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–––Freya’s viewpoint

I left the forest and walked to the city, arriving there by the time the sun had set and the sky was dark.

“I’m finally back… and I’m exhausted.”

I dragged my tired feet to the city, feeling like the familiar sight was greeting me.

“I really should hurry back to the temple and report back…”

I knew I had duties to prioritize, but I had been away for so long without eating proper food that the scent wafting from inns and food stalls felt irresistible.

I ruffled through my pocket until I made sure there were coins clinking, then went straight to the nearest food stall. I had taken some money with me when I entered the dungeon, but I barely had any opportunity to use it, so I still had money left. I could afford eating something on the street.

“Hello, could I get three skewers?”
“Coming right up! That’ll be 2 copper coins… wait, aren’t you Lady Freya?!”

The shopkeeper seemed surprised when he noticed it was me. I was the hero now, but even before I used to be somewhat known in the country, so there were people who knew who I was. I smiled at the shopkeeper, giving him the two copper coins.

“I was away training and just got back. I could not resist the scent of food anymore.”
“Oh I see! Training, huh. That sounds just like you. I’m sure the pope can feel at ease with you back too.”

The pope..? That was weird, the pope had taken the trouble of seeing me off when I entered the dungeon. He was considerably old, but still energetic. I thought of him almost like my father. Did something happen to him? I had a bad feeling about it, but I forced myself to not think about that, remaining calm.

“Did something… happen to the pope?”
“Huh? Ah right, you just got back so you probably didn’t hear. Sorry sorry.”

He scratched his head looking apologetic, and I tried my best to not get distraught from that alone, but my strong front crumbled the moment I heard his next words.

“The pope’s fallen ill. Some say he might not have long left…”

The skewers fell from my hand, and I heard the shopkeeper saying something, but I could not listen anymore. Even though I was tired, I ran as fast as I could heading to the temple amidst a lot of noise. The last time the guards there saw me I had gone underground, so they were shocked to see me appear on the front entrance, but I did not care about them and rushed inside the temple while panting.

“Lady Freya?!”
“I just heard the pope fell ill. How is he doing now?”
“Um that’s…”

I stumbled onto a priest I recognized in front of the pope’s bedroom, but his vague reply only annoyed me.

“That’s fine. I’ll check myself.”
“W-wait, please! Now’s not..!”

I pushed him away as he tried to stop me, and forced my way into the pope’s bedroom. He was there, lying on his bed.

“Pope!”

I ran up to him and clung onto his hand, but there was no response. I squeezed that hand that had patted my head so many times when I was a child, using as much healing magic as I could, but he would still not wake up. My healing magic had also gotten stronger after my training, but somehow that did not seem to matter. After some time I heard the priest I had pushed away earlier.

“Why…isn’t he sick or hurt?”
“We don’t know what caused it. We’ve tried all sorts of treatments and magic, but it’s like nothing had any effect. All we know is that he’s sleeping of his own will.”
“What…do you mean?”

He said it like the pope had not been in danger, and instead chose to sleep himself. But why would he do that? Was there any reason he would want that? I was confused hearing that, and the priest looked at me like he felt bad for me.

“We don’t really know what the pope was thinking either. But…if he keeps sleeping like this, he’ll eventually pass away of old age.”
“!”

The pope could pass away? I didn’t even want to imagine that. He had taken me in when I was just an orphan wandering the streets, raising me. I felt more indebted to him than my parents who I didn’t even remember, but now he could die…I had to stop that from happening!

“Is there any…way to wake him up?”
“I’m afraid we don’t have the means to…I’m sorry.”

I started to feel completely hopeless when the priest added one last thing.

“They say Lichium was a priest that could dispel any and all curses in the world. Maybe if we were to obtain the staff he carried, we might have a chance…”

Lichium…that was one of the three people that traveled with Brave. He lived here in Lumielle for some time after the Demon King was defeated. He was a bit of an oddball, and some days he would just wander around helping poor people who struggled to make a living. Many of the items he used as adventurer were stored as relics in the temple, but the staff that was said to remove all curses and status effects was missing.

Maybe if we could find it, the pope could wake up again…

We had no evidence that it would work, but we had no other options left. I could not bear to watch the pope pass away of old age like that, so I would search for the staff.