Cha Yisol's contract with a divinity threw the elders of the Sun Cult into an uproar.

"Are you saying Black Cloak was a divinity?"

"No, but the Association said..."

"Well, they aren't people we can trust anyway."

"How on earth could something like this happen...?"

Games played by divinities disguised as monsters had already been reported several times.

On top of that, since Cha Yisol had personally shown the line connecting him to a divinity, they could not deny the proposition that "Black Cloak is a divinity."

But the questions only kept growing.

"Then what on earth is Black Cloak's true identity?"

"Shouldn't we investigate that prospective priest named Cha Yisol a little more?"

"He is a child who has only just formed a contract with a divinity. If we are careless, the connection may twist or sever and harm him, so it is right to let him find stability."

"But if Black Cloak is an evil divinity, it would be right to sever the connection in advance."

"Even that hasn't been decided for certain yet, has it?"

And most of the priests were confused, but not worried to that extent.

"Above all, Student Cha Yisol's position has become healer..."

"If it were truly an evil divinity, would it have granted the power of recovery and regeneration?"

"Evil gods hate providence. There is no way the divinity that contracted with Cha Yisol is evil."

"We examined him again and again, but we sensed no dangerous aura."

Why were healers treated like nobles in the first place?

It was because there were so few of them and because learning was difficult, and what else could the reason be?

The powers of recovery and regeneration that most of them possessed came from miracles of providence.

"A rebel cannot grant the power of healing."

"A rebel? Even if the subject is an evil divinity, please refrain from making careless remarks."

"I only meant that is the context."

What evil god would help heal humans?

"We examined whether it might be a deception by an evil god, but Student Iru-da, whom Student Cha Yisol healed, has no defects whatsoever. There is no mental confusion and no physical problem, so is that not a truly complete recovery?"

It was right to see that there was no malice in the power Black Cloak had lent him.

"And an evil divinity is bound to display its malice somehow. The fact that we have examined this so thoroughly and yet found nothing particularly wrong proves the goodwill of the being called Black Cloak."

"That does have a point, but there is still nothing we can be certain of. It would be safest to spend more time observing the situation. For the time being, let us exclude Student Cha Yisol and Student Iru-da from practical training."

"If we keep them confined inside the order too much, the divinity that contracted with Cha Yisol may be displeased."

"But even we have no choice in this. If, by any chance, Black Cloak is an evil divinity, how will we deal with the aftermath? You all know the end of a priest bewitched by an evil god, do you not?"

"Hey, what are you going to do if Priest Kang hears that...?"

Their confusion gradually settled down.

"If the divinity that has embraced Student Cha Yisol truly is Black Cloak, and if we can confirm that mystery is not evil, there will be no problem. There is no need for us to tremble in fear among ourselves."

"That is true."

A prospective priest was, as the term suggested, only prospective, not a formal priest of the Sun.

Prospective priests who had not yet made a contract could serve any other divinity.

That was the custom of the current religious world.

"This is something I heard separately, but they say the aura of the Sun can be felt from Cha Yisol..."

"... The Sun? Could something have been misread?"

"It is not just one person saying this. They said they felt a warm aura."

"It may simply be a divinity related to heat, but..."

"Come to think of it, no one knows Black Cloak's true name, do they?"

"What name of divinity could Student Cha Yisol have ended up contracting with?"

Black Cloak had already settled in Korea almost like a native monster.

He was famous for rejecting evil, affirming good, and bestowing gifts upon commendable humans.

The number of priests who thought that he might be an evil god gradually decreased.

In the end, the priests coaxed Cha Yisol gently and learned some fragment of that identity.

"Uh, well... I'm not sure either."

"We only wish to obtain even an unclear clue. It may be a dangerous divinity..."

"I don't think he'll be dangerous. So, I know he's something... like the Sun."

"... Something like the Sun?"

"He said he gave me sunlight."

"Ah, I see."

The priests who heard the news were very pleased.

"Though it may not be the goddess we serve, another sun means our family has grown, does it not?"

"No, but considering Black Cloak's image, no matter how I think about it, I do not think he is the Sun..."

"He is literally a being wrapped in a black cloak, is he not? No one knows what lies inside it."

"There are suspicious points, but it is certain that he is a being greatly related to the Sun. Even Miss Iru-da, who is famous for sensing the pressure of divinity well, did not deny the fact of his warmth."

"In that case, it certainly seems unreasonable to judge him as an evil divinity."

Around then, there was also a priest who had another question.

"I heard that Student Cha Yisol called for someone named 'Jio' right before the contract."

"... Jio? Do you mean Hunter Seo Jio?"

"One of the prospective priests in the same infirmary heard it half-asleep, but they said they were not certain..."

"I think we need to confirm this."

And Cha Yisol obediently confirmed it.

"I called Jio hyung."

"Do you mean Hunter Seo Jio?"

"Yes, I asked him to help me..."

It was already known by everyone that Sankalut, one of the evil gods sealed in the Association's research lab, had taken advantage of the confusion to reach out to the Sun Cult.

The priest of the Sun Cult, which was in the middle of handling measures related to that, coughed awkwardly.

"Ahem, well... we apologize once again regarding that matter."

"I already got an apology, though?"

"Because an evil divinity reached out to Student Cha Yisol due to our insufficient management."

"It's okay because Jio hyung helped me!"

"... Was it not Black Cloak who helped you shake off that evil god?"

"Uh, that's true, but..."

Perhaps he could not organize his thoughts properly, because after hesitating, Cha Yisol answered with difficulty.

"They both helped me."

"That means..."

The priest drew a conclusion.

"... It means the power held by Hunter Seo Jio and Student Cha Yisol's power are the same."

The priests of the Sun Cult realized a surprising fact that was not truly surprising.

"Well, well. To think the divinity Hunter Seo Jio served was Black Cloak..."

"I think I understand why he never revealed the existence of his divinity until now."

"It must be difficult to say that one serves a divinity treated as a monster."

"Even aside from that, is it not possible that acting as a monster is Black Cloak's game?"

"Perhaps the divinity himself did not wish it to be revealed..."

"I do not know if it is a coincidence, but was Hunter Seo Jio's position not also healer?"

"I feel as if everything finally makes sense."

The priests each nodded.

"During the previous dungeon's raid, Hunter Seo Jio certainly received medicinal herbs from a divinity..."

"Black Cloak is a being famous for giving gifts to good people he likes, is he not?"

"Then is giving gifts merely one of Black Cloak's traits? Since ordinary citizens can also receive gifts, the theory that Hunter Seo Jio is a saint..."

"Even taking that into account, I believe Hunter Seo Jio's vessel cannot be compared with that of an ordinary person."

"Yes, the scale of the gift he received is different, is it not? From what I heard, he even directly heard the will of the god he serves..."

"If this is true, it is a blessing for the Sun Cult."

In this world, it was extremely difficult to witness the power of providence.

To put it kindly, traditional gods loved nature as it was, and to put it badly, they were very lazy.

In other words, they rarely intervened in human society.

"No wonder I thought Hunter Seo Jio and Black Cloak behaved similarly..."

"What? Were those two that similar?"

"I thought they were strangely alike. Hunter Seo Jio is also said to be especially fond of giving gifts to others, and those gifts are apparently all food in particular."

"Ahaha, he must care a great deal about feeding others."

"They say he cannot stand to watch people go hungry."

"They say many of the gifts Black Cloak gives are also edible snacks. Seeing how similar they are, I do wonder if he is indeed a saint's vessel..."

And the Sun Cult reached a new conclusion.

"Should we not build a closer relationship with Hunter Seo Jio after all?"

"Ahem, though he awakened differently, with a vessel of that caliber, he is surely someone suited to being a priest..."

"Among Koreans who serve divinities related to the Sun, there is no one who does not come to our church."

"I do not think it will be such an unpleasant subject for Hunter Seo Jio either."

"Of course. It is a matter of getting along with the Sun Cult. Would he not be pleased instead?"

The only one whose mind grew troubled at that murmuring was Kang Seodam.

"..."

The religious world was full of worms.

'It truly is nothing less than a nest of insects.'

It was disgusting to a revolting degree.

The fact that they had set out to investigate an A-class dungeon before they had even fully recovered from the blow they suffered last winter over the "country of the deep sea," the fact that an evil god had seeped in while they were developing the dungeon they had cleared, and the fact that even in the present situation, while they were still cleaning up the aftermath, they were busy being greedy—all of it filled him with revulsion.

'How can they be this greedy?'

Even reflecting on their own mistakes and focusing on recovery would not be enough, yet they were only making the matter bigger.

It was only because the result had narrowly turned out well that no major problem had arisen and everyone was letting it pass amicably.

If not for that, they would have been sitting there flushed with anger at one another.

Kang Seodam had no face to show his students.

Even so, after letting out a deep sigh, he eventually went to find Cha Yisol and Iru-da.

"Student Cha Yisol."

"Yes, Teacher!"

"And Student Iru-da."

"Yes, I am listening."

"To the two of you, I can only say... I am sorry."

Kang Seodam was only one of the teachers who educated prospective priests, but there were any number of responsibilities for him to bear.

He had failed to properly protect his students and had allowed matters to reach this point.

"Have you spoken sufficiently with your guardians?"

Cha Yisol nodded.

"My brother and sister said they hope I do whatever I want."

"My mother said the same. And that she expects to see how things are handled from now on..."

Kang Seodam also nodded back.

"Of course. This incident was a grave mistake on our part as adults, so none of you need to worry about it. Please recover like this, and then walk the path you want."

"What can the path we want be?"

"Since both of you serve divinities other than our Sun Goddess, you may stop your education right now and seek another path. We can also help you graduate early."

Before Cha Yisol could ask anything, Iru-da took her partner's hand and spoke.

"Even if we want to look for another church or guild, it would be good to receive the formal priest's identification. Of course, I respect your opinion, but now that the situation has come to this, the ones who were bothering us will quiet down too."

"Sister Iru-da has a point. The main students who were making the atmosphere hostile have already been expelled from the order, and because the priests here are at fault toward you, they have no choice but to be careful around you."

"Like Teacher Kang Seodam said, well, you may have grown sick of this place... but now we have the upper hand. Our peers will watch how we act, and we have justification to demand more benefits from the order."

At that, Cha Yisol said,

"Summarize it for me..."

"There will be more to squeeze out of them if we stay here."

"Am I the only stupid one here? I'm not, right...?"

"... I, I was always, um, told I was mature for my age. You are not the strange one."

Perhaps because he had come up from the provinces, Cha Yisol had a strongly innocent side, but Iru-da did not want Cha Yisol to consider that trait a flaw.

At Iru-da's comfort, Cha Yisol recovered quickly.

"Then that's fine."

"This is only what I think, and I want to hear what you want to do."

"I want to keep being with you, Lu-da. I like Teacher too."

"Then let us aim for early graduation. It will not be difficult for us."

"If we graduate quickly, how old will we be when we become formal priests?"

Kang Seodam answered that part.

"It depends on the situation, but if it is fast, you may be able to complete the course within three years."

"Gasp, really?"

"The number of practical lessons will increase, and you will be busy in many ways... but if you are willing to handle it, probably."

"Then I want to graduate quickly!"

And as the two young priests dreamed of early graduation,