Chapter 3. Faith and Status (4)

To summarize the rather lengthy meeting as briefly as possible, it was a ‘collection of testimonies’.

I don’t know how the canonization process works in the reality I lived in my past life. After all, I only paid attention to religion when I was very young, and even then, I lost interest in everything as I escaped for various reasons.

The extent of my ‘detailed knowledge’ about religion was limited to occasionally reading about religious figures from real-time edit lists that popped up while browsing wiki sites.

However, even if I don’t know what the actual canonization process is like, testimony is important.

As an atheist, I was someone who was convinced that there was no evidence of miracles. If people claimed there were miracles, I would have thought they were interpreting coincidences as divine will, misinterpreting or mistaking something, or that a con artist was laying the groundwork for a scam.

Therefore, to canonize someone, the only thing left is that ‘testimony’. Other than that, there’s only the verification of whether that person is corrupt or not.

However, there’s a problem here-

“…….”

The presentation screen didn’t just have text.

Naturally, there were also photos and videos to be used as material.

And on that screen, my actions of healing people were displayed in their entirety.

In fact, it was a bit of a comical sight. The ‘holy power’ was not visible in the video. This is also common sense in this world; while magic might be visible, at least the ‘holy power’ can only be seen by the eyes of living beings. Strangely, even when trying to film it, only the results of using the holy power were captured; the holy power itself did not appear in the video.

Therefore, some people speculated that holy power was a kind of ‘psychological phenomenon’.

It’s not that they deny the existence of holy power or claim it’s fake, but rather that the brain interprets an inexplicable force that goes beyond the laws of reality as ‘light’. It’s a kind of optical illusion, but much more concrete than that… and it exists, for now.

Even though I wanted to claim it was just an illusion, what could I do when it actually worked? It was visible to everyone’s eyes, regardless of whether they believed in God or not.

“Ooh…”

Such exclamations flowed from among the clergy.

Although the light was not visible, the process of healing people’s bodies was even clearer. Wounds healed rapidly as if time were rewinding. It wasn’t that they healed by rewinding time, but the result, with wounds disappearing without even a scar, looked more like a fast-forward than a rewind.

In the video, I saved all the injured people gathered in a crowd like that.

The second most popular scene was when I saw a large object flying towards me and tried to protect the injured by crouching over them.

And the scene that received the biggest reaction was when I collapsed, unconscious, after finishing all of that.

Everyone gathered here is a member of the clergy, and those who are not church members are all people who have received help from me or witnessed my actions.

Naturally, they would be favorable.

No, isn’t this too one-sided? This way, only people who support me will be here!

No, usually that’s advantageous!

“…….”

Listening to the sounds of admiration and awe coming from all around, I felt like I could die of shame at any moment.

As someone with a dry sensibility living in a bleak modern era, I’m also awkward with praise. Both giving and receiving it.

But listening to people marvel as if I had saved the world was, in many ways, seriously embarrassing.

“That is all.”

After the video ended, the nun who was at the front looked at me.

She had an expression that seemed to ask if I had anything to say.

The gazes of the clergy members focused on me, and I tightly closed my mouth, my face burning hot. The scenes shown in the video were true, so I had nothing specific to say.

“Is that so…”

The Cardinal murmured and looked at me again.

His expression was very subtle.

It was an expression like, ‘This kid?’ Well, that’s natural. I sent a letter full of statements like ‘The concept of God is wrong,’ ‘God simply cannot exist,’ ‘How can the being above be proven to be only good?’ So, it was natural for him to have such a reaction.

“Then, we will now hear the testimonies of those who are not affiliated with the church. These individuals have personally experienced healing from Sister Anna, who is currently being considered for the position of Saint. And they are the ones who witnessed it directly. Since holy power does not appear on video, these individuals will provide the descriptions.”

Is there still more shame I have to endure?

I covered my face with both hands.

*

I thought it would end with the testimonies of the clergy and the video, but afterward, I had to feel about twice the shame I felt before.

At least the Saint Candidates, including Sophie, and the nuns and priests present described my actions quite plainly. Perhaps it’s natural since they are people who know something about holy power. There’s no reason to enthusiastically explain that 1 plus 1 equals 2.

However, the words of those who were not clergy were a little different.

“It’s as if that light is directly bestowed by God-“

“I’ve never seen such power before-“

“It feels like it could even revive the dead-“

…….

Personal impressions tend to be exaggerated, after all.

Unlike when the clergy testified, this time, a nun intervened intermittently to encourage them to be a bit more restrained and to testify about the objective situation again. I never imagined I would feel gratitude towards a church person in a situation like this.

The Cardinal was listening to each testimony seriously.

Setting aside any ill feelings or first impressions, he was trying to look at the situation objectively.

After the order was changed a few times like that, it was the turn of-

“Ah, hello.”

Unlike the first time I saw her, the girl’s appearance, with her hair neatly tied up as in the original work, was beautiful.

She was a character whose illustration was also very well done. However, she had a slightly smaller chest than the Saint and was a little less flamboyant.

I believe her black hair and neat appearance accurately represent her personality. Her dark eyes briefly swept over me-

Huh?

And in those eyes, I felt a certain, what should I call it.

‘Will’.

Usually, in novels, when a heroine shows will, it’s in a scene related to the male protagonist. It’s a scene where she tries to sacrifice herself because the male protagonist is in danger, or…

Or, when she encounters another heroine, meaning a rival.

Naturally, there’s no enemy threatening Lee Si-yoon’s life right now.

“My name is Han Yu-ri. I am a Rank 6 Hunter, and I was present when my colleague, Si-yoon… Hunter Lee Si-yoon, was being treated.”

“Is that so? It seems you possess excellent skills to have already advanced a rank at that age.”

The Cardinal spoke gently to the nervous Han Yu-ri.

“…No. When Hunter Lee Si-yoon was attacked that day, I couldn’t do anything…”

“We have already heard that it was a situation that a Rank 6 Hunter could not handle. It must have been a great feat to survive.”

“Thank you.”

Han Yu-ri bowed her head slightly.

“So, could you please tell us about the situation at that time in detail again?”

In response to the nun’s question, Han Yu-ri nodded and continued her testimony.

Overall, the situation itself was not much different from what I remembered.

However-

“That appearance was just like the Saint in the stories, who sacrificed herself to save people.”

“…….”

She added that specific remark.

Well, I can’t say anything about personal feelings, but I could somehow feel her determination to make sure I was placed in the position of Saint.

So, perhaps… hmm.

Could she be misunderstanding me? Does she think I’m interested in Lee Si-yoon? And therefore, she’s trying to solidify my position as a Saint…?

In the original work, she did have a rather jealous personality.

I wanted to jump up right then and say that’s not the case, and that I actually hope you and Lee Si-yoon, my childhood friend, get together, but if I said that, I’d obviously be interrogated about how I knew about that relationship.

Moreover, if I were to make a fuss here about not wanting to become a Saint, that could also be misunderstood.

Han Yu-ri stepped down from her seat with a satisfied expression after finishing her story. If she had at least crossed a line while testifying, I could have retorted, but Han Yu-ri didn’t even lie at that moment.

Rather, she probably knows that exaggerating the story with lies wouldn’t be effective.

After that, a few more people testified, and the nun who was moderating said,

“With this, all testimonies and materials have been presented and heard.”

And looking around at us,

“Now, we will proceed to the next stage.”

What would the next stage be?

Could it be that I have to go to the Vatican and prove my divinity? I’ve always wanted to visit the Vatican as a tourist, but I don’t want that to be the reason.

However, after hearing the next announcement, my mind snapped back to attention.

“One should not take the symbolic position of the church lightly. Therefore-“

In summary, it means they will test my qualifications.

They will investigate my life in detail and confirm if I have committed any impure acts in the process.

And there is someone who will oversee that process-

“The Advocate of the Devil.”

……That’s right.

The church, in its own way, is worried about corruption from the top.

And the position of someone who refutes the good deeds of the person who is about to become a Saint to prevent that.

There’s no need for them to be clergy, and it’s better if they aren’t.

Therefore, they are inviting someone from outside the church-

Creak.

Before the story finished, the door opened.

And the person who entered, gasping for breath, shouted,

“S-sorry! I misread the train ticket time-“

The person speaking was wearing a suit, but they were disheveled everywhere from running so much.

Although she was quite a young woman, I already knew her face.

Not because I saw her in the original work, but because I had seen her on TV a few times in this world.

There were people like that in the world I lived in too.

People who denied that the Earth was round and claimed it was flat. While their claims weren’t correct, such arguments often sparked people’s interest.

And those people often appeared on broadcasts, gaining fame for such things. Usually, even if it was fame, it was in a position where they were openly ridiculed on cable TV as people who argued nonsense-

……That’s right.

I had seen that woman appear on TV as one of those people.

In other words, she’s the ‘flat-earther’ version of this world.

Of course, what she argued wasn’t flat-earth theory, but ‘atheism’.

For the first time in a long time, I felt a light shining in my mind.

And then I realized that the light was actually shining above my head, and I quickly brushed it away with my hand.