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The Pope smiling at me seemed to be in her early teens no matter how I looked… But wait, her ears were slightly pointy.

“…A half-elf?”
“Indeed, I am surprised you could tell.”

Although rarely, elves sometimes mixed their blood with humans. The birth rates were incomparably lower compared to doing it with their own race, but it wasn’t nonexistent. And half-elves, having elven blood in them, had lifespans longer than humans. Given that, she was most likely not the age her appearance suggested.

“…The Saint.”
“Huh?”

At that moment, a blurred voice reached my ears. It didn’t come from the guy under me. It came from the crowd of people, and spread out like a wave.

“She risked herself to protect the Pope!”
“That bluish-silver hair, could she be Lady Maria’s daughter?”
“What lovely eyes. They are filled with mystical light that sucks you in…”

Praises started to spread without ceasing, eventually turning to loud cheers. They didn’t seem to have known my name, but instead, they were giving praises to Maria.

“She’s the second coming of the Saint!”
“The patron saint of Her Eminence!”
“A new hero has appeared!”

I dejectedly hung my head, ending up standing out more than needed. Seeing that, the Pope giggled while covering her mouth.

“Give me a break…”
“It cannot be helped. You made such a display among this big crowd. And there are also your eyes.”
“Huh?”

Having it pointed out, I thought back on the earlier strangeness. About the man that obeyed my words. It was as if emotions were robbed from him and he turned into a puppet for a moment.

“I feel a power that is different from magic in them. But that is all I can tell.”
“Ah, this is, well…”

I couldn’t exactly say “I received them from God of Destruction” before the World Tree religion’s pope, being her natural enemy. That White God once broke the World Tree. If the people looking at me knew the origin of my eyes, their praises would change to hostile gazes.

No, stopping at just gazes would still be a better outcome. In the worst case, they could even attempt to assault and kill me.

“Oh yes, it would be dangerous to talk while standing here, so shall we move somewhere else? There is a church nearby.”
“That’s a nice idea, but I wish you didn’t appear in front of a crowd from the start.”
“That is a fair point. My apologies.”

The Pope laughed off my grumble. Her composed attitude felt somewhat similar to Maria’s.

“The church in question is distributing emergency food to the poor, and I was also helping with it.”
“The Pope herself? So you can cook?”
“Oh my, even I have undergone marriage training.”
“Her Eminence the Pope…a marriage…?”
“Now that was quite rude is it not? Your sarcastic comments are just like Maria’s.”

This time, she responded with a little pout. Her face was like that of a child that hasn’t reached adulthood. If she looked at me like that without knowing who she was, I would’ve definitely mistaken her for a child. It made me realize that women were scary beings.

“It seems the knights have rushed here, so it would be best if all of you break up too.”
“As you wish, Your Eminence!”

At her words, I moved my gaze towards the adjacent eighth ward. I could see knights rushing over with great force from there.

I couldn’t see Cortina there, but it was probably thanks to her good guidance.

“Now then, let us go, Maria’s daughter. The cardinal would give me a lecture if it gets out that I got myself involved in a riot.”
“So you came here understanding full well what it meant.”
“But if I left it be, it would have been disastrous, right? Also, you should get off that gentleman already. Such acts are too early for you.”

Saying that, she pulled my arm and forced me off the man. It was bad to ignore this guy, but he was already knocked out, and the crowd had regained its sanity. I doubt they would let him agitate them any longer after all this. Besides, the knights were already here, so he would get seized immediately.

I quickly warned a half-demon man nearby.

“Half-demons should get out of here quick.”
“Huh, no, but…”
“If you stay here, you could get thrown into jail for the same crimes as this guy, you know? You could even get tortured even more.”
“O-Okay.”

He was not their representative or anything, but once one man left, the rest of them looked awkwardly at each other and started leaving in small groups. With that, there was no fear of the riot occurring once again.

“You people should scatter too. And no riots happened here. Is that clear?”
“Your Eminence, that’s—!”
“I am saying that it did not happen.”
“Ugh.”

The Pope appeared at the place of riot and declared nothing had happened. It was the same as the highest religious authority declaring not to talk about it. I didn’t know who that citizen was, but he most likely had no standing to argue back at the Pope’s words.

Given that he was objecting while acting as their representative, he probably held deep grudges against half-demons, but not enough to force his way through the Pope’s words.

In the worst case, he could even be exposed for that. He couldn’t brave such a danger to get rid of the half-demons.

“Understood. However, please at least let me protect—”
“Not needed. I do not believe there is anyone here more qualified than Maria’s daughter. You just explain the situation to the knights—exactly as I told you.”
“As you wish!”

Being warned by the Pope, the man knelt on the spot. Following it, the rest of the crowd knelt in a similar manner. I mean, normally they should’ve done that the moment she appeared here. But the situation was so chaotic they had failed to process it.

That said, the Pope wasn’t so narrow-minded to reprimand them for that.

Giving the kneeling crowd one last smile, she left the place. Of course, while holding my arm firmly.