The Heretic of Cleric Academy-Chapter 67

Jeong In-ah is a priest aspirant who analyzed Saint Judas’s blessing circle and submitted a report on it, which So Do-jin evaluated very highly.

Since Jeong In-ah was originally skilled at handling blessing circles and particularly excellent in theoretical aspects, it was a natural result.

"...Ah."

Jeong In-ah, who had been proudly going on about her accomplishments, let out a sigh and stopped talking. Her gaze was directed toward the back door.

She had a stiff expression as if she was flustered or perplexed. Following Jeong In-ah’s gaze, I turned my eyes toward the back door.

Bang!

At that moment, a thunderous sound erupted as if a bomb had dropped.

Of course, a bomb hadn’t actually dropped. It seemed like someone had kicked the back door before leaving. I couldn’t tell who it was.

Jeong In-ah stared at the back door with wide, surprised eyes, then eventually shifted her gaze to me.

"...What was that? Was someone at the back door?"

I looked into her eyes and opened my mouth.

There was clear bewilderment in her eyes, but equally evident was a sense of composure. Soon, Jeong In-ah glanced at me and smiled slightly as she spoke.

"I wonder? No one was there... What could it have been?"

Her pupils were trembling slightly. It meant she was lying. Someone had indeed been at the back door.

However, since there was no way to know who it was, nor any need to know, I decided not to point it out and just let it pass.

"...Do Seon-woo, did you perhaps..."

Rattle!

Just as Jeong In-ah was about to ask me something, the front door opened and Ha Ye-jin entered. The students who had been chatting together scattered back to their respective seats.

Ha Ye-jin stood in front of the teacher’s desk with a slightly flushed face and big strides. Her expression conveyed a sense of determination.

"Now, everyone. Did you have a good weekend? Today we have one important announcement."

She picked up chalk and wrote ’3/31’ on the blackboard. March 31st. Two days from now.

"You’ve been frustrated because we kept saying we’d do it, we’d do it, but the schedule wasn’t clear, right? March 31st, that is, this Wednesday!"

Ha Ye-jin put down the chalk and smiled brightly.

"The Charity Holy Name re-election exam will be held!"

The re-election exam.

They were finally going to hold the re-election exam that had been postponed due to various incidents. And it was just two days away.

While there wasn’t so little time that we couldn’t prepare at all, it wasn’t exactly abundant either. It seemed we’d need to start preparing for the exam right after school today, or even right now.

"Some friends may have already heard, but holy item usage is free. The exam content will remain secret until the day of!"

Ha Ye-jin’s face darkened slightly as she cheerfully continued her explanation. Though she still had a smile on her lips, the color of that smile seemed a bit more clouded than at first.

"Students selected for the Charity Holy Name must make donations to the Florence Foundation. Of course, it’s nothing for you all to worry about. If any students are hoping to participate, please discuss it with your parents."

She pursed her lips as if reluctant, then managed to speak with difficulty. She seemed embarrassed to bring up money matters in front of the students.

Several students showed negative reactions to the mention of donations, biting their lips or furrowing their brows.

The amount of money that must be donated to the foundation to be selected for the Charity Holy Name could be called astronomical.

No matter how good your abilities, you cannot be selected for the Charity Holy Name if you cannot pay the donation. The Charity Holy Name was that kind of position.

The reason the Charity Holy Name was called by nicknames like ’nobility’ or ’corrupt system’ was all because of this system.

[Looking at it, it’s not people controlling money, but money controlling people.]

Legba said with a lamenting tone. I nodded slightly. No matter how good your abilities, if you don’t have money, you can’t be selected. The selection method was too unfair and cruel.

However, being unfair didn’t necessarily mean it was unreasonable.

Florence has vast grounds and high-quality teachers and education. Just paying the teachers’ salaries alone would cost an enormous amount of money. Support from the country and the Romanica Church wouldn’t be nearly enough.

Therefore, they make up for the insufficient capital through the position of Charity Holy Name. From the students’ perspective, it’s good because they can become student council members just by paying money, and from the school’s perspective, it’s good because they receive money. It’s win-win.

Of course, from the perspective of students whose circumstances aren’t well-off, it remains an unfair system. Just because something unfair isn’t necessarily unreasonable doesn’t mean something reasonable is necessarily fair.

[This worked out well for you.]

And right now, I have the means to pay that donation.

While it’s somewhat awkward to mention specific figures, I had enough money that I could pay twice the donation Florence requires and still live without any problems. This was thanks to the assets I had confiscated from Han Su-yeop earlier.

Then, the problem isn’t money but ability.

No matter how good your abilities, you can’t become the Charity Holy Name without money. Conversely, no matter how much money you have, it’s difficult to become the Charity Holy Name without ability.

Even Bae Seong-hyeon, who was expelled, had abilities that were better than most students.

"..."

I glanced at the ring on my left pinky finger.

While my blessing abilities are far below others’ level, my sorcery abilities are outstanding to the point where no one could dare compare.

If I can use sorcery in the re-election exam, I’m confident I can take first place regardless of what the exam content is.

Therefore, I have confidence.

* * *

School ended without any particular incidents. If there was anything special, it was that Jeong In-ah was unusually talkative, and Gu Jun-hyeok was unusually quiet.

It was as if Jeong In-ah had stolen all the words Gu Jun-hyeok was supposed to say.

Today, Jeong In-ah seemed to be in a good mood while Gu Jun-hyeok seemed to be in a bad mood. There was no need to think deeply about it.

Right after school, I went to the chapel and immediately prepared to go out.

My destination was Seoul Eastern Holy Knight Order. I had received a text during lunch saying there was something to investigate regarding the fire.

"I’ll accompany you."

I had planned to go alone, but Kang Ji-ah strongly dissuaded me and requested to come along. She was rummaging through her bag looking for something.

"Just stay here. I can go alone."

"Wasn’t there content in the text asking for guardian accompaniment?"

I checked the text again. There was indeed mention of requesting attendance with a guardian, but it wasn’t necessarily something that had to be followed. I could just make up some excuse.

"It’s there, but that doesn’t mean you can be my guardian."

Kang Ji-ah and I aren’t blood relatives. Besides, she’s a minor like me, so she couldn’t be my guardian.

"There’s nothing that says it’s impossible." Kang Ji-ah continued rummaging through her bag regardless of my dissuasion, speaking in a confident voice.

Soon she pulled something out of her bag. It was an ID card.

More precisely, it was a forged ID with everything from age to name to address completely falsified.

"This is an ID corresponding to a cousin sister among your disguised identities, Cult Leader."

"...Do cousin sisters count as guardians too?"

"If I say we’re cohabiting relatives, they’ll probably let it slide. The Holy Knight Order isn’t exactly the type to work very diligently either. Anyway, would it be alright if I accompany you?"

Since she went this far, there was no reason to refuse. Eventually, I headed to Seoul Eastern Holy Knight Order together with Kang Ji-ah. Our means of transportation was a taxi, and Kang Ji-ah paid.

After getting out of the taxi, I stretched while looking at the impressively huge Seoul Eastern Holy Knight Order building.

Kang Ji-ah, who got out after me, glared at the building with quite venomous eyes. She seemed to have a serious expression, but perhaps because of her appearance, she looked a bit amusing.

"If I say cousin sister, they won’t believe it. You’re too short."

I teased Kang Ji-ah as we walked toward the building. Kang Ji-ah stared at me quietly with an expressionless face.

"Whether they believe it or not, having an ID is what matters."

"That’s true."

"And my height isn’t that short... I don’t think it is."

Kang Ji-ah spoke as if her pride was somewhat hurt.

"Come on, it’s on the short side."

"It’s just a little below average."

"Is it just a little?"

"...It’s just a little."

Kang Ji-ah seemed inwardly dejected as she hung her head. Thinking that teasing her more might really hurt her feelings, I closed my mouth.

We soon entered the Holy Knight Order building.

"What’s your business?"

A Holy Knight with a crooked impression looked me up and down as he asked. Both his tone and gaze were somehow very unfriendly.

But since we wouldn’t be seeing each other continuously, and paying attention to such things would only be a loss for me, I showed him the attendance request text on my phone.

"Uh... Ah! The fire. That’s it, yes. You’re student Do Seon-woo, right? You can go that way. Is the person behind you your younger sibling?"

"Guardian."

"Ah, guardian. ...Guardian?"

The Holy Knight looked at Kang Ji-ah’s face and tilted his head as if puzzled.

"Could you perhaps show me some identification?"

"Yes."

Kang Ji-ah showed her ID. The Holy Knight examined the ID for quite a while with furrowed brows, then nodded and returned the ID to Kang Ji-ah.

"Then the guardian can also come in together."

The Holy Knight seemed to have a habit of pronouncing words in a formal way.

"Yes. Is that the right place? The counseling room?"

"Ah, yes yes. That’s right. Both the student and guardian can enter the counseling room together."

We entered the counseling room as the Holy Knight guided us. In the center of the counseling room was a table, where a fierce-looking Holy Knight sat with his fingers interlaced.

On the bookshelf in the corner, fairy tale books and dolls were messily placed. It seemed intended to create a friendly atmosphere, but to me it only seemed to increase the sense of incongruity.

"Please sit."

As I was looking around observing the counseling room scenery, the fierce-looking Holy Knight who had been sitting tapped the desk and spoke. We sat across from the Holy Knight as instructed.

Meanwhile, I glanced at Kang Ji-ah’s face. Perhaps offended by the Holy Knight’s disrespectful attitude, her expression had hardened coldly.

"So, what story did you want to tell us that you called us here?"

Kang Ji-ah glared at the Holy Knight as she asked. The Holy Knight cleared his throat, unclasped his hands, and opened his mouth.

"The reason we called you here is none other than to reveal that this fire was an ’incident,’ not an accident."

"An incident?"

Kang Ji-ah raised her eyebrows as if puzzled.

An incident, not an accident. That meant it wasn’t a fire caused by chance, but someone had intentionally committed arson. I had some idea about this.

The Holy Knight rummaged through his belongings and placed a photo on the desk.

"This is a corpse found at the scene... at your house."

In the photo was a cat. There was a goat pattern brand on its forehead, and intestines were flowing out from its burst belly.

It was the cat I hadn’t given a name to out of fear of getting attached, yet had inevitably grown fond of anyway. The scene of that cat having become a magical beast and died was clearly captured in the photo.

The Holy Knight tapped the photo with his finger and continued.

"As you can see, the magical beast’s belly is burst, right? It appears they turned a stray cat into a magical beast, installed something like explosives in its abdomen, and remotely set the fire."

"...Is the arsonist a Satan worshipper?"

"Yes. That’s what we’re assuming. No, we’re almost certain of it."

Kang Ji-ah glanced at me. I couldn’t tell what her intention was in looking at me. Since she had no expression, I couldn’t read her emotions either.

"So what’s the conclusion?"

Kang Ji-ah turned her gaze back to the Holy Knight and asked sharply. The Holy Knight clasped his hands on the desk and opened his mouth.

"To conclude, it appears that the Satan worshippers are targeting student Do Seon-woo for some reason."

"...Is there a reason?"

Kang Ji-ah asked. The Holy Knight showed various documents and photos while explaining the reason. Something about magical beasts, something about fire points.

In summary, the Satan worshipper had clearly committed arson with the purpose of killing me. After hearing the story, Kang Ji-ah’s expression noticeably darkened.

"Therefore, we’re thinking of assigning Holy Knights to protect student Do Seon-woo’s safety. What does the guardian think about this..."

The reason the Holy Knight Order specifically requested guardian accompaniment seemed to be to get consent for personal protection measures.

Kang Ji-ah sent me a subtle glance as if asking for my opinion. In response, I shook my head to express my refusal.

If Satan worshippers really were targeting my life, it would be right to request personal protection. If Holy Knights protected me, the possibility of losing my life to Satan worshippers would drop significantly.

However, Holy Knights protecting me also meant Holy Knights would be monitoring me.

I am not only a Florence student but also the Voodoo cult leader. If I were monitored by Holy Knights, my actions as cult leader would be restricted, and in the worst case, my identity might be exposed.

"Thank you for the offer, but we’ll decline."

Kang Ji-ah also seemed to agree with my thoughts, nodding slightly and refusing the Holy Knight’s proposal. The Holy Knight wiggled his eyebrows as if puzzled.

"...Are you really sure? The fact that Satan worshippers are targeting student Do Seon-woo is as good as established. While we can’t guess the reason Satan worshippers are targeting Do Seon-woo, if we leave it like this..."

"No, we refuse. There’s no guarantee that receiving personal protection measures will make Seon-woo safer."

"At least he’ll be safer than now."

"It’s useless to try to persuade us. We’re going to refuse anyway. Seon-woo, let’s go."

Kang Ji-ah grabbed my wrist and suddenly stood up from her seat. I followed Kang Ji-ah out of the counseling room.

The Holy Knight shouted something from behind trying to persuade us, but Kang Ji-ah didn’t care at all.

We left the Holy Knight Order building like that. We headed to a nearby road and immediately called a taxi.

"Cult Leader, I apologize for carelessly speaking your name just now. I’m truly sorry."

While waiting for the taxi, Kang Ji-ah bowed her head and apologized to me. I waved my hands dismissively.

"You don’t need to apologize for every little thing like this. What’s the big deal about calling my name?"

"It is a big deal to me."

Kang Ji-ah spoke firmly. I nodded reluctantly.

She seemed much more comfortable calling me Cult Leader. Since she wants to call me Cult Leader, I can’t force her to call me by name.

Come to think of it, there was so much I didn’t know about Kang Ji-ah. What was her reason for helping Voodoo? Was she really 18 years old? Why did she always sleep in the storage room?

"Cult Leader."

Then, Kang Ji-ah suddenly called me. The taxi hadn’t arrived yet.

"Yes."

"Did you know that the arsonist was a Satan worshipper?"

Kang Ji-ah stared at me with unwavering eyes. I fell into thought for a moment.

I had vaguely known that the arsonist was a Satan worshipper.

When I had rushed into the flames to retrieve father’s belongings, I had seen the goat pattern brand stamped on the dead cat’s forehead.

"I did know."

"Why didn’t you tell us then?"

"Because it wasn’t necessarily something I needed to tell you."

However, I hadn’t specifically informed Kang Ji-ah or uncle about it. Part of it was thinking there was no need to inform them, but more than anything, I didn’t want to cause unnecessary worry.

After hearing my words, the corners of Kang Ji-ah’s mouth drooped. She seemed quite offended.

"Cult Leader. There was a time when we robbed the fake Voodoo Revival Church to retrieve the altar, right?"

"Yes. Why are you suddenly bringing that up?"

"Robbing the fake church was partly to retrieve the altar, but also because there was a possibility that the fake church would grow in power and threaten Voodoo."

I nodded. It was correct. Kang Ji-ah looked up at me with determined eyes and continued.

"Because the fake church threatened us, we eliminated them. And now Satan worshippers are threatening us. Do you plan to just leave them alone?"

"..."

I closed my mouth.

Satan worshippers are targeting me. They come unexpectedly at unpredictable moments and kill people in clever and extraordinary ways. In other words, I’m currently in a situation where I could die at any time.

Naturally, I’m anxious. I’m also stressed. While resting, while eating, while sleeping. I never know when Satan worshippers might suddenly appear and kill me.

While I’m not anxious to the point of going crazy, I’ve been having slightly worse insomnia than before, and the frequency of nightmares has increased.

Therefore, I had no intention of leaving them alone. If I could, I wanted to find the Satan worshippers’ base and eliminate them all.

"There’s no method yet. I have no choice but to leave them alone for now."

However, the problem was that there was no method. At least not yet.

Kang Ji-ah hung her head at my words and chewed her lips as if hesitating to speak.

"...What if there was a method?"

She finally opened her mouth with rather meaningful words. What if there was a method?

"If there was a method, naturally I would..."

Vrooom!

At that moment, the taxi arrived. We stopped our conversation and got in the taxi. Kang Ji-ah in the passenger seat, me in the back seat. When the driver asked for the destination, Kang Ji-ah said to go to Florence.

And silence flowed.

"Soon, I’ll find a method and contact you."

The girl sitting in the passenger seat, like me looking out the car window, muttered quietly as if talking to herself.

I didn’t answer and just stared quietly at Kang Ji-ah’s face in the mirror. Her face was expressionless as always.