Chapter 10 - Ilaphaykos

“Your Majesty, the recent Soul Wraith has finally been defeated.” A man calmly stated under the feet of another man.

“That’s fantastic!”

“Indeed it is, Your Majesty.”

“Who killed it? Was it the Bloody Hands, again?”

“Apparently not, Your Majesty. It was a white-ranked adventurer. The guild has informed that he had registered yesterday. He also claimed right off the bat that he wished to defeat the Soul Wraith. ”

“Hmm? A white-ranked adventurer? So the Soul Wraith was actually really weak?”

“... No, Your Majesty, the man had just registered as an adventurer. However, he is much more powerful. Thysias of Bloody Hands lost to it even though she is an expert on magic.”

“Ohhh! I see!” Staurakios Verinas tapped at his chin, “Why don’t we recruit him as a royal guard, then? If he’s new, he won’t be attached to the adventurer system, right? We can persuade him to be my guard for life with money before a paladin mindset kicks in!”

“A wise analysis, Your Majesty. Your servant will promptly do so.” The man nodded.

“Thank you, Raverel.”

“This is only expected of your humble advisor.” Raverel left the throne room.

…

Before long, Raverel had returned and knocked on the door.

“You can enter!” Verinas exclaimed.

“Your Majesty, I have already called attention towards recruiting the adventurer. Now, there is one last subject regarding the incident. According to the Bloody Hands, one of the hostage-victims was a noble girl by the name of Lydia Siglai from Thenada Kingdom from the House of Siglai, a minor, but relatively powerful, noble family. What do you wish to do with this… girl.”

“Hmm? A girl? Hehe, is she pretty?”

“...My subjective opinions are not worthy of your attention, Your Majesty. Perhaps, we can arrange a meeting of some sort for you to confirm her beauty with your own sight.”

“That would be great! I was thinking of, heehee, of…”

“As expected of Your Majesty. I will immediately act accordingly to your wishes.”

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“Oh, come on, everything looks fine. We’re ready. Definitely. We don’t need to add anything else. You’re going to make it look like a party house more than a real throne room.”

“One more thing...there.” Hecate fit a bouquet of bone flowers in a little pocket in the walls.

“Ok. We’re done here. Let’s go!” Seth began to drag his sister up towards the exit.

“Why are you in such a hurry? I just finished! We should enjoy what we just did. Look at our work. Isn’t it beautiful?”

“Don’t you want to go the empire? I’m sick of being stuck here. We already told Kindred that we would be going today!”

“Today doesn’t mean now…”

“Come on. Let’s just go now!”

“Fine.”

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Seth and Hecate allowed the border guards to do whatever that was necessary to get in. They were patted down, though they had no bags to check. After being given the OK, they entered as any other person should’ve.

“Why the hell didn’t the others literally just go in normally?”

“I dunno. I mean, I guess it’s ‘cause we didn’t bring anything. They have bunch of random sh*t in their bags?” Seth shrugged.

“Yeah… Kindred brought a ton of crystals from what I’ve heard. Don’t know what he even needs to summon in this tiny ass place. Even the nearby Kingdom is much more powerful than this place.”

“Che. Heard that the emperor is just 18. Snotty brat that got power from his dad.”

“Well, it justs helps us. Pandora gets an easy job.”

“I bet. Anyway… where’s the cult?”

“Seth! Respect the religious! For all we know, they practice respectable religions in order to attract people.”

“Pff. Where’s it?”

“I think… there.” Hecate pointed in the direction of the main church.

“Huh? That’s a f*cking poor-ass house! If it’s there, it gotta be a cult or some sh*t, you can’t even argue with me here.”

“No! You idiot! Holy sh*t, how retarded are you? Just use the blueprint! F*cking use your brains.” Hecate vigorously tapped at her forehead.

“Whoooooshhhhh.” Seth waved his hand over his head and just began to move towards the direction Hecate had just pointed in. She sighed in exasperation before following him.

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Seth knocked at the ornate door blocking the entrance to the incredibly large church. A man answered after a few minutes of clearly heard stumbling.

“Hello? I’m sorry, we’re closed right now. It’ll open tomorrow morning!” An old and frail voice sounded out. Hecate motioned Seth to be silent.

“Hello, fellow speaker of truth. I wish to converse with the Pope. Pope Theodosius. Tell him my name. He’ll know me. My name is… Jeanne. Jeanne D’Arc.” Hecate thought of a name on the top of her head. Without looking behind her, she already knew the looks of Seth’s face. She was incredibly tempted to just say that she panicked.

“M-my apologies. I do not have the authority to address to the Pope. I will try my best to report over to a higher-up who is able to speak to the Pope.”

“That would be for the best.”

“Please wait a moment.” Another series of stumbling occurred before it was silent once again.

Seth whispered. “Joan? Seriously? And you call me the retard? Jesus.” Hecate did not bother to reply, mainly because she had none to give out anyway.

Dozens of minutes later, an even older voice rang out.

“Jeanne of Arc.”

“Yes?”

“You claim to know the pope?”

“Yes.”

“Have you been enlightened to his chosen name?”

“... Yes.” Hecate crossed her fingers that he wouldn’t ask for the name.

“I see… Jalon, see your way out of hearing range.”

“Of course.” One of the men shuffled around and left.

“I would like your partner to also move away, lest he also knows of the name.” The man continued after pausing for a minute. Hecate clenched her fist. Ahhhh, f*ck, he’s gonna. He’s gonna.

“Of course. My subordinate has no right in hearing His Holiness’ true name… Please leave.”

“Yes.” Seth made audible noises to signal his departure in case the man was slightly deaf from age. He walked away.

“Tell me His Holiness’ name.” The man straightforwardly asked. Hecate began to sweat.

“... I wish not to disclose his Holiness’ chosen name to those who can’t prove their own enlightenment.”

“... Indeed. Pardon my rashness.”

“Of course.”

“Then… what would supply genuine enlightenment towards His Holiness’ name?”

“Give me alternate letters and I’ll fill in the rest.”

“That would not suffice for your own proof. How about the other way around?”

“The same would be applied to you, no?”

“I see… indeed. Very well, I will give you alternate letters first. The first letter would be S… then E… A… I… H.” The man slowly pronounced each letter.

Hecate was beginning to become drenched in sweat. Now was the thoughts of regrets. F*ckkk, why didn’t I learn some mind control like the rest. S...E...A...I...H. What the f*ck. He might not even be giving the right letters as a test… Well, that’s the 50/50 I should go for, not guessing the actual name.

“...I believe that those are incorrect letters. I was enlightened with a different name. Perhaps you are mistaken?”

“Pardon me?” The man spoke after a significant moment of silence. Hecate began to swear inside.

“I have been enlightened with a different name…”

“Impossible. Pope Theodosius has personally supplied his true name to me along with the fact I was enlightened by Ilaphaykos herself.” The man raised his voice considerably. If Hecate could’ve sweat any faster, she would’ve.

“Perhaps I’m mistaken? Pardon me. I must have been unfaithful to Ilaphaykos to be misinformed. Excuse me. I hope I’ll reach His Holiness’ true name after proving my faith.” Hecate turned around and began to leave.

“Wait. My apologies. It was a test. Indeed, I have supplied false information. May my sin be forgiven in the pursuit of truth.”

Hecate sighed in relief inside. “Yes, may your sin be forgiven. However, I solemnly plead you not to play with such sinful trickery.”

Hecate could’ve stretched it. She could’ve pushed the idea that the man didn’t know the name and was testing various names on her. She thought about it for a moment but decided against it.

“Indeed. The true letters are T, A, D, and U.”

Hecate thought for a moment. First one that comes to mind is Thaddeus. Is Ilaphaykos related to Christianity… dunno… I’ll go for it.

“That would match Ilaphaykos’ message to me. I’ve been enlightened with the name, Thaddeus.”

“...That would be correct. Please wait a moment. I will summon the Pope who can meet you after lunch, assuming he recognizes your name. I hope you will return by then.”

“I will.” Hecate suddenly felt her heart drop when she realized that the Pope may not even have any recognition towards the name Jeanne. Well, Thaddeus is Christian. Come on. She breathed in.

“May Ilaphaykos be with you.”

“May Ilaphaykos be with you.”

During the whole conversation, the ornate door separated each other from seeing any faces other than those etched into the wood. After it all ended, Hecate stood there a bit longer. She studied the whole building. Almost immediately, her eyes widened.

Hecate left and quickly joined with Seth who was waiting at a bar.

“Hey, hey, hey! Seth! You can’t drink!”

“Chilllllll! I’m just waiting here, you worrywart. Anyway! How did it go?”

“Uhh...hehe… I’m hoping the Pope knows my name. If so, we can meet him after lunch.” Hecate immediately turned the conversation into only private whispers.

“...You’re placing your bets on a name that you thought of right off the top of your head?”

“...Yeah.”

“Want me to just pull some strings?”

“I was considering to ask you. But, the whole building was full of anti-magic barriers. I swear, it’s incredible! We’re messing with real sh*t. The worst part was that they were concealed. Our guardians and maids couldn’t even spot it.”

“W-wait, what? Who’s in Chirenth Empire again?”

“Kindred’s maids, Dream, and I think… just Abundance. The rest are in Thenada.”

“So… Pearl couldn’t find it even though she’s an anti-magic specialist?”

“Yeah…”

“Well, that’s scary… What rank was the nullifier?”

“It’s…”

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Pandora smacked her lips. “Waaaah, Laerys, it tastes amazing!”

“Heehee! Glad you like it. I’m sure your royal meals are much better though!”

“Haha. This is just as good! Domova! Try some!” Pandora passed a bowl of miso soup to Diabolos.

“Thank you. Miss Siglai. And Miss Laeyrs.”

“Gee, stop it. You’re embarrassing me. It’s nothing.”

“Che. Be a bit more proud of your creations, Laerys! Hahaha.” Tieria patted the little support on the back with a loud smack. A bit on the rough side, if one may add. The others laughed along. She began to turn red.

“Excuse me. I need to go the bathroom…” Laerys murmured. To her disappointment, it only prompted more hearty laughs from everyone. She left the room, leaving a practically noticeable aura of heat.

[Message [Pandora of Mordekor: I’ve gotten the emperor to meet ya. Find a way to get to Juniper Spice. It’s the fancy restaurant that’s near the palace. I think it’s the equivalent of a three star Michelin restaurant. So… fun.] ]

[Silent Message [Kindred of Mordekor: Heehee. How’d you do it?] ]

[Message [Pandora of Mordekor: Magic. I tried to make it simple, but meh. This restaurant will still do the job.] ]

[Message [Diabolos of Mordekor: Hey, hey. I need to leave this place. Say something…] ]

“Miss, we have a busy schedule and cannot afford to stay here, not to mention that you are burdening the heroes here.”

“Haha, it’s fine! We’re having fun here. She’s not burdening us, right?” Lilagord smiled. The others laughed in agreement.

“I’m sure my miss is. Do excuse us.”

“Okay… Domova. G’bye, Lilly!” Pandora kept a cheerful smile. They exchanged conversations for a bit longer before Pandora was finally left alone with Diabolos.

...

“So… what’s happenin’ now?” Diabolos casually asked.

“A nice lunch, that’s what’s happening.”