Chapter 1421: Parade
Tim felt very distressed by the sudden question from the pope. It was less so the fact that he was afraid he would be forced into becoming a pope, but the fact that he didn’t know if he wanted to refuse.
However, that meant that he was likely going to no longer be free at all, contained in one place like the pope. He wasn’t sure if he wanted that.
He was a person who stole the Seer Stone from the University to go look for a treasure in the southern oceans. There was a spirit of freedom in him and he didn’t want to have it be rid from him.
There was also the fact that he knew Ning was going around to try and kill Zurinus. He knew what Zurinus was. At least he knew that he was no god at all, and it was this world that created the treasures instead.
Zurinus was just someone who took the credit for something he didn’t do.
How could he become a pope for such a being in good faith? Once Ning had done what he had said he would do, would there even be a need for a pope?
“What’s wrong?” the Pope asked. “Do you not want to become a pope?”
“I…” Tim wasn’t sure how to answer such a question. How many times would someone ask him a question like this?
“Tim,” Ning called out to him.
Tim slowly turned to look at Ning, any diversion making him feel good at the moment. “Yes?” he asked.
“Refuse for now,” he said.
The pope looked at Ning with a curious expression before turning toward Tim. He waited to see how the young man would respond to that.
“But sir Ning,” Tim said. “I don’t know if I will have such a chance again.”
Ning shook his head. “By the time we are done with our journey, barely any time will have passed at all. And the church will still stand here, and it will need another pope.”
“You can decide now if you want to, but don’t you want to think about it for a long time? You can take your time coming up with a decision, and by the end of the year, if you still want to join, you know you joined because you wanted to and not because you were forced by the circumstances.”
Tim gave a deep thought to those words and turned toward the Pope. “Your Holiness, would this opportunity still be here if I choose to come here a year later?” he asked.
The pope looked at Tim and sighed. “My apologies. I shouldn’t have asked you such an important question so early,” he said. “Yes, the church will still need a pope and this place will be open to you if you desire to come back.”
“Thank you,” Tim said. “In that case, I would like to delay my answer. A year from now, I will find a way to provide my answer for certain whether I want to join or not.”
“Very well,” the Pope said. “You have my blessings either way.”
With no more words for the pope to say to them, Ning and the rest left the magnificent palace and walked outside with the Cardinal of Justice.
They got into a car and made their way back to the Cardinal’s home where they would stay until the day the Pope would go on a parade.
That day happened to be only 3 days later, and in those 3 days, the country was more excited and more rowdy than any time else that Ning and the others had come here.
Even at Level 1 where there weren’t many people allowed to come here, the streets were filled to the brim with people of all sorts.
Then finally on the day of the Pope’s parade, the roads were simply packed except for a small procession that was allowed to make its way through.
There were multiple cars rolling down the street with Paladins and bishops filling them to the brim. In one of the cars at the center, modified for a person to stand on and be seen, was the Pope who stood tall and smiled at everyone as he was paraded down the mountain.
That day, the entire city had basically stopped for a couple of hours.
The pope’s parade went without a hitch. Ning and the rest only saw him leave from Level 1 around early day and saw him return late afternoon before he was taken back to the palace.
After that, the pope wouldn’t be seen for a long time again.
As soon as the parade was completed, there was nothing for the people to do there at all, so they started leaving one after another.
The streets that were fully packed just the previous day were suddenly no more. A sort of calmness flooded the street after the parade.
The Cardinal of Justice came to meet Ning that night while he was in the library with Tim, reading up on a few things in the history.
“You have confirmed that you do not wish to stay?” the Cardinal asked.
“Yes,” Ning said. “There is so much more I have to do and believe I have spent enough time here.”
“I see,” the Cardinal said. “In that case, I have saved you 3 spots in one of the ships that leave here tomorrow at noon. It will take you north toward Horace as you have said you wish to.”
“Yes,” Ning said. “We wish to see the amusement park there that is said to be the best in the world.”
“I see,” the Cardinal said. “I hope you have a great time there.”
Ning slept through the night and the next morning, he was taken through the empty streets of Airan, making his way down to the shipyard with the other two.
Jasmine said her goodbye to Galamor, with whom no relationship panned out for her.
Tim appeased the Cardinal’s worry about never returning and got onto the boat as well.
Ning got on finally and waved goodbye as the three left for their next journey.
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