No, How Can an Atheist Become a Saintess!?

No, How Can an Atheist Become a Saintess!? – 12

EP.12

Chapter 1

Candidate and Candidate (12)

“…What is all this?”

I asked, frowning at the pile of books stacked high in front of me.

“These are what you’re going to study.”

“What I’m going to study?”

“Even though you’re living at the convent for now, you’re planning on leaving eventually, right? Wouldn’t it be smart to pick up some useful information before you do?”

“And that useful information… is an encyclopedia of creatures from beyond the Gate?”

I eyed the titles, which, while not exactly named that, seemed close enough in content.

“It won’t hurt to know. If you go out there clueless, you could get scammed left and right.”

Ria replied nonchalantly.

She had a point, sort of. Hunters didn’t do what they did just for the thrill; the Hunter Association was practically an industry. Resources from beyond the Gate—whether rare ores nearly impossible to mine here or exotic, magical stones unique to those realms—were highly valuable. Some monster meats even found their way into luxury markets as rare delicacies, or they had medicinal qualities, including rumored aphrodisiac properties in certain parts.

Hunters, the Association, and even the “heroes” lived off the profits from these high-value resources. And of course, scams were common.

“Even if you’re not directly working as a Hunter, a lot of Gate resources are used in daily life now, you know?”

Ria added.

“…Yeah.”

I sighed, flipping through the cover of one of the books.

“People often lump all creatures from beyond the Gate under the term ‘monsters,’ but the Hunters have a more detailed classification system. Creatures that look monstrous but are actually biological life forms with entirely different evolutionary paths can’t be dealt with using divine power. But entities classified as ‘monsters’ by Hunters, those that run on magical energy as their main source, are extremely vulnerable to divine power.”

Ria raised an eyebrow.

“You know your stuff.”

I grinned, feeling a small surge of pride. Unlike last time, when she completely shut down my assertion that there was no God, this time I’d surprised her.

“I may look like this, but my grades were actually near the top. I put some effort into studying.”

You had to know the basics to get by in the real world. And, as a bonus, I’d picked up a decent amount of useful knowledge from novels, though most of what I’d seen directly related to the Gate involved badly injured people. Still, it came in handy for practical knowledge.

Besides—one of the nuns I didn’t get along with was a hardcore studier herself. Watching her smugly flash those grades of hers… Well, I couldn’t stand it. To beat her fair and square, I need to have something to show off, after all. Not that Ria needed to know any of that.

“Maybe I don’t know all the market values, but I do know enough to make a living outside, you know? Am I supposed to be some caged bird?”

I replied with a bit of a smirk.

Ria just narrowed her eyes and stared at me, as if my response confirmed something she already suspected. People tended to react strangely to me. Maybe it was because of the kind of world this was, but people were always astonished by the fact that I had once been a Saintess candidate and could wield divine power. The reactions usually split into two extremes: those who dismissed it as nothing and those who were in awe. The gap between the two was vast, and anyone who saw me use divine power tended to do a complete 180 in how they looked at me. The few people who’d seen it often, like the Father, the Mother Superior, and a handful of nuns, still treated me like usual, thankfully. Though I wasn’t one to talk, considering I was using the convent as a sort of shield.

“Hm, is that so? Then no need to memorize this after all.”

Ria said, tapping the book pile.

“You were going to make me memorize it?”

I asked, incredulous. But she was already moving on to another topic.

“Have you ever trained?”

“Trained?”

I repeated, blinking. Was she trying to turn me into a Hunter now? Maybe she still had that idea of taking me to the Association.

“…I’ve done a bit.”

I admitted.

This was a Hunter world, wasn’t it? Of course I had some admiration for the protagonist, who lived the Hunter life. Why, isn’t it a classic trope to at least try out swords and shields when you land in a different world? And this place was essentially another world to me. A world where people wielded swords, cast magic, and some, like me, could use divine power.

Part of the reason I wanted to explore beyond the convent was that I’d longed for that kind of life. Sure, my atheism drove my rebellion against the Saintess role, but it was also because I envied adventurers. With the title of “Saintess,” I’d never get the freedom to roam that far, much less visit and interact with the races that lived permanently beyond the Gate.

I wanted to see the world freely, form parties with people, and explore new places, exchanging with civilizations no one had encountered before. That wasn’t just my own dream as someone from another world—it was a job anyone would admire. Like a kid wanting to become an astronaut, except here it was much more realistic and achievable.

“Unfortunately, I seem to lack the talent for it.”

I added with a self-deprecating chuckle.

Personally, I thought I was average, but unfortunately, I didn’t have the skills to become a ‘Hunter,’ a pioneer of the era. “More realistic than an astronaut,” sure, but still not a job just anyone could do.

Not every church has its own squad of knights, but instructors come by regularly to scout for talent. They run basic training for anyone interested and keep an eye out for those with promise. When I was a kid, it felt like a lighthearted hobby, like going to a taekwondo class. Later, it became a serious test for future candidates, but sadly, I never once caught anyone’s attention.

Well, since it’s a system designed to improve individual physical fitness, I guess I could continue training. But…

…It seemed that the instructor who visited our church didn’t think highly of me. Not surprising, I suppose—getting close to someone who openly clashed with the Cardinal isn’t exactly ideal for anyone looking to rise up in the ranks. The Knights, after all, take their orders directly from those higher up, so keeping a distance was the only option.

In any case, my skills weren’t impressive enough for them to risk bringing me on board. I had once considered showing my divine powers to the instructor, but… no. As much as I tried to stay rational and sensible, I couldn’t shake my aversion to the “Saintess” title. I didn’t want to join any party as a Saintess.

“What weapons have you trained with?”

Ria asked, surprisingly neither dismissive nor amused.

“Well, since it’s the church, the first weapon I tried was a sword.”

I replied. I quickly learned that wielding a real, sharpened sword was a lot more than just swinging it around. Moving a two-kilo chunk of steel wasn’t exactly easy.

And, of course, one of the nuns who always looked down on me started showing off once she got praised for her swordsmanship. Rumor has it she’s not going back to lay life this year and might be recruited directly into the Knights.

“Then I tried using a mace.”

I continued. Blunt weapons were, thankfully, a little more straightforward than swords, but just barely. The level of skill I achieved was about on par with any of the other nuns, so I didn’t particularly stand out.

There’s only so much you can do to improve your strength. I tried my best—running drills, strength exercises—but one of the other nuns has a natural gift for it. There’s talk that she’ll be scouted by the Knights as well. She and I are on neutral terms, more or less.

Among all these efforts, though—

“I did bring up guns once, actually.”

I added.

“Guns?”

Yup.

Believe it or not, I’m a veteran of the South Korean military—just a regular infantry soldier, but still. I even hit targets at 200 meters with my bare eyes. I never quite managed the 250-meter target, but hey.

“It seems the church isn’t too thrilled about the idea of bringing in firearms, though. But hey, you only need to move a finger to use one, right?”

I shrugged my shoulders.

There are Hunters who use guns, after all. One of the protagonist’s companions in the novel was a skilled shooter. Even the Knights don’t openly use firearms, probably because once they did, they’d be a military force that could be too much for the government to manage.

For these reasons, my suggestion was, naturally, brushed aside.

“Confident, are you?”

“Well, not totally lacking in confidence. I have decent focus, at least.”

Of course, I’d never actually fired a gun before, so I’d kept my claim vague enough. I half-expected Ria to reply with something like, “You think it’s that easy?” Instead, she simply nodded.

“Alright, got it.”

She began to gather up the stack of books on my desk. Even though it was a hefty pile, she lifted it without a hint of struggle—definitely fitting for a hero candidate.

Her final words lingered in my mind, but I just nodded and let it go.

Though, seriously, I’d just finished high school; the last thing I wanted was to be handed more study material.

*

A few days later.

“Here.”

Ria said, setting something down with a solid thud in front of me.

“Huh?”

I glanced down at the object she’d placed in front of me.

…A gun.

“A… handgun?”

“Yes.”

Ria nodded, her expression unchanging.

“….”

Um. I’d never even held a handgun before. I was just a regular foot soldier back in the day—I knew my way around a rifle, sure, but…

“What’s wrong? Weren’t you feeling confident?”

She asked.

Well…

I mean, it’s just… a bit different.