I Became The Pope, Now What?
chapter-98

"Sir Dolorem, you go from the back, and I will charge from the front. I have scouted the region. The whole property has merely five guards, likely as strong as those we beat earlier." Felix had arrived at the wealthy mansion of Master Hornbill.

Master Hornbill was half a noble, a servant of the Baron who looked after one of the regions. So he didn't have as much money to hire strong guards, not that he needed them since it was extremely rare for him to cross paths with people of Sylvester's rank.

Felix jumped over the boundary wall and stepped on the neat smooth green grass. Yes, even the desert can have a green grass lawn if one is rich enough.

He crouched down, walked stealthily behind the guards one-by-one, and punched them in the back of their heads, dropping them unconscious. There were five guards only, and the rest were the family members of the noble.

Thankfully, there were no kids, only the wife and parents of Master Hornbill. It was easy for Felix to hogtie them and throw them into one of the rooms. By then, Sir Dolorem had also cleaned the property's backyard and regrouped with Felix.

"Where is the vault? Tell me, or I will start harming you three." Felix scared the family of three.

"Stop." Sir Dolorem interrupted, however. It was not because he felt bad but because he had a better way. "We are from the church. Your husband, Master Hornbill, has been arrested for the crime of harming an envoy from the Holy Land. For this heathenish act, he's being put on the chopping board. However, we may reduce the sentence if you give away the money to the people of Fallshoot village. I suppose this should be proof enough."

Sir Dolorem threw a few rings at the three family members. They quickly started to cry after recognizing them to be Hornbill's.

In no time, Hornbill's wife was taking them to the underground vault whose secret entrance was hidden behind a bookcase. The vault was small but full of not only gold and silver coins but many other artifacts too, and wild enough, some of them belonged to the village monastery.

"Will you let my husband go after this?" The woman asked them.

Felix nodded. "Sure, but that's our leader's decision, so you're going to have to ask him as well."

Sir Dolorem and he both knew what kind of man Sylvester was. He would never go soft on Master Hornbill no matter how much he pays or his family pleads. And now, since the man had stolen church property too, the crimes were pretty grave.

With no people harmed, both took a stagecoach from the house, put all the coins and artifacts in, and rode back towards the Fallshoot village. It was time to tell the people the good news.

…

"Stand in line, don't push each other, please!"

Gabriel stood at the door of the monastery and ordered the villagers around. The word had spread around that a person from the Holy Land was here about something. And now they had caught the master of the lands for harming the Bard of the Lord. Honestly, most people here had not heard about Sylvester much; even the word Bard was not as famous. So to them, he was just another person who held some power.

But Sylvester decided to help them first, so he sent the words out that any sick man, woman, or child could come to the monastery for healing. He just didn't realize that in a village of two thousand poor, malnutrition people, almost all had some sort of ailment.

But eventually, he was able to fix the problem fast because most people had common ailments. For example, some had constipation due to a lack of food and water. Some had bleeding gums, and some had pain in parts of the body.

The solution was the same for all, get food. But that was a rarity in this case. Still, he tried his best to heal the injuries at least and fix their daily habits that could help.

"We're back!"

Felix walked into the monastery proudly. The stagecoach was parked outside, being guarded by Sir Dolorem. "It's a lot, honestly. It can definitely help people to buy food. As for the water, we need to dig a well. I've told people to come tomorrow to get some compensation."

"Great, we shall hold the trial of Master Hornbill and his stooges tonight. Now sit here and help me treat these people. There are too many."

Felix furrowed his brows. "I'm not good at healing magic."

Sylvester scoffed. "Look there. Even Gab is helping. Don't worry; you can be my assistant—Bright Mother Felix, I shall call you that for today."

No questions were asked, and the tall man sat beside Sylvester and started to see the patients. Their healing involved simple surface-level work; they didn't do any surgeries as it was not their forte.

Sadly, the closest healing camp or large monastery with a healer was hundreds of kilometers away. So people appreciated this as well.

"Say aaa… ugh, you don't brush your teeth, right? Use charcoal every day in the morning." Felix started to check patients.

It was free, so why not get the check-up done? This was probably what the villagers thought, as they kept all the boys busy until the evening. But for the night, they had plans already.

Sir Dolorem didn't come with the three, as he didn't know Markus that well. So, Sylvester, Felix, and Gabriel went to the little house of the Lionis family. It was a little house with two rooms and a cooking area combined with a hall, made of mud bricks. But it was falling apart slowly, clear from the sight.

"That bastard! He shouldn't have left silently." Felix cursed lowly as they arrived.

Gabriel didn't call him out for language this time. "What are we going to tell his mum and siblings?"

This time, Sylvester honestly didn't know. They had recently lost the man of the house as well. In one year, Markus and his father both died. The loss must be devastating, they reckoned.

"We will be honest and hand over the money. She does not know us, so it'd be strange to try and act intimate. All we can do is extend our helping hand and care for them… that's it." He said and knocked.

Knock Knock!

The door soon creaked open, made of rotting wood. From inside came a woman with eyes the same as Markus'—pitch black. But she appeared unwell as her body was too skinny, her cheeks caved in, and her eyes looked hollow.

"Who is it, mum?"

A girl also came out, probably around fifteen or so. She had the same brown hair and eyes, while her face had many similarities with Markus. She, too, appeared thin but less than her mother.

Sylvester spoke in his soothing singing voice. "I am Sylvester, and these are Felix and Gabriel. We are… were Markus' friends. Years ago, we made a pact, and we're here to fulfill it."

In an instant, the woman's eyes teared up, and she rushed back in, not wanting to appear weak to strangers. The girl stayed, however, albeit with similarly saddened eyes. "Big brother used to talk about you in his letters. You look exactly like I imagined you three to be."

Gabriel handed over a bamboo basket full of edibles. "Please use them. They won't last long but can help keep the bodies healthy."

"Thank you…umm… how should I call you?" She appeared embarrassed.

Felix thumped his chest. "Big brother, of course. All of us are your big brothers."

"Thank you." She smiled, but the pain was apparent. "I'm Elis."

"Can we come in... Elis? We have something important to talk about to your mother." Sylvester asked.

The mother-daughter duo quickly invited them into the house that barely had any furniture or decorations. There were just walls meant to protect one from nature. As one would expect, the cooking area was a conventional wood-burning stove made of clay adjacent to a chimney on the floor. For light, the stove was also the only source.

'Why are they so poor? Didn't Markus send them any money?' Sylvester wondered after looking at the condition.

The three were invited to sit in the cooking area and offered water. Of course, food was being offered, but it was being cooked with the ingredients they had just given them.

"Where is Moris?" Sylvester asked about the youngest brother of Markus.

Elis sighed at that while she cut vegetables. "He went out to get water from the lake. Every evening a dozen people form a party and go east to a natural lake. Wild animals drink water there, so they have to be careful, and it takes time."

"Since Master Hornbill killed their father, we've had to sell most of what we had to survive and get food. The only solace is the thought that we're in a better condition than poor people of the Sorrow Kingdom." Gianna, Markus' mother, spoke from near the stove.

"Was there a drought in Sorrow as well?" Gabriel wondered.

"Don't know. But many refugees have started appearing from there, turning into thieves and outlaws. Living in this village will soon turn into hell, I'm afraid. Markus used to talk about buying land in the East near the Snake river… it was his dream." She added sadly.

Sylvester didn't waste time and took out the money bag. It was big and heavy, for it also contained Felix and his contribution. "As per our pact, we're here to hand back Markus' savings to you and his belongings."

He silently handed the bag to her and watched her emotions. Hate, sadness, fear, anxiety, and hope, there was so much mix-up that it was hard to pinpoint.

Gianna opened it and looked inside. It was all gold… hundreds of them. "H-How much is this?"

"Five thousand." Felix blurted.

"He…" She cried silently and held the bag close to her chest like it were a person. She let her eyes bawl out but didn't make any sound. "H-He… he's gone and is still looking out for us… he was always like this… my Markus…my son…"

Sylvester would be lying if he said he didn't feel anything as the image of smiling Xavia appeared in his mind, the only mother he had known in two lives. 'Will she cry if something happened to me—like this?'

"Buy some land with this in the east—Markus would want this," Gabriel suggested, as that would be best for them since the man of the house was dead too.

Felix even decided to help. "I know people who ca-"

Knock Knock!

Bam!

All of a sudden, the door of the house was kicked open. Sylvester and Felix rushed to pick up their weapons and angrily walked over.

There were two neatly armored knights forcefully entering. "Are you the priests who arrested Master Hornbill? We are retainers of Baron Vermilion, and you are to release the man right now by the Law of Non-Interference!"

"Silence, rotten heretics!" Sylvester's voice boomed.

Sylvester and Felix were taller than the two and towered over them. Sylvester put the tip of his spear on one man's throat, while Felix did the same with the end of his sword. Both stared at the knights as if they were dead men.

Sylvester then ordered coldly. "Felix, I'll get the chopping block—You prepare the sword with the sharpening rock."

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APE TOGETHER STRONG!