The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)-Chapter 696: Love could turn a duckling into a swan, even in the weird category

Chapter 696: Love could turn a duckling into a swan, even in the weird category

"Damn...the place is bigger than this Castle."

I couldn’t help but exclaim as the Pope brought Jin even deeper into the inner sanctuary. How large is this place really? I mean...I had seen the floorplan, but I wasn’t a spatial person so it was kind of hard to imagine the scale with the real thing.

But, damn...the inner sanctum was twice bigger than the part accessible to the public--including the park. Then again, it should be the living place for the priests, paladins, and holy knights, so...

I bet, however, the Pope’s chamber alone was probably occupying a section--or a floor. And then there were the archbishops, who presided over three towers as the Grand Church’s pillars. Yeah...just those people’s residences would already be huge.

It was deep enough that I had the time to put my sleeping baby back in the nursery and moved Jade as well as Shiny to the bed--and came back to them still walking to the destination. They all had fallen asleep after declaring that this whole charade was boring.

The good news was that everything had been the same as the floor plan that Sangen provided. Well, so far anyway. They were leading Jin through the common areas--you know, the areas that personnel of the church could access. I was quite sure I heard that the Pope meant to take Jin to his office or something, but the room was clearly anything but that.

I mean...it looked more like a meeting room with a large desk and several chairs around it. The chairs did look comfortable, but there was hardly anything else there. Not even a pantry corner to provide the guests with a drink or something. The only thing available other than a set of a marble table and plush chairs were standard church decorations--pillar statues, banners, golden trinkets, paintings....standard things.

Definitely not a Pope’s ’office’.

But what did a naive and innocent Hero know about the Pope’s office, right? So, Jin did not make any reaction when he was led to the room. Nor did he react to the fact that some people had already been there as if waiting and that the paladins and holy knights were ’casually’ standing near the door and windows.

Wow...even ignoring the ’guards’, there were already six priests including the Pope facing Jin as he took a seat. Overkill much?

[Even if they have good intentions, these many people are just too much] Ignis commented telepathically in my head.

"You’re right," I scoffed at the moving projection as Ignis swept its gaze around the room. "They really think Jin is stupid if the Pope still maintains a friendly face even now."

Unfortunately--or fortunately?--they seemed to think that Jin was indeed a stupid boy. Maybe because they thought the other world was vastly inferior to this world? You know, because Jin said there was no magic back home. From the perspective of these people, the world with no magic was probably a primitive and savage one.

Oh, whatever. Good for us.

Now, how would Jin proceed?

[Your Eminence, is the relic here already?] Before his butt even touched the chair, he had already thrown the question in child-like impatience.

There was a huge advantage of looking like an immortal teenager--it was easy for people to forget that he was in his mid-twenty already, like me. Well, that was probably why these priests so easily looked down on him--and Jin helped them solidify this thought by acting all childish and innocent.

Heh--knowing that he was only able to do that because he was alone and not in front of Ian or Renna was...entertaining.

[Ah, yes...the relic--]

[Yes, the relic! Where is it?] Jin looked around, and then at the door, slightly bouncing on his seat. Ignis perfectly captured it. For giggles.

[Ah, yes--it needs time for the relic to arrive] the Pope replied with a graceful smile, although the corner of his lips was twitching. [In the meantime, would you like to show me your--]

[When is it? How long will it take? If it’s the right relic, can you make them sell it directly to me? Can you?]

I could almost hear the word ’relic’ changed into ’toy’, and by the look of it, the priests seemed to think so too.

[We’ll see, young Hero] the Pope still smiled graciously--what an amazing patience. [I’ve seen the relic before, so why don’t you take out yours so we can make sure?]

[Oh...sure] Jin said with a dejected voice, changing his mood drastically. Honestly, I was impressed.

Ignis showed me how Jin rummaged his dimensional storage slowly, so slowly; taking out something completely irrelevant, putting it back on, taking out another thing...he was acting like a klutz and doing it so well I wanted to give him an Oscar.

During this charade, Ignis was looking around to see the priests and the guards’ crumpling expressions. It was getting hard for them to act patient, and the church keeper Bishop even checked his watch over and over again.

I wondered what they were waiting for, since I knew very well that the relic was in their possession instead of the auction house.

Wait--could it be...?

I took out my communication orb and connected it to Heraz.

[Young Master]

"Heraz--where is Qu’en right now?"

[Near the border of a place called Kanai--there’s a magic tower in that place]

"So, all they have to do now is use the portal in the magic tower to go to one of the three kingdoms bordering the Holy Empire?"

[Yes, Young Master. Apologise, but we couldn’t hinder them too much without arousing suspicion anymore]

"No, it’s fine," I exhaled slowly. "It’s good enough that you’re able to hinder them this far, so good job. You should join the other now--I have a feeling it won’t be long until we mobilize."

[By your command]

Without turning off the communication orb, I connected it to Sore, asking for development while Jin continued with his acting.

Eventually, after rummaging like a klutz for fifteen minutes or so--including spilling a bunch of coins to the floor and spending five minutes picking them up before returning to the table with an innocent, shameless look--he took out the box that had the relic he found in the ruin, plus the one we got from Dailamy’s auction.

I had to know how Zarfa built this sudden acting ability. Wait--or was it Renna? Oh, it might be. Jin was the kind of person who would try to be a Michelin star chef if someone he had a crush on said they loved food.

Carefully, with a solemn face, Jin took out the beads. Since they were placed in the same protective box, they had been sticking together, emitting a stronger glow and the Goddess’s essence than before.

The room stirred at the sight of the relics. The five priests around the table stepped closer, while the Pope leaned forward to take a closer look. Those on guard duty even twitched in curiosity, stretching their necks so they could see.

[Oh, they are beautiful] the Pope said with a soft sigh, looking in awe and reverence. He even placed his hands over his heart--over the golden crests adorning the front of his cloak. [I do feel the Goddess’s blessing inside]

Do you really? I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. Thankfully, Jin was fully committed to his role. [Right?] he perked up, smiling widely.

The Pope curled his lips and leaned back just a little bit--maybe to not look so impatient. [May I see it better?]

[Sure!] Jin nodded and pushed the box in front of the Pope.

With a wider smile and a gleam in his pale eyes, the Pope reached out to put his hands on the box--but he couldn’t. Why? Because Jin had his hands firmly on the box. The Pope would have to either put his hands above Jin’s hands, or merely look at the relics without touching them. One of Jin’s hands was also strategically placed so that he could close the box immediately if someone were to try and take the relics out of the box.

Brilliant.

The Pope looked at the Hero in confusion. [Mister Jin?]

[Yes?]

Ignis showed me Jin’s face, and it was the epitome of innocence. It was like he had no idea why people would have a problem with him holding onto his own possessions. His black eyes blinked with clarity, and his smile was a clueless one.

Oh, I was so proud of him.

[How is it? Can you feel the Goddess’s power? Do you think the relic you think about is the same as this? Do you?]

[Ah...yes] I could tell that the Pope was slowly cracking. He glanced at the Bishop, who made a gesture I obviously knew nothing about. [believe so--ah, here we are!]

The door was opening when the Pope said that, and someone dressed in formal evening attire could be seen in front of the door. The person--whether a real staff of the auction house or someone pretending to be--bowed respectfully and handed a tray to the Holy Knight who answered the door earlier.

The Holy Knight proceeded to bring the tray to the table, and there was a small pouch on top of it. Rather familiar from Valmeier’s memory. ƒгeewёbnovel.com

"Oh!" I couldn’t help but exclaim at the projection, clasping my mouth with a pounding heart as the Pope slowly took out the content of the pouch.

A small sphere. A bead. A big pearl. I couldn’t see its exact color, but Ignis made an effort to project the item with a pale blue flame. The Salamander also showed me Jin’s slightly trembling hands clutching the box, and his deep smile.

It was real. The seventh relic was in front of us.

Finally.