Crunch!

Crunch!

Crrr—unch!

"What are you eating?" Sylvester looked at his personal furball sitting near the window in his office room.

"Nyothing." Miraj ignored it and began to munch sneakily. But still, the sounds were loud.

Sylvester glared at the cat and walked over. He could feel Miraj being on alert and not chewing anymore. The furball also hid something under his body right then.

"I… I smell something," Sylvester sniffed the air. "It's like… You greedy cat!"

"Nyoooo~" Miraj meowed. "It's my cookie! Big Mum gave it to me!"

"She probably asked you to share it with me." Sylvester tried to move Miraj. "Don't be greedy and give me some."

Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!

Miraj tried to eat quickly and gulp it all down. "It's mine!"

"You know honey cookies are my favorite. So give me some." Sylvester nudged him, shoving his hand into the cat's mouth so he couldn't eat anymore.

"Nnnn… Noh-th honeyh…" Miraj tried to speak while nibbling on Sylvester's hand. "Bahnana-h cookie."

"Banana cookie?" Sylvester retreated his hand and shrugged before walking back. "Ah, then I don't want it. Go on, eat slowly, Chonky."

"Meanie!" Miraj growled and relaxed on his window seat again, bathing in sunlight and eating.

Sylvester chuckled and got to work again. He simply liked messing with Miraj since both of them had spent so many years together, and no matter what, they just couldn't get angry with one another. On top of that, they knew they had a few more centuries of companionship, so acting crazy was the only option to pass the time.

Knock! Knock!

"Your Holiness." Gabriel peeked into the room. "It's time to go. The Great Harvest Festival is going to start. It will take us days to reach River City."

Sylvester shrugged and kept reading the reports and writing some more plans. For example, he was planning on adding massive clock towers to all monasteries from now on. "You can go. I'll leave an hour before it starts and fly there."

"You can't fly."

"..."

Sylvester felt a string tugging at his heart. "Salary deducted for a month."

"..."

"You don't pay me," Gabriel barked back.

"Really?" Sylvester had no idea. "That's not possible. How do you even survive?"

"Food is free for me from the Bard's. Living is also free since I have my office, and travel expenses are borne by the Holy Land's Administration—my department. I had foregone my salary years ago when I became a Bishop, Your Holiness. That money is better used on something better," Gabriel revealed.

Sylvester silently looked at his friend, impressed by his faith. "Only if every other Clergyman was like you. I'll see you at River City, Gab. You can go first."

Noticing Gabriel had gone, Miraj flew from his place and landed on the table. "What's the Great Horny Festival? Will Felix be there?"

"Even if it was a Horny Festival, I don't think Felix can go there. But this one is the Harvest Festival. It's a new thing, a day meant to celebrate the start of the harvest season across East Sol. It takes place in most of the cities, towns, and villages. People come together. Free food is cooked in massive cauldrons and eaten by everyone," Sylvester explained, thinking about the idea behind proposing such festivals.It was a means of entertainment for the people, a means to take away their focus from all their troubles. A way for young ones to come together, fall in love, and increase Sol's population.

'I can't wait to reach the one billion mark. More people, more economic activity, more money, more faith, more development, and finally peace—ah, I feel like an evil villain.' Sylvester relaxed in his chair. 'Just one more little game, and everything will be prepared for me to venture into the Demon Realm.'

"Uwaaa!"

"Chonky, you greedy glutton! You overate again, didn't you? How many cookies did you eat?" Sylvester grunted at the sight of Miraj vomiting on his desk.

"Meow… Just…" Miraj groaned. "A few dozen."

"Let me guess. It wasn't Mum who gave them to you. You stole the jar, didn't you?" Sylvester folded his arms, scolding him. "Serves you right."

"Nyo! Don't tell Big Mum."

"As if she won't notice the missing jar."

"Mewaaaaa!"

Miraj cried in misery of his own bringing.

…

Riveria was a different kingdom now than it was a few years ago. Riveria's royal family was dead to the very last member, and the new King was Kaecilius. Slavery had been abolished long ago, and even the nobility was under a lot of pressure to be just and perform well according to the laws.

Being the richest Kingdom, it also had the most population and prosperity. It was able to invest money in projects that Sylvester proposed. The extensive railway networks and roadway networks, upgrading cities, towns and villages, Grace Hospitals, fertilizers, agricultural machinery, and so much more.

Even basic education had been made free in the Kingdom. Higher education was also free as long as the students signed contracts to serve ten years under Riveria's government service in various professions. That also meant the offer was open to people of other kingdoms. Effectively, Riveria was brain-draining its neighbors.

But Sylvester didn't meddle in it. He considered it the failure of other kingdoms if they couldn't realize what was happening.

"Ah, look at all the hustle and bustle." Sylvester arrived at River City a day early instead of an hour early. He donned commoner's clothes, a simple tunic, belt, and breeches. But he still didn't bother changing his eye and hair color, letting the smart ones know the Pope was in the city.

"Fishy!" Miraj excitedly jumped on Sylvester's shoulder.

"It's a game, Chonky. You're to scoop out fish using that paper scooper. But it's a scam in reality because the paper is too thin," Sylvester explained and decided to play. He was a wizard, and it didn't take much to win it, scooping every single fish out of the tub. "And that's how you win with simple water magic."

"Eh!" The shopkeeper coughed and angrily pointed to a signboard. "No wizards allowed. Please put the fish back."

'What a shrewd man. He knew I was a wizard from the start but let my performance gather the crowd before speaking.' Sylvester admired the shopkeeper and walked away. 'Sadly for him, his scam won't work anymore.'

They walked around the market, ate the festive dishes and the junk food at the Bard's, and played many more games. Miraj also enjoyed his time as he got to taste new things while Sylvester observed the city's situation.

'River City was in good condition to begin with, but now it's even better. The population seems to have greatly increased.'

Thud!

Sylvester bumped shoulders with another man, robbed in a heavy cloak and a hood.

"Apologies."

"No problem, my friend." Sylvester let the man go, smiling. Once the man vanished, he placed his hand in his tunic's pocket and took out a folded paper. "This brings me back to the early days."

"What is it?" Chonky hung from his shoulder.

"It's telling me to go and visit the Blackteeth Tavern in the Southern District," Sylvester read. "Let's go then."

"Maxy, could it be a trap?"

"Could be, or a cry for help."

…Sylvester asked around a little and soon found himself in the good part of the city from the looks of it. It was less crowded and cleaner, had wider streets, better buildings, and people with classist personalities.

The Blackteeth Tavern turned out to be quite an establishment—a massive eatery with its own legal gambling floor, spanning two stories. However, when Sylvester entered, he found a lack of people there. All the food tables were empty except for a few men sitting by the bar's counter, drinking.

'Yet, I feel a great deal of solarium oozing from this building.' Sylvester felt alert and utilized Elder Magic to do Solarium Imaging and look through the walls. He looked up and similarly found a mostly empty gambling floor. But then he looked down, and he just kept looking.

"A cry for help."

"Maxy, who's throat should I slit?" Miraj also took to the air, revealing his claws.

Sylvester shook his head and snapped his fingers. "Anyone who tries to escape the building."

Thud! Clack! Clack!

In response to Sylvester's snap, all the doors of the establishment closed up, and then the windows shut fully, making the inside of the eatery seem as if it was night. The three men drinking, and the four bartenders, servers, and the manager were alerted.

Sylvester sighed and walked to the man in fine silk clothes. "Lead me downstairs if you don't want to die."

"Who are you? Do you know who owns this place? Count B—"

Thud!

Sylvester didn't even move. It was Chonky who flew by the man's neck. A moment later, his head fell onto the floor, rolling aside with blood spraying everywhere.

"Counts, Dukes, Kings—Flesh that can be stabbed and slit, that's all I see." Sylvester walked to the next best-clothed man. "Lead me downstairs, or die."

"Y-Yes… Sire," the middle-aged, brown-haired waiter agreed and meekly walked to the back of the bar, into the kitchen, and then into the magical pantry with freezing runes. Inside, from the secret door on the floor, the man led Sylvester ten or so meters downstairs into the brightly lit room.

"Who is he?" There were two armored knights standing guard before an ivory-white door with a golden knob.

Thud!

Once again, Sylvester didn't move. But, with a simple overload of solarium he produced in their bodies made their hearts explode, leaving their lips covered with blood and their bodies dead.

"Lead me in," Sylvester ordered the waiter. "What's your name?"

"M-My name is Eric, Sire," the waiter replied, his legs shivering already. "P-Please don't kill me. I have a family."

"And those being exploited don't?" Sylvester returned the words and followed him in through the door.

Right away, loud music was audible, a mix of guitars, pianos, and even someone singing in a soothing, womanly voice.

As he passed through a corridor, with every single soldier dropping dead on their own, he eventually found himself in a massive hall. There were dozens of round sofas with tables in the middle, a stage at one end of the hall with a few utterly beautiful women playing the instruments and singing—completely naked.

More women were walking around the tables, similarly naked, with big serving saucers to hand over food and drinks. There were also handsome men, equally naked, doing the serving. Following that, he noticed the men and women sitting on the sofas.

Most were questionably dressed. Some without their upper clothes, some without their lower, and others completely naked. But what they were doing was the cause of anger.

'Once again, I'm reminded of how similar our worlds are.'

The guests were being sexually pleasured by attractive women and men, and at some tables, he saw a few tearful faces that clearly didn't belong there.

They belonged to schools, playgrounds, and homes, smiling and playing. Not clutched in the arms of unsightly men and women.

"Who are the guests?" Sylvester asked the waiter again. "I'll kill you if you don't answer."

"B-But… they will also kil…"

Sylvester clutched the waiter's neck from behind and brought his face closer to his own, gaining a few gazes from the disgusting audience. "Look at my eyes and hair—I am the Pope! Now speak, or you will definitely die alongside them."

"D-Duke L-Longwin, Marquis Ignis, Count Lenord… Many more… rich merchants, Y-Your M-Majesty!"

Sylvester sighed after hearing the names and released the waiter. He gazed at the nobles laughing there, not even knowing they were already dead.

"Nothing of value will be lost."

_________________

Thank you for reading. Gifts and GT votes are highly appreciated.