

“I got it.”

I guess this is why people should live good lives. I felt like I found a golden calf on the road.

“If you use your temperament well you can create many interesting works. Just tell me! I’ll make it for you even if it means staying up all night.”

I smiled faintly as I looked at Toby who was pounding his chest with his chubby fist.

What should I make to get people to say that it’s well made?