Was this man a delusional madman who believed himself divine?
Had she not experienced the possession earlier, Sharon would have dismissed him as such. But after glimpsing what felt like the future, that perspective of fate itself, she was now half-convinced.
Perhaps this man truly was a deity in the process of reclaiming his power, and the so-called Astronomy Club was merely a tool he created to facilitate his return to the divine throne.
The thought made Sharon scoff at her own vivid imagination.
A still-weak god...
If Truth Astronomy got wind of this, they would undoubtedly abandon their pursuit of demons and instead seek to defile this divine opportunity.
"I understand your meaning now. So... do you require a nun's service?"
Though doubts lingered, Sharon knew she held value in Luo Shu's eyes. And where there was value, her life was secure.
Having narrowly escaped both the SDS's monstrous Abyss Artefact and the government's task force, Sharon had no intention of dying so easily.
As for whether a nun could switch allegiance to another deity, Sharon had never considered it. The church she once served existed in an entirely different world. It wasn't as if her former god could cross dimensions to smite her for apostasy.
If that were possible, Sharon thought she might actually die happy—wouldn't that prove the existence of gods?
Meanwhile, faced with Sharon's offer to become his nun, Luo Shu gave a slight shake of his head:
"Not merely an ordinary nun."
Had Utaha Kasumigaoka been present, she'd have quipped, 'Not a nun, then a bedmate?' Luo Shu mentally rolled his eyes at the imagined jab, reaffirming his decision to establish a separate Astronomy Club.
Compared to Utaha and Eriri—raised in peace with support-oriented abilities suited for spreading faith—someone like Sharon, forged in the shadows of covert organisations, was better suited for darker, unsanctioned work.
It was like the distinction between the public-facing church and the clandestine Inquisition. Utaha and Eriri would be the former, while Sharon... Luo Shu mentally assigned her the role of the latter's enforcer. With that settled, he willed the system to manifest the contract.
'Not just an ordinary nun?' Just as Sharon was puzzled by what this meant, a roll of brown parchment suddenly appeared before her.
The parchment hovered in mid-air, enveloped by a soft yet dense wind. Though the patterns covering its surface weren't written words, Sharon somehow understood their meaning.
"Become... a Familia member?"
As Sharon read the information on the parchment before her, she was genuinely shocked.
Because this parchment had appeared before her out of nowhere, just like when Luo Shu had appeared earlier.
Was it spatial transference, or... creation from nothing?
Was this place she found herself in an alternate dimension, or perhaps the divine realm of a god?
With these doubts and apprehensions weighing on her, Sharon took a deep breath before looking at Luo Shu, who did not attempt to conceal his appearance, as if completely unconcerned about revealing secrets. Her tone became noticeably more submissive:
"Isn't it too generous to make someone like me, a mere nun, into a Familia member?"
That's right. When Sharon heard about becoming a Familia member, her first thought wasn't about honour or it being natural, but rather worry and nervousness.
In her former church, only someone as important as the Pope could claim to be a god's chosen. And even then, the Pope she remembered hadn't displayed any particularly extraordinary abilities.
Admittedly, the invitation from this self-proclaimed weakened deity before her might be a trap - the other party could be an Evil God seeking to trick her into blood sacrifices. But Sharon also understood that having already been possessed by this being, she was essentially an irresistible feast on a god's dining table.
Under these circumstances, the status of Familia member brought Sharon not joy, but heavy psychological pressure.
Yet on the other side, Luo Shu didn't hide his confusion at all as he glanced at Sharon:
"Other than Familia members, are there lower positions available?"
This question actually made Sharon pause in surprise before she explained the hierarchy of her former church:
"Besides the Pope as the chosen one, there should also be cardinals, archbishops, metropolitans, bishops, priests and deacons - seven ranks in total, collectively known as the Seven Holy Orders."
After hearing this, Luo Shu nodded slightly, then smiled and said:
"What belongs to the church stays with the church; what belongs to the gods stays with the gods."
The implication being that the church and deities were not equivalent.
And in fact, within the system, this was indeed the case.
Below the gods belonging to divine pantheons were the Familia - all its members were called Familia members, serving as the gods' servants, assistants, even extensions of divine power.
This was the general hierarchy.
Internally, the standing of individual Familia members was distinguished by the rank of their spiritual essence - essentially their life level.
Common, Excellent, Elite, Hero, Demigod, and the closest to godhood - the Subordinate Deity, or alternatively, Angel.
These six ranks of Familia members, plus the highest rank of deity, also made seven levels - coincidentally corresponding to both the so-called Seven Holy Orders and the seven days of divine creation.
To Luo Shu, being a Familia member was indeed a very ordinary status, because anyone who joined his Familia would become a Familia member - shepherds to spread his glory.
Though Luo Shu himself thought his divine status was somewhat lacking.
"What belongs to the church stays with the church; what belongs to the gods stays with the gods..."
Sharon chewed on these words, then thought of what she'd witnessed in the churches since arriving in this world. With self-deprecation, she remarked:
"You're right. After all, churches are organisations created by humans to shepherd humans. Naturally, the Familia directly controlled by deities wouldn't follow such structures."
As she spoke, Sharon exhaled sharply and glanced at the parchment symbolising divine favour before her, her previous reverence for the papacy now gone.
She touched the parchment and signed the contract to become a deity's Familia.
As the contract took effect, a ritual circle depicting a sun pattern rapidly formed beneath her feet.
Seeing this, Luo Shu secretly let out an imperceptible sigh of relief.
After toiling all night, he'd finally managed to coax Sharon into signing this Familia contract.
Once this contract was signed, even if Sharon wanted to back out or retaliate against him as her superior deity, the system's protection would make such attempts impossible.
'Miss Sharon, you might think highly of me, but sorry to say, I'm just a physically weaker deity than you - barely maintaining deterrence through special abilities, helpless and penniless.'
Mentally grumbling, Luo Shu focused his attention on the system screen.
He needed to properly examine what kind of evolution Sharon would undergo after becoming his Familia.