Saint Thérèse received Anna from Alan, but upon checking her condition, she was left speechless.
When handing her over, Alan had said, "I make no guarantees about her," and Thérèse had assumed he'd simply been a bit excessive in subduing her, leaving her unable to move for two or three days at most.
But when she looked into it, the girl was practically a vegetable—unable to even hold a conversation, nothing more than a bedridden invalid in need of constant care.
And this symptom belonged to the forbidden magic: Memory Stripping.
If that boy had truly done this, it was terrifying beyond words.
The fact that he'd offered non-interference first might have been nothing short of luck.
And then, even worse news reached the saint.
"Saint Thérèse! The Pope has declared the adventurer Alan a heretic!!"
Is the Pope in his right mind?
He's already had an entire negotiating force wiped out, and now he's picking another fight? What is he thinking?
And besides... if this continued, Alan might even blame her for failing to stop the Pope.
◇◇◇
"In the name of Saint Thérèse, I declare that Alan is not a heretic!!"
After Pope Linus declared Alan a heretic to corner him, Saint Thérèse issued a proclamation denying it.
"Saint, are you sure about this? This is the same as publicly announcing a schism within the Church. Your faith may wane, and your power will diminish..."
Saint Thérèse's attendant still wore an unconvinced expression, but Thérèse ignored him.
"We have no choice. What matters is that we don't end up opposing Alan. Otherwise, it will be seen as indirectly siding with the Pope against him."
◇◇◇
As expected—or rather, something that just reeked of the Church's dark underbelly had been tailing me.
Of course, I turned them around on themselves.
One of them had been carrying [Guidance of Evil].
A skill that mildly boosts dark magic. The kind of skill you really don't want a Church affiliate to have, if you ask me.
I didn't like the name, so I rerolled it into [Reverse].
When I changed both strength and nature at the same time, it became [Heaven's Gate], so I took that.
Incidentally, [Heaven's Gate] is a support-type skill that supercharges [Holy Magic], always active.
Seems like I'd be great at wiping out undead now.
Actually, just judging by the name, it looks like a skill made for the saint.
◇◇◇
Back at the inn, feeling like I'd made out pretty well.
"Get out, heretic! We don't have rooms for heretics!"
It came out of nowhere, but it just so happened that Ward was in the inn's lobby, so I stepped outside and got the explanation.
The Pope had apparently declared me a heretic.
Upon hearing that, Duke Gheese had Ward search every inn I might be staying at to get the word to me.
Ward collected my luggage from the inn on my behalf, and I had no choice but to stay at the Duke's estate.
◇◇◇
"Master Alan, even the Church is no match for us. So please, feel free to rely on us as much as you like."
Nina saw her chance and tried to make me owe her a favor.
Damn it. The favor I'd built up with the Duke is going to be squandered on something this trivial.
You really can't underestimate that Pope.
◇◇◇◇◇◇
Skills: [Reverse], [Divine Eye], [Sword God], [Phantom Thief Gentleman], [Dark Magic], [Rock Iron Magic], [Holy Magic], [Space-Time Magic], [Scorching Heat Magic], [Freezing Ice Magic], [Magic Hand], [Seduction], [Pain Relief], [Complete Status Ailment Resistance], [Flame Spirit's Protection], [Phantom Demon], [Gale Thunder], [Dark Spirit's Protection], [Monstrous Strength], [Thunder God Blade], [Great Luck], [Clear Storm Magic], [Humility], [Heaven's Gate]
Rank: Gold (Alisa: Gold)