Chapter 13 - Dispute With The Pope
Azaroth returned to his mansion.
Next, he called out for a servant and ordered him, "Go and find out all the Kloras town's information. Check if there's an upcoming beast horde for them, or did they find a demon's cave?"
Azaroth asked for the information about this specific town because he remembered that Brynn Gaynor guy had met up with Sir Ashton of the Merchant Union.
Moreover, from their conversation, Azaroth more or less understood that Brynn Gaynor had placed a large order and needed it quite urgently.
The servant bowed once again and silently left his chambers. Considering the lack of internet in this world, Azaroth knew he had to wait some days for the servant to return with any real information.
Azaroth began to meditate peacefully since his next course of action would be decided after receiving the information. If it was just as he thought, then he might have something fun to do in the next few days.
Meanwhile, after a few hours, Lennox Rees had woken up.
As he woke up, he looked around with terror visible in his eyes. He looked relieved as he saw no one in his room.
Just as he was about to wipe his sweat and breath in relief, Lennox Rees noticed a purple ring in his hands.
It was something he was holding very tightly, so it was hard to ignore it.
"It…It wasn't a dream…" As he recalled that dream, Lennox Rees started quaking in fear. This was the second time he had interacted with a demonic being, and he has had enough.
"The only good thing I can deduce from this is that he doesn't want to kill me yet." Lennox Rees felt quite scared at the thought of dying. It wasn't that he was that terrified of his own death. He just didn't want to die before delivering the cure of the demonic curse to his daughter.
"No. I can't delay any longer. I need to talk to the pope and ask him to let me return to the Kingdom of Gler." With the threat of death comes a great resolve.
He could no longer risk staying in this kingdom. The fact that this demon knew he was from the Kingdom of Gler meant that his identity was no longer a secret here.
The fact that it was early morning didn't stop Lennox Rees as he walked to the church.
The pope and the other high-ranking members of the church resided in the church's special rooms.
Those rooms were filled with Holy Ardor released from some Holy Items or Herbs handed to the church by the Celestials.
There were no guards or anyone else to stop Lennox Rees from entering the church. Once inside the church, Lennox Rees began to walk towards the pope's room.
The pope was peacefully sleeping at around this time. Lennox Rees knocked on the door a couple of times.
As the pope was in a deep sleep, he naturally ignored these knocks. Meanwhile, Lennox Rees was getting nervous as he stood outside the room. He banged on the gate rather firmly, and this time, he heard a tired voice, "Who is it?"
Almost immediately, Lennox Rees replied with an anxious voice, "Sir, it's me. Please open the door. I have something urgent to discuss with you."
"Emm… What? Just let me sleep. We will talk once during the day." The pope replied with a sleepy voice.
However, Lennox Rees immediately banged on the door a couple more times and said, "Sir, it's really urgent."
"Tomorrow!" This time, the pope replied in a semi-firm voice.
Lennox Rees paused for a couple of seconds. He took this time to reorganize his thoughts and then spoke with a resolute voice, "Sir, if you don't open the door now, I will be forced to break it open."
It was at these words did the pope's eyes snap open.
He hadn't heard Lennox Rees's words all that seriously earlier, but now…he was quite shocked.
"Alright… I am opening the door." Once the pope said this, Lennox Rees felt his body calm down slightly.
Soon enough, the door opened, and Lennox Rees saw a tired-looking pope staring at him.
"Come inside, and this better is worth my time." The pope said with a threatening look on his face.
Lennox Rees immediately nodded as he entered the pope's room. Soon enough, the gate was closed, and Lennox Rees began to speak, "Sir, I was sleeping in the hotel you provided for me. But tonight, someone came to my room and mentioned that I must return to the Kingdom of Gler as soon as possible."
"What?! Who was it?! How could they get inside your room? That hotel is guarded by 3 Star Knights. Or was this person a 4 Star Warrior or Assassin?" The pope immediately thought of multiple possibilities in a couple of seconds.
"Neither… It was a demon!" Lennox Rees informed with a terrified expression.
"A demon? Hahaha… You think this is the same Veninza where the demons can enter as they please? If there was a demon here, I would have been the first to be informed of it." The pope dismissed Lennox Rees's words.
"You think I will lie about this?!" Lennox Rees shouted with a frustrated tone.
"Watch your tone. The only reason you are still alive now is because you did bring the Holy Hailstorm Spiritstaff to me." The pope said as he caressed his own white beard.
Lennox Rees gave him an angry glare and added, "You should remember that's not the only thing I did. I am telling you, give me the pass to let me return to the Kingdom of Gler, or else, I will make some things known… Some specific matters that you wish to keep secret."
"You seem to have grown a nerve or two. But tell me, Lennox, do you think you can walk away alive by behaving in such a manner?" The pope spoke with an authoritative tone.
Lennox Rees chuckled helplessly and said, "I will be dead either way, so I would rather die after at least trying rather than die with the regret of not even trying at all."
Perhaps it was this tone that he used that somewhat frightened the pope and made him believe Lennox.
His aura, which had been building up until now, suddenly lowered, and he spoke, "Alright. I will prepare something for you. It should be done in an hour. That is the best I can offer."
Lennox Rees had to think for some moments before he could reply, "Alright. Just be as quick as possible."
After this conversation, the two met one last time when Lennox Rees was about to leave for the Kingdom of Gler on a carriage with the church's men and seal on it.
~~
Currently, Tronte was seated in his room, eating some snacks, and someone knocked over his window.
"It's open. Please come in."
The one who opened the window and entered Tronte's room was a youth a little older than Tronte.
"What happened, Julian? Didn't I ask you to watch over the route to the Kingdom of Gler? Don't tell me you returned because you got bored?" As Tronte talked to this guy, an authoritative tone was present in his voice.
"Reporting to Sir, I just witnessed a church's carriage going towards the Kingdom of Gler. Moreover, I followed this carriage until they stopped to take some rest, and I am sure that I saw Lennox Rees in this carriage."
Hearing this report, Tronte first showed a surprised look, and then an impressed look appeared in his eyes.
"Interesting. So Edwin's letter scared him quite greatly since he managed to force the pope to send him as quickly as possible? Or maybe he was more paranoid about his identity being leaked to other people." Tronte began to think of the possible reasons why Lennox Rees had left so early.
Suddenly, a resolute look appeared in his eyes as he raised his head and spoke, "Follow him to the Kingdom of Gler. Check if he knows that the one who wrote the letter is Edwin or not. If he does, then kill him before he spreads it to anyone."
"Sir… You are asking me to go to another kingdom and kill someone there. The previous deal wouldn't cut-" Before he could say anything, Tronte threw a pouch of blue-colored spirit stones.
"I know you have your ways to go to the Kingdom of Gler. Just do the task, and I will give you twice the amount you hold in your hand. Also, if Lennox Rees doesn't know about Edwin, then simply return. The reward will remain the same, so you don't have to take any extra action." Tronte spoke the last line with a threatening tone.
"I won't do anything unnecessary, Sir." With that, the man disappeared from Tronte's room.
Once he was gone, Tronte let out a sigh as he thought 'Looks like I need to earn more. Hmm… Who should I target this time? Maybe I should visit Riya.. She must be missing me right now, and she should have some spicy information for me.'