The Heretic of Cleric Academy-Chapter 56

"Hey, you brat! Why is your phone turned off? Do you want to die?"

"It’s either broken or the battery died. Anyway, that’s what happened."

When I went to the chapel, Uncle Lee Jin-seong came running over in a rush. Kang Ji-ah followed behind him with quick steps.

Both had drowsy eyes but were dressed properly. It seemed they had been preparing to go out.

"What? Where are you going?"

"Where am I going? I was just getting ready to leave to check if you were okay."

"Huh?"

I was slightly flustered. Uncle’s reaction was different from what I had expected.

"I’m fine, but the house burned down completely. Are you okay?"

The studio apartment was something Uncle had gotten for me, and naturally, that cost money too. I thought Uncle would naturally worry about the house first rather than me.

You might think there’s no way such a person exists, but that person was exactly Uncle.

"What are you talking about? Why are you suddenly bringing up the house? As long as you’re okay, that’s all that matters."

"...This isn’t the person I know?"

For a moment, I felt such a sense of dissonance that I wondered if I was seeing hallucinations.

Uncle is someone who thinks all values other than money are meaningless illusions.

For such an uncle to worry about me. Even I think it’s too much, but suspicion came before emotion.

Kang Ji-ah, who had been fidgeting restlessly behind us, opened her mouth.

"Cult Leader, are you alright?"

"Yes. Fine? Well, not completely fine. Just moderately okay."

"That’s fortunate, but the hospital..."

"It’s fine. I don’t need to go."

I said this while throwing the keepsakes and holy items I was carrying onto the desk and casually hanging my jacket on a chair.

I was so tired in both body and mind that I didn’t even have the energy for brief conversation. I felt like I should sleep earlier than usual today.

Uncle looked at the keepsakes and holy items with narrowed eyes.

"What’s this? Brother-in-law’s keepsakes? That thing he said to open when you become an adult?"

"Yeah. I brought it earlier."

"What do you mean by that? How did you bring this?"

"I just went in briefly and came back out."

Uncle’s eyebrows twisted.

"You went into the burning house and brought this out? Earlier? No way. This doesn’t make sense."

"Why not? That’s exactly what happened."

"Really?"

Uncle’s lips trembled with disbelief, then he immediately continued.

"You crazy brat! Learn to value your life, please. You really take after your father."

Uncle scolded me with various words while shouting.

The meaning wasn’t clear. My ears felt blocked and stuffy, so Uncle’s words couldn’t get through and all bounced off. Those scattered words floated in the air.

I shook my head vigorously to shake them off and went into my room.

I lay down on the damp bed and closed my eyes. The countless events of today flashed by quickly, but none of them remained clearly in my memory. Everything was hazy as if it had happened in a dream.

Sleep came quickly, but suddenly remembering something, I bolted upright from the bed.

"Kang Ji-ah."

"Yes, Cult Leader."

I called Kang Ji-ah out and handed her Baal’s Maw. Kang Ji-ah placed Baal’s Maw on her small palm and blinked curiously.

"What is...?"

"That zombie from before, you know. The one we brought when we raided the fake cult."

"Ah, yes."

"There are some problems with me managing it, so I was wondering if you could manage it instead..."

No matter how much she had become a zombie, a person is still a person. If I didn’t feed her, she would starve to death, and if I didn’t maintain cleanliness, she would get sick.

I could feed her, but I couldn’t bathe Jeong Yun-ah. So I decided to entrust it to Kang Ji-ah.

"Ah, I understand. If it’s something like that, of course I can do it."

"I noticed you were quite scared before. Will you be alright?"

However, Kang Ji-ah is timid. I was concerned whether she could really manage Jeong Yun-ah.

Kang Ji-ah’s eyebrows twitched for a moment. It was a rare expression change.

"I can do it."

"Yes. Thank you."

"And I’m not timid. I was just surprised that time."

Kang Ji-ah said with a stiff face. It seemed her pride had been hurt by that incident.

She’s older than me but acts exactly like a child, which made me chuckle. It’s not like I’m not a child either, but anyway.

"Ah, I see."

I nodded as if reluctantly accepting and opened my mouth.

"It’s true."

"Yes, I understand."

I nodded and quickly went into my room. Kang Ji-ah has aspects that are both calm and subtly persistent, so if I didn’t quickly escape, the conversation would drag on.

I quickly changed clothes and threw myself onto the bed like I was collapsing.

Insomnia is a disease of thought. When you close your eyes to sleep, belated thoughts come rushing in, tormenting you so you can’t fall asleep - a mischievous disease.

However, today I was so tired that even having such thoughts was burdensome. As soon as I closed my eyes, I fell asleep right there as if fainting.

* * *

I woke up to a refreshing morning after a long time. Uncle had already gotten up and was reading a book in his usual spot while browsing internet news.

"You got up really early."

I said while rubbing my sleepy eyes. Uncle looked up and glanced at me.

"When you get older, you need less sleep."

"You’re not old enough to say things like that."

"Mm, that’s true. But I originally don’t sleep much anyway."

Uncle smiled slightly, seemingly in a good mood, and continued reading the news he was looking at. Looking from beside him, it seemed to be a report about yesterday’s fire. I read it together with him.

To summarize, there were no casualties thanks to the Eastern Holy Knight Order’s good initial response, and several people were taken to the hospital with minor injuries.

Although fire suppression was delayed because the support team was late, Commander Han Dae-ho reproduced a miracle to create water sprays, and thanks to removing the cause of the fire with that, it didn’t spread into a major fire.

The commander himself denies having performed a miracle, but whether he denies it or not, given the circumstances it’s likely Commander Han Dae-ho’s achievement, so they more or less concluded it that way.

"Well, as long as there were no casualties, that’s good. Though it’s a bit heartbreaking about the house burning down."

Uncle said calmly while reading the news.

I read the entire news article and then read the comments too. They were full of praise for the Eastern Holy Knight Order, and there were also some criticizing the support team’s incompetence.

While the public praised the Holy Knights who heroically saved citizens, they had no interest in the disaster victims who lost their homes in the fire... It was natural, and I didn’t intend to call the public foolish for this, but somehow my heart felt empty.

"Are you going to school? But is your uniform okay? Doesn’t it smell like smoke?"

"I washed it so it should be fine."

"Really? Mm, handle it yourself."

Uncle stopped reading the fire report and moved to the economic section, reading the news with incomparably greater concentration than before.

Coins crashed, the Han River water temperature will be set to 36.5 degrees, he muttered to himself as I finished preparing while leaving Uncle behind.

"Mm."

Today I successfully tied my necktie well. I nodded satisfactorily and adjusted my appearance and groomed my hair.

Just as I was about to leave, Uncle Lee Jin-seong suddenly jumped up from his seat.

"Seon-woo. And I’m serious about what I said yesterday. Take care of yourself."

"Huh? What’s this all of a sudden?"

Looking at Uncle suddenly speaking worriedly, I slowly backed away. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

The sense of dissonance was so excessive that it felt unpleasant. I even wondered if Uncle’s time to die had finally come.

But thinking about it, Uncle also lost family in the Holy War just like me. It was natural for him to wish that I, his remaining blood relative, wouldn’t die.

Maybe I had been thinking of Uncle as trash who only cared about money. Perhaps I had been looking at Uncle through colored glasses... Feeling newly reflective, I opened my mouth.

"I probably won’t die easily anyway, so it’s fine. You don’t need to worry."

"I know that, but just be careful. Just in case."

"I understand. How unusual for Uncle to worry about me. I thought you only cared about money."

I chuckled and prepared to leave. Uncle frowned and stroked his chin, opening his mouth with a somewhat serious expression.

"If you convert the value, you’re worth more than the house. You know about the goose that lays golden eggs."

"Oh, right."

I ignored him and left the chapel. I retracted my earlier reflection.

* * *

It was better than yesterday, but there was still pain in my body. I didn’t notice it when preparing at the chapel, but once I actually started walking, I could feel the pain. I barely managed to drag my heavy body to school.

Before I entered, the children were making so much noise that their chatter could be heard all the way to the corridor, but as soon as I entered the classroom, it became quiet as if cold water had been poured on them. All the children’s gazes were directed at me.

"...What is it this time?"

I felt like I had experienced a similar situation before. A headache was already coming on.

I wiped away the cold sweat that was flowing for no reason and sat down, when Jeong In-ah, who was sitting at a distance, quickly turned her head to look at me.

She pushed through the friends surrounding her and plopped down in the seat in front of me. Her expression was somehow dark.

"Hey, you, your house. I heard your house caught fire. Yesterday."

She continued with a trembling voice.

"Are you okay? I got the disaster text yesterday and was surprised, so I called, but you didn’t answer, so I wondered what happened..."

"I’m fine. If I wasn’t fine, I wouldn’t have been able to come to school."

"Mm. That’s true."

Jeong In-ah nodded as if convinced. It was good that she accepted it quickly.

Not long after that, Gu Jun-hyeok appeared. As soon as he saw me, he widened his eyes in surprise.

"Hey! There was another fire yesterday. Is that really your house?"

"Yeah."

I answered calmly. Nothing was more tiring than answering the same question twice.

"Are you okay? Is it alright for you to come to school? You look fine though."

"If I wasn’t okay, I wouldn’t have been able to come to school."

"Mm. That makes sense."

Gu Jun-hyeok nodded. He was as quick to accept as Jeong In-ah.

Gu Jun-hyeok looked at Jeong In-ah sitting in front of me and widened his eyes again in even more surprise. His pupils looked like they might pop out.

"Wait, what! Jeong In-ah is here? Why did you come?"

"Why did I come? You should ask why I didn’t come, right?"

"Huh? Oh, that’s right. Well anyway, as long as we understand each other."

"We don’t understand each other in the first place, so what nonsense... Mm."

Jeong In-ah, who had been about to raise her voice, stopped talking. Gu Jun-hyeok, who had been preparing for a shin attack, pursed his lips in surprise.

"Huh. Why is Jeong In-ah acting like this? Did she break down?"

"Break down? I’m not a machine, so what... No. I decided to reduce my anger a bit, okay? Please cooperate."

Jeong In-ah said coercively while subtly glaring at Gu Jun-hyeok. For someone who decided to reduce her anger, it was a somewhat aggressive tone.

Still, seeing that Gu Jun-hyeok’s shin was still intact, it seemed she had made some resolution.

Gu Jun-hyeok snickered and turned his gaze to me.

"Want to bet on how long it lasts? I’ll put 20,000 won on it breaking within two days."

"Oh really, I asked you to cooperate earlier..."

"Then I’ll put 20,000 won on it breaking within today."

Jeong In-ah, who was about to scold Gu Jun-hyeok, stopped talking and looked at me intently. Her face looked very wronged.

"You, even you. Wow, really you guys...!"

She complained with her mouth open in disbelief. Gu Jun-hyeok giggled while looking at such Jeong In-ah.

Certainly Jeong In-ah had intense reactions, making her fun to tease. While we were playing around like that for a while, Ha Ye-jin opened the front door and entered.

"Hello~ Good morning~"

Ha Ye-jin greeted energetically, and the noisy classroom quickly became quiet. Ha Ye-jin immediately took attendance and started the morning assembly.

"Yesterday there was a big forest fire so we had early dismissal, right? According to regulations, we should have issued a school closure order, but since it’s almost exam period, we decided to have normal attendance!"

Several students sighed deeply. They seemed to feel dejected at the mention of exam period. I felt the same way.

"Oh, and you absolutely must not approach Eden Hill. There’s still a lot to process there. Likewise, you can’t go to Livestock Building No. 1 either! Absolutely not!"

It seemed they had no intention of informing students that the hill had been eroded by dark magic. They probably planned to handle it quietly without the students knowing. It was a very Florence-like response.

"The re-election exam for the Holy Name of Charity will probably be sometime next week. Applications will probably be accepted next week too. Those who want to prepare should prepare~ Yes. That’s all for announcements!"

The re-election exam is scheduled for sometime next week. The exam content will remain undisclosed until the day of.

Of course, whatever the exam content is, I plan to apply. This is the fastest way to become a high-ranking cleric.

"Oh, student Do Seon-woo, please come with me for a moment."

Then Ha Ye-jin called me. From her tone, it didn’t seem like she was going to scold me. There was nothing I had done wrong anyway, but when told to come along, I got nervous even when I hadn’t done anything wrong.

I received the students’ questioning gazes all over my body and followed Ha Ye-jin out of the classroom. Then we headed straight to the faculty office.

"Read this and decide."

Ha Ye-jin rummaged through her drawer for a while and then took out a piece of paper and handed it to me. Her tone was quite serious.

What Ha Ye-jin handed me was some kind of document.