9: Absurd Coin Toss

As the teacher and his assistants collected the answer sheets, Mir leaned back on his seat and smiled at the bearded, grandfatherly priest sitting beside the Teacher's desk, who returned the smile.

A few minutes later, the priest stood on the lecture podium while a projection flickered on the wall behind him, depicting pictures and charts about different designations available in a church.

There were three types of Churches in terms of size and scope, no matter which cosmic architect they worshipped; Local, National, and Imperial. The level of power and the respect these churches commanded naturally followed that order.

The National Church of Sunbreaker in Nation- 013 was situated in its capital, Enet District, which was probably the reason why the Principle had agreed to let them into the College.

In all three types of Churches, three common designations were available for entry: Deacon, Priest, and Bishop.

However, a deacon from a local church had a far lower status and power compared to a deacon from a National Church, and the same rule applied between National Churches and the Imperial Church, whose head was the Pope.

Some of the National Churches had unique posts, such as Archbishops, Cardinals, and Living Saints. But the Priest simply explained that these posts were special. Too much information couldn't be provided about them.

To the general public, the posts of Deacons, Priests, and Bishops were available as jobs, provided of course that they qualified for the posts and passed the tests set by the Church.

For the students in the class, the position of a Deacon was open, as its requirement was the lowest. One only had to attain a 75% Virus Saturation Rate to qualify as a full time Deacon. For trainees, the bar was much lower. Of course, a 75% Saturation Rate was still a cut above ordinary people since it meant that the subject had a high chance of wielding half a dozen mutant abilities using their Saturated Cells. Most people didn't make it past 70% and had to stop for the fear of losing control of their body and mind.

By the time the demonstration and lecture about how amazing an opportunity this was came to an end, Professor Zula and his 3 assistants had managed to finish grading the answer sheets.

The Professor handed the Priest a note and whispered in his ears, which made him break out with an appreciative smile.

"Good news for you, students!" He waved a hand energetically.

"Your results are impressive! Seven of you noticed the 'mistake' in question no. 50! This number is beyond my expectations! It's true what they say...the National Colleges are the hope of the Surface-dwellers!"

Mir was not the only one to gasp in surprise.

"Seven kids found the trick question?!"

"There was a trick question?!"

"There were 50 questions on the quiz? Why did I see only 25?"

"Did you turn the paper over?"

All kinds of whispers broke out in a frenzy, intensifying the already tense atmosphere.

"Settle down, please!" The professor shouted.

"The top scorers are among these seven students, of course. I suppose it is unnecessary to tell you that we gave more priority to question no. 50 than the rest of the questions. So those who haven't managed to become the top scorers, please do not be disheartened. Rather, learn from this minor mistake."

The Priest raised the note high in the air and read aloud.

"First Position goes to Mr. Reno, with a score of 72 out of 100!"

"Fuck!" Mir slapped his forehead from frustration, suppressing the urge to break something. He had been so confident-

"Sharing his score, the other occupier of the first position is Mr. Mir!"

Mir and Reno were called up in front of the Priest nervously, maintaining a certain distance between each other. Their past rivalry was well-known in the class. It caused some snickers to rise among the students.

"Hmm... I wonder which of you deserves the license to the Sacred Ground. What do you think, Zula?" he said with a sidelong glance.

Professor Zula handed him two answer sheets without commenting. The old man turned over the answer sheets to check the last answer.

"Hahahah, both of you listed the exact same companion beasts! No wonder!"

The priest's marveling tone made Mir and Reno exchange a gloomy look between themselves for the fraction of a second.

"Would you two like to fight it out? Or do you want to go through a coin toss?" The Priest asked, apparently having noticed the tension.

The students behind laughed in schadenfreude.

"Fight it out!" someone shouted from the back.

"No surrender! Knockout or death!" Another guy added.

"Underwears only!" a girl yelled, receiving several hoots in response.

The Professor coughed loudly and slammed a palm on his desk to silence the rowdy crowd.

"Alas, Principle Juno would never let us take a step inside the College premise if we did make them fight. A toss it is!"

Much to both of their relief, the Priest chose to go with the second option. Going by the usual style of the Church, he might have chosen the first option if it didn't come with negative consequences.

He took out a coin from within his navy-blue robe and showed it to the two competitors.

"Shattered sun on one side, the Lord's hand on the other side. Choose one."

"The Lord's hand," Reno immediately replied. Mir had opened his mouth to choose the same option, but he was a beat too slow.

This choice had a high possibility of being a second, more subtle test. A shattered sun signified the end of the sun's curse, while Sunbreaker's hand signified allegiance to his cause.

The Priest had practically made them choose whether their theoretical allegiance lay with the Church or if they'd choose the greater good over Sunbreaker's cause.

And sure enough, Reno's quick thinking got the Priest smiling.

"Do you have something to say?" he turned to look at Mir, giving him one final chance to fight back.

Mir thought for a second before shrugging nonchalantly and said,

"They're both the same choice. Both sides are equal. I don't need to make a choice."

Reno's face paled as he realized the trap Mir had laid with that sentence.

Could the Church afford to admit that its cause differed from the greater good?

Heh.

Even the Priest's smiling gaze froze for a second. Without a word, he tossed the coin up and let it fall free on the desk.

Clatter clatter clatter clatter...

The coin bounced a couple of times before spinning erratically for a few seconds.

45 pairs of eyes focused on the movement of the coin....and the result made them freeze.

The coin didn't fall to a side, standing vertically.

The problem was, the desk was not horizontal. It was made with a slight tilt for the teachers' convenience. Everyone could clearly see that, and they all understood that the result had never been left up to fate.

"It seems that we have two winners again. How troublesome! I suppose the Lord would reward both children with his grace. Mr. Reno and Mr. Mir shall receive a license each! Praise the Lord!"

This time nobody could muster up the courage to laugh. This reward was far too enviable! One of these licenses was worth 5000 units. Some of their families didn't even have a monthly income that high.

Mir took one last look at the standing coin, wondering what type of mutant ability the priest was using to keep it up.

Impartial and generous! This was the image the Church was trying to establish here. The rivalry between him and Reno had given the Priest the perfect opportunity to do that. Sunbreaker's Church wouldn't disappoint a worthy worshipper. This message was now carved in the minds of every student in this class.

For a brief second, Mir couldn't help but wonder if he and Reno had both really scored the same, or whether that tied score was just an excuse to show the Church's generosity.