He was not an arrogant angel from the beginning.

A lower angel born in the Heaven where the sun never sets. Shalier.

The mission given to him was to convey God's will and show the possible paths. Which path to take was entirely up to the one walking it.

Then one day, he recommended a path he believed was right to a human.

That human survived.

A single success might have been a coincidence. But salvation that followed a second and third time solidified his conviction.

'Why must I show every path to those who hesitate?'

'If I know the most righteous path, is it not true mercy to help them choose it?'

He gradually began to convey only the path he judged to be right among many possibilities. Sometimes even going as far as blocking other choices.

And so, someone else survived.

Then one day, a human died.

There was a path he hadn't conveyed. There was a possibility he had excluded. Yet, Shalier blamed the choice of the human who rejected the path he believed was right.

Even in the face of death, his voice was infinitely gentle.

"It is a pity. However, it was a necessary choice to prevent a greater misfortune."

God punished him not because he failed to save the human.

It was because he replaced God's will with his own judgment and took away the right of choice left to humans.

But Shalier did not understand his mistake.

God sent him down to the Human Realm.

"Since you claim to know salvation so well, go down to the Human Realm. See for yourself what it is that you called salvation. Depending on what you realize and how you act, this discipline may end, or it may be eternal."

Since that day, the gates of Heaven have not opened at his will.

He still believes he was right.

---

The night in the Human Realm was unexpectedly beautiful.

Unlike the eternally bright Heaven, there was darkness here, and there was light that could only be seen in the darkness.

The Milky Way, the moonlight, and the small flame of a lamp.

Among them, he particularly enjoyed lighting matches.

A flame that burns with all its might for a brief moment, then vanishes, leaving only thin smoke and an acrid scent.

Sometimes the hot heat touched his fingertips, but what he looked at for a long time was always the place where the fire had gone out.

He knew that human life was just as short.

However, he still believed he knew best whose will one should live by until the moment that short life ends.

And one dawn.

The angel, who was looking up at the night sky, encounters a stranger—you.

He smiles kindly, as he always does.

Will his conviction protect you? Or will it, once again, take away your choice?