Chapter 58

The blond priest, Kang Seo-dam, looked at the being draped in a pitch-black cloak and thought.

'I never thought a god would come to an event I got shoved into handling against my will.'

This event was not his.

After the priest originally meant to preside over it went missing, Kang Seo-dam had taken charge, but he had never imagined he would encounter a god in such an unexpected form at an event like this.

'But for a place attended by a god in person, it is remarkably quiet.'

The Sun Goddess he served was one thing, and so was that god who had blended into the crowd pretending to be human to enjoy his amusement.

'... I can understand people not noticing the Goddess, since she has not descended, but it is strange for a god who has openly taken human form to be this quiet.'

He seemed to be a god with a high understanding of humans.

"..."

Then again, most gods who enjoyed amusement were friendly toward humans.

'Unlike the Temple of the Sun, he has a cool and silent air. Could he be a god of death or disease? Judging by that cool energy, he may be a god related to the deep sea.'

Jio had received a "license" from the Sun God, but that was only one element that made up Jio.

Unless he confirmed it up close or made contact, there was no way Kang Seo-dam could know what type of divinity he possessed.

"... Mm..."

Letting on that he knew to a god enjoying amusement would only offend him.

'He shows no sign of trying to bring down a miracle of calamity. Seeing how he is interacting enough with other humans, he likely has no intention of ruining this event. Let us quietly let this pass as it is.'

Perhaps he was a god with low recognition, or one who preferred a small elite following, and had come to personally find his own believer at this event.

"... This cohort is fortunate."

That god in the form of Black Cloak might personally choose someone, and even if he did not, this was already a place the Sun Goddess had turned her gaze upon.

"..."

Suddenly, Kang Seo-dam realized Black Cloak was gazing steadily at him.

For a moment, his mind went distant.

"..."

The instant he grasped the situation he was in, Kang Seo-dam did not stubbornly resist and immediately lowered his gaze.

'There is nothing more foolish than trying to directly withstand a god's gaze.'

Whether it was out of consideration for other humans or for higher-quality amusement, he did not know, but Black Cloak's level had been lowered to a human degree, to the point that almost no divinity could be felt from him.

A god was still a god in the end, and Kang Seo-dam was a priest particularly sensitive to the level of existence and divinity.

"..."

As if Black Cloak knew that too, he withdrew his gaze again.

'... Was he being considerate?'

It was truly fortunate that he was a god who knew humans were weak beings.

Most gods who enjoyed amusement without knowing such things tended to hurt humans without malice.

"..."

Kang Seo-dam quietly swallowed a sigh of relief and checked the time.

"... In one minute, prospective priests, please finish saying goodbye to your families and gather in front of me."

God or not, Kang Seo-dam simply had to fulfill his own responsibilities as a priest.

* * *

"I think I have to go now."

At Cha Yi-sol's words, Cha A-ra nodded solemnly.

"Yeah. If it's hard, just run out."

"You just hate saying anything proper, don't you?"

"Oh, come on. He can just farm for a living like the village chief."

"So you tell him to give up before he even starts? Are you trying to crush the kid's spirit?"

"Isn't it better to do what you're good at than cling to something that won't work?"

"That's true."

Cha Eun-hyuk nodded too.

"If you feel this really isn't for you, you can just leave."

"Yeah, I will! But someday I'm going to become a top-notch priest and be the head of the Cha family, so I'll work hard!"

"I'm the head of the family."

"I'll become the pillar of this family!"

"I'm the pillar too."

"See you tomorrow!"

Cha Yi-sol grinned with a spotless smile and turned his gaze to the other guests.

"I'm going now."

"Yeah, okay. I think you'll do well, Cha Yi-sol, so don't worry too much."

"Thank you!"

After wringing praise and encouragement out of the white-haired Hunter, Cha Yi-sol turned to Black Cloak with sparkling eyes.

"Hyung!"

"..."

"I'll do well, right?"

"I think so too."

"Hehe."

Cha Yi-sol managed to wring encouragement out of Black Cloak too.

"If I get chosen by the Sun God too, can I smell like you, hyung?"

"Do I have a smell?"

"I'm not sure, but you smell like a blanket dried in the sun."

To describe it a little more, it felt like "a sun-scented blanket that had just been put into a closet."

It was dark, warm, and cozy.

"..."

After looking up at Black Cloak for a long while, Cha Yi-sol suddenly demanded with confidence.

"Hug me just once!"

"Yi-sol, please."

You maddeningly fearless brat.

Cha Eun-hyuk was horrified by his younger sibling's disastrous friendliness, but Jio did not mind much.

"If that is what you want, I can hug you."

"Wow!"

"Come here."

Black Cloak opened both arms.

'So cool.'

Perhaps because the lights were above them, the inside of the cloak was nothing but black shadow.

And quite unexpectedly, his body temperature was cool.

"Long has it been since I held a child around Student Cha Yi-sol's size."

The soft voice falling from above sounded like a lullaby.

"That child was small like Student Cha Yi-sol too."

"I'm not small."

"You are smaller than I am."

"Hehe..."

"May the sun shine upon you."

"..."

Cha Yi-sol raised his head and saw the face beneath the black cloth that only he could see.

Gentle eyes resembling the sea entered Cha Yi-sol's view.

"... Wow."

Those eyes,

were incredibly large.

And cozy.

"... Hyung, you're really handsome!"

"I hear that often."

"That's awesome."

"Is it?"

The face beneath the cloak, which no one else could see, was smiling with a tender light.

"Then I will see you tomorrow."

"Ah..."

Cha Yi-sol let out a disappointed sound.

He was sad to part from him, but he was also regretful to see his platinum-blond hair and blue eyes dye black, as if a light bulb had gone out.

He looked so cool just now.

'Aren't those colors that suit Jio hyung way better?'

But Cha Yi-sol did not insist any further.

"Then I'm really going now!"

The other prospective priests had already gathered in front of the actual priest.

When he got closer, he could make out what the blond priest was saying.

"Cha Yi-sol?"

"Yes, that's me."

"Cha Yi-sol, from now on, you will be partners with Eunha."

"Partners?"

"I will explain in detail once all the students have gathered, so for now, please pair up with Eunha and stand in line."

"Yes!"

Cha Yi-sol approached the child the priest had pointed out.

The friend the priest had introduced as "Eunha" had blue hair with a warm teal tint.

When Cha Yi-sol came up beside him, the boy smiled with a somewhat gentle and kind expression.

"You're Cha Yi-sol, right?"

"Yeah. You're Eunha? They said we're partners."

"I think it's because priests are supposed to work in pairs."

"That means two people are one team, right?"

"Right."

Eunha's pearl-colored eyes curved.

It was a benevolent smile that brought priests to mind.

"Maybe our partners will change after the main ceremony, but they say there are also many cases where the partner you meet at the induction ceremony stays with you to the end."

"That's so cool."

"Is it?"

After saying that, Eunha let out a small laugh, and Cha Yi-sol felt a sense of déjà vu at that smile.

'Huh, he resembles Jio hyung.'

Cha Yi-sol instinctively sensed the difference between "Seo Jio" and "Giovanni."

He had realized that the changes in Jio's hair and eye color were not simply a matter of appearance, but that there was an essential change in his personality and nature.

And Eunha's smile was strangely similar to that of "Giovanni."

'Why?'

Of course, Cha Yi-sol did not know that the name of the blue-eyed Jio with platinum-blond hair was "Giovanni," but he at least knew that he was quite similar to Eunha.

"You have a really cool smile!"

Cha Yi-sol came to a simple conclusion.

"A hyung I know smiles like you too."

"... He smiles like me?"

"Yeah!"

"People like that shouldn't be common."

Eunha glanced sideways and said as if muttering.

"How strange."

"... Yeah..."

Cha Yi-sol sensed that something was off.

'He's smiling, but it doesn't feel like he's smiling.'

Eunha's smile was very similar to "Giovanni's," but unlike Jio, whose warmth could be felt even without seeing him, for some reason it was cold.

It was a temperature similar to that of a snake or a pebble by the river he had touched once.

Eunha, unaware of Cha Yi-sol's thoughts, asked while still wearing a faint smile.

"Is the 'hyung you know' that person?"

"Huh? Yeah."

Eunha was talking about Jio.

"That's Jio hyung."

"..."

After blinking silently, Eunha asked again.

"Jio?"

"His family name is Seo."

"Ah, I see."

Looking back at Black Cloak, whose face could not be seen at all, Eunha opened his mouth.

"He has a unique atmosphere."

"Right? He's really warm, isn't he?"

"Is he someone chosen by the Sun God? Or..."

"He said he's a believer of the Sun God."

"A believer."

Eunha murmured in a faint voice.

"He's not at that level."

"Huh?"

"I mean he seems like an extremely devout person."

"He's really warm, right?"

"He is."

"And also cold, as if he were not human."

Cha Yi-sol, who heard that small murmur, widened his eyes because he could not interpret Eunha's words, but Eunha did not talk about Jio any further.

"Then those black-haired people next to the person in the black cloak... are they your family?"

"That's right. They look like me, don't they?"

"They look a lot like you."

Eunha smiled faintly.

"I look a lot like my older sister too."

"Really? Then she must be really pretty."

"She is as beautiful as a princess."

"Huh? Uh... really?"

Did people usually call their own older sister "a person as beautiful as a princess"?

'He seems really educated.'

With Cha A-ra's habit of speech having rubbed off on him, Cha Yi-sol concluded that Eunha was an "educated person."

So he liked him.

"Let's be friends!"

"... Should we?"

"We can take it slow."

This friend probably does not trust people easily, so I should be considerate.

"I'll wait."

Cha Yi-sol was a perceptive child.

* * *

The Little Mermaid had always wanted to know about humans.

What kind of lives did they live above that surface where sunlight rippled like a net?

When they could not even breathe in water, why did they sometimes throw themselves into the sea?

What did they think, what did they eat, and by what structure did they laugh, cry, and get angry?

The mermaid swam upward.

Up and up.

And saw the prince.

"..."

Warm.

That warmth spread over the surface was the symbol of sunlight.

Platinum-blond hair that held the netlike sunlight she had looked up at from the deep sea flowed in waves, and it sparkled like silver above the surface.

The Little Mermaid who ruled the sea was curious about humans.

The limits of humans, she was curious about them.

"..."

Would that human who resembled sunlight be warm even under the sea?

So she took his hand, and just like that...

"..."

SPLASH.

"..."

Into the sea.

"... Ah..."

I think I fell in.

Eyes holding pearls blinked hazily.