The Pope Who Returned After Having Three Children
I smiled warmly at the twins and looked away from them.
I glanced at Quick Eagle sitting across from me at the table.
“Friends, thank you.”
Quick Eagle was enjoying the salad with obvious pleasure. Seoyun had prepared it for me to eat, and he was chewing it down enthusiastically.
“Please eat slowly.”
I almost felt like telling him to hurry, but politeness was already part of my core, so I couldn’t shake it off easily.
“Aren’t you going to give me anything?”
Liam, sitting beside him, grumbled as he watched Quick Eagle’s meal.
I smiled and raised my fist.
Liam immediately closed his mouth and took a sip of water.
He should have done that earlier. He drank his warm green tea with satisfaction, his eyes occasionally drifting to the white egg placed in the center of the table.
It was just a plain, round, brand-new chicken egg with no special features whatsoever, yet it strangely bothered me.
‘…Could it be an unfertilized egg?’
I reached out to touch it while spreading my holy power, thinking maybe it was. Fortunately, I felt no life force, only the absence of vitality. It really was unfertilized.
“Friends, is this interesting?”
By now Quick Eagle had finished eating and grinned. He set down his fork, wiped his mouth, and opened his mouth again.
“Go ahead and cook it. You’ll find it tasty.”
“…Understood.”
It was unfertilized, yet somehow I felt a little uneasy. It was an eagle’s egg, after all, not just any chicken egg.
I didn’t show my reluctance. Using my elbow, I jabbed Liam in the side to silence the impolite man.
“Eek…”
While Liam was making a fuss, I turned to Quick Eagle.
“So, what would you like to talk about with us?”
“It might be nothing to friends, but to me it’s a serious problem.”
Quick Eagle began casually, his eyes narrowing slightly.
“Can I tell you a little about the world I was transmigrated into? It’ll help you understand if you know the background.”
“Of course, go ahead.”
I answered without hesitation. I had been curious about how other returnees lived their lives after transmigration.
While I waited patiently, Quick Eagle eventually began speaking slowly.
“The original world I was reincarnated into was the drama adaptation of a popular fantasy novel.”
“A drama?”
“Yes. Do you know it as ‘Dread Dragon’?”
“Hmm…”
Memories from twenty years ago were hazy. Plus, with my personality and memories merged after becoming Elluke, the events before transmigration felt like ancient history.
“My past memories are mostly buried deep. Is it a famous work?”
“Not that famous, but it had decent popularity. Enough to make it into a drama.”
According to Quick Eagle, ‘Dread Dragon’ had a dedicated fanbase. Mysterious settings, vast world-building, friendships and love between the main characters. Once he explained it, vague recollections surfaced.
“I only watched the first volume and dropped it.”
There were too many characters, and I had given up midway. It didn’t suit my taste.
Still, it was a beloved work among its fans.
So when the drama adaptation was announced, everyone was thrilled. But the joy ended there.
“When the drama aired, everyone was shocked. The quality was terrible.”
“What exactly went wrong?”
With Quick Eagle’s explanation, I understood why the fans were devastated.
The drama version of ‘Dread Dragon’ was dreadful. The biggest sin was disrespecting the original novel.
The protagonist had become an idiot. He started spouting nonsense philosophy for no reason. Minor characters were deleted without reason. Original characters were overpowered and upstaged. It was clearly deliberate humiliation.
“The ‘General Chris’ character was a complex villain who sometimes helped. But that great supporting role was reduced to a disposable minor villain! And he died screaming miserably!”
Quick Eagle’s voice rose as anger built. His feathers bristled upward on his body.
I was about to calm him when he quickly did it himself and continued.
“I cursed the production team on their SNS in a rage. Then… when I came to my senses, I had already transmigrated.”
I nodded along while listening. Suddenly my phone vibrated. It was a message from In-ha.
[Typical transmigration pattern. Most returnees go through this exact process to reincarnate.]
I had simply thought I was unlucky, but it turned out cursing the producers was a common condition for transmigration.
I had been enjoying the game quietly, but others weren’t like me.
Quick Eagle soon looked at the egg he had laid and gave a bitter smile.
“Living in a twisted drama world slowly warped even my ideology. That’s how transmigration always works, right?”
“How exactly did it change?”
“My brain became fully politically correct. The drama version had PC-ed every tiny detail.”
“…”
Again with that word.
Seoyun had warned me not to ask what it meant, but I was starting to want to know.
I was about to seize the chance when Quick Eagle quickly continued the conversation.
“Anyway, after grinding hard in that twisted drama world, I somehow reached the original ending. It took about ten years, give or take.”
“So you became stronger during the process.”
“Exactly. I trained relentlessly to fix every flaw I hated and became the ultimate strongest.”
“Now I get the gist of what you want to say.”
“But when I met you two, I felt the level gap was huge, wasn’t it?”
“That’s exactly it!”
Quick Eagle even clapped his hands in agreement.
“I’ve met many returnees. None were as strong as you two. Especially Liam—he’s in a completely different league.”
“Of course.”
Liam suddenly joined in with a yawn, not even bothering to pay attention at first.
“Whoever comes, I’ll beat them. Even if a crowd comes, I’m not afraid.”
It was childish. Just listening to him felt like talking to an elementary-schooler. Maybe that was why he played so well with my daughters.
“I like that confidence.”
Quick Eagle seemed to find it impressive too. Proof they were on the same level.
“They’re exactly the same kind of people.”
Even after only a short time, I had already figured out who the black-haired youth was.
Quick Eagle was basically a strong guy with a childish personality. Unlike Liam, he had some social skills, but fundamentally the same.
“Liam, can you train me? So I can become a stronger hero.”
This was a request Liam normally wouldn’t even glance at. But this time he probably would accept. Their sensibilities matched.
“If it’s you, I might help.”
“Liam…!”
Similar things, showing favoritism and getting emotional, causing a huge commotion.
Having lost interest, I secretly checked my phone. A moment later a Ktalk message arrived.
[The situation is going well. Getting close to Quick Eagle will help a lot from now on.]
I looked up from the phone and saw In-ha playing with the daughters in the living room.
Our eyes met. In-ha gave me a thumbs-up—the most emotional expression she had shown so far.
“Is that all?”
Quick Eagle seemed to be more than I expected. I needed to look him up.
The best site for this was the Green Wiki.
“Liam! Now you know what’s lacking in me?”
“Hmm? You’d know by fighting me.”
I let the two men talk while checking the Green Wiki page for Quick Eagle. Naturally, the document existed.
But the scroll was long. Checking the table of contents, the ‘Incidents and Accidents’ section was empty. That alone was a good sign he wasn’t a bad person.
I skimmed the entire document and drew my conclusion.
“He’ll be helpful, right?”
He showed some unreliable sides, but he was quite famous as Seoyun had said. Top ten visibility among American returnees. Steady good deeds after transmigration. No sudden spikes, unlike Liam. An exemplary returnee in every way.
He had suppressed several returnees who turned criminal. Not playing hero—he really was one.
“…”
I kept reading until I suddenly spoke up.
“Quick Eagle-nim.”
Quick Eagle, who had been chatting with Liam, looked at me. His mature face suited his age more than it should have.
“Pink friend, why did you call me?”
“I’ll let you train with Liam, so please grant me a small favor.”
“A favor? Of course!”
His cheerful response was refreshing. I smiled and leaned forward slightly.
“It’s nothing. Just talk to us for a bit.”
It was truly simple and easy.
***
Leisurely lunch time. Seoyun was staring blankly at her phone.
“I really want to quit.”
Tired, sleepy, and wanting to rest. The triple suffering of the past few months at work had been exhausting.
In truth, her heart had already left the company long ago. But she had to finish the handover, so she kept coming to work.
With all the effort, she was almost done. Soon she would retire.
Even after quitting, she couldn’t rest freely, but she was looking forward to it. A workplace romance that wasn’t a workplace romance.
Seoyun smiled secretly while staring at her phone.
Then her phone vibrated. It was an alarm that the Tribe broadcast was live.
The streamer was ‘Pope.’
“Why starting so early?”
She checked the broadcast title and narrowed her eyes.
[Discussion with American Returnee Quick Eagle! Who is stronger, the Demon King or the Evil Dragon?]
“…”
Seoyun hesitated briefly, then pulled out her Bluetooth earphones.
“I can’t miss this.”
The title was too tempting.