Please Stop The Pope

Chapter 86

As expected.

“Tsk, tsk. Damn kid. If you’re coming, you should have contacted me first. How can you just show up like this?”

“If I couldn’t come here, I wouldn’t have come, Grandma.”

“If I had known you were coming, I would have prepared something.”

“Come on, this is already a feast. There’s even pork.”

“Siwoo. That pig? I personally hunted it. The chief of a tribe must also be skilled in hunting to feed the tribe. I happened to find some wild boars wandering around the back mountains, so I caught one. Haha!”

Aiden, while shoveling rice into his mouth, patted his chest proudly.

The rice was a large portion, but it was on a different level than I had expected.

He had filled a large bowl with rice and was continuously serving himself more.

The amount he ate in one meal was probably equivalent to what Siyeon would eat in a whole month.

Though I was tempted to demand he pay for the meal right then, I held back.

“Aiden, eat a lot.”

“Grandma. Very good. The miso soup is delicious.”

“If you need more side dishes, just let me know.”

“Thank you.”

Since Grandma was taking good care of Aiden, I couldn’t openly complain.

I sighed quietly while watching Grandma pat Aiden’s back. Then, I nodded as I tasted a piece of her special wild boar stir-fry.

“Delicious.”

The spicy and sweet seasoning soaked into the meat was exceptional. One bite made me crave soju, truly a taste that calls for alcohol.

There was no unpleasant odor, and the meat was tender, making it go down smoothly with the rice.

Grandma’s cooking skills were truly remarkable.

From kimchi to side dishes, there was no food she couldn’t make.

It wasn’t surprising that Aiden was so enamored with Grandma’s cooking.

“Compared to the grandchild who doesn’t even show up, Aiden is much better.”

“The only person who calls him Aiden so affectionately in this world is Grandma.”

“Aiden chases away the wild boars, splits firewood, and helps me with my work. Meanwhile, my grandchild is sitting there, ugly with jealousy. Tsk, tsk. What a foolish kid.”

“Haha! Siwoo, your grandma really likes me a lot. A friend’s grandmother is my grandmother too! Don’t worry. As long as I’m in Korea, I will definitely protect your family.”

Actually, from the pattern of Grandma’s behavior, it seemed like she wasn’t exactly doting on Aiden in a special way, but rather…

‘Could it be that she’s training him?’

Maybe she saw him as a kind of ox helping with farm work.

An Irregular farmhand?

He certainly seemed useful.

“By the way, Siwoo, what brings you here all of a sudden? I heard there’s some unknown infectious disease around Daejeon. Is it alright not to go there?”

It seemed Aiden had also gotten information about the Magi Fever.

I slowly nodded and answered.

“I was just coming back from dealing with it.”

“I heard it wasn’t caused by a pathogen…If you’re involved, it must have something to do with magi, right?”

“You know quite a lot, huh?”

“Our intelligence network is the best in the world.”

“The reason I came here suddenly is also related to that matter. And…Madam Emma must have already known I was coming, right?”

I quietly glanced at Madam Emma, who had already finished her meal and was calmly drinking tea, and asked indirectly.

The reason I came here today was to ask her various questions about causality.

At my direct question, Madam Emma smiled mysteriously.

“As I said before, I can’t predict your future, Siwoo. I just thought that you seemed like you had many questions.”

I had felt it before, but talking to this grandmother always felt like engaging in a Zen-like dialogue.

Before I could start asking questions seriously, her vague words led me to pause.

Chak-!

Suddenly, a sharp pain struck my back, and the shock spread throughout my body.

“Didn’t I tell you, don’t talk about work at the dinner table?”

“No, Grandma. This is really urgent.”

“If you’re going to talk about work, at least finish your meal first. Look at Aiden. He’s already finished his rice bowl.”

“That’s because that guy eats so much! If anyone else ate like that, they’d burst from overeating.”

It wasn’t even a magical smack, but why did it hurt so much? It’s a real mystery.

Honestly, if Luna had hit me with a mace, it would have just stung.

There was clearly a secret hidden in Grandma’s palm.

“I’ll prepare some tea, so first finish your meal, you brat. It looks like you haven’t been eating properly. Eat well here and go.”

Grandma’s sincere words were hidden in her rough tone.

I couldn’t help but smile softly at her words.

“Got it.”

“Grandma! One more bowl for me. This is delicious!”

“Hey. Don’t you have hands? Go get it yourself. Don’t make Grandma do it.”

If it weren’t for Aiden, this would have been a heartwarming conversation between a grandmother and grandson.

Anyway, he’s such an unhelpful guy, isn’t he?

4.

After dinner grandma prepared some tea and told us to relax and chat, then took Aiden for a walk, leaving me alone at the house with Madam Emma.

I took a sip of Grandma’s sweet plum tea. Then, in a quiet voice, I spoke.

“I want to understand the laws of causality. Specifically, I want to know the vague standards of the causality compliance assessment.”

I still couldn’t use all my power on Earth. If this was the penalty for a restricted system, it would be best to avoid it as much as possible.

It wasn’t a world where anything strange happening would be out of the ordinary.

In such a world, being limited in power was as deadly as it gets.

I had been warned about the penalties, but when I actually received one, it was incredibly uncomfortable.

When I used the powers in Guro-gu and Japan, no penalties were applied, and honestly, the Purification Wings I used during the Yamata no Orochi incident were much larger in scale.

Given that, it was impossible not to feel the standards were vague.

“I see.”

Madam Emma looked at me with a calm expression.

“It seems that you failed the causality compliance assessment. Am I right, Siwoo?”

“Exactly.”

“I’m not sure how to explain it. Could you wait for a moment?”

She quickly organized her thoughts in her mind.

Then, taking a breath, she continued.

“I hope you understand that I can’t perfectly explain the system’s judgment.”

“Of course.”

“The reason you’ve received a penalty, Siwoo, is that you’ve directly intervened in the fates of many lives. There is a distinct difference between intervening before an event occurs and intervening after the event has already happened.”

A blue light flowed from Madam Emma’s eyes.

“Shall we look at those you’ve saved, Siwoo? They would mostly have died if not for you. In other words, their fates were decided the moment they contracted the disease. As you know, the mortality rate for that disease was very high.”

“Are you saying that saving people who were about to die from a disease is also subject to causality?”

“Half correct. If you had performed miracles for those who earnestly believed in Limen, it would have been an appropriate result. A miracle of Limen for those who sincerely believe in Her is not an act against the laws of causality.”

A more detailed explanation of causality followed, though still vague.

Shhhhh-

Madam Emma scattered light in the air. The light transformed into the phenomenon of scales.

“In this case, the left side of the scale is the ‘faith’ of mortals, and on the opposite side, ‘miracles’ are placed. If enough ‘faith’ is secured, the scale will balance.”

“Do other players or returnees also have to comply with causality?”

“Usually, yes. But for you, Siwoo, it is applied much more strictly. The reason for this is that your power ultimately originates from ‘divine power,’ or ‘faith.’”

Madam Emma took another sip of her green tea, which was already quite cold, but steam was still rising from her cup.

“So, to summarize what you’re saying…you’re saying that by saving people who should have died from disease, and many of them not even having faith in Limen, the balance of causality was disrupted?”

“Exactly. Siwoo, you’re quite sharp, just as Eun-young said. If all the people you saved had faith in Limen, the penalty would have been significantly reduced.”

“It seems like the standards for me are too strict.”

“That just means the system is particularly aware of you.”

In short, this meant that going around the world and miraculously saving people from fatal diseases was not going to be allowed.

“The more time passes and as the Limen church grows, the limits of causality will loosen. Don’t you feel that the causality issues have eased compared to when you first returned?”

“That’s true.”

Compared to before, when I was constantly subjected to the causality compliance assessment, the frequency had certainly decreased.

Still, I understood it now. It was worth the time to come and hear Madam Emma’s explanation.

The conclusion was simple.

For the time being, avoid directly interfering with anyone’s life and focus on expanding the church’s influence.

Those two things.

It was frustrating, but it couldn’t be helped.

Still, I was grateful that Madam Emma’s explanation was much more detailed than before.

“Siwoo.”

Madam Emma placed her cup down and quietly looked at me.

In a low voice, she said.

“I understand that you feel frustrated, but you need to understand. The system is trying to maintain balance this way. If the balance is broken, a terrible disaster will occur on Earth.”

“Thank you for the advice.”

“Once you get older, you talk more. Hoho. If you ever have more questions, feel free to come and ask. If it’s information you’re allowed to know, I’ll happily share it with you.”

…That means.

“You’re planning to stay in Korea?”

“I’ve already paid 6 months of rent to Eun-young. It seems like there’s a lot of work to do here for now. So, feel free to come by anytime.”

Could the rapidly improving relationship between the U.S. and Korea involve not only me but also Madam Emma’s intentions?

I didn’t know why she wanted to stay here, but one thing was clear.

This land I was standing on was going to get louder in the future.

That much was easy to guess without thinking too much.

“I’ll be looking forward to it, Siwoo.”

Hearing Madam Emma’s soft voice, I couldn’t help but smile reluctantly.

In any case, it was certainly a productive conversation.

5.

After finishing her tea time with Kim Siwoo, Emma Miller quietly gazed at the mountains of Korea outside the window.

To her, Korea was a beautiful land. She had met a kindred spirit by chance, and through that friend, she encountered a new Irregular.

She thought all these coincidences were guided by the system. If the system hadn’t been involved, could such absurd coincidences have happened?

While resting, she happened to meet Go Eun-young and followed her to Korea. But it turned out that Go Eun-young was Kim Siwoo’s maternal grandmother, a new Irregular in Korea.

Countless coincidences and connections were intertwined.

‘Entangled coincidences. That’s what they call fate.’

It was something that couldn’t be explained without fate.

If it weren’t a fate guided by the system, such coincidences would never have come together.

“Madam.”

The voice that awakened her from her thoughts was none other than Aiden Howard, the Irregular from the United States.

Emma Miller looked at Aiden, who boasted a bear-like physique, and smiled kindly.

“You’re back. How about Eun-young?”

“She told me to go ahead and bring some side dishes to Siwoo.”

“Such a warm family, don’t you think?”

“It’s enviable.”

Aiden smiled bitterly and sat down in a chair.

Emma Miller recalled the story Aiden had once shared.

His world, stained by countless wars. A man who overcame the war with the determination to meet his beloved wife and eventually returned to Earth.

But after a long and arduous journey, the Earth he returned to no longer had the wife he had loved.

Aiden’s wife had died in a sudden gate that appeared in L.A. two years after the Dimension Opening.

This caused Aiden Howard to carry many labels.

‘The Irregular with the highest possibility of becoming a villain.’

Most awakened beings who were in a mentally unstable state ended up becoming villains and causing chaos in society.

If an Irregular like him became a villain, there would be no greater disaster.

To the U.S. government, Aiden was such an existence.

The most uncontrollable Irregular, like a ticking time bomb.

Emma Miller, too, was always conscious of Aiden, but the changes occurring in him recently were very encouraging to her.

“How long do you plan to stay here?”

“As long as you are here, Madam, I plan to stay here as well.”

“I see. It seems like you really like Siwoo.”

“An absolute being with compassion. That alone is enough for me to like him. And he is a warrior I can trust and rely on.”

“That’s a good change. For the sake of our two young friends’ friendship, I suppose I’ll need to stay here longer.”

“Haha! I’m fine with that.”

Aiden burst out laughing, then grabbed the whiskey bottle on the table. He opened the cap and took three consecutive gulps.

“Madam, I want to ask you something.”

“I’ve been receiving a lot of questions today. What’s your question, Aiden?”

“I don’t think the Oracle stayed here without a reason. You staying here and the home country allowing it means you’ve seen something.”

Aiden took another gulp of his drink. Then, wiping his mouth with his hand, he spoke again.

“What future did you see here, Madam?”

“Well…”

At Aiden’s question, she slowly closed her eyes.

Then, in a very quiet voice, she answered.

“I’m not sure if what I saw is truly the future. Heh.”

‘That’s not something that could be considered the future…’

Emma Miller leaned back in her chair and kept her mouth shut.

She thought it would be better not to say any more.

At least, that’s what she thought.