Rebirth of the 8th-Circle Mage
Chapter 280: The Pope (1)

After coming back with Herarion and Viram to Monsieur, Henry prepared to leave again with Hector, whose form was different than before.

“Squawk! Squawk!”

“Sigh…”

A parrot perched on Henry’s shoulder.

Fortunately, when all of Hector’s bodies were thought to be gone, he found the body of a parrot he had been keeping as a spare.

Hector had transferred his soul into the parrot’s body because he wanted to at least enjoy some food, given that he couldn’t touch anything in his spirit form.

“Squawk! Squawk!”

“You’re so annoyingly loud.”

The sparrow he had used before chirped softly, but the parrot’s voice was terribly loud, and most annoying of all…

“Hungry! Hungry!”

It also allowed Hector to use words…

Henry frowned and shook his head as he prepared to cast Teleportation.

“Sir Henry, where are you going this time?” asked Herarion.

“I’m going to the Holy City.”

“To the Holy City?”

“Yes. I don't know which god is the most similar to Janus in terms of power, so I’m going to check Irene’s divine power since I’m most familiar with her. Although I doubt that the goddess of peace will have the same powers as Janus.”

“Then take this with you.”

At Henry’s explanation, Herarion took out a wooden compass that was smaller than the palm of his hand. It didn’t have the markings of a normal compass; instead, it was divided into two halves, one depicting the sun and the other the moon.

Holding out the compass, Herarion said, “This is called a Shalka, or the Scale of La, and it’s used to determine what kind of divine powers someone has.”

“To determine what kind of divine powers they have?”

“Yes. It’s forbidden by law for regular people to worship Janus, so this device allowed the royal family to see if anyone worshiped Janus in secrecy.”

“I see.”

Henry was initially skeptical regarding the purpose of this object, but he was convinced after Herarion mentioned that it determined what kind of divine powers someone possessed.

Henry was currently looking for a deity powerful enough to match Arthus’ divine power, but he also needed that deity to have similar characteristics to Janus in order to give Hector a proper new body.

“Then this must be a divine object,” said Henry.

“Well, it’s similar, but it’s not exactly a divine object. It’s just that throughout the years, our priests have imbued it with divine power through prayer.”

“I see. Could you show me how to use it?”

“It’s quite simple. This Shalka is imbued with La’s blessing, so if the believer’s divine power has the affinity of La, the needle will point to the sun.”

“Then I guess the needle will point to the moon if that person’s powers are more similar to those of Janus.”

“That’s right. Of course, I myself have never used it against anyone with a different divine power, but I’m giving it to you because I want to help in every way possible, so please accept it.”

“Thank you for lending me such a valuable object, Your Majesty.”

“No worries, I just feel bad that I can’t accompany you.”

Henry had received an unexpected gift that would likely make it easier for him to replace the deity he was looking for.

“I'll be back soon. I hope your training will go well in the meantime.”

Flash!

Henry and the parrot disappeared with the ray of light.

*

Henry arrived at the Holy City of St. Hall and once again made a formal request to meet with Saint Irenae.

Seeing Henry waiting in the living room, the Saint greeted him warmly.

“Welcome, Archmage. What brings you here this time?”

Henry shook hands with the Saint, and then took the Shalka out, holding it in front of her.

“Saint, will you take this for a moment?”

“What is this?”

The Saint accepted the Shalka without any suspicion, and as soon as she held it, the needle of the Shalka slowly tilted to one side.

It pointed to the sun.

‘As expected.’

Irene was the goddess of love and peace, and just as Henry had expected, Irene’s power was similar to that of La, the Sun God. After all, there was nothing dark about love and peace.

Although the answer was pretty obvious, Henry managed to test the function of the Shalka easily.

After receiving the Shalka back, Henry said, “This is called a Shalka, or the Scale of La, and it’s a tool used by the Shahatra royal family to determine the type of divine powers someone possesses. His Majesty, Herarion, lent it to me.”

“Determine the type, huh… Haha, so what kind of powers do I have?”

“Well, since Irene is the goddess of love and peace, a benevolent deity, the Shalka unsurprisingly pointed to the sun.”

“Seeing that it belongs to Shahatra and it’s called the Scale of La, I assume the sun represents La and the moon represents Janus?”

“That’s right, and I’m looking for a god that has similar qualities to Janus.”

“Sorry? Similar qualities to Janus?”

“Yes, and I’ve come to you for this matter.”

Of course, Henry hadn’t come here simply to learn more about Irene. He had come all the way to the Holy City to learn about the origins of other religions and how he could replace other deities.

‘Since the Church of Peace has won a religious war in recent history, they most likely know where the people of other religions have fled.’

That was Henry’s reasoning. Any other religion out there that would be effective against Arthus had to be fairly powerful, given that they had gone up against the Church of Peace in that war.

“I need to replace a new god so that I can face Arthus. I've discussed this matter with His Majesty, Herarion, as per our agreement, but we didn’t really replace a solution.”

“Hmm, didn’t you say back then that you would try to become La’s Sword, since that position was still vacant?”

“That turned out to be impossible. His Majesty said that it would be virtually impossible to become La’s chosen one without sincere faith.”

“Hmm.. That makes sense.”

“Still, I managed to borrow some of La’s divine objects, but His Majesty told me that those wouldn’t be enough to defeat Arthus, which is why I’m looking for a deity that is on the same level as Janus.”

“A deity similar to Janus, huh…”

The Saint nodded at Henry’s straightforward explanation, and she also marveled at the fact that Henry was seemingly able to replace a solution for everything.

“I think it would be much better for you to ask Sir Ananda, Sir Logger, and the Pope about this, since I wasn’t even born when that religious war happened.”

Irenae had become a saint after the Church of Peace had won the religious war and the Eurasian Empire had been founded. Therefore, it was better for Henry to ask those who had participated in the war about the other religions and what had happened to them.

“I could call Sir Logger and Sir Ananda. Would you like to speak with them?”

Irenae still felt uncomfortable when it came to the Pope, so she once again left him out of the equation and decided to only ask Logger, her spear, and Ananda, her shield, for help.

“Haha, that won’t be necessary because I’m here already.”

“...!”

Just then, they both heard an unfamiliar voice. Henry instinctively got up from his seat at the sudden interruption.

The Pope, Ross Borgia I, was standing there.

‘The Pope?’

Henry hadn’t expected the Pope to show up. The Saint seemed quite bewildered at his unexpected appearance.

“Po-Pope, what brings you here?”

The Saint was very dismayed because she hadn’t heard that the Pope would be here.

“I know almost everything that happens in the Holy City. Anyway, nice to meet you, Archmage. I’m Ross Borgia I, the head of the Holy City of St. Hall.”

Unlike Irenae, who was visibly surprised, the Pope had a calm and friendly expression, smiling as he greeted Henry.

‘Ross Borgia I’

He looked like an old raccoon.

Henry had met him at every social event organized by the empire, but this was his first time meeting the Pope after his reincarnation.

With a bow, Henry said, “I’m Henry Morris, the one and only disciple of the late Archmage.”

“I’m well aware of your reputation, but I’m quite disappointed, Archmage.”

“Disappointed?”

“I heard that you’ve already exchanged greetings with Logger and Ananda, but how come you haven’t made the effort to introduce yourself to me before?”

The Pope had said that with a smile, as if he was just joking around, but Henry could tell that there was a hidden meaning behind it.

‘Ha, what a guy.’

The Pope looked calm, but Henry could clearly tell that he was trying to intimidate him. The Pope was obviously aware that the Church of Peace had been on Arthus’ side and had been at odds with Henry for some time now, and yet he was asking Henry why he hadn’t introduced himself to him before.

He was clearly looking down on Henry.

‘You freaking raccoon…!’

Henry thought that the Pope hadn’t changed one bit. However, he decided to put aside his negative feelings about the Pope and put on a veneer of cordiality. After all, Henry still had a lot of questions for him.

Henry smiled and said, “Haha, I apologize. Given everything that’s been going on, I’ve been very busy. Nevertheless, it’s an absolute honor to be able to meet you here.”

“Haha, I see. Then shall we continue our conversation somewhere else?”

The Pope laughed it off as Henry acknowledged his intentions without challenging him.

As the Pope seemed to feel better, Henry got straight to the point.

“Alright. Why don’t we also bring Saint Irenae, Sir Logger, and Sir Ananda, so we can all talk about this?”

“Good idea.”

Both of them seemed friendly, but their smiles belied the tension and the distrust between them.

*

The Pope invited everyone to his chamber.

Five people sat at a round table, including Logger and Ananda, who arrived later. Both of them cautiously grasped the situation as they entered the room, perking up their ears for what the Pope was about to say.

Once everyone took their seat and properly settled in, the Pope said to Henry, “Alright, then shall we pick up from where we left off, Archmage?”

“Alright, but before that, I’d like to ask if you are aware of the current state of the continent?”

“Ah, of course I’m aware. I’m the Pope who rules over St. Hall, so I know everything that the Saint and the Sun Warriors know.”

This was the best thing Henry had heard from him so far. If the Pope didn’t know everything that the Saint and the Sun Warriors knew, this meeting would’ve been ten times more awkward than it already was.

“Anyway… I heard earlier that you want to know about the religions that were involved in the last religious war and where they were scattered. May I ask why?”

“Of course. I’m currently searching for a god that can help me defeat Arthus.”

“A god?”

“Yes. Arthus has become extraordinarily powerful because he’s received divine powers from Janus, the desert god. From what I’ve heard, he’s been calling himself a god and demanding that everyone worship him as such, so I intend to stop him before he becomes even more powerful”

“Haha, divine powers, you say?”

The Pope’s squinted eyes grew wide open at Henry's explanation.

Henry continued, “Well, there are other things besides that, but… Ah, I almost forgot. After having an in-depth discussion with the religious people from Shahatra, we’ve come up with a solution, which we consider to be viable. For example, they lent me this object called the Shalka. Would you like to take a look?”

Henry thought that he might be able to get the information he wanted out of the Pope by showing him some proof that he was serious about searching for a deity to help him. Thus, he handed the Pope the Shalka he had received from Herarion.

The Pope accepted the Shalka, and the needle instantly started spinning wildly.

Ping!

The needle finally stopped spinning, pointing to the moon.