The Pope's main room.
The inside of the room was like a maze.
There wasn't a single straight path. Everything was curved. And because the inside was painted pure white, it was hard to see what was ahead.
The reason it was built like this was probably to prepare for enemy attacks.
Shirou, led by a guard, arrived at the Pope's office.
Two knights and a magic barrier guarded the office.
Roughly judging, the barrier's strength was between holy and royal level. One knight was at holy level, and the other was probably at royal level.
Even though the Pope was clearly friendly to Shirou, basic defenses were still prepared.
"Well then, let me introduce myself again. I am Harry Grimoire, the current Pope of the Milis religion. I'm the top leader of the religion right now. I deeply apologize for the temple knights' rude behavior towards you just now."
The Pope showed a very sincere attitude towards Shirou.
Shirou naturally didn't hesitate and quietly replied, "Since those people have been punished, I won't pursue the matter."
"Okay."
The Pope smiled and nodded at Shirou's forgiveness. He then quietly said, "Then, Mister Shirou, as an apology, I can grant you a wish. Anything is fine, as long as I can do it. For example, helping you search for victims of the Fittoa territory transfer event, or helping you and your companions return to the central continent, or even allowing the demons traveling with you to live on this land."
"..."
The Pope's words made Shirou silent.
He never expected the other party to know so much about him. It meant this Pope really had special informers, allowing him to easily grasp the situation of the entire Milis Kingdom and even start investigating him a little while ago.
Looking at it this way, his conflict with the temple knight order earlier might not have been a simple accident, but rather the Pope's deliberate act.
The purpose was to use him, an outsider, to get rid of the temple knight order, a powerful opponent.
Of course, that might be too much of a conspiracy. The Pope might not have interfered, but just taken advantage of the situation.
Shirou had thoughts in his mind but didn't react too much. He felt it was only natural for the Pope to have such abilities.
"Oh, you don't even react after hearing my words. Not even a twitch of the eyebrows... Mister Shirou, you really are a great kid. If my grandson had your calm mind, I'd be much more relieved."
The Pope smiled and said, "Let me apologize to you again. I actually received a report from my subordinates when you were in contact with the holy child. But I didn't expect you to have a conflict with the temple knight order. I can only say that the current temple knight order has become corrupt to the point of being almost foolish. Some fresh blood must be brought in to cleanse it."
"I agree with that. That group of temple knights wanted to kill me without saying a word. They were impossible to talk to."
Shirou nodded. Recalling what happened earlier, he also seemed very speechless.
The Pope also seriously said, "Well, it seems I should promote some promising young knights to lead the temple knight order. Like Therese, for example. Although she is just okay in strength, her character is clearly much better than the average knight."
"Indeed."
Shirou nodded. He also felt that Therese seemed much better than those knights who couldn't even speak human language.
Next, the Pope further discussed some matters regarding the reform of the Milis church with Shirou. Their conversation was very friendly, even harmonious.
If it weren't for the age gap and the huge difference in status, the two might have sat down, raised their glasses, and become brothers.
The Pope nodded from time to time while chatting and recording the conversation with Shirou on the paper at hand.
He showed a very serious and humble attitude.
This made Shirou admit that he really was a capable and reliable leader.
"Haha, Shirou, your insight is truly outstanding. As a swordsman, you have a firm will no less than that of a seasoned church knight. If you are willing to join the Milis church's three knight orders, I will definitely recommend you as the deputy commander. With some achievements, you can take the commander's position."
"No, I'm not interested in that."
"I thought so."
The Pope nodded slightly, with an expectation look, "Then, Shirou, have you thought about what wish you want? If you need anything, feel free to ask."
Shirou didn't think too long about the Milis Pope's words. He quickly said, "I only have one request. That is, I hope you, Pope, can allow and support Paul Greyrat's efforts to save all the refugees from the Fittoa territory transfer."
"Okay."
The Pope nodded without hesitation.
He clearly realized from his conversation with Shirou that this young man might make this request and had no dissatisfaction with this condition.
Shirou then breathed a sigh of relief.
The reason he made this condition was undoubtedly to repay Paul.
Although Paul had a big fight with him earlier, and the two eventually parted on bad terms, Shirou's heart was actually always concerned about Paul's situation.
Although Shirou himself didn't have time to look for his family right now, he needed to prioritize sending Eris back to the Asura Kingdom, it didn't mean he would ignore Paul's situation and would try his best to help him.
Even if Paul didn't know he did this later, it didn't matter. He just wanted to do something for his family, that's all.
After the conversation with the Pope, the Pope didn't forget to prepare a priest who could perform detoxification spells for Shirou and a craftsman who could repair the magic sword Wind Break.
Although Shirou could repair the magic sword himself, he didn't want to be too tied to Muramasa, so he gladly accepted the conditions.
The detoxification spell was cast smoothly.
Although the priest who cast the spell was very surprised by Shirou's physical condition, it was hard to imagine that he had been poisoned by the swamp frog for so long, but he was not affected by the toxins, causing his actions to be hindered. Instead, he was fine, able to run, jump, and fight.
But he still followed his professional principles, completed the treatment smoothly for Shirou without asking too many questions, and finally freed Shirou from the troubles of toxins in his body.
After that, Shirou went to the church's special forging shop to repair the magic sword.
The forging shop was located next to the knight order.
Because of the conflict with the temple knight order just now and the great victory, all the temple knights instinctively feared him when they saw him and walked around him.
Shirou didn't care about their attitude. He just silently came to the forging shop door.
Just as Shirou sent the weapon to the blacksmith for repair and wanted to study the forging technology of the Milis Holy Kingdom, a voice suddenly came from a distance.
"Shirou, you're here!"
Hearing the voice, Shirou looked over, and what came into view was a blonde girl, wearing loose clothes and a skirt, with a capable charm and a delicate face.
Most importantly, Shirou was very familiar with that face.
"Zenith?"
Shirou almost subconsciously made a sound.
"Huh?"
The blonde girl hesitated upon hearing Shirou's words.
Shirou also realized immediately that he might have said the wrong thing because he had clearly judged with Clairvoyance that Zenith was currently located in the deepest part of an unknown maze. Even if Paul's investigation team acted quickly, they couldn't rescue her smoothly right away.
Moreover, the blonde girl in front of him was much younger than Zenith, or rather, like a smaller version of Zenith.
Her temperament was also much more lively than Zenith's.
"You are..."
Shirou asked hesitantly.
The blonde girl also came back to her senses and said helplessly, "I'm Therese. I was wearing a helmet all the time, so you didn't recognize me... By the way, you just called me Zenith? How do you know my sister's name?"
"Zenith is your sister?"
For a moment, Shirou finally realized what this chaotic situation was all about.
He and Therese compared each other for a while and finally recognized each other's relationship.
In short, Therese is Zenith's younger sister. They are all children of the Latorea family. Therese is just the youngest daughter, so she looks so young, even about the same age as Shirou.
To put it more bluntly, Therese is Shirou's aunt.
"I didn't expect you to be Paul's child, my nephew. This world is too coincidental."
Therese smiled wryly.
Shirou was equally complex. He silently observed her, finding that Therese had certain similarities to Zenith, but there were also more differences.
He then apologized, "I'm sorry, I accidentally mistook you for Zenith."
"Haha, although it's a little complicated to be mistaken for a mother, you did save my life before, so I won't mind so much."
Therese's face was still slightly red when she spoke.
She was clearly recalling Shirou's heroic appearance when he fought against the assassins and the temple knight order earlier.
She couldn't help but mutter in a low voice, "How could he be Paul's child? How could that Paul raise such a handsome and serious son? This shouldn't be..."
Shirou completely heard Therese's words.
He didn't say anything, just pretended not to know.
Next, he and Therese continued chatting, learning that Therese was not demoted after this incident, but was promoted to the captain of the temple knight order's shield guard team.
The captain of the knight team who attacked Shirou earlier was the captain of the sword guard team and had been demoted. Therese was now replacing the other party's position.
---
Read 55+ advanced chapters on patreon.com/yeyeqiu