Before I had time to shiver from the cold pain, the creature swung its front legs again.

I dodged the attack using only sound and intuition, in place of my eyes which couldn’t see properly.

When a momentary opening appeared after avoiding its attack like that.

Thud thud thud—

I grabbed its head with both arms and forcefully separated it from the body.

As if the nerves were still alive, even after losing its head, the creature’s body thrashed about wildly, swinging its front legs in all directions.

I stepped back swiftly to avoid being hit by those blind attacks, while looking for the position of the third creature.

It was then that I realized things had gone wrong.

“…I lost it.”

After dealing with the second one, the third creature I was planning to handle next was nowhere to be seen.

It seemed to have fled after seeing its two companions taken care of.

If it had escaped, it wasn’t hard to predict what would happen soon.

They’ll come swarming in droves soon.

Thinking that, I clenched my fist tightly.

The third one had probably gone to where its companions were swarming.

Then it would inform its comrades about what happened in the food storage.

Since they appeared to live in colonies, a sea of black ants would likely rush here to hunt me down.

“Huff, huff…”

I started moving hurriedly without even time to calm my ragged breathing from the fight.

My mind was truly urgent, but my injured leg from earlier couldn’t keep up.

Limping, limping, as I moved with my painful leg, I started to feel frustrated.

It was then that a strange thing happened.

-Lord. Lord Schnesthern.

The only ones in this tunnel were me and the monsters.

Yet a voice came from somewhere.

Moreover, it was a voice I had heard before.

Bewildered, I called out to the owner of that voice who shouldn’t be here.

“Your… Holiness…?”

It was nonsensical, but the voice I just heard was clearly that of the Pope.

The voice of the man who had stopped the parade briefly during the festival to speak meaningful words to me.

Did I mishear?

Was my mind clouded from not eating for so long?

As I was worrying about my mental state like that.

A clear voice struck my ears again, as if asserting it wasn’t a mishearing.

-Lord Schnesthern, please continue moving forward as you are.

“Your Holiness… is that you? Why am I hearing your voice here now…?”

-I used my ability.

“Your ability?”

The Pope, who had hesitated slightly, replied.

-My first ability is to receive visions of the future from the divine. It’s a future prediction ability. The ability I’m using now is my second ability.

“Is it a voice transmission ability? Transmitting your voice from far away…?”

-No, it’s an ability more useful than that.

Without needing to ask what it was, the Pope explained first.

-My second ability is to open doors. I can open a door to where a desired person is, and bring that person to where I am through that door.

“Ah.”

-Simply put, it’s an ability to ‘teleport’ the other person to where I am.

A spatial movement ability like what Elma or Karl possessed.

However, the Pope’s spatial movement seemed to be an ability to move a desired person to his location, rather than moving himself.

By the way, future prediction was already amazing, but spatial movement too?

He was a remarkable talent.

While I was admiring that, the Pope spoke in a somewhat urgent voice.

-I saw your future with my first ability. You were fated to die today.

“What?”

-Unless I opened a door for you with my power, you were fated to die today. My ability is insufficient to know exactly what situation you’re in now, but this much is certain. You must hurry to avoid death. Please move forward quickly.

He didn’t need to urge me, I was already planning to do so.

The ‘keek keek’ noises of the ants were continuously coming from behind me right now.

Judging by those loud cries, it seemed about dozens of ants were coming.

If I didn’t hurry, they would tear me to pieces and share me amongst themselves.

I moved forward following the Pope’s voice, dragging my limping leg.

-Just a little more, come just a little further.

“Huff, huff…”

I was too out of breath to even reply.

I continued walking, following only his voice.

And finally I was able to see it. A pure white door emitting a bright light all alone in this dark tunnel.

The door was wide open waiting for me, and the Pope’s voice was coming from beyond it.

-Can you see the door?

“Yes, I see it. Should I go through the door?”

-Hurry. I sense death approaching very close to you.

There was no need to hesitate any longer.

I quickly walked through the wide open door.

The bright light emanating from beyond the door finally enveloped my tired body warmly.

Beep—

A noise I thought I might never hear again rang in my ears.

There was only one way to interpret hearing this sound.

“…Have I returned?”

Since I just heard the sound that’s only heard when crossing between worlds, I must have returned to the previous world.

Indeed, what I saw before me was not the dark tunnel scenery.

I was in a place where everything was made of white marble, a place that seemed to purify one’s soul just by entering.

It wasn’t difficult to recognize where this was, since I had been here before.

“Is this the Great Temple’s sanctuary…?”

“That’s correct.”

The Pope replied thus to my muttering.

As if he had just been praying until now, he was slowly rising from in front of the statue of the divine.

Seeing him staggering as if about to collapse, I quickly approached to support him.

“You don’t look well.”

“It’s because I used my ability excessively. Simply opening a door connecting spaces isn’t difficult. But opening a door connecting worlds is quite taxing.”

“Ah, did you overexert yourself to bring me back from that world? I don’t know how to thank you…”

It seemed he had struggled considerably to open a door to the monster world.

His complexion was not much different from that of an anemic patient about to collapse.

So as I was fidgeting anxiously with an apologetic heart, he shook his head.

“I’m the one who wants to thank you. Thank you for surviving, my lord.”

Before I could respond, the Pope spoke first.

“From the moment I saw your death with my future prediction ability, I could barely breathe properly. All I could think about was that I had to open the door in time to save you. I’m truly relieved I wasn’t too late.”

“…”

I couldn’t simply say thank you to the Pope’s words.

While I was truly grateful that he went to such lengths to save me, I didn’t quite understand.

Like during the parade last time, and this time too, why does this man keep treating me specially?

There shouldn’t be any connection between us.

Suddenly, words he had said in the past came to mind.

-“You may not know this, but you are a very important existence to me and the divine.”

He had said I was a very important existence to the divine, but what did that mean?

Does he truly believe I’m an important existence?

Is his special treatment of me stemming from that belief?

As my thoughts grew complicated, the Pope asked as if he had read my mind.

“Are you curious about why I keep paying attention to you, and even went so far as to help you at great cost?”

The reason why the Pope treats me specially.

It seemed he was finally going to tell me that reason.

I nodded without hesitation at his question, and soon heard it.

An answer I could never have imagined.

“The reason I regard you specially is… because I am in love with you.”

“…Pardon?”

Asking back in bewilderment like that was unavoidable.

I couldn’t understand what on earth this man was saying.

The Pope, Frith von Emmershaide, put a warm light in his pale blue eyes and stated again firmly.

“I am in love with you, my lord.”

Indeed, I hadn’t misheard.

But why on earth?

I tried to untangle the complexly knotting threads of thought, but gave up.

No matter how much I pondered on my own, I wouldn’t be able to know the Pope’s mind, so it would be faster to ask the person directly.

“But… Your Holiness, I believe you’ve never had a private conversation with me before. Our first conversation was during the parade last time, right?”

“That’s correct.”

“And yet you say you’re in love with me? I think you said before that my existence was very important to you and the divine… Do you truly believe that and love me because of it?”