The Heretic of Cleric Academy-Chapter 68

Right after returning from the Holy Knight Order to the chapel, I devoted myself to practicing sorcery and blessings.

Except for when I ate meals or went to the bathroom, I stayed locked in my room the entire time. It was literally secluded training.

The purpose was naturally to reach that "level of mastery" thing.

Of course, there was no progress. I was practicing and then lay down for a moment, only to fall asleep as if I had fainted, and when I woke up it was morning.

I hurriedly finished preparing and headed to school, and spent that day also practicing without any particular incidents.

And finally, Wednesday arrived.

[Your condition is very good today.]

As I was getting dressed in my school uniform and preparing to go out, Legba suddenly spoke to me. His tone was slightly different from usual. His voice pitch was higher, and his pronunciation somehow felt slurred.

"Because I slept a lot yesterday."

It wasn’t a big enough change to be concerning, so I answered casually while putting necessary items in my bag. Textbooks, Bible, and holy items.

[Right. Sleeping a lot is good. But if you sleep too much, it’s not good, not good!]

"...Huh? You usually make a fuss telling me to sleep more."

[Ah, did I. ...Did I do that? Hmm. I don’t remember.]

Just as I was about to leave the room to go to the chapel, I felt something strange about Legba’s voice.

No, to be precise, this wasn’t Legba’s voice. It sounded like another Loa imitating Legba.

And there was only one Loa who would do such a thing. A Loa who could imitate Legba and openly mock him without any consequences.

"Baron Samedi. When did you arrive?"

[...Hmm! This Legba fellow has such an unnecessarily thick voice that it’s not easy to imitate.]

Only then did Baron Samedi reveal his true voice. It seemed he had intended to startle me while imitating Legba.

Though it was such poor quality imitation that it would be embarrassing to call it voice mimicry.

"So what brings you here?"

I asked while putting on my shoes.

[What brings me here? Didn’t you tell me to come once every five days? You haven’t forgotten our agreement, have you?]

"Ah. ...Of course I remembered! Thank you for coming."

Honestly, I had forgotten. Baron Samedi clicked his tongue disapprovingly and opened his mouth.

[Well, anyway, to get to the point. Today will be a day with many various incidents.]

"Various incidents?"

[There will be many incidents, but no major ones. It would be better to consider it an ordinary day.]

An ordinary day. Those words made me feel somewhat better. Wasn’t an ordinary day exactly what I had been longing for?

As I smiled slightly and nodded, Baron Samedi continued.

[If I may give advice, it would be better not to go around alone but always travel with at least one person. Also, be careful of your back. Well then, I’m off!]

"Back? Suddenly what back should I be careful of... Ah, he’s gone."

Baron Samedi left with those final words. Purple mist flowed away from me quickly, as if escaping.

Don’t go around alone. Be careful of your back.

I couldn’t tell whether he meant literally be careful of my back, or be careful of betrayal. I couldn’t even guess what "don’t go around alone" meant.

I couldn’t understand the meaning right now, but it wouldn’t hurt to remember it.

Don’t go around alone, be careful of your back, don’t go alone, be careful of your back...

I went outside while etching Baron Samedi’s prophecy into my mind. In the early morning, the streets were filled with students going to school with sleepy eyes and office workers heading to work. The weather was a bit cloudy.

Thud!

As I was walking through the alley slowly heading to school, someone pushed me from behind.

A Satan worshipper? In broad daylight?

I took a combat stance and turned my head.

Fortunately, it wasn’t a Satan worshipper, and Jeong In-ah was looking at me with a brightly smiling face. Her face was full of mischief.

"You came out early?"

"...Yeah. I woke up early."

"How unusual? Anyway, let’s go together."

Seeing her speak with a bright eye-smile, my stiffly tensed body relaxed and loosened like melting.

I let out a sigh of relief and walked with Jeong In-ah. She seemed to be in an exceptionally good mood today.

"Today’s the re-election exam, right? You applied too, didn’t you?"

Jeong In-ah asked. I nodded.

"Yeah. Gu Jun-hyeok applied too, he said. What about you?"

"I... I didn’t apply. I don’t have confidence I’d do well. I’m going to focus on studying for regular exams."

Jeong In-ah laughed helplessly and turned her attention to the notebook she was holding. It was a notebook where she had organized concepts from ’Romanica Religious Studies,’ a memorization subject.

She seemed to be studying diligently using her commute time. Her concentration was very good.

Come to think of it, I hadn’t studied for exams at all. For humanities subjects like ’Romanica Religious Studies’ or ’Understanding Scripture,’ I could probably manage half-decent scores with basic ability, but natural science subjects like ’Divine Dynamics’ or ’Divine Material Science’ were the problem.

I couldn’t receive Legba’s help like during the diagnostic test. While Legba is an encyclopedia of humanities, he’s like a blank page when it comes to natural sciences.

"Oh? Is that Gu Jun-hyeok over there?"

Let me start studying from tomorrow then! Just as I made that resolution, Jeong In-ah squinted and spoke.

I also looked across the street following her gaze. Over there was Gu Jun-hyeok. He was looking at his reflection through a shop window and grooming his hair.

"It is Gu Jun-hyeok."

"Right? It’s him, right? Hey! Gu Jun-hyeok!"

Jeong In-ah shouted without shame. Gu Jun-hyeok, who had been busily fixing his hair, jumped in surprise and looked this way. His face looked somehow dazed.

After the traffic light turned green, we crossed the crosswalk and went to Gu Jun-hyeok. Gu Jun-hyeok stepped back in apparent confusion, then soon showed a shameless smile as if nothing had happened and opened his mouth.

"What, you guys? Why are you coming together?"

"We met on the way. What are you doing here?"

Jeong In-ah asked. Even while walking, Gu Jun-hyeok kept staring at his reflection in the window. After obsessively grooming his hair for a while, Gu Jun-hyeok opened his mouth.

"The wind messed up my hair so badly... Ah, do you have a comb? I can’t fix this with just my hands."

"A comb? I don’t have one."

Jeong In-ah answered nonchalantly. Gu Jun-hyeok glanced at her bag.

On the side of Jeong In-ah’s bag, a tail comb was clearly inserted. Gu Jun-hyeok grinned and smoothly pulled it out.

"...Huh? Hey, you crazy bastard, what are you doing! That’s for my bangs!"

"I don’t know about bangs or back hair. Anyway, it’s a comb so I’ll use it~"

Gu Jun-hyeok spoke teasingly while grooming his hair with the comb.

Jeong In-ah reached out here and there trying to snatch the comb back from Gu Jun-hyeok. Gu Jun-hyeok twisted his body this way and that, running away from Jeong In-ah.

The two bickered for quite a while, then later started arguing about who was wrong and who was right. It was a scene I had seen countless times.

"Mm."

I nodded while watching that scene.

Satan worshippers have infiltrated Florence. They’re probably in the Charity class, most likely our class.

Baron Samedi said to be wary of people around me. There was a possibility that someone very close and friendly could be a Satan worshipper. No, that possibility was highest.

However, no matter what, it couldn’t be Gu Jun-hyeok and Jeong In-ah, could it?

Maybe I just want to believe they’re not. I want to believe that those two are definitely not Satan worshippers, but thinking about it, there was no guarantee that they weren’t Satan worshippers either.

"..."

Me looking at the two with suspicious eyes. And Jeong In-ah and Gu Jun-hyeok playfully bantering with innocent faces.

There seemed to be a wall between us. A high and solid wall that couldn’t be crossed or broken down.

I emptied my thoughts and walked toward school.

* * *

Knock knock. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

At the sound of knocking, Han Su-ryeon jumped up. She had connected three student council room chairs to make a bed and was sprawled out sleeping on it.

When she got up and opened the door, Yeo Min-seo strode into the student council room.

"What’s the matter?"

Han Su-ryeon asked while rubbing her sleepy eyes. Yeo Min-seo didn’t answer and sat down, spreading two documents she had brought onto the desk. Then she quickly scanned the documents with sharp eyes.

Han Su-ryeon came over to Yeo Min-seo with a puzzled expression and read the documents. Han Su-ryeon’s eyes widened in surprise.

"Why do you have this? No... how did you get this?"

"I have my ways."

The documents Yeo Min-seo had brought were none other than grade reports. Not her own, but Gu Jun-hyeok’s and Do Seon-woo’s grade reports.

The documents listed everything from diagnostic test scores to practical exam scores they had taken up to now.

Yeo Min-seo read the documents for a while, then pressed her temples as if trying to drive away a headache.

"...Han Su-ryeon."

"Yeah?"

"Which one looks more awkward?"

Yeo Min-seo showed the two documents to Han Su-ryeon.

Han Su-ryeon looked at the documents with a reluctant expression. She seemed uncomfortable about secretly looking at someone else’s grades.

While her face initially showed guilt, soon doubt appeared. Eventually, she forgot about guilt and examined the documents with a face full of puzzlement.

"Do Seon-woo... why are his grades like this? Is it an error?"

"Pretty strange, right?"

Han Su-ryeon tilted her head in bewilderment no matter how she looked at it. While Gu Jun-hyeok’s grades remained consistently in the upper-middle range, Do Seon-woo’s grades had too many ups and downs.

Diagnostic test was 1st place. Demon species subjugation practical was also 1st place, but the physical fitness test was 12th place. Fusion blessing circle presentation practical was also 1st place, but healing practical was almost last place.

"There’s no consistency?"

Han Su-ryeon muttered quietly.

Do Seon-woo’s grades lacked consistency.

If he got 1st place in demon species subjugation practical, he should have gotten 1st place in the physical fitness test too, or at least a high score comparable to that, but that wasn’t the case.

If he got 1st place in the diagnostic test, he should have gotten high scores in fusion blessing circle presentation or healing practical, but that wasn’t the case either...

The grades were completely different as if different people had taken each practical exam. Different people?

"Why is sparring practical 3 wins 0 losses again?"

Han Su-ryeon muttered to herself while scanning the documents. Yeo Min-seo’s body stiffened slightly at those words. Han Su-ryeon immediately detected that subtle change.

"Didn’t you say you went 2 wins 1 loss in sparring practical?"

"..."

"Could it be that the 1 loss was to Do Seon-woo?"

Yeo Min-seo silently scowled. Han Su-ryeon’s lips twitched as if she was about to burst into laughter.

From her reaction, it seemed Do Seon-woo was indeed the one who had marred Yeo Min-seo’s winning streak with a single loss.

"Really? You lost to Do Seon-woo? You really lost to Do Seon-woo?"

"...Shut up."

"Wow~ Scary~ But did you really lose? Can’t you tell me the story? Huh? Huh?"

Han Su-ryeon pestered her teasingly. Only when Yeo Min-seo glared at her with a hardened face as if she would kill her did she stop teasing. But she couldn’t hide the twitching at the corners of her mouth.

Yeo Min-seo felt a strong urge to punch Han Su-ryeon’s face, but soon gave up.

After teasing Yeo Min-seo for a while, Han Su-ryeon forcibly suppressed her smile and plopped down in her seat. Then she scanned Do Seon-woo’s grade report again.

"Well... looking at it again, it doesn’t seem that strange."

Han Su-ryeon said with a slight smile. Yeo Min-seo tilted her head in puzzlement.

"How so?"

"Well, he could be the type with severe ups and downs. Like, his condition wasn’t great during the physical fitness test, but his condition was good during demon species subjugation practical. Something like that?"

"Hey, no matter how severe the ups and downs..."

"Or maybe he’s just the type who doesn’t care much about grades?"

Han Su-ryeon spoke as if it was no big deal. Yeo Min-seo hung her head as if pondering.

The type who doesn’t care about grades. No, he doesn’t seem like that type.

Do Seon-woo is the type with excessive passion. The type who tries his best at everything. ...However, if that’s the case, what about trying to forfeit during the sparring practical?

"No, ha. No."

Yeo Min-seo stopped thinking midway and shook her head.

Although it was a disqualification loss, she had sparred with Do Seon-woo and lost. She even received disciplinary action. 15 days of school community service.

Although the punishment was light compared to what she had done, the fact that she had received disciplinary action remained unchanged.

Yeo Min-seo felt uncomfortable just thinking about that memory, as if her insides were twisting.

"Maybe he was just lucky. Do Seon-woo is famous among the kids, right? For being a bubble."

"Bullshit. They call him a bubble but then go ’unbelievable’ when he does well."

Do Seon-woo first became known when diagnostic test scores were announced. He had beaten Seong Ha-yeon, who had entered Florence as the top written exam scorer, to take 1st place.

Moreover, in this sparring practical, Do Seon-woo had beaten Yeo Min-seo and achieved the feat of 3 wins and 0 losses.

This became an opportunity for Do Seon-woo’s already famous reputation to improve even more. So much so that there were even rumors that "his skills are right behind Kim Jin-seo’s."

"Ah, that’s all just joking around. There are more kids who really think he’s a bubble."

Of course, praise always comes with criticism. Many people evaluated all rumors about Do Seon-woo as bubbles, and that his good practical scores were all due to luck.

"I don’t care about what those bastards who can only run their mouths behind people’s backs say. What do you think?"

"Think about what? Whether he’s a bubble or not?"

Yeo Min-seo nodded. Han Su-ryeon pretended to think while stroking her chin, then glanced at the clock and opened her mouth.

"Well... the rumors do seem a bit inflated compared to his actual skills. But I’ve never thought deeply about it. There’s no need to think deeply about it anyway."

"Right."

"If he’s a bubble, he’ll naturally fall out in this exam."

Yeo Min-seo slowly nodded at Han Su-ryeon’s words. She was right. Whatever the rumors were didn’t matter. What mattered was his real skills.

However, Yeo Min-seo didn’t have confidence in gauging Do Seon-woo’s ’real skills.’

From sparring with him directly, she could tell he definitely had better athletic ability than others. If comparing just athletic ability, he would be on par even with Kang Dae-man.

However, the match ended due to her impulsive behavior before a winner could be decided, and as a result, she was disqualified, so she couldn’t figure out what Do Seon-woo’s real skills were or what cards he was hiding.

"Should we get going? It seems like it’s about to start."

Han Su-ryeon called Yeo Min-seo. Yeo Min-seo, who had been swimming in an ocean of thoughts, finally came to her senses and looked at the clock. It was almost time for afternoon classes to start after lunch break.

And today’s afternoon class would be replaced with the Charity Holy Name re-election exam. Students who weren’t taking the exam could just go home, but examinees were supposed to gather in the main auditorium.

"Yeah. Let’s go."

Yeo Min-seo jumped up from her seat. The destination was naturally the main auditorium.

She was also a re-election exam candidate, but she hadn’t applied for the exam because she wanted to become the Charity Holy Name. She had applied for the exam solely to help Gu Jun-hyeok and Do Seon-woo, who were the predetermined candidates.

’I need to check again too.’

Also, she wanted to see Do Seon-woo’s real skills with her own eyes.

The one who had shot down flying bird magical beasts with stone throwing and shown unbelievably excellent athletic ability in sparring.

But whose grades varied wildly each time, and whose evaluations from other kids also varied wildly.

That bastard whose very existence was like a mystery.

Do Seon-woo. She needed to see that guy’s skills with her own eyes once more. Rather than needing to, she wanted to confirm it.

Of course, this Charity Holy Name re-election exam allowed bringing in holy items, making it a very unfair fight for Do Seon-woo, who lacked capital. It was like starting 3 seconds late in a 100-meter race.

In such an unfair situation, how would Do Seon-woo struggle, and how would he turn the situation around?

Imagining it made her laugh.

"Min-seo, you, don’t smile if you can help it. The kids say it makes them uncomfortable."

"...Whether others smile or not. Which bastard said it was uncomfortable? Tell them to come and say it directly to me."

"Oh, actually I’m uncomfortable. So I’m telling you directly."

Han Su-ryeon spoke shamelessly with a smile. Yeo Min-seo looked at her with dumbfounded eyes as if she couldn’t believe it.

After walking in awkward silence for a while like that, they finally arrived in front of the main auditorium.

There were an incredible number of people. From examinees to friends who came to cheer on the examinees, to teachers deployed to manage the crowd. It looked like at least 200 people had gathered.

"Ah, there they are."

Then, Han Su-ryeon pointed at someone beyond the crowd with her finger.

Over there were Do Seon-woo and Gu Jun-hyeok. Watching the two who would soon be competitors having a friendly conversation, Yeo Min-seo felt an inexplicable sense of dissonance.