This was exactly why I'd said religion wasn't a topic worth raising.
The moment you speak it aloud, the conversation is already over.
Religion is not a domain of persuasion.
It is not a world you can trim and shape with reason.
Faith.
A closed structure completed by that single word.
An absolute realm where reason dares not set foot.
Thump!
My hand was suddenly seized.
It was Tiana.
She snatched both my hands as if afraid I'd slip away, and tightened her grip like she had no intention of letting go.
"Maty…."
Her hands were warm.
Warm — and that made it all the more difficult.
No matter how hard you shake it from the outside, it won't crack.
That's the kind of faith they have.
Until they discover the fracture themselves, it will never crumble.
"You'll love it there too."
I looked up at her.
"…Tiana."
"Our Father is merciful. Even now, if you believe and repent, it won't be too late."
Mercy. Repentance. Salvation.
Those words were reality to her.
Not symbols — an order that actually existed.
I looked down at Tiana's hand, gently stroking mine.
This is her world.
No matter how much I argue, this world will not fall.
What on earth could I possibly say?
Unless a miracle appeared before my very eyes,
I would not acknowledge the existence of God.
But. Right now, whether God exists isn't the point.
'…The best approach is probably to just empathize for now.'
My goal remained the same.
To pull Tiana free from the Holy See's grasp.
"All right. Let's go together."
The moment the words left my mouth, something tasted faintly bitter.
"Oh! Really?"
"I'm curious where you go, and I've been wanting to see it at least once."
It wasn't a lie.
Just not the whole truth.
"I knew you'd come around!"
Whoosh!
Tiana pulled my head toward her and hugged it to her chest.
I breathed in shallow, faint gasps from within her embrace — familiar, yet somehow different from before.
"T-Tiana. Just a second, I need to breathe—"
"Oh, hush! Stay still!"
Laughter wrapped around the insistence.
She didn't let go easily.
How many minutes did I spend bundled up like a stuffed toy?
Time stretched out like a pulled rubber band.
Knock knock.
"Have you finished your prayers?"
A nun intervened from outside at just the right moment.
She rapped on the door, urging us along.
Tiana released me with a reluctant expression.
I stepped outside, shaking out my thoroughly flattened hair.
The nun was waiting for us outside.
I hesitated for a moment, then asked.
"Sister."
"Yes, go ahead."
"How did you come to believe in God?"
The nun didn't answer immediately.
She glanced up at the sky for a moment, then gave a light shrug.
"Hmm. I'm not quite sure how I came to believe, myself."
"…?"
Seeing my puzzled look, she continued.
"Would you like to know why I want to believe?"
"Yes. Were you raised in the faith?"
"No."
The nun spoke plainly.
"I was a prostitute. I stole things, too."
For a moment, my thoughts stopped.
"Pardon?"
"I was caught robbing a wealthy household and beaten all day long, then thrown out into the street."
There was no exaggeration in her tone.
She spoke as calmly as if recounting someone else's story.
"The sun rose. Warm sunlight fell over my broken body."
Her gaze drifted somewhere far away.
"Do you know what I had on me then? A Bible. The lady of the house took pity on me and pressed money for the hospital and a Bible into my hands."
I couldn't say a word.
"All of that was a miracle to me. That's my proof."
The nun laughed softly.
"There's no other reason. Isn't that enough?"
She looked at me again.
"…I suppose so."
I said something that was neither quite an answer nor quite a murmur to myself.
"Why? Does your sweetheart not believe?"
The nun's gaze drifted toward Tiana, who was surrounded by children.
"Sister! You'll definitely come again next time, right?"
"Unni… this is a flower crown I made."
"Play house with us!"
Pretty really does win, I suppose. She'd already become the children's star in no time at all.
I shook my head.
"It's the other way around. I'm the one who doesn't believe. And she's not my sweetheart."
"Then it's even simpler."
The nun said it briefly.
"Love each other, and understand each other."
As if that were all there was to it.
"…Right. Well. I'll do my best."
Simple words — and yet the hardest ones of all.
I walked on, turning the nun's words over in my mind.
"Shu, what about you?"
"Whether God exists or not?"
"Yeah."
This time I directed the question at Shu.
A spirit who had existed in this world for fifteen hundred years — surely she'd know something.
"I don't know."
"…You don't know?"
"I mean I don't know whether God exists or not. I can't form any certainty about that being."
"…I see."
No definitive answer.
I gave a small nod.
In the end, no one can prove it.
Those who believe interpret it as a miracle,
and those who don't call it coincidence.
Somewhere in between,
I stood.
* * *
It was the day of my first tutoring session with Sister.
Textbooks and writing materials were already laid out neatly on the desk.
She was dressed more tidily than usual. Her hair was loosely tied back, and she sat leaning against the chair with the sleeves of her white shirt folded up crisply.
Without so much as a greeting, she asked outright.
"I hear you went to that church with the shepherdess."
Her tone was matter-of-fact, but her eyes belonged to someone who had already reached a conclusion.
How on earth did she find out about that?
"Were you spying on me?"
I answered evenly.
"That church is one I manage. Of course I'd know. So why did you go with that woman?"
"Does it bother you that I went to church?"
Ofilienne was an atheist down to her blood.
God — a device invented by humanity.
A product forged from fear and weakness.
The family's patronage of the Church was purely a matter of appearances and influence,
not any belief in God.
"I'm simply worried my little brother might start believing in something that amounts to nothing."
"I don't believe either."
"Then why did you go with that woman?"
Ofilienne pressed relentlessly.
Matyos felt a flicker of irritation. Whatever he did — what business was it of hers?
"I just went. My brother didn't go to church, so I went in his place."
"That's exactly what I'm asking — why did you go in his place?"
"I just went, I said."
A brief silence.
Narrowed eyes regarded Matyos.
"Ha. Fine. I suppose that's just the kind of person you are."
Ofilienne sighed and shook her head.
It wasn't agreement.
It was closer to a decision to table the matter for now.
"By the way, Sister. Do you know someone called Cardinal Teo?"
Ofilienne raised one eyebrow — just barely, almost imperceptibly.
"A man of considerable influence in many respects. He made Cardinal at only thirty, and he's even being put forward as the next Pope. He's currently serving as a theology professor, isn't he?"
"…Is he stronger than our family?"
"Ha, you call that a question?"
Ofilienne laughed as if she found it amusing.
"He's weaker. Obviously. Moretti has walked alongside the history of the Empire. There's no way we'd lose to a single man. Of course…."
She looked away as she continued.
"That changes if he has the Holy See behind him."
The Sanctum City-State.
A nation that governs the world's spiritual order in God's name. With the Pope at its apex, it is also known as the Holy See.
Even if the Holy See's prestige wasn't what it once was, its formidable power remained unchanged.
"You don't need to curry favor with him, but don't make an enemy of him either. That Cardinal is someone the Pope holds dear."
For Ofilienne — who had a keen grasp of the balance of power — to say even that much meant Cardinal Teo's strength was considerable indeed.
"Now then, shall we begin the tutoring?"
"You're actually going to tutor me."
"What, did you think it was going to be fake?"
Matyos was caught off guard. He'd assumed Ofilienne had inserted herself between Huana and him under the pretense of tutoring just to cause trouble.
So he hadn't expected her to actually go through with it.
Seeing her approach it with genuine seriousness was, in its own way, surprising.
"There's homework too, so look forward to it."
She gave my cheek a poke with a bewitching smile.
*
A week passed in the blink of an eye.
Exercising every day and receiving magic tutoring from Sister three times a week — even I could feel my skills improving.
I also took the Iron-Plated Tiger elixir gifted by the Sword Saint.
Shu helped with the consumption.
"There's a wealth of power contained inside. If you take it wrong, your body will break. Do exactly as I say."
"Okay."
I steadied my breathing, circulated my energy, and slowly swallowed it in accordance with her instructions.
[You have acquired the power of the Iron-Plated Tiger. All physical growth rates increase for 1 year.]
[Strength increases by 3.]
[Agility increases by 3.]
[Stamina increases by 3.]
Heat circulated from somewhere deep inside my body.
The sensation of muscles expanding ever so slightly. The feeling of strength seeping in along my veins.
Every stat grew by a respectable amount.
More than anything else — the power of the Iron-Plated Tiger. The fact that physical growth rates would increase for an entire year was extraordinary.
A growth buff, of sorts.
"…You've gotten a bit taller, haven't you?"
Sister pulled me close.
She gripped my shoulders with both hands and tried to match eye levels.
I had actually grown 1 cm.
I had finally reached 160 cm!
"Yes, you've definitely grown."
There was a strange satisfaction in her words.
'…But how did she know?'
I'd only grown 2 cm over the course of a month, yet Sister had detected my growth with uncanny precision.
Either way, feeling my body grow stronger day by day was thoroughly refreshing.
And then Sunday arrived.
"Hehe. Just follow me."
The time I'd promised Tiana had come.
Tiana smiled brightly and pulled me along by the hand. Her fingertips were warm.
"Everyone there is mostly kind. They'll be happy you came."
The Cathedral of Saint Berce was imposing even from a distance.
A cross soaring as if to pierce the sky.
Golden-adorned spires.
Marble walls gleaming brilliantly in the sunlight.
A symbol where authority, wealth, and faith converged.
The cathedral doors opened.
"We have been waiting for you, Brother."
A young, strikingly handsome man stood with both arms spread wide.
A crimson mantle flowed softly from his shoulders.
"Cardinal Teo."
"A pleasure to meet you, Brother Matyos."
Cardinal Teo looked at me and smiled.