No, How Can an Atheist Become a Saintess!?

No, How Can an Atheist Become a Saintess!? – 23

EP.23

Chapter 2

Encounters and Opportunities (10)

Even if the other Saintess Candidates ignored me, anyone who had personally received my healing wouldn’t dismiss my words. Not that I healed them with that in mind, of course.

“It’s not entirely unreasonable.”

Said Mr. Kim Hyeon-kang, whom Ria called “Uncle.”

“When things get serious, we sometimes pull everyone out except the best fighters. Yes, Sister, if that’s what you suggest, I’ll go along with it. We were already planning to reorganize the teams anyway since we just had an injury.”

Hearing that, I exhaled a bit, letting my tension ease. That should be enough.

The creatures beyond the Gate were as wary of our world as we were of theirs. The Gate, after all, offered no glimpse of what lay on the other side until you crossed through, like looking at a thinly veiled wall.

“Do you plan to keep the gate open?”

I asked.

“Well, we’re starting to think it might be better to close it soon. There’s really not much worth keeping it open for. As usual, some universities are interested in studying the other side’s ecosystem, but with so many injuries, even research is getting difficult.”

One might suggest mobilizing the military if hunters were short in supply, but for most nations, the army was intended for warfare. Although soldiers were often called upon to aid civilians, sending them beyond the Gate—an area requiring specialists—was uncommon unless some monstrous threat emerged that required containment. And for the state, high-ranking hunters were invaluable resources; they couldn’t be sent in recklessly.

Closing the Gate on this side was similar to closing it on the other side. The difference was that the magical formation had to be constructed on the other side. As long as the Gate could be accessed, magic and physical laws applied equally on both ends. While some Gates vanished on their own, if they frequently closed on their own, hunters wouldn’t venture in so readily.

“It will take a few hours to prepare. In fact, sometimes the process can take over ten hours, and depending on the magic analysis, it could even take several days. In the meantime, would it be alright if you stayed here?”

“With the condition that no one else approaches our room. I’m the only knight on our side.”

Ria responded before I could answer.

When I looked at her, she simply shrugged. Mr. Kim Hyeon-kang, who was watching Ria with a curious expression, nodded in agreement.

“Alright. We’ll arrange that.”

“In that case…”

“Yes, feel free to stay however you like while the preparations are underway. We have plenty of foods here too. After all, one can’t fight on an empty stomach, right?”

“Oh.”

I couldn’t help feeling a little tempted by that. Plenty of people could handle healing duties in my place. Unless someone was on the brink of death, I likely wouldn’t even have to step in. And now, with the risk to Lee Si-yoon taken care of, perhaps I could just eat and relax until it was time to leave.

“All you think about is food.”

Ria muttered.

“Hey? I haven’t said a word.”

I protested.

“But it’s not like you didn’t think it.”

She teased.

What? Was she reading my mind? Is this some next-level perception, or maybe an ability similar to telepathy?

Unfortunately, with my senses far less honed than Ria’s, I had no hope of reading her thoughts.

In the end, though, I never got a chance to eat anything.

“You’re nothing if not consistent, huh.”

Ria muttered, watching me as I wandered around outside the building, preoccupied with the thought of injured people needing help.

“What if someone who’s barely hanging on suddenly shows up while I’m eating?”

I shot back, a bit defensively.

“Yes, yes, of course…”

She replied with an exasperated smile.

“But we’ve already pulled out all the lower-ranking hunters; do you really think anyone else will get hurt?”

Well, she had a point.

“…But people could collapse at any time.”

I grumbled, and Ria shrugged. It felt like she was saying, “Well, I won’t argue with that,” which made me feel even more frustrated.

Great. Now my brain was automatically replaying her voice in my head.

After spending over a month together, it seemed we’d gotten to know far too much about each other. Well, we were sharing a room, so it was inevitable.

As I muttered under my breath and fiddled with my bangs, a group of people approached us.

While Ria sometimes gave off an intimidating air when she was angry, these people had an even more imposing presence. Dressed mostly in black and significantly taller than Ria—almost a head and a half to two heads taller than me—they moved as a collective, like a wall advancing toward us.

And in the middle of that wall was the nun I’d noticed earlier.

Ria stiffened and stepped in front of me. But although they exuded an imposing presence, it didn’t seem like they intended to harm us; they stopped at a distance and parted to the sides.

I could now see the ‘Saintess Candidate’ more clearly.

She didn’t look like me at all. Her eyes and brows were dark, and her facial features were fairly typical for this region. She was pretty, but not particularly striking. Her hair was neatly covered with a veil, and her nun’s attire was properly worn—far more traditional than mine.

The Saintess Candidate’s gaze scanned me from head to toe, slowly.

“Sister Anna, is it?”

“…Yes, and?”

I replied curtly, causing her eyes to widen slightly before softening into a faint smile.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Sophie.”

Probably her baptismal name. Like me, she likely didn’t have a secular name.

From the look on her face earlier, she’d come over to test me. Sent by the Cardinal, perhaps? Even if she wasn’t, she’d probably heard rumors and saw me as a thorn in her side. To people who deeply believed in God, someone like me who claimed there was no God was simply a heretic.

“I’ve heard a lot about you, Sister Anna. You seem to hold… rather unique views on faith.”

“Oh, well, yes.”

I replied, bracing myself. Here we go again.

At my own church, people were used to my outspokenness by now, so no one bothered confronting me anymore. But occasionally, people who overlapped with me during volunteer work took it upon themselves to challenge me. If not that, then there’d be devout, almost fanatical laypeople who couldn’t help themselves.

As a Saintess Candidate, Sophie surely had unshakable faith in the God’s existence. How could she resist picking a fight with someone right in front of her who denied that truth? It’d be like me seeing someone insist the Earth was flat—I’d feel compelled to argue with them.

Not that I’m saying I’d actually argue the Earth is flat.

Maybe she wasn’t pleased with my indifferent reaction. Or maybe she thought she’d greeted me warmly, expecting a friendlier response in return.

“I was hoping, as fellow Saintess Candidates, we could exchange some thoughts.”

She said.

“Thoughts?”

“Yes. Rumor has it that you, too, have genuine divine power. I didn’t get a chance to witness it myself earlier, but I imagine it was only a matter of missed opportunity.”

Hmm.

Was she trying to provoke me?

I tilted my head, curious.

Well, that made sense. After all, unlike Sophie or any of the other clergy members, I hadn’t healed anyone since arriving here.

Even though it has a different application, this kind of “supernatural power” is typically met with skepticism unless shown directly—and even then, people have their doubts. There are plenty of folks out there who make a living by calling their tricks “supernatural powers.”

Actually, it was reasonable enough.

I adjusted my opinion of Sophie a little. At least she wasn’t blindly accepting things and seemed to be making a measured judgment based on the situation.

“If the chance arises, I’d love to see you use the gift that God has bestowed upon you, Sister Anna—”

“Oh, hold on a minute.”

That rational assessment? I immediately revised it.

“Yes?”

Sophie looked at me with a slightly puzzled expression.

“The part where you called it a ‘gift from God,’”

I replied, watching her expression turn to one of mild shock.

” ─Strictly speaking, divine power is more like a natural law rather than a gift, right? Like how if you place a magnifying glass under the sun and adjust it properly, it can set paper on fire.”

“…?”

Sophie looked somewhat dazed.

Maybe it was just my imagination, but it seemed like the knights standing behind her looked a little stunned too.

“Basically, that kind of power just exists as part of nature’s laws. I don’t see why we’d call it a gift, especially when even someone like me can use it. Doesn’t really seem like there’s anyone up there controlling it directly.”

“What…what are you saying?”

Ria lifted a hand to press her forehead.

What? Am I wrong?

Okay, maybe it wouldn’t be a stretch to think that someone up there is purposely trying to mess with me, considering how things have gone. Someone could very well grab you by the hand on the street and plant some dung on your head for no good reason.

“Anyway, I know it’s not really my power, but calling something someone forcibly shoved into my hand a ‘gift’ or a ‘blessing’—erk!”

“Hey, hey.”

Before I could finish, Ria poked me in the ribs.

“Do you realize those knights over there are Inquisitors?”

“…Oh.”

“And you’re really saying all this in front of the people guarding the Saintess? You know how annoying they can be if you tick them off?”

Just annoying? Wouldn’t it be worse than that?

Well, okay, I’d heard rumors that they were more like bureaucratic cops than anything else, but still.

“…Sister Anna? Were you…by any chance…saying—”

Just as Sophie opened her mouth to react to my words—

Thud.

A loud, earth-shaking sound rang out.

All of us, Ria and myself included, whipped our heads toward the source of the noise.

It was coming from the direction of the Gate.

There were a few people stationed nearby, but not a huge number. And beyond that Gate—

“Ahhh!”

A bloodied figure came flying out, crashing hard into the ground. Even after bouncing several times on the ground, they lay completely limp.

Were they…even alive—

“Anna!”

But before I could even make that call, I was already sprinting toward them.