I Became The Pope, Now What?
chapter-99

It was night, yet, people crowded the widest part of the street in the village to witness the public execution. Many were feeling confused about this. On the one hand, they loved that their tormentor and abuser would be killed, but now they wondered who would pay them money.

But Sylvester's voice echoed throughout before they could realize their thoughts in words. He was in full church attire with a priest's mitre on top of his head. He raised his right palm towards the people and showered them in the bright light of the Lord--light magic.

And on his left hand was the book of Law of Light. Behind his head, however, was the halo right now as he sang like a menacing cuckoo announcing a man's end.

"...Long went your sins ignored.

You were chosen by the supreme Lord.

Despite all the signs, you failed to forbode.

Virtuous get blessed, but sinners get the sword.

So I speak on this night in the name of God

As his one true bard...."

The halo vanished, but then the book shone, along with the light on his other hand. Then, automatically, a page turned open, and Sylvester read it loud. "In the year 5116 of the Lord, I, Sylvester Maximilian, by the authority given by the Holy Land, read Master Hornbill's sins.

"Violation of Articles 4, 4A, 4B, and 12. Finally, the gravest, gross violation of Article 10, harming a clergyman, is punishable by death, and you even broke Article 10A by stealing church property. For this, you are excommunicated and sentenced to death by beheading. Priest Felix, please proceed."

Gabriel walked behind the keening noble and pushed his head over the chopping block. "Stay still in the name of the Lord; your future has been decided by the Bard."

"I do not accept this! This is madness! This is an overreach of power--the Baron will not sit quite after this."

Felix scoffed and prepared his sword. "Then he shall see my blade as well, reminding him his fort, his shell--everything is breakable."

Felix put on the helmet and swung his long sword, heavy in weight, sharp as a thin blade.

Bam!

Thud!

All it took was one second to chop the head and let it fall like a dead stone. The woman, the wife of the man, was crying at the side, asking for mercy. But Sylvester had simply told her that if her husband could bring back to life all those he killed, then he'd forgive the man.

Of course, even necromancers can't bring a dead man back to life. So, all she could do was cry and watch.

"May the holy light enlighten his soul and our paths." Sylvester ended the ceremony and let Sir Dolorem put a white cloth on the body so it could be tied and burnt. The pyre was also set nearby, so it didn't take long before the dead body erupted in red flames, illuminating the faces of the villagers.

However, Sylvester had felt the doubt in people's hearts, so he announced to them quickly. "Tomorrow morning, come to the Monastery to receive your monetary compensation."

He then looked at Sir Dolorem. "I need you to go and bring supplies for this village. Mainly grains, vegetables that can be stored and also sown later."

Soon, the long night ended, and people returned to their homes to sleep. The two knights the Baron sent were staying in the Monastery too, where Sylvester handed them a letter. "When you return, give this to the Baron. And tell him to open his eyes and care for his land, or else, if we find another man harming the people as Hornbill did, I will also consider him a heretic."

The two knights were scared at this point as they had understood they were far too weak to fight them. Also, they now knew the gravity of Hornbill's crimes, so they had no legal grounds.

That night too, all of them went to sleep on the terrace of the Monastery. However, their rest was disturbed when they heard a sudden commotion outside. Sylvester annoyedly looked from the edge and saw the villagers had already started to camp outside the Monastery for monetary compensation.

'Do they think we will run away with the money? Well, they're not wrong.' Sylvester forced himself to fall asleep by using Miraj as his neck cover. The furry boy sleeps like a log, so he didn't even know.

...

The following day, they sorted all the money into equal parts for the people to get. Since there were more kids in the village than adults due to the hunts the old noble did, the church needed more staff so the orphans could be cared for.

From Hornbill's treasury, Sylvester gave half of the money to the Monastery to help get the required food. Then he gave three Gold Graces each to all the people, which would get them by for six months or so. By then, more aid would come as he had sent a letter to the Holy Land and the Cardinal Suprima of the area.

That whole activity lasted till the afternoon, and then Sylvester and the rest went to find locations to dig deep water wells. Since Felix and Gabriel had Earth elements as their main, and secretly Sylvester, it was easy to dig. But to find the water, they needed Water elements.

They went to different spots and tried to pull water droplets from the ground with the help of magic, and they estimated the depth of water by how much time it took the droplets to come out. So eventually, they finalized 5 locations, each having water at thirty meters.

After that, they got to work. Instead of individually digging the land, they decided to use runes. Sylvester used the same runes in the fight against the assassins to lift the ground up.

"Everyone, stay back!" Felix boomed to warn the onlookers.

"One..."

"Two..."

The three boys stood around the large circular rune to pull up land. While Sir Dolorem stood on the side with his sword out, ready to push away the pulled dirt.

"Go!"

On Sylvester's signal, all three of them activated the same rune with their magic which intensified the rune's effect.

Boom!

With a loud explosive noise, the earth in the shape of a cylinder came out of the ground as if it were a pillar.

Bam!

Sir Dolorem used sword magic and struck the tall pillar with the fuller side, throwing it away easily. Their activity left a thirty-meter-deep pit whose end was hard to see in dim light.

"Okay, who is jumping in to dig now?" Felix asked his friends.

Sylvester didn't wish to, as doing so would likely leave him covered in dirt. "Let's use a game called Rock, Paper, and Scissors. In short, rock beats scissors and loses to paper. Scissors win over paper too."

After teaching them the simple rules, Sylvester started the game. "Rock-Paper-Scissor!"

"I won!" Gabriel showed the paper while the others had a rock.

Now, it was just between the two. So Sylvester tried to read his friend as much as possible. 'Okay, he's excited and hopeful. But what will he make? Rock? He seems confident... Yes, it will be a rock, and it matches his personality of a tough boy.'

After analyzing, Sylvester started. "Rock-Paper-Scissor!"

Pa!

"Yes! I win! I win!" Felix jumped around happily in triumph, having shown scissors.

Sylvester was left questioning his evaluation. "How?"

Felix proudly raised his chin and spoke. "Hah, I've known you for eight years, boy. I know you're good at reading people. So I went against my instincts at the end and picked something else randomly."

"..."

Sylvester took a long breath and silently jumped down into the well. 'I need to find another way to fool him now.'

In an instant, he was covered in wet mud. But he didn't complain and just dug. By the time he was done, he wasn't recognizable. But, they didn't stop and went to dig the other four wells. The people of the village, meanwhile, watched them work.

They had nothing but respect for the four foreign clergymen in their hearts. And when they saw the first bucket of water out of the well, their belief in faith and the church that was dwindling reaffirmed itself.

Chants of Solis and various hymns resounded on the streets, people humming and going around to work. Sylvester had tasked them to create walls around the wells to ensure nobody fell in.

They spent the entire day working hard to improve the people's lives, even fixing the people's homes, fixing the dirt roads, and, above all, repairing the Monastery. The village didn't have any wizards or knights living in, and the Archpriest was too old, so Sylvester and the team were the once-in-a-decade miracles to the Fallshoot village.

That night, the villagers tried their best to organize a little feast for them in the Monastery to show gratitude. They made milk porridge thanks to a few cows and some roasted vegetables. The meat was a luxury, however, and none had it.

"Thank you, big brother!" Then, all of a sudden, a young, thin boy, around 13, walked to Sylvester and bowed his head--tearfully.

It didn't take Sylvester much to recognize him. "You must be his younger brother, Moris? Come, sit with me and eat."

Since they were eating on the floor of the Monastery, on a carpet, he moved a little. Moris embarrassingly sat down.

Felix was always happy to be a big brother, so he patted Moris' shoulder and spoke frankly. "Moris, do you have talent in wizardry or martial arts?"

The brown-haired boy, a replica of Markus, nodded meekly. "I was tested when I reached the age of eight years. But, it's just Black Knight."

Sylvester handed him a plate with food. "That's still something. It's better to be a Black Knight than being nothing. You should get trained at the Kingdom's magic and knight's school."

"I got no money--and what you gave will be used to move out," Moris replied.

At that, instantly, a chubby little white furry hand popped out beside Sylvester's head, showing a thumbs up. Sylvester chuckled and offered. "I will pay for your education."

"And I know people who can get you the best deal for land purchase. Don't worry, kiddo. You're not alone. You have three brothers." Felix blurted.

Moris silently nodded and ate, but he felt like crying. "T-Thank you... I will pay you back."

Gabriel scoffed and put more food on the malnourished boy's plate. "Nonsense, we got two rich fat lords here. They don't need the money back."

Felix just looked at Sylvester then. "Yeah, this reminds me. How do you have so much money, brother?"

In an instant, Sylvester and Miraj's ears stood up. But Sylvester didn't need to answer, as he looked away and called old Archpriest Norin, who finally had a smile on his face.

"Archpriest, I talked to you about growing vegetables. I think I know how to make the soil good for it--but I will need something from villagers."

The Archpriest beamed with joy. "Anything you say, Lord Bard. What may you need?"

"Yes! Just say it, Lord Bard!"

"I will do anything!"

"Name it, holy clergyman!"

The people serving them food also chirped. So Sylvester folded his arms and seriously looked at their faces before sternly replying.

"I need you all to collect--poop!"

"..."

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APE TOGETHER STRONG!