IX: A New Pope
ME, join the church? What is this woman even saying? I don’t recall ever being religious.
Even I couldn’t play along with Maria to that extent, so I shot her a glare. She looked back at me, and we locked eyes.
“Lord Mars is joining the church? Is such a thing really possible?” the pope said, a look of suspicion on his face.
Caim broke into a wide smile. “To think that you were even giving the Demon King your guidance! Lady Maria, you’re incredible!”
Demon King?! Say that again, I dare you.
Even I had my dignity as king. I had never cared about religion. If God really existed, I’d want him to let me eat something that actually tasted good, and immediately. I’ve never felt God’s blessing, so why the hell would I believe in the Church of Mauve?
With that thought in mind, I opened my mouth to speak. The moment I did, Maria placed both hands on my shoulders.
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Then, she whispered in a quiet voice only I could hear: “I’m pregnant.”
WHAT?!
Without meaning to, I squatted down and stared at the area around Maria’s stomach. She hadn’t grown any larger yet. I instinctively tried to touch her with my hand, but stopped before I made contact. When I actually thought about it, it hadn’t even been that long since that night. It wasn’t like me to be so shaken.
“Why, King Mars is kneeling to Maria and offering a prayer?!” the pope exclaimed, stunned. He’d mistook my crouching and almost touching Maria’s stomach as a gesture of prayer.
“The Demon King has bowed down before the saint!” Caim was also shouting with joy.
“Actually, I’m no—” I raised my face and tried to protest, but Maria shoved my head down. She was quite strong, and it was no wonder—she ate monster meat by choice, after all.
With her hands still on my head, Maria spoke solemnly. “King Mars, do you accept God’s child?”
God’s child? Does she mean her child? Is she suddenly saying that she’s God? What a shameless person!
No matter how wicked the mother may have been, however, her child was innocent. I couldn’t neglect my own child, like I’d been neglected myself in childhood. I had to at least accept them.
“Yes, I do…”
“God’s child…” the pope said. “In other words, he’ll exert himself in the service of the saint! I never expected King Mars to have transformed into such a devout believer in Mauve!” He had stood up, in a daze. As for Caim, he was actually shedding tears.
Huh? God’s child is Maria? Not her child?
There was no way I could take back what I’d said and admit that I thought God’s child had meant my own child. It would have been totally impossible to say either that I thought my own child was the child of God, or that Maria and I were having a baby at all. I was wondering what to do, my face still downturned, when the pope began to speak as though he had made up his mind.
“All right. It seems I was mistaken. You spread Mauve’s teachings to the hell on earth that is Farune, an achievement equivalent to a miracle. You’ve done a great service.”
Just what kind of place do these people think Farune is?
Naturally, my mental complaint didn’t reach the pope, and he continued. “Maria, you are fit to lead the church. In my capacity as pope of the Church of Mauve, I hereby recognize you as a saint.”
While it was all according to plan, it really would have been best if he’d stopped before saying that. I was starting to feel sorry for all the past saints who had built the history of the church. But in the next moment, the pope announced something even worse:
“And, I designate you as my successor, the next pope.”
Maria knelt and positioned herself in prayer while the pope solemnly held out his hand above her head.
“I humbly accept,” Maria replied.
How…how did this happen?
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I chuckled to myself.
All I had to do was take advantage of Lord Mars, and the papacy is officially mine. And yes, it’s true—doing it this way has made my authority even greater.
I had been surprised when Lord Mars had decided not to dispose of the pope and Lord Caim, but it had turned out he had been testing me. He was sending me the message that if I wanted to become pope, I had to show him that I could at least manipulate people at their level. I was going to be a saint, the pope, and a queen, so I had to demonstrate my capacity for each of those roles. I could not afford to take the easy way out. That was why Lord Mars had guided me to make good use of both the pope and Lord Caim.
I had always had the support of the people. Now that I also had a seal of approval from the former pope and the backing of the Holy Knights, my control over the Theocracy of Mauve was as good as perfect. All I had left to do was make Eyland mine. And that country’s most prominent leaders, the king and the Three Counts, were already gone; it was only a matter of time before the rest came crawling to me for help. After all, I’d always had supporters in Eyland.
About the only issue left now is giving birth, right?
To fake a virgin birth, I would have to surround myself with people who could keep a secret.
Why don’t I ask Lord Mars to call Annie from Farune? I’ll have to get Karen and the others as bodyguards. We had gotten quite close while propagating monster meat consumption.
But still, I was amazed by how many reliable people I had gathered around me. And all thanks to Lord Mars. By a stroke of good fortune, I had been able to meet a truly wonderful person. Now, I only had to use our bloodline to rule this country for the rest of time.
Having been designated the next pope, Maria lowered her head and smiled wickedly to herself.
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THE news about Maria officially becoming a saint and assuming the papacy spread like wildfire throughout the surrounding countries, and it made a large impact. The story about Mars kneeling down to Maria circulated at the same time, so the general opinion was that a powerful new pope had emerged. The greatest response came from Eyland, which remained under siege in the capital city of Gardon.
“Should we seek Her Holiness’s mediation?” argued the nobles who called for peace with Farune. They weren’t the only ones; most of the citizenry tired of their protracted life under siege.
“Maria is on Farune’s side. It’ll end with conditions unfavorable to us,” the nobility in favor of resisting Farune retorted. They had always simultaneously looked down on Farune and seen the country as a threat. This had long been the mainstream faction in Eyland, but after the loss of the king and the Three Counts, it lacked its former influence. The faction still hadn’t given up resisting, but its members were well aware that Eyland was in a state of crisis.
“That’s no matter, so long as it doesn’t end with us all dead. We’re not in any position to ask for anything more. But Lady Maria is a saint, and a merciful woman. She won’t rule entirely in favor of Farune.”
“So anything is fine, as long as we aren’t killed?! Our noble pride may be stripped away from us. Surely you’ve heard of His Majesty’s final moments. We, too, may be forced to eat monster meat. We’ll lose our dignity as humans!”
“Nothing of the sort will happen. We haven’t heard anything about people in the Theocracy of Mauve being forced to eat monster meat, and the new doctrines themselves haven’t been repealed. Lady Maria is remaining neutral.”
“Then why did she aid Farune on the battlefield?!”
“Because His Majesty, Vulcan, and Kiel formed an anti-Farune coalition army to rescue her. But she’d gone to Farune out of her own volition, and there she devotedly served as an acting bishop for the Church of Mauve. The creation of the coalition army was done in blatant disregard of her wishes. It was inevitable that she would side with Farune after that.”
“Is Maria… Is the saint truly neutral?”
“That can be answered simply by contacting her. If the conditions for her mediation are too unfavorable for us, we can simply act as if we never even asked.”
Following this discussion, Eyland sent an envoy to the Theocracy of Mauve, asking that the new pope mediate in their war with Farune. Maria gladly accepted the request, and proposed an unconditional ceasefire to both parties. With no desire to fight, Mars agreed, and the Eylish side came to an accord as well. Finally, the war was reaching its end.
As a result of this, Maria’s popularity in Eyland increased and, unsurprisingly, voices calling for her to govern the country began to emerge.