Chapter 29: Chapter 28: The Cardinal’s Intentions

After Jonathan Wright had been found to possess books on [Demon Magic], the Inquisition had used high level [Divination Magic] on everyone related to the man in a search for demonic possession.

Naturally, this started with the immediate family who had been in the same house that the books were found in, and when the High Inquisitor used the identification scroll on young Scarlet, the man had choked.

It was not her unusually high level for such a young child, or her extremely high level [Holy Magic] that had surprised him. Those were unusual, but not unheard of at the main body of the Church, where children were often trained and conditioned from birth so that they would be able to serve the Order. The Empire’s Holy Knights surpassing any Kingdom’s nobility in terms of strength.

No, the thing that had made his eyes spin, and which had caused him to rush through the entire investigation surrounding Jonathan Wright as fast as humanly possible in order to rush off to inform the Pope, was a particular hidden entry among the girl’s Hereditary Bonuses. One only visible due to the extremely high level of the [Identification Magic].

 

Hereditary Bonuses:  Tier 2 Business Manager (Father) - provides a small bonus to learning money management based skills. Tier 4 Spirit Weaver (Mother) - provides a moderate bonus to learning cloth based skills. (Hidden) Tier 10 Ascended Soul (???) - Unparalleled growth in the Divine Arts.

 

A Child of Destiny.

That was what they called it when a child was born with an unexplained third Hereditary bonus. Only a handful were ever confirmed to be born with them. They were so rare that most people didn’t even believe they really existed at all. And with the assistance of the additional bonuses, they almost always grew up to be influential individuals. Legendary Heroes and powerful Kings whose names were echoed in songs hundreds of years after their passing.

And not only was Scarlet a Child of Destiny, but her blessing was related to the Divine Arts, and she was connected to a Sacred Bond, just like the ‘Oracle’ had been. Though where the Oracle had been a monstrous Tier 8 bonus, Scarlet’s ‘Ascended Soul’ was on a completely different level.

Who had ever even heard of a Tier 10? Even Tier 9 was considered a Legend. 

If the High Inquisitor had had any sense, he would have found a reason to detain the girl immediately and escorted her back to the Holy Empire before anyone could stop him.

If he had, it would have saved the Cardinal this unfortunate meeting.

“I wasn’t aware that you had other company tonight. I do hope we are not intruding.” Cardinal Vittorio said warmly as he entered the kitchen area and found several people who were not family members gathered around the table.

Many of them were recognizably nobles. 

They must have been the Duke’s grandson’s party. Vittorio had believed that the group had vacated the area after dropping the mother and daughter off after returning from the hunting season, but it seemed like he was wrong.

Mehal in particular didn’t look happy to see him.

Vittorio measured the young man, as it had been a long time since either had seen the other. He’d grown in the last few decades.

“There is no need to apologize for that, but may I ask who you are?” A small child with dark red hair and a calm face asked with a slight tilt of her head. The white raven perched on the back of her chair making it clear that this was the girl, Scarlet.

“Of course. I am Cardinal Vittorio, of the Holy Empire.” Vittorio chuckled. “Well, I say I am from the empire, but I was actually born and raised here in this country. I was Archbishop Joshua’s predecessor.” 

“I see. You must have had a long journey, and our kitchen is squished as it is. If it would make you feel more comfortable, we could move our meeting to the Grand Cathedral if you would like. Otherwise, we can find a few more chairs.” Scarlet said, seemingly polite but Vittorio had to stop his face from twitching.

The little devil was using politeness to test him and see whether or not he had been to the Cathedral at all yet. Such things would determine if this was a visit of convenience or if she was the main objective of his coming. Not only that, she was trying to bring Joshua into this.

Despite being so young, the adults of her family seemed to be deferring to her in this situation. Though they would probably interfere if she outright insulted him. Even the noble children were dead silent, knowing who they were in the presence of, and the influence of his position.

Well, best to try to play things off.

“I’ll be seeing the Grand Cathedral later. Archbishop Joshua and I tend to argue terribly when we meet up. The stubborn man. I’ve been nagging him to find an apprentice for years, but every time I send him an able bodied lad, he always finds some excuse to get rid of him.” Vittorio huffed, as if a mother upset that their daughter kept turning away eligible bachelors. “That is the reason why I was so interested in meeting you. Seeing what kind of person would catch that scruffy old dog’s interest. It is a pleasure to finally meet you in person, Ms. Scarlet.”

Cardinal Vittorio walked forward, hand extended in order to grate the child, when Mehal moved between them. Vittorio’s bodyguards went on edge in an instant, ready for any sign of hostility.

The pair exchanged glazes for a moment before Vittorio smiled. “Is something the matter?” The old priest asked, doing his best to sound confused.

“...I’m afraid that because of her past, Scarlet does not handle people crowding her very well, even if they are close as family. As a stranger to her, it would be best to keep a comfortable distance.” Mehal said, his voice too steady for it to be normal conversation.

“I’m afraid that is true. I tend to lose my composure whenever I am touched. My social skills are also comparatively weak.” Scarlet admitted freely. 

“Is that so?” Vittorio said with a slight frown. 

He’d heard something to that effect when they were researching the girl, but he had assumed it was the usual talk of someone who was too pure to be touched. He hadn’t realized it was a real affliction.

He supposed that growing up in an isolated home made one weak to strangers.

“I’m sorry if you find this strange, and I hope you do not take insult from it.” Scarlet apologized.

“No. There is no need for you to apologize. I can only imagine the kinds of things you have seen, growing up in a situation like yours.” Vittorio said, his posture becoming relaxed again. “The fact that you were able to keep your faith and train your [Holy Magic] so well in such circumstances is all the more impressive.”

“...I would disagree.” Scarlet said with a small shake of the head. “It is true that faith can be taught in groups at a temple, but it is when we are at our lowest when we discover faith ourselves. Faith allows us to deny our mortal conditions, allowing us to claim that our lives have value. The Gods give us someone to attempt to bargain with, when we want something to answer our prayers. And Demons give us something to hate and blame, when those prayers go unfulfilled. Are any of these things responsible for anything that has happened in our lives? Who knows. Compared to the comfort our beliefs give us, the truth is inconsequential.”

....She certainly does not talk like a five-year-old.

Even among Noble children who consider themselves so mature because of their higher intelligence, they don’t act like this. A higher intelligence stat really just means faster thoughts and better memory. So while you reach your answer at ten times the rate of someone without, you still end up at the same place, and the increased speed in the part of the brain that is still developing in their youth was what gave the illusion of maturity in the higher level children by increasing their attention spans.

It was why leveling and training skills couldn’t cure stupidity.

The girl’s words spoke not of high speed thought, but of someone who had spent years looking at their own mortality and coming to terms with it. Someone who has realized their faith may have no value, but holds onto it all the same, because they recognized that it made them stronger.

Then there was the magical aura about her. It was so thick that the only reason it wasn’t clearly visible to the naked eye was because of a wordless illusion spell the girl was maintaining. She must have been putting off at least 50 units per second, and yet didn’t show any signs of tiring. Even for a high level Magic Class with Tier 8 magic equipment, it would be an impressive display of mastery. Her [Mana Control] must at least be 100.

...Vittorio would have to admit, the one thing that Joshua had was an eye for talent.

He wondered what kind of training the man had been giving her.

Vittorio accepted the offer for dinner, even though his party had already eaten, and they sat around the very crowded table. Several chairs had to be made in order to accommodate them all.

Solid chairs made from leftover fabric and some [Invocationless] [Transmutation Magic] of some kind? How interesting. It must have been a very basic physical transformation, but the loss and flexible threads had become very sturdy.

The food was fairly bland, but no blander than the food they had been eating during their travels, so no one complained about its common nature. They weren’t ungrateful bastards, after all.

Shortly after their arrival, Scarlet seemed to disregard Vittorio somewhat in order to focus on Aqua, one of the three guards who had been escorting him, a lieutenant of the Order of the White Raven, the Church’s Magic Specialty Unit. She asked the woman question after question about the training methods used by the Church and about the nature of [Holy Magic] in general, and different [Ritual Magics].

Aqua quickly became flustered, not having been expected to give a lecture that night.

“I see. So the looser collection of runes is needed to isolate the collected mana in the different sections of the circle. If that is the case, the substituting of iron for something with a birefrating crystalline structure should be able to compress the circle and improve the fuel and time efficiency. We just need a material that can withstand the heat index.” Scarlet mumbled to herself after Aqua answered one of her questions on a Greater Arcane ritual used in the creation of barriers. She stared down at her book, looking over the circle. “Or maybe what we need are tunnels. Something that can layer the different parts of the circle without interference.”

“In order to do that, you would need an ideal isolating agent. Those require you to keep the structure at extremely low temperatures. The mana you spend maintaining those kinds of conditions outways the mana you would be saving by compressing the structure.” Aqua said.

“Not if you get to use the curvature of the tunnel to intrap it. Every mana-type has an angle of refraction that will stop its magic echoes from escaping.” Scarlet countered.

“That... might be theoretically true for attributed mana, but we are talking about arcane mana.” Aqua pointed out.

“...Then we just have to use a multi-layered catch and reflect the different aspects of the mana separately.”

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“Ah!? Is that possible!?” Aqua said in astonishment.

“If we go by the prime states theory, we should be able to design an atomic structure that will reflect each of the mana sources separately, while not interfering with the passage of others. Though whether those atomic structures themselves would be stable is another question.” Scarlet said before starting to mumble out lists of different materials, discarding some and keeping others.

The noncasters at the table just exchanged looks, showing just how little of the conversation they were capable of following. 

Though surprisingly, there was someone at the table that was following them. “Spirit residue.” Maria said with confidence. “The material left over after a solid magic construct is compressed. It acts as a reflector for its base mana-type.”

“Oh yeah!” Scarlet said, nodding her head rapidly. “We’d need to find a way to get it into a uniformed shape, but it would totally work! You’re a genius mama!” 

“Thank you.” The woman said proudly.

She had been watching and learning while Scarlet had been studying with William for years, so she had learned a good deal about magic, even if she couldn’t use it herself.

“Hey mama, doesn’t Spindle’s threads have that kind of residue as part of its inherent structure?” Scarlet asked.

“Yes it does.” Maria replied.

“...I wonder if your threads could be used to make magic circles for casting magic.” Scarlet said, scratching her chin. Maria’s eyes widened in surprise. “It should theoretically work. If you can control your threads with enough detail, you should be able to cast magic through them without the use of [Mana Control]. Since the threads have their own mana current.”

“I… Never thought of that.” Maria said quietly. Could she really use her [Thread Manipulation] Class skill to cast magic? “We’ll have to try it!”

“Yeah!” Scarlet said, jumping down from her chair, ready to go gather the necessary materials to start practicing right away.

“Hold on a second.” Vittorio said in panic, before the girl could leave the room.

Scarlet looked back at him with bewilderment for a few moments before seeming to recall who he was. “Ah, my apologies. I know I am being a bad hostess, but I am very busy right now. But if you won’t mind coming back another time…” 

“No. I have seen everything that I need to see.” Vittorio said with a shake of the head. “Scarlet Weaver, I would like for you to return with me to the Empire to meet Her Holiness, Pope Francine the third.”

There were sounds of shock and confusion for the various individuals who had been up until now watching the exchange. After all, the Pope was the de facto ruler of the Holy Empire. One of the most influential people in the entire world, if not the most.

“...Why?” Scarlet asked, coming down from her earlier excitement about a new possible avenue for training. 

“The Her Holiness has taken an interest in you since the Inquisitor first reported what had happened, and her interest has only grown from the stories that had reached her ears about your actions at the ruins of Azuros.” Vittorio said with a smile. “I was asked to come and see you for myself, and should the stories prove accurate, offer you a chance to come to the Empire. It is my belief that Her Holiness plans on making you the apprentice to the Commander of the Order of the White Ravens. Or perhaps, even her own personal apprentice. With your talent, it is more than possible.”

“Apprentice… to the Pope?” Charles whispered in disbelief, a mixture of emotions on his face as he realized that if Scarlet left, he wouldn’t be able to see her age, but that this was an absurd opportunity. 

To be the apprentice to the Pope was to be the next ruler of the Holy Empire.

“...I thank you for the kind offer, but I am afraid I will have to decline.” Scarlet said, shocking everyone.

“You… Decline?” Vittorio said, his eyes wide. “Why in the world would you decline? This is a chance to become an apprentice to the Pope herself.” 

“You have much talent, but if you stay where you are it will all go to waste. Those kinds of words are what landed my mother into virtual slavery. If I went with you, I would be in a place where I am unfamiliar. Where you have all the power and I am far far away from anyone who could help me.” Scarlet said, looking up into the man’s eyes. “You came directly to our home through unofficial means when you thought that I was alone, rather than speaking to Master Joshua and getting a proper introduction. Then you observe me with alternative motives instead of coming out and saying what it is you were here for. After that, I would be a fool to trust you.” Then Scarlet smiled. “And besides. I am happy here. I have no worries for money or safety, and am surrounded by family. Why in the world would I ever risk that for a chance at something that has no value to me?”

Maria shivered at the reminder and quickly nodded her head in agreement. There was no need for them to follow this seemingly nice man. She didn’t care what kind of title he had. They were happy and they didn’t need whatever these people were selling.

“...I ask you to please reconsider. It is Her Holiness herself who wishes to meet with you.” Vittorio asked calmly.

“It is late. Perhaps you should retire for the night and next time we can speak with Master Joshua present.” Scarlet replied.

“I see. That is a shame.” Vittorio said, closing his eyes. “It would seem that the Inquisitor was too hasty when he declared you and your mother to be above suspicion. Such a shame.”

It took a moment for the man’s words to sink in, but when they did, jaws dropped.

“How dare you!?” Charles shouted, slamming his tiny hand against the table hard enough to crack the wood, his face contorted in rage. “How dare you attempt to blackmail a citizen of my family’s territory right in front of me!”

“Cardinal?” Aqua said, voice full of concern. The bodyguards had also been taken off guard by this sudden declaration.

“The one who requested us to retrieve the girl was Her Holiness herself. Therefore it has to be done, regardless of the means.” Vittorio said in order to justify his actions. “So, will you come with us willingly, or will we be taking you with us for questioning?”

Scarlet stared at the man in silence, weighing her options at the highest speed of her Intelligence accelerated thought.

There were only four of them, but when Scarlet had discreetly used [Identification Magic] on them earlier, she found that they were all of a considerable level, with each of the weapon users having a Tier 7 Class, and Aqua having a Tier 6. But the difference between a level 140 Tier 6 and a level 150 Tier 7 class wasn’t that great, and Mehal was a higher base level, and was more skilled. So he could probably take one of them.

Aqua was a caster, and therefore wouldn’t stand much of a chance against Scarlet’s mother in a high speed fight, so she would be easily brought down.

So, could Scarlet handle one of the knights herself? She had an overcharged Magic Item for use as a strong single shot attack. The man would be able to evade if he saw it coming, but she could hopefully catch him off guard.

If a fight broke out, right there and then, Scarlet would place their odds of victory at a 78.6% chance. ...But if they didn’t finish it cleanly and quickly, then…

Baby Thomas started to cry as the tension in the room grew.

Scarlet couldn’t risk it. She couldn’t risk the people she cared about getting hurt in the crossfire.

“I won’t allow it!” Charles shouted. “I will not standby and watch you blatantly kidnap one of my friends.”

“I see. Is your family going to stand against the Church during this Inquisition?” Vittorio said, expecting Charles to back down.

He didn’t know Charles at all.

“A noble always protects their people from injustice, no matter where it comes from.” Charles said, glaring coldly at the Cardinal.

“Well said, Young Master.” Mehal said with a smile, getting up from his seat and causing the bodyguards to move in to protect the Cardinal.

“Don’t be a fool, Mehal. Even you aren’t a match for the soldiers of the Order of the Black Wolf.” Vittorio said. “We will be taking the girl back to the Holy Land, and there is nothing any of you can do to stop…”

The man’s words froze when a loud bang and something that sounded like a tree falling over reached their ears, silencing them.

“Ah fuck… I did it again. Who the hell has a front door that opens inwards? Ugh… My head...” A disgruntled voice came from the front of the shop.

Everyone’s eyes turned towards the doorway as footsteps approached the kitchen, along with the sound of something being dragged across the floor.

A rough looking man, with bloodshot eyes stumbled into the kitchen, leaning himself against the wall. He had long blond hair and a blond beard that looked completely unkempt, despite being dressed in fine clothes, he had the appearance of a drunk hobo. The stink of alcohol coming off of him was enough to force the children to cover their noses.

In one hand, he held a bottle of wine, while in the other… he held what appeared to be the front door to the shop, as well as part of the doorframe.

“Sorry about your door. I’ll… I’ll be sure to pay for it.” The man grumbled to himself as he took a swig of his wine.

“Who in the blazes?” One of the bodyguards said, confused by the appearance of this strange man, though Vittorio just stood there with a pale face as he stared at the newcomer.

“Gr...Grandpa?” Charles said, his rage disappearing to be replaced by shock and embarrassment.

“Hey Charlie. Sorry I’m late. Just leave this little mess to your old Grandpa.” Duke Bryce Pryor de Dalhurst said with a big smile as he stood up as straight as he could and looked at Vittorio with cold eyes. “So then, care to explain to me what you think you are doing here, Mr. Cardinal?”