'Then, a way to call for someone...'
Looking around, there was no proper summoning tool. There was a pull-cord for calling a servant in one corner, but it seemed to be out of use now as it made no sound when tugged.
It looked like I'd have to go out and check myself, but the problem was I still didn't have the strength for that.
'Well... I guess I'll have to wait until someone finds me.'
With that final thought, I opened my eyes again after feeling a subtle weight.
As soon as I opened my eyes and faced an unexpected person, I must have naturally fallen asleep after processing too much information.
'When did they turn off the lights, though?'
Unlike before, all the lights in the room were off, making it impossible to distinguish anything.
"Eek! You're awake!"
"..."
Something was moving around on top of me. Even though I couldn't see it, it was obvious what it was.
I grabbed the palm-sized lump that was on the blanket.
"Squeak!"
I ignored the squeak and stroked Pie's fur.
Even though it was small enough to fit in one hand, it was annoying that it was moving around while I was sleeping. Still, seeing it like this was somewhat welcome.
"No regard for us, just looking for the rabbit~"
"What's that, you're awake?"
The sound of footsteps followed, and the voices of Elias and Leo came from near the door in the distance.
I reached for the lamp on the bedside table and turned it on.
Narke had also come to this room, having likely heard I was awake. I looked at this burdensome scene and asked dryly.
"What's this, when did you get here?"
"Just now. You were sleeping, so we turned off the lights, but you woke up right away."
Narke answered with a laugh.
Elias walked quickly, tapping his crutch, and plopped down into a chair.
"Hey, feels like we haven't seen you in a week~. Good to see you. How's your body?"
"Fine."
Moving my limbs wasn't a problem, and my vision and hearing were at their usual levels.
Even though it was the truth, he seemed to have a hard time believing it. Elias raised one eyebrow, pointed around my face, and asked.
"What do you mean fine? Your neck? You hit your head, right? I heard you had a slight concussion."
I knew what moment he was talking about. The fact that he brought it up first meant it must have left the biggest impression on him.
Hearing someone dying isn't a common experience, so it made sense. I wondered if I had inadvertently given him trauma by making him listen.
As I remained silent, Elias continued in an exaggerated manner.
"Do you know how scared I was while listening? Man, they were really determined to kill you. I was saying we shouldn't have sent you alone~."
"It's fine. You can tell from the fact that I went alone and came back safely."
"Hmm, right. Next time, send me. Got it? Remember that."
"Elias!"
Leo interjected with a frown.
Unlike expressions like 'send me,' if Elias became convinced that creating chaos would be to his benefit, he would just dash off. Whatever I answered wouldn't mean much.
I just smiled without answering, and Elias clapped his hands loudly.
"Alright, that's settled. How does it feel to have successfully returned? You've become a full-fledged national hero."
I haven't seen anything yet, so I have no sense of the atmosphere.
Coincidentally, Elias handed me a bundle of newspapers.
Whether Elias marked them or not, very crude circles were drawn on the newspapers.
I started reading the articles marked with red pen first.
They were originally plastered on the front page in large letters, so they would have been eye-catching even without the marks.
[Imperial Central Government Magic Department "To Award Nicolaas a Merit Medal, Grade Under Discussion"]
[Nicolaas Ernst, Takes Hostage Role to Reveal Pleroma Truth... Sacrifice for 100 Million Subjects]
[17 Countries Within the Empire, Grant Nicolaas Ernst Honorary Mage Registration]
[Nicolaas Ernst, Abducted Above Plaza Clock Tower... Crowd of 130,000 Gathers]
The time periods of the articles were all jumbled up, as if he had collected every one that was published.
The front page of the most recent Imperial newspaper had a picture of the crowd gathered in the plaza.
"How about it, thrilling reaction?"
"Yeah. It's definite."
This much... is a success.
The reaction is as big as last time, no, much bigger than last time.
Earlier, Nicolaas's impression score had become 6.5, right?
Nicolaas's impression score, which hadn't risen even 0.01 after spending 4.2 billion, jumped up by 1.5 at once.
'Clearly, it seems things like jumping 3 points at once like before won't happen anymore.'
Even if the scale is similar, in terms of danger or symbolism, it seemed more powerful than the parliament... I could definitely feel that increasingly more cost was being invested.
Still, after experiencing a 0.002 point increase after spending 4.2 billion, I could be satisfied with this much of a rise.
'It seems solving things with money won't work.'
It's convenient, but it doesn't yield that much effect.
From now on, I need to put out topics memorable enough to remain in the public's memory, like now.
I nodded slowly and turned the newspaper.
There were also many articles about Strauch in the newspaper.
[Werner Strauch Mecklenburg-Schwerin Federal Councilor, Revealed as Pleroma]
[Who to Believe? Surge in Demands for Strengthened Pleroma Verification in Politics]
[Werner Strauch Mecklenburg-Schwerin Federal Councilor, Was 'Pleroma' Osnabrück Diocese Auxiliary Bishop]
[Councilor Strauch, Sent Five Letters Anonymously to About 60 Federal Councilors During Early-Year Barrier Discussion... Induced Barrier Installation]
This much is satisfactory.
I closed the newspaper, placed it on the bedside table, looked at my friends, and greeted them.
"Thank you. It would have been difficult to succeed without you."
"..."
At those words, Leo slightly furrowed his brow.
He had a face that seemed to be thinking something was wrong.
I don't remember being unnecessarily stingy with expressions, so it was surprising to see this reaction.
"Refreshing~ But is it just me, or do I feel like we need to get you checked again?"
"Haha, I guess Lucas is just like that. No reservations."
"When have I ever not said what I needed to say?"
"No, more than that... you don't really react even when something explodes."
I've never not reacted, but it must have seemed that way.
Elias furrowed his brow for a moment in thought, then clapped his hands.
"No. The fact that you say thank you in such a nonchalant tone is just so Lucas~"
"I put as much sincerity as I could into it. Did it sound like that?"
"No, that's not what I meant. Your tone is just your personality. Was it like this in first year too? Leo, how was it?"
"...Probably. Never really had a long conversation."
Leo answered while avoiding eye contact.
He probably didn't want to recall his first-year days because of the attitude he had shown towards Luca.
To begin with, it seemed he wasn't very energetic, perhaps having taken a lot of shock from the Pleroma incident.
I should leave the tired guy to rest and slowly start asking about what I need to find out.
"Let me ask one thing. As you know, I came down without a mask."
"Don't worry. No one knows."
Leo muttered.
"Yeah, really. I got some on my shoulder, you know."
Narke said playfully, tapping his own shoulder.
That alone shouldn't be enough.
As if reading that thought from my expression, Elias gave a proper answer.
"He warped here before his feet even touched the ground. He said he did it from about 30 meters above ground, right?"
"Haha, it felt just like our world. We were lucky."
As expected...
If Narke, who can read my hypothesis, had said it, I would have been a bit suspicious, but thanks to Elias explaining, I could quickly accept it.
Actually, it's a topic that could be sufficiently investigated if one tried, so it would be awkward to lie about it.
"Thank you."
I thanked Narke and looked at the clock.
It definitely seemed to be around 5 PM when I was at the clock tower, but looking at the clock placed in one corner of the room, it was almost midnight.
Now there was one more thing to ask.
"More than that, Narke, I'm curious about something."
I softened my expression and looked at Narke.
"Yeah, what is it?"
"Are you a bishop?"
Narke's eyes widened, then he burst out laughing.
"Ahahaha, I knew you'd ask this."
"Yeah, we said we'd tell Lucas when he woke up."
Leo crossed his arms, leaned back in his chair, and opened his mouth.
"Let's start from the beginning. We contacted the Papacy, and the Papacy said they would immediately send a mage to the scene. And you appeared."
Narke just nodded with a smile.
"How you are a mage sent by the Papacy, how you had Papacy staff, and how you appeared there dressed as a bishop... We honestly don't understand. What's going on?"
Elias was also staring at Narke with a face containing a bit of interest. As far as I knew, that expression of Elias's was never a friendly meaning. It meant he considered the person a target to be somewhat wary of.
'He's not even fully befriended them yet and has already earned their wariness.'
Understandable.
I also had questions from amidst that chaos.
"First, your misunderstanding me as a bishop... Yeah, that's understandable. The fascia color was pink."
Narke nodded and calmly opened his mouth.
"I was careful with my words at school, but it's true that I am a Papacy mage."
Narke snapped his fingers, and his eye and hair color changed. They turned completely white, just as I had seen before losing consciousness.
He pulled a wand from his waist and gave it a slight shake. Only now did the wand's true form reveal itself.
The straight, dark brown wand transformed into an old wooden wand with a gently curved handle. A golden dove ornament was attached to the end. This too was a Papacy mage's wand.
"The standard color set by the Papacy, right? The wand too. Especially the wand can't be forged."
"Wow, with all his colors changed, he's a different person. Is it because I'm not used to it?"
Elias said while observing Narke's face.
Strict dress codes apply to those affiliated with the Papacy, and for mages who use divine power, even hair and iris color are included in the dress code.
Frankly, a system this strict is almost pathological, but they want to create a standard of holiness and fit humans to it.
Individual mages also don't have major complaints about this system.
That's understandable, because mages believe they themselves are qualified to stand by God's side.
They have already desperately strived to pursue the manufactured holiness, and indeed, even excluding magic, they have become very different from ordinary humans.
From my perspective, they have already crossed a completely irreversible river in many aspects. In that situation, something like color probably doesn't matter at all.
"But I'm not a bishop."
Narke said as he changed his wand back and tucked it into his waist.
"Papacy-certified mages find it difficult to reveal their identities in front of the public. As you know, assassination attempts on mages are frequent. More than anything, we don't want individuals to become excessively famous."
"But not everyone wears a mask."
"Yeah, hahaha! Honestly, I used it because it looked fun seeing Lucas do it. Of course, it's also because I needed to hide my identity. I'm not in a very free situation either."
"Not in a free situation?"
"Not as much as Lucas, but yeah."
Leo slowly nodded, then frowned.
"No matter how difficult it is to reveal your identity, you shouldn't be able to wear attire not permitted for your rank, right? That strict Papacy wouldn't allow that."
"Hmm, in principle, no. But when you actually do things, you can't just stick to principles. There are special circumstances."
"..."
No one could easily accept it.
That Papacy would allow just anyone to wear bishop's robes? If they did that, everyone would dress like bishops.
Even Elias looked at Narke with a laugh that said he found it absurd.
"Not a bishop, okay. I'll believe that. But..."
Leo looked at Narke's round eyes and asked.
"You're not just a priest, are you?"
—-----------
T/N:
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