The Heretic of Cleric Academy-Chapter 117

"No way. There are other people to suspect..."

I shook my head with a light laugh. It was a forced smile, but on the surface it would look like a laugh that flowed out unconsciously.

In confusing or difficult situations, I had to pay even more attention to managing my expression, and I was confident in that.

Gu Jun-hyeok stared at me silently as if trying to understand the true meaning of my words, then belatedly let out a sigh of relief.

"Right? No... how should I put it... Lately when I’m with you, I get this sense of incongruity."

"What incongruity?"

"It felt like you were trying to keep your distance... No, what kind of bullshit am I saying? As long as it’s not, that’s fine."

Gu Jun-hyeok’s intuition was accurate. Since I began suspecting him of being a Satan worshipper, I had been unconsciously treating him distantly.

While expressions and speech could be fabricated, the hostility and suspicion seeping into one’s gaze couldn’t be hidden. Through the atmosphere and feeling, Gu Jun-hyeok had guessed that he was being suspected.

Had that bastard always been so perceptive... No, come to think of it, he had always been quick to notice things. He just hadn’t acted on his perceptions until now. Gu Jun-hyeok was good at reading situations, but didn’t know how to use that ability.

"Honestly, it’s not like I never suspected you. But..."

"What? Why the fuck?"

"Listen to the end. After seeing your mother under black magic yesterday, I thought it wasn’t you."

The statement "I didn’t not suspect you" was true, but "I stopped suspecting after yesterday’s incident" was false. Mixing truth with lies to hide falsehood was a common tactic everyone knew, but it was also a proven method because it was so common.

When I brought up his mother, Gu Jun-hyeok’s expression darkened slightly. He chewed on the shepherd’s purse side dish without any meat, then drank a whole cup of water in one gulp before opening his mouth.

"Yesterday... Now that you mention yesterday, there’s something else to talk about."

It seemed like he was going to tell some significant story.

I moistened my burning throat with a sip of water. While he deliberated, I looked around and noticed someone watching us from a distance.

I thought it was Jeong In-ah, but it was Yeo Min-seo. She was monitoring us with wide eyes as we conversed.

Gu Jun-hyeok hesitated for a long time, looking around anxiously and fidgeting with utensils, before finally opening his mouth.

"My mom was in a Satan worship group in the past."

"...What?"

"More precisely, she had joined a Satan worship puppet group that used the name of a Romanica Church organization, but either way. Whether she was deceived into joining or joined voluntarily, Satan worship was Satan worship."

His tone carried cold resignation. As if to lighten the mood, Gu Jun-hyeok smiled brightly and continued.

"She was missing for about 5 months because of that, and when we found her, she was in that state. She couldn’t even recognize her only son, completely insane."

Saying this, Gu Jun-hyeok tapped his head with his finger.

"That’s why Satan worship is fucked up. If they drive one person crazy, they don’t need to touch anyone else. Everyone else goes crazy on their own. You remember when I asked what you’d want to do if you went back to the past?"

"...Yeah, I remember."

Not exactly, but I vaguely remembered.

I had answered that I’d make money through coins or stocks, and I remembered Gu Jun-hyeok giving a similar answer.

"I just said whatever back then... but if I really went back to the past, I’d definitely eliminate Satan worship first. That’s also why I came to Florence."

It was absurd talk. Satan worship was spread throughout the world and was very cunningly hidden. It wasn’t a religion that could be easily eliminated just by going back to the past.

Not just Satan worship, but all religions were like that.

The Romanica Church had once experienced a dark age but welcomed a golden age again as if nothing had happened, and the ancient Voodoo religion that had disappeared into the back alleys of history was newly begun by my grandfather Do Jun-gil, the first cult leader.

Religion couldn’t be easily eliminated like this. It couldn’t be simply classified as a group or organization. Religion was the very spirit of those with faith.

"Yeah, good luck with that."

However, I didn’t bother to argue with Gu Jun-hyeok’s words. Instead, I casually threw out some meaningless encouragement.

This was because I glimpsed sharp and chilling conviction in his eyes that had grown cold.

Brief silence passed.

In that silence, Gu Jun-hyeok showed a hollow smile.

"...I don’t know about other things, but being suspected of being a Satan worshipper feels unfair, so I tried some emotional manipulation. Just brush it off, believe it or not."

"Does Jeong In-ah know too?"

"No? She’d take it too seriously, so I didn’t tell her. She gets unnecessarily absorbed in things."

Gu Jun-hyeok waved his hands with exaggerated gestures. He had told me something he hadn’t even told Jeong In-ah, who had been his friend since before coming to Florence, so it was hard to guess his intentions.

If Gu Jun-hyeok was a Satan worshipper, it would be a lie to avoid suspicion, but if he wasn’t a Satan worshipper, it would mean he trusted me that much. It meant he trusted me enough to willingly share his heavy family history, and at the same time felt comfortable with me.

I was suspecting Gu Jun-hyeok, but Gu Jun-hyeok trusted me.

Thinking this made me feel uncomfortable, while considering the possibility that Gu Jun-hyeok was a Satan worshipper and all these words were lies made my head complicated again. The gap between the numerous existing assumptions was large, making it even more confusing.

"What were you talking about?"

Meanwhile, Jeong In-ah came back. She was letting her hands hang limply like wet laundry. Gu Jun-hyeok’s lips curved into a smile.

"Come a little later. We were talking about you."

"Bullshit. Do you guys always just talk about me?"

"You just realized that now?"

"Shit, that bastard doesn’t even show it when he’s lying..."

Jeong In-ah turned her gaze to me. Clear doubt was evident in her round, large eyes.

This was the timing when I should laugh playfully and make the atmosphere cheerful, but for some reason, no laughter came out. My expression remained rigidly frozen beyond my control, not moving at all.

"...Really? Do you guys always talk about me when I’m not here?"

"Hey, hey. No, we were just talking about old times. We never talked bad about you. Ah, Do Seon-woo, smile a little. She’ll think it’s real if you keep that up."

Jeong In-ah pouted, and Gu Jun-hyeok belatedly tried to smooth things over as if troubled.

However, my head kept being complicated, so I couldn’t manage my expression at all. I thought I needed to simplify my thoughts a bit.

Jeong In-ah’s face, which had seemed hurt, gradually began showing worry.

"Are you sick? What’s wrong? Your face is turning white..."

"No, I’m just a bit tired. We really were talking about old times."

I smiled and spoke as if nothing was wrong. I really was fine. My head was just a bit heavy, and my throat was a bit dry.

"Really? I believe you...?"

Jeong In-ah still looked at me and Gu Jun-hyeok alternately with narrowed, suspicious eyes. While doing so, she slowly found her seat and sat down.

The thoughts that had lost their way in my head still hadn’t found their place. The thoughts just wandered aimlessly in my head. With each step of thought, my head ached throbingly.

* * *

"It’s been exactly 2 years since you transferred here? Right?"

"Hm? What... Yeah, I came in spring the year before last."

For some reason, the topic had really become old stories. It was about when Gu Jun-hyeok transferred. I just listened without answering. It was a topic only between them that I couldn’t join.

Listening to their past that I didn’t know was enjoyable, but I felt a bit left out. It wasn’t an unfamiliar feeling of alienation.

"If I hadn’t been there, you would never have adapted completely. You should be grateful to me. You know?"

"Talking bullshit again. I adapted well from the beginning, didn’t I? My school life was ruined because of you."

"Ah, really. You still won’t admit it? I felt sorry for a loner and became friends with him, but he doesn’t know how to be grateful."

Jeong In-ah teased Gu Jun-hyeok with a grin. Gu Jun-hyeok let out a hollow laugh as if incredulous.

"Hey, let’s get the facts straight. Honestly, I was a voluntary loner. When I lived in Incheon, my nickname was ’Lone Wolf’..."

"Ugh, look at that nickname level. It’s really nauseating."

"Right, it is kind of gross now that I say it. ...What, where are you going?"

Gu Jun-hyeok, who had been excitedly talking, asked as he saw me getting up from my seat.

"I’m going to make a phone call."

"A phone call? ...To who?"

"My uncle. Last time my studio apartment burned down and I’ve been staying at my uncle’s place, but I forgot to tell him I’d be eating dinner out."

Jeong In-ah, who had been staring at me blankly with a stiff face, gradually regained her smile.

According to my cover identity, I lost my mother during the Holy War, my father was currently on a business trip overseas, and after my studio apartment burned down, I was staying at my uncle’s house. Since my uncle actually lived at the chapel, it wasn’t a lie.

Coming outside, I didn’t make a phone call but just took deep breaths.

Actually, saying I was going to make a phone call was a lie from the start. My thoughts kept getting complicated and tangled, and my consciousness was becoming unclear, so I thought I’d clear my head by getting some fresh air.

[You lie every single day without fail. If you keep that up, won’t you earn Ogun’s hatred?]

"So what?"

Ogun already hated me enough that there was no more hatred to earn. Because of that, I couldn’t use Ogun’s power, but it couldn’t be helped. I couldn’t go around telling everyone I was the Voodoo cult leader just to use Ogun’s power.

Ogun was someone so inflexible that he couldn’t tolerate even the lies I had to tell to survive.

"...Hey."

Then, someone called out to me as they came out of the restaurant. It was accompanied by the sound of plastic bags rustling against each other.

Yeo Min-seo was coming out of the restaurant with both hands full of garbage bags. Sweat beaded on her slightly crumpled face.

She leaned the garbage bags against a telephone pole next to the restaurant, then roughly dabbed the flowing sweat with her apron and approached me. Her pupils were empty and unfocused like a zombie.

"How did you know to come here?"

Her attitude as she asked with one eyebrow twisted was interrogating and forceful. She seemed to think we had come here knowing she worked here.

It was a bit absurd, but from Yeo Min-seo’s perspective, it was reasonable to think so. This place was quite far from school and the prices were burdensome for students to come for dinner.

"Know what? We just came and it happened to be where you work."

"Ah, really? What a fucking coincidence."

Yeo Min-seo laughed as if dejected. It was an unpleasant laugh that made neither the laugher nor the observer happy.

She looked down at the garbage bags with vacant eyes, then eventually dropped her gaze to the floor. Her drooping shoulders were powerless.

"...Yeah, I understand, but it’s uncomfortable and I can’t work, fuck."

"What’s uncomfortable?"

"You try it. Can you work with school kids around? I’m breaking out in cold sweat."

Yeo Min-seo said this and sighed deeply, then picked up the garbage bags she had leaned against the telephone pole with both hands.

It looked a bit heavy, but there was no need to help. Yeo Min-seo had supplemented her lacking strength through blessings related to physical enhancement.

"What. First time seeing someone throw out garbage?"

"No."

She glanced at me while irritably throwing the bags toward the garbage bin. The bags that had been swaying precariously left and right stood upright as if nothing had happened.

I had noticed since she was grilling meat, but Yeo Min-seo was quite skilled at work.

"How long have you been working?"

It wasn’t skill you could gain from just working a couple of months. I thought she must have worked for at least a year.

Yeo Min-seo looked at me with a displeased frown, then relaxed her expression. Rather than relaxing, it was more accurate to say she returned to her original expressionless state.

"It’s been a while. It’s only been a few months since I could work legally."

"How did you start working..."

I was about to ask how she started, but trailed off. It felt like I was prying too much. Yeo Min-seo loosened her hair, then tied it back up while opening her mouth.

"Rich kids have no wrinkles."

Her mouth held a sneer. She wasn’t sneering at me. She was sneering at someone else, not me.

No, maybe the target of her sneer wasn’t a person at all.

"So I have fucking tons of wrinkles. You get what I mean?"

"..."

"Hey, and if you’re done eating, why don’t you leave? What are you talking about for so long?"

Yeo Min-seo asked casually with a sneer on her lips, but I didn’t answer. Instead, I looked up at the darkening sky.

The street lights were turning on one by one, and the wind chime hanging above the restaurant door kept making jingling sounds. It was the sound of people filling the restaurant for dinner time.

Yeo Min-seo sighed while looking at the crowd entering the restaurant with vacant eyes. As she adjusted her apron and entered the restaurant, she stuck out just her upper body through the half-open door and looked at me.

"Ah, I didn’t say this. You wrote the proposal well, didn’t you? Please continue to help in the future?"

"...Is that how you ask for a favor?"

"What does it matter, as long as you understood... Ah, yes. I’ll help you with your order..."

Through the glass, I could see Yeo Min-seo bowing her head and taking an order. The sky was painted pitch black. My day was ending, and her day was beginning.

Satan worship had driven Gu Jun-hyeok’s mother insane. He came to Florence to eliminate Satan worship. His class attitude wasn’t good, but looking at his grades, he seemed to study quite diligently without anyone knowing.

Yeo Min-seo was working part-time after school due to financial difficulties. Her grades were undoubtedly outstanding. She would go to school, then work, then come home and study in her remaining time.

The lives of the two people I had suspected of being Satan worshippers were fierce. I couldn’t suspect either of them.

No, I could suspect anyone but didn’t want to suspect anyone. I didn’t want to deny even one of the lives these two people had lived so fiercely.

Buzz, buzz buzz...

A moth was flying toward the street light illuminating the garbage bin. The moth that kept banging its head against the street light eventually got tired and collapsed on the ground with a thud.

* * *

After listening to stories about how Gu Jun-hyeok was an outsider in middle school and how Jeong In-ah and Gu Jun-hyeok became friends, we left the restaurant. As mentioned earlier, Gu Jun-hyeok paid the bill.

When we left the restaurant, Uncle called. He said he had something to give me and asked when I’d come to the chapel. I said I’d come soon and hung up.

Jeong In-ah said she had to go to the library to study. When signs of disbanding appeared, Gu Jun-hyeok’s face showed obvious disappointment.

"Hey, since we’re already gathered, why don’t we hang out a bit more?"

"It’s exam period, so I have to study. We can play all we want after it’s over!"

Jeong In-ah said with a bright smile. Gu Jun-hyeok nodded reluctantly.

"Right, it’s not like we can only hang out today... Ah, right. Should we go to the beach during summer vacation? The three of us."

"The beach?"

"It’s been a while since I went to the beach. I used to go all the time when the sea was right in front... Ah."

Gu Jun-hyeok cut off his words and touched the back of his neck.

"...It wasn’t right in front, was it? Well anyway, how about it? A day trip."

Come to think of it, it had been quite a while since I went to the beach too. The last time was when I went with my parents as a child. It seemed like a good idea. Jeong In-ah also nodded vigorously as if she liked it.

"Good! But if I do badly on the exam, there’s no beach or anything. I won’t even be able to go in front of my house."

"Why? Weren’t you basically living alone?"

"My parents are coming back this vacation. If I do badly on the exam, I can’t go to the beach..."

Jeong In-ah answered gloomily with her head down in response to Gu Jun-hyeok’s question. Gu Jun-hyeok smiled softly.

"Alright, then study hard. You should do well enough to go out and play confidently."

"I’ll do well on my own without you telling me. At least better than you."

"Yes, please do~"

Gu Jun-hyeok spoke teasingly. Jeong In-ah pouted.

"I should go home and study too. If I lose to Jeong In-ah, am I even human? I’d be a beast."

"Didn’t you lose to me on the diagnostic evaluation? You’re terrible at studying."

"...You have no shame. I’m not that bad."

Jeong In-ah and Gu Jun-hyeok bickered, and I smiled quietly watching them. Soon after, Gu Jun-hyeok and Jeong In-ah headed home, and I headed to the chapel. We went together partway, but at some point our directions diverged. We scattered that way.

When I arrived at the chapel, the first thing I saw was Kang Ji-ah. She was sitting at the dining table where Uncle always drank coffee, looking at a laptop.

"You’re late?"

"I had dinner with friends. Where’s Uncle?"

I asked while looking around. Uncle was nowhere to be seen. Kang Ji-ah kept her gaze fixed on the graphs going up and down on the laptop screen and opened her mouth.

"He said he was going to pick something up, but I don’t know the details either..."

No sooner had Kang Ji-ah opened her mouth than Uncle burst through the door. He was drenched in sweat.

"You’re here. What’s that, Seon-woo? The executives sent this, take it. Wow, I almost broke my back carrying it."

Uncle was carrying bags full of stuff in both hands. The image of Yeo Min-seo carrying garbage briefly flashed through my mind. I helped Uncle move the luggage inside.

The gifts sent by the executives were contained in paper boxes, and some were tightly wrapped in silver plastic and blue tape.

"If the executives sent it... it’s offerings."

"Yeah. Chungcheong and Gangwon even wrote letters. Want to read them?"

It seemed the offering system I had revived at the last executive meeting was finally bearing its first fruit. By the way, letters. Executive Yoon Chang-su was an old-fashioned person so that made sense, but why did Ha Pan-seok suddenly write a letter?

Either way, it seemed better to read them. Especially Executive Yoon Chang-su’s letter was likely to contain useful information about the Staff of Regression.

"I should read them. Give me everything."

"Right, the offerings should go in front of the altar... no, it would be easier to move the altar here, wouldn’t it?"

Saying this, Uncle straightened his back. There were popping sounds from his joints. Uncle grimaced and complained of pain.

"Ow, what’s that bursting sound from my back? My body isn’t what it used to be."

"Uncle, rest a bit. I’ll move the altar."

"Oh, that would be great for me. Ow..."

Uncle went into his room making pained sounds while holding his back.

* * *

[I hope you have been well. I am grateful every day for spending peaceful days thanks to the Cult Leader’s kind virtue.

I have something to tell you about the Staff of Regression I mentioned before, so I am sending this letter along with offerings.

I hear that Saudi Arabia, which was noisy with civil war, is gradually entering the post-war phase.

This is hopeful news as the day for you to leave to find the Staff of Regression approaches. Through various connections, I learned that there is a Voodoo practitioner among the staff working at the history museum.

If you carry the enclosed letter and enter the museum, then give it to that staff member, it will surely be helpful. Though it’s not significant content, I hope it will be of some help in achieving your purpose.

May Bondye’s protection always be with your endeavors. I’ll end my humble writing here. Respectfully.]

It was Yoon Chang-su’s letter. The handwriting was elegant as if written with a brush. The enclosed letter was written in Arabic so I couldn’t read it. I requested translation from Legba.

[Nothing much. Roughly that you’re the cult leader and asking for cooperation.]

So he said. I could see Yoon Chang-su’s consideration in worrying that I might get caught up in unnecessary trouble while searching for the Staff of Regression.

It was even more touching because he was someone who had silently supported me even when I showed endlessly lacking aspects as a cult leader. The offerings Yoon Chang-su sent with the letter were precious medicinal herbs that only grew on Mount Taebaek.

[Some of these would be better brewed as medicine rather than given to Granbwa.]

[Be quiet! The prophet makes the decisions.]

Granbwa got angry at Legba’s words.

[I merely suggested the most efficient usage plan.]

[That’s why, don’t say unnecessary things!]

[Really, young ones these days have no sense of hierarchy. When they don’t like something, they get angry first like that...]

Perhaps quite pleased with the offerings, Granbwa was unusually excited.

While Granbwa argued with Legba, I opened the next letter. It was a letter from the Chungcheong congregation.

[Cult Leader, I have something to ask but don’t have your phone number so I’m writing a letter. What was the homework you gave us to do by July last time? I didn’t forget, I just suddenly can’t remember. Don’t reply with a letter, just call me when it’s convenient. 010-...]

It wasn’t sent by Ha Pan-seok but by Ha Su-yeong. The handwriting was scribbled hastily. Ha Su-yeong’s phone number was written below the letter.

I immediately called her on my cell phone. After the ringtone rang three times, click. She answered.

"This is my number, so call me later if you have questions."

"Who... ah, it’s the Cult Leader! Wait, I have something to ask right now..."

"Not now, later."

"Ah, wait. Just wait! Hey..."

Beep.

I hung up. Ha Su-yeong called back, but there seemed no need to answer. I put it on silent and spread out the offerings that came with the letters on the floor.

The offerings sent by the Chungcheong congregation were swords, guns, crossbows, and armor. They were all made of iron, and I could see several that the Romanica Church had used during the Holy War 7 years ago.

While the origin of the Holy War was Seoul, the place where fighting was most intense was actually Chungcheong.

Countless Romanica Church clergy died there, and ten times more Voodoo practitioners died. Because of that, many items lost due to war were found in Chungcheong, and some had high value as antiques or souvenirs. What Ha Pan-seok sent were all top-grade items.

I thought I could offer them to Ogun, who went crazy for iron and war.

[I will not accept them.]

The moment I decided that, a voice as chilling as could be was heard. The sound left traces like an echo and ransacked my head. It was Ogun’s voice.

"You won’t accept them?"

[I do not wish to receive offerings from a prophet who practices falsehood.]

"...Ah, yes. Then don’t accept them. It’s not like I lose anything if you don’t accept them."

[Instead, I’ll make one proposal.]

Kiiiiing!

Every time Ogun’s voice was heard, the offerings Ha Pan-seok sent made strange sounds. It was the sound of metal vibrating and hitting other metal.

It sounded like screaming, and also like crying or wailing.

[If you accept the proposal, I too am willing to gladly lend you my power... What will you do, prophet?]

In the ensuing silence, the crying sound of metal was gradually getting louder.