Years have passed, and human civilization has begun to advance, forming their own economic systems and governments. Among all the nations, one stood above the rest as the largest and most powerful. That nation was known as Eltheria, which means 'Land of God.'
The country was led by a religious leader who held the title Grand Lector of the Holy Order, a person deemed sacred by the Holy Order for receiving direct revelations from The Eternal God.
That was what I was taught when I first entered school.
In the city of Celesterra, the capital of Eltheria, during the winter of the year 1888 in the twelfth month according to Eltherian reckoning, a baby boy crying from the cold was found in front of an orphanage. That child would later be named Yohan.
Yes, that baby was me. The head of the orphanage, whom I had come to regard as my mother, told me that she found me at the doorstep of the orphanage when she was about to go out to buy dinner for the other children. She said that I was about a month old when my parents might have abandoned me at the orphanage.
I grew up in that orphanage, spending my days with other children who shared similar fates. Life there was not always easy, but we were never truly in need. Every month, the Holy Order provided aid in the form of food and clothing because they believed that helping orphans was a noble act that would please the heart of God.
Since childhood, we were taught that we were fortunate to be born in Eltheria—a blessed land, a nation under the direct will of the Divine. At school, the teachers would repeat this again and again:
"Outside Eltheria, the world is filled with evil. The people there live without the guidance of God. They are ruled by sin, killing and oppressing one another. There is no just law, no peace. They do not know the light."
We all believed it. How could we not?
In Eltheria, although there were differences between the nobles and the common folk, although we sometimes saw the poor bow in submission to the powerful, we were told that it was still far better than life in other nations out there.
Once, at school, a friend of mine who was also from the orphanage asked the teacher, "Teacher, if God is just, why must there be people who suffer, living as commoners, while others live happily in palaces?"
At that, the entire class fell silent, full of curiosity. The teacher immediately responded:
"Everyone has their own role in this world," our teacher said that afternoon. "God created humans with different fates so that they could complement one another. If everyone were born to be nobles, then who would till the land? Or who would shepherd the sheep in the fields? God has determined each of our roles in the world, and we must be grateful for all of it. You should be thankful because in Eltheria, even though you are poor, you can still live under the sacred laws."
To me, that sounded reasonable enough. At the very least, it was more reasonable than imagining life out there, in countries ruled by darkness.
We often heard stories about the world beyond Eltheria, how people were left to suffer by their own leaders. We were taught that because they did not know The Eternal God, they lived in brutality. There was no mercy among them, no peace—only perpetual chaos.
In the past, their nations repeatedly tried to conquer Eltheria and drag our land into darkness, but time and again, we were saved by God through our leader, the Grand Lector of the Holy Order, who received divine revelations on how to win those wars.
Sometimes, a war veteran would come to our school and tell tales of how ruined the outside world was.
"I've seen it with my own eyes," a war veteran said one day during a visit to our school. His weary eyes seemed tired of witnessing past horrors. "They kill each other just for differing interests. No law restrains them. No morals bind them. While we live in the light, they drown in darkness."
We all sat silent, listening in awe.
"Remember this," he continued, "you are all children of the holy land. You bear the responsibility to preserve Eltheria's purity. Never let the influence of the outside world destroy what we've built here."
I remembered those words well. I believed them with all my heart.
To me, Eltheria was a peaceful land. Not perfect, indeed, but far better than the world beyond.
In the city of Celesterra, grand buildings stood tall, their walls made of white stone that gleamed under the sunlight. Every main street was adorned with statues of the former Grand Lectors—holy leaders who received revelations from The Eternal God and guided us on the right path, even though we never knew their true identities.
At the city center stood the Sanctum Aureum, the greatest holy site in the entire nation and the central hub of Eltheria's religious activities, with towering spires that seemed to touch the sky and statues of angels carved into every side of its walls. Every Sunday, its bells would toll, reminding us all to pray and give thanks to God for His protection.
Surrounding it, the marketplace was always bustling with merchants selling all kinds of goods—warm bread, spices, and luxurious fabrics from the nobles. However, despite the city's prosperity, not everyone lived in comfort.
I often saw commoners walking in worn-out clothes, bowing their heads when passing by the nobles. Sometimes, the poor were punished in the town square for stealing food. I pitied them because I knew they acted under the influence of the Devil, but I was also taught that the law must be upheld so they could return to God's guidance—for without law, the world would fall into chaos like the other nations beyond.
At least, that was what our teachers always told us at school.
I still remember that day clearly.
Inside our classroom, sunlight streamed through large windows, illuminating the wooden blackboard at the front of the room. Our teacher, an old man with a white beard named Preceptor Gabriel, stood before the class in his pristine white robe that signified his status as a teacher blessed by the Holy Order.
"Today," he said in a calm yet authoritative voice, "we will discuss the origin of evil in this world."
All the students fell silent, listening intently.
Preceptor Gabriel wrote a single large word on the blackboard:
"DEVIL"
"All forms of evil in this world," he continued, "stem from the influence of the devil. They whisper temptations into human hearts, luring them into sin."
He looked at each of us, as if to ensure we truly understood his words.
"Those who steal, murder, betray—they have all fallen into the snare of darkness. That is why we must always pray to The Eternal God, so that we are not swayed by the devil's temptations."
A student raised his hand. "But, Sir Preceptor Gabriel, don't humans have free will? How can all evil be caused by the devil? Don't people do those things by their own choice?"
Lector Gabriel gave a faint smile. "Humans do have free will, but their hearts are weak and often used by the devil to carry out his will. If humans are not faithful to God, then the devil can easily seize their souls and lead them away from Him. Humans may have choices, but the devil often influences the decisions we make."
He walked closer to us, his eyes sharp and penetrating.
"That is why we must obey God and the Holy Order. As long as we have faith, as long as we continue to pray and follow His teachings, we will be protected from the devil's influence."
I nodded in agreement. All the other students also seemed to accept this explanation without doubt.
Since childhood, we had been taught that darkness always lurks, waiting for a chance to corrupt the purity of human hearts. If someone committed evil, it wasn't because they were born evil, but because they had allowed the devil to enter and influence them.
At the end of the lesson, we were all asked to pray together, pleading for God's protection so that we would not be led astray by the devil's temptations.
I closed my eyes and prayed earnestly. I didn't want to fall into darkness like the people outside Eltheria.
To me, as long as we remained faithful to God, Eltheria would always be a land of peace, a land of blessings.
Yet, for some reason, something lingered in my mind.
If the devil exists to mislead humanity, then why didn't God destroy them from the beginning, instead of merely casting them out of heaven?
But I quickly dismissed the thought. I must not doubt God's teachings, for that would be tantamount to belittling The Eternal God.