Chapter 603
Su-ho’s venomous words.
At that harsh, poisonous condemnation, Bell was momentarily left speechless.
“W-What did you just say?”
“Why? Do you think I said something wrong?”
“In all my life, I’ve never heard something this rude.”
So dumbfounded was she that she straightened her posture.
But Su-ho continued speaking.
“As I said before, you started the disrespect first. If you want kind words, you should speak kindly first. You claim following and carrying out God’s words is everything, yet you tell me—a properly elected Pope who reached this place with the help of God—to get out without even giving me a trial, just because my perspective differs from yours?”
“That’s...!”
“Roland said something like this. At some point, the Paladins seemed to have lost their minds. Instead of treasuring what truly mattered, they became consumed by laws and God’s words, killing what should be protected and sheltering what should be killed.”
Su-ho rose from his seat.
“The very first one I met, Ruinberg, was exactly like that. He didn’t seem like a religious man, but a fanatic. To him, people and neighbors didn’t matter. God’s words mattered most. And you’re exactly the same. Every inconvenient thing gets brushed aside with excuses about religion and God, while all you cared about was preserving your own peace of mind and image.”
“I only cared about preserving my peace of mind and image?”
“No? Then why did you heal even evil people who were destined to bring disaster, leading countless innocent people to their deaths? Is that the altruism and goodness and God’s teaching you spoke of? What crime did the people murdered by those men commit?”
“Do you think I’m an idiot?! Of course I took measures before healing them! I called other people in so they couldn’t do anything reckless—!”
“You think controlling someone’s heart means they’ll actually stay controlled? Even if it seems like you’ve taken measures for the moment, what happens if someone already determined to commit evil simply finds another way? Are you going to stay beside them forever and stop them every single time?”
“If I could, then I would.”
“Talk realistically. What if there were dozens of them instead of one? What if it happened while you were asleep? You’re a Saintess, but you’re still human. You’re not some omnipotent being capable of controlling everything. That’s why prevention exists.”
Su-ho looked at her with the coldest eyes he had shown yet.
“Wake up. Even hypocrisy is still a form of good. How long are you going to keep hiding behind religion?”
At last unable to endure it any longer, Bell sprang to her feet and shouted back.
“What did you just say?!”
“I said stop hiding behind religion.”
“Watch your mouth...!”
“You should be the one watching your mouth. I can already imagine it. How many innocent people must have suffered because of your pathetic stubbornness.”
“You...!”
Bell rose from her seat, glaring fiercely as she pointed a finger at Su-ho’s face.
The finger raised upward from beneath her chin looked ready to pierce straight through his skull.
But Su-ho did not even blink.
There was no reason for him to be afraid in the first place.
Setting aside the fact that she was a legendary Saintess and the Cleric Master, he simply could not imagine Bell actually defeating him.
That was why Su-ho continued firing back at her with the same dry gaze.
“If what I’m saying is wrong, then refute it. Explain it and convince me. Even if you’re a priest serving God, are a few words from scripture really more important than the lives of the people standing before you right now? And do you truly think the God you believe in genuinely wants actions like that?”
“What do you know about me?!”
“You’re right. I don’t know much about you. But unlike you, even after gaining the Pantheon’s power and becoming Pope through the Conclave, I still value the people beside me more than the words of the Chief God Quai. Because I believe that’s what true justice is. And.”
Su-ho’s eyes turned even colder.
“You said it yourself earlier. That among all the Saints and Saintesses, you were called the greatest Saintess in history. But even if you’re praised as the best among fools so deluded that even Roland shakes his head at them, what’s so impressive about that? Here’s what I think. Among all Popes in history, you’re considered the greatest because you lived more like a puppet than anyone else. Because that’s the standard idiots like you use.”
“That’s ridiculous. We are servants of God from the very beginning, beings meant to follow God’s words. So what exactly is wrong with acting according to God’s teachings?”
“To be precise, you shifted the responsibility onto God.”
“What?”
“If the thing on your shoulders isn’t just decoration, then think about it rationally. How can you save an evil man when you can’t even estimate how many innocent people will die because of him?”
“So what, then?! Was I supposed to ignore a life dying before my eyes?!”
“So deaths you can’t see are acceptable?”
Su-ho took a step toward the shouting Bell.
Bell unconsciously stepped back.
“You used pity, sympathy, and God’s teachings as a shield while ignoring the disasters that would come later, all just to preserve your own nobility and moral righteousness. But did that really come from a heart that cared for others?”
“To me, ordinary people and evil people are lives with equal value.”
“I think so too. But does one life carry the same weight as two lives? Of course not. No one would kill the many just to save one person.”
“That depends on the situation!”
“Right. It does depend on the situation. In the world I lived in, there were ideas like utilitarianism and the trolley problem. Similar arguments existed there too. But there’s no absolute right answer to them. Still, at the very least, people don’t choose options where disastrous results are blatantly obvious. Know why? Is it because they’re smart? No. It’s because any decent person takes responsibility for the choices they make.”
Su-ho stepped forward again.
Frightened, Bell stumbled back another step before catching against the chair and collapsing into it.
“But you used God’s teachings as an excuse to throw that responsibility onto religion. After all, you healed the patient as a Saintess using healing Holy Arts. If you truly wanted to save an evil man, then you should’ve taken responsibility all the way to the end and prevented him from causing harm. But you didn’t. No, you couldn’t. Because you’re not a god capable of controlling everything.”
Su-ho summoned and gripped the blood sword.
“You’re right. I’ve made choices for my own personal goals. But the difference between us is that while pursuing my goals, I still tried to take responsibility for the consequences along the way. Because nothing in this world can ever be solved alone. That’s why, outside of revenge, I’ve never deliberately sacrificed someone, nor deliberately left evil people alive. As someone who regressed after living through that previous life once already, I couldn’t bear to watch the same disasters repeat themselves again.”
Su-ho’s sword rose toward Bell’s chin.
“When you die, it’s over. What’s the point of praying for someone’s soul afterward or apologizing to the people left behind? In the end, you’re nothing more or less than a selfish woman who threw all responsibility onto God just to protect your own morality and noble heart. So I don’t need it either. The acknowledgment of a Master like you.”
The sword resting beneath her chin pressed lightly into her skin.
Blood trickled where it touched.
“The healing Holy Arts of the greatest Saintess in history. Sure, they’re tempting. But I don’t want them badly enough to flatter insane religious fanatics like you and change the way I think. And besides, it’d be different if I had no healing abilities at all, but while I may not compare to you, my own healing abilities are useful enough. So if you’re not going to share your power, then just open the door. I’m sick of arguing with you.”
He meant it sincerely.
Those healing Holy Arts.
It was a shame to give them up, but not enough to appease a religious fanatic with extreme beliefs.
It would’ve been different if he lacked healing abilities entirely, but after obtaining healing skills considered among the greatest on Earth, he honestly did not regret it much.
Bell stared at Su-ho intently.
She looked completely different from the languid woman sprawled lazily across the chair before.
Su-ho likewise did not avoid her gaze and stared directly back at her.
No, he pressed her even harder.
“What, are you deaf? If you’re not going to share your power, then open the door. I don’t want to stay here any longer.”
“...Don’t act so self-righteous.”
“What?”
“You don’t know anything about me.”
“Ha.”
A laugh escaped him before he realized it.
No, perhaps it was mockery.
“So now that you can’t win with words, you’re going to attack me like that instead?”
“No. I mean it.”
“Sure, you mean it. But do I really need to know?”
“You do. And if you don’t know, then I should teach you and make you understand.”
“Why would you?”
“Because you’re the new leader of the Pantheon. What’s the duty of a Pope? Wasn’t it to guide and embrace ignorant people like me?”
“You’re a Master, and you still need guidance?”
“There’s no end to learning. And honestly speaking, I’ve never met anyone in my life who talked like you do. We share the same religion, yet you call people religious fanatics and selfish... Then what exactly should I have done?”
“I already told you. If the thing on your shoulders isn’t just decoration, then you should’ve thought about the consequences and made careful judgments before acting.”
“And what if I was in a situation where I couldn’t?”
“You couldn’t?”
Su-ho frowned.
“What, was someone holding a knife to your throat? Say something that actually makes sense. Why couldn’t you?”
“You don’t know how Saintesses are created, do you?”
“No.”
Bell looked at him as though he were pitiful.
“When I was a baby, my parents abandoned me, and I was raised in an orphanage run by the temple. Then one day, they suddenly said I had been chosen by God and made me a Saintess. From then on, I had to be careful about many things. Do you know what they taught me was most important of all?”
“What?”
“The laws containing God’s teachings. And they were something I had to follow for my entire life. No, something I couldn’t help but follow.”
Bell bit her lip and glared fiercely.
“Even if you had been me, you would’ve turned out this way too.”