The Academy’s Health Teacher Wants to Take a Break

Episode 28. Even if nothing remains under the grave…

Birth itself is a wonderful and blessed thing.

However, if the end that comes at the end is also feared, it would not be an exaggeration to say that birth itself is a curse.

That’s why people imagined it.

Even if this body rots and becomes brittle, only that spirit will escape the body and lead a life after death.

Such a wish became a sympathy, formed a bond, and repeated that it was handed down to posterity, and eventually a myth was completed.

Heide, God of the Underworld.

He has grown up receiving human imaginations, fears, and longings for death for thousands of years.

Surely, it could be said that he is the one who understands death the best in this world.

‘My child. There may soon come a time when I won’t be needed.’

But when the girl was chosen as a saint.

The girl who faced his halo in solitary confinement couldn’t bear to believe that he was the god of the underworld.

‘Even before you met me, many people split and fought, and at the end of it, I realized that faith alone is not the solution to everything. So, from now on, you will learn to stand up for yourself and rely on each other instead of relying on someone like me.’

An era in which God is not needed.

Isn’t that the same as foretelling the end of one’s own death and, moreover, the end of the church?

Is that really what you say to a shrine maiden who serves a god?

‘Even if not right away, someday the era of not relying on God will also come. And even if it leads to my extinction, I will gladly accept such a future if it comes.’

Nevertheless, he spoke calmly to himself.

He said that the people who had followed him had longed for an era in which things would happen on their own, not by their own hands.

And after a long time has passed, we are finally facing the arrival of such an era.

‘So, if you also serve me, hope that such an era will come, and prepare to adapt to it. If such an era does not come in your generation, be prepared to lay the foundation for future generations.’

But those who believe in God sometimes have to conform even to lies.

With her mission as a shaman, she went through preparations to adapt to the future to embrace the teachings.

Like the saints of the past, I learned the doctrines of the church, and furthermore, learned about the situation and politics of each country in order to take care of those who depended on the church, and learned about their values and ideas in detail.

Although it is only a concept, I have firmly believed that with just that, I can gain the generosity to tolerate everyone in the world without prejudice.

‘What is this?’

‘This is an anatomy book from a medical powerhouse. Would you like to read it?’

Yes, reading that book was just an extension of that process.

At that time, the believer merely passed on the knowledge of the place where he had stayed, but unfortunately, she was also gaining knowledge that even a believer did not know.

One of them is engineering.

Unlike magic, which utilizes all things themselves, it is an activity that gathers materials to manufacture something, and the representative of such a defined technology was a weaving tool that is common in factories.

When you didn’t know the principle, these devices were considered mysterious.

However, just by looking at the blueprints that make up the device, I felt that the mystery I felt at first was fading away.

Because I realized that this kind of ‘design’ exists in everything that was initially considered unknown.

Of course, mathematicians pay homage to such devices, saying they have mathematical beauty, but what she was thinking of was an anatomy book she had read a while ago.

Only the material is different…

There is nothing wrong with the fact that the human body is also made of parts with various functions.

‘The human body functions in a complex manner with each part. If so, isn’t that concept the same as a machine?’

At some point, those doubts led to the denial of everything she had believed in all along.

Even those in the Bible that are based on the idea that God loves humans.

Because it is an unknown territory, everything that was explained only by the greatness of God has become an object of investigation, and I felt that the reverence I had always felt in the logic established from it was fading…

‘The time will come when I will no longer be needed.’

But how can you call that a mistake?

Even the god he served had a foreboding of such a future, and moreover, he hoped that such a future would come.

‘Heide. I understand why you said that.’

Yes, the saintess finally understood the meaning of what he said.

It has always supported countless people and allowed many people to enjoy a comfortable rest.

And I felt sympathy for him who had spent thousands of years in solitude while grasping the truth before anyone else.

***

“…… Mr. Seine.”

With the sound of the horse’s hooves still echoing.

The saintess who embraced me slowly opened her mouth while leaning her head on her back.

“You said that the afterlife doesn’t exist, right?”

These words may have set the stage for her to make an extreme choice.

Just by hearing that, she felt her hand gripping the reins become more powerful.

“Is it because of me too?”

“… Nope.”

“Everything you believed in was denied because of what I said… ….”

“It’s not your fault!”

A saintess who utters infidelity that is terrifying to continue talking.

Her voice rose uncharacteristically for her, but as if she belatedly realized what she was doing, she leaned on my back and gently brushed her hair down.

“It’s not your fault, it’s just…….”

The trembling felt from it is clearly conveyed.

The tightness of the arm wrapped around her waist, too.

“It’s just that I’m weak. It’s just because of my selfishness that I want to know the truth of a world that even that person denies…….”

“Denial, is Heide talking about the afterlife?”

Obviously a statement that many people will find questionable.

Even the followers of Heide would not think that it would come out of the mouth of her saint.

“…Heide-sama has always tried his best to be an ideal god.”

But I could understand.

Because I, like her, was a cleric who could embody Halo alone, albeit poorly.

It is a state of understanding that their existence is not something supernatural, but an object of human veneration accumulated over countless years.

“You have considered it your job to appear to people who are afraid of the inevitably coming future and to find hope from them.”

Yes, their essence is nothing more than a statue made of divine power after all.

The ones who knew best that what should have been there didn’t exist were none other than the beings called gods in this world.

“But after a long war, people realized the limits of miracles. Faith alone can no longer solve everything… So now humans must learn to help humans.”

So it’s something that was scheduled someday.

The reason why ‘mortal beings’ called gods live in such fear.

“Even if not, everyone is working hard to make it happen. The time has come when hope can no longer be obtained only by relying on God. Only those who will live in the future have the opportunity to live in such a world.”

“Mr. Sepin.”

“Then, what about those who have already died?”

“… ….”

“…… Over thousands of years, many have found hope under the help of our church. To the extent that there is a saying that everyone on their deathbed is a follower of Heide, at least at the last moment, everyone must have consistently developed faith in Heide.”

Even in silence, words continue.

Unstoppable enough to be considered merciless.

“Our denomination was revived by such expectations, transcending everything on the continent and embracing everyone. It was the same in the war that took place before you and I were even born.”

Unprecedented casualties in history occurred from the war that lasted just two years ago.

That’s why they worked harder than anyone else.

If we can’t change this cruel era, at least to make it easier for those who are swept away by this inevitable disaster.

“But if…. If only there hadn’t been a church called Heide…”

Then the saintess realized.

The value of all those efforts will be split depending on whether or not the afterlife exists.

“Maybe they refused to go to the battlefield. The conflict involving the entire continent might not have been more brutal. Maybe he didn’t want to risk his own life thinking that even that was right. Everyone who believed that it was right to do that… It was because they firmly believed that there was someone who would embrace them at the end.”

If you die, that’s the end.

Nevertheless, wouldn’t anyone consider it foolish to risk one’s life for an abstract cause such as a cause or honor?

That’s why everyone affirmed Heide, and that’s why Heide was able to grow this much.

“But if nothing really exists after death…. Then, did we insult their deaths?”

If that premise is actually a lie.

Aren’t those who did not enjoy the moment they so much hoped for buried without a chance to know the truth or even the right to enjoy despair?

“Will the person I serve become a mere impostor who deceived everyone?”

I understand.

Because I am also someone’s believer, I had no choice but to understand.

Ironically, the reason why this fragile being did such a thing was because his faith in those he served was so strong.

It is more difficult to see the resignation of Shin, who is feeling skeptical about his own existence in a changing era…….

That’s why I wanted to know the truth, even if it meant knocking on the threshold of death.

“… Mr. Sepin.”

Isn’t this a pitiful situation indeed?

I was an attendant who accepted the doctrine transparently until just a few years ago.

I learned a lot in such a short amount of time, and I couldn’t even share the troubles that arose from it with anyone, and I just struggled alone.

Perhaps in an invisible place, I kept repeating such actions until all the blood in my body was drained.

All the more so as trauma can be cured as long as faith is maintained.

“I’m sorry, but may I ask your age?”

There was nothing I couldn’t understand.

I had a time like that too.

Everyone who has become an adult has gone through that period, or is going through it now.

“… I am 18.”

“Ha ha, good times. I haven’t even had my coming-of-age ceremony yet.”

Anyway, if you were an entourage when the war ended, you’d be quite young.

In the midst of that, it could happen that you lose your rational judgment due to the heavy responsibility.

“At that time, I also had similar thoughts to Mr. Sepin.”

“… Seine-san too?”

“The perspective was different, but similar. Isn’t it all over when you die anyway? In the end, it is destined to be buried in the soil and become dust, so why do we live so desperately? I was just passing the time by saying….

Yes, in my previous life, I had a hard time even taking care of myself, so I viewed everything in the world negatively.

A life full of pain from the cradle to the grave as adults say.

The terrible skepticism felt from him eventually led to a pessimistic view of values that even discouraged desire and the will to develop, and he immersed himself in the pleasure of wandering around in search of fragmentary stimulation to live because he could not die.

It’s okay to live like that. If you die anyway, it’s all over…….

“But, after spending time like that, I started thinking about this.”

I’ve become an adult after spending so much time, but in the end, that’s just a story of the past.

After that, after coming to this world and going through many things, I realized one fact.

“What, what do you think?”

“There is nothing left after living like that.”

“…… What’s left?”

“Well, even if I disappear, this world will still exist.”

I burst out laughing and looked back while holding the horse’s reins loosely.

“Even if nothing remains under the tomb… Since I was born in this world, can I leave at least a trace of my existence in this world?”

I saved it with my own hands.

To face the person who will be the mark I left on this world.