209 – EP.9 Am I a Saint?-2
***
Maria, who was thinking about her conversation with the saint, sat down on the bed and looked outside through the small window in her room.
The sound of rain hitting the ground and the wind shaking the trees came through the cracks in the window.
After shaking her body for a moment from the chill, Maria decided to relieve the discomfort that still remained.
Her feet touched the floor.
I want to see the saint.
Maria’s thoughts were simple and solid.
Although she didn’t know what fueled her thoughts, Maria changed her clothes without hesitation.
After changing into her uniform, she left her room, coming up with her own excuse to consult about Antonio’s work.
When everyone was asleep, she walked down the empty hallway.
– Rumble!
There was a flash of light for a moment, and then suddenly thunder sounded.
Maria looked outside through the window in the hallway without any sign of surprise.
The fierce rain did not lose its momentum over time.
After walking for a few minutes, she soon arrived at the saint’s room.
She knocked as usual and looked for signs inside her.
Like last time, no answer came back.
The blonde nun took a deep breath and carefully opened her door.
With the sound of hinges moving, the door opened.
In a room with the lights off, an empty bed appeared to Maria, who had become accustomed to the darkness.
“Saint…”
Where did you go again? Maria looked out the window.
***
The sound of the rain must have been drowned out, but there was no response from inside even though I knocked on the door.
No, maybe she’s just pretending not to hear…
The moment someone in the family is shackled with blasphemy, that family is on the path to hell.
Antonio’s family in Albainin village was a family consisting of a father, a mother, and Antonio.
Yes. It was a family.
When the news became known that Antonio had been dismissed for blasphemy, stones were thrown at his house every day.
No one wanted to interact with the family that had incurred the saint’s wrath.
Even if I had money, I couldn’t buy things, and even if I had a strong body, I couldn’t work.
Like the land being submerged in a flood, Antonio’s family gradually had no place to stand in the village.
And being swept away by the flood was just a moment.
Her father, who needed living expenses, had no choice but to leave the village and find work, and she had to take on the work that everyone else was reluctant to do.
Porters accompanying the commercial route were also included in the work they were reluctant to do, due to the risk involved in the commercial route.
The robber’s knife did not care how sad or unfair the life of the person cutting it was.
Antonio’s father died with one swing of the sword.
Antonio cried bitterly after receiving the wild dog’s half-eaten body.
His mother wanted to shed tears right now, but she gritted her teeth for her son’s sake.
In that way, Antonio’s family had to leave Albaynin village.
This is because continuing to stay in the village was the same as saying that you would die.
The place his mother chose was Solchio.
Because they had to wait for the saint who came down to the village to take pity on them and show them mercy.
– Thump thump
Knock on the door a little harder. Then I hear something from inside the door.
The creak of the floor got closer and closer, and the saint sensed that the door would soon open.
“Who are you? In this weather.”
A woman’s voice was heard through the slightly open door.
The saint who made you like this has come.
The saint swallowed the words that were threatening to burst out of his throat.
“Who are you?”
The saint woke up from the sea of thoughts at the sound of a trembling voice.
“…I came from the church.”
It was something I had chosen for a long time.
As soon as he finished speaking, a gasping sound was heard from inside, and the door opened wide.
The saint had to throw his body back.
“Ah… You have come. To forgive our sins… And give us mercy from the church…”
The scruffy woman muttered her gibberish as she let her saint inside her.
There was no sign of suspicion or caution.
Did she believe him? Or did he see a religious symbol embroidered on her chest?
If not, maybe they were just waiting for someone to save them…
The saint entered a house smaller than his own room.
A house with heavily rotted wooden floors and mold growing on the wallpaper.
As he entered the house, a culmination of all the shabby things in the world, a musty smell hit his nose.
The saint frowned his eyes without realizing it, and then he was startled.
“Okay, please sit this way first.”
The woman hurriedly guided him to a chair and immediately brought him warm water.
Steam rose from the cup.
“Tea… There are no tea leaves…”
She seemed truly sorry that she could only be treated like this.
The saint picked up the cup and drank the water.
His body, which had cooled down when he came here, became revitalized.
“I was cold at the time, so thank you.”
“Who… Of the church, of the denomination…?”
“Is Antonio sleeping now?”
The saint cut off the woman’s words.
“Oh, I’m not sleeping….”
The woman made a troubled face at the saint’s question. Her eyes turned to the only room in the house.
“If you don’t mind… Can I meet you?”
“Yes… Yes… Of course.”
There was a moment of hesitation, but his mother allowed the meeting.
The saint bowed his head to express his gratitude, and the mother was helpless at the undeserved return.
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I passed the creaky floor and opened the door to see a child breathing hard in a shabby bed.
“I was sick in bed with a fever….”
The mother asked for his understanding. In that state, normal conversation would have been difficult.
The saint felt her chest tightening.
“……”
What should I say? No, you’d better keep your mouth shut.
The saint thought.
At that time, the child moved.
“…Last name, now…?”
The voice was almost drowned out by the sound of rain.
Realizing that her child’s narrow eyes were looking at her, the saint’s hands began to tremble.
He slowly raised his hand and pulled off the black cloth covering his face.
“…Sung, you…Is….”
A smile appeared on the tired child’s face.
“Saint? …You are coming! Please forgive me for not recognizing you.”
The woman fell to the floor.
“Saint, please have pity on us. I am sorry! Please forgive the sins my child has committed.”
The child’s mother clung to her feet, touching the rotten floor with her hands.
“Saint, please have pity on us.”
She kissed his feet, and the woman prayed and prayed.
– Rumble boom
Thunder struck.
The saint felt dizzy. He slowly approached her child, ignoring the woman clinging to her own feet.
“No, Tonio. …I came to keep my promise.”
I was so choked that my voice could not come out properly.
“Eh, from Emile….”
Antonio smiled despite the saint’s squeezing voice.
A fragment of promise came out from the lips of a 12-year-old boy.
“‘Those who follow the path of light must guard themselves.’ …That’s what you asked me.”
The saint’s hand was placed on Antonio’s forehead, which was like a ball of fire.
“…Yes.”
Feeling the saint’s touch, Antonio closed his eyes with difficulty and answered.
“That is….”
The saint recalled the Bible study he had had with Mary.
[Those who follow the path of light must guard themselves. …I think this means that you should always conduct yourself correctly and check yourself to see if you are straying from the path of light.]
Maria said.
The saint put the exact words Mary had conveyed on the tip of her tongue.
But soon she put it away.
The saint silently stroked the child’s forehead.
Hot heat that threatened to melt warmed the saint’s hands.
“It means… To beware of becoming a fool who is bound by doctrine and words and blindly obeys unrighteousness.”
A single tear flowed down the saint’s cheek.
Antonio’s brow furrowed slightly.
“I think it’s such a difficult thing to say, saint.”
Hearing that grumpy voice, the saint smiled sadly.
“You don’t have to understand right away. However, when you realize it later, will you tell me? Promise me.”
“Yes. I promise.”
A child’s smiling face. The saint’s tears continued to flow.
Antonio soon fell into a deep sleep.
I felt like I had used up all the energy I had gathered after welcoming the saint.
The saint, who was looking down with concern at the child who was making noisy breathing noises, turned to the child’s mother.
“I’m sorry for putting you through such hardship.”
It wasn’t his fault that it happened. However, it happened in the name of a saint.
He felt like he needed to apologize.
“No. We are not good enough….”
In response to the saint’s apology, the woman bent her back again.
The saint looked at her woman. What on earth is it that makes her so servile?
The person who ruined my family was right in front of me.
If it were him, he would have taken revenge with all his might.
But she is a woman who is praying. She begs forgiveness for her sins.
“What is faith?”
He muttered in an inaudible voice.
He rummaged through her pockets. It was a bag of money he hastily grabbed as he came out of the room.
It wasn’t a large amount, but it would still be enough to call a doctor.
The woman slowly looked up at the saint as the money bag was handed over to her.
“With this money, call a doctor, give the child medicine and food. And…”
“I will forgive your sins.”
At the saint’s words, the woman wept loudly and fell down on the floor.
***
Maria did not go back to her room.
She sat on her chair and gazed aimlessly at her window.
If the tree swayed in the wind, she would shake her buttocks, wondering if a saint might have come.
A few hours to do that.
The tree branch swayed greatly.
Maria suddenly got up from her seat.
Soon, the window opened and a black figure entered the room.
Dropping water onto the floor, the man in black looked around the room.
And she looks at the woman facing her.
“Maria.”
In her infinitely subdued voice, she called her own name.
“I came to the saint’s room to discuss something about Antonio… But he wasn’t there.”
She made an excuse with words she had thought of in advance, and the saint began to take off her clothes without saying anything.
The clothes soaked with rain and tears fell to the floor, revealing the saint’s pure white naked body.
Maria blushed at her sudden nakedness.
He wiped himself with a dry cloth hanging on the chair.
“I came to see Antonio.”
“Yes, you said so.”
Mary, unable to take her eyes off the saint’s back, answered.
“I have forgiven you for your sin of blasphemy.”
It was a simple report.
“As expected, the merciful saint. Even on a day like this, you dare to take steps to forgive Antonio’s sins. With the saint’s mercy, peace will reign in Antonio’s family.”
Maria folded her hands and smiled broadly.
“Mercy?”
The saint’s words were thorny.
“Mercy?”
Different way of speaking than usual. Maria blinked at the change.
“Am I a saint? Sister Maria, tell me.”
“That’s right… The saint is the saint…”
“Where on earth are you looking!!! Why do you think I am a saint!!!”
The man shouted as if screaming.
Kang In-ho.