Chapter 1403: The Pope
Lucius Garnerwalt woke up early in the morning, opening his eyes to the marble-white ceiling of his room.
He dressed himself in loose robes and walked out of the room, a few male servants following him to the bathroom.
Lucius was in his late 50s, and yet he looked no older than someone who had just become 40 years old. Part of that was his diet, and the other part was the deific powers he had.
Lucius got into the large bathing room and submerged himself in the hot water to wash himself. For the next half an hour, he remained there before getting back out.
Some of the altar boys were ready with his clothes, so he dressed up in the white robes of the pope, placed a maroon shawl around his neck, and put on the white hat that marked him as the pope.
The hat was a white leather hat with a golden ring strapped around it with colorful jewels attached to the golden ring.
The man walked out of his quarters and made his way through a hallway to a large chamber already filled with people.
He walked in and say on a large seat, looking at the many people in the room.
3 figures stood at the center, waiting to talk to Lucius.
On the left was a simple-looking man with a freshly shaved beard and short hair. He bowed slightly and spoke, “Your Holiness, have you come to a decision?” he asked.
This man was the Cardinal of Coins, Elias Tase.
Lucius nodded. “I have indeed come to a decision,” he said. “Cardinal Farsas, are the streets safe?”
A slightly older man with a bulky figure walked up front. He had streaks of gray along his temple and his beards had specks of white scattered across his face as well.
This man was Farsas Meras, the Cardinal of Justice.
“Your Holiness, my disciples have roamed the street just as you had asked of them. They have found something worth mentioning that has been going on in the past few days, which could provide credence to the future you divined.”
Lucius slowly nodded, his hand instinctively reaching for the gold on his hat, but he stopped and pulled it back down.
“A death stands in the future,” he said slowly. “We must be certain that it is not our death that we seek. What news do the Paladins have?”
“There are two pieces of news of note,” Cardinal Farsas spoke. “First, there has been a mention of a potentially dangerous man who wishes to meet you for some reason.”
“It has been hard to determine whether his intentions are nefarious or not. All that can be said as of yet is that the man seems to be on some sort of mission. Should we… try and ask him directly what it is that he wants?”
The pope thought for a bit. “And how did you get this information? There should be many people wishing to meet me. Why single this one out?”
“I do not know why the information I was given included this man’s details. I too thought that he was a bit mundane to be included in this. However, he was, and it is said that he and his companions hold some divine treasures, which makes them quite the special group.”
The pope said nothing at first and simply nodded. “What about the second piece of news?” he asked.
The Cardinal of Justice looked down on his note and hesitated a bit. “This news… is as of yet unconfirmed,” he said. “But there is a chance that a well-known serial killer has come to the city as well, and might be planning something.”
Gasps rose around the room and quickly quietened as the third Cardinal turned around to give them all a look.
It was a tall man with a long scar along the right side of his face, going from the side of his ears down across the side of his lips, stopping right before the chin.
He was Marcus Boreal, the Cardinal of Life.
“A serial killer? Then the streets must not be safe,” the Pope said for me to make my parade.
“I’m afraid not,” Cardinal Farsas said. “But we’re working hard to confirm the truth on both ends. The information came from a captain from Cogonia, who came here to keep an eye on the first individual.”
“Both? So this captain gave the information about the serial killer as well?” the Pope asked.
“Yes,” Farsas nodded.
The Pope turned to look at Cardinal Marcus. “Would you mind finding out more of what this captain knows?” he asked.
The scar-faced man narrowed his eyes a little as he looked at the pope. “How desperately do you want to find out?” he asked.
“Don’t let the captain feel unwelcome,” the pope said and turned back to the first Cardinal.
“It seems you won’t be needing my answer for some time soon,” he said.
The Cardinal of Coins bowed slightly. “We will delay your parade until this immediate problem has been dealt with. Your Holiness can count on us to deal with it quickly.”
“I always count on all of you,” the pope said with a small smile. “So, is there anything else that I should know about?”
The three Cardinals and many archbishops had various other smaller and less important news that they started announcing to the hall.
This news wasn’t just for the pope to hear, but everyone else as well. Everyone above the level of bishop was free to give their thoughts on the matter as well.
The passing of news took nearly 3 hours in total before they came to a stop.
“The meeting is adjourned. Let us all meet here again tomorrow,” the pope said. “Praise Zurinus!”
“PRAISE ZURINUS!”
A symphony of chants rose from the hall as everyone prayed to their god, Zurinus.
The pope gave a small nod and walked away, going back to his own room now that his job for the day was over.
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