Leave a comment

–––Freya’s viewpoint

After I obtained the staff, I rushed back to the temple, heading straight for the pope’s bedroom. Many priests threw puzzled looks at me, seeing me holding a strange wooden pole, but they did not stop me from reaching the pope and pointing the staff at him.

“Lady Freya, what is that pole?”
“This is the staff Saint Lichium used. Someone let me take it.”
“Saint Lichium’s?! Can such a thing really be found so easily..?”

I felt like it had been more luck than easy, but there was no reason to go into such detail. I ignored his question, imbuing the staff with mana instead, trying to cast a status recovery spell. It should negate poison, curses, and other forms of paralysis. My power alone had not been enough before, but maybe with this staff…

“…Ohh!”

I felt my power being enhanced further than I ever could on my own, and I knew it was the staff’s effect. The staff began to glow and the light enveloped the pope before vanishing in a bright flash.

“Guh?!”
“My eyes..!”

The room was filled with white light, blinding me and the priest. But that lasted only a short time, and everything went back to normal soon enough.

“Did you… do it?”
“I don’t know yet. Though…”

If this did not work… we would be out of options. I did not want to jinx it, so I kept those words to myself as I got a bit closer to the pope. As I reached out to touch him, he finally twitched a little.

“Pope?! Pope!”

The instant I realized he was waking up, I instinctively started shaking his body without really measuring my strength. He probably felt like an earthquake had woken him up.

“Wh-what’s happening?! Wait… is that you, Freya?”
“Yes, it’s me, Freya.”

As I clung to him, he patted my head. He had always done that to reassure me since I was young, and I almost broke into tears as I held his wrinkly hand.

“Hahah… you’re overreacting, Freya. I was just sleeping a little.”
“I’m not overreacting. Everyone was afraid you’d never wake up again.”
“I see… I’m sorry I made you worry like that…”

He let out an exhausted sigh and reclined back on the bed.

“Pope, the priests told me you went to sleep of your own will. Could you tell me why you decided to do that?”

Hearing that, he looked troubled for a while, but eventually he nodded.

“You deserve to know, it does involve you after all…”
“I am?”
“Yes.”

Lying down, the pope looked at the priest, which the priest understood and left the room in a hurry. It seemed like whatever he was about to say, was meant only for my ears. Once everyone had left, and I could not sense anyone nearby, I nodded at the pope, telling him it was alright to talk now. He started talking with a heavy tone.

“Right, so the reason why I went to sleep… well… it’s because of your sister, Meria.”
“!”

Meria, the twin sister I got separated from when I was young. I had always thought she was dead, so hearing she was still alive made me glad, but I was still curious how she was involved with the pope’s sleep.

“I was working one night, when she entered my office…”

§　§　§

–––The pope’s viewpoint

I heard some light knocks on the door, so I lifted my gaze and looked that way. A lone figure stood there, staring intently at me, but I did not feel bothered. I knew her well, she was the person I had raised like my own daughter after all.

“Pope.”
“Oh, Freya. What do you need, so late at night?”

Someone with the skills of the hero Freya would easily be able to sneak in all the way here, even though the temple was always heavily guarded… and then I realized something was off. Sneak in? Why would she need to do that? Freya was this country’s hero, she could easily be brought here if she simply asked for it. I examined her a bit more closely, and noticed she had a different air to her than Freya.

“Wait… who are you?”
“Oh? You noticed already? I guess it’s hard to keep secrets from you, pope.”

She looked and sounded the same as Freya, but unlike Freya’s pure and saint-like demeanor, she had an almost lustful allure. I did not sense any bloodlust from her, but she also did not seem to be very friendly, I felt like she was more than likely an enemy.

(Oh well… I didn’t think I would need to fight again at my age.)

I quietly readied myself as I studied her movements. She looked like Freya, but she was not Freya. Either she had disguised herself as Freya, or used some form of magic, and that was how she got all the way here. My assassination was the most likely reason for that, since the moment I was gone, the country would not have a leader and fall to chaos. So she had to be working for some other country, or for demons. Or maybe she was a demon herself.

That she got here on her own also meant she was considerably strong. Maybe I would be able to fight back if I was back in my prime, but old as I was, it was hard to say if there was anything I could do.

“…Either way, I’m not going down without a fight.”

I would not let her kill me so easily. I was not such a coward. I would at least land a blow on her before I fell… but as I made up my mind, she forced a smile and said something.

“You’ve always been so cold to me, even though you doted on my sister so much.”
“..? Wait?!”

The moment she said that I realized who she was. There was only one person who could be Freya’s sister. This was Meria, Freya’s twin sister that went missing when they were still small.