The Heretic of Cleric Academy-Chapter 137

"How does that student look to you guys? Does he seem ordinary?"

Moon Yo-seop lit up a cigarette as soon as he left the hospital. Taking a long drag and exhaling smoke, he asked his subordinates. The subordinates tilted their heads as if they didn’t understand the intent of the question.

"...He doesn’t seem ordinary. I think he’s a very promising student."

"Yes, I think so too. Considering what he’s accomplished so far, and listening to what he said today, he’s truly an exceptional student."

"No, that’s not what I mean... Never mind, forget it."

Moon Yo-seop clicked his tongue in displeasure and continued.

"Moving on. How about that student Jeong In-ah? Is she still in bad condition?"

"Her recovery is fast, but she’s still not in perfect condition. She says her memory is hazy, probably due to the effects of black magic. She was also exposed to magi for a long time."

"Her memory is hazy."

Moon Yo-seop seemed still displeased with his subordinates’ answers, continuously puffing on his cigarette.

As soon as he finished one cigarette, he took out another, put it in his mouth, and lit it. The frowning face was overlaid with white cigarette smoke.

"Hazy. Hazy... Do people usually use the expression ’memory is hazy’? It would be normal to say ’I can’t remember.’ Saying it’s hazy means there’s at least something there."

"Excuse me? I don’t understand what you mean..."

"Why did she use the expression ’hazy’? It’s not slang..."

Moon Yo-seop’s muttering continued for quite a while. The subordinates looked at Moon Yo-seop with slightly frightened expressions.

A gleam suddenly appeared in Moon Yo-seop’s eyes as he stared blankly into space.

"Jeong In-ah, I’ll need to see that friend once more tomorrow."

"What? Her memory was wiped by black magic, so wouldn’t visiting be meaningless?"

"Whether her memory was wiped or she’s pretending it was wiped. We need to confirm that. I heard she was very close with Gu Jun-hyeok, but it’s also strange that she didn’t know he was a Satan worshipper until then."

Moon Yo-seop said this while throwing his cigarette butt on the ground.

"Ma Yu-hyeon. That child still has no intention to cooperate, right?"

"Yes. He just seems to want to continue attending school."

"This is maddening... If that child would just help a little, we could probably catch all the pseudo-religious spies across the country."

Moon Yo-seop’s hand, which had been reaching for another cigarette, lost its way. There were no more cigarettes left in the pack.

The one he just smoked seemed to be the last cigarette. He smiled bitterly while looking at the sky.

The sun was getting brighter day by day. Come to think of it, it was summer now.

"This case is a bit peculiar. No matter how much I investigate, I don’t get the feeling that things are fitting together. No, it feels like there’s only a shell with the inside completely hollowed out."

Moon Yo-seop recalled all the students he had met so far.

Whenever he had time, he had a habit of reviewing the names, faces, and characteristics of people he had met. Even very small and trivial characteristics could serve as very important clues during investigations.

"I don’t know."

However, no matter how much he thought about it, no outline emerged. The outline remained as vague as before.

Jeong In-ah’s memory was wiped by black magic, and she was still receiving treatment because her body hadn’t fully recovered.

Yeo Min-seo still hadn’t regained consciousness. Han Su-ryeon was said to have been trapped in the second-year building throughout the day of the incident. She had been sleeping in the student council room.

Ma Yu-hyeon was completely refusing to cooperate with the investigation, and the same went for Kim Jin-seo. Kang Dae-man and Seong Ha-yeon didn’t seem to know much.

The only student who was being helpful was Do Seon-woo. He was also the only student who had known that Gu Jun-hyeok was a Satan worshipper in the first place.

They had revealed to the teachers that Gu Jun-hyeok was a Satan worshipper. Ha Ye-jin and Kim Bok-dong actively cooperated with the investigation, but they didn’t know much either.

Kim Chang-won and So Do-jin were in too poor condition to seek cooperation from them.

So Do-jin was said to be getting better, but Kim Chang-won was coughing up blood at every meal and his condition was deteriorating day by day.

"Was this all intentional..."

Gu Jun-hyeok had simultaneously triggered major incidents in various places. By completely blocking communication and contact methods, he prevented key figures from gathering, which created information gaps between people.

Since everyone knew different things, they couldn’t refine information through cross-verification.

This not only caused difficulties in handling the aftermath of the incident, but also increased citizen fear toward Voodoo and Satan worship, adding to the confusion.

Gu Jun-hyeok, this bastard, probably predicted all these social repercussions when he started this. Despite appearances, he was quite capable of using his brain.

"I thought if we did it right, both Satan worship and Voodoo would come tumbling out in a chain. It’s not as easy as I thought it would be."

"Still, haven’t there been quite a few achievements in building a system for black magic? Thanks to student Do Seon-woo’s help..."

"Yes, it’s not like there were no achievements. But it’s still not enough. There are too many gaps."

Moon Yo-seop was speaking in a strong tone as if reprimanding himself.

"Oh, and. Do Seon-woo also has too many questionable aspects to trust blindly. Don’t put too much faith in what that student says."

It was true that they had received a lot of help from Do Seon-woo in researching black magic for writing the Satan worshipper response manual. However, Moon Yo-seop still didn’t trust Do Seon-woo.

When having conversations with Do Seon-woo, he often felt like he was being swept along by his flow.

From his tone and emphasis to the pitch of his voice and even his expressions. He had such a high level of eloquence that even Moon Yo-seop, an inquisitor, was amazed.

Not only could he deceive others, but if he put his mind to it, he could probably make other people follow him.

And he was excessively composed for his age.

No matter how innocent a person might be, when having a conversation with someone at the level of an inquisitor, they would typically become frightened, but Do Seon-woo showed no signs of fear or panic at all.

While it was vague grounds for suspicion, it wouldn’t hurt to be cautious.

"...Come to think of it, that friend Do Seon-woo. He has a discharge schedule coming up soon, but why is he trying to be discharged so quickly?"

"Who knows?"

"This is also suspicious."

At first glance, Do Seon-woo seemed like a faithful Romanica Church member and a promising Florence student.

However, when breaking down the elements that composed Do Seon-woo one by one, there was something that felt off. On the surface he looked polished, but in reality it felt like the inside was hollow.

"What is he trying to do that makes him want to be discharged so quickly... Florence is essentially on indefinite closure, so there’s no need to rush the discharge."

"I don’t think you need to think too deeply about it, senior. He probably just wants to go out and meet friends."

"Is that so..."

"Yes, doesn’t he obviously look like he’d be popular? He probably wants to go out and meet his girlfriend or something, that’s all."

Moon Yo-seop recalled Do Seon-woo’s appearance. While he had some sharp aspects, objectively he had an appealing face.

He spoke fluently and eloquently, and he was also the Holy Name of Charity, so he would probably be quite popular at school. Come to think of it, his subordinate’s words seemed right.

"...I think I’m overthinking things too. Maybe it’s an occupational hazard, suspecting and being wary of people over nothing."

Objectively speaking, Do Seon-woo was an innocent student with no reason for suspicion.

When asked about Satan worship and when asked about Voodoo, Do Seon-woo had given only very exemplary and correct answers.

It was just that his speech patterns, tone, and atmosphere gave off an uncomfortable feeling. Moon Yo-seop was suspecting Do Seon-woo based purely on intuition.

"Still, it wouldn’t hurt to be careful. Gather and organize any personal information about students Do Seon-woo and Jeong In-ah... no, any information that might be helpful, and send it to me."

"Yes, understood. Should I send it by email?"

"What are you talking about? Print it out, put it in a file, and place it on my desk. I don’t trust computers."

Moon Yo-seop said while walking slowly with his hands behind his back.

"Oh, what did that friend Do Seon-woo say his blood type was? I think it would be helpful to know."

"Excuse me? How would that be helpful?"

"Why do you ask? You can get a rough idea of personality from blood type. Haven’t you been investigating for more than a day or two?"

Moon Yo-seop’s face was serious as he said this. The subordinates looked at Moon Yo-seop with their mouths half-open as if dumbfounded.

* * *

"So... you’re saying his condition is okay for now?"

"Of course! He regained consciousness not long ago, and his body is gradually improving. Your father is much healthier than expected, so there’s nothing to worry about."

Kim Jin-seo couldn’t completely trust the doctor’s words as he spoke with a smile as if it was nothing. This doctor had lied to Kim Jin-seo before.

It’s okay, everything’s fine so go home and rest quickly. When he said that, her father was dying. The amount of blood he vomited was more than the food going into his mouth.

Kim Jin-seo examined the attending physician’s expression with sharp eyes.

"Then, can I meet him directly and have a conversation? I think that would put my mind at ease."

"Huh? Ah, ah... I’m sorry, but a healing priest is currently providing treatment inside. How about coming next time?"

"Then I can come back after the treatment is finished. When will the treatment end?"

"Uh, probably... yes, tomorrow, or maybe the day after... ah, yes. Come back the day after tomorrow. By then the treatment will probably be finished."

"What kind of treatment takes two days?"

"If it were simple external injuries, it would be finished in an hour at most, but your father has been in poor health for a long time, you know? So it seems to be taking quite a while to treat the symptoms that have accumulated until now."

The doctor poured out words like flowing water.

In Kim Chang-won’s case, since he had acquired his ailment due to congenital constitution, treatment took much longer than other patients.

However, there was a separate reason why Kim Jin-seo couldn’t be let into the hospital room.

Kim Chang-won’s consciousness was fine, but his condition was very critical. Worried that his family might be shocked, he had expressed his intention to refuse all family visits and focus only on treatment.

He said he would receive visits when his physical condition was good enough to properly welcome his family.

"I’m really sorry, Jin-seo. I understand your worried feelings, but we can’t postpone treatment because of visits..."

"Yes, I understand."

Kim Jin-seo nodded while staring blankly at the doctor’s face. The doctor was somewhat frightened by that sharp gaze that seemed to pierce his face.

Kim Jin-seo continued speaking while keeping her gaze fixed on the doctor’s face.

"I’ll come back the day after tomorrow. You won’t prevent me from seeing him then, will you?"

"...Well, by then the treatment will all be finished, so of course we’ll have to let you visit. What reason would there be to prevent it? Haha..."

"Yes, I’ll see you then."

She suddenly left the director’s office. The doctor remained there alone, watching her departing figure.

While he understood her worried feelings, there was no way to let them meet, and he felt sorry for that child’s immaturity in being unable to show any signs of hardship no matter how difficult things were.

"It’s my fault, my fault... sigh..."

The doctor’s face was gloomy.

* * *

The wound on her arm was bothersome.

On the day Do Seon-woo died, no, the day she thought he died. It was a wound from scratching her arm with her nails when she was so confused that she couldn’t even remember properly.

The wound was deeper than expected, so even with healing it didn’t heal completely and a scab formed.

Kim Jin-seo occasionally unconsciously picked at that scab. When something happened that she didn’t like, her chest felt stuffy and she couldn’t breathe, and then the scabbed area started to itch.

When she picked at the scab and blood came out, she stopped, and before long a scab formed again in the same place.

Thinking that at this rate the wound would never heal, she wrapped her arm with bandages. Since it was now weather for short sleeves, she also wanted to hide the wound on her arm.

She had just finished wrapping fresh bandages and was on her way to Do Seon-woo’s hospital room.

And in the hospital corridor, she encountered the dedicated healing priest in charge of Do Seon-woo’s treatment. The healing priest seemed to have just come out of Do Seon-woo’s room.

"Is Do Seon-woo awake?"

Kim Jin-seo immediately asked the healing priest.

She still didn’t know well whether Do Seon-woo had regained consciousness. Thinking he might be dead, she had been too scared to dare visit him.

The healing priest bowed his head deeply as if troubled by Kim Jin-seo’s question.

"Well, um... Huh? Wait! Don’t go. Just a moment, please wait."

The healing priest hastily stopped Kim Jin-seo from entering Do Seon-woo’s room. Kim Jin-seo’s face hardened.

"Why?"

"Well, uh, it’s a bit difficult to say right now..."

"Did he die?"

"No, it’s not that. I think some explanation is needed, huh? Wait a moment. You can’t go in..."

Ignoring the healing priest’s words, Kim Jin-seo strode into Do Seon-woo’s room. During this time, all sorts of thoughts were floating around in Kim Jin-seo’s mind.

Could he really be dead? That can’t be. No, it’s not entirely impossible... Do Seon-woo had more serious injuries than anyone else. No matter how strong his body was, no matter how miraculously he had died and come back to life, there was no guarantee he would still be alive with such injuries.

Or his condition might be too critical to show to outsiders.

The wounds might have become necrotic, or he might have become disabled. Or he might not be dead but in a situation where he could die at any moment...

Bang!

She roughly pushed open the door and entered the room forcefully. The healing priest followed behind with quick steps trying to stop her, but it was futile.

Kim Jin-seo scratched the wound on her arm over the bandage while walking to the bed. And she lifted the blanket.

"..."

Do Seon-woo was no longer in the bed. Kim Jin-seo wondered if she had entered the wrong room and checked the name.

But it was definitely Do Seon-woo’s room, and it was definitely Do Seon-woo’s bed. But Do Seon-woo wasn’t there.

Why? She couldn’t understand at all.

"Where, where did he go..."

When the healing priest who had followed caught his breath and placed a hand on her shoulder, only then did she stop scratching her arm.

The healing priest caught his breath, then hesitated for a long time, moving his lips as if troubled. Then he rolled his eyes here and there before opening his mouth.

"This is why I tried to stop you... I’ll explain everything, so calm down first. Listen without being surprised."

"This bas... Where did he go? Where is he now?"

Kim Jin-seo couldn’t listen to the healing priest’s words to the end and kept repeating the same question.

Could he really be dead? Maybe they were already holding a funeral, or something like that...

"Um... Student Do Seon-woo was discharged yesterday...!"

"..."

"I tried to stop him, but Do Seon-woo was incredibly stubborn, as you know... Yes, anyway, that’s what happened..."

Kim Jin-seo stared blankly at the empty bed.

She checked her phone, but there was no contact from Do Seon-woo. There were only messages piled up from reporters, Florence Foundation officials, or boys with names she’d never heard before.