The Heretic of Cleric Academy-Chapter 64

"Yeo Min-seo."

After the sparring practical ended, at the Sacred Training Ground.

So Do-jin called Yeo Min-seo’s name in a cold voice. Yeo Min-seo didn’t answer and just kept her head down looking at the floor.

She looked as if she was analyzing the structure of the Sacred Training Ground’s floor tiles.

"The punishment for your actions will be left to the disciplinary committee. You have no complaints, right?"

"...Does this really need to go to the disciplinary committee?"

"You disobeyed the instructions of me, the teacher of this practical, and also injured 4 students including Do Seon-woo with your reckless actions, and so on and so forth. There are too many things to list out tediously."

"Ha. Yes, I understand."

Yeo Min-seo nodded reluctantly as if she understood and turned around.

Her attitude was extremely defiant.

So Do-jin’s brow furrowed.

"Hey. Yeo Min-seo."

At the calling voice, Yeo Min-seo turned her head.

"Yes?"

"Answer again."

"Ah, yes. I’m sorry."

Yeo Min-seo bowed her head. She was apologizing, but her attitude was still defiant as ever. So Do-jin stared at Yeo Min-seo with cold eyes and opened his mouth.

"Do it again."

"Yes. I’m sorry."

Her attitude still showed no change.

"Again."

"...I’m sorry, teacher."

Only then did So Do-jin let Yeo Min-seo go. It wasn’t a satisfied expression, but getting the words "I’m sorry" out of Yeo Min-seo’s mouth was already remarkable.

Yeo Min-seo forcibly suppressed her boiling anger and left the Sacred Training Ground with angry steps.

"Wow. I feel so refreshed~"

Gulp.

At Gu Jun-hyeok’s teasing voice, Yeo Min-seo turned to look back. Whether from anger or feeling wronged, her eyes were red.

Gu Jun-hyeok looked at such Yeo Min-seo and stroked his chest as if feeling comfortable.

* * *

After school ended, Gu Jun-hyeok headed straight to the gym.

His sparring record was 2 wins, 1 loss. Excluding the match with Do Seon-woo, he had won everything.

While choosing a rope to do jump rope for warming up his body, Gu Jun-hyeok encountered a familiar face.

"What? Isn’t this Miss Kim Jin-seo who left early saying she was sick? Why are you here?"

Kim Jin-seo was sitting on the edge of the ring catching her breath. The hand wraps wound around her hands were stained red with blood. Her fists seemed to be torn.

While hitting sandbags or mitts, it was common for fists to tear and bleed, but no matter what, the bleeding was too severe. Her hands were completely soaked with blood.

"Geez, what happened to your hands. How many people did you hit?"

"I didn’t do any sparring today."

"Why. Did you come here after getting beaten by Yeo Min-seo earlier?"

Kim Jin-seo’s eyes narrowed. Gu Jun-hyeok smiled brightly and stepped back cautiously.

"I was just joking~"

"What joke. You’re right."

Kim Jin-seo spoke as if resigned and abruptly got up from her seat. When she unwrapped the hand wraps, her mangled hands were revealed.

Gu Jun-hyeok looked at that and gulped. How exactly had she exercised for her hands to end up in that state?

As she was rummaging through a cabinet, Gu Jun-hyeok approached.

"What are you looking for?"

"Hand wraps."

"Huh? Why are you looking for those. Don’t tell me you’re going to keep exercising today? With those hands?"

"..."

Kim Jin-seo glanced at Gu Jun-hyeok. Her gaze was sharp. From Gu Jun-hyeok’s speculation, that was a look meaning don’t talk to me anymore.

"Hey. Let me just ask one thing."

If he talked more, he might get hit, but Gu Jun-hyeok could never keep his mouth shut.

There was no reason. If he had to make up a reason, it was because he was born with a nature that couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

Kim Jin-seo stopped rummaging through the cabinet and looked at Gu Jun-hyeok. Her pupils were empty and unfocused. Feeling an indescribable eeriness, Gu Jun-hyeok instinctively shrank back.

"Hey."

Kim Jin-seo stared at Gu Jun-hyeok with lifeless eyes.

"It’s annoying, so I’d appreciate it if you could get lost."

"Ah, hahaha. Oh~ That was a bit scary just now. I really got spooked."

"I’m not joking."

Kim Jin-seo was still staring at Gu Jun-hyeok.

Cold sweat flowed down the back of Gu Jun-hyeok’s neck. It wasn’t a joke but really scary. Gu Jun-hyeok forcibly suppressed his fear and barely managed to open his mouth.

"Really won’t listen? It’s about Do Seon-woo though?"

Kim Jin-seo pretended not to hear and just silently rummaged through the cabinet. Gu Jun-hyeok felt awkward and unnecessarily touched his hair.

Even after a while, Kim Jin-seo showed no reaction. Heavy silence flowed.

"If you won’t listen, whatever~ I was going to tell you something really important too."

Gu Jun-hyeok soon gave up and turned around.

Bang!

Then Kim Jin-seo roughly closed the cabinet. Gu Jun-hyeok flinched in surprise and looked back.

Kim Jin-seo was walking toward him with big steps while putting on new hand wraps. Her gaze was still sharp.

"...What is it?"

However, at her following words, Gu Jun-hyeok let out a hollow laugh. She had been pretending not to be curious, but it seemed she was curious inside.

Gu Jun-hyeok tried to hold back his laughter and threw out a question.

"Why did you fight with Do Seon-woo this morning?"

"We didn’t fight."

"Really? Then it wasn’t a fight but you unilaterally got angry?"

"I never got angry."

"Come on. Tell me honestly. Why are you angry?"

Kim Jin-seo cast her gaze to the floor. She seemed to be hesitating about her answer.

"He lied to me..."

Now that she said it, it wasn’t a big deal. Thinking she might be too petty, Kim Jin-seo felt unnecessarily embarrassed.

Thinking about it, getting angry for such a reason didn’t make sense. After all, Do Seon-woo was someone who had saved her twice.

No, but that doesn’t mean the lie never happened. But is lying such a big fault? I think I might have reacted too sensitively, but still...

Suddenly her head hurt so she stopped thinking. Gu Jun-hyeok nonchalantly picked his ear and opened his mouth.

"Well, that’s not really important. Just get along well. You both have interest in each other but pretend not to and keep missing each other. I’m going crazy from frustration watching."

"Both?"

Kim Jin-seo asked as if puzzled. Gu Jun-hyeok had been waiting for that reaction and showed a confident smile.

"Yeah, both. Hey, do you know how many wins and losses Yeo Min-seo had in this practical?"

"3 wins 0 losses, right?"

"Wrong~ It’s 2 wins 1 loss~!"

Gu Jun-hyeok spoke laughing as if pleased. Kim Jin-seo’s eyes widened slightly.

"Why 2 wins 1 loss? Who did she lose to?"

"Do Seon-woo. By the way, Do Seon-woo is 3 wins 0 losses."

"Huh...?"

Kim Jin-seo opened her mouth dumbly and made a strange sound. It was a reaction of disbelief.

That was understandable, since with Do Seon-woo’s skills, he could never beat Yeo Min-seo.

Not just Do Seon-woo, but no first-year at Florence could beat Yeo Min-seo in ’sparring.’

But Do Seon-woo had beaten such a Yeo Min-seo. It wasn’t that she underestimated Do Seon-woo’s strength, but no matter what, it was hard to believe.

Gu Jun-hyeok smiled as if he had expected such a reaction and opened his mouth.

"Let me explain! After you lost to Yeo Min-seo and left early crying..."

"Hey."

"...Anyway, after you left early. Yeo Min-seo and Do Seon-woo had a match? Do Seon-woo was somehow really angry. Do you know what I mean? Ah~ You should have seen it with your own eyes. Anyway..."

Gu Jun-hyeok continued his explanation with all sorts of interjections.

Do Seon-woo was somehow really angry and beat down Yeo Min-seo with righteous punishment.

That’s how he achieved victory in the match, and Yeo Min-seo ended up going to the disciplinary committee, that kind of story.

In Gu Jun-hyeok’s heroic tale, Do Seon-woo was described like a hero.

"Why is she suddenly going to the disciplinary committee?"

"...Well, Yeo Min-seo has committed many sins usually."

"What’s that..."

"The important thing isn’t that~ Do Seon-woo was incredibly angry, you know? Why would he be angry? Hm?"

Gu Jun-hyeok cut off Kim Jin-seo’s words. There were many puzzling points in Gu Jun-hyeok’s heroic tale, but now wasn’t the time to question such things.

Why was Do Seon-woo angry?

"He dislikes Yeo Min-seo too. That’s probably why."

Yeo Min-seo despises those weaker than her and picks fights with those stronger. In terms of dog breeds, you could say she has a Chihuahua-like personality.

Among Florence’s first-years, there were virtually no people who liked her.

There was even a baseless joke circulating openly among Florence first-years: ’People who hate Yeo Min-seo, fold in half. Thus Korea was folded in half, and that became the origin of the 38th parallel...’

"Well, there might be that too. But this timing of getting angry. Right after you lost to Yeo Min-seo and left early! From then on his face got all stiff!"

"So?"

"If he had no interest in you, why would he do that~ That’s what I’m saying."

Kim Jin-seo kept her lips tightly shut and cast her gaze to the floor. Her heart was beating strangely, as if churning.

Whether it was from the aftereffects of exercise or for some other reason, even Kim Jin-seo herself couldn’t tell.

Imaginations close to fantasies followed each other endlessly in her head. She shook her head to forcibly shake off her thoughts.

"It’s speculation."

"’It’s speculation’? Not just speculation but ’it’s speculation’?"

Kim Jin-seo glared at Gu Jun-hyeok with sharp eyes.

"Hey, just because I joked around a bit, you’re looking at me so scary. I can’t talk."

"I never looked scary."

"Yes, yes~"

Gu Jun-hyeok continued speaking while sticking out his chin as if to tease.

"Well anyway, try being nice. If Do Seon-woo lied, ask him directly why he lied."

"..."

"If you always keep your mouth shut like that, how is Do Seon-woo supposed to know your feelings?"

It hit the mark.

Even when Kim Jin-seo felt bad or upset about something, she never voiced it outwardly.

She thought it was better for only her to suffer since nothing would change by talking about it anyway.

When Kim Jin-seo hung her head without answering, Gu Jun-hyeok quickly opened his mouth as if even that brief silence was painful.

"But what lie did Do Seon-woo tell? He doesn’t usually lie, does he?"

Honestly, he wasn’t very curious. It was simply a question to break the silence. Kim Jin-seo showed a slightly contemplative expression and opened her mouth.

"When his house caught fire. I asked where he was and he said the study room."

"Huh? Why is that a lie?"

Kim Jin-seo explained about witnessing Do Seon-woo coming out of some house on her way home from the gym.

Gu Jun-hyeok listened to that story while quietly nodding.

So Do Seon-woo wasn’t at a study room but somewhere else, yet he lied saying he was at a study room, and that hurt Kim Jin-seo’s feelings, that kind of story.

Finally he roughly understood what the situation was.

While listening to the story like that, Gu Jun-hyeok suddenly raised one eyebrow as if puzzled.

"...But where exactly did Do Seon-woo come out from?"

"An alley near school. The Western-style house in the middle."

If it was an alley near school, there was only one. It was definitely that alley that Do Seon-woo, Gu Jun-hyeok, and Jeong In-ah used as their route home from school. If it was the Western-style house in the middle...

"Isn’t that where Jeong In-ah lives?"

"..."

"Ah! Come to think of it, isn’t it, no. Is it right? There’s only one Western-style house there."

Seeing Kim Jin-seo’s expression darken, Gu Jun-hyeok belatedly tried to fix things, but it was already too late.

Kim Jin-seo passed by Gu Jun-hyeok silently with a dazed expression and left the gym.

Her walking was so fast he couldn’t even think of chasing her. There was no reason to chase either.

"Ah, this is big trouble."

Gu Jun-hyeok crouched down in that spot and pulled at his hair.

"Really big trouble, shit..."

On his face as he muttered like that, anger was more clearly visible than despair.

* * *

"The contract is established."

Baron Samedi’s eerie voice filled the room. My head tilted involuntarily from puzzlement.

"...It ends this quickly?"

"Contracts are originally conducted with lightning speed. There might be a change of heart in the middle, you know?"

"That may be so, but contracts of the dead originally require payment."

"Originally, yes. However, this time I’m thinking of receiving payment later. How about it?"

Baron Samedi spoke laughing heartily. Payment for contracts is originally prepaid as basic. But this time he says he’ll take payment later.

"That’s fine with me. Let’s do that then."

I didn’t know what Baron Samedi’s ulterior motive was, but it wasn’t a bad proposal for me, so I readily agreed. The later the payment, the better.

Anyway, the contract was established.

This contract was insurance for when I face a life-or-death crisis in the future.

Even if I interpret Baron Samedi’s prophecies and prepare for crises, perfect preparation would be impossible. It was safer to have at least one insurance policy.

"That concludes my earnest requests."

With this, the negotiation disguised as earnest requests was over.

I looked at Baron Samedi’s eyes flickering beyond the darkness.

As if thinking deeply about something, his gleam was hazy.

"...What are you doing?"

"Hmm. It’ll work out somehow. Cheer up, cult leader. May your future be filled with peace! I’m off now!"

Baron Samedi left meaningful words and immediately became mist and disappeared.

The room was filled with the scent of death that Baron Samedi left behind, and purple mist that flowed from the candle.

Since there was no wind in the basement, the mist didn’t scatter and continued to remain in place.

[Even the great Baron Samedi unexpectedly agreed to the proposal obediently.]

Legba said. His tone seemed quite surprised.

"Because I used the Loa’s characteristics."

[Right. It was quite satisfying. You really resemble your mother. Baron Samedi couldn’t move freely in front of your mother either.]

"But I still have a long way to go to catch up."

I said with a self-mocking laugh.

Although I succeeded in negotiating with Baron Samedi, I had only succeeded in the negotiation.

I couldn’t gain complete dominance over Baron Samedi like Mother did.

Click.

I turned on the light. For a moment my eyes were so dazzled I thought I had lost my sight. Eyes accustomed to darkness couldn’t easily accept light.

I stood there for quite a while, waiting for my eyes to get used to the light.

When the dazzle finally passed, I looked at Father’s keepsakes laid out in the middle of the room.

A box and ring. The box was firmly locked.

"..."

Father had instructed me to definitely open the box only after becoming an adult. And I planned to keep that dying wish.

But on the other hand, I was also curious about what was inside.

The key to opening the box’s lock was the ring. The structure was such that the box would open if you fit the bone jewel embedded in the ring into the lock’s groove.

I had faint memories of Father explaining this.

In other words, I could open the box right now. Honestly speaking, I wanted to open the box right now and check its contents.

[Then open it.]

While I was lost in worry looking at the box, Legba spoke as if it was no big deal.

[There are too many waves in your life. You might stubbornly hold out and die without even checking what’s in the box. It would be better to open it now.]

"But it’s Father’s dying wish. It’s better to keep it."

[Then are you really planning to wait until you become an adult?]

At Legba’s question, I firmly shook my head.

As I said before, I would keep Father’s dying wish. However, when a situation came where I couldn’t keep the dying wish, I planned to open the box without hesitation.

For example, if I faced a crisis of death before becoming an adult and before even opening the box.

I should hope such a situation never comes in the first place. But just in case, really just in case such a situation might occur, I planned to always carry the box and ring with me from now on.

So I could check the box’s contents whenever I wanted, anywhere. Even if death was right before my eyes.

I would put the box in my bag or Baal’s Maw and take it out when needed. The ring was small and likely to be lost, so it seemed better to wear it on my finger.

I tried putting the ring on my finger. First, the index finger.

"It doesn’t fit."

The size was too small for the ring to go on my finger.

Next was the middle finger. It didn’t fit. The thumb obviously didn’t fit, and it didn’t even fit on the ring finger, which was relatively thin.

The only finger it fit was the pinky finger.

"...Were Father’s hands this small?"

I muttered meaninglessly to myself and reluctantly put the ring on my left pinky finger.

It fit perfectly. It seemed to have been made originally as a ring for the pinky finger. Otherwise, the size couldn’t be this small.

Crack.

Then the bone jewel embedded in the ring cracked.

"Huh...?"

Through the crack, thin mist began seeping out. Weak and faint mist that would disappear if you blew on it. The color was a familiar purple.

Sorcery mist.

Had sorcery been contained in the jewel? Sorcery contained in an object? How?

There was no time to wonder. The mist engulfed me. My consciousness grew distant.

My consciousness, which had been fine even against supreme-grade sorcery, collapsed from just this one thin strand of mist. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Thud.

My body lost strength. My eyes closed, and endless, thick darkness welcomed me.