Please Stop The Pope

Chapter 107

Winter Break

Since the incident with the disaster-level returnee, no major events had occurred, and time passed without incident.

The Guild Coalition had internal factions that fought with each other every day, and the Baegmyeong Church had surprisingly refrained from fighting, focusing on providing medical services.

Thanks to that, I had no worries and was able to rest, going back and forth between the temple and my home.

The government, on the other hand, was making daily aggressive moves, declaring that they would uproot all villains in the country before the Northeast Asia Exchange took place.

Hunters affiliated with the Hive Guild were being transferred to the Department of Ability Management, and various corruption scandals were continuously being reported.

The end of the year in South Korea was hotter than ever, with big issues breaking out every day.

Foreign media even started calling Korea something like “Crazy Korea.”

Anyway,

Whether the world was going crazy or not, my end-of-year was incredibly happy, thanks to Christmas, which I was experiencing for the first time in 10 years.

Christmas on Earth, the place I had longed to return to.

I had a grand party, inviting the members from the last gathering, along with Toby and Archbishop Rapart. Despite the effort it took to prepare the party, seeing Siyeon’s happy face made me proud.

I enjoyed the end-of-year atmosphere for the first time in a while.

“Hmmm.”

I sighed as I fiddled with the white knuckles that Toby made for me.

These knuckles were made from the metal I obtained when melting the cursed sword, a metal called Vulcanium.

The name was given by In-wook, who called it a metal imbued with the divine flames. It was the first time I realized how excellent my little brother’s naming sense was.

Since my combat style was closer to hand-to-hand combat rather than using weapons, Toby made two types of weapons for me: knuckles and gauntlets.

Both of these weapons had one common function:

Whooosh!

They could compress and release the divine flames. In other words, they acted as catalysts that significantly enhanced the power of the divine flames.

It was possible because Vulcanium had the property of condensing the divine flames, or so Toby explained with great enthusiasm. However, it was so much information that I let it go in one ear and out the other.

I did hear that the remaining Vulcanium would be added to future equipment.

I gently rotated the knuckles with my fingers and glanced over my desk.

“Excuse me.”

“Yes! Your Holiness.”

“The prayer room, the underground space, and even a cafe are just a short walk away. Why, of all places, are you tutoring in my office?”

Seated at the large desk in the center of the room, which was placed for meetings, were a young man in a suit and an elderly man in a white priest’s robe.

The young man was Park Jiwon, the business advisor for our church, the one I had interviewed last time.

The elderly man receiving modern management lessons from Park Jiwon was naturally…

“Tsk. It’s saddening, Your Holiness. Do you feel better now that you’ve driven this old man out of the temple?”

“Look at you. You only call yourself old when it’s disadvantageous. Archbishop Rapart. Isn’t that a little cowardly?”

The 68-year-old latecomer student, Archbishop Rapart.

Archbishop Rapart sighed deeply, clutching his pen.

“Your Holiness, being so heartless, the powerless old man can only feel sorrow. With no one to turn to…”

“…I’m sorry. Please, continue your tutoring.”

“I am grateful for Your Holiness’s mercy, as vast as the sea. Ji-won, continue, please.”

“Of course, Archbishop. The Archbishop absorbs knowledge like a sponge. It’s always impressive.”

“Heh, I’m embarrassed. I am merely learning diligently. Isn’t this all because the teacher is excellent?”

“Hahaha!”

“Hehehe.”

Although I had worried that they wouldn’t get along, they were actually showing an unexpected perfect chemistry.

Their constant praise for each other made it uncomfortable to watch, and the close bond between them as teacher and student made my appetite disappear.

“Ugh.”

As the saying goes, if you don’t like the temple, the monk should leave.

I couldn’t stand watching the mutual grooming any longer, so I stood up from my seat.

At that moment, both of the priests turned to look at me.

“Where are you going?”

“I don’t have anything urgent, so I’m going out for a bit. The weather’s nice.”

“Your Holiness, I saw on the morning news that an extreme cold wave warning has been issued…”

“An extreme cold wave—when else would I experience it if not now? Also, today is the day Siyeon is on break, so I’m planning to pick her up after a long time.”

At those words, Archbishop Rapart smiled warmly.

“You’re picking up Siyeon? Understood. Do you not need any attendants? Leo can accompany you. Luna is out with the trainee priests for practical work, and she won’t return until evening.”

The first batch of trainees for our church had also become competent. Thanks to Oh Junwoo and Luna constantly training the students, they were now able to perform basic self-defense.

As soon as they could take their first steps, the hellish dungeon training began thanks to Toby leading players from the Meister guild to mass-produce armor like a factory.

Without the top-tier equipment, it would have been crazy to throw the trainees into dungeons.

“I suppose that’s the plan. I’ll bring Leo with me, then. Please take care of the temple in the meantime, Archbishop.”

“Yes, Your Holiness.”

I casually grabbed my coat.

Before leaving, I checked the Wiggling Fragment in the glass jar beside my desk.

[ Growth Rate: 58%]

The reason I could be so relaxed at the moment was partly because the main quest was currently paused or completed.

The previous main quests were either cleared or stopped.

It seemed that things would remain as they were until this thing fully grew.

“I should enjoy this time to the fullest.”

When it’s busy, it’s busy, but when it’s time to relax, you should enjoy it fully.

There was no need to worry about the future when no work had come yet.

“I’ll be back soon.”

“Take care, Your Holiness.”

“Be careful, Pope.”

I waved lightly at them and opened the office door to leave.

The elementary school that Siyeon attends, “Seoul Jeil Elementary School,” is located about a 20-minute walk from the holy site.

The school, with its unusual name, was famous for various reasons.

It is a private elementary school attended mainly by the children of high-ranking individuals, such as heirs of large guild hunters or the children of high-ranking government officials, representing the social upper class.

Perhaps due to its special nature, they hired hunters as security and had very tight security in many aspects.

Although the tuition fees were incredibly expensive, it was relatively close to the house we had moved into, so we decided to transfer her there without much hesitation.

At first, I was worried about how she would adapt.

Siyeon is still only 10 years old, and most kids don’t like transferring schools when they’re in the lower grades.

But fortunately, Siyeon didn’t show any signs of disliking it.

According to her new homeroom teacher, she seemed to be adjusting well, but I wasn’t sure.

Maybe we’ll have to wait until next semester to see.

“Your Holiness. We’ve arrived.”

While I was lost in thought, Leo called out to me.

“Ah, right. Leo, have you improved a lot in driving lately? That was almost impressive.”

Since getting his license, Leo’s driving skills have been improving day by day.

Having athletic abilities that surpassed those of normal humans, driving must have felt incredibly easy for Leo.

By the way, Luna is driving a sports car worth 300 million these days.

The byproducts from the dungeons where Luna herself led the chicks to hunt had been quite profitable, and as a result, she received a huge amount of incentives.

“There’s no empty space in the parking lot, so we’ll have to park a little farther away.”

“Looks like it. What kind of school is this?”

“This is usually what it looks like at dismissal time. Instead of parents, it’s usually people who look like chauffeurs picking up the kids.”

Children of wealthy families, I suppose.

It was easy to spot people who looked like bodyguards waiting around the main gate.

The magical energy was subtly present, and it was clear they were all awakened individuals, likely hunters.

“Please get out first, Holiness. I’ll park here for a while, so you can bring Siyeon here.”

“Okay.”

As I got out of the car, a biting wind brushed across my face. It was a very harsh cold wind, as expected from the cold wave advisory.

Didn’t they say the lowest temperature today was minus 16 degrees?

It was a good thing that the school hours had been moved to the afternoon, or else most kids would probably have refused to go to school in such cold weather.

It was that cold.

If it weren’t for my divine power, I probably would have felt chilly too.

“You timed it perfectly.”

Just then, students were walking out of the main gate. It seemed the winter vacation ceremony had ended.

And that’s when I experienced the new world of after-school culture.

Every time a student came out, one of the people waiting at the main gate would rush over to take their bag.

Not a single child outside the gate was without an attendant.

Every single one, whether there were ten or a hundred.

There was a reason the parking lot in front of the gate was so huge.

“…It’s amazing.”

When In-wook and I went to elementary school, I had never seen anything like this.

Back then, there was some romance in walking home with friends, but what is this?

Of course, that didn’t mean it was bad to take care of the children this way.

If you have the money and leisure to do so, why wouldn’t you?

No one would say anything bad about it.

It was just a bit of a shame that it didn’t feel very childlike.

How long did I wait?

Finally, Siyeon, wearing a yellow tteokbokki coat, walked out of the main gate.

Unlike the other kids, Siyeon immediately started walking in the direction of our house.

I walked up behind her, then covered her eyes and said,

“Who is it?”

“Big brother! Hehe, you came to pick me up?”

“You don’t seem that surprised. I was trying to surprise you.”

“Hehe, as soon as I came out of the gate, I saw you! I pretended not to know!”

Maybe it was because she often played with my crazy colleagues these days, but it seemed like Siyeon had started to enjoy teasing me.

But Siyeon is cute, so I’ll let it slide.

I gave Siyeon a big hug.

“Aren’t you cold, Siyeon?”

“Nope! Thanks to Baekseol, I’m not cold at all.”

Swish-

Miyaaaa.

A kitten-sized Baekseol appeared out of nowhere on the ground and rubbed its head against my leg.

This was the stealth ability that had been attached to Baekseol during the process of the Divine Tree’s massive growth.

“Good job today. Let’s go home and have some churu, Baekseol.”

Miyaaa!

When it heard the word “Churu,” Baekseol wagged its tail cutely, but despite looking like this, if it wanted to, it could grow to the size of a tiger.

The previous event where I freed the soul of the Demon Sword had given the Divine Tree an immense amount of nutrients.

At Baekseol’s current level…it might even be able to take on a low S-rank hunter. After all, it’s a divine beast.

“How was the winter vacation ceremony today?”

“Hmm, nothing special! Big brother. How about we all go to a sledding hill this winter?”

“With In-wook? Just the three of us? That sounds….”

“No, no. With the whole family! I was talking to some new friends I made, and one of them is renting a ski resort. But I don’t like skiing. I’ve always wanted to go sledding with you, holding your hand!”

When she says “the whole family,” she probably means all the members of the Limen Church, right?

That’s quite a big family.

But seeing how happy she was, I couldn’t bring myself to say no.

I raised my pinky and said,

“Let’s go. I promise.”

“Promise!”

Siyeon smiled brightly and linked her pinky with mine. And at that moment, a cute sound came from Siyeon’s stomach.

Grrr-

“Hehe. I’m hungry.”

“Want to go have tteokbokki? Uncle Leo is waiting in the car.”

“Sure!”

At the mention of tteokbokki, Siyeon energetically agreed.

So, I took Siyeon’s hand and we headed back to the car. Just as we were about to get in,

Wooooo-

My smartphone, which I had left in the pocket of my coat, started vibrating.

“Siyeon, wait a second.”

I pulled out my phone and checked it. A call was coming in, and the name on the screen was someone I hadn’t heard from in a long time.

“President Seo Shin-woo”

I heard he had been busy with the Northeast Asia Exchange lately. What could he be calling for?

“Siyeon. Do you want to wait in the car?”

“Okay, big brother. Come in quickly, it’s cold!”

I sent Siyeon into the car first, then took my time answering the call. A strong voice came through the phone.

It’s been a while since I last called you, Awakener Kim Siwoo. It’s gotten much colder. How have you been? I suddenly thought of you, so I decided to give you a call.

“I’m doing well as always. But what’s the matter?”

Some matters regarding the Northeast Asia Exchange have been confirmed. Have you eaten yet? If not, I would like to have a light meal and chat with you. I happen to be near the sacred site of the Limen Church.

It seems like my relaxing days are over.

I let out a small sigh, barely audible over the phone. Then I spoke in a soft voice.

“Where are you?”