Teenage

After that night, you doubled the amount of daily exercise.

One day, you encountered a peddler in the forest. A demon beast chased him. You killed the beast and saved the peddler.

"Thank you so much. What can I do to repay you?"

"Eh... it's nothing. I don't help you because I want payments."

"This has nothing to do with that. If you don't get repayment, I'll always feel that I owe you."

You thought for a while and asked: "Do you have any sword?"

The peddler searched his cart for a while, then handed you a long sword: "This is Hero's Blade. Well, a replica of it, to be exact. But I assure you that this is a good sword."

You drew the sword out of its sheath and looked at the shiny blade.

The peddler smiled and said: "This is for the hero of the future. I'm sure you are its true master."

"Since you only have a fake sword, you can only become a fake hero."

Your best friend Heiter said that when he saw the sword.

"Then you can only become a fake priest too. You tasted wine since you were 12, while wine is not for people under 18."

"Hey, don't you know that wine is a cure for everything? It can even cure sadness, something no **** can do."

"You sounded like a drunkard."

The two of you laughed hard. Then Heiter asked you:

"You are absent from today's prayer."

"I had my training session."

"Today is the story about the Goddess.

A long time ago, the Goddess of Creation created the world. But the word was cold and inanimate. So the Goddess created life.

First, she created Elf, the immortal, wisest, fairest of all beings. Then she created Dwarf, great miners, craftsmen, and warriors. Finally, she created the race of Men who, above all else, desire wealth and power..."

You stopped him: "Do you believe the Goddess is real? I saw her statue, and she's clearly an elf with wings. I doubt that she would create humans, let alone Dwarf."

"You cannot prove that she wouldn't."

"Even if she's real, what is the difference? People said she didn't interfere with the world. She only stayed in Aureole, waiting for the souls of the deceased to honor their accomplishments in life. In other words, whether the Goddess is real or not, it has nothing to do with the world of the living."

Heiter fell into silence. After a while, he said:

"But I think she should exist since it is better that way. Nobody who tries desperately to live would want to end up as nothing."