"Phew, we finally got out of there. I'm really not used to staying in places where candles have to be lit even during the day," Erwin said as he heaved a sigh of relief, then turned to Onean as he asked, "What do you think?"

"As I'm sure you already know, religious authority often stands against the authority of a ruler, so from a young age, I've been taught to constantly be wary of religious uprisings," Onean said. "However, if you ask me whether religion is something that is necessary or not, I think the answer is yes."

"Why is that? Is it just because all the religions advocate for the existence of a so-called hell? But even so, there are still people committing sins and evil deeds every day, and I've never heard of any deity descending into the world, or performing any divine miracles to punish those who have sinned, so how are they supposed to redeem the people of the world?" Erwin asked.

"Encouraging people to do good deeds is always a good thing," Onean replied in a calm manner. "However, you're also correct in saying that the concepts of heaven and hell are often used by churches to manipulate their followers. As for heinous individuals who have no faith, religion has no effect on them. For those people, the law is a far more reliable way of enforcing justice and order. After all, morals and ethics are not things that can be consistently counted on."

"That's true. In that case, it seems like religions really are necessary," Erwin said after a moment of contemplation. "However, human nature is something that should not be tested, so to put it plainly, morals and ethics that are built on the basis of human nature are nothing more than an act."

"I once read a quote that goes along the lines of: 'the morality of an action isn't derived from its outcome. Instead, it should solely be derived from the intention behind the act'," Onean said.

"That's a very good way to put it," Erwin said with a smile. "Human nature is something that's extremely nuanced and complicated, so I guess it's not a bad thing that religions at least try to impose restrictions on human nature. Hold on, why are we discussing these deep philosophical topics? We're just a pair of impoverished individuals who have to worry about where our next meal is coming from."

A wry smile appeared on Erwin's face as he spoke. "Hey, if the two of us really do starve to death, wouldn't that prove that the so-called universal lord who tries to save all of the people in this world doesn't exist?"

"Isn't that why the universal lord sent Mr. Lia to save us? Don't forget that we're currently living off the loonies that he gave us," Onean said as she turned to Erwin with an amused smile.

An enlightened look appeared on Erwin's face as he said, "Right, I forgot about that. In that case, we should stop badmouthing these deities. At the very least, this universal lord has been quite good to us."

He smiled and tapped the black cover of the copy of "Sermon of the Universal Lord in his hand as he spoke."

"Be a bit more conservative with how you spend those 200 Loonies," Onean said. "It would be rather awkward if you have to go to Mr. Lia and ask him for money to buy paint before you even finish the mural."

"Even if I can set aside my pride to ask him for more money, he may not give it to me. Didn't you hear what he said earlier? I'll only receive the extra 500 Loonies if he's happy with my work," Erwin said.

"Have you thought about what you're going to draw?" Onean asked.

Erwin shook his head in response. "Let's find a place to sit down first. I have to thoroughly read this book so I know what I'm dealing with here."

...

Shortly thereafter, Erwin entered an elegant restaurant with an arm encircled around Onean's waist, quietly enjoying the occasional envious glance that was cast his way by the men on the streets.

"I feel like I always attract a lot of attention when I'm walking with you," Erwin sighed as soon as he took a seat.

"Why is that?" Onean asked with a perplexed expression as she took a glance at herself.

"You're so beautiful that everyone can't help but look at you," Erwin explained.

Onean faltered slightly upon hearing this, following which a bright smile appeared on her face, and it was clear that she was very pleased with the compliment.

After the polite waitress arrived, Erwin ordered some cheap dishes off the menu, something that he would've never done in the past. Just as Onean had said, they really did have to budget wisely if they wanted to make their money last.

"You know, I've been thinking. Many of the primal desires among humans, such as the urge to exact violence on others, cannot be suppressed. If you're constantly thinking about suppressing those urges and desires, then you'll only achieve the opposite effect. Let me give you an example: whenever a problem arises between two people, the first reaction that springs into our mind is to use violence to resolve the problem. Everyone thinks like that, and it's simply unavoidable. Only after that do we return to rationality and decide that violence is not the answer," Erwin said. "Hence, I don't understand why most of the sermons of these religions encourage the masses to suppress their primal urges."

"If everyone thinks like you do, then I'm even more convinced that religions are a necessary evil," Onean said with a smile.

"I had a brief read through the feats of the universal lord, and I can't help but feel like all they do is preach to the masses. In essence, the only thing they do is tell us what things we should do and what actions are sinful. How is this different from the religions that we've come into contact with in the past, which are always enforcing arbitrary rules and preaching about sin?" Erwin said in a disdainful voice. "I recall that for the True Light Church, greed and lust were two of the religion's cardinal sins. This is what I'm confused about: why is it that the gods of these religions never allow people to directly look at the innermost desires in their hearts? Or is the problem that human nature itself is too evil to be acknowledged, even from the moment that we're born, so we can only be redeemed if we renounce the essence of our own beings?"

"You sound like you're about to launch into a long rant again," Onean chuckled. "Didn't you just say that you weren't going to badmouth religions anymore?"

"I can't help it. How can I read through this book without expressing my own opinion on what I'm reading?" Erwin began to flip through the pages of the book again as he spoke. "Let's say that we're husband and wife. Does that mean that it's sinful and a crime for me to feel lust toward other women? There's a part in this book here that describes how the universal lord once transformed into a beautiful woman to seduce a nobleman who has a whole harem of mistresses. Then as they were doing the deed, the universal lord transformed into an elderly woman in her eighties, giving the nobleman a massive fright. Ever since then, the nobleman became traumatized, and whenever he wanted to be intimate with his lovers, the face of that old woman would always surface in his mind. Over time, his lust faded away significantly, and he gradually cut all ties with his mistresses. It's pretty impressive that this universal lord is able to take on any physical form they want, but I'm willing to bet that they've never truly possessed the physical body of a man before. Otherwise, they would be able to empathize with that nobleman. If you ask me, this book is essentially teaching everyone that the physical body is the source of all sins, so the universal lord has no physical body to begin with."

"What are you trying to say with your long-winded rambling?" Onean asked, and even though there was a smile on her face, a dangerous gleam had surfaced in her golden eyes. "Are you trying to say that even if you occasionally think about that red-haired witch, it would be wrong of me to denounce you for it, is that right? It's only because your physical body is inherently evil, so you can't control yourself, right? This is exactly the type of person you are. You put on this righteous facade and preach all this profound nonsense, but it's all to brainwash others for your own benefit. If you ask me, you're way more talented than those missionaries and pastors. In fact, I think it would be a waste of your talents to even make you an archbishop. You should just start your own religion and brand yourself as the pope, how does that sound?"

"Am I really as shameless and sinister as you say?" Erwin burst into laughter as he raised his palms to massage his own temples. In reality, he was trying to disguise the resigned look in his eyes. He really did have a love-hate relationship with intelligent women, especially one as breathtakingly gorgeous as this one.

Right as Erwin burst into laughter upon hearing what Onean had to say, a young man seated at the table behind them also burst into involuntary laughter. It was clear that he had also heard how Onean had just denounced Erwin for his pretentiousness.

The man turned around to look at Erwin and Onean, and he was met by two pairs of hostile eyes. He immediately rose to his feet with an apologetic expression upon seeing this. "My apologies, I wasn't trying to eavesdrop on your conversation. It's just that you were talking quite loud, and I'm seated very close to you so..."

It was already past noon at the moment, so the restaurant didn't have many customers and was very quiet. Erwin and Onean hadn't actually been conversing very loudly with one another, but considering how close the man was seated to them, it was no surprise that he had overheard their conversation.

From the beginning, Erwin was already aware that there was a man sitting behind him. However, at the time, he noticed that the man was already completely drunk. His cheeks were bright red, and he was sleeping on his seat with his coat draped over himself, so Erwin paid no heed to him and chose their current table.

Erwin had a strong preference for window-side tables that had a view of the street outside, and he also insisted on sitting at the central table of the row, so his choices were very limited. However, neither Erwin nor Onean had anticipated that the sleeping drunkard would be woken up by their conversation.

"Again, I sincerely apologize," the young man said, and even after rising to his feet, he was still swaying slightly in an unsteady manner, clearly still feeling the effects of the alcohol. However, he was indeed being very sincere with his apology, as evidenced by his words and his attitude.

Even though the young man was still inebriated, he was able to think very quickly on his feet. At a single glance, he immediately noticed from Erwin and Onean's appearance and demeanor that they were definitely no ordinary people, and that played a role in the sincerity of his apologetic attitude.

Furthermore, thinking back to the conversation that he had just overhead, it was clear that these two were filled with detest toward deities and religions, and that only further sparked his interest. At the moment, the streets were rife with nobles who had been completely brainwashed by all of the major religions. Regardless of their nobility rank, their age, their gender, or whether they worshiped the Holy World Church, the New Light Church, or the Universal Church, all of those nobles harbored a sense of awe and veneration toward those so-called deities. However, that clearly didn't apply to this pair of young people. In particular, Erwin was particularly scathing in his assessment of religion, and it seemed that he didn't fear or respect these churches at all.

The young man's earnest attitude quickly defused the situation, and Erwin and Onean responded with polite smiles. Most importantly, the young man really wasn't at fault here.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Chahan Batum. I found your conversation just now very intriguing, so I was listening this entire time without saying anything. Please pardon my rudeness. Also, if you don't mind me asking, which pastor or missionary of the Universal Church has gotten you two so worked up?" the young man asked with a smile as he glanced at the copy of "Sermon of the Universal Lord" in Erwin's hands. "It sounds like you harbor a lot of resentment toward them."

"We were only joking around just now," Erwin replied with a smile. "Please don't take what we said seriously, we were only looking for a topic of conversation while we waited for our food to arrive."

Chahan nodded in response with a knowing smile as he made a lip-sealing gesture.

Meanwhile, Erwin was taking a closer look at the young man. While speaking with Onean, he had mentioned other churches in addition to the Universal Church, yet the young man had decided to exclusively use the Universal Church as an incision point to open up the conversation. Thus, it was clear that he was quite an intelligent man, and with that in mind, Erwin invited him to take a seat with them.