“Oh, let’s go see the initiation ceremony.”

“Should I just take a quick look?”

“It was already cold, so this is good.”

“What kind of event is this?”

“I think it’s the Sun Church….”

“If it’s the Sun Church, it’s worth seeing.”

No matter what religion’s initiation ceremony, they don’t stop onlookers, even if they’re not related. The more members of the initiation ceremony there are, the higher the chance that the god will come.

“Thanks to that, we got a spot.”

“There are more people than I thought.”

“It’s hard to get the god’s attention when only one or two people gather.”

Of course, there are cases like Geo.

‘Not all gods are like you.’

Even if Geo’s identity wasn’t confirmed yet, it was clear that he was the subject of a certain divinity. It was just that the more elements were added, the more confusing it was, but there was no reason to deny the fact.

The Cha family had already moved to the event staff position. Yoo Seong-un, who scanned the scene, offered Geo a seat. It was a table that was a good distance away from the noisy crowd.

“Shall we sit here?”

“Okay.”

As expected, being too close to humans was either too crowded or burdensome. Geo sat down in the seat Yoo Seong-un had given him as if he was happy to see him.

Thanks to this, the conversation was easy.

‘… Most of them are civilians, not hunters, so they probably won’t hear the conversation here.’

Yoo Seong-un, who had quenched his thirst with the water on the table, opened his mouth.

“Can you handle divinity?”

“When you say divinity, do you mean the authority of a god?”

“You could say it’s similar. Or, how should I put it… It’s like a license.”

“Ah, it’s a license after all.”

“As expected…?”

He was puzzled for a moment, but soon Yoo Seong-un added.

“It’s not strange to express it like that. You could think of it as a divine license.”

Divinity is different from what is commonly called divine power.

Divinity refers to the power that a human chosen by a god uses with his help, while divinity refers to the divine nature of a god and the power derived from it. They were completely different.

“…….”

Geo said, seeming to remember something.

“If you were talking about a license, then yes, I received it.”

“…You received it?”

“I was the only believer.”

“…….”

Yoo Seong-woon realized it instinctively.

‘… Is this a story related to the blond and blue-eyed Geo I saw at Cheonggyecheon before?’

He had guessed that when Geo’s personality changed significantly, his appearance would also change. He still vividly remembered Geo’s appearance, which turned platinum blonde like fallen leaves that had changed color when he dipped his feet in water.

‘But since it’s especially related to water, I thought it would be a god of the sea, a river, or a pond…’

It was quite interesting that the sun came out of nowhere. If Bisabal had been here, he probably would have felt the same way. What was the story?

“Getting a god’s license? That’s amazing. It doesn’t usually happen.”

He exclaimed as if it was nothing, but as far as Yoo Seong-un knew, it was something that never happened. No god would give their status to a mere human.

‘Why would anyone do something that would make both gods and humans suffer?’

However, Geo’s voice was still blunt and businesslike.

“You said you didn’t want to be alone anymore.”

“…The sun god before you?”

“As the only believer, I interacted with him, ate with him, talked with him… As the time we spent together grew longer, he seemed to be afraid of being alone like before.”

“…….”

“Then he gave me this certificate. He said he wanted to share what I saw and heard, and that it was half a gift. Even though it was a certificate, it didn’t seem to be something tangible.”

Yoo Seong-woon pursed his lips.

‘Should I say… the previous sun god was too weak, or should I say Geo was amazing…?’

It was probably the latter.

Normally, gods are unique beings, so they don’t feel lonely when they’re alone, but Geo probably made him feel that way during the process of their interaction.

That was because Geo was amazing.

‘Besides, if he was an ordinary human, he wouldn’t have passed on such a burden in the first place.’

If we think about it in the same context, it would be more correct to say that Geo was a being close to the status of a god from the beginning, so the sun god recognized him as an equal, felt lonely, and gave him godhood as a gift.

“…….”

That would make it even harder to know the true identity of Geo.

If the sun god judged them to be equal, then that means they were just different types of gods. At the very least, they were beings of a higher rank than the gods.

How should we define that?

‘What the hell are you doing?’

The more I dig into it, the more I find myself talking about things I don’t know, so I hope someone can organize it all into one.

The pre-introduction session proceeded quickly.

“It’s not taking as long as I thought.”

“I wonder if the schedule is tight.”

“That could be the case, we need time to educate the prospective priests.”

A simple hierarchy. The definition of a priest. How should such a priest behave, what virtues are necessary…

After a brief explanation of those who serve the god, the initiation ceremony was discussed. The main content was about the education and benefits that prospective priests would receive.

“After talking to all of your families, the prospective priests will follow me. Those prospective priests without guardians can come to me in advance.”

As the dark blond priest spoke, several children approached him, timidly. A thick-faced priest who looked like he came out of a fantasy movie led the children. His characteristic Western facial features and curly hair were impressive.

Although it is easy to find Western-style faces like that in Korea today, the atmosphere was different because he was a priest. Geo’s gaze, which had been observing the general priest, fell on the children below him.

“I guess those children don’t have separate families.”

“Well… family is the most common form of human organization, but in this day and age, there are more cases of humans not being organized by blood relations.”

Yoo Seong-woon nodded as if he knew what Geo was curious about.

Geo, whose knowledge of humans is vague, would know that ‘humans form a family community,’ but there are always exceptions.

“Do you see that most of those children are particularly unclean?”

“I see.”

“They are probably the Carnation children who have awakened as priests.”

“What is a carnation child?”

“Orphans who actively seek out guardians?”

There are fourth-class citizens, the poor, on the outskirts of the city, and there are quite a few children who are intentionally abandoned. There is even a saying that they are trash cans that throw away people.

“Among them, carnation children are children who advertise on the streets to find guardians who will take them in.”

“Do they advertise themselves?”

“Yes. Children who want someone to take them in are holding flowers. Children who are in slightly better circumstances are holding real carnations. If not, they fold flowers with tissues or paper or something… If it’s old-fashioned, the meaning will be conveyed.”

The so-called ‘carnation children’ were a culture that was created right after the great disaster, when there were many orphans.

“The great disaster happened in the spring, and after that, there was Parents’ Day… a day when children would give carnations to their parents. So they made carnations to honor their deceased parents, but there was no one to give them to.”

Adults who felt sorry for the situation began to take children holding colored paper carnations one by one.

The clever orphans who saw that folded carnations that they had no intention of making and held them out on the street, and this was the beginning of ‘Carnation Child.’

“Actually, I don’t know much about it either. It happened one or two generations ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) before me….”

“I see.”

“Anyway, starting from there, even now, orphans who want to be adopted prepare carnations in that way. They fold carnations with tissue paper or colored paper, pick flowers that bloom on the street, or work hard to buy a single carnation… That means, ‘Please take me.’”

“It seems like they don’t go through proper adoption procedures, so isn’t there a risk of being abandoned again?”

“Why wouldn’t there be? It’s one of the social problems that is even mentioned in elementary school textbooks. They say that right after the culture of carnation children first emerged, there were many children who were abandoned in that way, so there was a lot of noise for a while. There’s no way things have gotten better now.”

No one seriously considers adopting a Carnation Child.

“Carnation Child himself is like that. He might have adopted her because he felt sorry for her right after the great disaster and wanted to treat her like family, but now it’s just… free labor? It feels more like that.”

“…….”

I don’t know why I always hear such shocking news when I come to this damned hometown.

‘The world has become so scary.’

I felt like I could open my eyes and cut off my nose. Physically.

“But isn’t it possible that those children aren’t Carnation Children but just orphans?”

“Even if they awaken as priests, the temple usually only takes responsibility for Carnation Children.”

“Why?”

“Because they’re good labor?”

“…….”

Where have children’s rights gone?

“…Don’t look at me like that. It’s scary when you criticize with your gaze. In the first place, fourth-class citizens who have been neglected without any special poverty relief policies are not easily hired by regular companies. It may be different if they are working in back-alley production.”

“Is it hard for fourth-class citizens to get regular jobs?”

“First of all, fourth-class citizens have a bad reputation as ‘pests who come to the city without the ability to handle it and sit there.’ It’s not like that for everyone, but they usually don’t have the will to work.”

“…….”

“Even if you hire them for a fair price, their efficiency is low and they are not well-received by the citizens, so unless they just want to get cursed at by customers, no place will want to hire them. Fourth-class citizens are not well-received that much. It’s because they are protected by the city without making any proper efforts.”

Companies that hire fourth-class citizens are looked down on by the citizens. Why are they giving opportunities to these filthy beggars who just sit around doing nothing but trying to share the city’s vested interests?

“In the same way, usually a child from the slums is said to have manifested as a priest, and  I won’t accept it. The chances of being chosen by God are low, but I don’t have the capacity to take care of the poor child without fail while receiving negative reviews… That’s the context.”

“Your calculations are clear.”

“Carnation children, unlike other 4th class citizens, have the will to work confirmed through ‘carnations’, and since they are still young, the citizens’ views are not completely negative. If they had already been chosen by God, it would be different, but if an orphan who simply awakened was in this position, there is a high probability that they are a carnation child.”

“… … .”

Geo made up his mind.

‘I’ll just watch the initiation ceremony and jump back into the frame.’

This harsh world. I couldn’t live because I cried and was scared.

It’s not that I don’t feel sympathy, but Geo was just an adult who had grown old because he had decided to break through this social atmosphere on his own.

Geo looked around, wishing for the world to become warmer. It was his intention to distract himself, but his mind felt at ease sooner than he thought.

“… … .”

“Why? Is there something in common since we’re from the same sun god family?”

“I was thinking that it was warm and pleasant.”

I don’t know why, but I felt welcomed.

“That statue in particular… .”

“… … .”

“… … ?”

I think I definitely made eye contact with the statue that looked like a goddess.

Geo blinked twice.

‘What is this? A ghost story.’

His judgment was quick.

‘Nothing happened.’

He decided to pretend he saw something.

“The statue is nice.”

“There seemed to have been a gap just now, but I’ll just let it slide, I don’t want to get involved in the gods’ affairs as a mere human.”

“Thank you.”

Although he didn’t understand Geo’s burden, Yoo Seong-un clenched his teeth and avoided the miracle that was right in front of him as a mere human. He was a member of the guild of collectors, after all.

Yoo Seong-un saw it clearly. The gaze that was openly poured out when Geo praised the atmosphere of the temple and the beauty of the statue. Yoo Seong-un had never felt such a direct gaze from a god.

‘Please, make this miracle happen when I’m not around.’

He didn’t want to get involved in the slightest.

“It seems like our dear Cha family is talking too, so why don’t you join in?”

“Okay.”

The two pretended not to notice the gaze of the god with their whole bodies, but the priest who served her could not do so.

There was a priest who stared at the two who were heading to the Cha family with wide eyes.

‘They’re screwed.’

Yoo Seong-woon thought that to himself.

The dark blond priest was clearly the high priest who presided over this event. If he was going to appear in this kind of place, he must have been one of the priests who served the bishop up close.

In other words, he was someone who could not help but know where the gaze of the sun god was directed.

“…….”

“…….”

A strange tension hung in the air.

“…….”

The blond priest nodded faintly, as if he had noticed something. Perhaps because of his strong impression, it was a particularly sacred gesture.

Yoo Seong-woon realized the meaning of the nod.

‘You’ve caught on.’

It seemed that he had noticed that Geo had divinity.

“Geo.”

“Yes, go ahead. I’m listening.”

“Should I go back now?”

“If that’s the problem that can be resolved.”

“Probably not…?”

Yoo Seong-woon wanted to leave work.