The Exiled First-born of the Noble House. Rising to the Top With the Worthless Skill [Null Poison]

The Cardinal

Since we had stayed for a lot longer than planned, we had called in another 3 cups of coffee as well as more dessert as well.

We were able to talk at our leisure in a private room and the quality of both food and drinks was top class, so as far as places to have a long chat go, this was quite literally the best one imaginable.

“We ended up talking for a really long time huh.
Thanks for going along with my sudden invite.”

“Oh the pleasure’s all mine.
Honestly, the stories you have told me are so dense and interesting, you could write a really good book about your adventures.
I had fun listening.”

“That’s good to hear.
Let’s talk again if we get the chance.”

“By all means.
Let us continue another fine day.”

Doing a light handshake with each other, I was about to finish up my little dinner with graham but…..

Graham didn’t seem intent on letting my hand go and kept on holding on to it.

“What are you doing? Mind letting my hand go already?”

“…………….I was hesitating over whether I should tell you about something or not, but now, I think I will tell you after all.
Do you mind accompanying me just a little while longer?”

His usual smile was gone as he stared directly at me with a serious look as he said that.

I felt déjà vu seeing that——–it was the same as when he gave me that warning when I was about to leave Realzard.

I did, if only lightly, talk about my younger brother Klaus, the [Sword God] to graham as well.

There’s a good chance he has some very important information so I didn’t really have the option to refuse him.

“Of course, go ahead.
I can’t even begin to imagine what more you want to talk about so, speak.”

I sat down on the chair once again, and urged Graham to continue taking.

He folded his hands, and after a slight pause, finally began to start talking again.

“Ever since you told me that you were fighting against the [Sword God], it had been on my mind but, are you perhaps planning on heading to some Ancient ruins in the very near future?”

I was wondering what he was going to bring up but, to think [Foro Neem] would come up; I ended up twitching out of surprise.

I never brought this up to Graham even once, and I had only talked the bare minimum about Klaus to him as well.

If he still somehow inferred that I’d be heading to [Foro Neem] from just that much, does that mean our side of info has leaked already?

………..no, graham’s father is the Leader of the Royal Knights, he must have heard it from there I imagine.

Regardless, I need to ask further to get the full picture.

“…………….I do plan on heading there.
How exactly did you know that Graham? Did you hear it from your father?”

“So it really was like that huh.
No, it was not my father who told me about this.
Do you recall what I told you when you left Realzard?”

“Of course.
We just talked about it as well.
That the Cardinal at the capital was searching for a man named Chris——was that it, right?”

“Yes, exactly.
You see, that very Cardinal had been making some very strange moves over the last couple of days.
Apparently, he, alongside a bunch of his subordinate bishops also headed towards the ancient ruins as well recently.”

This was info even Charlotte hadn’t given me so I was shocked but, thinking carefully, it’s not strange to assume that Klaus must have got a hint that this was all a trap as well.

Our plan was built on the assumption that we had managed to lure him out completely unaware but, if this info is anything to go by, we might be the ones getting dragged into a trap instead.

“The Cardinal himself has gone out to the ancient ruins, you say eh? If that’s true then……..this is definitely a trap from Klaus.”

“There’s a chance that even other people, outside of the church have also been gathered at the ruins as well so I think, you should give up on heading to the ruins for now.”

“I appreciate the warning but, I don’t exactly have the option of falling back this time around.
Even if they expect me to come, this is still my best chance with him having far less people around him than usual.”

“……….is that so.
In that case, I won’t speak any further.
The cardinal is simply sucking up to the [Sword god] for more influence and power but, his abilities are the real deal as well so please, be very careful.”

It was like this the last time as well but, I’m glad he leaks this kind of info to me even while being a member of the church himself.

I can tell he’s genuinely worried for me as well, so I really can’t die easily in the upcoming battle huh.

“Yeah, I’ll be extra careful…….But, I was curious about one thing.
Are people of the church generally capable of fighting? I understand you being a strong fighter being the son of the Royal Knight’s commander and all but, what about the other priests and such? Aren’t they basically non-combatants?”

“No no, that’s not the case at all.
I only got the [Priest] as my job but even then, my healing mana is exceptionally strong as well.
This time, the group that went with the Cardinal are all [High Priests].
While yes, their brute fighting strength may be non-existent, but having a group of dedicated healers during a battle can be an overwhelming advantage and a problem for the opposite as well you know.”

There was a lot of things that caught my attention in those sentences but…….the thing that piqued my curiosity the most was the word, healing mana.

I had only known about mana as fundamental concept, but I have never heard of this kind of sub-division for mana in and of itself ever before.

I wanted to hear more about healing magic and the [High Priests] as well but before I get to that, I want to hear more about this healing mana thing.