Somebody Stop the Pope – 65



Episode 65

3.

It is said that it takes about 4 hours and 30 minutes from Narita International Airport to Sendai City.

Originally it would have been best to land at a nearby airport but the route was said to have been blocked due to Yamata no Orochi.

A national crisis level devil.

As befitting its grand name the number of demons following Yamata no Orochi was considerable.

Still thanks to that I was able to have some time to briefly resolve my doubts in the car.

I spoke to Team Leader Kim while looking out the window at the Japanese scenery.

“Were you acquainted with Mr. Ryu Jin-young?”

“Three years ago when Mr. Ryu Jin-young returned to Earth I personally went to pick him up. In some ways it was quite similar to the situation with Mr. Si-woo.”

“I saw you earlier and you seemed like a very polite person.”

“He is a serious and responsible person. It is said that he was an executive of an organization called Magic Tower in the world of Reynard. When he returned a large amount of magical power was felt so the higher-ups already knew that he was a disaster-level returnee.”

It seems that we were transferred to a world with magic. There was an organization called Magic Tower in Eden so it wasn’t that strange.

I nodded while listening to Team Leader Kim’s explanation. Then I asked about the question I had been wondering about.

“As far as I know Mr. Ryu Jin-young worked for the government. Don’t people with a strong sense of responsibility usually not make such choices?”

“If that’s the choice you want to make…..”

“People call Mr. Ryu Jin-young a traitor like Ryu Wan-yong. Whatever the reason it is true that he betrayed the Republic of Korea and went over to Japan.”

He is the one who promised the people that he would protect the Republic of Korea two days before he came over.

No matter how many concessions were made it could only be seen as an act of deception.

But Team Leader Kim shook his head with a bitter smile.

“Mr. Ryu Jin-young has never betrayed the Republic of Korea even once. He was a magician who returned to protect his family and the Republic of Korea that his family loves.”

“How were you able to return?”

“Mr. Ryu Jin-young spent 15 years in Reynard. He studied magic to return to Earth with the help of his master.”

“Master.”

Although we may not know his teacher may have been a divine being.

Because crossing dimensions was a power not permitted to mortals.

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In my case I was barely able to return thanks to Limen’s help.

“Mr. Ryu Jin-young who returned to Earth willingly helped the government. Moreover thanks to Mr. Ryu Jin-young’s presence many Awakened people joined the government.”

I think I’ve heard it before.

The heyday of government-affiliated Awakened people.

With the power of Ryu Jin-young that we saw earlier it seems like it would have been possible. It would have been enough to overwhelm even CEO Choi or Kang Chae-ah.

There is one thing that is off-putting here.

If an Awakened person with that level of power joined the government of his own free will and boldly declared it in front of the people it cannot be anything other than sincere.

If we think about the attitudes of the government-affiliated Awakened people including Kang Chae-ah and Team Leader Kim’s story one conclusion can be naturally drawn.

“It wasn’t intentional?”

“June 12 2030. An immeasurable chaos gate was created in Daejeon and Busan. Two chaos gates of similar scale to those at the opening of Dimension. It was an extremely unusual event even when looking around the world.”

The first gate created during the opening of Dimension left a mark on Seoul Ground Zero where our Limen Sect’s temple is now located.

Ground Zero in Daejeon and Busan seemed to be a vestige of that time.

Team Leader Kim continued his story with his fists clenched.

“The Busan gate appeared first and naturally the government concentrated all its power there including Ryu Jin-young. However two hours after the government concentrated all its power on Busan another problem occurred.”

“electrification.”

“Yes another sudden gate has been created in Daejeon. And it is even bigger than the one in Busan.”

The government may not have had the resources at the time to deploy the most powerful card it could muster which was dispatched to Busan.

I frowned.

“Aren’t there other large guilds? I wish they would mobilize like they did during the last monster wave…”

“It was after the Daejeon Gate that the responsibility for national defense was given to the Jeon Kak-ryeon.”

“So you made a deal with them?”

“No they threatened me. Instead of sending their main force to Daejeon Gate they demanded that Mr. Ryu Jin-young be stripped of his citizenship and deported from South Korea. Their goal was clear. To bring down Mr. Ryu Jin-young the symbol and center of the government-affiliated Awakened.”

“You accepted those conditions?”

“Even President Seok Woo-san who was the president at the time was furious and refused. However the one who persuaded the president was none other than Ryu Jin-young himself.”

“…because I can’t stand by and watch innocent victims being killed.”

“Yes.”

There are people like that occasionally very rarely.

Those who truly want to walk the right path and the just path. We call such people heroes.

Ryu Jin-young would have been a hero. And Jeon Gak-ryeon couldn’t just sit by and watch a hero exist on the government side.

If you think about what they did to me blatantly their goal must have been to gain power to lead this new society.

They had no reason to persuade the hero so they would have chosen to drive him out rather than persuade him.

“After all after the negotiations Mr. Ryu Jin-young was able to naturalize in nearby Japan. That was also one of the demands of the Korean Federation of Trade Unions.”

“They are vicious men. They even want to take away my honor?”

“Only then will the government-affiliated Awakened people change their affiliations in disappointment. That is exactly what happened.”

Human greed for power always exceeds imagination.

At this point I thought I understood why government organizations including the Ministry of Ability Management despised the Jeon Gak-ryeon.

“Not many people know about this fact. At most it’s Mr. Ryu Jin-young’s direct team some government officials and the leadership of Jeon Gak-ryeon. That’s how it is.”

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“They did such a piece of crap they should have held a press conference.”

“Sometimes the truth doesn’t mean anything.”

“Is that so?”

I smiled bitterly and looked out the window again.

And he said in a low voice.

“If it’s a truth known only to a few doesn’t that mean it’s confidential?”

Then Team Leader Kim answered with a weak smile.

“I wish someone would remember the truth. And… it was my own kind of confession.”

“Why did you have to do that to me?”

“Your Majesty you are the Pope.”

“…You’re not being honest.”

Outside the window rain was falling lightly.

I couldn’t help but be lost in thought for quite some time listening to the sound of the rain.

4.

4 hours later.

The car we were riding was able to arrive at the base camp located near Sendai City.

The condition was good.

This is because the divine power adjusted the condition of the car by pre-consecrating it.

And it would have been the same for our awakened followers who followed behind.

“It’s amazing. I’m not tired at all.”

“Really? What’s so special about the car?”

I could hear the conversation of the Awakened people who were getting out of the car with Leo.

Leo approached me silently and said bowing his head.

“Did you rest comfortably?”

“Oh okay. I guess you paid some attention to the car behind you?”

“I heard that you are there to protect His Majesty. This is a small token of our gratitude.”

I see.

As I was having a light conversation with Leo Ryu Jin-young who had arrived behind me approached me.

“The American delegation including Aiden Howard is on standby. We will begin the operational briefing shortly so I will guide you there.”

“yes.”

There were quite a few things I wanted to talk about with Ryu Jin-young but these weren’t the topics I wanted to talk about now.

It’s not too late to talk to him after I’ve dealt with the demons educated that Barbarian guy and finished all my schedule in Japan.

“This is a meeting for those in charge only. We will help the rest of you recover from the aftereffects.”

“Ms. Kang Chae-ah Team Leader Kim and Leo are the last ones to attend. I will bring only the four of us. Is that okay?”

“Of course.”

I glanced at Kang Chae-ah and she nodded and ordered her men to rest. Then we all headed to the temporary barracks located in the center of the base camp.

The atmosphere at the camp was quite subtle.

Those who appeared to be Awakened on the American side were looking at us with interest while those on the Japanese side were looking at us with wary eyes.

Considering the long history of relations between South Korea and Japan it is not surprising that they were so wary.

“Everyone looks nervous.”

“Isn’t Yamata no Orochi scary?”

“Your Majesty you know that they are afraid of us.”

“Well humans are always afraid of the unknown. They don’t know what kind of people we are that’s why they act like that.”

“Would it be different if you knew?”

“Would it be different?”

When that time comes instead of looking at us with such wary eyes they will try to avoid us altogether.

I chuckled and moved forward.

So we arrived in front of a fairly large tent and Ryu Jin-young stopped and said.

“It’s here. You can come in.”

“Isn’t Mr. Ryu Jin-young coming in with you?”

“I cannot attend the meeting because I am not in charge. My only task is to bring the South Korean delegation here. I will see you after the meeting.”

Ryu Jin-young bowed his head to us and then quickly stepped back.

Kang Chae-ah who was standing next to me looked at Ryu Jin-young’s back with a slight frown.

It was an expression that seemed to say ‘I have a story to tell’ written openly on his face.

I heard from Team Leader Kim in the car earlier that Ryu Jin-young and Kang Chae-ah were originally lovers.

Besides I heard that Ryu Jin-young’s help was a great help in helping Kang Chae-ah grow into the powerful magician she is today.

Lover and teacher.

Since they were so close Kang Chae-ah couldn’t help but feel dizzy looking at him.

“Ms. Kang Chae-ah.”

“Oh yes.”

“Let’s go in.”

“…sorry.”

I’m sorry for that.

Anyone would feel the same way if they saw their ex-lover who had unfortunately broken up. Although the prerequisite for a great wizard is unwavering determination she has not yet reached that level.

I stepped into the tent exhaling lightly. Soon I began to feel hot gazes from all sides.

There was a table in the middle of the tent. It was a large table with three sides: left center and right.

On the left sat the Japanese Awakened and in the center sat the American Awakened.

“Siwoo. The person sitting in the middle….”

“Are you a Barbarian?”

“…yes.”

“I don’t know who came up with that nickname but it fits so well.”

As soon as I entered I could tell who the Barbarian was.

In the middle of the table.

A muscular man wearing only an animal skin wrapped around his upper body even though the weather could easily be called early winter.

He didn’t even cover his entire upper body. He was just wearing some kind of leather wrapped around him like a scarf.

In between his upper body muscles covered in scars twitched incessantly and his eyes constantly searched me like those of an animal.

The bizarre tattoo on his head instead of his hair also makes up a big part of his first impression.

I don’t feel even the slightest bit of magic from him.

Instead I feel like there is something more to it.

[An ‘unknown force’ begins to pressure you!]

Aura that is not recorded in my system.

It was neither magic nor divine power but rather a power closer to will than spirit.

At first glance it felt like it had a similar vibe to CEO Choi but the essence was completely different.

That’s better.

‘It’s dangerous.’

It was almost like an untamed ferocious beast.

Even though the Barbarian was the first Irregular-class returnee I had ever met since returning to Earth he was definitely a strong enough opponent to be easily accepted.

The barbarian who had been staring at me for a long time slowly got up from his seat. Then he strode towards me leading a huge body as big as Leo.

Leo tried to move his body at that sight but I raised my hand to stop him.

“I don’t think you’re the right match.”

“…Your Majesty. But….”

“They don’t seem to have any intention of fighting either so just stay out.”

Leo frowned and stepped back and before I knew it the Barbarian was in front of me.

He is so big that you have to raise your head slightly. He is nearly 2 meters tall and his armor-like muscles give off an overwhelming presence.

[Passive skill <Blessing of Language> is applied.]

I smiled faintly as I looked at the message window that appeared before my eyes. Then I held out my hand and said.

“This is Kim Si-woo.”

Then the beast smiled wickedly and grabbed my hand.

“Aiden Howard. That’s really interesting. You’re speaking Korean aren’t you? But it sounds like English to me.”

“It is one of the many blessings my God has given me.”

“Is that so? Your god seems to be very merciful.”

“He is not only merciful.”

“I’m jealous.”

He spoke in a very provocative tone while holding my hand.

“The gods of my world are all just piece of trash. That’s why I killed them all.”

A ferocious momentum began to rush towards me.

Our Pope please stop this