Chapter 128

“As soon as I rushed after Sister Maria, there was the Pope lying on the bed.”

The tips of his fingers sticking out from under the blanket looked even worse than yesterday.

It felt a bit strange.

The Saint Power I wield, and the Saint Power used by other priests, certainly doesn’t eat away at our bodies because of that power.

Well, of course, considering the times I’ve bled while using my power, there might be some limits… but almost nobody gets their body consumed by Magic Power just because they purified it.

After all, I’m only channeling Magic Power through light; how could I possibly get contaminated?

“Sister.”

As I approached the Pope without hesitation, he spoke to me. His gaze was a bit stern.

What would happen if I treated him now?

The fact that the Pope was in this state meant that none of the priests in here had been able to completely heal him.

Everyone acknowledged my abilities, but seeing and understanding it firsthand was an entirely different matter.

I think the Pope told me not to use my powers because he was aware of that.

I looked back.

Ria and I locked eyes. After a moment of hesitation, Ria simply smiled at me.

If I were to go up, it seemed Ria would end up that way too. And yet, she told me to do as I wished.

Sister Maria couldn’t hide her worry from her face.

It was only natural. He was a figure like her father.

I didn’t hear why Sister Maria, who spoke Korean so well, referred to the Pope as her father, but perhaps after losing her entire family here, the Pope took that place instead.

I couldn’t let the people around us be involved. When the Pope spoke with Ria and me just a moment ago, it was merely a conversation, but right now, if things went wrong, his life was in danger.

Rather than something happening today, it was likely that issues accumulated over the years burst all at once.

…Unless that wasn’t the case.

I knelt beside the Pope. Then I rested my elbows on the bed.

“Sister.”

The Pope opened his mouth, speaking in a voice too soft for others to hear.

“Even if you borrow his power, this old man may not live much longer.”

I know. My power can heal wounds and ailments, but it can’t prolong one’s lifespan.

However, at least, the time that remains should be a bit extended. During that time, he won’t have to writhe in pain.

“…We’ve briefly talked about responsibility.”

I said to the Pope.

“Pope, do you know the story of the Good Samaritan?”

“Is there a religious person who doesn’t know that story? I think there’s no one who dislikes it either.”

Though it’s an ancient belief by this world’s standards, the core of it can be applied to all religions, especially those that still exist on a large scale today.

“Then, isn’t having power and not helping others a way to evade responsibility?”

If I had been hurt the same way, perhaps there wouldn’t have been anyone to complain if I just walked past.

If the road was too busy. If it was too dark to see the person lying down. If, even if I did see them, the situation was too dire for me to do anything.

No one would punish someone who simply walked past, who couldn’t save a man.

“If it’s about responsibility, who could punish you, Sister?”

The Pope asked.

“You said the one above isn’t all-powerful. You said He lacks the strength to respond to all beliefs. Then, isn’t not taking responsibility a personal matter?”

If it’s not dictated by God, then what’s the reason for doing such things?

It was a question I had searched for a long time.

To refute that, I had worked to live a good life. Thanks to that, I could maintain a decent reputation, even if I couldn’t see myself as a perfect saint. I was perhaps a little peculiar and had some delusions, but I thought I was someone my friends could trust.

Yet even so, I ultimately could not find a satisfying answer.

Because society shouldn’t collapse. There must be parts that run on such goodwill and responsibility. So I shouldn’t feel guilty. Because people like it.

All those were answers, yet none could be perfectly logical or rational.

Sometimes I felt like I could live better if I acted selfishly. I didn’t think everything had to be done the boring old-fashioned way.

I couldn’t help but have those thoughts.

“Then what about you, Pope?”

So I asked.

“Pope, why were you here when you could have run away at any time?”

“…”

The Pope paused for a moment before speaking.

“Sister, would it be alright for me to make a confession?”

“…Sisters cannot receive confession.”

“That rule is just a rule we’ve established. I only hope for a moment of lamentation from this old man.”

“…Alright, I’m listening.”

To my words, the Pope spoke.

“I too have wavered in my faith many times. If the one above were truly all-powerful, all the suffering in the world would be created by Him. If all the suffering that comes to us is given by Him, what should we believe in? What should I tell a person who lost all their family in an unfortunate accident while traveling?”

“….”

“Yet still, I had power. The power to help others. If the one who granted me this power truly believed I would help others, then honoring that faith is my faith.”

And so, I have continued to work until now.

As a Pope.

“Then shouldn’t I do the same? The power I’ve received may be even greater than yours.”

“But, Sister.”

The Pope said in a calm voice.

“You’re still too young.”

“What?”

I blinked in surprise at the unexpected answer.

“I am just an old man, unremarkable both then and now. I had no family, nor did I have children of my own. Just Carlo, who sold vegetables in a back alley. That was me. Nothing changed from the me back then to the me now. Just my job has changed.”

A light slowly settled on the Pope’s face.

“Therefore, I had nothing to regret. It was better to fight with what’s left of my life. People have placed Carlo in the position of the Pope. Could I have been here if I was selling vegetables for the rest of my life? Could I have received the respect of everyone? Sister, I have already received so much.”

He looked directly at my face.

“But you, Sister, are not like that. You still have love, and you are at an age where you can become anything. No one has the right to force you to do something you don’t want to do. If what you think is truly right, the one above would have the same thought.”

Then, why did I come to have this power?

That memory was still hazy for me.

There must have been something.

“So, Sister, there’s no need for you to shoulder everything like that. If the Samaritan said it was okay to leave the injured person behind, he could have just walked on.”

“…”

I thought for a moment before speaking.

“No.”

Just as the Pope looked at me, I looked at the Pope.

“That’s impossible. The Samaritan wouldn’t have been that kind of person.”

The person who fell in the story was a Jew. The Samaritan was a being that Jews despised. Those were heretics who disregard the truths held by the Jews.

Conversely, Samaritans must have viewed the Jews the same way.

Yet, the Samaritan used his time and money to care for the injured person.

There was no way a person like that would have just walked on if told to leave the bleeding person behind.

“Sister.”

“That’s true. I have many things I want to do.”

I want to be with Ria a little longer. Not just simply want to be… there are words I want to share. Though it’s a conversation I can’t have right now.

“Perhaps that might go against the doctrine of the Church. And perhaps because of what I want to do, I might have to become a blessed one or a saint.”

But still, I can’t just leave the person lying in front of me behind.

This is my principle.

Not a matter of responsibility, faith, or anything else, it’s the way I accept myself.

I can deny my beliefs. If someone threatened to kill me unless I converted, I would willingly convert. And then, over time, I would naturally turn away from that faith.

Even if I were to abandon the faith of that religion, I would act the same way. I am an atheist, but I am a person who can deny even my atheism.

If someone without any principles, if that person has no guiding principles, they couldn’t possibly be rational or logical. Because the line of reason and logic hasn’t been drawn.

And that principle of mine was this.

I will not stand by and watch someone die in front of me.

I will not just ignore someone who is suffering before my eyes.

That alone, I could not overlook.

I clasped my hands together.

“If using power in front of others justifies climbing up higher, then so be it. But the Pope’s life is more important than my displeasure.”

That’s right.

Reason is a matter of weighing benefits.

As a human being, I cannot think below a person’s life.

I closed my eyes.

…That being above would never abandon someone who has devoted themselves to people for over a decade.

Surely, they will help.