PASP Chapter 14

It was a familiar voice.

Without looking back, D’Élysée approached the bedroom door. But he paused for a moment with his hand on the doorknob. He exhaled once, briefly, as if shaking off unnecessary emotions.

Click.

Through the slowly opening door, a slender figure appeared. It was a man dressed in white from head to toe. D’Élysée greeted the esteemed guest with a smile.

“Your Holiness, what brings you here?”

“I wanted to offer some dessert to your acquaintance. Um, was the timing bad?”

“How could it be?”

“I’m so glad. Here’s some cheesecake and milk… Oh!”

As the Pope stumbled, D’Élysée swiftly supported his waist.

“You’ve brought so much with both hands.”

“Ah, thank you, Commander. I didn’t notice the threshold.”

The Pope’s cheeks turned pink. The color spreading across his embarrassed face was incredibly endearing.

“Let’s go to the office, Your Holiness. There’s nowhere proper to sit in this makeshift bedroom.”

“Yes, anywhere is fine with me.”

“Let me take those plates. I’ll carry them.”

“I’m sorry. I knocked even though I knew it was your personal space.”

“Not at all. If anything, I should have come out to greet you earlier. I feel terrible.”

“No, no. This is what I wanted to do.”

Their warm conversation continued. Egru quickly stood up. He remembered some etiquette he had picked up somewhere. He had heard it was particularly rude to greet someone of high status while sitting on the floor.

Moreover, the Pope had nearly fallen. While bringing food for him, no less. He needed to express his gratitude as soon as possible.

“Um, um, Your Holiness, thank you so much…”

But when he lifted his head, the two had already left the room. The Pope followed closely behind D’Élysée. His purple eyes were fixed on the sturdy back in front of him.

“?”

But that wasn’t the only question. Egru had clearly seen it. The Pope’s ears, which had turned as red as a zinnia.

***

Creak, creak.

The only light in the spacious basement swayed. Something was thumping on the floor. A single bulb with exposed wires swung back and forth like a pendulum in the middle of the ceiling. It was so bare that it was almost embarrassing to call it lighting.

But in contrast, the room was luxurious. Under the unfinished lighting, there was a bed that looked quite expensive. Not only that, but the smooth furniture lined up made it look unlike a basement, except for the lack of windows.

Thump, thump. The reverberation echoed throughout the basement.

“Fuck, don’t they ever get tired all night…”

A man lying on the bed woke up irritably. His hair, as red as the sunset, was damp with the strong smell of cigars.

The man seemed to have had a restless night. It was due to the noise that had been pounding in his ears all night and the small bed that didn’t fit his frame. Sure enough, both of his legs were sticking out from under the bed.

“Ah, I can’t open my eyes.”

His voice was eerily deep. The man picked up the entire water bottle on the bedside table. The sound of it gushing down his throat followed. The lukewarm liquid trickled down his bare chest. He didn’t seem to care whether his tight waistband got wet or not.

As evidence of the previous night, the bedding was disheveled, and used syringes and uncapped bottles littered the floor. At the head of the bed was a crumpled photo of someone. Through the damp creases, as if it had been folded and unfolded countless times, a faint grass-colored silhouette could be seen.

Thump, thump.

The man, holding the suddenly emptied water bottle, stared blankly somewhere. His unwavering pair of eyes resembled someone. More precisely, the color was similar.

A dense amber color. It was reminiscent of someone’s eyes that looked like unripe peas.

However, despite the similar color, the aura they exuded was completely different. An intense and aggressive heterochromia swirled deep in the man’s irises. It was like a predator watching its prey even in the dark of night.

Thump, thump.

The bulb above his head flickered once. The man routinely raised his hand holding the water bottle.

“Shut up already.”

Crash―.

The clear water bottle shattered against the colorless wall. Sharp glass shards fell through the cage just below.

Thump.

The sound that had been shaking the basement all along stopped. Only then did the man pick up the photo from the headboard, smooth it out, and stuff it into his pocket. It was then that the communication device on the bedside table lit up.

“Are you awake, Mr. Levian?”

“Yeah.”

“We’ve handled it as you said. The Covert Operations Unit sent additional contact saying it’s taking longer than expected. Should we select some men and send them into the Papal Headquarters?”

After receiving the report for a while, the man silently opened the bedside drawer.

“Forget it, damn it. I was going to go anyway.”

His furrowed brows reflected his displeasure.

“Set up a territory portal reservation and have the guys on standby in front. Tell them to absolutely not be seen. It’ll be troublesome if they get involved with those fanatics from the Holy Knight Order. It feels like they’ve been itching for a case these days.”

The man kicked aside the whiskey bottles lying here and there on the basement floor.

“Tell them to finish the construction here and clean up too. And ventilate it. I’m going to bring him here soon. Make the window on the ground floor bigger so you can see the sea well.”

“Yes, Guildmaster. I’ll contact you again as soon as it’s ready.”

The light of the disconnected communication device slowly faded. The man massaged his forehead, where thick veins were throbbing.

Click.

Not long after, the bedside drawer closed. The man, clutching something loosely in his hand, headed towards the cage.

“Come out, you Egru wannabes. I should at least check your progress before I go.”

The man wearing a bronze mask opened the medium-sized cage wide. His rough palm banged on the top of the iron bars.

“I said come out, didn’t I? You were noisy earlier, but now you’re hiding?”

“Kyaaak―!”

The silhouettes barely visible inside the iron cage reacted violently. They were adult goblins. Pieces of the water bottle that had fallen earlier were embedded in their green skin.

“Kiiik…”

But the moment they saw the gun in the man’s hand, their bodies curled up. They had seen countless of their kind fall with bullets in their foreheads before.

“For beasts that eat human intestines, you’re quite clever.”

The man scratched his temple with the loaded gun barrel.

“How nice it would be if Egru understood as well as you do. Ah, really stupid bastard. Everything will be decided today anyway.”

“Kiik, kyaaak!”

“Look at this. Treat them well and they climb right back up.”

Gunshots rang out several times. Exactly the same number as the living goblins. The man, taking out a cigarette, left the lifeless basement.

***

Egru, who had followed them out to the office, quietly held his breath. For a while, he silently watched the conversation between D’Élysée and the Pope. His excited heart was pounding. His amber eyes darted left and right.

D’Élysée looked surprisingly happy. It was amazing how he could change so suddenly. The Pope also maintained a shy smile throughout. His flushed cheeks were adorable to anyone who saw them.

Reasonable suspicion quickly evolved into strong conviction.

‘There’s something between them!’

Egru couldn’t control his rising cheekbones. As if he had never cried, he hid behind the sofa and grinned widely. Weren’t they such a well-matched pair? The addition of two good people was simply perfect.

‘They look good together.’

Egru watched them with a contented expression.

D’Élysée was blessed with good people. It was a deserved blessing for someone with such an excellent character. It was fortunate that good people were filling the void he had left.

In fact, Egru didn’t even dislike Gavin, who had been violent towards him. Rather, he quite liked him. After all, wasn’t he a friend who had gone all out for D’Élysée?

‘Although it was a bit scary…’

Still, as D’Élysée’s brother, he was nothing but grateful.

“Lord Belered, Commander. I cannot forget the day I first saw you,” the Pope said, dabbing his eyes with his white sleeve.

“You were a very small and fragile child who always stayed in the corner of the orphanage. How deep must your wounds have been for you to have struggled so much…”

“I am humbled that you noticed me so early on.”

“I have one question about that, if I may?”

The Pope’s purple eyes sparkled with curiosity. D’Élysée smiled, crinkling his clear eyes.

“What reason could I have to refuse a request from Your Holiness?”

“This makes me so happy.”

The Pope smiled as he lifted his teacup. His elegant smile, like a lotus flower, was perfectly reflected in the reddish tea.

Clink.

Eventually, the Pope set down the slightly lighter teacup.

“Commander, can you forgive the one who turned their back on you?”