The Devil Who Grants Wishes

186 – Faith (4)

“Oh, oh oh…”

After the great storm called Faust passed, Pierre and his office were directly affected by the storm.

In the office, which is supposed to be filled with air and dust, the air is constantly circulating as if it were a typhoon outside in a field, as if it had never been like that before, and everything from Pierre’s weak, limp hair to his tattered clothes was literally gone. It looks like an old man who came out of a typhoon.

But Pierre has no interest in such things.

They are deeply touched simply by the fact that a living god has shown affection for them.

‘Of course I believed in Faust. But that faith… Was closer to loyalty than faith.’

Pierre thinks back to the past days.

As the bishop of the Order of Exorcists, he met Faust and suffered tremendous hardships, and worked tirelessly to survive in the Order. The day he rose to the rank of archbishop of the Aquileian Empire, but lost his free will due to Seraphia’s brainwashing.

And… He was saved by Faust and began his religious activities again as the patriarch of the Faust Church.

For Pierre, his religious activities until now were just business. The more he preached, the more he returned to his power and wealth, so he never became truly religious about Seraphia, Faust, or anything like that.

But this time is different.

Wasn’t that… Really an example of an absolute being who cares about insignificant creatures?

‘It’s so unfamiliar.’

Pierre finds it difficult to understand Faust’s actions.

What on earth is there to gain from doing something like that? There are no beings who dislike being supported by tiny creatures, but if you are asked to manage and take responsibility for those tiny creatures, it is clear that beings who dislike them will spring up in droves.

Didn’t Serapia, who served before, do the same?

They just want to be respected, they don’t want to take responsibility, and to do that, they commit all kinds of ugly things while hiding in the shadows.

But… Faust is not like that.

He really tried to take responsibility.

Starting from powerless believers, all the way up to high-ranking priests. Anyone who believes in themselves and has faith.

That’s why Faust hated and was afraid of being respected by everyone. Because I have to take responsibility for them all.

‘Of course, I can’t expect that feeling to continue, but…’

But Pierre knows. The fact is that if Faust fails, he will abandon all his duties and disappear into hiding.

If divine status has a great influence on one’s life, Faust is a great man who can throw that divine status on the ground at any time and return to being a natural person.

Despite knowing this fact well, Pierre’s faith in Faust did not diminish. He would not have power as much as he could not fulfill his duties. What kind of god in the world is so conscientious?

‘…It’s been a long time since I felt this way. ‘Has it been 60 years?’

Pierre remembers the time when she first joined the Seraphia Order.

That was the time when I knew absolutely nothing and had a sincere faith in Seraphia.

And Pierre thinks.

Until now, he had spread the Faustian belief simply because it benefited him, but from now on, he will not do so.

**********

I don’t know how to control the believers.

Until now, I have only been an object of fear and not an object of faith.

Of course, fear and faith are similar in that they are essentially feelings about the unknown, so I was able to endure it in my own way because faith in myself was not such an unfamiliar concept.

But things will be different in the future.

If faith becomes a systematically established religion, I will no longer be able to properly respond to the faith directed at me.

‘Should I be treated as a member of the family?’

If I treat those who believe in me as members of my family, it may be convenient in its own way. If you show loyalty to me, you deserve to be rewarded for it.

But… Is that really okay?

Of course, there is a saying about faith in blessings and fortunes, and there is praying to God when you want to gain something, so the desire to gain something by supporting and worshiping an absolute being is common to all humans. However, actually realizing that desire is a very different story.

A typical example is the desire to be first.

There is no one in this world who doesn’t want to be first, so if they all have the same wish to be first, should I repay them?

A world where everyone is number one? That is impossible.

From this perspective, faith and loyalty have similar aspects, but they also have many differences.

If you treat believers as an example of how you treat your subordinates, it could lead to a big blow one day.

“Hmm… That’s a difficult problem.”

“Heung… I thought it’s been a while since you called me… It’s okay, I was bad for expecting you. You even called me with a b*tch like this…”

So, I decided to look for people who are familiar with dealing with believers. To say I was looking for it was like just putting it in one place, but whatever.

Gaia, the god of life, listens to my concerns and frowns seriously, contemplating along with me, while Belial, the god of evil, sits down in his seat with an expression of blatant disappointment radiating from his entire body.

Of course, no matter how much that may be, Belial is not ignoring me. On the outside, he shows a lot of dissatisfaction, but on the inside, he is sincerely thinking about how to solve my concerns.

“…To be honest, our standards will not meet the West’s standards.”

“What does it mean?”

“Aren’t you saying we’ve never had that many believers?”

Gaia answers the question posed to Belial on his behalf, but Gaia’s answer seems to accurately match what Belial wanted to say.

Belial glances at Gaia as if she feels bad for taking away his answer, but he doesn’t seem to bother to correct her.

“…Yes, that’s right. We have few believers, and the majority of believers are clearly strong beings by world standards. I call devils, evil spirits, and devil worshipers as believers. “There was a time when I had demons who served me as believers because they had no gods of their own, and the girl next to me used elves who were naturally highly sensitive to mana as believers.”

“Certainly, by the world’s standards, they are the only beings that can be called strong.”

“Yes, perhaps that’s why the level of wishes made by our believers can be said to be high on average. As humans, life today and tomorrow is difficult, so we often wish to be able to eat and live happily, but in our case… “You can’t make a wish like that, right?”

I understand roughly what Belial is trying to say.

You can refer to our method, but since the level of believers is so different, if you follow it completely, unexpected situations may occur.

“So, when dealing with the believers, we mainly chose the option of neglect. Because most problems can be solved by the believers themselves. Of course, if we intervene too often, the believers may develop bad habits and the world may become deteriorated. It also caused a backlash against it.”

When Gaia spoke in response to Belial’s words, instead of resolving my concerns, I became more and more worried.

…Is that why Seraphia interfered so much with the Underworld?

Even though he did not take action directly, there was a reason why he constantly interfered with the underworld and believers through the church.

What should I do…

Should we continue to intervene and control people like Seraphia, or should we neglect them like Belial and Gaia…

‘…Let’s leave it alone.’

However, contrary to all the worries, the conclusion was surprisingly easy and simple.

If God continues to interfere with people and transform society in the direction he wants, it is hard to believe that such a society will run healthily.

More than anything… It goes against ‘my’ will.

In order to get rid of the world run by the system and divine power, ‘I’ chose the difficult option of splitting my self into two and making one side carry all the bad karma, but the fact that I own the divine power and control the world is… A bit much. I don’t think so.

All efforts go in vain.

In order not to be embarrassed by another me, no, ‘me’, it would be better to own my status but just leave it alone.

‘Now that I think about it, this is a scene I’ve seen surprisingly often.’

So, on Earth, it is very similar to God, who only gives mental stability no matter how many wishes people make… Hmm, let’s not talk about this because it seems like it could get dangerous.

“I think you’ve decided on the answer. It’s visible on your face.”

“It seems like you already knew the answer from the beginning… Hmm, maybe meeting with us was just to gain confidence in the answer. If that’s the case, then there’s no point in coming in person.”

“No, I didn’t know. I just didn’t know what I was thinking or what I wanted.”

Belial and Gaia seem to have read my thoughts and speak in a slightly lost tone, and I open my mouth to answer their questions.

Ah, Gaia, you don’t need to say that much.

I really didn’t know what I wanted.