You think you're worthy of saving the world?

After more than an epoch of development, the Church of Heaven gradually formed an extremely large and complex administrative bureaucracy.

The priesthood ranks, from the lowest monks and nuns upwards, are monks, deacons, priests, bishops, archbishops, and cardinals.

The number of church members scattered across the continent is countless, including as many as 88 cardinals, who hold the highest rank of bishop and are in charge of leadership in various departments of the Papacy and important dioceses in many countries.

Above the cardinals are the "Twelve Holy Sees," which occupy the pinnacle of power in the Catholic Church and oversee the Papal Court.

The "Twelve Holy Sees" are twelve contemporary saints recognized by the Vatican.

Only the most devout and exceptionally capable believers within the Heavenly Principle Church can attain this status and honor.

At least, that's what the scriptures say.

The "Twelve Holy Sees" each hold almost all the powers of the Papacy, including administrative, judicial, and legislative functions, and also control the four subordinate military departments.

These are the city-state's armed forces bureau, which dispatches the Knights Templar and the Papacy's army.

And the Inquisition, which includes special units such as "Witch's Hammer".

There is also the Relics Investigation Bureau, which is responsible for the recovery, research, and preservation of sacred relics.

Finally, there is the End Management Bureau (commonly known as the "Saintess"), which consists of only one person.

The reason why the "Twelve Holy Sees" can possess such enormous power is that their holy lineage stems from the fact that they are the Pope's vassals.

Unlike the Catholic Pope (Papa) of Earth, the Pope of the Heavenly Principle Church is a hereditary secular monarch and religious leader.

In the previous era, humanity established the papal city of Farion, and their leader was hailed as the first pope.

At that time, the Pope was both the king of the Papacy and the head of the Catholic Church.

After an era of development, the Church of Heavenly Reason had become far too large.

Thus, the "Twelve Holy Thrones" came into being to assist the Pope in his work.

What followed resembled the power struggles between the emperor and the prime minister in Chinese history, with the pope and the Holy See beginning to take sides and vie for power.

They each had a period of dominance.

Overall, however, the Pope is at a disadvantage, and his power in the Church is being constantly weakened.

In recent generations, the pope has not only completely lost control of the church, but also lost most of his secular power, and is now roughly equivalent to a mayor.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, the Papal City will evolve into a parliamentary republic with autocratic tendencies several generations later.

At that time, the Pope will become a true symbolic head of state (mascot).

Lucia Farion is the current pope.

She is the adopted daughter of the previous pope, who had no children, and was adopted from his brother. She just turned nine this year and has no ability to govern, so she needs to rely on the protection of adults.

Everything is progressing in the direction of the future that the Holy See envisions—

If Euryph hadn't caused trouble in the original game's storyline...

"But speaking of which, wasn't Yuri-nii supposed to be under investigation today? Why is he here... Ah, could it be that he's here to see someone?"

Rukia blinked her bright, watery eyes.

Although she is only nine years old, the girl is quite clever.

"Oh dear, you caught me." Yuri ruffled her hair.

This garden is where Lucia loves to stroll, and Yuri thought he might run into her here on the weekend, so he came to try his luck.

"Hehehe, I'm so happy! I've heard a lot of rumors about Yuri-nii-san lately."

"Has my heroic deeds spread to the Papal Palace as well?"

"That's right, that's right. I heard that Brother Yuri helped the orc princess break the curse, right?"

"Yes, that's true, but it's just a tiny, insignificant page in my heroic tales."

"Wow...so amazing! As expected of Yuri-nii-san."

Rukia opened her eyes wide and clapped her hands.

"Rukia, what else have you heard? Can you tell me?"

Although Yuri should address her as "Your Holiness the Pope" in formal settings, he can simply call her by her first name in private.

The girl nodded and began excitedly recounting the rumors she had recently heard.

As Pope Lucia had never left the floating city, the rumors she heard came from her servants.

Of course, Rukia also didn't have any friends her own age to talk to.

The only friend she could barely be considered close in age was Euryphus, who was five years older than her.

Perhaps it was for this reason that Rukia kept pestering her servants to inquire about Yuri's recent situation in the upper town.

Seeing the girl's cheerful smile, Yuri suddenly felt that her recent efforts had not been in vain.

Although both are birds kept in cages, Yuri is practically the freest person in the world compared to her.

"Sister Stella is even more beautiful than the rumors say! I'm so surprised!"

Rukia excitedly spoke for a moment, then turned to the silver-haired witch beside her.

"..."

"Sister Stella?"

“They’re talking to you.” Yuri nudged her with her elbow.

"Ah... um! Sorry, I was spacing out just now."

Stella snapped out of her daze and forced a smile at Rukia.

"Can I call you Sister Stella?" the girl asked nervously.

For her, Stella was someone close in age and someone she naturally felt a sense of familiarity with.

"Hmm...it's not impossible." Stella scratched her head.

"That's great!" Rukia smiled.

“Couldn’t you just say ‘yes’ honestly?” Yuri said.

"Stop talking nonsense." Stella crossed her arms and snorted.

"Pfft...!"

Rukia covered her mouth and laughed as she watched the two interact.

"Brother Yuri and Sister Stella are really close!"

Afterwards, the three of them spent a very leisurely and pleasant time in the garden.

"It's almost time, Your Majesty."

The attendants huddled together and whispered.

As Pope Lucia, she only has one hour of free time each day to do as she pleases.

As far as Yuri knew, she was supposed to take all sorts of classes until 8:30 p.m.

"Okay, I know."

Although she had been full of excitement just moments before, Rukia's expression immediately returned to calm.

If it were an ordinary child, she might have whined or complained, but she was able to calmly say goodbye to Yuri and Stella.

Is it because she is naturally more sensible and mature than other children, and doesn't want to cause trouble for others?

Or did Rukia already know that her struggles and complaints were futile?

"Yuri...you bastard."

After the young pope left, Stella glared angrily at Yuri.

"what happened?"

Stella frowned and said, "Tsk, don't play dumb! You deliberately brought me to a place like this so that I could meet that child, right?"

"Oh no, we've been found out."

Yuri narrowed his eyes slyly and asked, "So...how about it?"

Stella gritted her teeth: "You win, you've successfully enraged me."

Yuri deliberately created an opportunity for Stella and Lucia to meet.

He knew that given Stella's straightforward and rebellious nature, combined with her past experiences in the orphanage, she would definitely be angry at the young girl's plight after seeing Lucia.

Yuri succeeded.

The witch, who had been timid and hesitant in front of the "Twelve Holy Thrones" just moments before, now had a face full of anger on her delicate features.

“To use such young children as tools to consolidate their rule…unforgivable,” Stella murmured bitterly.

“Rukia is so lucky to have such a thoughtful older sister,” Yuri said with a smile. “We should probably head out now.”

The two moved toward the deepest part of the Papal Palace.

……

……

……

Yuri and Stella arrived at the magnificent building located in the very center of the Papal Palace.

From the outside, this building looks as grand and imposing as a palace. In the floating city, which is predominantly white, it is the only one that is painted entirely in gold.

It's not just big from the outside, the interior is also incredibly spacious.

Led by a nun, the two walked through a maze-like passageway.

It's more like a bridge than a passageway.

The ceiling, painted with angels, is incredibly high, almost as high as the real sky.

On both sides of the passage are bottomless, dark voids, with high railings protecting pedestrians, making one feel chilled and as if walking on thin ice.

Stella looked around in surprise, her reaction similar to Yuri's when she first came here.

However, unlike young Yuri, who was simply awestruck by the grandeur of the building, Stella also sensed the various barriers that permeated the interior of the building.