That night.
Raham awoke in a dream within a certain forest.
Everything was warm and abundant in the forest.
Colorful butterflies danced between the flowers, and the blue sky stretched high above, beautiful.
As the wind caressed him, it felt as though life was welling up inside him, and breathing brought an overwhelming sensation to his heart.
Since he was born with a weak nose and had never taken such refreshing breaths before, his impression of the forest only grew fonder.
If it were possible not to wake up, he could have wished to stay like this forever.
If he could, he would want to bring all his family here to live.
It was then.
-Whirling-.
The surroundings grew brilliantly bright, and the clouds in the sky cleared, allowing a path of light to descend.
The light was certainly bright enough to be blinding, yet, at that moment, his eyes were not blinded.
Rather, it felt peaceful, like reading a book under soft lighting.
And at the end of that light, a form was slowly and majestically descending, wings spread wide.
“Wh-who…?”
Raham stuttered out a voice towards that form.
Then, an intense torrent of information began to pour down, reverberating in his mind.
-Raham, my apostle. Can you hear me?
It sounded like the noise of dozens of gigantic trumpets combined, yet at the same time, it was a voice he could fully comprehend.
However, Raham was bewildered at the fact that it referred to him.
Apostle? What on earth does that mean?
What kind of existence is this that it appears in his dream and speaks such incomprehensible words?
No, is this even really speech?
While confused, it spoke again.
-Do you truly believe in me? Is your faith still firm?
Faith.
The moment he heard that word, it unexpectedly caught his attention, and after pondering it, he soon realized.
This was not merely a simple dream or an illusion.
“Ah…! No, are you…!”
Yes, hadn’t he vaguely known from the beginning?
He struggled to calm his pounding heart and opened his mouth.
“Are you an angel?”
An angel.
The very being he had believed in and prayed to had revealed its existence right before his eyes.
Then, it responded as if answering him, producing that grand sound once more.
-If by ‘angel’ you mean your god, then yes.
An undeniable affirmation.
Raham nodded vigorously and exclaimed with a voice full of joy.
“Yes! Yes! I believe in you!”
-Good.
It spoke as if thoroughly satisfied.
Due to being enveloped in light, he couldn’t discern its face or expressions, but to Raham, it clearly seemed to be smiling.
-Raham, listen to my words.
“Yes!”
‘Is this perhaps… a revelation?’
In a world without gods, a world where how revelations come down was forgotten, he could be certain due to the faith he had upheld himself.
This was undoubtedly a revelation bestowed by that being.
So then, what could the angel that had first revealed itself to him want?
Raham listened intently towards the heavens.
And the revelation that came was shocking.
-Offer to me the life of your youngest son.
“Yes?”
To offer the life of his youngest son?
What in the world does that mean?
-I have resurrected you from death, so isn’t it only right that you also offer your life to me? I command you; you must do so. Behead your son in the very forest where you first saw me and offer him as a sacrifice to me. Then you shall truly be resurrected with complete faith.
“…”
Raham received that revelation.
——
Having received the revelation, Raham awoke in his room, in bed.
Next to him was his son, who had been reading him a bedtime story, now sleeping soundly and cutely.
Everything was the same as it had been before he fell asleep.
The only thing that had changed was the command from his god to kill his son.
“…”
Raham slowly turned his head towards the sleeping boy.
Since it was a command given by his god, it was something that must be followed.
There surely must be a profound reason that he could not comprehend.
Yes, this was undoubtedly a test of his faith.
Perhaps after this, just as he had been resurrected from death, he might be brought back to life again.
If so, he needed to prepare first.
The knife to behead his son, a means to take him to the forest of Rienne, and the clothes he would wear when going out.
Since it was chilly outside, it would be better to dress him warmly, and though people said a person’s neck is tougher than expected, he wasn’t sure he could properly behead even a child.
As he gathered each item for preparation, his hand suddenly stopped.
‘But, really?’
What if all of this is not a test for him but that the being truly desires his son’s death?
What if, after the deed, his son does not come back to life?
There is something even worse.
What if what he received was not a revelation but just a dream?
Since that day, he had not once seen the angel’s form.
Therefore, there was no one to teach him that this was a revelation; it was merely his own thought, wasn’t it?
If that were the case, wouldn’t it be a senseless death?
As doubt began to creep in, next came a wave of immense self-loathing.
‘What terrible thing was I about to do?’
He was preparing for murder.
Moreover, he had thought of the means to kill his son and a knife with which to do it.
The horrifying act he had never once imagined in his life, he had resolved to commit simply because ‘that being’ wanted it.
“Hah, huff…!”
It was terrifying.
Oh my, he was about to kill his son with his own hands!
Now realizing what an action he had taken, Raham covered his face with his hands and began to take shallow breaths.
His son had been born after a difficult delivery.
He had thought he could do anything for his son, yet he felt incredibly disgusted at the thought that he even entertained the idea of killing his own child.
Regaining his senses, various thoughts surfaced.
‘Why am I thinking like this…? Because of a dream? Why on earth did I dream such a thing?’
It was all very confusing.
This was neither a revelation nor faith.
Yes, just a simple act of madness.
Better for him to die than to let his son die.
Raham resolved he would not kill his child.
Then, a thought arose.
‘Is the being I believed in and followed truly a good existence?’
With the doubt in his heart, Raham’s hair began to slowly fade back to its former grayish-white color.
——
Across the street, Luke looked through a window from the rooftop of a building at the scene.
He sighed deeply at the halo floating above his head.
“Huh… This is the first revelation I’ve seen, and I’m relieved it went through properly.”
Indeed, what Raham had seen in his dream was not a mere illusion or a false revelation made up by memory manipulation; it was a genuine revelation.
If he had used magic, he would have surely aroused suspicion.
No matter how trusting Raham was, he was a modern person accustomed to illusions and magic due to his class, wasn’t he?
If it wasn’t a real revelation, it would have been more likely to be discovered.
These days, even a dog raised at home can distinguish between fantasy and reality.
Fortunately, it seemed that his natural revelation was enough to kindle doubt in Raham’s heart, where faith had yet to solidify.
Yet, that method was somewhat unrefined.
Holding a child as a hostage…
Especially since he had loved children, it seemed like an extremely effective method he had thought of, but the guilt was quite heavy.
But on one hand, he also felt a twinge of regret.
If he truly possessed strong faith and was about to decapitate his son in the Rienne forest, he would have been thinking of ways to stop or revive him somehow, but even then, he’d lost faith before even getting out of bed.
‘Well, he was kinda my first apostle…’
There was nothing to be done, this era lacks the evidence and faith in the divine, making it a faint time.
It’s natural for such doubts to arise so quickly.
Well, there are no doctrines given directly by the gods, and his religious life hasn’t been long, so perhaps that’s to be expected.
While thinking it was fortunate, I also feel a sense of regret; this contradictory feeling is truly confusing.
Luke sighed as he gazed at the body that had grown with the divine power he had reclaimed from Raham.
“Looking at the divine power, it seems like his faith was quite deep… for no reason at all.”
Though it was clothes newly bought in preparation for growth, they felt somehow constricting, as though they had grown even larger since last wearing them.
The buttons around the chest felt like they might pop off; had he not cast a durability enchantment with magic, they might have ripped apart.
Moreover, there was a feeling that the skirt seemed too short now.
But surely, there should be no correlation between divine power and breast size…
Could it really be that it’s hard to find underwear that fits this body too?
If this continues, he might truly end up with a body that cannot survive without polymorph.
