Arabella rather had high expectations of him but if he was this rude despite being the leader of the Great Temple, maybe, he wasn’t that great after all.
"Ah, I see. What a pity. I’d love to have you both or at least one of you join the temple. I knew you both would decline. But I still decided to try," the Pope said, and his magicians were even more astonished.
[Their healing abilities were indeed very useful and valuable. But His Holiness could heal like that too if he wanted to do so. Does he really have to lower himself like this?]
The Pope’s magicians wondered if Alwin and Riley were truly worth the trouble for the Pope himself to be humble and invite him directly like this.
But to Arabella and everyone from Valeria, this was not humbleness but rudeness.
Poaching magicians was a thing even among the royals. Richeer kingdoms could poach the best magicians since they could offer more support and more power.
With the Great Temple influential in Eliora, they could indeed give among the greatest power and support to a mage on the continent.
But the Pope could have given his invitation in a more private setting. Not like this.
At least, the royals didn’t do it right in front of other royals like this. And in front of other people too.
"Oh, my apologies if I didn’t an to be rude your liege," the Pope noticed their animosity.
Alwin and Riley still didn’t look at him differently.
"It was just that your abilities were that great. I simply had to ask while I have the chance even if it may seem rude. Who knows when I will be able to encounter you two again," the Pope explained still with a smile on his face.
Alwin and Riley didn’t care about his explanation though, since no matter what excuses he spouted, all they knew was the Pope already insulted Ferdinand by directly asking them to join the temple instead of asking Ferdinand if he was willing to let them go.
"Emperor Valeria, talents like them should not be hoarded, don’t you think?" the Pope was looking at Ferdinand this ti.
The Pope was fearless since his position was the sa as a ruler. He was akin to a King or rather, an Emperor since all temples in Eliora that served the sa gods as he does were under him.
"Who’s hoarding what? You have way more magicians than I do. And I wasn’t hoarding them. They were the ones who insisted on serving as my magicians," Ferdinand nonchalantly responded.
He was referring to the fact that it was they who insisted to follow Ferdinand here in the human realm.
Alwin and Riley nodded.
"You already have more magicians than . Why covet what’s mine?" Ferdinand asked provokingly.
"Oh my. It seems I was in haste and didn’t explain. I didn’t an they needed to leave your side. I only wanted them to be enlisted as mbers of the temple magicians so they could be summoned when there are monster attacks since their healing abilities could instantly turn the tides," the Pope explained.
"They are already riddled with a lot of work. But I’ll let them decide whether they want to join in such conditions, or not," Ferdinand glanced at Alwin and Riley.
"I see. Please don’t respond right now. Think about it for a few days before responding," the Pope spoke before Alwin and Riley could reject his invitation again.
The Pope clearly wanted to get them on their side no matter what.
"Oh, and we have the most collection of all kinds of magic books including ancient tos," the Pope baited once again and Alwin and Riley seed to be fishes caught by the hook.
Their curiosity as magicians to know the unknown was clear on their faces.
"Just how old are these tos?" Alwin inquired.
"Hmm... So are several hundred years old. So are even several thousand. The others are still unknown. And there are tos that no one had been able to open yet. With such rich mana, maybe, any of the two of you would be able to open it," the Pope was rather good with his choice of words.
Alwin and Riley were wavering now.
[Could there be tos aged more than ?] Alwin wondered.
Ferdinand had taught him a lot of things. But Ferdinand did not know what human civilization and their magic could do when he was in hibernation for 10,000 years.
Alwin was already content with what Ferdinand had taught him. But he was curious. He wanted to know if maybe, one of those tos contained secrets about what the humans used to kill his parents.
He didn’t believe it was rely poison. There must be sothing else for humans to be able to almost wipe out the long-lived races.
Alwin thought that maybe, he could get a clue through the temple’s archives and magic tos that he was not able to access in his previous life.
"You can do as you please. I know these kinds of books interest you," Ferdinand told Alwin and Riley, noticing that they were interested after the tos were ntioned. He could tell what Alwin was thinking about as well.
"Thank you, Your Majesty," the two bowed.
"We will consider Your Holiness’ offer and think about it for a while," Alwin responded, and the Pope bead brightly.
"I am very much looking to a positive response. If you join, you may explore the archives as you please."
The Pope kept baiting but he didn’t need to do so anymore.
Arabella could see that Alwin and Riley were fish in a bucket. They were already hooked and caught.
With the conversation between them over, they proceeded to the temple as per the Pope’s invitation. He said it was safer for now until they were sure the intruders had left and while the knights clean up the chaotic ss the monster attack made.
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