episode_0182

Plane’s entry procedures are not that complicated. As it is the headquarters of the Stellar Order, it has a motto that anyone can come and pray.

However, this did not mean that people were not filtered out at all, and because so many people came to pray or for other reasons, the border of Plane was always crowded.

“Wow… there are so many people.”

Potera also had a long queue of people being inspected, but Plane was incomparably more crowded.

“Hmm, in the past, I used my title as a warrior to pass right through without waiting in line.”

“Can’t we still do that? One o’clock is urgent.”

“Hmm… I don’t know if I can go even close to the checkpoint.”

There were so many people that it was impossible to request identification as they had to leave separately.

If there wasn’t a carriage, they would have somehow managed to squeeze in, but as it happened, there were children who were rescued by a large carriage.

“…Wow, all of this is taking so much time.”

In the end, I wasted a significant portion of the estimated arrival time that I worked so hard to shorten by waiting in the immigration process.

Of course, even if we had arrived as scheduled, we would have faced the same crowds.

“Alright, the next people come.”

Surprisingly, the people doing the immigration inspection were not ordinary guards, but Holy Knights. In a way, it was something that could be seen as a plane.

Since Wayne was pulling a carriage, he naturally responded to the inspection.

“Where are you from?”

“This is Verfia’s Eletrobe.”

“What is the purpose of your visit?”

“An audience with His Holiness the Pope.”

The Paladin who had been mechanically checking Wayne’s words looked at Wayne with a shocked expression.

“…Yes? Excuse me, but could you please tell me your name and identity?”

“Wayne. He is a warrior of his time.”

Wayne said while briefly showing the holy sword he was wearing. Of course, there was no such thing as a Paladin being unable to recognize the Holy Sword.

“Huh…! Hey, warrior…! Huh!”

Before the paladin’s voice grew louder, Wayne quietly placed his index finger to his lips. The paladin covered his mouth with both hands and nodded.

“…Welcome to Plane.”

The paladin immediately handed the pass to Wayne without even checking how many passengers were in the carriage or what it was carrying.

“Hmm. Can you give me one more?”

“Would it be possible?”

We quickly entered the plane and first stopped by the daycare center to take care of the children.

The nun at the orphanage looked at the children with a worried expression.

“Oh my. These kids…”

“Children rescued from a nearby bandit den. Not an orphan. They are all children with parents.”

“I see. But why did you come to the orphanage?”

“We have urgent work to do right now, so we have to go straight to the Vatican. I’m sorry, but could you please keep the children at the daycare center until their parents come to visit?”

“Ah… I understand. Hey guys, come on.”

After safely dropping off the children at the orphanage, they left the carriage at the stable and headed straight to the Holy See.

It goes without saying that the Vatican visit procedures are incomparably more stringent than the Plane immigration process.

Putting aside the motto that anyone can pray, the Vatican was in fact no different from the royal palace of Plane.

Of course, I have entered the Holy See a couple of times illegally. Therefore, this was the first time it had been reviewed by the Vatican.

“Stop. In front of this is the Vatican, where the Holy Father resides. Visitors and general believers are not permitted to enter unless there are special reasons.”

Sure enough, two paladins who appeared to be much more senior than the paladins at immigration stopped the carriage pulled by Wayne.

“A person who is entrusted with important responsibilities for special reasons.”

“Is it a major policy? Could you please tell me what your position is within the denomination?”

“He’s a warrior.”

Once again, Wayne showed off the holy sword at his waist.

“Huh! Yo, hero…!”

Of course, in front of the Holy Sword, the rigor of procedures was of no use. The Holy Knights were in an uproar at the visit of a warrior whose status was equal to or greater than that of the Pope.

“Welcome, warrior! The Holy Father is currently celebrating mass.”

“I see. I have very urgent and important business to attend to, but may I come in?”

“Of course!”

The group safely entered the Holy See with ridiculous ease. I giggled and watched the situation from the side.

‘I feel like a division commander who unexpectedly visits a subordinate unit.’

While I was laughing, a paladin asked me in a cool voice.

“Are you one of the warrior’s companions?”

“Ah, yes. By the way.”

“Excuse me, but you cannot enter the Vatican with a visitor without a valid reason because you are a companion.”

and. They said it was very picky, but it was a very sharp manual. Who would have thought that the hero’s companion would be defeated.

Of course, even though I was not Wayne’s companion, I was still able to freely enter and leave the Holy See.

“Haha….”

I smiled sheepishly and took out the Venus ring and showed it to him. Proof of adulthood. A treasure bestowed upon those who have performed several of the seven virtues that can be practiced by humans.

Only the Pope can determine its qualifications, and it is a ring intended for burial in the tombs of those who have been canonized after their martyrdom.

The facial expressions of the Paladins who saw it in my hands, alive and well, expressed ‘surprise’ in a variety of ways, without any need to describe it.

“See you, Saint Eugene!”

It seemed like information about me was well spread within the Vatican.

Of course, when I returned here after Akasha’s trick, I proved myself with the ring of Venus, so it must have remained in my memory as a ‘living saint.’

“As you said, I came here because I have some very important business to do. Can I come in?”

“No, of course!”

After safely entering the Vatican, I put the Venus ring on the middle finger of my right hand to prevent any further commotion.

“Well… First, let’s wait a moment until the Holy Father has time.”

I nodded at Wayne’s words. No matter what, you can’t make a fuss about canceling a mass that is already in progress.

“Umm…?”

While I was waiting helplessly for the mass to end, I could feel a powerful energy moving from somewhere.

“Wow, what is it.”

It felt as if faith was alive and moving. Perhaps because he became a god, he was very sensitive to such pure sincerity.

“Huh? Ah, it looks like a contemporary saint was chosen.”

Unlike me, I was very interested in the words that Wayne, who seemed to have sensed my identity based on divine power, blurted out as if it was no big deal.

“Saint? A saint?”

“Yes. Just like the warrior, it is a status chosen by Stella herself. I heard that they prioritize pure faith above all else.”

“I want to see it in person.”

What kind of person does it have to be to be so devout that you can clearly feel your faith even from a distance like this?

As I followed the energy, I found a silver-haired woman walking around inside the Vatican, escorted by three Holy Knights.

The moment I saw the face of the woman wearing the white robe, I froze.

“…Arjen?”

Seeing her striking resemblance to Arjen, I almost ran over to her and hugged her tightly.

The reason it ended up being an attempt was because, fortunately, Wayne quickly grasped the situation and held my hand.

“Ah… thank you.”

“What. Anyway, the resemblance is truly shocking.”

“Hmm… No, looking at it again, that’s not necessarily true.”

First of all, it has no horns or tail, which are its biggest characteristics. I didn’t feel any magical power that was so powerful that it was so threatening that it took my breath away.

…….

In other words, other than that, it was completely at the level of excluding Argen.

“On what basis are saints chosen?”

“Based on pure faith….”

“Sseu-eup… No matter how I look at it, it looks like it…”

It was a great blasphemy if someone else heard it, so I whispered quietly.

Wayne, who was the only one who heard me, tapped my side with his elbow, but I couldn’t shake my suspicion.

“Ah….”

The series of conversations must have been somewhat noisy, so even the other side recognized us. The saint gave a small exclamation and walked towards us at a brisk pace.

“Saint!?”

The Holy Knights who were guarding her were startled by the saint’s sudden behavior and belatedly followed her.

“I thought I felt an unusual power, but it was as expected. nice to see you. Warrior.”

The saintess spoke while looking at the holy sword on Wayne’s waist and bowed her head.

“Hey, meet the hero!”

The paladins who were guarding the saint belatedly noticed Wayne’s holy sword and bowed their heads. Wayne also greeted me, probably because it felt awkward just to receive the greeting.

“Hello, Lady. He is a warrior of his time. It’s an honor to meet you like this.”

A chance meeting between a warrior and a saint. In some ways, it could be seen as the starting point of a grand narrative called Boy Meets Girl, but coincidentally, both the warrior and the saint were women.

And naturally, the saintess’ gaze turned to me, the only man in the room.

“Uh…?”

I don’t know why, but the saintess looked very surprised when she saw me.