It was an outdoor volunteer service, and when you think about it, I hadn’t really attended for a long time.
After my body changed, it hadn’t even been a month when, by coincidence, the witch incident occurred, so if we count the time, it had been almost half a year without any volunteer work.
That was against the public image of the saint named Bersia.
Well, regardless of the intention to receive financial support, Bersia was always a diligent saint who went on outdoor volunteer work at least once every quarter.
Even though it was because of the witch’s outbreak… no, in times like these, she shouldn’t neglect such volunteer activities.
It was an important matter for long-term reputation.
The need was essential, but this turned out to be a fortunate event.
“It’s been so long! I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve gone out for volunteer work like this!”
It was an opportunity to ease the awkward atmosphere.
After realizing that only sexual interactions had occurred recently, Usher began to long for the comfortable conversations they once had.
It wasn’t that he didn’t know that he had some part in that outcome, so there was also a sense of repentance.
Bersia seemed to feel the same way now.
“Shall we go get something to eat if the funding comes through? I haven’t had snacks in a long time.”
“Ah! That sounds good! How about some sweet dessert…?”
“You have such a girlish taste.”
“T-That’s the saint’s taste…! I used to enjoy juicy meats or light soups!”
“Yeah, well.”
The atmosphere was good.
It was just like before, light teasing, and a lightly grumbling response.
For some reason, there was a sense of stability. It felt like something that had been knotted up inside was being unraveled.
Thanks to that, Usher couldn’t help but smile.
He didn’t even think about how he might look, cheeks blushing, walking briskly.
It was natural not to notice the small changes in behavior caused by the curse. After all, humans don’t easily feel discomfort in their own actions or habits.
Anyway, they left the church and headed to the nearby town.
It had been half a year since they visited the civilian town, and it was somewhat…
“Oh, saint!”
“The saint is back! She didn’t abandon us!”
“Father! Now we can live! We’re saved!!!”
There were quite a few more patients than expected.
“…What’s this?”
“This is normal. No, even more than this is normal. We’ve been treating regularly, so the number of patients around here has been relatively low.”
So, according to Bersia, this was considered normal.
It seemed that the lack of patients was mostly due to the periodic volunteer work before.
It was both regrettable and felt guilty.
Well, no matter what, it meant that since using this body, there had been less volunteer work.
“Alright, everyone. Please gather around…!”
Usher gathered the patients together.
Although Bersia’s divine presence had become manageable to a degree, fine control was still difficult, so gathering the patients and treating them all at once was safer and more efficient.
“Then, I’ll begin.”
Whoooosh!
A golden divine light surrounded the entire space.
Healing prayer, detoxification prayer, and vitality prayer.
It was a triad of prayers that expelled illness, neutralized toxins, and enhanced recovery.
The effects were immediately apparent.
“Oh, ohhh!”
“Father!!!”
“Charles! My body is becoming strong!”
There were gasps of awe everywhere. Fathers and children hugging each other, parents patting their kids, lovers kissing passionately…
…Wait, what are those people doing outdoors? Isn’t this too embarrassing?
How could they be so shameless?
The faces of the people watching were all turning red.
Usher tried to turn away.
Then, the expected thing happened.
“Truly, the miracle saint!”
“Oh, saint!”
“Oh, you’re so beautiful!”
“The goddess is here!”
It wasn’t surprising anymore.
There was no goddess, only the true god, and Usher, who had preached that obvious truth, finished the treatment.
“Wow, goddess.”
Bersia joked. Usher answered sternly.
“Even if no one else knows, the saint should not act like that. You are the representative of the true god…”
“Not right now.”
“Regardless of what anyone says, the saint is still the saint.”
They were chatting as it flowed naturally.
“No!!!”
From somewhere, a child’s scream was heard.
Usher and Bersia turned their heads at the same time.
It was the sound of someone choking back tears. Could it be bullying?
Usher, with a hardened expression, walked toward the sound.
Bersia followed behind.
What they saw in front of them was this.
There were several children.
And among them, one girl was crying, while the others were mocking her.
“Wow, so it’s bullying after all!”
This was something that could not be overlooked.
Targeting someone in the group and bullying them was not something a child should ever get used to.
At that moment, as Usher was about to step forward, the crying girl spoke.
“Babies are made when a man and a woman lie down and say ‘Ang!’ I saw it with my own eyes!”
“?”
“Wow.”
Bersia was amazed.
Usher didn’t understand what she meant at first and stood there with a blank expression.
The children shouted.
“Fool! Babies are made when a man and a woman hold hands, and the true god makes the stork bring them down! You didn’t know that?”
“Mindy is a fool! If ‘Ang!’ makes babies, I would’ve become a mother too!”
“Ang! Ang!”
“Hahaha!”
It was dizzying. Why are kids these days like this?
He even felt dizzy.
At that moment, the crying girl… the one called ‘Mindy’ noticed Usher and Bersia.
“Ah, ah! Saint!”
“What?! Saintess?!”
The children quickly turned their heads to look at Usher.
Usher flinched.
Regardless, Mindy approached Usher with a face full of injustice and asked.
“Saintess! A baby is made when a man and a woman lie down and go ‘Ah!’ right? That’s correct, isn’t it???”
“No, it’s not! Babies are brought by storks!”
“Saintess! Please teach us the truth!”
The most wicked thing is purity.
No matter how much the times change, there are truths that never do, and one of them stabbed Usher sharply.
How are babies made?
Historically, this has been the number one question children ask that adults struggle to answer.
Usher was no different.
No, when the moment came where he was obligated to answer, he even found himself resenting the fairytale-like responses of his predecessors.
The choices laid before Usher were cruel.
Should he side with Mindy and shatter the children’s innocence?
Or should he preserve their purity by making Mindy a liar?
Logically, the latter was the correct choice.
He felt sorry for Mindy, but she had to become the two-eyed person in a village of one-eyed people.
However, he had to find a way to ensure everyone got along.
Fortunately, Usher quickly came up with an answer.
“You’re all wrong.”
“What?!”
“That… That can’t be…!”
Deny everyone. If everyone is one-eyed, they are equal.
If there are no winners or losers, they can finally be on the same level.
But how should he handle the next question?
“That’s not true! My dad said a stork brings them!”
“No way! What I saw was lying down and going ‘Ah!'”
At last, Usher understood the will of his predecessors.
He realized why history could never provide a definitive answer to such a tragic question.
“Your parents lied to you. They want to keep it a secret just for themselves.”
Raising a child is the role of the parents.
The responsibility could be shifted.
He felt a little bad, but surely, as parents, they wouldn’t want their child to become someone who bullies others.
Wasn’t he merely giving them the chance to teach that lesson themselves?
Having completed his self-justification, Usher even used his authority to suppress the situation.
It was regrettable that he couldn’t consider everyone in this scenario, but what could he do?
“You have to listen carefully to what the Saintess says, okay? And you must not fight just because you have different opinions. Apologize to each other.”
At last, peace was restored.
The children apologized to each other and left.
Usher let out a sigh of relief.
Bersia chuckled.
“You’re quite wicked.”
“…This was the only way.”
As Usher narrowed his eyes, thinking, ‘Why is someone who should understand acting like this?’ Bersia patted his head and replied.
“Well done. Raising children is a parent’s job.”
“Ugh…!”
He had been holding back for days, but even here, he couldn’t suppress his reaction.
Usher’s cheeks turned slightly red.
Bersia raised an eyebrow.
Shame washed over him.
Wasn’t this no different from being some kind of flirt?
He turned his head to hide his expression, but Bersia spoke.
“You’ve been holding back for quite a while, haven’t you?”
She took his hand.
She rubbed it gently, then placed her thumb over his palm.
“Is this a reward?”
“Wait, hold on! We’re outside—Haah…!”
She was doing it on purpose.
She was definitely doing this on purpose.
As his flushed face bit down on his lower lip, Bersia chuckled.
He swore he would get revenge for this mischief.
But neither Usher nor Bersia realized one thing.
Gulp—
Mindy, who hadn’t completely left yet, had been secretly watching.
That day, Mindy’s understanding of the world changed.
Babies weren’t made by lying down and going ‘Ah!’ but by holding hands and going ‘Ah!’
Mindy’s eyes sparkled.
It was as if enlightenment had passed through her mind.
It took ten years for Mindy’s misunderstanding to be corrected.
No one knew that when she finally understood what the Saintess and her knight had really been doing outside that day, she let out a hollow laugh.