I Reincarnated into a Game Filled with Mods – Chapter 86

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“You can wait here, esteemed guest.”

After arriving at the place the battle nun had guided me to, I sat on the sofa.

Soon, tea with rising steam and peculiarly shaped cookies that looked like bread were served.

I thought to myself that serving refreshments while waiting for someone must be common in both the Empire and the Holy Kingdom.

“The Inquisitor will be here shortly.”

The nun who brought the refreshments flinched when she saw me, then stammered out her words and quickly disappeared.

All the nuns I had encountered on the way here were faces I had seen before.

I couldn’t forget them, since they had put on a strip show right in front of me to determine whether I was a heretic or not.

The memory of that time seemed to be firmly etched not only in my mind but also in the minds of those who had done the exposing.

The nuns were flustered and could barely make eye contact with me.

If our eyes happened to meet, they would hurriedly run away.

It was unclear whether they were acting like this because of the memory of performing a strip show in front of me, or because they had accused me of being a heretic.

I took a sip of tea, ignoring the battle nuns who had disappeared from around me at some point.

‘Hmm. Not to my taste.’

I shuddered at the flavor.

It was incredibly bitter.

It was as bitter as the arrowroot juice or red ginseng that my parents used to feed me occasionally before I was possessed.

My face involuntarily scrunched up as soon as the tea touched my tongue.

Trying hard to maintain my expression, I picked up one of the bread-like cookies to eat, if only to cleanse my palate.

‘…’

It didn’t particularly cleanse my palate.

This one was extremely dry.

I thought it might feel like this if you left a boiled sweet potato at room temperature for about three days.

It felt like the moisture in my mouth was being sucked into the cookie in reverse.

Giving up on the refreshments, I glanced to the side.

Selene was staring straight ahead with a blank face, as if her soul had literally left her body, without moving at all.

It seemed the shock had been too great for her.

I didn’t want to disturb Selene either, so I kept my mouth shut.

Silence enveloped us.

Only occasionally, the sound of me shuddering as I sipped the tea or chewed the dry cookies echoed.

“I’m sorry. Did you wait long?”

After I had taken about three sips of tea, Stella flung open the door and entered.

Her green eyes rested on me for a moment before turning to Selene, who was sitting on the left.

Then, seeing Selene’s blank, frozen state, she tilted her head in confusion.

“What’s wrong with the Inquisitor?”

“Well, something happened.”

“It must have been quite significant. She’s completely lost her senses.”

Stella sat down on the sofa opposite me.

The momentum caused her breasts to bounce vigorously.

The chest covering that concealed her nipples and areolas fluttered up and down, creating a precarious sight.

“What brings you here, esteemed guest?”

“I have a request for the Inquisitor.”

“A request that can’t be told to the battle nuns, that only I must know, and that requires the presence of the dazed Inquisitor over there?”

“That’s right.”

“What kind of request could it be?”

Those green eyes sparkled slightly.

They seemed half filled with curiosity.

I wondered if she could maintain that smile and gaze after hearing what I was about to say.

“Inquisitor Stella.”

I changed my expression to be as serious as possible.

The curiosity sparkling in those green eyes dimmed a little.

“Would you be able to help us persuade Her Holiness the Pope of the Sun to open the way to the underground of the Holy Kingdom?”

“…Pardon?”

As soon as Stella heard my words, she froze with her smiling expression intact.

Her eyes vibrated incessantly.

It was exactly the same reaction as when Selene first heard my words.

After a while of stuttering and blinking, Stella finally managed to answer haltingly.

“Ahem, well. You’re quite the jokester, esteemed guest. Underground, you say? There’s no such place in the Holy Kingdom—”

“This matter has already been discussed with the Inquisitor of the Moon.”

“…”

Upon hearing those words, the smile finally disappeared from Stella’s face.

She looked at me with an expression that could be described as complicated or bewildered, then let out a deep sigh.

It was a sigh full of concern and worry.

“How much do you know, esteemed guest?”

“That there’s a monster sleeping in the underground of the Holy Kingdom that even Their Holinesses the Popes can’t handle. And that Her Holiness the Pope of the Moon intends to sacrifice her own life for Her Holiness the Pope of the Sun. Do you need more?”

“No, that’s enough. That’s sufficient.”

Stella leaned back on the sofa and stared blankly at the ceiling.

This posture naturally emphasized her already prominent large breasts even more.

The underside and sides of her breasts were fully visible, but Stella seemed unconcerned about the state of her chest as she pondered for a while, then straightened up and met my eyes.

“Esteemed guest. Since you seem to know everything, I won’t beat around the bush. That monster in the underground of the Holy Kingdom is one that even Her Holiness the Pope failed to subjugate. It’s a being we can do nothing about.”

“Wasn’t the recently subjugated rune dungeon given the same evaluation? A dungeon that the Holy Kingdom had failed to subjugate several times, and was sealed off with a barrier because it was a place that couldn’t be dealt with?”

“At first glance, they might seem similar. I admit that. But it’s completely different from that.”

“In what way is it different?”

“The rune dungeon was considered a place that wouldn’t have been much of a problem if Her Holiness the Pope had personally intervened. It was only left alone because she couldn’t reveal herself freely due to the monster beneath the Holy Kingdom.”

Ah, so that was why it was left alone.

Even in the game, quite a few people had wondered why the rune dungeon near the cathedral was left unattended, and whether the Pope couldn’t have personally gone to subjugate it.

Now that question was finally answered.

“But the monster is different. Even the holy power directly exerted by Her Holiness the Pope could only prevent the evil energy from overflowing… How could the rune dungeon and that monster be the same?”

After finishing her words, Stella stood up.

She walked around the table, her heels clicking, came to my side, and sat on the armrest of the sofa, gently grasping my hand.

“Esteemed guest. I don’t know how you obtained information about that monster, but I appreciate your concern for us. However, this is a matter for the Holy Kingdom, and it’s for us to resolve. Her Holiness the Pope of the Moon has already made her firm decision.”

“Her Holiness the Pope of the Sun doesn’t seem to have given up yet, though?”

“She is…”

Stella trailed off.

She seemed at a loss for words.

I wasn’t sure if she knew about what had happened inside the cathedral, but if she did, she would have even less to say.

“…Anyway, I’ll accept your good intentions. Please forget about this. I’ll pretend I didn’t hear anything just now, so you can also forget about it with ease. You don’t need to worry about it.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

Why, indeed.

My answer was already decided.

It was a very simple and clear reason.

That the Pope of the Moon’s sacrifice was meaningless, and if left alone, not only would the Pope of the Sun die miserably, but the monster would awaken and as a result, the Holy Kingdom would be destroyed, so I had to defeat it.

Although it was a bit of a rough expression, it wasn’t entirely wrong.

The Rest in the Abyss rune was already subordinate to me.

Except for the person who possessed this rune, no one else could even enter the abyss.

But how could I say this outright?

To say that the Pope’s sacrifice was useless and that the Holy Kingdom would be destroyed without me – it would be fortunate if it wasn’t considered blasphemy due to self-intoxication.

Especially since the Pope of the Moon was said to have closed her heart and accepted fate after tasting only failure and frustration at the end of numerous attempts to twist the revelation.

“Well. I wonder why?”

But the fact that I had no particular reason to put forward was also true.

I just vaguely evaded the answer.

It was best to leave such things to their own imagination.

“…”

Stella remained silent, still holding my hand.

She seemed to be imagining what the reason might be.

Whatever she was imagining, her cheeks slightly flushed and returned to normal repeatedly.

It was quite some time before her mouth opened again.

“…A method.”

“Pardon?”

“Since you speak so confidently, you must know a way to defeat the monster. Tell me. How do you plan to deal with it?”

I glanced at Selene.

She now looked like she had somewhat regained her senses.

Although I had already explained this once to persuade Selene, it wouldn’t hurt to repeat it.

“First, we need to receive the ‘Solar Eclipse’ holy spell from Her Holiness the Pope of the Sun. It would be good if we could get the ‘Lunar Eclipse’ as well, but Her Holiness the Pope of the Moon is unlikely to cooperate in this matter. We’ll have to just try for that.”

“Where did you learn about the Solar Eclipse… Never mind. Please continue.”

Stella seemed about to say something but gave up and closed her mouth.

She appeared to assume that I had somehow acquired the information on my own.

“And with this rune I obtained from the dungeon, I can walk through the abyss unharmed. Even without sacred power.”

“…Is that true?”

“Yes. The attempt to drive away the abyss with sacred power and then enter was a mistake from the start. No matter how powerful the sacred power that Their Holinesses the Popes can exert, that place is essentially the monster’s home.”

“What’s next? What will you do after confronting the monster?”

To this question asking about the most important part, I answered with a grin.

“It’s simple. I’ll land all of my attacks, and dodge all of the monster’s attacks.”

“…What?”

Stella stopped abruptly, as if someone had hit the pause button on a video.

I deliberately repeated what I had said.

“I’ll land all of my attacks, and dodge all of the monster’s attacks—”

“That’s not what I meant, esteemed guest.”

The hand holding mine tightened its grip.

“If you’re trying to joke, it’s not funny at all. Please speak seriously.”

“I am being serious. It’s a strategy that always works. If I land all my attacks and dodge all the opponent’s attacks, I can secure victory in any battle.”

I had started by telling Selene that I would explain everything in detail and complexity, but in reality, this was all there was to it.

Of course, Selene was dumbfounded when she heard this.

So I demonstrated it directly.

The fact that she still hadn’t fully regained her senses was also due to the aftermath of that.

As Stella, who couldn’t possibly accept this, seemed about to open her mouth again, I spoke first.

“Don’t you remember losing one-sidedly without landing a single hit when you sparred with me one-on-one? It’s exactly the same as that. The only difference is that the opponent changes from you, Inquisitor, to that monster.”

“…”

When I mentioned our previous duel, Stella became speechless.

The fact that she had been completely overwhelmed by me in a one-on-one fight could serve as an excellent example.

“I neither lie nor boast. Both the one-on-one duel with you, Inquisitor, and the subjugation of the rune dungeon – I said I could do them, and I actually succeeded. Isn’t that enough to deserve one more chance at trust?”

“…”

Stella remained silent for a moment, then let out a sigh.

“Esteemed guest. Do you have no regrets? Really?”

Regrets? How could I have such a thing?

The story of the “Awakening of Evil” DLC was a binary choice between me defeating the monster in time or letting it awaken and destroy the world.

Who would choose the latter here?

“Do I look like I have regrets?”

“…Alright. I’ll help you.”

Her permission came unexpectedly easily.

What I was trying to do now was nothing short of pure nonsense, so if permission was granted with just a few words, the situation had been resolved quite easily.

I had been prepared for cases of intense disbelief like Selene’s from the moment I made the plan.

Considering the special nature of the Inquisitor position, Stella had actually been persuaded quite easily.

It seemed that not only conquering the rune dungeon alone, but also bringing back Lucia’s sacred catalyst had played a significant role in building trust towards me.

Suddenly, Stella caressed the back of my hand.

“It sounds utterly preposterous, but you’ve already shown us miracle-like feats several times. I have a personal debt of gratitude, and there’s also a favor I need to repay. So I’m choosing to believe. The possibility that maybe, just maybe, you can do it.”

Stella withdrew her hand and stood up from the sofa.

“What can I do to help?”

“First, we need an audience with Her Holiness the Pope of the Sun. Would that be alright?”

“I’ll give her advance notice. Are you planning to leave right away?”

“Not yet.”

There was one place I needed to visit before that.

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