The Pope Who Returned After Having Three Children: The Day the Hero Stirred Up Chaos on Live News
I hadn't turned on the broadcast that day.
More precisely, I couldn't.
Liam had drawn far too much attention. If I switched it on, problems would erupt. So I needed to handle that first.
“Hello.”
It had been only a little while since the big fuss. A visitor had come to our house.
“It’s been a while. This is Ha In-ha.”
The NIS agent from our last meeting.
I decided not to ask how she knew where we lived—that would be too awkward. If the National Intelligence Service couldn’t even track my location properly, I’d be disappointed.
“It’s not our house, but please come in.”
I led Ha In-ha to the table and seated her.
I considered offering her tea but set that idea aside. The rudeness I’d seen the last time was still vivid in my memory.
Instead, I set a glass of water on the table. Ha In-ha drank it in big gulps, her throat clearly dry.
While she did that, I sat opposite her. Once Liam finished his work and returned, I made him sit beside me as well.
With both of us ready to listen, a stiff voice poured out immediately.
“Let’s cut straight to the chase. You caused an enormous incident. How exactly do you intend to resolve it?”
Resolve? The words sounded like something a complete stranger might say. I’d thought the same thing at first.
I smiled faintly and replied.
“I’ll say this in advance. My husband has always been the sort who doesn’t bother with the details. You must keep that in mind.”
“……”
Ha In-ha looked momentarily speechless, lips twitching.
“For the record, the person who wrote the words in the sky is Liam.”
“…It’s not a lie. I can see that now.”
Her blunt gaze swept over Liam. Of course, we didn’t care whether she liked it or not.
“Clityia, don’t you think it’s time for that kiss you couldn’t do last time?”
“Quiet. We’re in the middle of a conversation.”
Liam had never been able to read the room, then or now.
He’d never even tried. He simply didn’t have the habit of politeness.
The only people Liam bothered to be courteous to were the four of us: the Hero Party members, including me. With everyone else, he defaulted to rudeness.
So the impolite NIS agent had clearly run into the wrong person.
“Liam Erams. Answer my questions honestly from now on.”
“I don’t want to.”
“You’re refusing to speak? You should cooperate if you want the situation handled smoothly.”
“Why do I have to handle it smoothly? Even if your country threw its full military might at me, I’d win.”
The words had been brash, but I let it slide. No matter how powerful Liam was, mana was scarce here, so he couldn’t unleash his full strength. It was still a very high chance of victory, but I had no reason to intervene.
Soon Liam squeezed my hand and whispered.
“If you want to talk, bring your boss. What was the title again? President? Anyway, bring him.”
“……”
Ha In-ha pressed her lips tightly shut and said nothing. She had clearly felt the sting of the former Hero’s unrestrained power.
She was probably seething inside, but she held it back. So it was time to start negotiating.
“Ha In-ha, I’m sorry. My husband has always had a tendency to act without thinking and too aggressively. Please forgive him.”
I spoke gently and apologetically, and Ha In-ha’s stern expression softened a little. The “good pope, bad hero” strategy had worked.
If I could sweet-talk her now, the situation would smooth out nicely.
“You’ve seen for yourself how hard it is to control Liam. He only listens if I tell him to. From the government’s point of view, that makes things tricky.”
“…I understand what you want.”
She was truly an NIS agent. She immediately pulled a thick folder from her bag and handed it over.
I skimmed the contents quickly. It outlined the benefits that could be offered to returnees.
None of them really appealed. They looked grand on paper, but they were all showy and empty.
“This doesn’t seem necessary.”
I slid the folder aside and said quietly.
“It’s long on content but short on substance. Maybe because I’m the first returnee?”
“…Embarrassingly true. Since there was no preset manual, we had to improvise.”
That was actually a good thing. I could become the precedent.
“Instead, let me make a counter-offer. I’ll tell you exactly what I want, so provide everything. In return, I promise to keep a firm leash on Liam.”
“As long as it’s not too excessive… I’ll try to convince my superiors.”
Ha In-ha was being incredibly cooperative. She had clearly decided it was wise to treat the one person who could talk to me gently with the utmost respect, especially compared to Liam.
Liam’s effect really is strong.
This was why it was good to sit both of us at the negotiating table. It made the opponent tired of us and more likely to accept unfavorable terms.
I fiddled with Liam’s hand while listing my demands. Ha In-ha silently copied every word into her notebook.
Since she was so easy-going, I slipped in one outrageous request. She didn’t notice and wrote it down enthusiastically.
“Understood. We’ll meet again later.”
Ha In-ha closed her notebook, stood up, and headed for the door to put on her shoes. She suddenly turned back.
“By the way, when will the words in the sky disappear?”
“Soon.”
“Really? That’s good…”
Ha In-ha let out a sigh of relief for some reason and looked pleased.
***
In that sudden negotiation with the NIS agent, the first thing I asked for was citizenship for my family.
Liam and the children’s Korean nationality. It was the most urgent issue, so I wanted it resolved quickly.
I checked online. There was a similar case in Japan. The Japanese government had granted citizenship to all returnee families.
But since I was the first returnee in Korea, approval might take some time.
No choice.
It would take a while, but at least the painful problem was half-solved. I felt a little more at ease.
Meanwhile, despite Ha In-ha’s efforts, Liam’s incident still hadn’t been resolved. It had grown too big to sweep under the rug.
It wasn’t terribly serious. It was just that the attention was burning hot.
Interest is intense.
I read a news article on Seoyun’s smartphone.
[“Don’t touch my wife” former returnee husband who caused trouble on live broadcast]
It was a critical piece on the social page about Liam. After reading it through, the article argued that we needed mechanisms to regulate returnees’ and their families’ ability use.
It was a reasonable opinion, but the comments were mostly negative.
Reporter, how do you plan to stop it? Do you have a method?
The comment that received the most sympathy questioned the reporter directly. Dozens of similar replies followed.
Everyone’s thoughts were basically the same.
We needed a way to stop Liam’s rampage, but it was impossible. In the end, we had to leave it to our conscience. In short, something like that.
Conscience… does he have any?
No matter what anyone said, he was a former Hero, and he had become more mature in his own way. He wouldn’t go after innocent civilians.
But if there was a crime, and it involved me… I would be specifically targeted.
Anonymity in the internet was meaningless. The mystery of magic could be pierced by even the most advanced computer networks.
“Can you track the IP address?”
Seoyun’s eyes widened at my words about Liam’s danger. It was so unimaginable that it was shocking.
“Yes. He said he actually did it himself.”
“You’re not planning to kill every person who insults the op, are you? Just a warning?”
“……”
“…You’re serious?”
We never spoke lightly.
“Seoyun, Liam is the type who does what he says he’ll do. And if I turn the broadcast on now, people who want to mock or insult me will come.”
“…That’s true.”
So I decided not to turn on the broadcast until the interest cooled a little.
It was a hard decision, but the right one.
If I turned it on, viewers would flood in. In this situation where all attention was on me, millions would pile in.
That was another reason I wanted to take a few days off. Liam needed to be restrained from causing trouble, and I wasn’t interested in fleeting fame.
In other words, it was like filtering out the impurities.
The interest being poured on me was an illusion. A massive illusion like a tidal wave.
At first glance it looked grand, but in reality it would disappear soon enough.
“Now do you understand?”
I had poured out all my thoughts after thinking about it for a while. I slowly steeped a green tea bag in hot water in my mug. It was decent, surprisingly.
“I still don’t get it.”
I took a sip of the tea, and Seoyun frowned.
She had clearly listened to my detailed explanation about why we shouldn’t turn on the broadcast often, but she still didn’t understand. That was perfectly understandable.
“Let me explain with a simple example.”
I took two zero-cola cans from the fridge and popped them open. The twins immediately ran over as if they’d been waiting.
“Cola!”
“Zero-o.”
They called it different things, but both loved cola. They said the fizz was fun. Cute, right?
“Drink it slowly.”
I handed each girl a cola and turned back to Seoyun.
“If cola is the interest pouring on me now, it’s like the foam that forms when you pour it into a cup.”
I watched the twins standing side by side, sipping their cola, and continued.
“The foam isn’t tasty, and it doesn’t have that refreshing coolness. It’s not something you need to drink.”
“So right now the people sending interest to the op is just that foam?”
“Correct.”
Because I was the first returnee, because I’d done something strange, because I was pretty. The reasons were all different, but ultimately the interest faded in an instant.
What I wanted was not that kind of popularity. It had to be higher-level and more stable.
“Seoyun, I want the cola itself. The fizz that gives a thrilling swallow.”
“……”
Seoyun thought for a moment, then spoke.
“In short, you want to build up the popularity a little more solidly?”
“More accurately, I want to gain ‘fame’.”
Not a returnee who caused a buzz with a shocking act, but someone to be known as the honorable Pope.
I needed to keep those who briefly paid attention and lost interest, and build a fan base that would stay enthusiastic.
“This way I can earn money continuously and steadily. At first it might not bring in much, but as time passes it will shine more.”
“…Don’t say that.”
Seoyun chuckled and leaned back against the sofa. She’d lost her temper at the materialistic conclusion.
I didn’t want to be obsessed with money either. I’d always lived with a sense of integrity, so this situation of having to gather wealth felt uncomfortable.
But there was no choice. In modern society, without money you feel discomfort not just in the mind but in the body.
I was the mother of two daughters and a young son.
The situation had changed from when I was younger. For the sake of a happy future with my family, I had to make the most rational decision.
“In conclusion, I have no intention of pursuing quick, temporary profits that could vanish forever.”
“So you’re not turning on the broadcast for a few days?”
“That’s right.”
Now it seemed my thoughts had been properly conveyed. I gave Seoyun a small smile, then drank the tea.
Seoyun watched me and suddenly smiled meaningfully. Why was she smiling like that?
“The op really hasn’t changed at all. You were the same before. You were always too negative.”
“…I was like that back in the Park Si-woo days.”
Why did she have to bring up the old memories? I felt awkward and focused on the taste of the tea instead.
Meanwhile, her playful voice continued.
“You’ve changed a little. Before you were negative about everything, now you’re cautious about everything.”
“So what’s the point?”
“I know what you’re worried about, but do you really need to be so careful?”
Seoyun grinned and took my hand. Warmth flowed from hand to hand.
“It’s not popularity that will flash and disappear. From what I’ve seen, even if new returnees appear, the interest will keep coming.”
“Is that based on something?”
“Yes.”
Seoyun nodded confidently, then turned her gaze toward the sofa.
“The mouth is huge. Can that thing even fit in one bite?”
Liam was sprawled on the sofa, already addicted to the TV. The way he scratched his thighs looked particularly ugly.
I stared at the former Hero’s worry-free face and burst out laughing.
“Yeah, with Liam around, the topic will stay hot for a long time.”
Liam wasn’t just any former Hero. He was a genius at subconsciously picking only the things that drew attention.
Living with this guy, there would never be a day when the interest in me faded.
I didn’t know if that was good or bad. The latter possibility was stronger.
“Why did I fall in love with such a man?”
“I’m wondering the same thing.”
We both let out a soft laugh at the same time. Then we talked about Liam for a while.
“In the next broadcast, I absolutely have to introduce Liam.”
“That’s right. After all… he’s caused a huge incident.”
“Since we don’t know what kind of incident he’ll cause, let’s just have him appear briefly.”
That was how the next broadcast’s content was decided.
***
It was Friday evening, the day workers loved most.
Before going live, I wrote the title.
[Broadcast where typing wrong in chat could put your life at risk]
It was a little closer to humor than the serious version.
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