The Heretic of Cleric Academy-Chapter 78

The main auditorium was already bustling with activity. There were still 10 minutes left until the appointment ceremony began, but students had gathered early in the auditorium, chatting with their friends.

"You said you also took the re-election exam. Who do you think it’ll be?"

"Well... Isn’t it going to be either Gu Jun-hyeok or Do Seon-woo anyway?"

"Hmm. Honestly, if I had to choose between the two, I would..."

Screeeeeech!

A sharp sound echoed from the podium. It was noise created while teachers were checking the sound equipment.

Students frowned and covered their ears. A teacher who had climbed onto the podium grabbed the microphone and opened his mouth.

"Ah, ah. The appointment ceremony will begin soon, so all students seated please maintain silence."

"Ugh... I hate that teacher."

"Right. There are even rumors that he’s dating a student..."

"Hey, over there! I said maintain silence!"

Students gossiping about teachers. A teacher suddenly yelling at such students. On the other hand, there were also students sitting quietly playing on their phones, and teachers silently checking the sound equipment.

Looking at all these scenes, Han Su-ryeon shuddered with disgust.

"Ugh... It’s really noisy."

"All kids are like that."

Yeo Min-seo, who was beside her, spoke as if it was no big deal. Han Su-ryeon looked at Yeo Min-seo with strange eyes. Yeo Min-seo seemed unaware of the fact that she was the same age as those ’kids.’

"But where did Kang Dae-man, Seong Ha-yeon, and Kim Jin-seo all go?"

Yeo Min-seo said while looking around.

"I heard Kim Jin-seo called in sick today. I’m not sure about Kang Dae-man and Seong Ha-yeon."

Han Su-ryeon said while tilting her head. Yeo Min-seo let out a hollow laugh.

"She’s always calling in sick. She uses every trick in the book."

"Hey. She might really be sick."

"Bullshit. She’s probably hitting the punching bag at the gym right now."

Yeo Min-seo clicked her tongue. Han Su-ryeon nodded with pursed lips. Her face showed that whatever Kim Jin-seo was doing wasn’t her concern.

While they were having this conversation, Kang Dae-man walked over from a distance. About 10 meters behind him, Seong Ha-yeon was trudging along.

"Hmm. I’m a bit late!"

Kang Dae-man said while touching his arms. Even though it was April, he was already wearing summer uniform. He was the type who felt hot easily, but it was mostly to show off his muscles. Yeo Min-seo’s face crumpled when she saw Kang Dae-man.

"Why don’t you just not come at all?"

"That won’t do. My goal is to receive a perfect attendance award!"

It was a loss to have long conversations with Kang Dae-man. Yeo Min-seo turned her head toward Seong Ha-yeon, who had been following behind Kang Dae-man. She was backing away stealthily with a terrified expression.

"...Are there ghosts here or something? What are you doing?"

"No, that. Could you please remove that?"

Seong Ha-yeon pointed at Kang Dae-man with her finger. It was a rude gesture as if pointing at some monstrosity rather than a person. Clear fear and disgust showed on her expression. Seong Ha-yeon was afraid of men, and among them, she was especially most afraid of Kang Dae-man.

"That’s not something that goes away just because you remove it."

Yeo Min-seo said while shaking her head as if resigned. Han Su-ryeon beside her tilted her head curiously.

"But isn’t Dae-man kind of cool? He has a good body."

"Are your eyes attached to your toes? Only his body is good, only his body."

"...I’m not sure either."

Yeo Min-seo shuddered as if she absolutely could not accept Han Su-ryeon’s words. Seong Ha-yeon turned her head the other way as if avoiding an answer.

Having gathered like this, they went to the ’Seven Holy Names exclusive seating’ prepared at the very front of the auditorium and sat in their respective seats.

Four seats for Kindness, Temperance, Purity, and Diligence were filled, while Humility, Charity, and Patience remained vacant.

"That bastard Humility... does he even come to school?"

Yeo Min-seo said in disbelief while looking at the seat labeled ’Humility.’ The Holy Name of Humility, nicknamed ’that guy,’ hadn’t come to school even once in the past month.

"He said he’s coming today. Though he mentioned he might be a bit late." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Kang Dae-man, who had been listening, said. Among the officers, no one knew ’that guy’s’ contact information, but only Kang Dae-man knew his contact details. Han Su-ryeon’s face brightened at the news that he was coming.

"Oh, he’s finally coming? I don’t know what he looks like. Is he handsome?"

"He just looks like a jerk."

"What does ’looks like a jerk’ mean...? Hey, Ha-yeon. Haven’t you seen his face before?"

Leaving behind Yeo Min-seo who dismissed the description with ’looks like a jerk,’ Han Su-ryeon turned to Seong Ha-yeon. Seong Ha-yeon seemed somewhat troubled as she averted her gaze, then nodded slightly.

"Yes. I’ve seen him before. Our parents know each other."

"Oh. How is he? Is he handsome?"

"He just... looks like a thug."

"..."

Han Su-ryeon looked disappointed as she hung her head. Between ’looks like a jerk’ and ’looks like a thug,’ she couldn’t get a sense of what he actually looked like. Since there was no mention of being handsome, his appearance probably wasn’t worth expecting.

Thud.

While the officers were passing time with meaningless conversation, the auditorium lights suddenly went out. Yeo Min-seo picked up her phone to check the time. 12:58. It was almost time for the appointment ceremony to begin.

In the darkness that descended on the auditorium, Florence chairman Kim Chang-won walked steadily onto the podium.

"Ahem, cough, ah. Then, from now on. We will have the results announcement and appointment ceremony for the Charity Holy Name re-election exam."

All the lights in the auditorium were off, but only the lighting illuminating the podium was on. All the students kept their mouths shut and waited for the results to be announced. Soon, chairman and archbishop-level cleric Kim Chang-won opened his mouth.

"The Charity Holy Name re-election exam was conducted through the ’Gates of the Ark.’ Through two phases of gates, we evaluated students’ capabilities in a fair and just manner..."

The opening was tedious and predictable. The exam was conducted through gates, fair evaluation was carried out. Through the gates, they could see how excellent Florence students’ capabilities were... and so on, formal words.

"...Therefore, I will now announce the re-elected 35th Charity Holy Name."

When students were about to yawn from boredom, Kim Chang-won moved to the main point. The eyes of students who had been dozing from tedium suddenly opened wide. The four officers, excluding the three vacant seats, all had sparkling eyes, curious about who the re-elected Charity Holy Name would be.

"This student who was re-elected as the 35th Charity Holy Name showed a very impressive performance in the Gates of the Ark. The wit to break through the gates using special methods different from others. Above all, the altruistic attitude of caring for colleagues before oneself."

Kim Chang-won’s words continued.

"I pray that this student selected as the Charity Holy Name will faithfully fulfill their role as the ’Spear of the Holy One’..."

Soon it was time for the name of the selected Charity Holy Name to be called. Students’ eyes sparkled brightly.

"Charity class student Do Seon-woo. Please come up to the podium."

...!

Thunderous applause and cheers poured down from below the podium. While quite a few had doubts about Do Seon-woo being selected as the Charity Holy Name, most were sincerely congratulating Do Seon-woo.

"As expected! Blessings follow the diligent. This is not Do Seon-woo’s victory but the victory of ’diligence.’"

Kang Dae-man applauding while praising the value of diligence.

"In the end, it came back to Do Seon-woo. Well, Gu Jun-hyeok was too stupid anyway."

Yeo Min-seo, who had strongly insisted that Gu Jun-hyeok must be appointed, but now that it was Do Seon-woo, attempted self-rationalization.

"Gu Jun-hyeok was more handsome than Do Seon-woo... What a shame."

Han Su-ryeon jokingly showing regret.

"Ah..."

Seong Ha-yeon letting out a blank sigh.

Some clapped happily, others indifferently, and others sadly. Whether they liked the result or not, Do Seon-woo becoming the Charity Holy Name was already confirmed. Whether they liked it or not, they had to accept it.

Soon, someone jumped onto the podium. Hidden in darkness, it wasn’t clear who it was, but it was likely Do Seon-woo.

"Huff, gasp, whoa, haa. Ch-chairman. Um, Do Seon-woo hasn’t come to school yet..."

However, it wasn’t Do Seon-woo who came up but Ha Ye-jin. She was catching her breath while explaining the situation to Kim Chang-won. Do Seon-woo hadn’t come to school, and he wasn’t answering phone calls.

"...Is it simple tardiness? Or non-attendance?"

Kim Chang-won said with a hardened face. He was famous for greatly disliking tardiness.

Ha Ye-jin tried calling Do Seon-woo one last time, but as expected, he didn’t answer her call either. She looked at Kim Chang-won with a flushed but gloomy face.

"Right now this is... we can’t reach him, so it’s hard to assess..."

"Can’t reach him."

Kim Chang-won twisted his lips in displeasure.

* * *

Kang Ji-ah’s investigation to find the hideout of the Satan worshipper forces targeting Do Seon-woo, the Voodoo cult leader, was successful. However, it was only a half-success.

Through her own investigative techniques and deduction, she narrowed down candidates for where the Satan worshippers’ hideout might be. Then she hacked information from construction companies and related administrative departments to narrow down the candidates further, and soon succeeded in finding where the Satan worshippers’ hideout was.

Nevertheless, her investigation was only ’half’ successful because she was caught by Satan worshippers while reviewing the information.

"It’s quite rare for ’material’ to walk in on its own feet like this... It seems today’s fortune was good."

The Satan worshipper said. The Satan worshipper wore a red robe. His speech was greasy as if he had poured a whole bowl of butter down his throat. There was no expression on his face because he was wearing another person’s face skin over his head.

The Satan worshipper’s hand caressed Kang Ji-ah’s cheek. Despite the creepy sensation, Kang Ji-ah could do nothing but glare at the Satan worshipper. Her body was bound so firmly that she couldn’t move a fingertip, placed on a hospital chair.

"I think of this ’ritual’ as a kind of journey. It’s a type of practice to make body and mind new."

"..."

"Don’t stare at me like that. I gave you time to say goodbye to your family, didn’t I? If ’that person’ had been here, there wouldn’t have been time to talk with family from the beginning."

The Satan worshipper said this while drawing a line across his finger with a scalpel. Blood flowed from the split finger. Then he nodded as if satisfied. Kang Ji-ah couldn’t bear to look at the scene and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Don’t close your eyes. You have to watch. Isn’t that why you came?"

"Wait, don’t touch me...!"

"Hey. Touching is better than cutting with a knife. Don’t you think?"

The Satan worshipper forcibly lifted Kang Ji-ah’s eyelids with his blood-soaked fingertips. Tears flowed from Kang Ji-ah’s blood-stained eyes. It looked like she was shedding tears of blood.

I will probably die here. No, I might suffer an ordeal worse than death.

On the way into the hideout, she had seen numerous taxidermy. Human bodies with blood drained and organs removed, then stuffed with cotton.

She guessed she would end up the same way. It wouldn’t be a comfortable death, but she had no regrets.

Because she had succeeded in informing the cult leader of the location.

The text she had just sent, ’Basarsomang-5,’ meant that the Satan worshippers’ hideout was on the ’-5’ floor, that is, the 5th basement level, of the ’Basar’ shopping center ’Somang’ building. It had become like some kind of code because she sent it in a hurry, but the cult leader would be able to interpret it without difficulty.

Even if she died, she would die having completed her mission. If it helped the cult leader, that was enough. Thinking this, Kang Ji-ah smiled.

"As expected, I knew you’d like it too. You look good when you smile. Now, tell me if it hurts~"

The Satan worshipper said this, then immediately drew a line across Kang Ji-ah’s arm with the scalpel he was holding. It was instantaneous.

"Ugh, huuugh...!"

Kang Ji-ah let out a groan that couldn’t quite become a scream at the pain she had never felt in her life. However, compared to the pain of seeing her arm skin tear and the flesh underneath being exposed, that was nothing.

The Satan worshipper giggled with delight watching Kang Ji-ah writhe in pain. Then he brought the scalpel to Kang Ji-ah’s other arm.

"Stay still. I’ll really make you pretty."

"Ah, wait, ah...!"

Kang Ji-ah kept making sounds that couldn’t become words. Before the fear of death, she was losing her language ability. She recalled how she had been conceited that she could remain detached even before death. She couldn’t remain detached.

Anyone would lose composure before death.

"Now, again. If it hurts, say..."

Crash!

The moment the Satan worshipper was about to cut Kang Ji-ah’s arm with the scalpel, the door to the Satan worshipper’s hideout, the blood-reeking hospital room, opened.

To be precise, the door wasn’t opened but broken. The Satan worshipper looked toward the broken door with puzzlement. Someone was walking toward them with large strides.

Kang Ji-ah saw him approaching and opened her eyes wide.

"Cult... leader...?"

Kang Ji-ah muttered desperately while looking at Do Seon-woo. Do Seon-woo silently drew a spell circle.

Intermediate restoration.

The skin that had been split by the scalpel was touched by mist and healed like magic. It was restoration sorcery close to miraculous. Somehow his skills seemed better than before.

Nevertheless, Kang Ji-ah wasn’t happy at all. Rather, she was in despair. This place was too dangerous. These weren’t opponents he could handle by suddenly coming without preparation. Even if he was the cult leader, they were too much for him to handle alone.

"I, I said. Today, not to come today...!"

"Be quiet."

At Do Seon-woo’s words, Kang Ji-ah closed her mouth. Do Seon-woo’s eyes were glinting more frighteningly than ever before. With a black and murky, yet above all sharp light.

"Who gave you permission to order the cult leader around?"

Those eyes filled with murderous intent were directed at the Satan worshipper. Do Seon-woo immediately emitted Voodoo magic power. Following the emitted Voodoo magic power, his pupils rippled with purple light.