Chapter 158: Who Will Be the Next Pope? (5) When Jinseo first arrived at the Holy Land, he expected to spend his time peacefully selling bunsik.
It wasn't that he expected the food truck wouldn't get crowded with customers, and in fact, many clergy inside the Holy Land stopped by the food truck every day.
However, thanks to his experience doing business with an enormous number of customers in the Girvante Kingdom just before this, it was a level he could more than handle alone.
Maybe because it was inside the Holy Land, rather than eating noisily, they kept quiet and enjoyed bunsik modestly, which felt unfamiliar to Jinseo.
But just because it was quiet didn't mean the atmosphere inside the Holy Land was as peaceful as Jinseo had expected.
A solemn atmosphere was only natural for a Holy Land, but with meetings to elect the next pope continuing nonstop, tension inevitably began to hang in the air.
Jinseo, who did not belong to the Order, silently sold bunsik regardless of that atmosphere, and Fedora and Veronica each stopped by the food truck once a day without fail to eat bunsik and leave.
However, as if by agreement, there was not a single time the two met in the same place.
As time passed, today marked one week since he arrived at the Holy Land, and snow falling from the sky blanketed the entire Holy Land in white.
"Five servings of tteokbokki, please. And five chocolate milks instead of CoolXse, too."
"Two servings of rabokki and one serving of regular tteokbokki, and also slice one serving each of squid and seaweed roll tempura and mix it into the tteokbokki."
"Brother Jinseo, you've worked hard. Three servings of rose tteokbokki, and one large CoolXse, please."
The colder the day, the more you crave warm bunsik.
As soon as prayer time ended—prayers for the pope's full recovery—the clergy of the Holy Land came looking for the food truck.
Enjoying all kinds of bunsik, starting with tteokbokki, had already become one of their daily routines.
"Here you go. Enjoy your meal. I added one extra piece of each tempura."
"Oh my… thank you. But isn't it hard if you keep working alone?"
"It's fine. I'm still holding up."
Jinseo really was doing business without any particular difficulty, but to others, there was no way he wouldn't look pitiful, working alone from morning to midnight.
So customers returned their empty plates on their own, and for Fish Cake Soup, they filled paper cups themselves according to the number of people and took them away, easing Jinseo's workload.
After making bunsik nonstop for an hour like that, Jinseo took the chance when there were no additional orders and bit deeply into a chocolate bar.
Are they still in meetings about that topic today, too…?
With the situation such that it wouldn't be strange if the pope passed away at any moment, the Order's leadership had been holding long meetings for a week, debating whom to elect as the next pope.
To become the pope, the highest seat in the Heirem Order, many factors were considered, but the single biggest influence was how great one's holy power was.
The problem was that there was no way to measure that holy power precisely as a number.
They said the current pope could become the next pope because he once cured the previous pope's illness with a blessing.
Blessings and healing granted by Heirem Order clergy only take effect on those whose holy power is lower than their own.
Therefore, if a clergyperson emerged who could treat the current pope's illness, that alone would be more than enough qualification to become pope.
But even though high-ranking clergy, including Fedora, had delivered blessings to the Holy Land many times, and all clergy within the Holy Land offered prayers every day, there wasn't even a hint the pope's condition was improving—it only worsened as time passed.
If Fedora's blessing had worked, this would've been an easy problem to solve, but it didn't. That's really unfortunate.
Right now, forces within the Order were broadly split into two.
One faction supported Fedora, who entered the Order at a later age than others but became a cardinal already in her thirties.
Opposing Fedora was another faction, pushing Veronica—who traveled all over the continent and performed her duties as an inquisitor excellently—as the next pope.
Both of them were young, yet they were respected by many within the Order, and their holy power was also presumed to be the highest aside from the current pope, so the next pope's seat could not be decisively settled in either direction.
"Ah, Your Eminence. Welcome."
When Jinseo recognized Fedora and greeted her, the clergy who were eating at the counter seats flinched and stood up.
"You don't need to mind me, brothers."
Fedora gestured for them to sit back down and then took the far-left seat at the counter.
"Is today's meeting over?"
"They said it'll start late today. It'll probably begin in an hour."
Resting her chin on her left hand, Fedora swept her eyes up at the menu board.
In her heart, she wanted to eat very spicy tteokbokki—something that would blow away her stifling feelings—but she had no confidence her stomach, worsened by meaningless meetings repeating over and over, could endure it.
"Rose tteokbokki, please."
"Yes. Just a moment."
"And I'll have one serving of rabokki."
"Uh… you're here."
After confirming the face of the customer placing a new order, Jinseo was put in an awkward spot.
Because Veronica—whom he had assumed wouldn't come since Fedora was already here—had appeared at the food truck.
"..."
Fedora kept staring straight ahead and continued eating her rose tteokbokki.
Likewise, Veronica stared straight ahead and sat at the far-right seat at the counter.
The customers sitting between them sensed something off in the atmosphere and quietly vacated their seats, and even though an empty space remained in the middle, no one dared sit there.
While Jinseo made the rose tteokbokki and the rabokki at the same time, the two kept their mouths shut and stared forward.
Even the customers eating at the tables set down the forks in their hands and looked at the backs of Fedora and Veronica, and only the occasional sound of someone sipping Fish Cake Soup could be heard.
"Sister."
In the silence, the first to speak was Veronica.
"Today's meeting will clearly end without a conclusion again, as before. If so, how about settling it right here instead?"
"In what way?"
"Over the past few days, through the blessings I've granted, I learned that the spicier the tteokbokki Lee Jinseo serves is, the stronger the effect of the blessing delivered after eating it becomes."
"Yes, I'm already well aware of that…"
"Then let's compete over which of us can eat more spicy tteokbokki and endure it longer. With that, I believe we can judge, in our own way, whose faith is more steadfast. What do you say?"
"Fine. I'll accept your proposal. Jinseo, I'm sorry, but instead of my order just now, please serve special tteokbokki. And also for the sister seated over there."
Hearing Fedora's order, Jinseo took out fire chicken sauce and began preparing fresh tteokbokki.
"Until one of us gives up first, we'll eat the same amount of special tteokbokki. And as for CoolXse, we'll limit it to one cup per plate of tteokbokki—"
"It seems you intend to rely on CoolXse to escape pain, Sister. I have no intention of drinking even a single drop. I'm confident I can endure any pain."
When Veronica made it clear she would refuse even CoolXse, Fedora—glancing at her from the corner of her eye—also nodded, saying she would join in.
"…The special tteokbokki is ready."
With a stiff expression, Jinseo placed the special tteokbokki—its broth a dark, blackish red—before the two of them.
Then the two began eating the special tteokbokki with a far fiercer momentum than before.
"One more plate, please."
"Same for me."
Fedora quickly cleared a plate and ordered more, and Veronica also emptied her plate and ordered, as if refusing to lose.
Fwoosh.
With a brilliant light, Fedora was the first to grant a blessing.
Fwoosh.
Not to be outdone, Veronica also overcame the pain and manifested a blessing.
In an instant, the expressions of the clergy who had gathered around the food truck to watch their match softened.
Chronic conditions that hadn't improved even after receiving blessings from other high-ranking clergy vanished completely.
Even so, the two's tteokbokki-eating match continued regardless.
"This won't do. Please give us the special tteokbokki with that added."
"You mean the one with nuclear fire chicken sauce? Understood."
Jinseo served them the even spicier special tteokbokki he had prepared in advance on another griddle.
Seeing the broth now far darker and redder than before, the two hesitated for a moment, then almost simultaneously took a bite of the rice cake.
"As expected… nuclear fire chicken sauce… ngh, it's different."
"Th-this taste… ugh, it's definitely strong."
At the spiciness of the special tteokbokki made with nuclear fire chicken sauce—far stronger than regular fire chicken sauce—their expressions twisted.
In extreme pain tormenting their tongues and the insides of their mouths, the two of them managed to finish one serving of special tteokbokki with difficulty, then pushed past two servings and challenged a third.
Fwoosh.
And as if by promise, the two of them cleared the third plate at the same time and granted blessings.
With blessings repeated again and again, among the clergy gathered around, there wasn't a single unhealthy person left.
But in exchange, Fedora and Veronica, the ones who had granted the blessings, had to writhe in pain spreading through their entire bodies.
Their faces were flushed red, and with sweat constantly pouring down, their whole bodies were soaked.
"Jinseo… spicier… please."
"Lee Jinseo, I… feel the same."
Even while suffering from the special tteokbokki's spiciness, the two continued ordering more.
Jinseo fell into thought for a moment, then called the AI.
{AI, if I serve tteokbokki even spicier than now, analyze whether those two can endure it.}
{ -This is the limit. Further spiciness is assessed to only inflict pain on the two customers currently consuming tteokbokki with the mobile cooking equipment.- }
"I'm sorry to both of you, but I can't serve tteokbokki any spicier than this."
Instead of spicier tteokbokki, Jinseo placed one long carton-pack CoolXse in front of each of them.
"What? But the match isn't decided yet—"
"I can still endure it… I still can!"
The two showed their determination to continue the eating match, but Jinseo shook his head and placed two glass cups in front of them, one each, instead of the depleted paper cups.
"I'm a cook, so I should serve the flavor customers want. But I don't want to serve food that only causes customers pain. The expressions on your faces right now, as you eat the special tteokbokki, don't look happy at all. Am I wrong?"
When Jinseo spoke with a stern expression, their faces flushed red again, in a different sense than before.
"Jinseo, I'm truly sorry. We only thought of ourselves and didn't think about you. I really… can only apologize."
"I'm the one who should apologize. I truly… have no words."
"Still, one way or another, the two of you ended up eating together in the same place."
Maybe because they were distracted by the special tteokbokki's spiciness.
The distance between them had narrowed to the point where if they extended an arm, they could touch.
"So from now on—"
Hearing murmurs behind him, Jinseo stopped mid-sentence.
Between the clergy who hurriedly stepped aside, Fedora and Veronica saw an old man approaching with a kindly smile, and both of them sprang up from their seats at the same time.
"Y-Your Eminence!"
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