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Chapter 37
“…What?”
Seth nearly dropped his teacup.
“I said I have some. Rika leaves.”
“What do you mean? Weren’t they extinct? Did someone preserve them with a stasis spell long ago?”
“The Duke of Redmond discovered some in his territory and shared a few with me.”
I had already gotten permission when I last sent a reply to Artif.
I had asked Seth for a recipe and checked with Artif if it was all right to reveal the existence of the Rika leaves.
Thankfully, Artif gave his consent without hesitation.
“Amazing. I thought they were gone forever after the western forest of Redmond, the only place where Rika leaves grew, was contaminated.”
“But they seem to have changed to adapt to the environment. I heard Rika leaves are easy to cultivate and process, but I’m running into unexpected difficulties.”
“Hm, so the Rika leaves have evolved.”
Seth pondered for a moment, then pulled a small vial from his inner pocket. Inside was a single leaf.
“What’s that?”
“A Rika leaf.”
I stared in shock at the vial.
Extinct, yet somehow high-ranking figures all seemed to have a piece tucked away?
“Don’t look at me like that. All I have is this one little leaf I stole.”
“You… stole it?”
“When the Demon King appeared and the western forest was polluted, the temple preserved their Rika leaves with stasis magic. Only the Pope, the Saint, and the high priests know this.”
I asked him with growing disbelief.
“You mean you stole it.”
“I was afraid of being caught, so I only took a single leaf.”
“….”
Not a puppet pope, but a delinquent pope.
“Anyway, since I have this, it should help us understand how the plant evolved and how to process it.”
He said it so casually as he handed me the vial.
“…I must have done something big in my past life.”
That’s why good people were risking themselves to help me, perhaps.
“You did something very big indeed. Even with the ability, few could act on it so decisively.”
“I just keep receiving help over and over.”
“Think nothing of it, Shar-shar.”
It seemed I would have to resign myself to that strange nickname.
“Ah, I feel bad asking again, but there’s one more thing I’d like to know.”
“Ask me anything.”
“Is there something like a textbook that teaches how to use holy power?”
Seth frowned.
“A textbook?”
“Yes. I don’t know how to use it, so I searched for books, but nothing exists in the market.”
“How odd.”
“What do you mean?”
Seth gave me a look as though he’d heard something bizarre.
“Normally, one doesn’t have to learn holy power. It comes naturally, so there’s no need to teach it. You have so much holy power—have you really never used it once?”
“No. No matter what I do, nothing happens.”
“Hm, would you lend me your hand for a moment?”
“….”
“….”
Seth held my hand and stared at it intently.
“…What are you doing?”
“To be honest, I don’t know how to teach you.”
Of course. A delinquent pope indeed.
“This is a bit of a puzzle.”
I tried to pull my hand away, but Seth held it firmly.
“Try concentrating and sending holy power into me.”
I closed my eyes and focused on our clasped hands.
Go, holy power!
“Pathetic.”
“What?”
Seth released my hand and spoke bluntly.
“The holy power I felt just now is worse than a novice priest’s. It wasn’t that you directed it—it just leaked over because you can’t control it.”
“And so?”
I was once a saint, and yet he judged me so harshly.
“Most people are born with the ability to wield holy power. But Shar-shar, you seem unable to use it properly at all. I’ll return and look into this.”
It almost seemed better to join the Azdel Church if I wanted to handle holy power properly.
It bothered me, always relying on Seth.
Perhaps this was the saint’s fate.
“Seth. I’ll join the Azdel Church.”
His pale blue eyes widened.
“Truly?”
“Yes. But there’s one problem. His Highness the Crown Prince won’t just stand by.”
“Why? Even if you belong to the Church, marriage is still allowed.”
They say marriage could be blocked, but it doesn’t quite add up.
“I don’t know why either. But I’ll do my best to persuade him so no harm comes to anyone.”
“Then let’s postpone your entry for now. Truthfully, I haven’t yet finished preparing to protect you.”
“Then until that time, I’ll practice diligently to use my holy power.”
Afterward, we chatted idly as if it were a normal tea time, then I walked with him to the entrance hall to see him off.
“Ah, Shar-shar.”
Just before boarding his carriage, Seth dismissed his holy knights, stepped closer, and whispered softly.
“Do you have some connection to the hero Calix? Many practically accept the theory that you two were lovers.”
My heart lurched, and I fumbled for words.
“I told you, I hardly remember anything.”
“Since Lord Calix never married and instead appointed his nephew as the next Duke of Redmond, it makes sense, doesn’t it?”
“I said I don’t know. Just go already, I’m busy.”
I practically shoved him into the carriage.
After watching it depart, I went straight to Alfredo’s laboratory.
“Alfredo. May I speak with you for a moment?”
I summoned my physician to the side room and handed him the recipe for the Rika medicine along with the preserved leaf.
“This is truly astonishing. Who would’ve thought someone preserved it for centuries.”
I told him I had bought it from an eccentric mage.
He was trustworthy, but the fewer who knew that Seth had stolen it, the better.
“This one doesn’t even have the same color as the current Rika leaves. I must analyze it at once.”
Behind his wrinkles, Alfredo’s eyes gleamed—the eyes of a former professor.
“What’s the situation right now?”
“The addictive nature remains strong. Either the proportions were wrong, or the wrong sub-ingredients were added.”
Rika leaves on their own had little effect, so proper mixing was essential.
But what if the problem wasn’t the recipe or the sub-ingredients?
The Duke committed unspeakable atrocities to break his curse. In the end, he even resorted to dark magic.
Why did Chase’s words suddenly come to mind now?
“The recipe itself looks ordinary. I’ve already tried combining several of these ingredients.”
“What if the reason the Rika leaves evolved… is magic contamination?”
“What? You mean…”
“The western forest is now a land of monsters.”
At this point, I couldn’t trust anyone.
Chase, Caius, and even Artif.
They were all hiding truths from me, so I had to rely on deduction and verification.
“It’s possible. You still can’t use your holy power freely, can you?”
“No. I’ll send the leaf the Duke gave me to His Holiness the Pope. Please halt your work for now and analyze this one.”
I took the leaf and returned to my room. As I sealed the letter for Seth, I hesitated.
“I can trust Seth… right?”
Calix had turned out to be Chase. Could Seth really be the same priest I once knew?
No. I mustn’t doubt him.
Though suspicion was necessary in times like these, I also had to accept goodwill.
Just remember what Seth had shown me so far.
“Sina, deliver this to His Holiness immediately.”
After sending the letter, I fetched a flowerpot from the corner of my desk. Inside, a wilted flower drooped.
“Whew, focus.”
I cupped the pot in my hands, closed my eyes, and tried once again to release holy power.
That night, under a pitch-black sky, I lit a small candle.
Stepping onto the terrace, I saw the full moon scattering white light across the land.
It was tonight.
Chase said I would no longer transform into a cat, but I was still uneasy.
A sudden breeze swept my silver hair around me.
“It’s still cold at night.”
As I murmured, something was draped over my shoulders.
Startled, I turned to see Artif, who had suddenly appeared, tying a robe for me at the neck.
