I Can Hear the Saint’s Inner Thoughts

24 – The Strongest Mage on the Continent (4)

A place where sunlight streamed in through stained glass windows.

At the end of a pure white staircase, where hierarchy was clear, sat a man in noble attire.

“So, you want to peruse the forbidden library beneath this place for the sake of the Flower Saintess Victoria’s well-being…”

The man, head tilted and resting in one hand, was none other than Pope Porcus III. Looking at his appearance, I couldn’t help but sigh.

The Pope’s scalp gleamed, reflecting the light, and his belt was strained to its limit trying to conceal his protruding belly.

What kind of Pope has such a greedy appearance? He’d put on even more weight since the last time I saw him.

“…Yes, is it not permissible, Your Holiness?”

Wilhelm and I were both kneeling before the Pope, doing our best not to offend him.

The Emperor had ordered us to subdue the Demon Lord Ergosum, so getting caught straying from that order would cause unnecessary trouble.

“Hmm, you said you are the Saintess’ lover.”

Porcus looked at me with interest. His sticky, lecherous gaze scanned me from head to toe, and a disgusting sensation crawled over me like bugs.

“Saintess Victoria swore her purity before the heavens, how could she have a lover? She is like a flower on a cliff, someone no man should touch.”

Listening to Porcus’ words, my irritation flared. I did my best to hide the prominent veins on the back of my hand.

Wasn’t it just the other day that I’d pretended to trip to accidentally remove Victoria’s clothes?

“But this man truly *is* the Saintess’s boyfriend! I swear on my name, I guarantee it!”

Wilhelm was vehemently defending me from the side, banging his chest while proclaiming my innocence.

“What would a newbie like you know, not even able to do a job properly? I had pity on a guy injured by a demon and put you in charge of weeding out outsiders, and now look at this…”

Porcus clicked his tongue, expressing his displeasure. There was no mercy in his scornful eyes and expression.

I heard the previous Pope wasn’t such an unfeeling person. Where a viper of a Pope had been, now sat a fat, bloated pig.

“Regardless, I cannot trust you. There’s no proof. The Saintess of the Flowers left a year ago to subjugate the Demon King under the Emperor’s order.”

Porcus pointed at me with a finger that looked dirty, gesturing for the holy knights around him to take me away.

“We met in the Demon Realm and started dating recently. I’m worried about the Saintess’s condition, so I beg you, please allow me to access the records of the previous Saintesses…”

I ground my teeth and made one last polite request. I really hoped he would have some sense of decency, unlike what I was seeing.

“Your heart is commendable for journeying all the way from that distant Demon Realm out of concern for the Saintess, but alas.”

Even after hearing about Victoria’s poor condition, the current Pope Porcus III maintained his stance, viewing her as a thorn in his side to be removed.

“……”

“Or perhaps… who knows? If that noble Saintess were to bow her head and beg before me, I might grant it. If you’re truly her boyfriend, you should be able to make her do that.”

Porcus III laughed heartily, looking at me. The surrounding holy knights couldn’t suppress their laughter either.

I swallowed a bitter taste at those words. How could the Pope, a messenger who could directly receive the deity’s revelations, treat the Saintess this way?

“His Holiness is right! We need to verify if he’s really lying!”

“If it weren’t for that mage always lurking around her, maybe we would have had a chance too!”

They were the same holy knights who had leered at Victoria before, gossiping about her body and looks.

That was why I disliked the holy knights, except for Wilhelm. They were lunatics who thought of the Saintess Victoria as their possession.

“Anyone can claim to be the Saintess’s lover. Not many men join the holy knights without being captivated by her beauty.”

“Is that all? There are demons in the Demon Realm who call the Saintess the Succubus Empress. They say she’s more lewd than the Queen.”

She was a pure girl with a heart and personality before being a Saintess, yet the lewd talk happening here was getting more intense.

“If she wasn’t a Saintess, she’d clearly be some kind of vixen—”

*Thud.*

That last, smirking comment from a holy knight made a snap resonate in my head, severing my restraint.

“…You b*stards. I said she’s my girlfriend, didn’t I? Cut it out.”

I cursed and slowly rose from my seat. I instantly released the perception dampening magic and clenched my fists.

*Thwack—!*

And right away, I struck the last knight in the chest. The dull sound and a deep dent in the surface of his heavy armor.

“Kuh… U-uhhh…”

A paladin crumpled to his knees without even a proper scream. It happened so fast, nobody reacted but me.

The air turned leaden, and cold gazes pinned me down.

But I knew I was doing the right thing.

“A-Astar… Kaisaros? How the hell did you get here?! You were supposed to be gone to the demon realm…”

Pope Forkus III recognized me and was so shocked he even fell backward. His heavy body slammed into the floor with a tremor that shook the ground.

The Pope’s face had gone white as a sheet, and the hand pointing at me was trembling.

“…Our Saintess isn’t doing so well, so I came looking for a way to fix that, you damn bald-headed fool.”

I tacked on that line, words I didn’t even mean, trying to justify my actions. I noticed the surrounding paladins were eyeing me, hands gripping their sword hilts.

Choosing sides. Pope’s side? Or the hero party’s mage’s side? Their minds were like scales, weighing the profit of each.

“W-what are you waiting for?! Subdue that blasphemer!”

“You all better think this through. If you try to stop me, you’re as good as harming the Saintess. I’m only here to save Victoria.”

I formed a three-dimensional magic circle on my palm, slowly scanning my surroundings. Only Wilhelm had drawn his sword, ready to defend me.

“I will follow you, Brother! Because I believe it’s the right thing to do!”

“Good, that’s the way.”

I gave Wilhelm a small nod.

That’s how a paladin *should* be. No matter how much power the Pope holds, they should listen to the words of the Celestial Being, and remain steadfast in their faith.

But,

“I will give gold and power to whoever subdues that man! Someone stop him now!”

The Pope was screeching, ordering my capture. There wasn’t a shred of faith or nobility in his features.

“…I have no personal grudge against you, Mage.”

“Bullshit, you were the most excited when Victoria was mentioned earlier.”

The paladins only started moving after the promise of money and power. I was disgusted seeing that.

How much faith had they abandoned, how corrupt did they have to be to fall for the Pope’s pathetic persuasion?

*Click, clunk, chink!*

The clear metallic sound of a key turning in a lock rang out as the magic circle on my palm began to morph into something new.

“…You all might want to stay completely still, unless you want the whole Vatican to blow away.”

I flicked my hand through the air, a confident smirk playing on my lips. I’d learned something interesting while fighting Horong last time.

To compress mana endlessly and create a falling star. A miniature Supernova.

“Sunsinger.”

The small sun I conjured floated above the Vatican ceiling, scattering feather wings and musical notes as it went.

“This thing’s got more kick than you think. Enough to fry everyone in this building, I reckon. Running’s no use, either.”

“Kuh, k-kuuuh….”

Because of the searing heat and blazing flames spewing from the Sun Singer, Pope Forcus III and the paladins couldn’t easily approach me.

“Honestly, these so-called paladins are such cowards. Wilhelm, why don’t you just become Pope? I think that’d be better, personally.”

I wrapped Wilhelm beside me in a barrier of ice, and offered with a soft smile.

To fix this rotten Papal See, they needed more people with his kind of sincere character, I thought.

“M-me, you mean?! How could a novice like me possibly….”

“Being a paladin who helped a mage defeat the Demon Lord makes it different, no? I gotta take that b*stard’s head and avenge my parents.”

Wilhelm was still shaking his head, lacking confidence, but I pointed a thumb at myself and kept talking.

“Besides, the last Pope was a knight back in the day. You see that sword stuck in the rock over there? Whoever pulls it out was supposed to be the next in line.”

I gestured to the long sword set in the center of the rock as if waiting for its master.

It was something I’d heard from Victoria a while back. The last Pope, Raphael Arkelious, had been a knight in his youth, rescuing people, or so she said.

“I think you’d be more than qualified. Probably.”

I lightly patted Wilhelm’s back. Someone with the guts to defy that pig of a Pope wasn’t likely to be intimidated anywhere else.

Besides, according to Victoria, the former Pope had a similar fiery temper, unable to tolerate injustice.

“Was that… a story the Saintess told you?”

“…How did you know?”

“Well, in the Holy Kingdom nowadays, stories about the last Pope are practically taboo. I didn’t think the Saintess would share something so important with anyone else… Ah, could it be…”

Wilhelm suddenly stared at me with a strange look. He seemed lost in thought, and then his eyes widened as if he’d realized something.

“You really are the Saintess’s lover, aren’t you! I thought you were lying since you kept denying it!”

“…Ah. Th-that’s…”

I avoided Wilhelm’s gaze, stammering my words. With the Pope and the other paladins watching, I couldn’t take back my words again.

It had been a slip of the tongue, unable to bear hearing my friend insulted. I’d just lost it and said whatever came to mind.

“Brother! You did it! To have that beautiful Saintess as your partner, this Wilhelm! I will cheer for you two’s love for as long as I live!”

Wilhelm raised his voice, pounding his left chest with his fist, showing his trust in me.

“…For life is a bit much.”

It’s just a one-month contract relationship, after all.

“I owe my life to you and the Saintess. If there is anything that I, as a paladin, can do, please call upon me anytime!”

“……”

I thought it was a real blessing that Victoria wasn’t here right now. If she saw the mess I had made, she’d tease me for months.

* * *

“O-oh, oh my god….”

In that moment, Victoria, having witnessed and heard everything from behind the pillar,

“Even his swearing is so cool…!!”

Muttered softly, sinking to the floor, utterly reveling in the afterglow of love.

Her heart pounded, her innermost thoughts surged relentlessly, threatening to betray her.

– Hey, you fuckers. I said she’s my girlfriend, didn’t I? Can’t you cut it out?

For the first time, the man she had a crush on called her his girlfriend and lashed out at the people she disliked.

She was so happy. Ecstatically joyful.

She wished this moment would last forever, even pinching her cheek to make sure it wasn’t a dream, but reality.

‘T-this… is practically a confession, isn’t it?!’

Victoria swallowed hard, her mouth watering. Due to Astar’s blunder, her missteps and misunderstandings grew day by day.