Chapter 5. Conviction and Reality (2)

While Ria was changing her clothes, I kept sorting out my thoughts.

Of course, regardless of the story, my refusal to become a Saintess was also a matter of my own convictions. It was a kind of pride, in a way. Not more important than anyone's life, but still, having been the one to point it out first, it wasn't something I could easily back down from.

......It was deeply wounding to my pride to put it this way, but maybe this was the same thing as religious people being unable to bend their own beliefs. Though if other Atheists heard me say that, they'd probably tear their hair out.

I genuinely believed my childhood friend should be the heroine.

I didn't want my existence to come between those two. Regardless of all the talk about whether the novel and reality were the same or not, I wanted things to work out between Lee Si-yoon and Han Yu-ri. That was something I'd felt after actually seeing them together.

And—

Right. I thought the character in the position of Saintess was, ultimately, at the center of the conflict.

That power. The Holy Power I wielded, said to signify the power ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of God.

What Atheists in this world thought wasn't actually all that important. Just as flat-earthers in reality couldn't overturn mainstream academic research, the Atheists of this world couldn't overturn the premise people held that "God exists."

What mattered were the beings beyond the Gate.

Those who did believe in that god, but whose interpretation of god was completely different from this world's church.

......The reason I couldn't bring myself to believe that being was God, even though I knew of its existence in this world.

Click.

The shower room door opened, and Ria came out.

Her hair was still damp, not fully dry. She'd wiped herself down and put on her nun's habit, but that didn't completely hide her allure.

If anything, since she wasn't wearing her veil, the nun's habit was having the opposite effect.

"......Hm?"

Ria, who'd been pressing her hair dry with a towel as she came out, blinked when she saw me staring at her intently.

"What?"

"No, it's nothing."

In the original work, Ria was also the Saintess's escort knight. The Saintess kept saying she was going to do volunteer work and went to meet Lee Si-yoon, and Ria steadily followed along to see Lee Si-yoon as well.

Well, in the novel she wasn't specifically called Ria. This nickname "Ria" was just me arbitrarily modifying Lee Chae-eun's Baptismal Name.

......The Ria of this world hadn't tried to approach Lee Si-yoon that much yet. Since the only thing that had changed in this world was me, that was naturally my influence too.

"Hmm?"

Just as I was about to turn my gaze toward the window, Ria strode right up to me and grabbed my cheeks with both hands.

"Mmph!?"

Once ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠again, my scream couldn't even become a scream, escaping my mouth as some ambiguous sound.

Ria was strong. With that characteristic "fantasy" boost of hers, she was probably far stronger than most girls her age who worked out back in reality.

When she gently lifted my face, I had no choice but to look at Ria.

"What? What are you worried about now?"

"It's nothing."

"That's not a nothing face."

"......."

It was deeply awkward to look straight at Ria with her wet hair clinging to her cheeks. There was a towel draped over her head, but it couldn't serve as a Veil. The red hair beneath it was far too exposed.

Good grief, "exposed." I swallowed a sigh.

I wasn't some adolescent boy, going on about a girl's hair being "exposed" or whatever.

I shifted my gaze around, then spoke.

"......I was just thinking about the battle today."

"Ah."

Only then did Ria let go of my cheeks.

"Don't think about it too deeply. When we eat meat, we don't feel terribly sorry for the meat, right? It's the way of nature. If we don't stop them there, we're the ones who get attacked."

Ria pressed her hair with the towel again, wringing it out as she spoke.

"If you argue like that, every carnivore would be a pathetic, worthless creature too."

"That's true, but still."

I let out a light breath as well.

That wasn't really what I was agonizing over, though.

If people hadn't crossed beyond the Gate, none of this would have happened— but saying that wasn't so simple, because the influence the Gates themselves had on human life could never be ignored.

I was human too.

And most people wanted to survive, and if possible, wanted that time alive to be comfortable.

Controlling the Gates and extracting the best possible gains from beyond them wasn't, fundamentally, all that different from what human civilization had been doing on Earth as it developed.

"......."

To think that what I felt after crossing to the very front lines was guilt— there might be no greater hypocrisy than this.

I could swat mosquitoes without a second thought, yet seeing a Magical Creature much larger than one die made me feel this way.

I flopped down onto the bed.

"What do you want to do about the schedule from here on? Should I let the Mother Superior know?"

"Can I skip out?"

"You're a Saintess Candidate now, aren't you? Honestly, it was weirder that you were working just like the other nuns."

I closed my eyes for a moment, then let out a long breath.

Then I sat up.

"You even used Holy Power. Are you sure you're okay?"

"......I didn't collapse, so I'm fine."

I nodded and left the room.

*

The original work wasn't an academy story, but maybe the author wanted to give it a bit of an academy flavor, because there were classes held within the Association.

Strictly speaking, it was closer to cram school or new-hire training, but still, in the sense that we took classes in something like a classroom, it was plausible enough.

Attending class with a textbook open in front of me for the first time in a while wasn't so bad. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠If anything, it was better than when I'd been doing nothing at all.

The people in the Association were all kind, too.

Though the more the atmosphere came to resemble the original work, the more I felt a strange sensation that was hard to put into words— but what could I do about it.

And between those classes, as a form of practical training, we received light assignments and went inside Gates.

Among the Gates managed by the Hunter Association "Horizon," they chose ones whose interiors had been extensively mapped. Places with proper bases, thoroughly protected by Hunters in the surrounding area.

"Hm."

After two more deployments like that, Mr. Kim Hyeon-gang fell into thought for a moment during our third deployment.

"Is something wrong?"

When Ria asked, the man sank into thought a little longer before speaking.

"No, it's just— it seems like Magical Creatures that haven't been identified before have been appearing."

"Unidentified?"

The environments beyond Gates mostly weren't very different from Earth. Whether Gates could only form where the environment was similar to Earth, or whether it was someone else's intention, no one knew.

That hadn't been revealed in the original work either.

So the regions beyond the Gates were generally assumed to be similar in size to Earth.

It wouldn't be strange for new beings to appear.

"The Wizards say it's not anything particularly formidable, but...... well, that's why I'm a little doubtful about whether I should send you two this time."

"......."

"We can make a judgment based on the size of its Mana, but—"

"If that's the case, could you leave it to me?"

The one who said that to the troubled Mr. Kim Hyeon-gang was Glaria.

"I was a capable Wizard even where I used to live. I've followed my father and repelled armies of Magical Creatures several times."

"Hmm......."

When Glaria stepped forward, Mr. Kim Hyeon-gang's expression grew more complicated.

Glaria was indeed a skilled Wizard. She'd actually given Magic-related advice within the Association that had been helpful, and she'd demonstrated her abilities while traveling with us so far.

The problem, if there was one, was that Glaria was a "princess." At the very least, Mr. Kim Hyeon-gang would know that fact.

Going by Glaria's words, even if some ordinary Magical Creature popped out, Glaria could handle it—

"......All right. You should learn ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠how to face new Magical Creatures too. You need to know how to develop strategies against them, and when to run."

If the opponent had been an ordinary living creature, he couldn't have answered like that. A being without Mana gave no easy way to gauge how powerful it was.

Just because something was a Magical Creature didn't mean its danger could be fully assessed in advance, but a Hunter had to know how to face that danger.

"......."

Judging by the gaze directed at me and Glaria, the biggest obstacle in these situations really did seem to be the two of us with our important statuses.

"I'm sorry."

When I apologized,

"Ah, no, no, I never thought anything like that! Please, raise your head!"

Mr. Kim Hyeon-gang flinched and waved his hands, shouting.

"But—"

"Really. I was just briefly worrying about how to select the location. You all do need to see Magical Creatures for yourselves, after all."

Ah.

So that was it.

The new Magical Creature might be dangerous, so he couldn't let us get too close— but at the same time, if we didn't face it, this opportunity might never come again.

A Magical Creature that was new but not too strong, one that was safe enough to approach.

......Thinking about it that way, I had a rough sense of what he meant.

"All right, then. Let's proceed a bit more cautiously this time."

The man said that.

"This time, rather than moving around freely, I'd like you to follow instructions carefully."

At his serious expression, we nodded, a little more tense than usual.