"Your Holiness… Do you really have to do such a thing?" A fat old man looked at the Pope. He didn't contain his fury in that gaze, as though he was threatening the highest authority within the Holy Kingdom.
The Pope stared at him for a few seconds without responding. He then let out a long sigh and said, "As a bishop of the Holy Kingdom, your authority is similar to that of a minister in other countries. Why are you not satisfied with your position?"
"Are you planning to lecture me?"
"Bishop Rea… I'm not lecturing you." The Pope smiled. His eyes were filled with pity.
"You're always looking at people from the top. And because of your decision, the Holy Kingdom is suffering. Do you know that you can't run a kingdom without money?"
"Of course I know. Isn't that how you're able to become a bishop in this country?" The Pope shook his head helplessly.
"Despite knowing everything, you're not doing anything." Bishop Rea gritted his teeth.
"I haven't done anything?" The Pope looked down as his face filled with disappointment. "Indeed. I haven't done anything. I wish I had the strength to do everything by myself. I hope I can solve all the problems in this world.
"Yet, no matter how long I extend my hand, I can't reach every single person in need. No matter how hard I work, I can't finish everything.
"If you want to have a religion, you have to feed your people. Only when their bellies are full can they spare some time to follow their beliefs. Meanwhile, if you are starved and continue to worry about having enough food to eat or not every minute… every second… will you have time and determination to pursue your belief?
"I know that fact very well." The Pope sighed. "Unfortunately, the bigger you are, the more sins will come at you.
"Don't act as if everything you've done is for the sake of the kingdom, Bishop Rea.
"The money from the Dark Arena… I wonder where it goes. Is it for the kingdom? Even if it is for the kingdom, I don't dare to take that bloodied money.
"Then again, all that money personally goes to your coffer. You are someone who has been swallowed by his own greed."
Bishop Rea snorted. "So what? You are truly a softy, Your Holiness. Despite knowing everything, you haven't done anything this whole time. It's your sin to let your people do all this."
"If I don't bear that sin, who is willing to do it?" The Pope closed his eyes for a second. "However, you're mistaken about one thing. It's not that I haven't done anything. It's just I want you to think that way."
"!!!" Bishop Rea raised his eyebrows in shock. He came here because the Pope had poked him in the capital city, but the way he phrased his words made him realize the Pope might have done something he didn't know. And that would be…
Bishop Rea clenched his fists before raising his voice. "If you think you can deal with them, then do it. I have made sure that every single one of your pawns is unable to help you. What? Are you relying on that little saint Eric? Although he is good, he is not capable of achieving anything. Even if you destroy one of them, you can't do anything to me without destroying all of them at once. I know how to deal with you, Your Holiness. You seem to have underestimated me too much!"
The Pope smiled. "Once you gather enough support from those people and amass enough money, you'll try to buy the seat of an archbishop, making your influence almost impossible for me to shake.
"For someone who is clever enough to have a plan for becoming an archbishop, you're rather shallow. Why do you think I have no one else to deal with you?"
"!!!" Bishop Rea's body shook. No, was there another person he could use to handle his people?
The Pope was known to be someone who used his people, especially his students, to handle all kinds of tasks.
However, he had sealed all the saints and saintesses. Even the archbishops wouldn't act against him.
Still, there was one more person that the Pope could use. He had sent her to the Azilia Kingdom for a mission and rarely returned to the point where her status was questioned.
But that saintess had a connection to an even bigger person.
"Don't tell me…" Rea gasped. "Serafina?! You sent Serafina under the pretense of helping with the Divine Hand, but it turned out you actually pushed her away so that I wouldn't be suspicious of her?! I knew it was weird for you to actually send away your most treasured student, but to think you would use her ."
The Pope chuckled. "I know that the Black Cat Organization had a connection with the Divine Hand long ago.
"And that's where I find all your bad deeds. I thought it would take much longer for her to grow, but I guess it's time for me to completely remove the bad soil from this holy land." The Pope pointed at the bishop.
"Yes. I am weak and restricted because I follow my beliefs as well as the law. However, it doesn't mean I won't bring you to justice.
"I will tell you what's going to happen after this. Everything you have will be destroyed, your reputation will plummet, and your sin will haunt you. You will pay for your crime. In other words, execution.
"Bishop Rea. You can play any tricks you want, but I can assure you that you won't be able to leave the Holy Kingdom until the date of your execution."
The Pope smiled. "This will be the end."
The bishop was stunned. He had never thought that the Pope had planned everything.
It turned out the Pope was waiting for the right time to strike him down this whole time. And this was the right time.
He should be scared of the Pope, yet the bishop actually smirked. "You are foolish. Although I didn't stop her, I still monitored her progress. Even though she has become strong, she is nowhere near enough to be able to handle all that mess. And I have left my trump card there…"