A guest who comes to our house is like a guest who comes to the Lord.
Whether they serve the Lord or not is not important. What matters is that, as a believer of the Lord, I have the duty to treat the guest well.
“Roka doesn’t like tea. Even if I add sugar, she doesn’t like it.”
I wondered what I could serve with the tea.
There wasn’t anything particularly suitable. I eat little, and Roka only likes meat.
Ah, she does like fish too. She eats grilled salmon well.
Our wolf, like any wolf, doesn’t eat grass or particularly like sweet things. She doesn’t hate it, but she doesn’t seek it out either.
There’s no proper food to serve the guest. Should I offer potato soup?
“Ah, Lord. You know I worship You, right?”
Something caught my eye as I pondered. It was the apple tree from a few weeks ago.
It seemed like the tree had borne enough apples to fill a basket again. I peeled the apples and cut them into bite-sized pieces. I gave a slice to Roka, who was watching me cut them, but she made a face as if wondering why she should eat such a thing.
“It’s cool and crunchy… but sour.”“Isn’t it sweet?”“I don’t know. What is sweetness?”“Hmm, poor Roka, who doesn’t know sweetness.”
Maybe I can ask the Lord to change this later. It seems the wolf tribe is naturally unable to taste sweetness well.
Since they mainly eat meat, perhaps it’s only natural.
“Apples?”“Tea is better with something sweet. It’s fine if you don’t eat it.”
The only sweet thing in our house is the apples the Lord has provided, so what can I do?
I can’t just leave the guest and rush to the market.
“Add sugar and milk to your taste. I don’t put sugar in my tea, but I don’t know about you, miss.”
Even in a house like this, we still have milk. Roka drinks milk.
I’m already grown, and no food particularly appeals to me anymore. If it weren’t for Roka, my meal would truly just be rye bread.
“It’s been a while since I last ate an apple.”
My guest, a woman who smelled of death, took a bite of the apple.
She chewed slowly, carefully savoring the juice. She closed her eyes for a moment, relishing the taste of the apple.
I also took a piece and chewed. Sweet, so sweet. It’s all the Lord’s grace.
“Was it always this sweet? It’s a pure fruit with no seasoning, but it’s truly delicious.”
She seemed to like it. She quietly ate a few more pieces of the apple.
The tea began to boil, so I poured it into a cup. I also placed sugar and milk beside it.
In case she was hungry, I brought out a bowl of bread and salt. As I did, I glanced at her face. She’s truly a beautiful person.
“Do I look that hideous?”
She noticed my gaze and mumbled. I smiled and shook my head.
I simply quietly picked up the teacup and took a sip.
“You don’t have to comfort me. It’s okay if you don’t say things you don’t mean.”
Sometimes, people just need someone to listen to them.
Now is such a time. I put down the teacup and quietly met her eyes.
Roka, who had quietly come to sit beside me, I gently laid on my lap and simply listened to her words.
Unfair things. Hard things. Painful things. Sad things.
Who hasn’t experienced such things at least once?
Even if I face such things, I can just tell the Lord behind me, but for those who don’t serve a god, ordinary people have only others to rely on.
“That alone is enough to be grateful for.”“Kyle.”“Yes?”“My name is Kyle. What is your name, sister?”“…Dein. I am called Leidain.”
Leidain? What a strange name.
Perhaps it’s a pseudonym.
Or maybe it’s her real name. Either way, it doesn’t matter.
This is the Lord’s house, the Lord’s embrace. It’s a place that welcomes anyone.
As long as they come here as a guest, not an enemy.
“…Do you not hate me? Is it not uncomfortable for you to have me eat and drink in your house?”“Sister, you hate yourself.”
I simply made the sign of the cross. I have a saying I often repeat.
To people, I may seem normal, and that saint may seem sick, but in the eyes of the Lord, we are all crippled and sick.
“But if my Lord does not hate you, how could I?”“Even if this leper asks to stay in your house for a night?”“Shall I prepare a bed for you?”
We are all the same. All crippled and sick.
If we don’t help each other, if we make each other suffer, it only becomes harder.
Even if that help is never repaid, I must still help those who are worse off than me.
That is how I repay even a little of the grace I have received from the Lord, and how I share His grace with the world.
“I have nothing to give you now. No matter how much kindness you show me, nothing will come back to you. Won’t you regret it?”“The Lord does not expect me to return anything, yet He still believes in me.”“Are you not returning your faith to your god?”“My god does not need faith.”
Even if we humans perish,
No, even if this world plunges into catastrophe,
He will simply exist eternally.
Our lives and deaths hold no meaning to Him.
“Even such a god helps people, so why shouldn’t people help each other?”
Even I, who am incomparable to Him, help people through Him.
There is no reason. It’s simply His will. Even God is like that.
As a mere human, do I need a reason to help another human?
“Perhaps I am being punished for the sins I have committed.”
After a long silence, Leidain spoke.
“Who can I blame? Blinded by ambition, I ignored those who cared for me and killed many who stood in my way. Now that I think about it, I enjoyed war. War was always a means to elevate me. Sometimes, I even forced wars that didn’t need to happen.”“That might indeed be a sin.”“Compared to those who died because of it, the humiliation I’m suffering now might be as light as this teacup. With my wings broken and fallen to the ground, only now do I see things clearly.”
Having never been so high,
I don’t really know.
Leidain must have been a fallen noble. There’s a natural air of authority in her words.
Like an ogre born as the Mountain King. Her very presence feels above others.
The feeling of falling from great heights.
I, who have always walked on the ground, do not know.
But even I know one thing.
“Sin cannot be washed away.”
This world is sad, yet interesting.
“But who among us lives without sin?”
Even plants kill other plants with their roots,
And spread their leaves to dry out sprouts.
It’s hard to judge this world in terms of good and evil.
My Lord sees this world as an infinite collection of possibilities, but within it, there is no good or evil. Thus, He is neither a god of good nor evil. He simply watches as we move toward the future.
“Even if the sins we cannot wash away grow heavier as we live, we can still walk with those chains because humans are animals that help each other.”
Humans hurt each other,
But even so, no one can live alone.
“Help is light. It passes from person to person, continuing to shine.”
Across eras, beyond history, that light continues to be born and passed on,
Lighting up individuals and entire eras.
The Lord is most pleased when He sees this.
Humans, helping each other, overcoming catastrophes they thought insurmountable with their own strength—that is what He most desires.
“Remember, saint. The Lord helped you today because He wants you to be someone who helps your neighbors.”
I don’t need to show off. This help is the Lord’s. I am merely His messenger, conveying His will.
I stood up, placed my hand on Leidain’s back, and gently stroked it. That was enough.
The illness that must have tormented her had actually been improving since she stepped into the sanctuary. I did nothing.
The Lord healed her.
“No way, no way this is…”
She realized it belatedly. She quickly removed her gloves.
The rotten flesh that should have filled them had, by the Lord’s grace, returned to its original state. Her white, smooth hands and slender fingers appeared instead of the decayed flesh.
“A mirror, a mirror… Ah, no, my cheek… my face…”
Watching her touch her cheek, I simply smiled.
I’ve been watching her, but she’s truly a beautiful person.
“Are you… an avatar of God sent to this world?”“Of course not.”
I am merely a priest serving the Lord.
Nothing more, nothing less, just the ordinary priest Kyle.
