Chapter 56: Investigating the Pope

"But thinking another way, could this 'Cyrus' be Cysper who traveled back in time from the future?"

As soon as this possibility crossed my mind, I immediately looked at Nicola. When it came to time, she was probably involved in some way! After the previous Blanche incident, I had gained plenty of experience. It's possible that the rumored angel was also related to us!

"Why are you looking at me like that? I don't know anything!" 

Feeling uneasy under my gaze, Nicola quickly clarified. This reaction was normal since nothing had happened yet!

"Let's not worry about Cyra for now. But you, why did you come so early today...?"

As she spoke, she redirected the topic back to Cysper. Of course, this must have been the reason he actively contacted us.

"When did you realize you and Cyra had switched bodies?"

"What? You mean me and him...?"

Cyra was really dense, only realizing now that the past few days weren't just a dream.

"Of course, last night!"

Cysper didn't hide anything and answered directly.

"Actually, I received a report yesterday morning that two angels had rarely come to Jethrobaines. Based on the situation, it didn't seem like they were just sightseeing out of curiosity. But at that time, like Cyra, I thought what had happened before was just a dream until I woke up again in this hotel last night and realized you two were angels. That's when I started to suspect something. Of course, what happened after we left the city further confirmed my suspicions."

"But why didn't I have any impression when I switched over to your side last night? Or rather..."

Cyra couldn't help but ask.

"I was very sleepy, like I woke up for a bit and then fell asleep again right away!"

"Because I took sleeping pills! To prevent sleepwalking, you know!"

Cysper smiled. Clearly, although he didn't say it outright, I could guess that there must have been people who noticed his abnormal sleeping behavior these past few days.

"That's also why I almost overslept this morning. Thankfully, I didn't miss meeting you all. If not for that reason, I would have come to find you immediately."

"Now that you've found us, what are you going to do?"

Nicola asked. Our original plan was to have an audience with the Pope first, then slowly investigate after seeing him in person. But his shocking revelation had completely disrupted our plan.

Moreover, because of the unclear "intimate" relationship between Cysper and Cyra, our so-called secret investigation was impossible to carry out. Who knew when they might suddenly switch again?

"Let me just say it. Our purpose in coming here is to investigate you!"

So I decided not to beat around the bush and stated our intention directly.

"That's normal! The angels of Edenmere have never treated me well, and they even seem a little wary of me. I'm just surprised you all didn't come sooner..."

Cysper didn't seem surprised at all as he leaned back on the sofa leisurely.

"Let me be clear - a long time ago, there were angels who tried to assassinate me. But after I drove them away, it never happened again. Do you angels have a grudge against me or something?"

"Not necessarily, it depends on the final investigation results..."

Nicola frowned, seeing something illogical.

"Does this mean you really hate angels?"

I also felt something wasn't adding up. Based on the True Church's attitude towards angels, there was absolutely no such feeling. At least when facing us, Cysper showed no signs of it. But then again, the assassination attempt he mentioned probably happened during Elara II's reign, so it had little to do with the current Elara.

"Hate? Not really..."

Cysper pondered for a moment before shaking his head.

"After all, it happened too long ago, and it was just directed at me personally, so I've long forgotten about it. Moreover, according to the Bible, angels are servants of the Lord. Although it seems different from reality, we are ultimately from the same origins. With the threat of demonic forces from the north, shouldn't we be united against a common enemy?"

After speaking, he suddenly changed his tone, looking at me with interest.

"Could it be that Elara III has suddenly taken an interest in our church, which is why she sent you all? If that's really her intention, I'll be sure to hold a grand initiation ceremony for her! After all, I'm very generous. All the past incidents can be forgiven, and I'll even waive your membership fees!"

"Thanks, but no need..."

I gave him a wry look, rejecting his goodwill. He's already quite old, yet still so immature.

In the ensuing conversation, we indirectly inquired about his connection to the God of Light. Although the True Church publicly claims that the ancient God of Light is Yawee, who has been absent due to an ambush by dark forces, his words gave us the impression that he unilaterally assumed this relationship. His reasoning kept circling back to one sentence - the Lord brought light to the world, so the God of Light must be him!

"According to the records, you suddenly appeared on this continent. Where were you before that?"

Finally, Nicola didn't hold back and directly took out some documents, questioning him based on the information.

"Can I say I have no idea? My earliest memory is waking up naked in a corner of this city. Before that, I have no recollection at all, except for the thought of reviving the True Church. That's why everyone calls me the 'Child of Divine Grace.'"

Cysper shrugged, being quite good-natured and not refusing to answer. However, the truthfulness of his words was uncertain.

"What about Yawee? You must have seen him in person, right? What kind of existence is he?"

I couldn't help but ask. Considering when the Pope appeared on this continent, the God of Light had been gone for over three thousand years at that point, and the demons had just emerged. Although humans had mostly forgotten, if Cysper claimed Yawee and the God of Light were the same god, then the situation he described should be similar to Beluto, whom we've seen.

"I've never actually seen the Lord in person..."

Unexpectedly, his answer was completely beyond our expectations. Even the Pope himself had never seen Yawee - what was going on?

This seemed rather strange. Could it be that Yawee didn't exist at all? Was the True Church of this world really just made-up a god, as the rumors claimed?

"But I can communicate with the Lord! Although the Lord doesn't respond to me often, at critical moments, I always hear his voice coming from the void. This voice can guide me towards the correct future direction!"

Seeing our puzzled looks, Cysper quickly added.

"You heard it too, so we must be fellow believers! Even if you're not the Lord, you must be related to him!"

Cyra immediately became excited, as if she had found a kindred spirit. I grabbed the back of her neck to remind her not to talk nonsense.

"Including using lucrative conditions to lure people into signing up for your church?"

Nicola couldn't help but comment after hearing this argument. This kind of recruitment tactic resembling a pyramid scheme had emerged in the True Churches of other regions on the continent, though on a much smaller scale compared to the Holy City. But to attribute it as the Lord's will seemed utterly ridiculous.

"Oh, that's not it!"

Cysper quickly clarified.

"That was actually a promotional method I came up with myself. I vaguely remember seeing it somewhere before, but I can't recall the specifics. So I just copied it over based on the actual situation."

This is really bizarre...

After listening to his various statements, I felt there were all sorts of obscure shenanigans going on, but this guy couldn't remember most of the important information, so I couldn't pinpoint any key points.

The only thing we could be sure of was that the Pope didn't seem to have any enmity towards the angels, and even had intentions of befriending them like ordinary believers of the Lord. This put me and Nicola at ease for the time being. At least on the surface, we couldn't see any direct connection between him and the avatar of the God of Light.

"Well, have you finished your investigation? That's good, saves me from having to explain further..."

Seeing that we had temporarily fallen silent, Cysper smiled and stood up.

"I don't know how many days you all will be staying in Jethrobaines? If Edenmere is interested, the True Church is more than willing to immediately establish all kinds of alliances with you! And we also welcome other angels to come and tour the Holy City."

"Probably two or three days. As for forming an alliance, we'll have to inform Edenmere before making that decision..."

Nicola hesitated before replying. We had basically asked everything we could, so we could only stop here. As for how things would develop after this, it wasn't something we could worry about.

"I still have some important matters to attend to, so I won't disturb your sightseeing anymore. If you're interested, you can even visit my Papal Palace! But on the day you leave, please be sure to notify me so I can see you off!"

As the conversation ended and Cysper was about to leave the room, he suddenly turned back and smiled at me.

"Oh, I finally remembered what your magical angel figurine is called!"

"What's it called?"

I was a little taken aback, not expecting him to still be fixated on this.

"It's called a hand-carved figurine! How's that? Isn't that a good name? Haha!"

Watching him leave smugly, leaving the three of us utterly dumbfounded.

"...Does this world really have a term like 'hand-carved figurine'?"

Cyra's mouth was wide open, unable to close it for a long time.

"Or could he have also traveled here from another world?"

"It's very possible. Looks like we need to keep observing..."

Nicola rubbed her temples, and like me, she started to get a headache.