Chapter 25 : Modern Exploration (2)

I took Jeanne to a Korean restaurant.

“Jeosun-nim, there’s pepper.”

Jeanne widened her eyes as she looked at the pepper grinder on the table.

“Jeanne, have you never tried pepper before?”

“I’ve only seen the bishop use it sometimes.”

In the Middle Ages, pepper was a luxury item.

People gifted it to one another, collected it like jewels, and stored it carefully.

Nobles used pepper to flaunt their wealth to commoners.

Seeing a pepper grinder on every table, Jeanne looked slightly tense.

“Did we enter an expensive restaurant?”

“Yes, it’s a slightly expensive one.”

Jeanne’s reaction was so amusing that I felt like teasing her a little.

Soon, various side dishes like kimchi, japchae, and anchovies were laid out on the table, and Jeanne looked flustered.

“…Jeosun-nim, should we leave? I’m really fine with just a piece of bread.”

She seemed surprised by the sheer number of side dishes.

Even foreigners who visited Korean restaurants were often amazed by the variety of banchan.

But Jeanne’s reaction was even more extreme.

If I teased her any further, she might actually get up and leave, so I quickly reassured her.

“It’s okay, these are all common foods.”

“These are?”

“Yes, you can eat as much as you want.”

When I explained that pepper was a common spice accessible to ordinary people, Jeanne was astonished but also pouted.

She must have realized that I had delayed telling her on purpose just to tease her.

“But you even bought me clothes, is it really okay for me to accept all this food?”

“You can just help me out later in return.”

“If there’s anything I can do to help, please let me know.”

Framing it as a debt seemed to put Jeanne more at ease.

Before eating, Jeanne clasped her hands together and offered a short prayer.

Of course, it was different from the long, elaborate prayers of modern times.

Since Jeanne never had the opportunity to learn how to read, she wasn’t well-versed in the Bible.

She simply pressed her hands together, closed her eyes briefly, and then looked up.

As she picked up her spoon, Jeanne carefully observed how I ate before scooping up some rice with doenjang soup.

To be honest, I was a little nervous.

I had brought her here to introduce her to Korean food, but I wasn’t sure if she would like it.

After all, she was used to the mild flavors of medieval cuisine.

“It’s delicious!”

My worries were unfounded.

With her small mouth full of rice, Jeanne’s eyes widened in delight.

“This soup is salty but tasty!”

“It’s called doenjang soup.”

She carefully took small spoonfuls of the soup with her rice.

Even though it was salty, she kept eating without stopping—it seemed she really liked it.

“Oh, this is good too!”

Starting with japchae, Jeanne eagerly tried kimchi, spinach, and bulgogi without hesitation.

I was relieved that she enjoyed the food.

‘She eats better than I expected.’

Despite her small bites, her bowl would empty before I knew it.

It was a stark contrast to how she used to eat only the bare minimum.

Throughout the Hundred Years’ War, Jeanne often fasted or only ate enough to sustain herself.

That must have been part of her saintly image.

But the real Jeanne was just a girl who enjoyed food without being picky.

After finishing our meal, we strolled through the city without any particular plans.

Neon signs lit up the streets, cars rushed past, and people hurried along, engrossed in their phones.

To me, this was an everyday sight, but for Jeanne, everything was a brand-new experience.

“Jeosun-nim, look over there! Coffee!”

She pointed warily at a Dunkin’ Donuts advertisement featuring a large cup of coffee.

‘Ah, right. Coffee was once considered the devil’s drink.’

In the past, coffee was viewed as an evil beverage consumed only by heretics.

Jeanne found it fascinating that such a drink was being openly advertised.

“That drink has been baptized, Jeanne.”

“Coffee has?”

“Yeah, the Pope found it so delicious that he gave it his blessing.”

In the 16th century, a Pope was amazed that such a delightful beverage was enjoyed only by non-Christians.

Wanting to drink it himself, he came up with a solution—baptizing the coffee.

Thus, coffee became the first and only food to ever receive a blessing.

“It’s actually pretty good. You should try it.”

On impulse, I took Jeanne into Dunkin’ Donuts and ordered coffee and donuts.

Since the weather was cold, I got a hot Americano.

“How is it?”

“…I think it deserves a blessing.”

I chuckled at her joke and finally brought up something I had been holding back.

“Jeanne, you probably won’t be able to go back home.”

“…I had a feeling.”

“Aren’t you sad?”

“If I go back, won’t I just end up on the pyre again?”

She said it like a joke, but Jeanne seemed to understand.

She knew that France had abandoned her.

Even after realizing the painful truth that her homeland had forsaken her, she accepted reality with composure.

Now that she had cast off the burden of being a saint, she even felt a sense of relief.

“Jeosun-nim, what is that thing people are carrying in their hands?”

“It’s called a cellphone. With that, you can communicate with people all over the world.”

“Is it like a letter?”

“Similar, but it has way more functions. You can even talk face-to-face.”

“That’s amazing.”

From the very first day, Jeanne was working hard to adapt to this new world.

She had so many questions, and I explained everything in as much detail as possible to make it easy for her to understand.

Among all the things she learned, what surprised her the most was the advancement of science.

“Are you saying humans can travel to the moon?”

“Not just the moon. We’re also exploring the sun and other stars.”

Jeanne, with a donut in her mouth and her violet eyes wide open, looked as cute as a rabbit.

“There are also airplanes that fly through the sky.”

“They don’t fall?”

“They do sometimes if there’s an accident, but for the most part, they’re safe.”

Even though Jeanne hadn’t asked, I couldn’t stop talking about Earth’s civilization.

Something about her reactions made me want to keep going.

Maybe it was just fun watching her be amazed.

Even modern people found today’s world surprising with AI replacing human jobs.

To a 15th-century European, modern civilization must have seemed like a completely different world.

After that, I continued introducing Jeanne to various aspects of modern life.

We took public transportation, visited an aquarium, and explored COEX.

By the time we realized it, the bright afternoon had turned into evening.

“Is there anywhere else you’d like to go?”

There were still so many places I hadn’t shown her, like a movie theater or the skyscrapers around Gangnam Station.

Modern life was overflowing with things to see.

But…

“I want to go somewhere that records history.”

Instead of modern civilization, Jeanne wanted to see a place where the past was documented.

She must have wanted to learn about her own history.

“Then we should visit a library.”

I took Jeanne to the massive library inside COEX.

Since Joan of Arc was such a famous historical figure, it was easy to find records about her.

Quietly, Jeanne read about the events that happened after her death.

Her expression wasn’t bright.

After all, the fates of those connected to her were anything but happy.

Her closest knight, Gilles de Rais, lost his sanity after her execution and turned to dark magic.

Her supporter and comrade, Duke Alençon, was stripped of his land and sentenced to death, ultimately dying in prison.

The rest of their fates were just as tragic.

“So… this is how it all ended.”

Watching Jeanne carefully reread history, I asked,

“Do you want to visit France?”

“I’m curious, but I’ll be fine.”

She closed the book and returned it to the shelf as if to say that her part in that world was over.

Then, turning to me, she smiled brightly.

“As long as I can help you, that’s enough for me.”

As night fell and we returned to the shop, Jeanne suddenly turned into light and vanished.

Thud—

The plastic bag she had been carrying dropped helplessly to the floor.

And then, a system message appeared.

[Joan of Arc’s manifestation time has ended.]

[Resummon time: 02:00]

Just like how artifacts from another world couldn’t maintain themselves in reality, Jeanne was the same.

She had been exiled from her world, left without a place to belong.

Could this really be called ‘salvation’?

[The more the Connector’s magic grows, the shorter the resummon time becomes.]

Hmm.

“I need to get stronger.”

So that two hours would become one.

So that one hour would become thirty minutes.

So that thirty minutes would become one minute.

So that one minute would become a single second.

And eventually, so that she would never disappear at all.

A new goal had formed.

And as if responding to that resolve—

==

Napoleon’s Rifle (1)

[Toulon Gate]

Eliminate the anomaly that has taken over Toulon Harbor.

[Difficulty: B]

[Status: Unstable]

[Clear Condition: Napoleon’s Rifle]

[Reward: Summon Reset Ticket]

Napoleon’s Rifle had given me a quest.

(For those who missed it, this is Joan of Arc in the shopping mall.)