The Heretic of Cleric Academy-Chapter 101

"Ah, oh, wa..."

Forcibly swallowing the flowing moans, I moved my steps toward the lodging. A dizzying pain was spreading from my lower back where the chopstick had been embedded.

It was truly pain as if a ball of fire was sweeping along my spine, but I didn’t show it in front of Ha Pan-seok. It was to maintain my dignity as cult leader.

[You shouldn’t have lied.]

Ogoun’s cold voice rang out as if mocking me.

"You could have stuck it in more gently. It hurts like hell..."

[Don’t complain. Originally I was thinking of sticking it in your heart. It was mercy that I stuck it in your back.]

"Really inflexible."

[There’s no need to show flexibility to those who aren’t honest.]

Ogoun’s tone was very cynical. As could be guessed from our conversation so far, Ogoun and I didn’t have a very good relationship.

Ogoun likes honest people and dislikes those who habitually lie. And I often, no, frequently tell lies. We couldn’t help but not get along.

Therefore, except for special cases, I couldn’t use Ogoun’s powers.

[Let me give you one last piece of advice.]

"What advice again... Can’t you just leave?"

[Don’t become too immersed in a false life. The falsehood might devour the truth.]

A false life. That meant my life as a Florence student, attending school using a false identity.

[I’ll be watching.]

Ogoun left his final words like a warning and disappeared.

[Ogoun is originally famous for being inflexible and rigid. The rumors are widespread.]

Legba filled the empty space. I was grateful for Legba’s kind heart in badmouthing Ogoun to comfort me, and a chuckle escaped.

"Even so, I think he’s going a bit too far."

[He’s been obsessed with honesty ever since his relationship with Baron Samedi went sour. Poor fellow. Try to understand.]

I silently nodded and quietly moved my steps toward the lodging.

Ogoun became obsessed with honesty after being betrayed by Baron Samedi, they say. Baron Samedi had committed fraud...

I don’t know the details. I only vaguely remember part of a story Mother told me when I was young.

Anyway, Ogoun doesn’t have a very good relationship with Baron Samedi either. There are few Loa who get along well with Baron Samedi in the first place.

[...Personally, I think it would be good to take Ogoun’s advice to heart.]

When we arrived at the lodging, Legba spoke in a quiet voice.

I nodded roughly and lay down on the bed to sleep. It was already 2 AM. Perhaps because I had used too much Loa power during the day, I fell asleep as soon as I closed my eyes.

* * *

The morning at the mountain lodge began with the sound of birds chirping. The eerie scenery of the mountain shrouded in darkness visible through the window had already disappeared, and leaves sparkling in the warm sunlight were swaying as if announcing the morning.

Kang Ji-ah, who woke up first among the three, immediately made two cups of coffee after getting up. One for her teacher, and one for herself to drink.

Turrrrr!

"Ah, hot..."

Just as she was about to pour hot water into the cup, a loud doorbell sound rang out. Kang Ji-ah, startled, ended up burning her hand with the water.

Roughly washing her reddened skin with cold water, she quickly moved to the front door. And through the small hole in the center of the door, she checked who had pressed the doorbell.

"..."

For a moment her face frowned, then soon regained its original expressionless state. She casually returned to the kitchen as if she hadn’t seen anything. And continued making coffee.

Turrrrr! Turrrrr!

Bang bang!

She tried to ignore it, but after the doorbell sounds, now there was even banging on the door. Having no choice, Kang Ji-ah moved to the front door again. And pushed the door open forcefully.

Thump!

"Ah, ow..."

Beyond was Ha Su-yeong.

She was rubbing her forehead that had bumped into the suddenly opened door. The daughter of Ha Pan-seok, an executive of the Chungcheong branch who was the main axis of the rebel forces. An arrogant child who coveted the cult leader position without knowing her place.

Kang Ji-ah smiled slightly and stared intently at Ha Su-yeong.

"What brings you here?"

Clear hostility was evident in her tone. Ha Su-yeong glared at Kang Ji-ah with sharply raised eyes and opened her mouth.

"Where is Do Seon, the Cult Leader?"

"He’s sleeping, please come back later."

"Hey, wait!"

When Kang Ji-ah showed a firm attitude and tried to close the door, Ha Su-yeong shouted and stuck her foot in the door gap. She tried to force it closed but it wouldn’t close. In terms of strength at least, Ha Su-yeong had the upper hand over Kang Ji-ah.

"Ah, I said I want to talk with the Cult Leader. And you, closing the door like that in front of someone isn’t polite."

"Coming suddenly without contact from early morning and causing a disturbance, which country’s etiquette is that?"

"What? ...Really, now even some lackey is..."

Ha Su-yeong, who had been raising her voice with a reddened face, suddenly stopped speaking. Her gaze was looking at someone beyond Kang Ji-ah’s shoulder.

Following Ha Su-yeong’s gaze, Kang Ji-ah turned her head to see the cult leader walking over with a just-awakened appearance.

"It’s really noisy from early morning. What were you doing?"

"A peddler came so I was driving her away."

"Peddler?"

Do Seon-woo looked puzzled at what was beyond the door. Ha Su-yeong was glaring at Kang Ji-ah with an expression full of anger.

"Ha Su-yeong? Why did you come here?"

"Ah, I have things to ask and things to say, anyway I came but that bitch..."

Ha Su-yeong pointed at Kang Ji-ah and raised her voice. Do Seon-woo’s face crumpled slightly.

"That bitch?"

"...That woman! She kept trying to close the door..."

"That woman."

"That, that person. She kept trying to close the door."

Ha Su-yeong spoke with deflated shoulders as if her spirit had been crushed. Do Seon-woo alternately looked at the two people confronting each other with the front door between them, then looked at Ha Su-yeong with sleepy eyes and opened his mouth.

"So why did you come?"

"...I wasn’t sleeping last night. I came because of that."

Ha Su-yeong said something rather meaningful. A troubled expression appeared on Do Seon-woo’s face. He shifted his gaze to Kang Ji-ah.

"...Um, noona." He continued while clearing his hoarse throat.

"I’ll go out for a bit and come back, so please tell Uncle."

"Yes, understood. Please go comfortably."

"Thank you. I’ll be back quickly."

Kang Ji-ah tried not to show her complicated feelings on her face and bowed her head. Do Seon-woo left the lodging, took Ha Su-yeong, and disappeared somewhere. Kang Ji-ah closed the door and continued making coffee. The boiling water had already cooled down.

Meanwhile, Lee Jin-seong, who had woken up, roughly arranged his disheveled hair and approached Kang Ji-ah.

"The bed here is nice. I slept really well. ...What, who is this coffee for?"

"I made yours along with mine while I was at it."

Lee Jin-seong received the cup with a reluctant face.

"When I should be paying you instead, why are you doing volunteer work I didn’t even ask for? I’m grateful though... By the way, where’s Seon-woo? Still sleeping?"

"He said he had something to discuss with Ha Su-yeong and went out for a bit."

"What’s there to discuss so much from early morning? Did they fall for each other in the mountain last night, anyway..."

Lee Jin-seong sipped his coffee. Kang Ji-ah wasn’t even drinking the coffee she had made, just looking at Lee Jin-seong with anxious eyes.

"Does the Cult Leader not like coffee?"

At Kang Ji-ah’s sudden question, Lee Jin-seong tilted his head.

"Probably? At least he doesn’t drink several cups a day like me. He’s young. When you’re young your brain works quickly even without caffeine."

"I see..."

Kang Ji-ah nodded and picked up her cup. The coffee she sipped was lukewarm and bitter.

* * *

Between the mountain lodge and the chapel, there was an outdoor dining area with wooden tables and chairs arranged in a circle around a huge grill. It was an outdoor restaurant that Yoon Chang-su had built for barbecue parties and such.

I took Ha Su-yeong there. And sat in any chair. Ha Su-yeong sat across from me.

"You said you weren’t sleeping last night?"

"I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop. It just happened..."

Ha Su-yeong spoke hesitantly. When I went to visit Ha Pan-seok last night to persuade him, it seems Ha Su-yeong wasn’t sleeping. From her expression, it looked like she had overheard some of the conversation between Ha Pan-seok and me.

But it didn’t really matter. Although we had discussed things that wouldn’t be good for Ha Su-yeong to hear, they weren’t things that would be bad for her to hear either.

"How much did you hear from where to where?"

"...That you attend Florence. And that you said you’d bring out our older brother."

I nodded. This was actually more like hearing only the parts I was grateful she heard, rather than just parts that weren’t bad for her to hear.

Ha Su-yeong looked at me intently with round eyes. Various emotions were floating in her gaze. There was surprise, and a hint of sadness could also be glimpsed.

"Is it real?"

She asked.

"What?"

"That, what. ...Even if it costs your life? You said you’d find him? That."

"Of course it’s real. You know you can’t lie in front of Ogoun, right?"

"I know, but I know..."

Ha Su-yeong lowered her head. Even knowing, the reason she asked was probably because she wanted to confirm with my own mouth that it was true.

I could vaguely guess what her feelings were right now. In that we both had blood relatives imprisoned in the Vatican’s underground prison, she and I were in the same situation.

"Don’t worry. They’ll be alive."

Mother, who was dragged to the underground prison right after Father was burned at the stake. Ha Su-yeong’s older brother, who was dragged to the underground prison for the crime of killing the leader of Leviathan who had ruthlessly burned Voodoo practitioners during the ’Starless Night’. They would all be alive. They absolutely had to be.

"...Even if it’s just empty words, thank you, Cult Leader."

Ha Su-yeong smiled and acted cheeky. Her voice was trembling, so I thought she was crying, but looking at her eyes, there wasn’t even moisture, let alone tears. I chuckled and got up from my seat.

"We’re done talking, right? Shall we go?"

"No, no no, wait. I have one more thing to ask."

Ha Su-yeong urgently grabbed me as I was about to leave.

She emitted Voodoo magic power from her fingertips and drew three spell circles, then fused them. Compared to yesterday when even fusing two spell circles was difficult, her skills had improved incomparably.

In just one night, Ha Su-yeong had grown this much.

"When I was practicing yesterday, I could fuse up to three... How do you calculate the principle for this?"

Without time to be surprised, Ha Su-yeong threw out a question. It was a bit troublesome.

I could somehow explain the principle of fusion spell circles made by combining two spell circles. However, from three or more, it became a bit difficult to explain. This is because complex phenomena that are hard to explain in words occur as the characteristics of each sorcery intertwine with each other.

"Hmm..."

Just as I was wondering how to explain it, a good idea occurred to me. Come to think of it, I didn’t necessarily have to explain it myself.

"When is the next executive meeting?"

"Isn’t it July?"

"You’re coming then too?"

"Probably? No, not probably, I’ll definitely come."

Ha Su-yeong nodded slowly.

"Well then... find out about the principle of sorcery activation when three or more spell circles are fused. It’s homework until you come back here in July."

"Huh? Homework? No, what homework. Just tell me. Please tell me."

Ha Su-yeong looked startled with wide eyes and whined. I shook my head.

"Sorcery depends on mindset. You have to learn by figuring it out yourself for your skills to improve quickly."

[You sound like Wonhyo.]

Legba interjected and said with a hollow laugh. My head tilted in puzzlement.

Who is Wonhyo?

[Ah, that’s right. Come to think of it, you wouldn’t know. Burning books and burying scholars... No, I’ll explain later. Continue.]

Legba repeated incomprehensible words. Wonhyo, burning books and burying scholars - these were words I had never learned or heard before. Since he said he’d explain later, I decided to let it pass for now.

Meanwhile, Ha Su-yeong was tilting her head and deeply lost in thought. Eventually she raised her head and opened her mouth.

"Until July?"

"Right. Until July."

"...Okay, then when I come back in July..."

"Oh, wait a moment."

I briefly cut off Ha Su-yeong’s words. There was vibration from my pocket. A call was coming in. Due to my contacts being reset when I changed phones, I couldn’t tell who the call was from. I thought it might be Uncle or Kang Ji-ah calling to tell me to come back quickly.

"Hello?" I answered the phone. Brief silence flowed from the receiver. It didn’t seem to be Uncle at least. If it were Uncle, he would have stated his business right after I answered and hung up immediately. It was probably most likely Kang Ji-ah.

"Is this noona?"

- ...Noona?

The voice that came through the receiver was clear and a bit cold. It sounded like winter valley water. It definitely wasn’t Kang Ji-ah, and this voice was probably Kim Jin-seo.

"It’s you. I didn’t know who it was because my phone got reset. Why did you call?"

I quickly explained. Scary silence was flowing from the receiver.

- Just, I called to see what you’re doing today.

"I came to a relative’s house and probably won’t return until evening."

- Ah.

The sigh she let out clearly showed disappointment. Coming to a relative’s house was a lie I had just made up. No, since I do have relatives, it’s not exactly a complete lie.

Anyway, I made up an appropriate excuse. I couldn’t exactly say I came to a Voodoo executive meeting.

- Yeah, but... were you an only child?

"Huh? Yeah. I’m an only child."

- Really? Then what’s the situation with calling someone noona as soon as you answer the phone?

Laughter was evident in her voice. However, it was definitely not laughter with favorable meaning. Only then did I realize I had made a slip of the tongue. I needed to quickly think of an excuse.

"That’s because, I thought it was my cousin sister."

- To say that, your tone was too affectionate.

"Affectionate my foot."

- Hmm.

Kim Jin-seo made a contemplative sound.

I came to a relative’s house on the weekend, and when a call came from an unknown number, I thought it was my cousin noona. This was a sufficiently coherent explanation.

Since I was currently at a Voodoo executive meeting, I needed to block even the slightest suspicion in advance.

- I understand. Then, next time when you have time...

"What? A woman? Why are you so flustered?"

The one who cut off Kim Jin-seo’s words was Ha Su-yeong. My heart sank for a moment. This was because if Ha Su-yeong said something unnecessary, there was a risk of my identity being exposed.

Silence was flowing from the receiver, and Ha Su-yeong was looking up at me with an innocent face as if she knew nothing.

- Who is it?

Kim Jin-seo asked shortly and concisely. Her voice was trembling thinly.

Since I said it was my cousin noona earlier, should I say it’s my cousin now? No, it was too obvious a lie. Making the same lie with the same pattern was something only amateurs did.

"...Cousin."

But I couldn’t think of any other excuse. In the end, I made the awkward lie that she was a cousin. Hearing this, Ha Su-yeong looked at me as if incredulous.

"Why am I a relative? That’s ridiculous, ugh...!"

I quickly covered her mouth. Ha Su-yeong struggled but I didn’t care. This was a matter my life depended on.

- The cousin doesn’t seem to be a cousin?

But it seemed too late already. Kim Jin-seo asked in a tone full of suspicion, as if interrogating me. Cold sweat formed on my forehead.

The fact that my lie had been exposed meant that from Kim Jin-seo’s perspective, there was justification to suspect me. It might just be minor suspicion right now, but if suspicion started growing from the question of why I lied, there was plenty of possibility for problems to get bigger.

"Something like a cousin...?"

- Then she’s just someone you know.

"Something like that."

- Someone you know.

Kim Jin-seo repeated. Her tone was as cold and chilly as usual. I always got caught lying in front of her. It was partly because Kim Jin-seo’s perception was far superior to others, but also because it was strangely difficult to maintain composure in front of her.

- Okay. See you Monday.

The call ended with that. "See you Monday" didn’t feel like a formal greeting but like a warning.

"Ah..."

My head hurt a little.

* * *

Seeing Do Seon-woo pressing his temples and closing his eyes tightly, Ha Su-yeong suddenly felt curious.

"Who was it that made you like that?"

Who exactly was the person on the phone that made him so flustered?

When talking on the phone, Do Seon-woo wasn’t the charismatic and strong figure from yesterday. Like ordinary male students common at school, he sometimes stammered and hesitated. Ha Su-yeong found such a Do Seon-woo somehow unfamiliar.

"I told you I attend Florence, right?"

"Huh? Yeah, I know."

Strictly speaking, she had overheard Do Seon-woo telling her father, but she didn’t bother mentioning it and moved on. Do Seon-woo sighed and opened his mouth.

"At Florence... I happened to meet her."

"Meet? Then is she your girlfriend?"

Ha Su-yeong asked with an innocent face. Do Seon-woo shook his head.

"Just a friend."

"Just a friend? Then why were you so flustered? Did she get some dirt on you?"

"You?"

"Ah, I misspoke. Anyway, did she get some dirt on you?"

"No, it’s not like that."

Do Seon-woo shook his head. If it wasn’t getting dirt on him, then what was it? Was he being bullied at school? Considering Do Seon-woo’s personality, it was entirely possible.

That aside, to make Do Seon-woo, who could be considered second to none in having a nasty personality, tremble like that... The viciousness of Romanica Church clerics exceeded her imagination by far.

Do Seon-woo, who had infiltrated Florence full of devilish aspiring clerics, suddenly seemed amazing.

"Isn’t it hard being at Florence? There are only bad people there."

"It’s not that hard. And there are more good kids than you’d think."

"Good kids?"

Ha Su-yeong tilted her head. In her memory, Romanica Church believers were all devils.

The shameless tribe who, after carrying out massacres, justified it by putting forward God and doctrine. That was her perception of Romanica Church believers.

Therefore, she couldn’t understand Do Seon-woo’s words that there were more good kids than expected.

"Yeah. There are quite a few good kids. Of course there are bad kids too."

"Aren’t they all trash?"

"There are good people and bad people, that’s how it is. Any religion is like that. Voodoo or Romanica Church."

Although it was difficult to accept immediately, Ha Su-yeong reluctantly nodded. She, who had been curious about many things since last night, immediately continued with questions.

"But, does the Cult Leader use divine power well too? I heard they do all the tests there with divine power."

"Much worse than sorcery."

"Then how do you get grades?"

"I secretly use Loa powers."

"Oh." Ha Su-yeong let out a short exclamation. While sorcery required emitting Voodoo magic power, Loa powers didn’t need that, so using them secretly seemed entirely possible.

For her, who had never used Loa powers, it seemed like a very novel idea.

"Then you must be first in everything? Loa powers are cheating."

"No, it’s not exactly like that... I’ve gotten first in some things, and not in others."

"Still, I’m envious."

Ha Su-yeong said while looking down. Shadows were cast on her face.

"I want to try using them too..."

She was recalling the distant past. The day when countless Voodoo practitioners were killed. The day when black fog covered the sky so not a single star could be seen.

Ha Su-yeong’s mother was thrown into a pit and burned to death by Leviathan during the ’Starless Night’. Her older brother assassinated the Leviathan leader to avenge their mother and was imprisoned in the underground prison.

She was secretly thinking this. If I had been the prophet instead of Do Seon-woo. If it had been me, not Do Seon-woo, who could use the Loa’s powers. I could have saved both Mom and my brother...

"Sorry."

Ha Su-yeong, who had been lost in thought, suddenly raised her head. It was because of the sudden apology Do Seon-woo had thrown out. Seeing him suddenly apologize when he hadn’t done anything wrong, Ha Su-yeong was both surprised and puzzled.

Without time to answer, Do Seon-woo suddenly began drawing a spell circle.

"Huh? Hey, what are you..."

Hissss...

Before she could stop him, the spell circle was completed. Ha Su-yeong, who inhaled the flowing mist, analyzed the spell circle Do Seon-woo had drawn before losing consciousness. It was a fusion spell circle combining two sorceries.

One seemed to be auditory or visual hallucination type sorcery, but she couldn’t tell what the other one was.

"Huh?"

However, contrary to expectations, she didn’t lose consciousness. Instead, her head hurt. It was severe headache that made her temples throb.

The faint pain gradually became clearer. A small voice like whispering was heard in her head. As the headache grew larger, the voice echoing in her head also grew louder.

[Can you... hear... me...?]

"You, what did you do? What, weird sounds keep..."

[Half right side up down, strange if then what? Wrong correct! Night that day. Such that does. Know don’t but all for dead death sound education difference far until. Know that.]

[Bosu please little help please request. Much right much! Know that! Know face what all together thing request that same all time number! That.]

"This, sound. The sound... huk, ugh...!"

Countless voices were filling her head. All the voices had different tones. Tone, volume, all different.

Dozens of voices gathered together, mixing and tangling to create noise. It was the kind of noise that humans absolutely couldn’t endure.

In less than 2 seconds, dry heaving came over her and she couldn’t breathe. Her head hurt so much it felt like it would split, so she tore at her own hair.

Not long after, the auditory hallucinations ended. The auditory hallucinations had lasted only a moment, but to Ha Su-yeong it felt like eons.

When she came to her senses, her whole body was soaked with cold sweat. Ha Su-yeong swept back her hair that was clumped with moisture and glared at Do Seon-woo.

"You, why did you suddenly do this...!"

"When you become a prophet, you hear sounds like that."

Do Seon-woo said while looking at Ha Su-yeong blankly. In his gaze, which had always been filled with passion or conviction, she glimpsed emptiness. Ha Su-yeong swallowed and looked at him.

"About 1 year... Except when sleeping, I hear sounds like that as soon as I open my eyes. I hear them before going to sleep too."

"..."

"They say it’s okay if you prepare in advance, but I couldn’t do that. I became cult leader too suddenly, became a prophet too suddenly."

She had heard it for only 3 or 4 seconds and her breath stopped and dry heaving came over her. But if you heard sounds like this for a whole year, every day... you would definitely go insane.

Ha Su-yeong, who recently couldn’t sleep due to noise between floors, knew better than anyone how much noise could drive a person crazy. Moreover, noise between floors was nothing compared to the Loa’s noise.

"At that time I wasn’t in my right mind either, so even during the ’Starless Night’ I couldn’t do anything. That’s why I apologized..."

Do Seon-woo said while lowering his head and trailing off, then continued with a resigned smile.

"Come to think of it, it’s an excuse. I was just incompetent, that’s all."

"No, um... No."

Not knowing what words to use for comfort, she just closed her mouth.

The reason she had disliked Do Seon-woo was actually because she thought he was incompetent as a cult leader.

She found him pathetic and resentful for not making any response or revenge against the Romanica Church’s oppression of Voodoo before and after the Holy War, and the massacre carried out by Leviathan, the Romanica Church extremist organization.

At some point, she came to think that her mother’s death and her brother’s imprisonment were Do Seon-woo’s fault, and her resentment toward him grew even more. Eventually, she even resolved to push Do Seon-woo aside and become cult leader herself.

"Let’s go back gradually. I said I’d come out for a bit but I’ve been out too long."

"Huh? Oh..."

Ha Su-yeong followed Do Seon-woo with a blank face, taking in his retreating figure with her eyes.

While doing so, she tried to imagine his life - suddenly losing his parents, becoming cult leader, becoming a prophet, enduring noise that would drive you insane after hearing it for just a few seconds, struggling to be recognized by executives as cult leader.

She couldn’t imagine it well. Until now, she had thought Do Seon-woo was just sitting in the cult leader position due to good luck.

"...Ah, walk a bit slower please!"

Seeing Do Seon-woo walking away with big strides without thinking about Ha Su-yeong’s much shorter stride, Ha Su-yeong shouted. Do Seon-woo silently looked at her and waited for her steps.

Until yesterday, she had resented Do Seon-woo and on the other hand envied him. She envied him for freely wielding the Loa’s powers, and resented him for not doing anything despite having such power.

But now her thoughts were a bit different.

"But why are you telling me this kind of story? Don’t you have people to complain to?"

"Right, I don’t."

"...If you agree like that, what does that make me?" Ha Su-yeong looked at Do Seon-woo. His face looking straight ahead was composed. No, it even seemed to hold a faint smile.

That appearance seemed a little pitiful.