The next day, Zeon woke up, trying to stretch a bit on his bed, then he opened the federation news channel. Yesterday, the pope already informed Zeon that he'll be going to the federation again.
Seeing the headline news, he cannot help but wonder what actually happened.
"Big news! Yesterday the murlocs invaded the human domain! They attacked every territory from the river. As we know until now, the murloc live in the sea and have never been spotted in the freshwater area such a river. What actually happened ? Who's wrong in this incident ? Keep watching guys.. I'm Miss Alpha, your lovely news anchor will tell you about all the details about yesterday's incident and a secret guest will be present today in the studio to accompany me to tell the details later."
"Now we'll go to see some pictures of the incident that happened. Here we have pictures from before and after the invasion. You can see a lot of damage happened to the environment near the river area after the battle yesterday."
"We don't expect that it will happen, but here it is what reality brings upon us, the murlocs could invade us anytime they want! A new breed of murlocs has been created to invade humanity."
"We'll just call it the freshwater murloc. Many dead murloc carcasses have been brought back to the federation lab to get a clearer understanding about the new species of murloc."
"The scientist reassures us that the new species of murloc is a bit weaker than the normal sea murloc. They can be distinguished by their color and body size. The sea murloc has bigger muscle tissue which means they are buffers and they have a dark blue colored skin. The freshwater murloc have smaller stature which means that they focused more on their speed and they have lighter blue color."
"From yesterday's reports we can conclude that there is no death count, but there are many injured people that have been admitted into the hospital. There are also many damages that happened to the environment around the river across humanity domain. In the future, we also need to send more personnel to protect the river area which means that we'll have shortages of personnel in some other area of activity."
Many people watch the exciting news from every area of the human domain. The central plaza is full of people watching the news aired on the big screen.
"From the info that we got, the one who's responsible and will be held accountable about the incident that happened yesterday is Auguste van Zahakkan, who we always known as the pope."
Many people over humanity made some comment showing their view of the pope.
— No way right, is it the pope's fault ?
— He's already too old for these things.
— Maybe we need a new young and capable person to replace him.
"Now beside me, we already prepared the appearance for a very special guest in today morning's news. I present to you my idol, Father Auguste!!"
"Good morning father Auguste can you explain about the chronological events that make you the one responsible for the incident that happened yesterday because here we have accusations that have been submitted to the Federation."
"The first one is from the Grand Duke of Xenolith Principality and the second one is from the King of Grapheon Kingdom. They demand you to pay the reparation damage and force you to retire from your position as the pope."
"They said that you're late when informing them about the invasion. Our federation president didn't say anything and strangely the damage that the Central City experienced from yesterday's incident is minimal compared to those two places."
Miss Alpha finished saying her view and waiting for the pope to explain the details and his point of view about the incident.
"A week ago, the church found some footsteps similar to the murloc near the eastern watergate that borders the sea. We held a meeting with our church high members and concluded that it must be the work of some criminal organization to create a deceit so we will focus more personnel on the water area. As we know, the murloc lives on the sea, this has been a fact that has been happening for a long time. So we never consider the probability that there will exist a new breed of murloc who can live in the freshwater area.. Until yesterday."
Closing his eyes, the pope feels remorse about all the things that happened.
"Yesterday, my grandson and I went fishing near the riverside and from some sources, I came to learn that the probability that there will be a new species of murloc that can live in the river becomes more probable. Then, as soon as possible I informed our humanity's highest level members about it."
As soon as the pope finished those sentences, Miss Alpha asked the question that had been on everyone's mind.
"Then, it shouldn't be your fault right, father Auguste? Maybe some of them didn't believe your words and neglected the immediate action to evacuate the river area.. Even if I hear it myself, I won't immediately believe what you say."
Some people who watched the news in some areas also commented.
— That's correct, It's definitely those people that don't take immediate action.
— The king is always blaming others!
— The grand duke is strong but the principality is being led by many nobility, it really needs a leader who can control those nobles in check.
The pope finished organizing his sentence and continued to say his answer.
"I'm very thankful to miss Alpha and some other citizens in the human domain who still trust me even now. Your deduction may be right, but it's also wrong at the same time. As the pope who led the empire, I neglected my duty and didn't inform the highest members of humanity when we first found those footsteps near the watergate. For that reason, I can be held accountable for all the damage that happened over humanity's domain."
Mist started forming on Miss Alpha's eyes after hearing father Auguste self blaming himself.
"No way father Auguste, it shouldn't be your fault! Who will believe it's all your fault. It should be those murlocs."
Miss Alpha started crying and the pope tried to soothe her.
"Then are you really going to retire? But who will protect us if you're not there anymore?"
— It cannot be right?
— Yeah, who can replace the pope? He's the hero of our humanity!
— I don't think the church has a proper successor that can replace the pope.
Sighing a little, the pope also doesn't know how to reply to Miss Alpha's question.
'The cardinals isn't a good choice to replace him, moreover after cardinal Miguel defected, it will become harder to push a cardinal to replace me'
"I announced that from today I'll retire from my position as the pope. As for who will replace me as the new leader of the church, we'll find a new successor that can be groomed to become the new leader of the church from the younger generation in our humanity domain. As for the current matter of the church, it will be handled by my old colleague Jiu!"
Unbelief can be seen on everyone's face that watches the news, The Pope is retiring!!
Many people watching the news have their eyes opening wide after hearing about the pope announcement.
"But if I remember correctly, Grandma Jiu is of the same generation as you, father Auguste. Isn't she also too old to handles the church affair" asked miss Alpha
"Don't worry miss Alpha, Jiu is a strong person, even though we're all old, but don't belittle our conviction to the holy one teaching to protect humanity. You're wrong in thinking that it's because of me that the demons are afraid of attacking our domain. It's because of the holy one's power that resides in all the peoples who trust in his teaching that humanity can win against the demons."
"And women tend to be more meticulous when handling many things unlike us men. Hahaha.."
The pope added while laughing loudly on the screen without caring about his image anymore.
"Father Auguste, please take care of your image.. your image.." miss alpha leaned closer to the pope to remind him that the recording is still ongoing
"It's okay, it's time to enjoy myself, I'm retiring anyway! Hahaha.. My little Zeon, did grandpa look cool?!" the pope smiling and waving at the audience who watched the news
The camera changes direction and focuses more on Miss Alpha.
"It's been a long while everyone, but I should remind you that the river area is still not safe, we don't know how many of those freshwater murlocs that have come to our river area. To protect your own safety please stay away from the river location for this month and please inform the closest guardian that will be stationed on the river area if you see any traces of murlocs."
"Thanks for the time, Father Auguste. Thanks to the people who watched the news today. We'll be back tomorrow. Stay tuned to the Federation morning news channel."