We arrive at the medical district after a while, where the specific hospital grandpa wants to bring me to is.

Damn... It's huge...

If I'm reading it correctly, 'Sicaina General Hospital' is what the sign on the building says.

"Umm... grandpa. What are we doing here?"

"Let's go in first. I'll tell you once we meet up with an acquaintance of mine."

"Uh, ok..."

 We enter the building, pushing ourselves pass the revolving door and walk straight to the receptionist.

"Ah, Your Holiness. It's an honor to have your presence in our hospital again."

The receptionist greeted my grandfather with utmost courtesy, before noticing me next to him.

"Oh! And who might this cute little girl be?"

"She's my granddaughter, Mercedes. Anyways, is that brat here?"

"Yes. Doctor Julian is in his office."

"Alright then, we're going to see him. Good work as usual."

"Thank you very much, Your Holiness."

We left the receptionist alone and climb up the stairs, my greatest enemy, to where this Doctor Julian's office is.

Upon arrival, grandpa knocks the door twice... before kicking it down all of the sudden.

"I'm coming in, brat!"

What the fuck, grandpa!? Use the door properly!

"Dammit, gramps! I told you not to kick my door down every time, didn't I!?"

Huh? Who said that?

I peeked into the room, to see a young, handsome, dark skin doctor with purple hair and brown eyes. He kinda looks similar to Sister Julia... and he is definitely mad at grandpa for kicking down the door.

"Yo! You doin' well, kid?"

"I WAS doing well... until you kicked down my door, gramps. Do you know how much it'll cost for it to be repaired!?"

"Yeah yeah, I've heard that a thousand times already. I'll pay for repairs. Heck, I'll buy you a new door, much grander than this one!"

"Just give me a normal door, gramps..."

These two sure get along well, huh? And umm... why is the doctor looking at me for?

"So, who's the kid, gramps?"

"She's my granddaughter, Mercedes."

"Ho... granddaughter, you say..."

Doctor Julian stood up from his seat and approaches me, crouch down to my height and reaches in his pocket, taking something out and handing it to me.

"Here, kid. Want a candy?"

"Ah. Yes. Thank you... doctor."

I take the candy from the doctor, unwrap the wrapper and eat it. The candy is sweet as expected, and Doctor Julian is now patting my head for some reason.

"She's a good kid. Has manners as well. Unlike her grandfather."

"Oh ho. What the fuck does that mean, huh, brat?"

"Exactly what you think I mean, gramps. Maybe you can relearn some manners from your granddaughter, and not kick someone else's door down."

These two... sure get along well, huh?

...

"So, grandpa? Can you tell me why you brought me here?"

"Huh... That is a good point. Why did you bring your granddaughter here, gramps? She's not sick or anything, right?"

"Yeah... About that, Julian. Take us to the Quarantine Ward."

""Eh?""

Quarantine Ward? As in... the area where the very sick people are at, right? Why does-

"Gramps, why do you want to take your granddaughter there?"

"I wanna test something out. So would you kindly take us there?"

Doctor Julian squints his eyes, glaring at grandpa.

"You do know what kind of patients are in there, right?"

"Well, duh~ I've been there every month, ya know."

"Then, gramps... What are you planning on doing by bringing your granddaughter there?"

Grandpa smirks confidently, looking down at the doctor who is suspicious of his actions as he answers...

"A miracle."

...............................................................

We walk down the hallway, following Doctor Julian who is guiding us to the Quarantine Ward, where only I do not know what kind of patients are admitted in there right now. But since it's called the 'Quarantine Ward', I'm guessing the patients obviously have some sort of contagious disease... But then again, such a thing would have been announced to the public to be on the alert for any more victims of said disease, which I have never hear about for the past eight years of my second life, not that I can remember every details of it, other than my first birthday which I still have not forget!

So, it's strange... no virus outbreak has been announced or anything, yet, there are people in quarantine???

Well, I don't know how shit in the medical world works, so I'm not sure if I'm right or wrong...

Guess I'll just have to follow them and see-

"Ow!"

I bumped into something?

"Mercedes, you alright?"

"Ah, yeah... I'm okay, grandpa."

But just what did I bumped into?

I put my hand out and realised what it was.

It was a barrier, made by holy magic. And from the mana I'm feeling from it, this barrier is a powerful one! Possibly near impossible to break, unless the caster themselves removes it.

Looking around me, I see the sign saying 'Quarantine Ward' on the wall, which means that this is our destination... But just exactly how bad is it, that one has to cast a barrier to prevent anyone from entering carelessly?

"Grandpa, who casted this barrier?"

"I did."

What?

Grandpa then place his hand on my head, muttering a chant which made his hand glow for a second.

"I have given you my permission. With it, you can now pass through the holy barrier, [Sacred Protection]."

Oh. Okay...

"Alright then, come on now, sweetie. Lets-a-go!"

Who are you? Mario!?

Me, grandpa, and Doctor Julian enter the Quarantine Ward, where our bodies then became coated by a smaller form of the [Sacred Protection]. However, I also sense another type of holy magic spell within the barrier.

"Grandpa, this is..."

"It's gramps's [Area Healing], casted around the entire ward."

Ah, I see.

"Thank you for the info, Doctor Julian."

"No problem, Lady Mercedes."

"Hey~ How come you call me 'Gramps' and my granddaughter gets to be called 'Lady'? I'm the Pope, you know that, right, brat?"

"Well soorrrry, 'Gramps'. Maybe if you stop goofing around, I can treat you with respect. How bout' that?"

"Julian... You're still upset with the door, aren't you?"

"Very. Upset. 'Your Holiness'."

"Gah! Fine! Once we're done this, I'll get you a new door ASAP, aight!?"

Grandpa walks off faster than us, whereas Doctor Julian sighs.

"Argh... I can't believe I'm indepted to that old fool..."

"Doctor, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry to make you worry, Lady Mercedes."

"No need to apologise, Doctor. But, just curious, you said something about being indebted to grandpa. What exactly is your relationship with him?"

Grandpa is the Pope, and yet, this man calls him 'Gramps' like it's nothing.

"Children are always curious of everything, huh?" Doctor Julian mutters out loud.

We continue walking behind grandpa, as Doctor Julian answers my question.

"You've met my sister, Julia, haven't you?"

"You mean Sister Julia? Well, yes. She is grandpa's assistant after all."

So Doctor Julian is her brother... No wonder they look similar.

"Well, we were abandoned by our parents when we were young. Because of that, we had to resort to petty crimes and stuff to get food to survive. But one day, while finding another target to pickpocket, we spot an old man, carrying a big bag of money."

Oh. I see where this is going.

"That 'old man' was gramps, who immediately chased after us like a wild rabid dog, once we grabbed his money."

Thought so...

"That was the scariest moment of my life..."

Aha ha ha ha... Yeah, I can imagine that...

"After he caught us, I thought that was it, we're going to be sent to the guards and are going to jail. But instead, gramps took us to the church. Feeding us food until we were satisfied, presenting us new clothes to replace the dirty ones we were wearing, and even giving a place to live with a nice warm bed to sleep in. And like that, we became gramps's grandkids. He raised us like family, showered us with love, and disciplined us whenever we did something bad. By the end of that, Julia became attached to him and became his assistant, wishing to stay by his side, even though she doesn't really say it openly. Me on the other hand, I wanted to become a doctor, so I worked hard and became one. And that's the end, I guess. Did that answer your question properly?"

Yep! More than enough to sate my curiosity.

I nodded to respond. However...

"Umm... Doctor. I'm curious about one more thing. What kind of patients are in this ward?"

Doctor Julian ponders for a moment, looking hesitant to answer, but knowing that it will be answered later on anyways, he replies.

"They are Black Death patients, admitted here 10 years ago."

Huh? Black Death? The Bubonic Plague? Ten years!? That's before I was born!

"10... years ago... How are they still alive now?"

"Holy magic. It can't cure them. But it can at the very least, ease their pain and prevent the virus from killing them immediately."

So is that what the [Area Healing] for? To prolong their time until death. And [Sacred Protection] is to prevent the virus from escaping this area, as well as preventing us from being infected by it?

All of these, done by grandpa himself!? Amazing... As expected of the Pope!

But, to be prepared for such a thing, which didn't result in an outbreak...

"Did the Black Death happen before, Doctor?"

"It did. 100 years ago, apparently. It resulted in nearly half of Ferashide getting eradicated, before the virus ended itself. Because of that, no cure has been found."

"Not even now?"

"No. The doctors... they have given up before trying to find one. Afraid of the virus infecting them, more than saving the lives of the infected. Which is why I'm here, trying to find a cure with gramps backing me up on my research for the last 10 years or so."

"All alone?"

"All alone. And to be honest, I have somewhat given up as well."

Can't blame you, Doctor. It's been 10 years and no results are shown. What's more, you have to shoulder the burden of who knows how many lives, all on your own. With no support from others, except for grandpa who is the Pope.

"That is why, if gramps thinks you can make a miracle and save them, I'll believe him. Gramps is not a liar after all."

"Wait, me? What do I have to do with this!?"

"Don't know. But ain't that why gramps brought you here in the first place? Because he thinks you can save them?"

"..."

At that moment, I realised how stupid I was to finally notice what had probably happened during my baptism.

Seeing a divine figure who is possibly one of the Gods, and my body glowing out of nowhere after that...

Am I the new Saint Brave?