I Reincarnated into a Game Filled with Mods – Chapter 68

—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
—————————————————————–

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

 
“…Inquisitor? Under the Pope of the Moon?”

“Yes. That is correct.”

Perhaps because the gray-haired woman had honestly revealed her identity as an Inquisitor, the hostility overflowing from the knight commanders somewhat subsided.

The one under the Pope of the Sun was the Inquisitor, and the one under the Pope of the Moon was the Inquisitor.

Although there was only a one-letter difference, causing many users to carelessly use them interchangeably, they were clearly distinct organizations.

Even in the game, the combat priests belonging to the Inquisitor of the Sun used medium armor, flails, and large shields, while the combat priests belonging to the Inquisitor of the Moon wore dark sacred robes and used only a rapier without a shield, making a clear distinction.

Both had the common point of being famous in various ways to the people of the continent.

Just as the Inquisitor of the Sun and her subordinate battle nuns were known as the supreme and strongest military force of the Holy Kingdom, the Inquisitor of the Moon and her subordinate battle nuns were known as the supreme and strongest assassination group of the Holy Kingdom.

There were even rumors that if the two groups combined their strength, an entire vast territory could disappear overnight, so even the knight commanders couldn’t be unaware of it.

However, just because her identity was revealed didn’t mean they had completely let their guard down.

It had only changed from “I’ll kill you” to “I’ll listen to what you have to say.” The tips of their swords were still pointed at the gray-haired woman.

Especially Iris, who had just heard that the Inquisitor under the Pope of the Sun had arbitrarily called me a heretic and verified my purity by stripping and fondling my breasts, was even more so.

“What business does the Inquisitor of the Holy Kingdom have here?”

“You just said with your own mouth that the Holy Kingdom must have contacted the Empress about something. Don’t you have any idea what it might be?”

“…So you were the means of that communication.”

“You’re correct again this time.”

The woman who had introduced herself as Selene slightly raised both hands to her head, expressing her lack of intention to fight.

“As I said earlier, I didn’t come here to fight. So I would appreciate it if you lowered your weapons.”

“That’s not for us to decide.”

“You’re right. It’s not for the knight commanders to decide. It’s for me to decide.”

Aurora walked out from behind.

Erica and Claudia tried to dissuade her, saying it was dangerous to approach closely just in case, but Aurora simply dismissed their concerns with a gesture.

“Yeah. So you’re the one who hinted to the Empress to give such an order to our Delta, right?”

“I simply conveyed the words of Her Holiness the Pope, Lady Aurora. Do you think I have the power to change or move the heart of your Empress?”

“Well, my aunt isn’t the type to do that. Then what’s the reason?”

“What do you mean by reason?”

“The reason you met my aunt and told her that Delta was going to the Holy Kingdom. We can go back and forth between the two countries as much as we want even without doing that. The Aeternum Empire and the Holy Kingdom of Raphaella aren’t on such bad terms that we need permission to visit each other. It wouldn’t have been a necessary thing to do, so why did you do it?”

“You’re mistaken. It was definitely a necessary thing to do.”

“Then what’s the reason, I ask. Do you want me to keep repeating the same thing?”

“It was to prevent a conflict that would occur between your Empress and the Pope of the Sun.”

Upon hearing the insane answer that it was to prevent a conflict between the Empress and the Pope, Aurora was momentarily at a loss for words and inhaled a false breath.

The other knight commanders were the same.

Needless to say, so was I.

Only the maids maintained their usual expressions.

Whether they truly weren’t surprised, whether they tried to maintain their composure despite being surprised, or whether they failed to grasp the importance of those words was known only to them.

“…It seems we need to have this conversation among ourselves. Don’t you all agree?”

It was a roundabout way of expressing that they should leave the room.

The maids, understanding the hidden meaning, bowed their heads and filed out of the reception room.

With a click, the last maid in line closed the door.

After confirming that all the maids had left, Aurora sighed, pressing her forehead.

“Explain it in more detail. A conflict? Between Her Majesty the Empress and Her Holiness the Pope?”

“You weren’t aware?”

Selene replied indifferently.

“The Empress is paying much more attention to that man than you think. So we needed to inform her of our purpose in advance to avoid giving her the impression that Her Holiness the Pope was taking that man away from her. That’s why I came here.”

Although the words were uttered indifferently, the impact they brought was immense.

I was so shocked that my body abruptly froze.

‘What did I just hear?’

The Empress was paying attention to me?

So much so that even the act of visiting the Holy Kingdom to meet the Pope was viewed with extreme caution, requiring someone as high-ranking as the Inquisitor to personally come and hint that there was no such intention?

The only clear memory I had of directly encountering her was when I blocked an attack as per the game’s event while dealing with the lord, so why?

I had thought something was off when I received the letter stamped with the Empress’ seal, but upon learning that the Empress’ interest in me was much greater than I had thought, a chill ran down my spine.

My head ached.

I had never heard of the Empress having such immense interest in the protagonist from the early stages of the story.

Just thinking about the main story that would unfold in the future made me feel overwhelmed already.

The others must have felt the same way, as everyone except Selene, the one who had spoken those words, had expressions filled with shock.

Especially Lizé looked even more serious.

“Now that I’ve explained the reason for my visit, are you willing to put away your weapons?”

“…Everyone, lower your weapons.”

Aurora said, biting her lip.

The knight commanders slowly put away their weapons.

“Fine, I understand for now. I’ll have to think about this more later.”

Although she said she would think about it, even Aurora had no choice but to meekly accept it.

Who could stop the Empress from being interested in me?

“If you came to convey a message to Her Majesty the Empress, why did you stop by us? You’re not going to say you just came to visit, are you?”

“Of course not. I came to escort you to the Holy Kingdom, as ordered by the Pope of the Moon.”

“Escort? Not surveillance?”

“It’s a genuine escort. The domains of the Sun and the Moon are inviolable. Once the Sun has accepted you as guests, the Moon will never interfere.”

“Inviolable? Never interfere?”

Aurora scoffed.

“The fact that you’re here is already a violation of that. You said the Pope of the Sun invited us. Then why did the Inquisitor of the Moon come instead of the Inquisitor of the Sun? Weren’t the domains of the two Popes inviolable to each other?”

“This contact was ordered by the Pope of the Moon. Even if you ask me, I know nothing. However, I believe without a doubt that they all have a meaning behind their actions.”

“Ha. In the end, you’re just cleverly saying you don’t want to tell us.”

Aurora sneered, clearly displeased with the current situation.

Selene calmly accepted that sneer.

“Strictly speaking, it has nothing to do with my will, but since the result is the same, you’re free to think as you please.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll take it as you don’t want to say it.”

Phew, Aurora let out a deep sigh.

“When do we depart? In case you don’t know, it hasn’t even been an hour since they returned from subjugating a monster. Anyway, the departure date wouldn’t be written in my aunt’s letter. I’d like to let them rest for at least two days. Or maybe even longer.”

“You can depart whenever you wish, but I’d like to recommend staying within three days for the rest period. Your Empress is someone far from patience.”

It was a valid point.

Now that the Empress had personally issued an order for us to go to the Holy Kingdom, we couldn’t afford to linger here for days.

It was right to rest for two days at most and depart immediately.

Selene knew that fact very well, so she calmly answered Aurora’s half-threat that she could stay here for months if she wanted to.

“Lastly, all the knight commanders must accompany you to the Holy Kingdom.”

“Why is that?”

This time, Iris stepped forward.

Although she had lowered her weapon, her eyes were still filled with wariness.

“It is a recommendation given by the Pope of the Moon, so I do not know.”

“That’s not possible. One of us must always stay and protect the lord.”

“Do not worry.”

Selene’s eyes briefly shone.

Then, shadows began to wriggle and rise from various parts of the reception room, transforming into human shapes.

I was startled, but the other knight commanders remained calm.

The writhing shadows that had risen completely transformed into perfect human forms.

They were all women, wearing black veils on their heads.

Their attire was tremendously revealing in a different sense.

If the battle nuns under the Inquisitor of the Sun wore clothes that exposed more than they covered, the battle nuns under the Inquisitor of the Moon wore clothes that tightly wrapped their entire bodies, resulting in less exposure overall.

That was because the tight wrapping was made of translucent black tights.

The tights clung to their bodies without any gaps, as if they were vacuum-sealed.

It made one wonder how they even put them on and took them off.

Although they didn’t have the glossy shine like latex, due to the translucent material, their bare skin was fully visible.

Body parts such as the firm 11-pack abs and the navel beside them were visible.

If it weren’t for the top that looked like a leather jacket cut entirely right below the nipples, the tips of their breasts would have been exposed.

It seemed like they wore it to emphasize their breasts rather than to cover them.

At least they had the decency to wear underwear on their lower part.

If they didn’t have that, their crotch would have been directly visible between their legs.

I couldn’t understand why they always wore those garter belts though.

“I was wondering when they would reveal themselves. If you had left and they hadn’t disappeared, I was planning to cut them down on the spot.”

“You noticed?”

“Did you think I wouldn’t notice?”

“That wasn’t my intention. If it came across that way, I apologize.”

While Selene and Iris exchanged words, the battle nuns who had risen from the shadows knelt on one knee in front of Selene and bowed their heads.

There were a total of twelve of them, and they all had dark silver hair mixed with gray and violet eyes.

Considering that the battle nuns under Stella all had blonde hair and green eyes, it seemed like there was some secret.

In fact, I was too confused by the Empress to think deeply about such things right now.

“My subordinate battle nuns will protect you. They will watch over your every moment, so you can put your worries to rest.”

As Selene snapped her fingers, the battle nuns who had been bowing their heads in front of her transformed into shadows and disappeared as if melting away.

Aurora looked around with a dissatisfied expression.

“I don’t like the idea of being watched all day.”

“The surveillance is only outside the mansion. Unless something special happens, they won’t look inside.”

“…Well, I guess that’s fine then. Anyway, I got it.”

“Yes. I shall take my leave now.”

With those words, Selene pulled the robe over her head again.

Her deep silver ponytail was swallowed up by the robe, and the violet eyes disappeared.

Selene, who had returned to the same appearance as when she first appeared here, delivered her final greeting.

“Rest well. I’ll see you when we depart.”

Soon after, her robed figure vanished as if the moonlight had shattered.

In the place where the moon had disappeared, sunlight was shining down once again.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇