Chapter 62
The Medieval-Modern Man With A Gamer Mindset 62
62. The Secretaries’ Lament
After hearing the news that our honored guest was traveling along the coast of the mainland, I was able to recall the memories of modern times after a very long time.
I used to go hiking with my boss and never missed a company dinner. I would go to work on time the next day with my eyes wide open. What did those days bring me?
As a result of being recognized for my diligence and hard work, I became a secretary who served a precious family’s child.
Of course, the precious child I came to assist wasn’t as arrogant as those depicted in dramas or various media outlets. He would just do some LSD, marijuana, or methamphetamine, and enjoy one-night stands while bar hopping.
If you just looked at his actions, he seemed like a good-for-nothing, but his personality was not flavored.
The dilemma of the underdog. On the contrary, the precious child who did drugs and slept around was more dignified and well-mannered than those who bullied the weak.
Even though his actions were those of a good-for-nothing, it wasn’t difficult to treat him as a person. Maybe it was because he had an unexpectedly kind side to him.
[What? Why are you offering me drugs? Are you crazy? Only rich kids should do that. You’ll get caught. If it’s low quality, your body will deteriorate quickly. Do you think poor people can get good quality drugs?]
[I’m surprised. I thought you’d be drinking and doing drugs and bringing women to you.]
[You have to flirt to get what you want, but if you overdo it, it’s a typhoon. Don’t have any foolish thoughts… I’ll give you a bonus, so drink some cheap soju. There are drugs that the country allows.]
Of course, he was like a typhoon in a different sense.
He wasn’t malicious or cruel, but because his common sense was so different from those who lived ordinary lives, he surprised me in small ways. One day, he brought me a popsicle while I was waiting in the car and said:
[Hey, secretary. I bought this at a convenience store while I was out with a girl. Hold my phone for a second like you’re making a call.]
[…? Why the popsicle? Is there a problem?]
[Um… this… how do I open the lid?]
[…]
At that moment, I could see the guy fidgeting and rolling his eyes in embarrassment as he asked.
He had never eaten a popsicle in his entire life, and he was asking me for help while cosplaying as an ordinary person because he wanted to pick up a girl. I felt a strange sense of amusement as I opened the lid and handed it to him .
[Oh, is that how it is? Okay. You can have the stick.]
I watched him happily enjoying himself with the girl as he sucked on the stick like a baby.
In addition to this, he would visit women at work during the middle of the day and say things like, “If you can’t come out and play, you can take a vacation. Why don’t people enjoy their company life? Live your life for yourself.”
Just as I didn’t understand him, who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, he didn’t understand ordinary people and did all sorts of strange things.
If there’s one thing I learned from him, it’s this:
[Secretary, why are you quitting all of a sudden? Why, is there something you don’t like? Is it because of the money?]
[No. I’m going to travel for myself.]
[…You’re also quite something.]
He gave me some money for living expenses as he handed me my resignation letter and earnestly implored me. Drugs are something only the rich can do. Those like you, whose bodies are their entire fortune, shouldn’t do anything strange and should just live eating something delicious.
[Thank you for your hard work. I hope you have a good life in the future.]
[Why are you suddenly being so polite?]
[The relationship between employer and employee is over, and now we are complete strangers, so we should be careful with our words and actions. I ask you to spread good rumors about our company in Cheonjinho.]
It’s not something a criminal should say, but that’s what he said. Other criminals would say similar things before going to prison.
Of course, the company is really good in Cheonjinho, but this bastard wrote that he does drugs.
Thanks to that, the country exploded once because of drugs, but wasn’t that what the country should have done in the first place?
Anyway, looking back now, that time was the only time in my life when I had any contact with the extremely high class. And it was clear why the memory of that time, which had just passed by, came to mind now.
The bishop’s seat of Illeiniput.
While I was racking my brain over how to persuade Yubas, the key to the five-way blockade, shut up in the office that Bishop Ganista originally used, one of the priests knocked on the door.
“Yes, he’s here.”
“What is your official title?”
“Yes?”
“Are you here as a royal family member from the mainland, or are you here as a stigmata bearer belonging to the church?”
Just one more thing.
If there’s one thing that the rich bastard who was the only contact I had in my life taught me, it’s that there’s something as important as one’s background and origin. For people, not only their origin and background but also their current status and position are important.
When I hit the nail on the head, even the priest outside the door couldn’t help but be embarrassed.
“Both… neither?”
***
Every time I recall the memories of a modern person living in the advanced society of the 21st century, I keep forgetting.
The fact that this world is a primitive and backward blood-centered caste system that closely resembles the social conditions of the Middle Ages. I was trying to change my mind while leading the processing in front of that shipyard.
It was then that the embezzling priest Poros approached me stealthily.
“Yes, it seems that the merchants have heard the news that a noble guest is coming from the mainland. They say that today is the best day and that they can’t rest, so what should we do?”
“Leave them alone.”
“Yes?”
The background to Poros making such an argument is as follows.
No matter where you go, when high-ranking people with noble blood come to this world, arrogant people are dragged out and mobilized, banned from their livelihoods in order to show their hospitality.
For me, it was something I couldn’t tolerate.
“You reap what you sow. They are the ones who have not known the joy of sacred taxes… offerings, under various pretenses. Bishop Ganista tormented them because he was disgusted by them, but I am different.”
If you think negatively about everything in the world, everything will go wrong.
I reinterpreted the arrival of Lady Karina de Vermeersch with an optimistic perspective and the power of infinite positivity. It’s an era of savage grayness that rolls by the same every day.
In a world where you have to worry about looters when an event pops up, it was a happy and enjoyable event just to have a precious young lady come.
“Let them work. Let them enjoy themselves. And so let their consciences fill the offering jars.”
“Yes, I shouldn’t be the one to say this since I was embezzling, but there are guys who take offerings from the offering jars.”
Then the embezzling priest Poros confessed the truth without a single lie, as befits a newly converted son. It’s not bad for a person to be spotless, but I wish this bastard had a little bit of shame.
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However, if I keep picking on him because he’s dirty, who will convert and repent? I decided to relieve Poros’ worries first to support his first step towards the right path.
“I believe that everyone is born good. It’s the world’s filth and greed that makes them sin. Those who were originally kind and liked to give to others have become stingy because they have accumulated wealth.”
“Then…?”
“A doctor is someone who acts for patients who cannot remove the rotten parts by themselves. I will become a doctor for their souls.”
I took Bishop Ganista’s advice to think and act like a clergyman to heart.
It is said that in the dark ages before the development of antibiotics, people would amputate limbs to survive the plague. Could it not be said that purging oneself of wealth, the root of all evil, in order to save a soul rotting away in greed is also a form of spiritual surgery?
“….”
Even the embezzling priest, Poros, looked troubled by my radical perspective and reinterpretation of spiritual surgery. I waited for a moment, hoping that Poros might present a valuable counterargument to my claim.
At the corner of the forecastle, several shouts erupted along with the sonorous blare of a conch horn.
“The Azure Cross banner, the symbol of the Saint from the mainland! They’re here!”
“Teehee… I wonder if they’re as beautiful as they say?”
“Oh, blasphemy! It’s the Stigmata Saint, the Stigmata Saint!”
Ah. So, she has arrived.
The whimsical, rambunctious princess who had been recklessly gallivanting all over the ship finally graced us with her presence from beyond the horizon. In that instant, I made a swift decision.
“Poros. I hereby declare a three-day tax exemption.”
“Wha?!”
“But in return, you must convey that I will be observing how much the donation box fills up in those three days.”
As a spiritual physician, I had resolved to observe the patient’s prognosis before making a final decision.
If the patient can recover on their own, then there is no problem. But if they cannot…
“Consent is not necessary when it comes to saving a person.”
“….”
It is indeed difficult for someone who is both wealthy and stingy to find favor in the eyes of God. It must be the duty of a shepherd to help such a person. I felt a profound sense of mission to accomplish this sacred task.
***
Sometimes, there are people in the world who seem to have been born with everything.
Karina de Bien Magister Tribunus Norfang.
This beautiful girl, who possessed both a noble and illustrious bloodline and the favor of God, was no exception. She had no obstacles in her life that threatened her life or made it difficult.
However, blessings are often taken for granted by those who receive them.
Karina was bustling about the deck, making the sweating sailors pull on ropes until their faces turned beet red.
“Uncles, are we there yet? Huh?”
“W-well, miss. The sea air is harmful to women, so please go inside the cabin.”
“That’s not true. The cabin is cramped and it smells funny, so I think it’s more harmful than being out on deck.”
Life at sea is difficult, even for ordinary men.
It was impossible to satisfy a woman who had never wanted for anything, even on the luxurious ship that had been prepared for Karina, a woman of noble birth and high status. Fortunately, Karina’s personality was not demanding.
Karina laughed gleefully as she skipped among the flushed sailors, her gaze fixed on the sea. Even the priests in their red shoulder mantles who had come to accompany her were taken aback.
“You see, the Saint is big and all, but people are so stiff and boring. But it’s totally different out on the sea. Everyone’s so passionate and desperate…”
“They’re desperate because of you.”
“That’s not true. Why would they act that way because of me?”
Karina, who had lived a life of privilege, thought very humbly of herself. She harbored the idea that she was too insignificant to receive the adoration or protection of others. Because of this, only the priests and sailors were suffering.
“Captain, is it still a long way to Illinfoot?”
“If we had left as soon as we set sail, we would have arrived already. Even Bishop Forvis, who is waiting for you, couldn’t wait any longer and sent out a search party.”
“Oh… Bishop Forvis is no ordinary man.”
If only Karina were a higher-ranking noble, she could have ordered them to wait. However, the problem was that her counterpart was of equally noble birth and even greater importance.
Bishop Forvis, the Archbishop of Narva, Orn Stregos Glerio Forvis.
A boy who had manifested the Stigmata at the tender age of twelve and was ordained as a bishop at the age of sixteen, he had since overseen major initiatives and uncompromising reforms, earning him the attention of the entire Papal Court as the next in line to represent the Church in the Archipelagic See.
The priests in their red shoulder mantles were openly weeping.
“Didn’t the Bishop already hate us?”
“What can we do… We’ll only get our backs broken if we try to mediate.”
“Please, Captain. Get us there a little faster. The person waiting for us is a very important figure.”
“Oh, really? You’ve got a rough road ahead of you.”
The captain said, looking at the priests with a trembling expression.
“But don’t worry. What you see over there is the toe of Saint Illenio, practically the real Illenfoot.”