In the end, he could not resist the temptation of “securing his future.”
He might not have been a religious opportunist, but faced with a surprise fallen from the heavens, his flexible faith found it difficult to remain as pure as before.
Frank clutched the Crown, unable to hide his joy as he left the tent.
Gradually, only Jon and Yuna were left inside.
“Thanks, Jon.”
Yuna’s eyes curved slightly, a shimmering light swirling within those deep blue depths.
Her tone became incredibly gentle, like the first tender sprout breaking through the soil in early spring.
“If you had not called for me, I would not have known such a great benefit was waiting here.”
She smiled like a spring breeze.
This joy and gratitude were not a facade, but came truly from her heart.
Whether it was securing a real miracle for the Holy See or absorbing new believers who had changed their allegiances due to the disaster, it would greatly aid her future path within the Church.
It was a substantial amount of political capital.
The scenes from a moment ago were still echoing in Jon’s mind.
He stared fixedly at Yuna’s face.
“You are lying.”
The eyes of this man were filled with a grief that felt foreign even to those who knew him well.
Yuna let out a soft sigh, and her smile gradually faded.
She lowered her gaze, her long eyelashes trembling like butterfly wings, and her blue eyes, which resembled a pool of lake water, grew increasingly deep.
“Yes.”
She admitted it.
This was a rare moment where she spoke the truth to Jon.
The moment the admission left her lips, Yuna suddenly felt waves of relief and liberation.
An indescribable emotion welled up from the bottom of her heart—it was not annoyance, yet she could not quite voice what it was.
“But that is what faith is. We weave parables, or rules, or morality, or something else entirely, even when we ourselves do not know if they are right or wrong. Then, everyone chooses to believe, or at least pretends to believe. Because of this, society has order, can distinguish right from wrong, and can gather its strength.”
“Hypocritical rules are still rules, and an ignorant consensus is still a consensus. No matter how bad it is, it is always better than having nothing at all.”
“Why can’t you tell everyone the truth?”
Jon still wore that same expression, his tone laced with anger, confusion, and many complex emotions he could not even distinguish himself.
He questioned her aggressively, “Why fool others? Why use those rhetorical tricks, methods, and deceptions? Is it not better to treat people with a bit of sincerity?”
“Because telling the truth is not always a good quality, Jon. You would not understand. You…”
Yuna choked for a moment, then laughed helplessly.
“I have no way to describe you. You are like a child with nothing but bright ideas in your head. But for those of us who have grown up, sincerity is sometimes just unvarnished harshness and malice.”
“I do not want to voice desires that I am ashamed to even admit to myself. I do not want to criticize things that others think are right but I believe are wrong. I do not want to argue with people I dislike but who have committed no great fault. Yet, I want to remain silent even less.”
“I can only choose hypocrisy and hide my ugly, true face.”
Yuna lifted her eyes to steal a glance at Jon, catching his gaze.
She let out a low laugh. “…See? It is because of this. It is because of that look in your eyes. Once I start telling the truth, you all start to hate me. It has been like this since we were children.”
Even so, she still made an effort to tilt up that face, which was as pure as a lotus.
Using the greatest courage of her life to face Jon directly, her red lips parted boldly.
“Jon, I know you resent me for not working hard to save the world, but in my eyes, not everyone in this world is worth saving.”
“What if the person I save is a rotter? What if the person I save clings to me and demands even more? I am merely a mortal, the Saintess of the Church. I am not the Goddess. Saving people is the Goddess’s job… if the Goddess truly loves the people of this world.”
Jon was speechless for a long time.
His chest suddenly felt a bit stifled.
He walked out of the tent and breathed in the salty, fishy air.
The river reflected the red sun, and the waves rolled.
The spray surged and dissipated, coiling the shimmering light and shadow, tearing it apart, and finally crushing it into mist.
“Does the Goddess really love the world?”
Jon suddenly asked when he heard Yuna’s light footsteps behind him.
“She did. Otherwise, there would be no Church, let alone myths about her.”
Yuna stood beside Jon.
The river provided the accompaniment to her answer, a rhythm that had flowed from ancient times to the present.
Jon had likely truly grown up.
He knew that any moral, ethical, or emotional persuasion would be useless against this Saintess.
He directly brought out the only thing that worked—an exchange of benefits.
He took out a “Puff-Puff Life Jacket” and handed it to Yuna.
His eyes were serious, carrying a strong sense of hope as he spoke.
“I provide the goods, and you organize the believers. You can certainly say this is the Goddess’s grace. I do not care how you promote it to the survivors you rescue. I have only one requirement… save more people.”
Yuna shook her head, however, and said candidly, “I cannot do it, nor can I help you.”
“Why?”
Jon was both surprised and somewhat angry.
After completely opening her heart, Yuna’s words became much sharper.
She was no longer dragging her feet; she sounded more like a capable and shrewd politician than the affected, lovesick young girl of the past.
She said directly, “There are two problems. First, it cannot be done. You think too highly of the Goddess. The Goddess is just the Goddess, not their mother. In reality, we do not have the ability to force others to do anything. They pray to that girl who stopped the flood not because they truly believe in her, but to seek inner security, to stop being panicked, and to stop being afraid.”
She turned her head to glance at Jon, directly revealing the Church’s operating model.
“In the beginning, we provide comfort to the lost and empty in the name of God.”
“Only when they gradually become addicted to this ’emotional sustenance’ and turn into Zealots do we truly have control over them. Then, those among them with well-off families will send their children to Church schools. Those children are influenced by the Scriptures of Divine Grace from a young age.
God becomes their spiritual pillar, God’s rules become the basis for their judgment of right and wrong, and the interests of the Church become the material foundation they rely on for survival… From this, the Church gains its true core strength.”
“In reality, I can only mobilize Zealots and the Church’s priests. Of course, using these backbones, promising heavy rewards, and spending a huge amount of influence to mobilize ordinary believers to do something is not impossible.”
“But that leads to the second problem.”
“What problem?”
Jon pressed urgently.
Yuna looked at Jon seriously, each word especially clear.
“Jon, have you ever performed disaster relief? Have you ever granted favors? I have done all of these. And in the several years I have served as Saintess, I have summarized one iron rule—if you cannot save a person to the very end, it is better not to save them at all. Otherwise, great kindness becomes enmity, and it will only invite resentment instead!”
Without waiting for Jon to object, Yuna spoke before his trembling lips could move, continuing to tear away the naked reality behind the scenes.
“All sixteen main rivers have flooded, and the entire Thousand River Territory’s autumn harvest for this year has been ruined. Refugees are everywhere. Do you know what the total grain reserve of all the cities is? Do you know how much grain we can mobilize without breaking the rules? I have calculated it for you… it is not much.”
“If enough refugees die, then it is fine. Lives eliminated by nature ensure that the remaining grain reserves will not be in short supply, and your subsequent ‘granting of favors’ will be much smoother. But once you insist on saving most of the people, do you know what follows immediately after?”
“It is food shortages, it is riots, and it is even more people who will starve to death, freeze to death, or die from looting. In times of crisis, it is true that they are grateful for our rescue. But when they are starving to the extreme and their relatives are on the verge of death, their jealousy and hostility toward us are also true.”
“For you, this is karma you should not have to bear. For me, I do not want a perfectly good achievement to become a stain on my record because of their dying curses toward the Goddess.”
“Jon, God has already abandoned some people. From the very beginning, this was an impossible task.”
The Saintess, whose reputation for kindness was widespread, finally revealed her first heartfelt expression of pity since the Demon War.
But this expression was reserved for Jon alone.
“Stop torturing yourself, and stop torturing us, okay?”
She pleaded bitterly.