The Heretic of Cleric Academy-Chapter 87

Gu Jun-hyeok’s mother had been receiving inpatient treatment at a mental hospital for several years. But on the day of the appointment ceremony, she caused a suicide commotion.

Fortunately, she saved her life, but because she was discovered late, her life was in a critical condition, so she was currently transferred to a university hospital and receiving inpatient treatment.

"I only heard from him that she was hospitalized, but I didn’t know she was at a mental hospital either... Anyway, that’s what I heard."

I suddenly recalled Gu Jun-hyeok’s awkward expression when he had uncomfortably changed the subject when I asked where his house was.

Come to think of it, he never went home after school ended. He would head straight to the gym or leave mysteriously without revealing his destination.

Gu Jun-hyeok probably went straight to the hospital to visit his mother after school ended.

"But is it okay for you to tell me this kind of story?"

Hearing such heavy news made my heart feel troubled for no reason, and on the other hand, I wondered if it was okay to hear such stories from someone else’s mouth. Jeong In-ah smiled faintly and nodded.

"He asked me to tell you directly. He said he was sorry he couldn’t visit you at the hospital."

"Ah... How is his mother’s condition?"

"She’s conscious, but, um, how should I put it..."

Jeong In-ah trailed off and hung her head, moving her lips for quite a while. Since it was apparently a delicate topic, her contemplation before speaking was very long. She seemed to be carefully selecting only appropriate words from among numerous options.

"Well, Jun-hyeok said that, um, his mother can’t recognize his face."

"..."

"He told me not to take it too seriously. He said to just listen with a light heart... though it’s not really something you can listen to lightly."

Jeong In-ah showed a hollow laugh. As she said, it wasn’t something you could listen to lightly. What must Gu Jun-hyeok’s feelings be like, having to care for a mother who doesn’t recognize her own child?

If I somehow reached the underground prison and met Mother, but Mother couldn’t recognize my face? If she said she didn’t know someone like me and actually showed disgust...?

Just imagining it made my stomach churn.

"Oh, right. Did you see that person?"

Jeong In-ah seemed to want to lighten the heavy atmosphere, forcibly brightening the mood as she changed the subject. "That person"? I didn’t know who she was talking about.

"That person?"

"When the fire broke out at Basar Shopping Center, they say a student from our school was putting out fires and rescuing people there. He impersonated a trainee Holy Knight and even used Holy Knight Order equipment. I was wondering if you saw him."

"...I’m not sure."

"Really? Everyone who was at Basar Shopping Center saw him, so I thought you would have too."

Jeong In-ah tilted her head as she spoke. I tilted my head following her lead. There were more than a few questionable points in what Jeong In-ah said.

"...How did I end up hospitalized again?"

When I asked as if probing, Jeong In-ah’s eyes widened in surprise.

"You, don’t tell me you have amnesia..."

"No, I remember. I remember, but I was wondering how you knew about it."

"Oh what. Weren’t you at Basar Shopping Center then? That’s what the teachers said."

I silently nodded. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t wrong. I had indeed been at Basar Shopping Center at the time.

However, it seemed the fact that I was the one who impersonated a trainee Holy Knight and rescued people hadn’t been revealed to the school.

More precisely, the teachers knew, but it seemed the students didn’t know that fact.

They probably thought there was no need to mention it. Whether I had rescued people or not, the undeniable fact was that I had impersonated a trainee Holy Knight and illegally used Holy Knight Order equipment. Florence had a strong tendency not to disclose information that could cause controversy.

After that, Jeong In-ah talked to me about various meaningless topics, then got up from her seat when the sun had completely set.

"Take good care of yourself. Contact me when you’re discharged. Make sure you do."

"That’s annoying."

When I said this jokingly, Jeong In-ah pouted her lips.

"Annoying? Am I annoying?"

"Yeah."

"...Don’t mess around and contact me. If you don’t, I’ll hit you. I’m serious."

Jeong In-ah glared at me with her fist clenched, then suddenly giggled. I also let out laughter following her. After that, she left the hospital room. The hospital room I was left alone in was full of gifts that Kang Ji-ah and Jeong In-ah had brought. The smell of apples was floating in the air.

* * *

The night after Kang Ji-ah and Jeong In-ah visited, strangely I couldn’t fall asleep. Moonlight coming through the window filled the hospital room. The moonlight was cold and had a subtle blue tint. It was a mystical color.

[Reproduction sorcery depends on knowledge and imagination. In that sense, your grandfather and first cult leader Do Jun-gil was someone with abundant knowledge and excellent imagination.]

Looking at that moonlight, I was listening to Legba’s lecture. The lecture title was ’The First Cult Leader’s Achievements and Understanding Reproduction Sorcery.’ I had just made that up.

[However, you don’t have as much knowledge and imagination as Do Jun-gil. Therefore, even though you received the succession ritual, you’ll only be able to use ’part’ of his talent.]

Reproduction sorcery basically requires understanding of ancient Voodoo. As the name suggests, it’s sorcery that ’reproduces’ weapons or tools used in ancient Voodoo. However, after the Holy War, all documents about ancient Voodoo were burned and lost.

[There must definitely be documents that your father hid somewhere... but even I don’t know where he hid them. I thought they would be in the box.]

"Hmm."

The box Father left as a relic contained no papers on sorcery or documents about ancient Voodoo. There was only Grandfather’s bone powder.

Thanks to that, I escaped the crisis, but it was honestly a bit disappointing. It would have been better if papers or documents had been included along with the bone powder.

[Do Myeong-jun, that guy was always a bit strange. Instead of keeping things together in one place, he would deliberately scatter them here and there. Like doing a treasure hunt. What a pervert.]

I nodded at Legba’s words.

It was a very long time ago, but Father had given me some kind of puzzle as a birthday present. Along with saying he would give me the real present if I completed the puzzle. In the end, I never got the present. Because what Father gave me was a 5,000-piece puzzle. The puzzle was too vast for a child like me to complete.

Actually, I did complete the puzzle. But when I finished it, Father was already dead. The puzzle was complete, but there was no one to give me the present.

No matter how I think about it, there’s nothing pleasant about this story.

[Come to think of it, you’re similar. All three generations of the Do family are strange guys.]

"Hey, that’s a bit of an exaggeration."

[I have never exaggerated even once in my entire existence.]

Knock knock.

While I was having trivial conversation with Legba, I heard knocking. Legba suddenly became quiet. I also closed my mouth accordingly.

The current time was around 12:10. It was such a late night that it would be strange for someone to come visit.

Creeeeak...

Soon the door opened. I closed my eyes and pretended to be fast asleep. This was in case someone had heard my conversation with Legba. If they asked who I was talking to, I planned to say it was sleep talking.

She walked briskly toward me and stared blankly at me pretending to sleep.

"You’re pretending to sleep?"

She poked my arm and said. Goosebumps ran through me. A chilling sensation as if ice was flowing down my spine.

Since I had already been caught, there was no point in continuing to pretend to sleep.

"...How did you know?"

I opened my eyes, looked at her, and asked.

"I can tell just by looking."

"Really...? That’s amazing."

"Who are you trying to fool?"

Kim Jin-seo said. She looked at me with strangely hollow eyes and continued.

"Don’t think about fooling me. Not in the future either."

The mouth that spoke these words held a smile. It was faint but clear.

Blue moonlight coming through the window enveloped her like mist. Her hair swaying at her shoulders shone dark blue in the moonlight. That sight seemed mysteriously beautiful to me for some reason.

When I silently nodded, Kim Jin-seo stared at me intently. Silence flowed.

"And don’t die either."

She said in the moonlight. The smile she had been holding disappeared. She seemed to be speaking seriously, not joking.

"...Can that be controlled?"

I said while forcibly suppressing the laughter that was leaking out.

"I’ll make it so."

"What if I get hit by a car while walking?"

"I’ll save you."

Kim Jin-seo said with a more serious face than usual.

Her tone was serious, but the content was too childish, so I ended up letting out the laughter I had been holding back. She tilted her head looking at me.

"Why are you laughing?"

"Because it’s hard to trust?"

There had never been a single time when she was in a position to save me. Whether during the Go Jun-min incident or now. Even if she said she would save me now, it wasn’t particularly believable.

She tilted her head sideways and stared at me piercingly for a while, then belatedly seemed to understand the meaning of my words and blushed.

"Until now, until now was... From now on, that’s what will happen."

"Sure, sure."

"I made a resolution."

"I understand."

When I said this with a smile, she glared at me with narrowed eyes.

"You’re not listening properly."

"I listened properly."

"You’re not listening. Even now you’re listening half-heartedly."

"I’m listening properly."

To be honest, I’m not listening properly. I’m just half-listening and giving appropriate responses.

Kim Jin-seo was glaring at me with suspicious eyes. In that moment of brief silence, the moonlight that had filled the hospital room lifted.

Darkness came.

Just the disappearance of moonlight made the hospital room instantly dark. I could only faintly see the silhouette of Kim Jin-seo sitting on the edge of the bed. Her expression was completely hidden in darkness and couldn’t be seen at all.

"...I suddenly remembered something I wanted to say."

Kim Jin-seo tilted her head sideways and continued looking at the moonlight.

"You two get along well."

Her voice came from the darkness. The voice was clear as if whispering right next to my ear. An inexplicable chill came over me.

The wind coming through the window was strangely cold. I could feel that her barely visible pupils were directed toward me.

"Who?"

"In-ah."

"Ah, yeah. What about her?"

"You seem to get along well. She even came to visit today."

"So...what?"

"Just saying."

The moon that had been hidden by clouds finally showed itself. Moonlight was gradually filling the hospital room. As the darkness lifted, her expression was revealed.

She had her usual clear, gentle, and also beautiful smile on her lips.

"Why are you so flustered? What did you do at In-ah’s house?"

In-ah’s house? How does she know I went to Jeong In-ah’s house? No, even setting that aside, Kim Jin-seo’s atmosphere was completely different from usual.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about..."

I hastily made excuses.

The moonlight outside the window was swaying restlessly. When it was completely dark or completely bright, it was actually easier to distinguish her expression.

But as the light swayed, I couldn’t tell at all whether she was serious or smiling. The curtains swayed lightly following the blowing wind.

"I told you not to think about fooling me."

The voice whispering as if scolding me was extremely cold. My body wouldn’t move at all as if I was experiencing sleep paralysis. Even moving a finger was all I could manage. The moonlight that had been swaying like a candle in the wind finally regained its composure. Cold blue moonlight filled the hospital room as before.

"Why are you so surprised? I was just joking."

"..."

She showed an innocent smile like a child. Her smile was shining in the moonlight. I looked at her with my mouth firmly shut. What exactly was supposed to be a joke?

"I’ll go now. It’s too late."

Kim Jin-seo looked at the clock on the wall and got up from her seat briskly. Even during this, my body wouldn’t move at all.

Kim Jin-seo still held her smile and looked at me with narrowed eyes as she continued speaking.

"Sleep well."

After she left, drowsiness naturally came over me. As soon as I closed my eyes, I fell asleep. I didn’t dream.

* * *

The next day, I finally went through discharge procedures. The doctor said it was still too early to be discharged, but I decided to hurry and be discharged for various reasons. I was also the type who disliked staying in hospitals for long.

Various procedures were quickly handled with Kim Jin-seo’s help. It seemed Chairman Kim Chang-won, her father, would also pay the hospital bills. Since this hospital belonged to the Florence Foundation anyway...

"Why are you staring at me like that?"

On the way out of the hospital after completing procedures, Kim Jin-seo asked. I had been unconsciously staring at her intently.

The reason was naturally because of the mysterious night I had experienced yesterday, not knowing if it was a dream or reality.

"Yesterday you..."

"Yesterday?"

I stopped mid-question and examined Kim Jin-seo’s face. A calm face as if she knew nothing. Her eyes looking up at me piercingly were sharp as usual. Although she had a faint smile at the corners of her mouth, it didn’t feel as chilling as last night.

"...Never mind."

"Yesterday, what?"

She tilted her head.

I recalled last night. It had been too vivid to be a dream, yet too dreamlike to be reality - that moonlight.

The conversation I had with Kim Jin-seo who came into the hospital room was definitely real. However, when the moonlight was hidden by clouds and darkness came. The conversation after that was difficult to distinguish between dream and reality.

It seemed like that night’s moonlight had blurred the boundary between dream and reality.

"Ah, driver."

Walking with her, we eventually reached the parking lot in front of the hospital. There, Kim Jin-seo’s driver had come to pick her up with a car. As soon as Kim Jin-seo got in the back seat, she rolled down the window and poked her head out to speak.

"Where do you live..."

Vrooom!

Before Kim Jin-seo could finish her words, the car started. The car left the parking lot at a threateningly fast speed and immediately entered the road. In the blink of an eye, the car she was in disappeared from my sight.

[It seems the driver dislikes you.]

"I didn’t do anything to earn his dislike."

[You’re the type who gets disliked even when you’re just sitting still.]

Legba said teasingly. I chuckled and walked toward the underground chapel. No one came to meet me. It was natural since I hadn’t contacted anyone about being discharged.

The next day I went to school, but there was no one in the classroom.