Chapter 1. Candidate and Candidate (4)

That’s right. In theory.

But theory aside, plans rarely go as intended.

The information I had about Lee Chae-eun was that, despite outwardly resenting God, she was inwardly quite devout.

I, of all people, knew and was certain that the ‘God’ was not God, but Lee Chae-eun was the child of a Hero family, no matter what anyone said.

She couldn’t completely escape her father’s influence, and that fact further agitated her inner turmoil, according to the novel.

So, I thought.

I would reveal the faith that was deeply rooted in her heart and would never waver.

And deep-seated faith like that usually emerges when facing immense crisis, or when confronted with an unbeliever so egregious that one cannot bear to look.

“Do you understand? So, the word ‘God’ isn’t actually appropriate to refer to that being. If we use the Korean word ‘Shin’ as this country does, then Zeus is a god, ancestral spirits are gods, and the god believed in by this religion is also a god. What meaning does such an inconsistent word even have?”

During breakfast, I argued passionately in front of Ria.

While I considered it a rational observation, people within the church usually gave me looks of disbelief, as if I were spouting nonsense.

For them, the word ‘God’ had long since come to signify that being in this world, so no matter what I said, it seemed to have no meaning.

If they only broadened their perspective a little, they would realize how reasonable my point was.

However, separately from that, this argument was also very effective in driving away people who bothered me.

If you told someone who knows the common sense that the Earth revolves around the Sun, that the Sun actually revolves around the Earth, and even if you showed them evidence and theories, they wouldn’t be swayed, they would usually get disgusted and leave.

And they would reaffirm how sensible they were.

Ah, of course, in this case, I’m the normal one and everyone else is abnormal, so the situation is a bit different.

“Yeah, is that so.”

However, my go-to phrase for driving away my roommate when she annoyed me only went in one ear and out the other for Lee Chae-eun, or rather, Ria.

A veil was casually placed on top of Ria’s red bob. She was probably mimicking the way I usually wore my veil.

As I passed by the table earlier, the Nun Superior’s brow furrowed deeply as she stared at me, and I got goosebumps because I suspected she was doubting my usefulness.

If this continues, I’ll be kicked out of the church!

May I be confessed to by seven people!

“So, to explain again-“

“By the way.”

Ria, with a very sleepy expression, took a spoonful of cream soup into her mouth and interrupted my words, as if she had just remembered something.

“Hey, what is this?”

Ria said, pointing the spoon towards me.

The cream soup on it dripped a little and fell back into the bowl.

“It’s a spoon.”

When I said that, Ria nodded again, saying, “Is that so?”

“There are so many kinds of spoons, right? So, out of all those spoons, why is only this spoon specifically called a spoon?”

“Huh?”

“A spoon for eating rice is a spoon, a spoon for eating pudding is a spoon, and a spoon for putting sugar in tea is also a spoon, right?”

“……”

“Isn’t it because people agreed to call all these types spoons? Or call it a ‘spoon’ in English.”

“So?”

“Then, God is God.”

Ria shrugged her shoulders and said.

“If there’s someone that everyone agrees to call God, isn’t it strange to call them God?”

“……”

I gaped blankly.

“What, was there no one who ever made such a counter-argument?”

No, well…

Usually, they don’t approach it linguistically and start by arguing that I’m committing blasphemy.

Even if they are forced to learn at the convent, most of the people living here are under the influence of divine power. While it’s impossible to have absolutely no resentment towards the being above, there are far more people who consider it a blessing and are grateful.

Only then can they utilize divine power even a little more.

And because they are such people, when the word ‘God’ comes up, they inevitably approach it theologically first.

The more educated they are, the more so, especially the Nun Superior or the priests.

Rather, an explanation like ‘God is God just because they are called God’ is, for reasons different from mine, not strange to hear the word blasphemy. That meaning implies, conversely, that the being might not be worthy of it.

Doesn’t it mean that if people stop calling it God, it’s no longer God?

Whether I opened my mouth or not, Ria moved her spoon again and took spoonfuls of soup into her mouth.

Just a moment ago, she had a very languid expression, as if the world’s affairs were bothersome, but after landing a blow on me, her face seemed to gain vitality.

“And, if you don’t call God ‘God,’ would that be acceptable? Even then, people would see that non-God being as something similar to God and worship it. Isn’t that right?”

“Ugh…”

It’s infuriating.

It’s been a long time since I felt like my logic, which I’ve relied on for 15 years in this world, has been completely refuted.

It’s undeniably true.

If we change the word ‘God’ used here to ‘Gin,’ people would still worship that ‘Gin’ as is.

The word ‘faith’ would become ‘gin-faith,’ and the word ‘divine power’ would even be written as ‘divine power’ as it is.

“What do you gain by denying the word ‘God’?”

“……”

Damn it, I’m too logical to refute that logic.

As a rational and logical person, I cannot deny that there is something above.

Even if I confirmed that the Earth is round by going up in a spaceship, denying it would just make me a foolish person who speaks nonsense.

In the end, I chose to just shut my mouth and finish my meal.

I felt eyes watching me with a hint of satisfaction as I roughly tore the bread and dipped it into the cream soup, but I didn’t feel like responding.

For some reason, white light fell on my head again, so I waved my hand to scatter it.

*

After breakfast, we went out with brooms in hand to clear the light snow that had fallen the previous evening. It was already mid-February, and it hadn’t snowed that much, so it wasn’t so difficult that we couldn’t talk.

“See, if there really was a God who cared for us, wouldn’t He have made us do such tedious work? If He loves people, He should just let them live idly. Could the Bible be wrong?”

“That Bible, that’s why it’s periodically re-edited.”

“……”

“This year’s edition is the fourth revision.”

Was that so?

No, in just over a decade, have there been so many revisions of the Bible?

Well, I heard it had been revised.

“……Are you saying that without knowing?”

“Of course, I know that much from learning.”

I puffed out my chest and boasted.

“They remove anything that isn’t cross-verified, even miracles and anecdotes, right?”

“Really?”

Oops.

For a moment, I showed a little interest in those words.

I didn’t particularly like calling the Bible a Bible, and when I was in middle school in my previous life, when my chuunibyou hadn’t subsided, I called the Bible my friend was reading the ‘Collection of Jewish Tribal Myths’ and was almost hit, but I was still interested in the Bible itself.

In fact, I had read it a couple of times.

It wasn’t that I was interested in faith, but rather that I liked mythology itself, so I had read quite a few related books.

In fact, it was because of that influence that I became an atheist.

“This religion’s history isn’t that deep yet, right? Since it’s in the process of creating a new religion, they have to solidify the foundation. It’s a natural process.”

“That… is rational… Ah!?”

I answered without realizing it and then shut my mouth.

Ria was smiling at me, so I glared at her, gritting my teeth, and swung the broom to clear the snow from the floor.

“Ouch!”

Then, unfortunately, I pricked my finger on a splinter on the handle of the old wooden broom.

It wasn’t a huge wound, but a thin cut formed on my fingertip, and a little blood welled up.

White light descended above my head, and I deliberately waved my uninjured hand to scatter the light.

“With divine power, doesn’t such a wound heal in less than a second?”

As I put my mouth to the wound, Ria came closer and teased me with a sly smile, so I glared at her with furrowed brows.

Grrr.

Why is she so annoying?

I think I understand why the Saint always fought with Lee Chae-eun.