Hundreds Years After I Was Called [Just Corpse], I’ve Become Strongest Undead When I Woke Up - Chapter 97: It Was an Emergency Situation

「First, allow me to express my gratitude. Thank you for helping us with the matter of resealing the devil Mephisto. Humanity might have entered a dark era without your assistance.」

The pope’s attitude changed completely after we were isolated with a barrier.

Despite the usual sour look on his face, he expressed his apology and gratitude properly.

「In addition, allow me to express my apologies on behalf of the entire Saint Melt Religion. It’s our duty to remove the danger of disaster-class undead, thus preventing me from confirming the situation properly. As a result of my poor decision, we indirectly released an extremely dangerous devil into this world…」

Well, it was actually the correct and most accurate way for the top of the organization to deal with the problem.

「I also didn’t inform Holy Knight Lumile about your treatment beforehand. I chose to do that under the consideration that she might be under the control of the undead.」

I see, so she really had no idea about the matter of sending me to that white space.

It seemed she was telling the truth.

…That was a relief.

「You might’ve noticed this fact, but we absolutely cannot approve of the existence of the undead. That’s why please forgive our discourtesy.」

It seemed he intentionally showed a hostile attitude since he was in the presence of many other knights.

Sure enough, it would set a bad example for the head of the organization, the pope, to contradict the teachings of the religion.

…His position as the pope would be in danger if he handled things incorrectly.

「I-I see… Then, it really can’t be helped….」

I replied dryly.

Suddenly, the female Holy Knight intruded.

「Your Eminence, it’s as you can see. This undead isn’t dangerous; he just unable to communicate properly.」

「Yeah, it seems to be the case. This matter was even emphasized in the Romana king’s message. He’s a completely harmless guy.」

Message… something like a letter?

But for the message to arrive faster than our ship… Maybe this era established long-distance communication.

…Unfortunately, he also ignored that message.

「As a former party member, I have an inseparable relationship with that man. We’re still in touch now.」

It seemed the Hero King, pope, and the rest of their party traveled all over the place a really long time ago.

They were still in touch, even after both of them became bigshots.

「He even added your circumstances in his message. At first, it sounded unbelievable no matter how many times I reread it, but… A human from the era of the Emarina Empire, eh… Our religion at that time was nothing more than a small sect on the western end of the continent. If that’s the case, there’s a possibility that the founder of our religion was still alive in your era. If there’s testimony from someone who lived in that era, we might be able to solve the mystery of the initial stages of the religion or… the founder themself?」

Please, stop placing your expectations on me as the living witness of history.

I might have been an adventurer, but I was just an ignorant youth back then. Even my memories of that era were a bit fuzzy.

「―So I hope that you understand that, Your Eminence.」

After the female Holy Knight who acted as my spokesperson explained my situation, the pope could only nod.

「I see. But as an adventurer, he must have more detailed information than a normal person.」

Well, my memories from back then were hazy since I often traveled to various places.

No, wait a minute… If I used this as a condition for that…

「…If it’s only within the range of what I know… I don’t mind telling you about it… Instead, I have a wish…」

I offered my knowledge of that era as a bargaining chip for the negotiation.

I mean, the reason why I came to this country was to get myself purified and ascend to the afterlife.

「Uh… Yeah. Let me tell you from the conclusion first. In short, it’s almost impossible to purify you. If doing so were so easy, we’d have already used that method.」

「…I see」

「But if you have a wish, we will do our best to grant it.」

「…」

It seemed the negotiation had finally been established.

Naturally, the pope was right. The church was really helpless about the matter of purifying me too, but… I should set that aside for now.

It seemed that I had no other goal.

「We can’t treat you too nicely on the surface because you’ve been acknowledged worldwide as a disaster-class undead. That’s why you need to act like you’ve been detained properly… Not that there’s a magic tool that can restrain your power.」

In short, my “normal” treatment was that they tied up my limbs and put me in an underground prison.

「…I don’t mind. I’m aware that I’ve become symbol of fear… so I don’t mind even if I have to put on a show of me being detained properly.」

「Thank you for understanding our situation…」

The pope thanked me with a wry smile on his face.

At that moment, the pope canceled his barrier.

A man suddenly rushed in our direction.

「Y-YOUR EMINENCE! WE HAVE AN EMERGENCY!」

「What’s the matter?」

「IT’S THE DEMON RACE! I RECEIVED NEWS THAT THE DEMON RACE IS HEADING TO OUR COUNTRY FROM THE SEA!」

「What?」

「THERE’S AT LEAST FIVE HUNDRED SHIPS! THE ONES RIDING THE SHIPS ARE BEASTFOLK. THEY IGNORED OUR WARNING AND ARE HEADING STRAIGHT TO OUR HARBOR!」

「No way… The beastfolk are… raiding us?」

It seemed we had an emergency.