The Heretic of Cleric Academy-Chapter 105

The Central Library for the Council of Elders and faculty was connected to the general library that students could freely access. The structure was such that you had to cross a skybridge placed between the general library and Central Library buildings, then use an access card to open the door before finally reaching the Central Library.

While teachers had access card functions included in their teacher IDs, officers had to get Central Library access cards issued by the librarian each time.

After school, I headed to the library and first went to the librarian to get an access card issued.

"The Holy Name of Charity? Are you that newly selected student?"

When I revealed that I was the Holy Name of Charity and requested a Central Library access card, the librarian looked me over and asked. I nodded and opened my mouth.

"Yes. I was selected not long ago."

"What business do you have visiting the Central Library?"

"I have a proposal to write for student council work, and I need materials."

"Ah, a proposal... I see."

The librarian’s tone was very stiff. Despite this being our first meeting, there was clear wariness in her attitude toward me.

I couldn’t tell why the librarian was being so guarded toward me. Strange rumors about me might have spread, or the librarian might naturally have a prickly personality.

The librarian, who had been frowning while typing on the keyboard, suddenly raised her eyebrows as if remembering something.

"Oh, did you bring a permit?"

"Huh? What permit..."

"You need to get a permit from an elder, the chairman, or the principal or vice-principal. The policy changed recently, so you can’t enter without one."

"Ah."

To join the Central Holy Knight Order, you needed a recommendation letter from archbishop-level or higher clergy, and to enter the Central Library, you needed another permit. To enter anywhere with "Central" in the name, you always needed help from higher-ups.

It was a structure where you couldn’t do anything unless you had strong backing or were exceptionally skilled at flattery.

[That would be the foundation that maintains the ecclesiastical system. There would also be reasons to make them feel a sense of belonging among themselves by pushing and pulling each other.]

While wandering meaninglessly through the general library with disappointed feelings, Legba spoke.

[Besides, don’t you have connections with the chairman? It seems like you could make good use of that.]

"..."

I nodded silently. I had built a relationship with Chairman Kim Chang-won, and if I got a permit from him, I could enter the Central Library without problems.

Since I had to complete the proposal by tomorrow, I decided not to delay and immediately headed to the chairman’s office.

Thud.

"Ah! ...I’m sorry."

Then I almost tripped over something like a stone. I quickly apologized to block the sharp gazes of studying students and checked what had caught my foot.

Someone’s foot was sticking out from beyond a desk, sprawled on the floor. She was sitting almost lying down in her chair, using her hair as an eye mask to block light, sleeping so deeply she wouldn’t notice if carried away.

[That’s a posture that breaks the back and twists the neck. These days, kids need to fix their sitting posture first...]

Legba sighed as if lamenting. Hearing "these days, kids" made me feel a bit of generation gap, and it was somewhat uncomfortable to hear, but it wasn’t entirely wrong.

"Hey."

I tapped her head to wake her up.

"Mmm..."

Jeong In-ah made a strange sound and barely got up from her position.

She roughly swept her disheveled hair to organize it and stared at me blankly with sleepy eyes. She seemed to have trouble seeing clearly as she frowned.

"Mm... mm? Huh! What!"

Jeong In-ah, who had been slowly fixing her posture, belatedly became startled and made a fuss. The sharp gazes of kids who had been studying hard in the library focused on us again. She lowered her voice and bowed her head toward the surroundings, apologizing "Sorry, sorry."

"Let’s go outside for now..."

Jeong In-ah whispered in my ear while reading the mood. I nodded and followed her as she hurriedly left the library. Even while leaving, I could clearly feel the pointed stares of the studying kids.

Clunk!

At a shabby vending machine next to the bicycle rack by the library entrance, Jeong In-ah pulled out two cans of instant coffee. She immediately opened one for herself to drink and gave me the other one.

Jeong In-ah sat on a bench after brushing away yellowed dried leaves with her collar, then looked up at me and opened her mouth.

"Do you usually go to the library? I think this is the first time I’ve seen you."

"First time coming today."

"Right? If I’d seen you, I wouldn’t have forgotten..."

Jeong In-ah paused mid-sentence.

"Sit down! Why are you just standing there? It’s making me anxious."

"Why are you suddenly angry..."

"Just sit down, quickly!"

Unable to resist her urging, I reluctantly sat in the seat next to her. Jeong In-ah held the coffee can tightly with both hands while looking down, then took a sip of coffee and looked at me.

"So why did you come to the library? To study?"

"No, I had something to research for student council work."

"Ah, student council... I thought our Do Seon-woo finally decided to study today. But of course you wouldn’t!"

At the mention of "student council," her face briefly darkened, then brightened with an awkward smile. Her voice speaking playfully was trembling slightly. Her tone was also somehow awkward. She seemed displeased that I was doing student council activities.

"You came to study, right?"

I asked, intending to change the subject. Jeong In-ah nodded vigorously and crossed her legs.

"Yeah, I come to the library to study every day unless something special happens. All day long."

"Really? Not to sleep?"

When I asked playfully, Jeong In-ah looked down in embarrassment and swept her hair back.

"Ah, earlier I was just briefly sleepy so I slept for about 20 minutes... no, about 10 minutes. Before that, I was studying really hard."

"You were sleeping pretty deeply though."

"...I’m the type who sleeps short but deep. Originally, stamina management is important for studying too. You have to nap in the afternoon to study until night."

Jeong In-ah muttered.

The way she stuck out her lips and chatted reminded me of a cute sparrow, making me unconsciously laugh. Perhaps more upset by that laughter, she glared at me with narrowed brows.

"Why are you laughing! I didn’t say it for you to laugh at."

"Okay, okay."

"You’re responding like you’re coaxing a child..."

"Come on, I said okay. I won’t laugh."

"...You’re still laughing!"

Jeong In-ah said with a red face.

She was wearing an oversized ivory hoodie over her school uniform, and every time she got angry, the clothes fluttered like wings. Watching that made it even harder to hold back laughter.

She bit her lips and kept glancing at me as I laughed.

Eventually, Jeong In-ah sighed as if too tired to be angry anymore, hung her head, and took a sip of coffee. Then she suddenly frowned and held her back.

"Does your back hurt?"

"No, it doesn’t really hurt. Mm, just a little... Maybe I studied too hard?"

Jeong In-ah said while forcing a smile despite her fingertips trembling from pain.

"Isn’t it your posture?"

"Huh? Is that so...?"

"You’re crossing your legs now too, and when you were sleeping earlier, your posture was..."

Hearing my words, Jeong In-ah slyly uncrossed her legs. Then she fixed her posture and arranged her skirt.

"It doesn’t hurt anymore! So stop nagging."

"This isn’t nagging, it’s worry."

"Who’s worrying about whom? You’re always getting hospitalized and stuff."

I had nothing to say.

"...That’s separate."

"Separate my foot! You’re changing the subject again because it’s disadvantageous. And I’m really fine. I learned a new technique recently."

Light flowed from Jeong In-ah’s fingertips as she said this. It was such a small amount of divine power that you wouldn’t notice unless you concentrated.

With it, she drew one small blessing circle the size of a thumbnail and one palm-sized blessing circle. Each drawn blessing circle naturally fused before long, and the emitted light wrapped around her waist like a caress.

"Ta-da! Now it really doesn’t hurt."

"...What did you do?"

I couldn’t tell what she had done. I couldn’t even distinguish whether she had used blessing or healing. Jeong In-ah smiled proudly and opened her mouth.

"I appropriately combined regeneration blessing and healing. The divine power ratio is about 7:3? This way it relieves pain, gradually heals the body, and has almost no side effects."

"You can adjust ratios?"

"Yeah. Like this, like this, if you do it well."

I wondered what changed when you adjusted divine power ratios, and whether there was even a method to adjust ratios in the first place.

According to Jeong In-ah, you could do it somehow if you did it well, but her explanation was too poor and unfriendly for me to understand at all. She looked at me and smiled broadly.

"Anyway, isn’t it amazing? I’m thinking of entering a small thesis competition with this. I have to get first place and win an award. I can get first place, right?"

"It is amazing, but first place is a bit..."

"Geez, can’t you just say I’ll get first place? I want some confidence at least."

Jeong In-ah said while tapping my shoulder with her fluttering sleeves. She had a mischievous smile on her lips. I followed her and laughed along.

"The idea is novel and good. First place seems possible too."

"This is totally prostrating for a bow..."

Jeong In-ah, who had been muttering to herself with a wry smile, looked down at her wristwatch and then raised her eyebrows in surprise.

Then she jumped up from her seat, but bent her back in pain as if the back pain hit her again.

"Uh, oh no. I’ve been out too long. Time is tight..."

"If it hurts, rest a bit."

I pointed to Jeong In-ah’s back with my finger and said. She shook her head and opened her mouth with a determined face.

"No way! If I rest today, I’ll want to rest tomorrow too."

"Wouldn’t it be okay to rest for about a day? Think of it as condition management."

"If you say that, mm, uh..."

Jeong In-ah stopped her steps toward the library and fell into brief contemplation.

She had been noticeably losing weight lately. She had definitely devoted herself to studying without proper meals, saying it was exam period. I learned from the previous incident that she had the bad habit of skipping meals when she had depressing things or things to focus on.

"Still, I want to finish the studying I started today. I’ll rest tomorrow. This would be better."

Jeong In-ah said with a bright smile. I had recommended rest thinking she might collapse again someday, but she seemed determined not to rest today no matter what. I sighed involuntarily.

"What if you get sick on exam day?"

"Nah, I won’t. It’s fine, it’s fine. And I’m planning to get first place on this exam, so I’m working a bit hard. After the exam ends, I’ll play around like crazy."

"First place?"

Jeong In-ah’s goal seemed high enough to feel unreasonable. Well, seeing her effort, it might not be an entirely unreasonable goal...

Anyway, I was a bit puzzled. She didn’t seem like the type to be obsessed with studying or be greedy about it.

"If I get about first place in Florence, wouldn’t the Holy Knights listen to me a bit? I have thoughts like that. ...Just, just trying to set big goals. If I study aiming for first place, wouldn’t I get about 20th place?"

The bright smile she had been holding gradually became muddied. I couldn’t find words to answer and turned my gaze away.

It seemed she wanted to get first place in midterms to overcome the frustration she felt when she went to the Holy Knight Order to look for her sister.

It was an awkward situation where I couldn’t stay serious with my mouth shut or try to smile as if it was nothing. Jeong In-ah looked at me and smiled awkwardly.

"Hey~ Why are you being awkward? It’s not like this is my first or second time doing this."

"..."

"And where in the world is there a person without a story! You, me, Gu Jun-hyeok, we all have at least one story each... Mm, anyway, it’s not something to be so serious about. Got it?"

She spoke instructively. Her tone was playful and cheerful. She seemed to be considering me by telling me not to get unnecessarily depressed.

However, she wasn’t in a position to consider others, and I wasn’t in a position to be considered. She approached me with quick steps and gently placed her glowing fingertips on top of my head.

"What are you doing..."

"Stay still."

She cut off my words mercilessly and was moving her fingers quickly over my head. Whether it was a blessing circle or healing circle, she seemed to be drawing something anyway.

Soon, brilliant light bright enough to dazzle my eyes wrapped around my head. My head became briefly dizzy, then my mind cleared and my vision became sharp.

"How is it?"

"...What changed?"

"Don’t you feel like your mind is clearer, or fatigue is relieved, or something like that?"

Come to think of it, my mind did seem a bit clearer. It felt like removing a few stones that had been placed in my head. When I nodded, Jeong In-ah smiled purely and opened her mouth.

"This is also a new technique! I mixed peace and healing and this and that. The concept is healing the mind... How is it?"

"It’s good."

"It’s good? That’s a relief."

Jeong In-ah sighed in relief and continued.

"I researched this blessing circle to use on you. You’ve looked tired lately."

"Me?"

"Yeah. You’ve been busy lately going to meetings and studying. So..."

Jeong In-ah stopped talking and looked at her watch.

"...Wow, time melted away while talking with you. I’m really going in! See you tomorrow!"

Jeong In-ah crumpled the finished coffee can and threw it in the trash, then waved at me and entered the library.

After her figure completely disappeared, while walking toward the chairman’s office, I drank all the coffee because I was thirsty. While doing so, I mulled over what Jeong In-ah had said to me.

"And where in the world is there a person without a story!"

I was ridiculously finding comfort in those words.

I often feel this, but Jeong In-ah was skilled at comforting or caring for others.

Thinking that a sister who grew up under such an older sister would have been very happy, I stopped by a public restroom on the way and threw up all the coffee I had drunk.

* * *

Finally arriving at the chairman’s office with heavy steps.

"Oh my, the chairman is currently in a meeting..."

What greeted me wasn’t the chairman but his secretary. I heard from the secretary that the chairman was currently in a meeting about some unidentified commotion that occurred in the school, and the meeting would probably end around 7 o’clock.

Since it was 5:30 now, it meant I couldn’t meet the chairman for about an hour and a half.

I couldn’t just sit in the chairman’s office waiting for an hour and a half, and it seemed better to visit the chapel and come back. Eventually, I left Florence and headed to the chapel through the desolate scenery of the alley.

[You just took a completely useless trip.]

Around the time when even the sunset disappeared and the streetlights in the alley began to emit light one by one, Legba said.

I laughed because I felt pointlessly dejected. Sometimes there are days when things go surprisingly well, and sometimes there are days when things amazingly don’t work out - today seemed to be the latter.

Whoosh!

While walking wherever my feet took me, lost in emptiness, a crushed can slowly flew toward me. I ducked my head to avoid it.

Looking carefully, some woman across the way was rummaging through a trash can and throwing garbage in all directions.

"Plastic, cans, paper, scrap metal, bottles..."

Clatter!

Cola cans, bundles of documents, nails, soju bottles. Things that wouldn’t be a problem if they hit you, things that would be dangerous if they hit you, things that might kill you if they hit you wrong.

The woman didn’t discriminate. She just burst open garbage bags scattered in the alley and grabbed whatever garbage flowed out to throw it recklessly. There was no discernible pattern in the woman’s actions.

[Is she insane?]

Legba said quietly.

The woman’s appearance was truly that of a madwoman. Hair sticking out wildly in all directions, unfocused bloodshot red eyes, mouth drooling saliva...

Thinking there would be nothing good from associating with her, I quickened my pace. I planned to carefully avoid being noticed by the woman and quickly escape the alley.

Crash!

At that moment, a soju bottle fell at my feet. The crazy woman alternately looked at the green glass shards scattered on the ground and my face.

"Glass...?"

Then she began slowly approaching me while shaking her shoulders.

Empty eyes were clearly staring at my face. The teeth visible between her half-open lips were sharp and pointed like those of a beast, not a human. That itself was threatening, and the woman was even holding a broken glass shard in her left hand.

"Don’t come."

"Glass...? Glass..."

Despite my warning not to come, the woman silently moved her steps toward me without seeming to hear.

I sighed and looked at the ring on my left pinky. The bone gem embedded in the center was rippling with purple light. The sorcery currently inscribed in the bone gem was probably ’fainting’ or ’hallucination.’ Either way, it was enough to subdue one crazy woman.

"Ah, today really..."

That aside, today was truly an amazingly frustrating day.

Crack!

I hit the ring against a telephone pole, creating a crack in the gem. Thread-thin mist slowly poured out from the crack.