Love Letter From The Future

6. Proof of Existence (76)

Religion is based on blind obedience.

Faith is an irrational emotion. The decision to lay down my own life for an invisible god couldn’t have been rational. Nevertheless, religion has always existed in human history.

For community, to achieve a broader sense of solidarity.

Or, religion has been mobilized to specify the realm of morality that cannot be controlled by laws and regulations. However, aside from these scholars’ speculations, there was only one truth of religion for the majority of believers.

God exists.

Even my own unreasonable circumstances and unexplained natural disasters are controlled under the will of the great God. The truth of the world that religious believers hope for was there.

At times, criticism has been raised that this function of religion is abused by vested interests. However, no one denied the fact that the existence of God was supported by the aspirations of the believers.

Thus, proof of the existence of God has become the long-cherished wish of all religions.

It was the same with the Tenshinkyo.

All believers wanted their faith to be rewarded. I hoped that sacrifices and prayers would not be meaningless. And it was the saints who wanted to believe that salvation was waiting at the end of this cruel reality.

Therefore, now that I have witnessed the miracle with my own two eyes, how could I not kneel?

Brilliant sunlight fell from the sky. The warm sunlight caressed the earth wet with showers, and the believers who were soaked in clothes shed tears along with the rainwater.

Are these really the ones who tried to burn the innocent woman?

Not even the pope dared to get up from his knees. For the first time in decades since becoming a priest, his body trembled with emotion and joy at the response given by the heavenly gods.

If left as it is, it was a momentum that would lead to fainting.

Tears flowed incessantly from the pupils where the light had disappeared. No, not just the pope, but all of the tens of thousands of people were in a similar state.

in front of a single human being.

The sight of everyone bowing their heads and worshiping created a majestic landscape.

In this sacred painting, which will someday become one of the great records of the Celestial Church, only two figures stand on the ground with their two feet.

Ian and Saint.

Looking at Ian, who stiffened up with a bewildered expression on his face, the saint asked in a low voice.

“Are you embarrassed?”

His frozen, golden gaze turned to the saint. It was as if he had forgotten even his existence for a moment.

That’s because the miracle the woman showed was overwhelming.

Ian just stood there, still dazed.

“Ah yes. Yeah… … .”

“Or are you offended?”

Instead of answering, Ian kept his mouth shut.

Either way, I needed time to organize my impressions. In fact, Ian wasn’t very impressed with how the crowd reacted.

I was just so grateful that the saintess had returned alive.

Even if it is a heavenly god who plunged the world into a pit of fire.

But looking back, I also felt embarrassed. Those who shouted for the saintess to be crucified must have been mixed in with that crowd.

The pope who led this and the leadership of the Holy Nation who tried to sacrifice the saint were also not free from the sin.

Even so, they had the faces of being saved.

While Ian hesitated, the saint let out a light laugh.

“Humans are cowardly beings. The more anxious you are, the more extreme you are… They don’t even hesitate to trample on a dog that has fallen over and is covered in dirt. I want to believe that justice has been upheld.”

“That’s true… … .”

He didn’t know what to say, before the man even gave an embarrassing answer.

“That’s why I love humans.”

The saint said so.

“Isn’t it fun? The fact that belief in humans is somewhat similar to belief in God… Even if no answer comes back right away, I believe that someday they will make the most brilliant decision.”

It was a confession that was uttered with a gentle smile.

it won’t be a lie

There was a dim pity and affection in the saint’s eyes. He genuinely seemed to pity them.

Because I am weak, because I am not strong.

Beings who are cowardly and have no choice but to hold others accountable.

Seeing those eyes, Ian suddenly asked back with curiosity.

“… … What will the saintess think?”

It was a question that even the honorific title ‘Nim’ was omitted.

It was not an attitude to be shown to a great man who had just risen to the ranks of saints. The man belatedly wanted to say sorry, but as always, the saint did not feel obsessed with public courtesy.

He just looked at the saintess who was quietly kneeling on the firewood with her hands behind her back.

“Judgment and mercy are the will of the Lord… How would I know?”

It was a vague answer.

However, Ian did not bother to follow the saint. Because deep down I thought he was right.

The remaining choice was up to the saintess.

I put my body on the firewood and asked the will of the heavenly god in the fire.

It was a miracle he accomplished himself.

Naturally, the saintess also deserved the price. The man already felt enough joy that she came back alive.

It was then.

The woman slowly rose from the firewood. It was unusually beautiful to see her walking lightly with her hands together.

It was as if the world was paving the way.

The ashes of firewood fell one after another and formed the stairs. With each step, the saintess’s body moved closer to the mountain court.

“Oh, oh oh oh… … !”

The pope was crawling on a high cliff and lying face down on the ground. Every time the saintess took a step, a shimmering line of light spread behind her.

The wing-like shape, the pope was even more thrilled and hit his head on the ground.

thud.

that was the signal

thump, thump, thump!

Every time tens of thousands of people banged their heads on the ground, the ground shook. The woman’s face was perfectly calm in the midst of the artificial earthquake.

Soon, the woman’s feet lightly tread on the ground.

Walking and walking, the woman’s footsteps stopped right in front of the Pope.

The old priest bowed his head and asked with tears in his eyes.

“This, this lowly servant… … .”

The old believer gasped, letting out breaths filled with emotion and regret.

“… … What should I do?”

It wasn’t even a plea for forgiveness.

It meant that I would endure whatever punishment was given to me. It was not a decision made by a serpent who had spent many years in the political arena of the Holy Kingdom, but he was a priest.

In front of the miracle of God, there was nothing to say.

It was just that I was deeply moved by the fact that the belief I had cherished all my life was not wrong.

The saintess spoke in a low voice.

“wake up.”

“But, how… … .”

“Do you want everyone sitting here to be sinners?”

The pope was silent for a moment, as if speechless.

But what choice he would make was virtually undetermined.

The saintess’ words contained carrots and sticks.

The carrot was, of course, an invitation to stand up and face it as a non-criminal.

And the whip was a subtle threat that everyone who knelt down in this clearing could become a sinner.

It wasn’t just the leadership of the Holy Kingdom that wanted to crucify the saintess.

The crowd who lost their reason also wanted to brutally kill the saintess. As a leader, the pope was not so shameless as to make tens of thousands of people guilty.

When the hesitant pope stood up, the woman smiled faintly.

“How could there be a soul without sin in this world? He boasted that he had lived a life without sin, but when he realized that everything was done through the hands of evil… I was desperate and regretful. They even denied and insulted God.”

The pope only listened to the saintess with a tense expression on her face.

A person who has risen to the ranks of a saint denied and insulted God.

Information should be controlled, but the pope somehow couldn’t even dare to issue such an order.

It was because he was overwhelmed by the golden radiance rising from the saintess.

Or, because the saintess with her back to the light is so beautiful.

“I ask you, did you hate me? Did you try to deny it as an enemy, hang it on a cross, and throw stones at it?”

“… … It is so.”

“Then I will forgive you.”

It was a refreshing tone without even a single regret.

Tens of thousands of pairs of pupils blankly looked up at the saintess.

“As the Lord did, so am I.”

Leaving indulgences for everyone, the saintess turned her back as if her business was over.

It was around the time that the bewildered Pope’s hand floundered in the air.

“… … Oh yeah.”

The saintess’ eyes glanced back again. Towards the Pope, no.

Towards someone at the top who hadn’t come down to the clearing until now.

A golden glow was burning over the light pink pupils.

“Please do your best to find out the Dark Church that has infiltrated the Holy Land. The right person for this is… Patriarch Eindel?”

At the top of a high mountain, at the edge of it stood an old priest.

Unlike his dwarf height, he was an impressive old man with a thick face. At first glance, those blue eyes that silently looked down at the ground seemed to have worn out their emotions.

It was only then that Ian remembered his existence.

He was a tycoon who led the conservative faction against the holy woman, the head of the reformist faction, in the political arena of the divided kingdom.

Archbishop Eindel.

Ian had heard that name before.

From Leoric’s mouth.

Did I tell you to be careful?

For a long time, the old priest did not answer. Actually, it was a nonsensical story.

No matter how high a saintess’ position was, it was nothing compared to a patriarch. Even if he paid generously, he could not carelessly give instructions to a person of the same level.

Isn’t there even an obvious superior in this place, the Pope?

nevertheless,

“… … I will respect your wishes, saintess.”

Patriarch Eindel slowly knelt down and bowed his head. The saintess was no longer the face madam of the church.

He was a saint recognized by the heavenly gods.

It was a symbolic scene that showed that the leadership of the Seongguk was completely passed on to one woman.

“… … ‘Saint’.”

The saintess chanted like that, and smiled. It was the expression on his face that he was now satisfied.

And the saintess’ path continued. The man at the end of the road was Ian.

He had a rather troubled expression on his face.

It was because tens of thousands of pairs of pupils moved in line with the saintess’s gait. Ian, along with the saintess, stood at the center of countless gazes.

Right in front of the man, the saintess put her hand on her chest and breathed heavily.

It was a nervous look I had never seen before.

Ian smiled lightly and pursed his lips.

“Saint… … .”

But before that, the woman’s index finger blocked Ian’s lips.

Ian couldn’t help but look at the woman with curious eyes.

Regardless, after taking a deep breath, the woman quickly continued.

“Ian, I’ve been a ‘saint’ until now. There was no such thing as a name. I just lived according to my position, as if I were a human being with no emotions. For a purpose, sometimes I turned my eyes away from evil and sacrifice.”

Ian did not add anything to the woman’s confession.

He only looked at the woman with a slightly relieved expression.

“But you changed me.”

The golden glow that floated on the woman’s body was slowly dissipating.

The saint standing next to Ian smiled slightly. Soon after, he shook his head and walked away with a sneaky step backwards.

So, there are only two left here.

“Have you ever said that? Emotions are not allowed for the ‘saint’. It is a place where you have to make the most rational and rational choice. So at first, it was scary and embarrassing. My feelings are growing irreversibly.”

It was the true heart of a woman trapped in a shell.

Tens of thousands of people held their breath and listened to the secret story.

“But in the end you, you… … .”

The woman’s hand snapped and grabbed the silver rosary hanging around her neck.

Blurry dew forms in her pale pink eyes.

The woman smiles softly.

“… … You, you saved me.”

It wasn’t just today.

When I first met you, I thought that there are stupid nobles who obsess over commoners.

I pretended to be indifferent, but deep down I was impressed. That day, I realized that there are people who don’t care about their status.

Even after that, you saved the world many times as if it was natural.

To this day, you seek a woman to be crucified.

He rescued a woman who had been trapped in the flames and in the shell of a ‘saint’ and erected her in this place.

How could you not love?

So it was difficult for the woman to calm her quivering heart.

“I am not a ‘saint’. That’s just one of many titles that call me, right? I need something more substantial.”

“Then what… … .”

“… … name.”

Moistening her parched lips with saliva, the saintess said so.

It seems that he has been determined from the beginning.

“You decide. Because you made me no longer a ‘saint’.”

Ian had a blank look on his face at the request.

He soon swallowed a laugh. Surprisingly, there was only one name that came to mind.

With a small wish, Ian brought out a name he had seen somewhere.

“… … Lucia.”

The end of a love letter from the future.

It was the name of the woman who would one day become his lover. Eventually, Ian asked with a faint smile.

“How is Lucia?”

“Lucia, Lucia… … .”

As if not to forget, the woman repeated the name several times.

And a bright smile came to mind.

“Okay, Lucia. I like it.”

is it over now

It was around the time Ian let out a sigh of relief.

A frozen step was taken.

It was Lucia. There was a mixture of slight tension and trembling in those pale pink eyes.

I thought long ago.

If you throw off the shell of a ‘saint’, you must be like this.

A crowd of tens of thousands.

Prove it in front of the pope, the saint, and many powerful people who move the kingdom.

I am no longer a ‘saint’.

He is a human with emotions. The fact that I am no longer an empty existence, living in a shell.

So let’s do something that a ‘saint’ can’t do.

just 1 second.

Their breaths are mixed, and the woman’s lips leaning forward touch the man’s lips as if they are about to strike.

Soon, golden eyes gleamed.

The same was true of tens of thousands of people. Their eyes were slit to the point where they could no longer grow.

In line with the man’s body stepping backwards, the woman’s body overlaps it as if it were being superimposed on top of it.

In the midst of such a collapsing landscape, the woman who received the name finally smiled with satisfaction.

yes i wanted this

proof of existence.

**

The next day, all over the continent was buzzing with rumors of infidelity.

There were no exceptions. Everywhere he went, he was busy talking about this touching love story, and soon the hero and saintess’ love story that would save the world became famous enough for everyone to know.

far far away.

The Rainella family, the Yurdina family, and even the imperial palace.

A new wave was coming.