Indeed, due to using up the oxygen collection sphere back then, I owed Reed a week's worth of work, while Cyra owed three months! For me, this minor trouble was insignificant compared to reuniting with a long-unseen classmate.
Truthfully, I was delighted to see her. It was unfortunate Reed had to remain in Edenmere researching the "Eyes of Galadra" instead of joining our departure. Now we had finally reunited!
However, I wondered why she and Miya suddenly appeared here during Parristol's chaotic rebellion. Based on her previous stance, would Elara allow them to leave?
"They're my friends, don't be alarmed!" Seeing the surrounding crowd gaping at us, I quickly explained. Cyra's fleeing raised too much suspicion, with the quick-handed Judith already gripping her weapon, everyone confused over the situation.
"What rare guests!" Only Cysper cheerfully welcomed them, bowing elegantly before inquiring, "Have these two beautiful angel ladies specially come to tour our Cresthaven Papal Dominion?"
As the Pope, he naturally took the lead in greeting angels due to the Church's special connection through faith.
"Cyrus?" Reed glanced at him, her initially calm expression subtly changing - she froze. But she quickly recovered, muttering, "Impossible, he must just resemble him..."
The Pope's identical appearance to Cyrus was bizarrely uncanny. Despite our prolonged interactions, we never uncovered the reason, so Reed, who knew the real Cyrus, was understandably shocked, likely unable to fathom the cause despite her intelligence.
"Haha, you're totally clueless! This is my unique clone magic!" Cyra suddenly grinned mischievously, her eyes rolling as she blatantly lied to Cysper. "Surprised and curious, huh?"
"Clone magic? Impossible!" Yet the ploy actually worked! Reed was utterly dumbfounded, scrutinizing Cysper before shaking her head contemplatively.
"I suppose it makes sense. Ordinary humans can't possess light-elemental bodies like angels. Perhaps an advanced light golem application? But the independent consciousness...Don't tell me that everything he just said was controlled by you in secret?"
"You're overthinking it. He's a living, breathing person, not some light golem!" I nearly laughed at Reed's far-fetched guess, probably the only one who would conceive such an illogical connection. Seeing no unrelated bystanders nearby, I quietly revealed, "He's the Pope!"
"Oh right! Lady Elara did mention Feliciana was with True Church's Pope!" Miya immediately recalled upon hearing me, quickly reminding Reed.
"Plus, the relationship between the angels and True Church seemed to have improved a lot before we left Edenmere..."
All thanks to our efforts. Otherwise, with the angels' hereditary wariness towards the Pope, who knew when that would have changed?
"Still, something feels off..." Reed stared intently at Cysper for a long while before retracting her gaze and asking, "No offense, but would you mind assisting me with some experiments?"
"Haha...absolutely not!" Cysper's smile looked strained, likely regretting provoking Reed as he brushed it off. "As you heard, I'm the Pope! Always busy with myriad affairs, barely any free time."
This guy calling himself constantly occupied is just ridiculous! It really challenges my worldview.
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"Cyra, are you sure you're not controlling him? He's just as shameless!" Reed bluntly accused Cyra.
Cysper's expression was priceless - possibly the first time publicly called shameless, completely losing face as the Pope.
"That's just his unrestrained personality. Don't take it personally!" I had to intervene and explain. Fortunately, having been Pope for millennia, Cysper could take it without getting into petty squabbles with a two-winged angel.
That finally placated both sides. Though unable to conduct her experiments, Reed remained fixated on Cysper, constantly glancing over with indecipherable thoughts.
This was probably Cyra's ploy - diverting Reed's attention to Cysper so she forgot about pursuing us, allowing us to temporarily escape this "calamity".
"How long will she keep this up?" Unable to bear it, Cysper quietly asked me.
"Hard to say," I shook my head, seizing the chance to reiterate my suggestion from last night. "If it really bothers you, why not return to the Holy Capital first? I can have Cyra escort you..."
"Absolutely unnecessary!" He vehemently shook his head at my proposal to return, immediately quieting down and walking off, dropping the subject entirely.
What a "constantly occupied" Pope! Unbelievable...
"How did you two get here?" Seizing the chance while everyone caught up, I asked Miya about their recent situation. It turned out they had left Edenmere nearly a week ago before Parristol's rebellion even began.
Since Edenmere's exit was currently located at the Barren Lands frontier, immobile for the time being, Reed had to travel southward from there to find us after concluding her "Eyes of Galadra" research.
The Barren Lands covered a vast area, comprising nearly half the continent's northern expanse. Legends spoke of an exceptionally brutal divine war erupting there long ago, even altering the entire continent's climate and rendering it completely barren.
Truthfully, after witnessing the ancient civilization's remnants in the trial space, I partially believed such seemingly far-fetched tales.
"Though the northern monsters frequently harassed the stationed allied troops there, their scale wasn't large. After Commander Serena led the First Legion as reinforcements, they counterattacked hundreds of miles deep into the Barren Lands!"
Miya proudly recounted events before their departure from Edenmere. But then her expression turned somewhat helpless.
"However, Lady Elara ordered us not to advance further, saying it was to leave room for potential future negotiations. But those monsters clearly had no such intentions! We had barely retreated before they resumed their sneak attacks without learning anything!"
"Surely they're not that stupid..." Judith couldn't help commenting. Even if most monsters lacked intelligence, there were still cunning higher-ups! Such brainless tactics were just suicidal - perhaps Serena hadn't hurt them enough, which was why Nicola later razed an entire city when she arrived there.
Calculating Nicola's departure time, she likely just missed crossing paths with Reed and Miya.
"After leaving Edenmere, our first task from Lady Elara was to request the Ilandra Dominion Empire to dispatch reinforcements to the northern frontlines..."
Miya continued, "But Emperor Reid refused to receive us!"
Jointly repelling the northern monster invasion was the shared responsibility of every human nation. But the Eldoria Continent was simply too vast. Apart from the familiar northern Astralrealm Kingdom and Cresthaven Papal Dominion, there existed several human nations in the south which tended to be lackadaisical, frequently making excuses to delay sending troops since they were far removed from the frontlines.
The Ilandra Dominion Empire was one such nation, and numbered among the continent's largest powers, its territory even exceeding the combined Astralrealm and Cresthaven. Formidable, yet useless - only dealing with internal conflicts effectively while being utterly unreliable externally. They could wage civil wars for years, but when bebing requested to resist northern monsters, they would plead helplessness and lack of forces.
But with the empire's internal strife long quelled, it was time for them to fulfill their responsibilities. Yet Reed and Miya faced outright rejection.
"Outrageous, these southern nations are a disgrace to humanity!" Judith angrily condemned.
"That's just how humans are, what can you do?" Cysper merely shrugged nonchalantly, likely having seen it all from living too long, or perhaps due to light elemental influence never showing anger.
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