Reunion (5)

The church territory was like a massive monastery.

As the headquarters of the Celestine Church, which exerted its influence over the entire Northern and Southern Continents, it could be considered the most sacred place, and even more so because it was where the Pope, the very symbol of the Celestine Church, resided.

As a result, anything related to entertainment or gambling couldn’t gain a foothold at all, and naturally, the entire church territory took on the character of a monastery. It wasn’t particularly intentional, but that’s how it turned out.

So Yona, Alec, and Kaiyak had nothing else to do.

Days passed with just spending time idly.

“Hey, Alec… Huh?”

Yona flung open the door to Alec’s room.

She had knocked but there was no answer, so she thought he might be sleeping, but it didn’t seem likely he’d be sleeping in the middle of the day like this, so she opened the door, but unexpectedly, the room was empty.

“Where did he go now.”

Rubina had come to play, and she was going to have Alec play with her too, but now that the room’s owner was gone, that plan was ruined.

‘What’s this? Why did he go out without telling me? Is there some other woman… No, no.’

Forcibly twisting her thoughts that were leaking towards strange directions again, Yona squeezed her eyes shut.

This kind of thing has been happening quite often lately.

When it comes to Alec, even though he hadn’t done anything strange, whenever she thought about him, her thoughts kept drifting towards the idea of another woman being by his side.

And then that would make her furious.

She would get angry, boiling mad, just, just, just… So this was a thought process she couldn’t understand at all.

What made her even angrier was the fact that just imagining another woman by Alec’s side was enough to make her blood boil.

What does it matter if there’s another woman by that guy’s side, why am I getting angry—after wracking her brains and pondering over and over, the conclusion Yona reached was quite simple.

‘Of course I’d be angry if some other woman snatches away the warrior I’ve raised so hard.’

This was her conclusion.

Yona thought this was a very plausible reason and was quite satisfied with it.

She wondered if it might be jealousy, but that couldn’t be.

There’s no way Yona would feel such a girlish emotion.

Only her body was female, her mind was—actually, even that had become a bit questionable now, but anyway, she still didn’t want to acknowledge herself as a woman. Though she couldn’t strongly deny it like before either.

“…Oh geez, I’m thinking weird things again.”

Yona slapped both her cheeks hard with a clap.

A stinging pain rushed in, followed by her cheeks starting to burn hot.

Really, every time Alec is involved, her thoughts endlessly chain together like this without rhyme or reason, it doesn’t seem like something a person should be doing.

“…Rubina will be waiting.”

Yona slammed Alec’s door shut and returned to her own room.

Wondering how to explain to Rubina, who was excited expecting to play with Alec too.

“It’s been a while, Your Holiness.”

“Hmm.”

An awkward silence hung over Arczel IV’s office.

Amidst that long silence, Alec’s voice spread out softly, and Arczel IV was stroking his beard with his eyes closed.

“…Have you been well, Johannes?”

“It’s Alec now. I abandoned that name long ago.”

When the audience request came in, Arczel IV was greatly surprised.

Hearing that an adventurer traveling with Yona had requested an audience, he wondered what kind of bold adventurer would hope for a private audience with the Pope. But when he looked at the audience request form, Arczel was greatly taken aback by the name written there.

“The name Johannes Spielvan wasn’t such a light one.”

“Is that so. Even if it’s a name, it’s just a name after all, so it wasn’t difficult to discard. I’m glad to see you seem to be in good health, Your Holiness.”

Arczel IV finally opened his eyes and faced Alec’s smiling face.

It was a face that had changed quite a bit in the meantime.

He had entered his prime youth, and Johannes—now named Alec—had lost all his hair becoming bald, and his skin had tanned becoming brown.

“You’ve changed a lot too.”

“Time has passed. Three years isn’t such a short time after all.”

“Is that so. Yes, that’s right. An old man’s three years and a young man’s three years can’t be the same. Yes… that’s right.”

“That’s correct. As Your Holiness said, your three years and my three years couldn’t be the same. So.”

Alec took a small breath.

Tensing his stomach.

“Please lift it now. Though not excessively long, I dedicated my entire life to the Celestine Church, and made no small contributions. I’ve been under interdiction for three years, crawling at the bottom. Isn’t this enough?”

“…Interdiction, interdiction.”

“Yes. Haven’t I done enough by now?”

Arczel IV fell into thought.

Alec, who had been a cathedral knight and the captain of the Crusader Special Operations Unit, had openly rebelled against and refused to comply with the internal decisions of the Celestine Church. The punishment imposed on him was interdiction.

All his holy power was sealed, and if he forcibly tried to use holy power, he would have to bear pain as if his entire body was burning in the hellfire of the demon realm. Moreover, anyone who knew anything about him at all would be unable to recognize him, a kind of cognitive interference.

Even at that time, many opinions said it was too excessive to impose interdiction, which was the most extreme punishment in the Celestine Church besides execution.

However, the elders of the church wanted the punishment of interdiction because of Alec’s hot-tempered personality, his quick temper, and his faith that seemed somewhat twisted from the church’s internal perspective.

It was also difficult for Arczel IV to strongly oppose the decision of interdiction that the absolute majority of elders had made.

“Three years, three years… It’s already been that long.”

Alec’s words that it was enough by now were reasonable.

It was an unprecedented punishment, and when a cathedral knight who becomes even stronger by adding holy power to his physical strength loses his holy power, the remaining strength isn’t usually that impressive.

Alec was also like that, so probably no one thought he would survive this long.

But now, after time has passed, Alec was here, demanding the lifting of the interdiction.

“Alright. I will talk to the elders. Your story is reasonable.”

The Pope’s words that he would personally talk to the elders were, unlike their surface meaning, a kind of code word indicating a positive judgment.

The Pope’s position also meant he couldn’t give a definite answer verbally, and his words that he would personally move to persuade the elders were a confirmation shown through action rather than words.

“I will be waiting.”

Alec clenched his fist.

If only the interdiction on his holy power was lifted, most problems could be solved.

His holy power was never lacking, and since a cathedral knight’s strength shines on top of holy power, he should be able to prevent even Berbaria from recklessly misbehaving—the problem that Yona currently has.

“What will you do about Sekti?”

As soon as that name came out, Alec’s face hardened.

Sekti, Sekti—Alec couldn’t understand why that name was coming out so suddenly.

He thought the issue with Sekti had been resolved when he left the cathedral, and also thought she was doing well.

“…Even if you lift the interdiction, I won’t return as a cathedral knight. I will remain as a missionary knight, so there’s no particular reason for me to meet Sekti.”

“Is that so.”

Arczel IV nodded.

If his resolve was firm, there was no need to shake it.

Sekti was stable now, and if Johannes—Alec—suddenly appeared before her, it would only disturb that stable life.

If Alec himself didn’t want to meet Sekti, that was enough. Enough not to need to disturb things further.

“Then, I’ll take my leave.”

“Alright. I understand. Ah, and. Johan—no, Alec.”

“Yes?”

Half-risen, Alec turned to look at Arczel IV.

Arczel IV’s piercing gaze was directed at Alec.

“…That healer called Yona, is she a trustworthy person? She’s someone you’ve stayed with for a long time, isn’t she? In your view, I’m asking if she’s someone who can be trusted.”

To those words, Alec nodded without a moment’s hesitation.

If Yona couldn’t be trusted, it would be hard to find anyone truly trustworthy even if you searched the entire Celestine Church.

At least to Alec, Yona alone was far more valuable than this entire Celestine Church.

“She is more befitting of a clergy member than anyone I’ve seen so far. Absolutely.”

“…Is that so. I understand.”

With those final words, Arczel IV said nothing more.

Alec also left the office with a final bow, without saying anything else.

“Huff, huff…”

She thought it was strange that it became insanely hot when night fell.

Now it was hot even with the window wide open, and she felt that something was definitely odd.

Yona was thrashing about on the bed.

The heat surging from her left arm was only getting worse as time passed, and that heat was finally spreading throughout her entire body, making her vision hazy.

If you asked if something hurt, it didn’t really.

This, even Yona herself thought, wasn’t a matter of pain or no pain.

The sweet tingling starting from her lower abdomen was a sensation she was also well acquainted with.

It would have been better if she didn’t know it at all, but she already knew the sensation from when Alec had groped her breasts a while back.

That sensation was what she was desperately craving right now. She missed and longed for that touch that had gently caressed her breasts.

It was a thousand blessings that there was no one beside her.

“Hng, hnng… haa, huu, hn…”

The sensual moans flowing from her mouth in a heated voice continued incessantly, without her even being aware of it.

“Ah, Alec… you baldy… bad… guy…”