Chapter 193: Is This the Land of Bunsik? (1) "I don't know how big a sum 45.6 billion is, but… humans really can change that much in front of money."
Sitting on the sofa and watching TV, Fedora Artran muttered to herself.
"Still… they were close enough to call each other big bro and little bro in the neighborhood… it's so sad."
With a mournful expression, she popped pieces of popcorn Jinseo had fried himself into her mouth one by one and chewed.
What Fedora was watching was the final episode of a drama about people invited into a survival game where they kill and get killed over an enormous prize—so globally popular that it seemed to have captured Fedora's heart as well.
It was also a drama Jinseo hadn't been able to show on the Francia Continent because of how many brutal scenes it had.
"Mmm… that must hurt a lot. But they say it's all acting, so it's not really happening, right?"
Even so, Fedora didn't shriek or get scared when she saw those scenes.
She had healed believers with severe injuries many times before, so bloody scenes weren't unfamiliar to her. Instead, she watched the moment the protagonist's younger brother died with a sympathetic, pained expression, feeling sorry for him.
"Huh? If they end it like this..."
After binge-watching all nine episodes at once, Fedora was so shocked at the protagonist turning back instead of boarding the ship leaving Korea that she dropped the popcorn she was about to eat.
"That definitely means there's going to be a Season 2! Haa… they say Season 2 hasn't even started production yet—how am I supposed to endure until it comes out?"
Feeling disappointed, Fedora sucked on an iced Americano through the straw stuck in a paper cup.
The drama Jinseo recommended was even more thrilling than she expected, but seeing an ending that practically demanded a sequel made her anxious and restless.
As she watched the credits roll, she shook the popcorn tub and poured the remaining popcorn into her mouth.
"I already finished it. Then next..."
Fedora peered down into the snack box beside the sofa and began pondering what to pick next.
She had already been happy with just the snacks sold on the food truck, so a snack box packed with an even wider variety was practically a treasure chest to her.
In her heart, she wanted to eat everything, but she wasn't a big eater like Craid, so she was choosing only two kinds a day and eating just one bag of each.
-meow.-
"Nero, do you want some too? Ah—Owl too?"
Fedora gave Nero, sitting on her lap, a freshly opened ChamX Cracker, then broke one in half and fed it to Owl perched on her left shoulder.
"It's a clean, mild flavor, and I really like it. I still don't understand why they have to split it into three separate packs and add extra packaging, though..."
Complaining about Korea's unnecessary snack packaging culture, Fedora picked up the remote and started searching for YuXube videos.
No matter how full of things to watch NetXlix was, if you watched only NetXlix nonstop, you were bound to get tired of it.
That was when YuXube videos were perfect.
You picked any video you liked, then when it ended you chose one from the recommended videos, played it, then picked another recommendation after that...
If you kept watching YuXube like that, time often disappeared in an instant.
"But am I… playing around too much?"
While watching a video of a famous chef making jjajang tteokbokki deliciously, Fedora suddenly felt uneasy and pressed the stop button on the remote.
It was a sudden vacation, but since she had finally come to Korea—the place she had wanted to visit so badly—every day had been so enjoyable that, for the first time, she fell into serious contemplation with a grave expression.
"No. The food truck said it won't be repaired for at least a month anyway, and I can't go back before then even if I want to, so I should enjoy my vacation with peace of mind. Think of it as my last vacation before becoming the Pope, and relax… huh?"
Fedora jolted at the words she had just tossed out without thinking.
"Why did I think that?"
The Pope of the Heirem Order was never a position someone could easily reach.
Yet she had assumed far too naturally that she would become the next Pope. No matter how she thought about it, it was an unbearably arrogant thought, and she couldn't help being startled.
"What's wrong with me? Am I too excited? This won't do."
No matter how much you played when it was time to play, there were still lines you had to keep.
She went into the room Jinseo had given her, grabbed a book of laws containing the Heirem Order's teachings, and sat back down on the sofa.
"…These are His teachings, so keep them always in your heart."
-meow?-
When Fedora, who had been happily watching dramas and eating snacks, suddenly began reading the law book in a solemn posture, Nero and Owl—sitting side by side at the table across from her—tilted their heads at the same time.
Beep-beep-beep-beep, beee-rik.
"…And even if any hardship should come, know it is a trial bestowed by Him… you're here!"
Hearing the sound of the door lock opening, Fedora sprang up and walked to the entryway.
"Nothing happened while I was gone, right?"
"Yes!"
As she answered Jinseo energetically when he entered the house, her gaze was fixed on the black bag in his hand.
"You're curious about what's inside, aren't you?"
When Jinseo asked in a teasing tone, Fedora looked up at him with wide eyes and nodded.
"Glutinous rice donuts, twisted doughnuts, and salad bread. I picked things you haven't tried even once yet, Your Eminence."
"I'm truly looking forward to it!"
The worries she had tried to chase away by reciting prayers until Jinseo returned vanished in an instant at the sight of the three kinds of bread he brought.
A full week had already passed since Jinseo fled to Korea to escape Dark Dragon Evelyn's attack.
Jinseo had stayed at home the whole time with Fedora to protect her after she came along unintentionally, but for the first time in a week, he went out to receive what he had asked his younger acquaintance, Jeongguk, to prepare.
"This is your passport. As much as possible, don't take it out in front of other people."
Jinseo handed Fedora a forged passport.
Right now, she had nothing at all to prove her identity, and if anything went wrong, she'd be treated as an illegal overstayer without question. Thinking it might be dangerous to leave things like this, Jinseo decided he needed to create at least a fake identity, so he asked Jeongguk—someone he was close with—to arrange the production of a forged passport.
"To possess something I only ever saw in dramas… I'm pleased."
"I'm telling you again—carry it with you at all times, but don't take it out in front of other people."
"Yes, I will keep that in mind. Ah, and did you meet your friend well?"
"I just went to see him briefly."
He wanted to grill meat with Jeongguk and talk, but he'd been worried about leaving Fedora alone at home for too long, so he only drank coffee lightly and hurried back.
And even during that short coffee, Jinseo had to break into a sweat dealing with Jeongguk, who kept talking nonstop.
To request the forged passport, Jinseo had sent a photo of Fedora he took on his smartphone, and Jeongguk had grilled him relentlessly after seeing it.
That woman you had on your phone last time, right? Since when were you dating? And what happened that she became an illegal overstayer?
Jinseo dodged as best he could, but in the end he failed to clear up Jeongguk's misunderstanding that Fedora was his new girlfriend.
Fedora, who knew nothing of that situation, was smiling brightly as she enjoyed the chewy texture of the glutinous rice donut.
We put out the immediate fire, but what do I do going forward...
The best option Jinseo had right now was to keep her staying at home until the food truck's self-repair finished.
Fortunately, unlike Craid's group from before, Fedora didn't show any dissatisfaction at all with staying in Jinseo's home.
Watching dramas of all genres on NetXlix and enjoying all kinds of delivery food made every day blissful to her.
However, unlike back then, this was a bleak situation where they had no idea when they could return to the Francia Continent, so there was clearly a limit to keeping her inside the house forever.
"Jinseo-nim, if I may..."
"Go ahead."
"Could I go outside? Staying in your home is nice, but since I came all the way to Korea, I want to see outside too."
And just as he feared, Fedora expressed that she wanted to go out.
"Watching only dramas all the time makes my body feel stiff too."
Those three never wanted to leave the house at all. But since games aren't her preference, there's a limit. She likes moving her body and acting directly, so if she only watches dramas, she'll get bored faster.
Faced with such a different reaction from when the three men stayed at his place before, Jinseo scratched the back of his head.
"And since I came all the way to Korea, I want to get my hair properly taken care of. Like in dramas."
Fedora stroked the ends of her hair, tied into a ponytail.
Since coming to Korea, she had been caring for her hair using shampoo, conditioner, and even treatment, but there were limits to managing hair long enough to reach her thighs all by herself.
"Then should we go to a salon? Want to go now?"
"R-right now?"
Riding in the food truck Jinseo drove, Fedora arrived at a hair salon on the outskirts of the neighborhood where "Jinseo Bunsik" used to be.
It was a salon Jinseo had gone to since childhood—one he liked enough to stop by even the day before he enlisted.
"Jinseo! You're here!"
When Jinseo opened the salon door and stepped inside, the owner greeted him warmly, recognizing him right away.
"It's been almost a year, right? I've been so busy I couldn't stop by. I'll come more often from now on."
"Anyway, it's so good to see your face after so long. And… wow, it really is a foreign customer?"
He had heard it on the phone when Jinseo made the reservation, but when a truly foreign customer appeared, the salon owner swallowed hard in nervousness.
"And she's this beautiful..."
With her silver hair grown long enough to reach her thighs, her pale skin, and a beauty that made you sigh in admiration at a glance, Fedora drew every gaze in the salon.
"She isn't some celebrity from overseas, is she? No, I've never seen someone this pretty."
"Haha, no, she isn't."
"T-this isn't the time. Sit here first. Ah… should I speak English? H-h-hello? How are you?"
After babbling incoherently, the salon owner finally managed—using exaggerated gestures—to get Fedora seated in the chair.
"Now, let's see… your hair is extremely long, but it's a shame—your hair texture is quite rough."
He stroked Fedora's beautiful silver hair, sounding regretful.
"Because I tried to remain faithful to the Order's teachings, I lacked time to pay attention to my hair. It couldn't be helped."
"Oh my! You can speak Korean?"
"I learned from Jinseo-nim. I can also read and write Korean."
"Then I can just show you this! If there's a hairstyle you want, pick one from here. I'll go talk with Jinseo for a moment!"
The owner handed Fedora a magazine filled with hairstyles, then approached Jinseo, who was seated on the waiting chair.
"Jinseo, about the guest you brought… could she be some kind of noble from Europe? I don't know why, but I can feel this… elegance."
"Yes."
"Gasp! Really? Then did she live in a castle, like European royalty?"
"Not to that extent."
Since she was a cardinal of the Heirem Order, it wasn't exactly a lie.
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