"Jio looks human to you?"

Yu Seongun corrected himself.

"Ah, no. I'm sorry. He looks that way to you?"

"You may speak casually. As you do with Mr. Jio."

"... Maybe it's because I didn't learn much when I was young, but informal speech is more comfortable for me. I don't mean anything bad by it, so please don't take offense."

"I already know that you are a good person, Mr. Yu Seongun, so you don't need to worry."

"Oh, is that so? I wouldn't go so far as to call myself a good person... but I'm grateful if you see me that way."

A guy at least three years younger than him was openly saying he would speak informally, and yet Ju-hyeon really was good-natured.

'He's such a proper, upright human being that I start wondering why the Guild Master hates him that much...'

Yu Seongun brushed aside the uncomfortable feeling toward his superior and gave a light smile.

"Anyway, this is quite the unusual consultation."

After finishing his meeting with Bi Sabeol, Yu Seongun had slept deeply at home for the first time in a while, then visited Ju-hyeon's home to check on his neighbor's well-being. He had not actually intended to come inside, but Ju-hyeon had led him in, and this was how things had turned out.

"In a way, it's impressive too."

Yu Seongun, who was drinking the tea Ju-hyeon had handed him, blinked eyes that were still not fully awake.

"... Uh, wait. Is this tea from Jio?"

"Ah, yes. He said it was tea made from basram flowers. Is there a problem?"

"... No, I doubt drinking it will kill me."

It probably did not contain anything fatal either.

'Let's just drink it.'

If there was one thing Yu Seongun had come to feel in the meantime, it was that Jio's Portrait generally did not touch human identity. Even Ju-hyeon, who had been inside the portrait far longer than Yu Seongun, was still human, was he not?

'Well, even if the test results say so, it's not as if there aren't suspicious points...'

At the very least, from the perspective of humans, it was certain that Ju-hyeon was still "human."

'So drinking a little tea isn't going to do anything strange to my identity.'

He was out of it because he had stayed up five nights straight, fallen asleep, and only just woken up.

If he had been in a more normal state, he would have thought about it more deeply than this, but for Yu Seongun, whose entire body was affected by the garden he served, a medicine that warmed the body like this could only be welcome.

'As expected, Jio's gifts are amazing.'

Yu Seongun's body was especially cold when he woke from sleep.

"... This is good."

"Right? I liked that it had a nutty aroma, like grains."

"It's not something I can buy anywhere either. Should I pester him to invite me over soon?"

"If you drink too much, it does get a little hot..."

"My body runs cold to begin with."

Judging by how strong its effect of warming the body seemed to be, it was probably a medicine that suited Yu Seongun's constitution as a Hunter and Gardener better than Ju-hyeon's as an ordinary person.

"Let's take a look."

"..."

"Ah, did you just appraise it?"

"... Is this your first time seeing a Hunter appraise something?"

"There weren't many appraisers at the research lab I was in."

"It's been a while since I've heard the title appraiser. Well, if you want to be technical, I did get an appraisal license too."

Yu Seongun smiled mildly as they chatted lightly.

"As expected, it's not bad for the body."

"..."

"Don't be so tense."

"My body is already ruined anyway..."

"Why are you already resigning yourself?"

He was not the only one who had worried about Ju-hyeon's condition after receiving far too much care from the eyes of the Root. Because of that, the Collector, including Yu Seongun himself, had conducted tests on him directly, but fortunately, Ju-hyeon really was still a perfectly fine human.

"..."

That was what the test results said, at least.

"... There is a common phrase in the gifts Jio gives. 'It was personally processed by Jio, the master of the forest, so even the human body can accept it.' It's probably one of the ways Jio shows consideration for humans."

If one ate ingredients that had passed through his hands, there was no need to worry about mutating into a Root entity. At least, that was Yu Seongun's judgment.

"If there is another concern, it would be whether you might become excessively healthy..."

"I did feel as though my lifespan had increased. Could that be a problem too?"

"Even if your lifespan increases, it's hard to live long in this world these days."

It was a world where the average lifespan was sixty.

"At best, high-ranking Hunters like me or our Guild Master might live a little longer, but separate from how sturdy our bodies are, Hunters are exactly the sort of profession that dies young. The people attached to them are the same. So I don't think you need to worry about becoming half-immortal."

"... So you're saying no matter how much my lifespan increases, I'll die an unnatural death anyway, so I shouldn't worry?"

"More than anything, Jio isn't the type to turn an innocent human into a Root entity out of his own greed. So you don't need to worry."

Once you properly understood the rules, Root entities became more reliable than humans, if anything. Based on what he had learned about Jio so far, it was unlikely that Jio would harm humans unless something truly unusual happened.

"More importantly, I find the way you think truly surprising, Mr. Ju-hyeon."

Yu Seongun set down the warm mug and swept back the hair covering his eyes. He usually went around with it neatly pinned, but since he had only meant to make a casual visit, he looked quite a mess.

"What exactly do you mean when you say Jio looks human to you?"

"I mean exactly that. I can't stop seeing Jio's Portrait as a person."

"I know human thoughts aren't something you can control, but it is certainly unusual."

"... I kept thinking it was arrogant of me. I also thought it made no sense."

Ju-hyeon continued as he fidgeted with his own cup.

"But Mr. Jio just kept seeming..."

"Like an ordinary young man?"

"I know it sounds strange."

"Hm."

Sip.

After drinking the flower tea, Yu Seongun asked,

"Are you enchanted?"

"I did consider that myself, but..."

"Ah, no. You aren't enchanted."

"... Is that so?"

"I do have an appraiser's license, nominally."

Yu Seongun could check most people's conditions with his own skill.

"At least to my eyes, you look fine."

In that case, there was only one answer.

"It seems you simply see him as human, Mr. Ju-hyeon?"

"I didn't know I was that brave...?"

"If Jio were a traditional divinity, you would have been chosen as a saint."

"... Pardon? A saint?"

"At the very least, you would have become a cult leader."

"That somehow sounds like a shady cult."

"It's not exactly shady... It's an extremely typical pattern."

Most saints and saintesses across dimensions were made this way.

"Do you know roughly what kind of people saints and saintesses are?"

"I know as much as anyone else. So, in a way, aren't they like... God's foster children?"

"That's right. And even if they aren't children, they sometimes take the form of friends."

"... That's the first I've heard of that."

"Saints and saintesses aren't common, so naturally there are few examples on Earth."

Religion was not Yu Seongun's area of expertise, but after learning that Jio held the divinity of the Sun, he had been steadily studying. Thanks to that, he could answer this part to some extent.

"These holy people usually refer to those who have built a bond with a god while possessing a human body."

"Is it possible to build a bond with a god? That sounds a little... blasphemous."

"It's blasphemous when it's a one-sided offensive by a human toward a divinity."

Holy people were completely different from such blasphemers.

"This is a bond exchanged by both sides. The god pours trust and love toward the human, and the human takes that as if it is only natural, then returns trust and love worthy of it. Like ordinary family or friends do."

"... So that was possible..."

"It is possible very, very rarely. That is why the number of saints and saintesses is so extremely small. An ordinary human feels a great burden just from receiving a god's voice and favor, but this goes beyond that and even returns it. And the god does not feel any lack in return."

Korea simply had an unusual number of them; worldwide, the number of holy people did not even exceed twenty. Considering the number of religions in the present era, as numerous as the stars in the sky, one could tell just how rare the existence of a holy person was.

"That is why a holy person is a miracle by existence alone. There is a reason religious orders dote on and adore their saints and saintesses. Merely by living and breathing, they prove the god's love, while also being the only human channel through which communication with that god is possible."

That was why most holy people were stuck inside their religious orders, interpreting oracles or explaining the god's true intentions. After hearing that explanation, Ju-hyeon tilted his head.

"Then how do religious orders without holy people read their god's will?"

"They can't, for the most part."

"Ah."

"As far as I know, it's one of two ways."

Yu Seongun raised a finger.

"One is interpreting the true intentions of the god they serve through old divine records and scripture. Since there is no communication, both the process and the result are uncertain, and the believers' loyalty drops too."

"What is the other case?"

"The other is that priests with relatively abundant holy power gather in large numbers and try to receive an oracle. They perform rites, preside over religious events, or pray until an answer comes..."

"What is this, a rain ritual...?"

"That's how difficult it is to communicate with a god. There is a reason the elders within an order are treated well. They receive respect and treatment within the order because they are that much closer to their god."

And.

"The ones who skip all of these troublesome processes are holy people."

So from an economic perspective as well, priests could not help but love the holy people of their orders. Were they not the ones who allowed them to skip all the investment of performing rites, presiding over events, and praying for a long time?

"But not every religion has a holy person. To begin with, vessels capable of treating a god like family or a friend are extremely rare, and because of that, religious orders with holy people receive preferential treatment and envy in religious circles."

"They receive preferential treatment and envy?"

"The more directly and frequently communication with a god is possible, the more plainly the humans who serve that god can receive their god's grace. To put it simply, a divinity could tell its believers the location of a gold mine for their sake..."

"Uh... Do things really proceed that way?"

"It's only an example. Even the stupidest god is a being superior to the smartest human on Earth, so by borrowing even a portion of their wisdom, their religious order can flourish. And they can enter that divinity's embrace."

That was why holy people were treated as extremely precious in religious circles.

"Being able to receive that voice and touch without issue even when the god has not gone out of their way to be considerate is something that truly exceeds human limits. Their very existence alone has more than enough value to receive the love of an order."

At that, Ju-hyeon had a question.

"That sounds almost inhuman. Then can holy people live ordinary lives?"

"Some holy people can, and some cannot."

After studying, it seemed holy people could also be divided into several types.

"There are holy people with enormous vessels who can accept divinity or whatever else from the very beginning, and there are holy people who can only bear one divinity or a few. Or there are cases where they are raised as holy people from the start and recognized as holy people after countless trials and hardships."

"... That is..."

"As far as I know, the saintess of the Moon Cult is this last case. The Moon Cult steadily adopts and raises children with potential until a holy person of that generation appears. Well, I hear there are plenty of cases where they fail to endure the god in the process of becoming a holy person and die."

"..."

Ju-hyeon was shocked.

"... The Moon Cult does such things?"

"In this day and age, it's not that big a deal, is it?"

This world was full of people who, rather than remain paupers on the street or live as mere human children, wanted to become the family of a god even at the risk of their lives. That was why the Moon Cult's believers and its priests did not stop this kind of education.

"The majority of children who don't die but fail to become holy people end up working as priests of the Moon Cult. So from the Moon Cult's perspective, it isn't a great loss either. They have been doing this since the Great Calamity, so it should be considered a kind of... custom."

If another religion wanted to introduce this kind of education, it would not be easy. The Moon Cult was able to maintain the order stably because it had possessed this custom since long ago; most religions lacked both the resolve and the capability for it.

"If you think of it as employment, it isn't such a terrible thing, is it?"

"... Certainly, Hunters risk their lives to work too. It is already a dangerous world, so calling it a dangerous custom feels..."

"The Moon Cult doesn't force them to become holy people. They only encourage it."

"But... isn't that the same thing? If their guardians encourage it, the adopted children will feel pressured. They won't be able to refuse."

"At the very least, there is also a strong sense that it is not such a bad shelter in today's world. More than anything..."

Yu Seongun's eyes moved as though measuring something.

"Where else would they get the chance to become a god's son or daughter?"

Whether they had parents or not, whether their household was wealthy or poor, the Moon Cult was the only religion that gave every child with potential the chance to become a god's family. In the end, the parties themselves also grew greedy for that honor.

"All of it proceeds by consent. That is why there is also talk that all priests of the Moon Cult are saint candidates. Because only humans who possess at least a certain degree of potential to become holy people gather there."

Ju-hyeon wore an expression of slight discomfort. Yu Seongun smiled mildly.

"You still don't like it?"

"... I just feel a little sick."

"Are you sure you only feel sick?"

"Sometimes I get tired of the religious world's blind devotion."

"I agree with that part too."

Yu Seongun sipped the tea that still retained its warmth.

"This tea really is delicious."

"Right?"

"It's still warm too."

"It may be because it's in a mug, so the heat lasts longer, but it also seems like one of the tea's properties."

"It would be funny if such a special medicine went cold all at once."

After lightly praising the tea's warmth, Yu Seongun continued.

"Anyway, the holy people made that way are, of course, also extremely rare... but unlike those who become holy people by nature, it seems the burden on their bodies is quite large."

"Ah..."

"Should I say they become half inhuman? In truth, even for a congenital holy person, unless they have a constitution that can accept anything and everything, there is no way there would be no burden."

"I suppose so."

"When you consider it from that perspective, Jio won't harm you, Mr. Ju-hyeon. It's just that, as I said earlier, this is, well, what should I call it, the typical shortcut for an ordinary human to become a god's family."

"... Pardon?"

Yu Seongun's mint-colored eyes scanned Ju-hyeon as if analyzing him.

"A divinity treats a human as an equal, and the human treats the divinity as an equal..."

"... Huh."

"Yes, it isn't very different from your current situation, Mr. Ju-hyeon."

"But I'm not religious...?"

"Jio is probably the same."

Yu Seongun laughed heartily and gave him a thumbs-up.

"Good luck."

"Pardon?"

"It'll go well."

"What will?"