The Heretic of Cleric Academy-Chapter 57

"Dormitory... dormitory? Is dormitory application still available?"

"Didn’t I tell you before? A few rooms are empty so they’re recruiting additional applicants."

"Ah."

"You really don’t listen to morning assembly at all, do you?"

Ha Ye-jin glared at me with narrowed eyes. Beyond her face full of laughter, I caught a glimpse of slight coldness.

Ha Ye-jin always covered and hid her true feelings with laughter. At least that’s how I felt.

"I do listen, but not carefully, yes. I’m sorry."

I tried to make an excuse but thought it sounded pathetic, so I just apologized directly.

Ha Ye-jin showed no change in expression and just kept smiling brightly.

"There’s nothing to be sorry about. I know there are many kids who don’t listen anyway. Anyway, if you’re thinking of moving in, I’ll write you a recommendation letter and various other things..."

Ha Ye-jin continued her explanation. Considering my family circumstances, the fire, and various other factors, I could be given top priority for dormitory admission, and with just a homeroom teacher’s recommendation letter, I could stay in the dormitory starting today.

Of course, if I didn’t want to, there was no need to enter the dormitory. Such formal talk.

"Then think it over and talk to your father about it too. Oh, how’s your body? Are you okay?"

Ha Ye-jin, who had been listing off rigid topics, suddenly asked as if remembering.

"Yes. I was outside at that time."

"What were you doing outside at that hour?"

"Study room."

I lied casually.

"Ah. Anyway, I’m glad you’re okay. Then go back and listen to class well. After you decide, come find me again."

"Yes, thank you for your concern."

"Oh, and."

I bowed my head and tried to quickly leave the faculty office, but Ha Ye-jin stopped me. She moved her lips with a somewhat complicated expression before barely opening her mouth.

"Don’t resent too much."

"Yes? Ah... Yes. Thank you."

I belatedly understood the meaning and nodded.

"If you have any difficulties, tell me. Florence has better welfare than you’d think. Like scholarships or counseling."

I nodded again in response and left the faculty office.

Florence has better welfare than you’d think. The fact that I was able to enroll at Florence was also thanks to that welfare, so there’s nothing more to say.

Resentment.

Walking down the corridor, I pondered Ha Ye-jin’s words.

She probably wanted to say not to resent God even if reality was difficult.

Of course, I don’t resent God, and I have no intention of doing so no matter what happens in the future.

Blaming others for the cause of misfortune is cowardly, and especially if that target is God, it’s even more so.

There was nothing more arrogant and cowardly than thinking that misfortune is given by God while happiness is obtained by oneself.

When I entered the classroom, Jeong In-ah and Gu Jun-hyeok welcomed me. Jeong In-ah had a worried face, and Gu Jun-hyeok had a somehow complicated expression.

"What did the teacher say? What happened?"

"She said to apply for the dormitory if I want to. The rest was small talk."

"Ah... that’s a relief. I thought you went to get scolded."

"What did I do wrong?"

"Ah, that’s right. I confused you with Gu Jun-hyeok."

Jeong In-ah sighed in relief and was convinced. Gu Jun-hyeok, who was listening, looked at Jeong In-ah incredulously.

"Why am I suddenly brought up? This is a bit ridiculous."

"You have no reason to go to the faculty office except to get scolded."

Jeong In-ah said matter-of-factly.

"No, that’s... not to that extent. Sometimes I go for other things too."

"Other things like what?"

"Well, let’s see. Cleaning?"

When Gu Jun-hyeok said this reluctantly, Jeong In-ah laughed as if she knew it. Gu Jun-hyeok frowned deeply.

"Hey, don’t laugh. It feels like you’re mocking me and it’s annoying."

"I am mocking you. You saw correctly."

"Ah, really?"

Tug.

Gu Jun-hyeok twisted one of Jeong In-ah’s hairs and pulled it out. Jeong In-ah let out a small scream and covered her head with both hands.

"You crazy...! No, what are you doing!"

"Huh? Didn’t you just curse?"

Gu Jun-hyeok waved the hair he had pulled out and spoke mischievously.

Jeong In-ah’s face twitched and changed between laughing and serious expressions.

She seemed so angry that she couldn’t even properly manage her own expression. Gu Jun-hyeok just kept laughing.

The two stared at each other intensely. Both were silent, and there was a subtle coldness in their eyes.

"They’re going to fight again. What are you doing from the morning?"

I quickly stopped them before a fight broke out. When the two fought, I was the only one who suffered being caught in between.

Jeong In-ah looked back and forth between me and Gu Jun-hyeok, then finally sighed deeply and hung her head.

"Sigh, okay. Let’s not fight."

"Okay. Truce! But looking from above, your crown is a bit empty. Is it hair loss?"

"Ah... Hey. Come here."

Jeong In-ah suddenly got up from her seat and strode toward Gu Jun-hyeok. Gu Jun-hyeok quickly stepped back and moved away from her.

"Nope, not going~ Do you think I’d go just because you tell me to?"

Instead of apologizing, Gu Jun-hyeok provoked Jeong In-ah even more. Jeong In-ah silently hardened her face and strode toward him.

"Hey... stop it."

Even when I tried to stop them again, there was no sign they would stop. I gave up and just decided to sit and watch. It didn’t seem like they would listen even if I tried to stop them, and most of all, it was embarrassing to get caught between them.

When Jeong In-ah approached, Gu Jun-hyeok moved away, and the two engaged in a silent chase.

Bang!

Both their movements stopped simultaneously because of Kim Jin-seo, who suddenly appeared. Kim Jin-seo, who had opened the back door as if to break it, strode toward me.

"Come out."

"Huh? What suddenly..."

She grabbed my wrist and dragged me to the corridor.

The noisy classroom quickly became quiet with Kim Jin-seo’s entrance. Everyone was looking at me, but before I could be conscious of their gazes, I was dragged out of the classroom by her touch.

"The fire. Is it your house?"

Her expression was stiffly hardened, and her eyes examining my face were sharp as if they would tear. Her under-eyes were somehow sunken. Her eyes were slightly red as if tired.

I barely managed to nod.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Why didn’t you answer the phone?"

"The battery died so it was turned off."

"Ah..."

Kim Jin-seo rolled her eyes here and there. It seemed she had also called me while my phone was off.

When the power is off and a call comes, it doesn’t show as a missed call so I didn’t know. I don’t know about other phones, but that’s how my model worked. It’s an old phone...

"Hospital."

"I don’t need to go. I was outside when the fire happened."

Kim Jin-seo seemed relieved after hearing the answer and nodded slightly, but her face was still stiffly hardened.

"...Outside, where?"

She asked carefully. She tilted her head as if playing dumb, but only her eyes were staring at me intently.

"I was at a study room."

I told the same lie I had told Ha Ye-jin. Since it was exam period, most people would accept that I was at a study room.

"Which study room?"

"In front of my house. That, in front of the park."

"Really?"

Kim Jin-seo pressed her lips together and was silent for a moment.

Her face was still expressionless. Unlike when she smiled, when she was serious, she looked a bit scary. She had an impression that made you naturally lower your eyes even without being threatened. She especially often showed a serious face in front of me.

After a brief silence, she chuckled and opened her mouth.

"I must have misjudged a person."

She walked away from me with quick steps and soon disappeared. Her walking was fast enough to compare with most people’s running speed.

I wasn’t sure, but she seemed somewhat angry. It wasn’t clear because it didn’t show on her expression.

Gu Jun-hyeok, who had been watching the situation from behind, approached with his mouth covered and a grinning face.

"What? Did you do something wrong?"

"I don’t know either."

I said with a hollow laugh.

What did it mean that she misjudged a person, and why was Kim Jin-seo angry? I thought we had become close, but maybe it was just my misunderstanding. Various thoughts occurred to me.

"Maybe she just doesn’t like me."

It wasn’t an impossible guess. Gu Jun-hyeok, who was listening, tilted his head as if he didn’t understand. His face was strangely scrunched up.

How does one make such an expression? While I was wondering, he opened his mouth.

"What kind of illness is this? If she didn’t like you, why would she come all the way to the classroom?"

"Then why is she acting like that?"

"I don’t know that either. Anyway, be nice to her. If you act like this, I can’t go to the gym."

"What does that have to do with this?"

Gu Jun-hyeok touched the back of his head and rolled his eyes. He had a contemplative expression. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking about.

"Well. It’s very complex and profound causal relationships, ugh!"

At that moment, Gu Jun-hyeok stopped talking mid-sentence and fell down. Jeong In-ah was staring at the fallen Gu Jun-hyeok with an angry face.

"Hey. I told you to come."

"Ah, wait. This isn’t right. How can you kick the back of my knee?"

"Was pulling out hair a good deed?"

"What can I do about your crown being empty..."

Smack.

Jeong In-ah didn’t even listen to Gu Jun-hyeok’s words and kicked his leg once more. The sound was more destructive than usual.

The two fought like that for a while, hitting and kicking each other, and I was too embarrassed to be with them so I quickly escaped.

* * *

"The 22-Chapter, 404-verse Revelation. This particularly careful part in interpretation..."

Just before lunch time, the last morning class. The subject was ’Understanding Scripture,’ and specifically a lesson on the ’Interpretation of Revelation’ Chapter was in progress. Perhaps because it was right before lunch, concentration was quite low.

"Then, let’s have someone present on the two perspectives for interpreting this Revelation... What? These kids are all lying down showing off their crowns? Where’s the class president?"

"We don’t have a class president yet, teacher."

"No class president? Ah... it’s the Charity class. Oh no."

Since Bae Seong-hyeon, who was the class president, was stripped of his qualification and expelled, the Charity class still didn’t have a class president.

The teacher swept his bangs back as if troubled.

"Was Understanding Scripture the diagnostic test subject this year? Right?"

The teacher frowned as if recalling memories.

At Florence, the diagnostic test subject changes every year, and this year it was Understanding Scripture.

If it had been a science subject like Divine Dynamics instead of Understanding Scripture, I wouldn’t have been able to get first place, let alone 300th place. My getting first place was purely thanks to Legba, and Legba is weak in science subjects.

"It’s a bit much to bring up the diagnostic test now. Well anyway, there’s a diagnostic test first place in this class, right? Stand up."

Of course, this wasn’t the important part. I had a bad feeling when he started talking about the diagnostic test, and sure enough, the teacher called on me.

I raised my hand and carefully stood up from my seat.

"Student, what’s your name?"

"Do Seon-woo."

"Right, that’s it. Do Seon-woo. I remember the surname Do but couldn’t recall the first name. Anyway, there are broadly two perspectives for interpreting Revelation. What are they?"

Fortunately, it was content I knew.

"World-centered perspective and church-centered perspective."

"Right. Can you explain the difference between the two perspectives?"

"First, the world-centered perspective..."

I tried to explain briefly and sit down, but once I opened my mouth, the words became long.

World-centered views Revelation as direct prophecy without considering historical background, while church-centered considers historical background, and so on and so forth.

"Okay, that’s enough."

When the presentation reached its climax, the teacher cut off my words. The teacher continued with a satisfied expression.

"Student Do Seon-woo, right? You’re trying to do all the teaching I should do?"

"Yes? Ah... I’m sorry."

"Young man, what’s there to be sorry about? It’s good for me if I have to teach less. Good work, you can sit down now."

The Understanding Scripture teacher was famous for being very stingy with praise, so this was quite high praise. I bowed my head and sat down.

Then I picked up my pen and wrote words that came to mind in the open Bible. ’Prophecy,’ ’interpretation,’ ’method,’ ’perspective,’ etc. And I organized the concepts floating chaotically in my head by combining those words.

"Sometimes there are kids who only know ’Divine Dynamics’ or ’Divine Materials’ and don’t even look at Scripture. Even that miracle reproduction you like so much comes from understanding Scripture when you really think about it..."

’Divine Dynamics’ and ’Divine Materials’ are abbreviations for Divine Dynamics and Divine Material Science.

The teacher continued the lesson while lamenting the attitude of students who only delved into science subjects and scorned humanities subjects. During that time, I concentrated only on organizing concepts.

Prophecy.

I was organizing thoughts that arose from the word prophecy.

Baron Samedi’s words are also prophecy when you think about it. Though not as grand as the Roman Catholic Church’s Revelation, you could call them ’today’s prophecies.’ Short and simple fragment prophecies.

But those prophecies aren’t very helpful. Baron Samedi’s prophecies are always vague and unclear.

"As you all know, the prophecies of Revelation are very vague. Scholars talk about metaphors and such, but I don’t really know..."

But are the prophecies of Revelation clear? No, they’re not. The prophecies of Revelation are much more vague and unclear than Baron Samedi’s.

It’s no exaggeration to say that virtually every sentence and word is made of metaphor. Nevertheless, interpretation scholars manage to interpret them.

Then Baron Samedi’s prophecies should be sufficiently interpretable, no, hundreds of times easier to interpret than Revelation. No matter how vague Baron Samedi’s prophecies are, they’re more intuitive compared to Revelation.

Satan worshippers have reached the point of openly burning down our house. Now it’s time not just to accept prophecies, but to interpret and utilize them.

If I just lived passively going with the flow, I’d be killed by Satan worshippers before I could do anything.

[Even if interpretation is possible, does it have meaning? Baron Samedi isn’t the kind of convenient guy who comes when you want him to. You know that too.]

Legba said.

Of course, Baron Samedi’s prophecy isn’t a simple prophecy you can hear when you want to hear it. It’s a whimsical prophecy that doesn’t come when you want it and comes when you don’t want it.

However, there’s plenty of room for utilization. The relationship between prophet and Loa. If you have enough eloquence to properly use that, you could put at least a small shackle on the free-spirited Baron Samedi’s ankle.

"That’s all. Today was Revelation, and next we’re going into Genesis review. Bring your Bibles. Rest comfortably for the remaining time~"

While I was thinking repeatedly, class ended and it became lunch time. Jeong In-ah, who had been dozing, and Gu Jun-hyeok, who had been openly sleeping, opened their eyes wide.

The two got up from their seats almost simultaneously and walked unsteadily out of the classroom. Their gait somehow reminded me of zombies.

"Hey, guys. Get it together. Wake up a bit."

I don’t know about Gu Jun-hyeok, but seeing Jeong In-ah walk like that made my heart feel complicated, so I quickly woke them both up.