Chapter 9

“Next time, maybe try hiding something like canned food.”

Even after I split the life-saving rations like blood, Ria still said something so ungrateful.

By the way…

“Next time?”

As I stared at Ria, her hand, which had been moving the chopsticks, halted.

“Um… well, I mean, there might be times when we’ll need to eat like this at midnight again, right? Wouldn’t it be nice to have some meat? Or maybe fruit? Raw meat or raw fruit would be out of the question, but canned goods could be stored for a longer time without issue.”

What a strange thing to say.

“There won’t be a next time, so what do you mean ‘next time?’”

I said as I slurped up a bunch of ramen.

Ah, one bowl felt a bit too little. Even if I drank all the broth, I didn’t think I’d be full.

Sigh, I suddenly regretted my choice of a hero candidate in front of me.

“…No next time?”

Ria again made an incomprehensible sound. No, more than that, it looked like she didn’t quite get what I said, so I let out a deep sigh and set the remaining ramen and chopsticks down.

“Alright. Since everyone’s caught, let’s be honest. It’s true that I said there’s no God in front of you. I did it so you would stay here.”

“…”

“To be precise, the Sister Warden set a condition. If you can be persuaded somehow, you’d be able to stay in this convent for another year or two.”

“…Is that so?”

Ria asked with a slightly awkward voice, and I nodded.

The flashlight was quite bright, but unfortunately, there wasn’t anywhere to hang it on the ceiling, so I just placed it on the table. Obviously pointing in the opposite direction of the door.

It was much better than having no light source at all, but originally, a flashlight is designed to illuminate the front, unlike a lantern.

The LED light would cast a bright enough beam to distinguish the surroundings in the dark, but it was small enough to hide in a nun’s robe, so laying it on its side didn’t clearly illuminate everything around.

The expression of Ria, or rather Lee Chae-eun, visible through that strange light, looked oddly guilty, but I chose to ignore it and continued speaking.

“Anyway, since you already suspected it was a trap, it’ll be pointless, right?”

“Well, not entirely…”

“Besides, the reason I wanted to stay here has also vanished. I thought there were seven potential stalkers, but you realized those seven were just waiting to scout me, right? Because of you.”

It was merely my misunderstanding, so in that sense, it wasn’t Chae-eun’s fault.

But did it really need to be so blatantly thrown in my face? Honestly, if I hadn’t used my Saint Power today, I probably would have just been tossing and turning in bed until this hour.

Seeing Chae-eun’s gaze shift slightly to the side, I took a long breath.

Then I picked up the cup ramen and the slightly mismatched wooden chopsticks again.

Now that I noticed, the chopsticks that Chae-eun was holding were of very uniform size and shape. I wondered if extreme training in swordsmanship allowed someone to even split chopsticks that perfectly.

“Anyway, there’s really no reason for me to stay here, and you probably don’t plan to stay either… I don’t know what brought you here, but you’re going to turn eighteen this year anyway.”

Even if the Sister Warden and the church tried to force us to stay, both of our limits would probably be until the end of May, assuming we had the will to ‘leave.’

I didn’t… well, I hadn’t really thought about staying here forever.

While I knew Chae-eun’s reason for being here, that reason didn’t give her a reason to stop being an adult.

In the original story, although they bickered and fought, the relationship between Chae-eun and the Saintess was quite decent.

In fact, rather than ‘quite decent,’ they had the impression of being a close duo that fought every day but firmly trusted each other.

I wasn’t exactly sure how they became that close, but from what was described indirectly, it seemed Chae-eun held the Saintess in pretty high regard. She was kind, healed people diligently… although she could be a bit extreme regarding her views on heretics, aside from that, she was an incredibly decent and good person. Unlike me.

Whether I had the will or not, the offer from the Sister Warden and the church was either one of two things.

Either live a normal life, or live as a Saintess forever.

If those were the options I had, I thought I would just choose the former.

“Um… well.”

For a moment, Chae-eun, who had been staring at me blankly, opened her mouth.

“Hey, good thought. Well, you had been saying things like that, so, um, it doesn’t seem like you fit well with the church.”

“Yeah, not at all.”

I let out a small sigh.

Honestly, I didn’t really like studying scripture either, so I slacked off, dozing off in classes and lectures. It was as if I was a student who picked the wrong major in college. Not that I had much choice anyway.

But that didn’t mean I disliked being here.

There weren’t really any people I would openly call friends, and while there were nuns I didn’t get along with, there were also quite a few nuns who took care of me even while teasing me. Especially the nuns who saw my Saint Power tended to be more cautious around me.

And although it was a bit embarrassing to say outright, for the past 15 years, the Sister Warden had almost been like a mother to me.

She often scolded me, but still looked after me as much as she could, and when I did something reckless like sending a petition directly to the Cardinal, she actively stepped up to protect me. The priests were nice people too.

…If I became a regular person, that relationship would likely be completely severed. Even if I occasionally visited, there’s no way I’d be allowed back into the convent where I grew up.

So, maybe I just hadn’t prepared my mind for this. Wanting to go out but making excuses to stay behind.

“Would you like me to help you find a job after you leave?”

For some reason, Chae-eun spoke in a flustered way. I wasn’t sure if she had finished eating the cup ramen or not, but she was just leaving it there.

“A job?”

I asked while lifting the ramen again.

“I’m a hero candidate, and my dad’s a hero, right? Even if it’s not working directly for the Hunter Association, there are plenty of places in cooperative relationships.”

Well, that was true. In the story, Chae-eun’s name was often used like a cheat code. If the protagonist ever got stuck while seeking help, they’d contact Chae-eun, and she would lend a hand.

In fact, because of the very fact that she was in the convent, her connections only widened as the story progressed, eventually introducing characters associated with the church.

Anyway, she was quite the social butterfly.

“Are you suggesting I work for the Hunter Association? But I don’t know how to fight at all.”

The Saintess also learned how to fight, but her skills were limited to wielding a mace and barely blocking attacks with a shield.

Yet the role of the Saintess was extremely important. The true power of the Saintess wasn’t her combat prowess, but her miraculous Saint Power.

“Come on, do you really not get what I’m saying? You received a scout offer already as it is!”

Chae-eun said as if she couldn’t believe it.

“You don’t even have to go into combat for it, right? Just staying at the headquarters would rake in the money!”

“Ah, really?”

“…Really? You can figure that much out, can’t you?”

Chae-eun tilted her head in confusion at my nonchalant question.

I shrugged my shoulders and took another bite of ramen. This was the last piece of chopsticks. A little regret stirred within me, so I stirred the ramen broth with my chopsticks and continued speaking.

“However, it’s not my ability.”

“What?”

“That’s the power of that being you call a god, some entity above me, so it’s not my ability.”

Slurp.

After answering, I drank the broth again. Mmm, salty. It’s best when you eat ramen at night and not too spicy.

“No, no, no. Wait a minute.”

Chae-eun waved her hands as if she truly couldn’t understand my words. I wondered if I’d ever seen her so flustered before. Well, it hadn’t been long since we met, but still.

“Are you saying if you wouldn’t eat it, I should?”

I casually pulled the cup ramen, which had been left unattended in front of Chae-eun for a while, towards me.

Oh, there’s still quite a bit of noodles left.

“Your power was given by the gods, right? Then it’s obviously your power. It’s a gift!”

I fished out some ramen, blew on it to cool it down, then looked at Chae-eun, who was making remarkable claims.

“How is that my power?”

“What?”

“Look, wizards study magic, right? They work super hard. You don’t just wave a wand and recite a spell to go straight into it; that’s not how magic works.”

“…”

“Alchemy is said to be almost as complicated as quantum mechanics, and even the soldiers who guard the Gate need to practice their shooting skills, or they won’t get anywhere. Chae-eun, you know this, right? You have amazing swordsmanship skills because you’ve worked hard since childhood.”

Well, I figured it was fine to say this much. According to the story, Chae-eun’s competence as the hero’s daughter had been famous since she was a child.

“But, what about Saint Power?”

I asked while staring at Chae-eun.

“My Saint Power—I got that without any study whatsoever. I told you I didn’t put in any effort ‘at all.’ If you ask anyone in the convent, no one will say they’ve seen me study the scriptures properly while holding the Bible, I bet.”

The reason why some people in the convent didn’t particularly like me was also because of this.

Despite studying and praying diligently, my Saint Power ends up being greater than theirs due to simply sleeping during the prayers.

But is Saint Power a strength that can’t be achieved through effort? Nope, not at all.

The more you study and understand the being above, your Saint Power gradually increases. It’s not that talent doesn’t play a part, but it certainly cannot be labeled as just ‘luck.’

If anything, if I had been a freak in swordsmanship or a genius in magic, I could have understood. In that case, I’d have put in effort because I wouldn’t be able to survive otherwise. Isn’t it natural?

But I have never actively tried to develop my Saint Power.

And yet, I could summon this much strength.

Thus, the only conclusion left is that this isn’t my power. It’s merely a plaything of that being above.

“…So, you’re saying you won’t use it?”

“I will use it. If someone’s dying in front of me, I’ll use it for sure. If an incredibly deadly disease spreads, I’d use it, and if some natural disaster occurs and many people get hurt, of course, I’d use it.”

“But you won’t earn money with it, right?”

“I feel like I’ve been repeating myself, so let me clarify it one more time.”

I raised my chopsticks with some ramen up, looking directly at Chae-eun as I spoke.

“That ability isn’t mine. It’s probably just that some entity above is using my body as a vessel to exert their power. I do have the option to designate a target, but that’s it. What kind of money can I earn from such power? I’m not the one who uses it.”

Before debating whether I’m an atheist or not, that kind of power could disappear at any moment.

If the fact that it can’t annihilate all the evils in this world is anything to go by, that being isn’t omnipotent. I’ve lived for 15 years, and I’ve seen the news about murders and sexual assaults. Even in church, there have been cases where priests exploited nuns.

Seeing that, it seems whoever that entity is doesn’t have the power to strike someone dead with a lightning bolt over their heads, meaning my acquired abilities can’t be taken away. Powers that might have been earned through training or studying.

But that doesn’t mean the being above couldn’t bestow such an ability upon me. At the very least, they have the power to bring me to this world.

That being so, taking back a power that isn’t mine should be that easy.

“So… is that it? Since it’s not your power, you can disappear at any time, and that’s why it feels wrong to charge for it?”

“Exactly.”

How can I rely on such power for money?

Rather, it’s much better to just use it for good, even if it might disappear one day. It’s better than getting tangled up in money.

After finally making Chae-eun comprehend, I took the cold ramen that had been sitting for a while on my chopsticks and ate it.

“But, there’s a way to earn money before that power disappears.”

Well, I’ve heard that some saints or saintesses do that. In fact, there are churches that earn massive amounts of money in that manner.

Moreover, there are also some groups within the church that despise it for not doing so.

“Well, there’s also a small conscience issue. I told you, right? It’s not my ability. Chae-eun, wouldn’t you earn money using someone else’s power? I don’t think you would.”

“Hey.”

“Yeah?”

“Why do you keep referring to me as Ms. Chae-eun?”

“…?”

Why?

Oh, is it because I took away her ramen?

But what can I do? If she wanted it back, she should have said so before I took it.

As I set down the empty cup after finishing every last drop of broth, Chae-eun finally opened her mouth.

“…Just leave it. I’ll clean it up.”

“Really? Then I’m grateful!”

I’m not one to refuse such an offer.

Especially in front of my own benefit, I am an endlessly rational person.

Before Ria changes her mind, I quickly got up from my seat.