NOVEL WEB “Are you going to scold me?”
I stiffened for a moment when Ibailla cautiously asked. Her voice trembled with tension, as if she thought she had made a grave mistake.
Even her nervousness was cute. At this point, I could overlook a huge mistake just once.
‘Thank goodness she doesn’t take after Liam.’
To reassure the anxious Ibailla, who unlike her dad was worried after causing trouble, I flashed a bright smile.
“Ibailla, I won’t scold you. You used what you learned appropriately, so you should actually be praised.”
“…Really?”
Ibailla, looking up at me with anxious eyes, slowly curled up the corners of her mouth. Just a tiny bit.
Our little one was not completely devoid of emotion, even if she expressed it very little. When she was happy, she was just a regular kid being happy.
And I knew exactly what made Ibailla the happiest.
“Since you did well as you learned, I’ll give you a reward. Later, please open another can of Zero Cola to drink.”
“…Okay.”
The second child nodded slightly. It was a quiet nod, but the emotions contained within spread out and filled my heart with joy.
I then patted Ibailla’s head and wrapped up the ‘stop situation.’
Truthfully, I should have scolded her properly for throwing the finger gesture at people, but I decided to let it slide this time. She really didn’t know any better.
Also, the fact that the viewers who suddenly got flipped off didn’t seem too upset played a part in that decision.
– Hahaha
– Who did she learn that from? Hahaha
– It must be from her dad, right?
– I’ve never seen a five-year-old throw up a middle finger before.
For some unknown reason, everyone accepted it cheerfully. With that, I couldn’t just scold her and let it go.
“Ibailla, next time, please ask Mom for permission before you do that.”
“I understand.”
Having wrapped up the situation thoroughly, I pulled my daughters into an embrace. It was time to exit.
“Erina, Ibailla. Let’s go.”
As I lifted the twins into the air, I walked towards the bedroom door.
“I’ll open it!”
Instead of using both of my hands, Erina boldly grabbed the doorknob and turned it.
I was looking for an appropriate excuse to reward only Ibailla so she wouldn’t feel left out, and this worked perfectly.
“Erina, thank you. Please enjoy a can of Zero Cola each with your younger sister. And you can have a piece of chocolate each too.”
“Wow!”
Erina’s eyes widened with excitement at my words, reacting as if she had received a beautifully shining, precious gem as a gift.
Then, she took Ibailla’s hand and ran off excitedly. The second child seemed a little more lively than usual as she scampered away.
“Onii-chan….”
As I happily watched my daughters bursting into the fridge, Seo-yoon, who had been sitting at the table, approached me hesitantly.
Her expression and gestures looked somewhat like Ibailla when she realized she had made a mistake. The difference was that this one was far harder to simply forgive.
No matter how much of a benefactor Seo-yoon was to me, I couldn’t just let it slide with a smile. It had affected the children’s education.
“Seo-yoon.”
I called her name softly, causing Seo-yoon to flinch and hurriedly speak up as if she were pleading.
“I did teach her, but it wasn’t intentional.”
“It’s like hearing someone say they fell into dark magic, but it wasn’t on purpose. This is a rather pitiful excuse I’ve heard quite often.”
“No, but….”
Seo-yoon continued to glance at me anxiously before awkwardly smiling.
“I’m sorry. Please let this one slide.”
“….”
I gazed at her with a stern expression before breaking into a chuckle.
“Alright. Just don’t do it again next time.”
Perhaps because I had dealt with Liam’s shameless behavior a lot, my mood lightened quickly when someone appeared genuinely sorry.
In truth, I hadn’t been that angry to begin with. Surprisingly enough, the viewers enjoyed it.
Since they seemed to be having fun, I thought about using the finger gesture again next time. It wouldn’t be filtered out by the speech correction.
“However, if something like this happens again, I won’t let it slide next time.”
“I won’t do it again….”
Maybe she was scared, as Seo-yoon sighed in relief and slumped down in her chair like someone completely drained.
After patting Seo-yoon’s back, I turned to go back to the bedroom, but suddenly asked a question.
“But how did you end up teaching her that?”
Considering the explanation, it might not have been done with bad intentions. Maybe it came from something in a cartoon or something like that.
But Seo-yoon kept hesitating, as if she didn’t have a proper reason. It was a suspicious kind of hesitation.
I watched her calmly without pushing. Eventually, the continually anxious Seo-yoon admitted the truth genuinely.
“I just got playful and….”
“…….”
I stared at her back for a moment and then delivered a light punishment.
“Ah!”
I slapped her on the back lightly, making Seo-yoon yelp softly and squirm. It was a loving hit, so it must have stung a bit.
“Next time, it won’t end with just a light smack.”
“I’ll be careful….”
As I watched her rubbing the area I hit like a family member, I suddenly felt worried.
‘Can I actually leave her in charge?’
To think that Seo-yoon, who had to act as the Archbishop, had such a mischievous side. I felt a bit uneasy that she might side with me instead of stopping me when I needed it.
I suspected I’d need to secure another staff member. I needed one anyway.
‘The top-tier Holy Knight should be another requirement.’
The one to pair with the Archbishop, the top-tier Holy Knight. I needed to fill the position of the one who always guarded me and assisted in all my tasks.
Of course, in this world, it wasn’t necessary to have the strongest combat abilities. There were no monsters or demons here.
With there being no fighting, it didn’t matter how strong they were. A versatile talent that could assist with everything I did would be sufficient.
“Seo-yoon, since you made a mistake, I want to give you a troublesome task. What do you think?”
“…What is it?”
“Check the broadcast.”
I immediately went back into the bedroom and sat in front of the computer.
As I returned, the people in the chat exploded into laughter and chatter.
– Who just made that sound?
– Someone seemed to be in pain, huh? Hahaha
– If you taught that to a kid, you’d get scolded.
– Is it another slip of the husband?
The vibe was as noisy as a classroom of young elementary school kids. If I left them alone, it seemed like they would chatter all day.
“I’ll be making an important announcement, so please concentrate for a moment.”
I said calmly and managed to quiet the chitchat in the chat, slowing it down a bit. It wasn’t a huge difference from before, but still.
I clapped my hands lightly to liven things up again.
Only then did I show a slight smile and reveal my teeth. It was the ‘merciful smile’ of the Pope.
“I’d like to offer you all a special opportunity. If you miss this chance, you might end up regretting it for a long time. So please listen carefully.”
I think I’ve delayed enough.
With that, I embraced my customary reverent pose and slowly continued.
“I am publicly recruiting someone to work with me. The official job title is ‘Nuset Order External Affairs Officer.’”
In this world, the title equivalent to the top-tier Holy Knight was the External Affairs Officer. The secret name was ‘Pope’s Bump.’
“There are no hiring conditions. Please freely write your resumes and submit them here.”
As I spoke, I displayed the email address on the broadcast screen. It was Seo-yoon’s.
I thought to give her the most troublesome first-round screening as a punishment for teaching Ibailla something weird.
“But there is one thing you should be careful about. You must detail every talent you possess. Anything is fine; please show your strengths to the fullest.”
After finishing my speech, I relaxed and looked at the chat window. There were quite a variety of responses.
– The Pope’s closest aide. Whoa!
– If you get that, can you go to heaven?
– Considering the teacher’s personality, it seems like it would be extremely hard.
– If you mess up, won’t the hero take you away?
The atmosphere wasn’t completely positive or negative. However, it seemed that everyone was curious enough to show interest.
As I continued to observe the responses, comments regarding salary started popping up one by one.
– How much is the pay?
– I hope they’ll at least meet the minimum wage.
– I’d do it even for a low salary! Hahaha
Perhaps because it was a job related to religion, everyone assumed the salary wouldn’t be high.
Even the ‘not high’ based on that world’s standards was incorrect. There, I, the Pope, worked unpaid.
But in modern society, that wouldn’t do at all. If I said God’s grace and concern were more valuable than any salary, I’d get reported to the labor office immediately.
“I can’t avoid talking about money. This is the most important issue, after all.”
I lightly set the stage and tapped the desk.
How much salary should I pay? How much should I offer to make them work hard?
Honestly, I had no clue.
I had been away from modern society for twenty years and had never really worked at a proper company before, so I was ignorant of this.
However, if I openly revealed this lack of knowledge, it would harm the Pope’s authority. I needed to show a composed front here.
“I’ll do this.”
After much contemplation, I made my decision.
No matter how I thought about it, this was the only answer.
“The final selected candidate will negotiate their salary directly with our Goddess.”
Originally, the Goddess’s role was to resolve issues that her believers found difficult.
*
After finishing the job posting, I finally entered the main broadcast.
Perhaps because I mentioned the Goddess, the chat was a bit chaotic, but I didn’t pay it any mind. Once I started the content, it would settle down quickly.
‘Finally….’
The content for today was something I had wanted to try for a long time.
“Now, let’s play ‘Solar Scepter.’”
It was the sequel to ‘Apollis Tales’ which I had possessed. Now, I was ready to dive into a game that took place in the far future of the world I had lived in for twenty years.
As expected, the moment I announced I was going to play Solar Scepter, the chat that had been noisy quickly focused on the broadcast.
– The local playing Solar Scepter! Hahaha
– Are we going to do a first fight against the weakest?
– I don’t think it’ll be that powerful.
– While leveling up is easy, the stats are the problem.
Everyone was already chatting about different aspects, showing just how much they were looking forward to it.
I felt confident about fulfilling the viewers’ expectations. I planned to play it enjoyably while checking the lore and explaining whenever something I knew came up.
But unfortunately, that didn’t happen.
“U-umm, everyone… I feel a bit sick, so I’ll just….”
Not even five minutes into the game, I hit a wall.
Suddenly, my head started throbbing, and I felt nauseous. The symptoms worsened as I continued looking at the game screen.
It was 3D motion sickness.
[Birapbabab has donated 5,000 won.]
– The weakest lady losing to the game…
[ksy11 has donated 1,000 won.]
– Don’t call her the weakest; she’s the weakest of the weak!
[Nung Corporal has donated 1,000 won.]
– How can you feel sick after just five minutes?
Even with the stream of donation sounds teasing me, I couldn’t even fight back.
I had a lot to say, but as soon as I opened my mouth, it felt like everything I ate for breakfast and lunch was about to come pouring out.
“Let’s save Solar Scepter for later and for today….”
Just as I was about to hurriedly end the broadcast, a big donation came in with a bang.
[havant has donated 1,000,000 won.]
– Please take a break and come back later.
“…….”
I stared at the donation message for a bit before eventually brightening up with a smile.
“Chairman, I’ll take a short break.”
It was too big of a donation to refuse on the grounds of feeling sick.