Water Magician - Chapter 406: Pope’s Inauguration Day

TLN: Please read my translations at tseirptranslations.com, I did not give permission to any site to host my translations. 

The day of the inauguration of the Pope.

The pope’s inauguration is a ceremony held exactly one year after the pope ascends to the throne, and also serves as a public announcement to distant lands.

This is the first time that a delegation from the Central Countries has visited, but nations and religious leaders from the Dark Continent with whom they have relatively good relations are often invited.

It seemed that a total of nearly 400 people had been invited from the Dark Continent this time as well…

“They’re divided into right and left. I’m not familiar with that kind of outfit.”

Amon pointed out using his good eyesight.

“How should I put it, the colors are so flashy.”

“They use a lot of primary colors. It seems that there are people associated with religion, and their clothes also combine multiple colors, such as red and green, so they stand out.’’

“The design is pretty cool!”

Niels stated the facts, Etho pointed out the differences in clothing between the priests of the Central Countries and the clergy of the Western Countries, and Ryo gave his impressions faithfully based on his criteria.

The people they saw at Cafe Roemer were wearing clothes from Western Countries, but apparently they wear their country’s clothes for ceremonies like this.

They were in the auditorium of the huge Circular Assembly Hall on the grounds of the Papal Palace.

The Circular Assembly Hall looked like the Colosseum in Rome on Earth and is used for events like this where a large number of people participate.

The Circular Assembly Hall is called ‘Circular’, but it is actually oval.

A perfectly round shape is called a perfect circle, while an oval shape is a perfect circle flattened slightly.

The seats where Ryo and the Kingdom delegation were sitting were right in the center of the flattened portion.

The Imperial delegation was to the right of the Kingdom delegation, and the Union delegation was to the left.

Incidentally, the clergy of the Western Church sat opposite them.

And it seemed that the guests from the Dark Continent were sitting at the rounded section.

“We are all in one place, but the guests from the Dark Continent are divided into left and right.”

As Ryo pointed out, they were seated separately on the right and left ends of the long axis of the ellipse.

“I heard from a monk I met at the Papal Palace that the Dark Continent is divided into eastern and western nations by the coast. These nations have been at war with each other for over a hundred years. So it seems like the Church considered that…”

The person who answered that was Zeke, the priest from Room 11, who was sitting behind Room 10.

Before he knew it, Zeke seemed to have made acquaintances within the Papal Palace.

Even Ryo couldn’t make one… Zeke is terrifying!

“Ah, it’s Monk Carle, who Ryo-san also knows.”

It was someone he knew…

“Come to think of it, I don’t see Cardinal Graham?”

Niels looked at the audience seats in front and commented.

“I heard that the Archbishops and above will march into the arena, not be seated in the audience seats.”

Zeke answered that as well.

Probably heard from Monk Carle.

Gong.

At that moment, the bell rang.

It was just once, but with just that, the Western Church audience seated in front fell silent.

The silence spread to the Dark Continent guest seats, and finally to the seats of the Central Countries delegations.

The four people from Room 10 and the three from Room 11 kept quiet.

A perfect silence where there wasn’t even a single cough.

An assembly hall that held 3,000 people.

A group of people entered the arena in complete silence.

Leading the group were the twelve cardinals dressed in crimson.

Their scarlet garments were the same as usual, but even from a distance, they looked quite extravagant.

Behind the cardinals was a man in white robes.

The Pope.

A man who disappeared twice.

A man Ryo should have defeated twice.

And apparently… revived twice.

At first glance, he looked exactly the same as before.

However, he appeared the same as the Pope they saw at the welcome ceremony for the Central Countries delegation a few months ago judging by the way he carried himself.

Yes, he was not the same Pope during the last two battles.

They looked the same all three times but…

The sense of discomfort he felt from the Pope during the welcome ceremony… it felt like there was nothing inside the Pope.

Now, he was feeling that way again.

Considering that he didn’t feel that way at all during the battle, there must be some reason…

“He feels different from the last battle?”

It was Etho who muttered that.

Ryo looked at Etho in surprise and whispered.

“Do you think so too, Etho? He’s different from when we fought, isn’t he?”

“Yeah. I wonder what it is, when we were in battle, I felt a feeling of contentment coming from him… or something like that. But now… he doesn’t feel as powerful as back then… I guess?”

Etho tilted his head in response to Ryo’s whisper.

By this time, the people around them were starting to whisper.

The main reason for that was probably the sobbing of the clergymen sitting in front of them.

They were crying because they were grateful for being able to be present on this special occasion.

“Don’t feel any power… oh, maybe magic?”

“Ah! Is it because the magical power supply of the magicians in the hero party has run out? I believe that at the time of the welcome ceremony, I don’t know about the other 28 people, but at least the four members of the hero party had not been captured yet?”

Ryo came up with an idea, and Etho confirmed it and nodded.

Ryo realized that the magical power provided by the four hero party members was quite amazing.

As expected, those were four top-class magicians from the Western Countries!

“Anyway, the contactless supply after the magical power is absorbed is amazing, like the contactless power supply of modern Earth. I would like to see how it works and the magic formula. Then, I would definitely like to apply it to my rice field management golems…”

Of course, Ryo’s murmur was heard by Niels, who was sitting next to him.

“Why do you need to supply such a ridiculous amount of magical power to the rice field management golems…”

“You never know when or where they’ll fight a powerful monster! Or they might be attacked by foreign troops or adventurers! If you’re prepared, you don’t have to worry.”

Hearing Niels’ words mixed with a sigh, Ryo replied boldly.

While they were having that conversation, the group finally entered the arena and the ceremony began.

The Pope gave his blessing, and the clergy of the Western Church all knelt together.

The sight of 2,000 people kneeling all at once was a rare sight.

“Ooh…”

An exclamation of admiration leaked out of Niels’ mouth.

“This is spectacular…”

Harold also muttered.

“Sure enough, leaders are made from the awe and respect of those around them.”

“Ryo, why did you turn to me to say that?”

“No particular reason…”

It was a coincidence that Ryo turned to Niels and said that. It was probably a coincidence. I hope it’s a coincidence…

It was inevitable that Niels reacted to Ryo’s words. It was definitely inevitable. Needless to say, it was inevitable…

It was only natural that Ryo evaded Niels’ questioning… though of course he wasn’t able to completely evade it!

The ceremony continued, all the clergy were seated, and the Pope began to express his gratitude to the guests from the Dark Continent and the delegations from the Central Countries.

Suddenly, Ryo looked around.

This time, of course, the delegation was not only the escort adventurers but also civil officials.

There would be no negotiations today, and the governments of the countries had requested that they attend the Pope’s inauguration ceremony.

However, many civil officials seemed to be in a daze.

Some of them were closing their eyes.

It seemed that the burden placed on civil officials by the many negotiations, large and small, was quite heavy…

Ryo shook his head slightly and returned his gaze to the front.

After thanking the guests and the delegations, the Pope quoted something from the holy scriptures.

His words completely went over Ryo’s head.

Naturally, it wasn’t just Ryo, but Niels, Amon, Harold, and Gowan as well, the four muscle brains.

“Ryo, were you just thinking of something extremely rude?”

“What, I wasn’t thinking about anything?”

A sudden jab from Niels.

Ryo hurriedly evaded the accusation.

Never let your guard down at any time!

While such a conversation was taking place at the Kingdom delegation, the leader of the neighboring Union delegation, Former King Roberto Pirlo, tilted his head slightly.

“Your Majesty, is something wrong?”

Groen, the guard captain standing nearby, asked.

“Hmm. The condition of the civil officials…”

Roberto Pirlo replied in a low voice.

When Groen was told that, he looked around.

“Ah, that’s true… they seem quite tired from negotiating day after day…”

The expression on his face showed that he cared for the civil officials from the bottom of his heart.

But Roberto Pirlo shook his head.

“Even if that’s true, it’s strange.”

“Hm?”

Groen tilted his head at Roberto Pirlo’s muttering.

He didn’t understand what former king Roberto Pirlo was implying.

Roberto Pirlo was looking not only at the Union delegation but also at the Kingdom delegation.

“As expected… the Kingdom’s civil officials appear the same too.”

It was true that the Kingdom’s civil officials were exhausted and some of them were even asleep.

Roberto Pirlo closed his eyes, as if he had just realized something.

He closed his eyes and searched for something.

During that time, of course, the guard captain, Groen, did not say anything.

Roberto Pirlo was searching or thinking about something… it was the guard captain’s job to stay out of his way.

“Their magical power has been drained.”

“Hah?”

Roberto Pirlo opened his eyes and muttered that, and Groen let out a voice of surprise.

“The ground… or rather, this audience seat. Magical power is being drained from our bodies. Probably from all of us.”

“Everyone?”

“At least every member of the delegations sitting in this audience.”

Groen was taken aback by Roberto Pirlo’s words.

And then looked around again.

“But, other than the civil officials, the others are…”

“Yes, it looks like that at first glance. Civil officials don’t have a lot of magical power in general. Those with a large amount of magical power go on to magic universities or go out into the field and use magic. Those people enjoy better treatment. The officials here are pure civil officials. They don’t have a lot of magical power. Therefore, the effects of having their magical power removed will be more noticeable than the adventurers. Of course, even more so for the knights.”

In Phi, it is known that all humans possess magical power.

Those who can release the magical power they possess are called magicians.

However, even if it cannot be released outside, magical power circulates within everyone’s body.

If for some reason, the magical power circulating in your body decreases drastically, it is called magical power depletion, and you will pass out… or fall asleep.

People who don’t have a lot of magical power to begin with will run out of magical power faster than others…

“But, siphoning out magical power through this audience seat… who would do something like that?”

Guard Captain Groen shook his head and muttered.

“Naturally, only someone in the upper echelons of the church would be able to pull off such a large-scale scheme. Now, as for why…”

Roberto Pirlo frowned and shook his head.

He knew the cause, but he couldn’t think of a way to solve the problem.

The reason Roberto Pirlo noticed this subtle flow of magical power was that he was a top-notch magician.

However, even he couldn’t think of a solution to get out of the situation.

“I can’t think of one, but I feel like that person could think of one… It’s really strange to think that way.”

Roberto Pirlo muttered while chuckling a little.

Then, he said to Groen beside him.

“Groen, hurry up and go to the Kingdom delegation next door and call for Ryo-dono.”

“Ryo-dono?”

“Yes. Tell him that I would like to borrow his help in dealing with the abnormal situation that is currently occurring.”

TLN: Please read my translations at tseirptranslations.com, I did not give permission to any site to host my translations. 

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