Considering my situation, I thought I made quite a good Pope. I learnt a lot about paperwork and finances from Brod and Ragnald. I was already an experienced leader. Managing a major religion isn't much like keeping a band of rowdy mercs under control but it had some similarities, especially when it came to pay-day for the Cathedral Knights. I had a reasonable religious education from listening to game-saving priests. NPCs think that you just walk in to a church and save your game, but usually you have to listen to a few services before you can catch the vicar at a moment when he's not busy. They're lousy data technicians anyway- they lose your saves most of the time. Take my advice and use the visitor's book in the inn.

My first act was to give the last Pope a proper burial. If you don't give people proper burials they come back from the dead to haunt you, you see, which is kind of inconvenient.

The system was riddled with holes, all of which it was down to me to repair. The first was the background music. The Songstresses were new back then. They had few members, no independence from the regular clergy and no real plan of action. I appointed a Head Songstress- Ragnald, actually- and helped him get the right background tune in the right place at the right time. There was a lack of background music, so some situations didn't have an appropriate theme. I had the roof fixed in the hall so the acoustics were better. It was only later on when I held job interviews and started having extended conversations with bards that i came up with the idea of sealing evil with song. The Songstresses eventually became my second band of player characters.

Yes, I know the music still sucks. Look, I tried my best but let's be realistic, this is Grandia 2 not Super Hydlide.

My second project was to find out exactly what the Cathedral Knights were up to. I'd heard rumours that sometimes they went a little too far. I encouraged them, with some lavish paycheques and and some extremely fiery preaching, to concentrate more on the slaying demons and purifying true evil part of their jobs, and less on the killing everyone they even slightly suspected was a witch and burning the village down afterwards part. I only had to threaten Selene with greater excommunication once, and that was only because she killed a healer, and I felt guilty about it afterwards.

I found myself becoming a moral authority in all things. That was the hardest part of my job. My ethical values are, unfortunately, entirely secular. I don't believe in hiding behind God whenever there's a problem. There are scientific explanations for most things that happen in the world, so why can't there be logical explanation for morality as well? There are good reasons why people should be kind and honest and not kill each other- it means they have less reason to want to do it back to you, it makes you feel cleaner inside and more at peace with yourself, it means that the society you live in is more ordered and can make better technological progress. I had to put a religious spin on all this. I found that there are two sentences that mean people will automatically accept anything you say immediately afterwards.

"Granas came to me in a vision and said..."

and

"If you don't do it I'll give you the sack, you old fart."

I threw myself into my job at first. Later on I got a little bored. Being the Pope is largely an office job. I don't like sitting in a small windowless room with a computer all day, even if it's an iMac. At first I played Devil Crash to relieve the boredom, but I discovered that I was getting a little overweight. I needed some exercise. I disguised myself as a Cathedral Knight and let my darling Selene lead me on a long crusade. Being with the Knights is the strangest experience- you all look the same, you aren't allowed to speak, you have to walk like a robot, everyone is terrified of you. It makes you feel like you're not really human. I ended up in Carbo Village, where we were asked to rid Garmia Tower of the demons nesting there. I met an exceptionally gifted songstress called Elena there. Her voice was as rich and clear as a nightingale. We sat outside and listened for hours, sometimes forgetting to come back when we were called to do something. Selene didn't seem to mind- it improved our morale.

I also met Millennia.