Chapter 490: Saint of the Vatican (2)

Vatican City.

A nation with a total population of just over 500, and even then, composed solely of Catholic priests and nuns.

A country whose land size is barely comparable to Gyeongbok Palace, and due to religious reasons, childbirth does not occur, making it composed solely of immigrants.

However, as the headquarters for 1.4 billion Catholic believers, it is the world’s most bizarrely structured nation, with a symbolism unmatched by any other country.

…This is merely the image of Vatican City that Sung Taekyung knew from his original world.

As this is a world where Hunters exist, and the roles of men and women are also reversed.

Vatican City in this world took on a significantly different form compared to the Vatican City known in Sung Taekyung’s original world.

It’s understandable, as Vatican City was one of the countries that produced the most of the world’s rarest healing-type Hunters.

Not to mention the proportion of healing-type Hunters among the entire population, it was a nation where healing-type Hunters awakened unusually frequently, even ranking first in terms of the absolute number of healing-type Hunters.

A world where Hunters are synonymous with national power. If a nation lacked proper Hunters, the usual rule was that they couldn’t handle emerging Gates in time, ultimately leading to monster waves.

There were countless small city-states that faded into a page of history like that.

Only Vatican City, thanks to producing an overwhelming number of healing-type Hunters across the entire nation, continued to maintain its prestige to this day.

The small land surrounded by Rome, the capital of Italy, had become a vast territory large enough to swallow the entire city of Rome.

Its population of just over 500 had also grown explosively, reaching a staggering number of 5 million.

It was a natural consequence that Vatican City, which produced about 40% of the healing-type Hunters awakening worldwide, would develop.

Because healing-type Hunters were few in number, rare, and valuable human resources needed everywhere in the world.

As their role was to treat and recover Hunters injured fighting monsters in dungeons, healing-type Hunters always played an essential role in maintaining national power in any country.

The persistent problem faced by all countries was that the number of healing-type Hunters was significantly lower than that of regular Hunters.

When about ten thousand people manifested awakening abilities, perhaps one healing-type Hunter would awaken, if that.

And among them were Hunters who hid their awakening status because they disliked being dragged around by the country for their healing abilities, Hunters who preferred rear support over fighting monsters on the front lines, and those whose healing abilities were somewhat removed from direct treatment, like those specializing in blessings or pharmacology.

When you included non-awakened individuals or men who couldn’t awaken at all, the number of ‘healing-type Hunters who could directly treat injuries or illnesses’ was practically one in every 100,000 people.

In any country, healing-type Hunters, especially those capable of directly treating injuries, were naturally treated as precious commodities.

Therefore, among healing-type Hunters, those who could directly treat injuries were among the most crucial personnel, needing to be secured even by borrowing from other countries to maintain national power.

Vatican City, however, had nearly five thousand Hunters capable of such injury treatment.

And this number was limited solely to ‘Hunters capable of treating injuries,’ excluding those with other healing abilities like blessings, pharmacology, or purification.

In effect, one could say that one in every 100 citizens of Vatican City was a healing-type ability awakener.

It was only natural that such a Vatican City wielded the most immense influence worldwide.

Simply by dispatching ‘healing-type Hunters’ to various parts of the world, Vatican City could gain overwhelming superiority in virtually all diplomatic affairs.

Just as the Middle Eastern countries in Sung Taekyung’s original world accumulated wealth by selling ‘black gold’.

In this world, Vatican City was accumulating wealth by dispatching ‘white people’.

As a nation that dispatched Hunters worldwide, it naturally had close ties with the global guild, the Ariel Foundation.

Most of the dispatching of healing-type Hunters from Vatican City overseas was also carried out through this Ariel Foundation.

The Ariel Foundation, with branches in over 250 countries worldwide, naturally and consistently dispatched one or two Hunters from the Vatican to Korea, including for diplomatic purposes.

Furthermore, Lulusia Belmonte, known as the ‘Saintess of the Vatican’, was the Hunter dispatched to Korea for this generation.

Such a person was now, with her cheeks slightly puffed out, playfully sulking at the blonde young lady before her.

“Why do you keep using stiff titles like ‘Saintess-nim’ every time we meet, Sihee~! I’m going to get mad~!”

“I’m sorry, Saint… Lulusia.”

“Again, again~!”

Lulusia, puffing out her cheeks simply because she wasn’t called by her name.

Although she appeared somewhat undignified and childish for someone called the Saintess of the Vatican, it didn’t negate the Saintess title bestowed upon her.

In the first place, the reason she acquired the name ‘Saintess’ was simply because she could handle an overwhelmingly greater variety of healing abilities compared to other Hunters, not because she was a symbol of benevolence or philanthropy.

Rather, it was perhaps natural for her to become spoiled, having grown up receiving all sorts of preferential treatment within Vatican City.

…Of course, while her personality was a bit childlike, her outwardly glamorous figure exuded a maternal aura that suggested she would care for children better than anyone.

Lulusia could wield a remarkable seven types of healing-type awakened abilities.

Including abilities like ‘Recovery’ for healing wounds, ‘Blessing’ for protecting the body, and ‘Pharmacology’ for crafting potions.

She was the Saintess of the Vatican, Lulusia Belmonte, a person possessing such diverse talents that one could say she could handle almost any healing-type awakened ability.

The reason she was dispatched to Korea instead of major countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, or France was not arbitrary.

Firstly, Lulusia had developed an interest in Korea during her childhood due to a chance encounter and grew up with that fascination.

Secondly, it was thanks to the strong public order in Korea.

Originally, Vatican City intended to dispatch the Saintess to a major country, but Lulusia herself had strongly insisted on being sent to Korea.

And within Vatican City, the conclusion was reached that if she were to be dispatched somewhere anyway, Korea, with its good public order, wouldn’t be a bad choice.

With these circumstances overlapping, Lulusia Belmonte became the Vatican’s healing-type Hunter dispatched to Korea.

It was Do Sihee, the young lady of Dokyung Group, who began building a friendship with her, whose personality was quite unpredictable, a few months prior.

Foundation Hunters, most of whom had lived lives being catered to, found it difficult to deal with Lulusia’s spoiled personality.

Do Sihee, who was desperately seeking connections and eager to befriend someone her older sister couldn’t easily meddle with.

And Eunbyul, whose servant-like disposition had become ingrained over years of living in hiding, were the only Hunters within the Foundation capable of handling her.

…Even Do Sihee, without Eunbyul, seemed to be struggling considerably to handle her alone now.

“I’m sorry, Lulusia. Next time, I’ll definitely call you only by your name.”

“…Alright. I suppose I, the merciful ‘Saintess’ here, have no choice but to understand and let it slide~!”

“…Lu, Lulusia is the best~!”

“Ahaha~!”

Lulusia laughed with delight at the overly exaggerated reaction, which was almost embarrassing to witness.

It was a moment when the absence of Eunbyul, who hadn’t been by her side for the past few days, was keenly felt.

‘As expected, I need to resolve Eunbyul’s issue quickly….’

As soon as Eunbyul, who always catered to the Saintess’s moods, disappeared, Sihee felt considerable strain even in brief conversations.

Lulusia, too, could easily notice Eunbyul’s absence from Sihee’s side.

“Huh~? Is Eunbyul late today~?”

“…Eunbyul is busy these days due to family matters. It seems unlikely we can work together until that situation calms down.”

“Oh… Eunbyul was Sihee’s maid, wasn’t she~? If it’s Eunbyul’s family matters, isn’t that also Sihee’s family matters~?”

“Th-that’s…”

Sihee became momentarily flustered by Lulusia’s sudden question.

She couldn’t possibly tell this innocent and childish Saintess the truth about Eunbyul’s identity and family situation.

But if she brushed it off too casually, Lulusia would get sulky again, making her difficult to appease.

As she pondered how to answer, a voice, not quite a savior but close, echoed from behind.

“…Hmm, is the person over there the Saintess of the Vatican, Sihee?”

“……!”

Her half-sister, Do Yehee, who had stolen precious companions from her multiple times.

Sihee’s mind, which had momentarily forgotten her presence while dealing with the Saintess, snapped into focus upon realizing Do Yehee was there.

Instinctively sensing danger, Do Sihee’s body moved with a clicking sound, blocking the approaching Do Yehee and preventing her from getting closer to Lulusia.

“Oh my, Sihee. What are you doing?”

“…Get lost.”

“……”

“You’re trying some pathetic trick again, aren’t you? In the end, you humans never change.”

“…You’ve become quite brave, Sihee. To think you’d block your sister’s path like this.”

“I’m sick and tired of living my life being manipulated by you forever.”

A previous Do Sihee would have cowered under her half-sister Do Yehee’s imposing presence and discreetly moved aside, but today, she stood her ground, blocking her half-sister’s approach with a confidence that Do Yehee hadn’t anticipated.

Watching Do Sihee, who had improved significantly compared to before, Do Yehee quietly thought to herself.

‘…Still, she’s definitely gained confidence compared to before. Perhaps it’s thanks to that man.’

A younger sister who grew stronger after finding something she wanted to protect fiercely.

It wasn’t entirely bad. After all, this was proof of her growth.

…However, as an older sister, there were certain points that needed to be addressed clearly.

Even if Sihee had exceptionally found a decent person recently, it might just be a coincidence.

Furthermore, that man named Kim Sungchul fulfilled his sadistic desires through Sihee… He remained a potential risk, not in terms of his Hunter abilities, but in other aspects.

Therefore, no matter how much Lulusia was called the Saintess of the Vatican, she couldn’t permit her presence near Sihee until she spoke with her directly.

“……”

Looking at this determined gaze, it seemed highly unlikely that her younger sister would easily back down.

Using force to subdue her was an option, but… Do Yehee didn’t particularly want to resort to such drastic measures.

Because she didn’t want to disrupt the relationship with her younger sister, which had started to improve for the first time in a while.

After all, she had heard the title ‘Unnie’ from Sihee for the first time in years, albeit temporarily.

That longed-for sound, heard after so long, was enough to make her heart feel a little more at ease.

‘Today isn’t the only chance. I have a general sense of what kind of person she is, so I’ll just have to contact her separately later, without Sihee knowing.’

Just as Do Yehee began to take a step back from Do Sihee with that thought in mind.

“Excuse me~! Could you wait there for a moment~!”

“…Lulusia?”

“……”

There was a voice that deliberately called out and stopped Do Yehee, who was stepping back while inwardly praising her sister’s growth.

“Excuse me, may I ask what your relationship is with ‘our’ Sihee~?”

“…’Our’ Sihee?”

When she turned her head to look, there was only Lulusia with her innocent expression.