chapter 130

The Painter Who Draws Dungeons - Episode 130

In the end, Cha Isol was called in by Kang Seo-dam.

“Let me ask directly.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Have you ever come into contact with a wicked god?”

“...Yes, sir!”

“Good. I like your honesty.”

“But wait just a moment, sir.”

“Please speak. I will listen.”

“Thank you...!”

After taking a deep breath, Cha Isol said with solemn determination.

“It might not be a wicked god!”

“...”

Kang Seo-dam did not bother to deny it.

“Certainly, from the human perspective, the act of separately distinguishing wicked gods is also a rather ridiculous one.”

“He might really be kind.”

“What I can tell you is that most gods are quite evil by human standards.”

“Th... yes, I remember.”

“You are a diligent student.

I, too, am in a position of serving a god, and that is why I can say this clearly.”

He shook his head.

“Gods do not become existences you can trust and rely on.”

“I’ve been curious for a while—can you talk like that without the sun god getting angry or sulking?”

“What is important to a god is not words but actions and results. If you do not, in practice, commit acts that bring about a bad influence, they do not punish you.”

“Gods are, surprisingly... kind of...”

“Indifferent, yes. In truth, they are.

It is because their understanding of the individual called a human is low.”

Kang Seo-dam rummaged through the materials in the drawer of his counseling office.

“That is why there are also probationary priests who deliberately hope for wicked gods with a high understanding of humans.

Once you become a full priest and actually serve a god, you won’t be able to say things like that... ah, here it is.”

He set a few documents down in front of Cha Isol.

“These are materials on the wicked gods acknowledged domestically.

You may take them with you.”

“T-thank you...?”

“However, judging by Brother Cha Isol’s reaction, it seems you already have a god in mind.”

“Can I say it?”

“Do you know the god’s name?

That is an exceedingly rare case.”

Kang Seo-dam rubbed his chin.

“Most wicked gods will have a separate name so humans can call them without burden.

In the case of our Sun Church’s Seoul Branch, we have a second name called ‘Fair Light’... does the wicked god Brother Cha Isol knows have any separate epithet by which it is called?”

At that, Cha Isol gestured to Kang Seo-dam.

When Kang Seo-dam docilely brought his ear close, the child whispered softly.

“Black Cloak.”

“...Oh...”

Returning slowly to his original position, Kang Seo-dam nodded.

“I see.”

“Yes.”

“...”

“Did I do something wrong...?”

“...That’s something we’ll have to think about a little more to know.”

After pondering, Kang Seo-dam asked again.

“You said that, as of now, Brother Cha Isol still doesn’t know whether he is a wicked god or a traditional god.”

“Yes, how can you tell the difference?”

“You can tell by looking at whether the claims and authority that god puts forward are harmful to humans or not.”

“Then I guess he isn’t a wicked god!”

“But most wicked gods often put forward false claims.”

Kang Seo-dam called for Probationary Priest Iruda, who was waiting outside.

Iruda, who had been about to return to the lounge with Cha Isol, her partner, soon came inside and looked at Kang Seo-dam.

“We’re seeing each other several times today, Sister Iruda.”

“It seems so.”

“I suspect it was Sister Iruda who told Brother Cha Isol that he is a wicked god.”

“...That is correct.”

“I would like to hear the reason you thought so—would that be possible?”

“Yes, I will do so.”

With a face that looked as though she felt disillusionment with everything in the world, Iruda still explained faithfully.

“I saw a drawing Brother Cha Isol drew.

Black...”

“I just heard from Brother Cha Isol what subject we are speaking about.”

“That is fortunate.

When I saw him draw that black figure, I felt chills and dread.”

“Is it not possible you simply mistook the oppression of a god?”

“As far as I know, even if it was not blatant, that was the wicked divinity of a wicked god.”

“Not blatant...”

Soon, Kang Seo-dam asked,

“Did you not feel warmth?”

“...Pardon?

Yes.

Brother Cha Isol did say it was warm, so it would be fine.”

At that, Cha Isol muttered,

“It really is warm, though.”

“I’m not optimized to feel a god’s temperature.”

“A god’s temperature?”

“...”

When Iruda hesitated, Kang Seo-dam explained in her place.

“Do you remember what I said—that a god is nature and fate with will?”

“Yes, I remember.”

“Humans have a very narrow breadth of perception.

To the point that, unless you become a very devout believer, an ordinary person can go their whole life without ever feeling a god.”

“Ah...”

“Thanks to awakening as priests, we can feel gods more easily.

That is why each priest’s way of receiving and interpreting a god differs.”

Kang Seo-dam pointed to Iruda.

“In Sister Iruda’s case, she feels a god’s volume.”

“Volume?”

“How large a god is, where it strokes you, with how large a voice it speaks.

Simply put, you can think of it as being able to feel all the sizes of a god.”

“I see...”

“In Brother Cha Isol’s case, he seems sensitive to a god’s temperature.

Compared to Sister Iruda, who can easily perceive a god’s oppression and violence, Brother Cha Isol can easily feel the affection or mercy a god sends.”

After explaining the two priests’ cases, Kang Seo-dam pointed to himself.

“However, including myself, for most priests, it is not easy to feel a god, so we receive the orders of the church.

The longer you remain in the temple, the more convenient it becomes to grasp a god’s will.”

“...”

“This means that Brother Cha Isol and Sister Iruda have very great capabilities as priests.

Other priests, too, once they reach my age, each develop their own method of serving a god, but for now.”

Kang Seo-dam looked at Cha Isol.

“That is why I am all the more concerned with what kind of god Brother Cha Isol will contract with.

Especially overlapping with Brother Cha Isol’s personality... there are unsettling points.”

“Am I really that unsettling?”

“To be honest, yes, you are.

I know Brother Cha Isol has a surprisingly seasoned and clever side, but children of that age are especially often swept up by affection.”

“...Mmm...”

After thinking, Cha Isol asked.

“What should I do?”

“Has he ever directly suggested a contract to you?”

“No, I’ve only met him privately a few times.”

“I also still do not know whether that being is a wicked god or a traditional god.”

He wouldn’t say it outright, but Black Cloak was also an existence upon which the fair light he revered had once descended.

Since a traditional goddess of providence had affirmed him, it was hard to dismiss him as merely a wicked god.

In the first place, even among the same gods of death, depending on the dimension of origin there existed traditional gods who respected human providence, and there existed wicked gods who broke the natural order and spread the pain of death across the whole world.

Distinguishing gods by human standards was truly difficult.

“As I said in today’s lesson, wicked gods easily pierce through human desire and rage.

Even someone who was intellectual at first can be turned into an embodiment of greed, or into a berserker of wrath.”

They easily ruin humans.

A wicked god could turn even a hero with conviction into a miserable murderer in an instant.

“That is a craftiness you cannot find in traditional gods.

You become that way without realizing, very naturally.

It is because wicked gods, too, are a kind of nature and fate.”

“...”

“In our Sun Church as well, already several times... there have been priests who were bewitched by wicked gods and ruined their lives and surroundings.

Even when they contracted with altruism like saints and saintesses rather than selfishness, it still ended up that way.”

Kang Seo-dam emphasized.

“Do not trust gods.”

“...But then why do you contract?”

“I misspoke. What I mean is, do not treat gods with human emotions.”

“Yes.”

“You may trust and rely on gods as much as you wish, but you must not expect humanity from them.”

“...”

“Wicked gods, in that respect, are especially crafty, so...”

As he was about to say something, Kang Seo-dam shut his mouth.

“...”

“...Sir?”

“...No, it’s just...”

He resumed.

“I hope you will be cautious.”

“Yes, yes.”

“The subject you mentioned is not an existence that has been observed on Earth for very long.”

“That’s what I heard.”

“So there is not much material, but... hmm.”

Kang Seo-dam nodded.

“I still do not sense an aura of injustice from Brother Cha Isol.”

“Ah, then is it okay for me to keep meeting him?”

“I would like to tell you not to rashly make a contract.

If you only avoid that, you’re halfway there.”

“Why a contract?”

“No god can make a believer their own without a contract.

That is also why you cannot call even a devout believer who can use holy power a priest.”

“Ah...”

“For various reasons, gods do not influence the human world without a contract.

A contract is a kind of last line.”

“Then is it fine as long as I just don’t contract?”

“We need to observe the situation further, but for now, that alone is sufficient.”

During their conversation, Iruda cut in.

“Is it really fine like this?

Maybe he could have brainwashed him so the wicked god wouldn’t notice...”

“I was not as much a genius as Sister Iruda, but I have far more experience than that.”

“But even so...”

“My partner was bewitched by a wicked god and executed.

I led it myself.”

“...”

“There is no one better than I at recognizing the omens of a wicked god.”

He smiled faintly.

“Do not worry. Brother Cha Isol is under the sun’s protection.”

“I was rude. I apologize.”

“Do you think I would not know the heart that worries for one’s brother?”

“Thank you.”

“However, I ask that you tell me at any time if there is an abnormality.”

“I will.”

After leaving the counseling office, Iruda buried her face in her hands.

“...”

“Luda?”

“I made a mistake.”

“It’s because you like me too much.”

“It pisses me off that you’re not wrong.”

“Thanks to you, I feel super reassured, you know?”

“...If you know, do well.”

“How?”

“Tell me every time he makes contact...”

“I will.”

The two chatted quietly as they headed to the room assigned to them.

“By the way, sir said in today’s class that scholars summoned wicked gods.”

“He did.”

“So in the end, even if you aren’t a priest, you can summon a god?

Even an ordinary person, not an awakened one like us?”

“Even ordinary believers who aren’t priests can use holy power, so in a way it’s only natural.”

“But most people don’t even think of summoning a god.”

“That’s... because knowledge related to gods hasn’t been popularized.”

More than anything, in the current chaotic world, citizens’ awareness was too low to bear even knowledge about gods.

“The government and the Association tend to control most knowledge related to calling gods, because they’re afraid someone will do something crazy rashly.

If there are people who know in detail, it would probably be the three major guilds.”

“Guilds...”

“If you don’t serve a god of the same lineage, and end up serving a different god, then after you become a full priest you can enter a private guild too.

With your personality, Cha Isol, a freer side like that might suit you better.”

“Then what about partners?”

“I’ve heard they usually move together.

It’s not an absolute rule, but they say it’s extremely hard to find a priest colleague whose hands and feet match that well.”

“Oooh...”

Cha Isol didn’t settle on anything in particular.

“Well, you never know what the future will be like.”

“That mindset is wise.”

“Then knowledge about gods is, like... um... only those high-up people know?”

“Rather than ‘know,’ you should think of it as there being a group that controls some of the knowledge.”

“If someone in that group has bad intentions?”

“...That...”

Iruda let out a sigh.

“...It’s the sin of a human who believed in humans.”

That is why, in the end, we come to rely on gods.

Because humans are neither immortal nor strong enough to be leaned on.

* * *

He committed a sin because he believed.

“...”

The diligent man only wished that tragedy would not repeat.

He loved his family, respected his friends, and was with his comrades.

The man had no doubt that what he was doing would contribute to this precarious world.

But in the end, because of him, the man was left alone.

“...I...”

It was miserably unreal.

“What did I do wrong?”

He did not believe in gods, yet in the end he came to cry out to a god.

There is a person here.

Please listen to me.

Without realizing it, I crawled into a quagmire.

Please save me.

Save me.

But there was no one by his side.

Only the smell of burning filled the air.

“What did I...”

How long must I endure.

“What should I do.”

He could not endure it.

He had already realized that he had fallen into a deep pit of blood.

“...”

A god did not answer, and.

“...”

He was already holding tight in his hand the sign of a wicked god he had created.

This place stands before a crossroads.

Fantasy, Modern,