Chuuni Tales

Chapter 2: Venture out

Ron

My jaw dropped in shock, heroes? What were we supposed to do? Three only?! One of us isn't special like the other three? Who could it be? These were the questions running in my head after the Pope told us about being heroes.

Chris looked at Pope Owen intensely, still shocked after what he just heard while Pope Owen simply smiled at him.

"Is there anything else troubling you?" The Pope said, smiling at Chris who closed his eyes. Chris paused for a bit, seemingly thinking of a question, until he opened his eyes, finally ready to ask another question to pressure the Pope.

"What do you mean "you three"? As you can see, you've summoned four people, yet only three heroes? What's the meaning of this, Pope Owen?" Chris said in a serious tone, his blue eyes reflected the visible crack in the Pope's facade. Beads of sweat formed on the Pope's forehead, nervous and anxious for his next move, while Chris laid patiently, waiting for Pope Owen's response.

"Pardon me, but I must've flubbed my introduction of the concept. The four of you are designated to be heroes, however, without training, you are simply people who possess immense amounts of mana. The only reason I was keeping my lips sealed earlier was so that you could dine leisurely without a care." Pope Owen said with a warm smile that made Chris cringe in aversion.

I was fine with the explanation though, people make mistakes and I'm sure that the Pope was simply looking out for us. After all, we knew next to nothing about this fantasy world. If I'm being honest, I was excited to see the world outside of the castle. If the castle was already this grandeur, then there's no telling what the town should hold!

The pope reclined a bit, relaxing himself while Chris gazed at him with doubt scribbled all over his face. The Pope soon sighed to himself, adjusting his posture as he looked Chris in the eye. "And now that this issue has blown over, and that I know I could never gain your trust in a single day Chris, I believe it's best to leave you the your own devices and take a look at the castle on your own leisure today. Familiarize yourself with the area since this would be your new home. Tomorrow however, would be the start of your official training before you are released to the world as heroes. Meet me in front of the Cathedral tomorrow, as to where that is, you'll have to find out yourself." The pope said, chuckling softly as he stood up, exiting the room and leaving us behind. I thought he wanted to be a good guest? What was this then?!

"Wait...Pope Owen, aren't you supposed to guide us?! What if we run into an issue?!" Dia said in a panic, reaching out for the Pope who simply laughed at her statement. Pope Owen turned around, his calm demeanor chilling me to the core. His smile lost all trace of sincerity, as if it were a show. "Dear Heroes, I believe there are some issues you have to tackle amongst yourselves. Thus, I shall leave your group for the moment to settle and let the concepts of this fantasy world finally sink into you." Pope Owen said and without batting an eye, he turned around, exiting the room with the only noise to be heard was the sound of his staff.

I felt weird about the Pope, perhaps it was right to put my doubts in him, but I guess that will prove counterintuitive to my current goal of being a hero, so I decided to just go neutral right now to prevent any slip-up that might happen on my end. I looked around noticing everyone's troubled expressions, with the worst case being Dia who was shaken up from the events that had just happened.

The silence choked the air with the four of us awkwardly exchanging glances at each other while we waited for the next person to speak. I gathered up my courage, finally deciding that I should break the silence that hung over our heads. "Oh well, now that we're alone, I guess we can eat in peace and discuss what we think about him." I said, returning my focus to the food that sat on the table. I glanced at the others to check if they wanted to do anything else but they simply sat back, eating the food that was on the table.