The Heretic of Cleric Academy-Chapter 89

Two things changed after the appointment ceremony.

One was that I got a nickname. The nickname "Charity Woo"... I don’t really like it. It sounds bad. I especially disliked it more when Legba snickered when I first heard it.

"Alright, for the next problem... let’s have Do Seon-woo, who received the Holy Name, answer it."

"This problem is for Do Seon-woo, who was late to the appointment ceremony~"

"Now then, when these two substances combine, what phenomenon occurs? That will be answered by our proud latecomer Do Seon-woo..."

The other thing was that teachers called on me by name much more frequently.

Having been late to the first appointment ceremony, and then being late even to the second appointment ceremony before barely becoming the Holy Name of Charity, I had become somewhat of a celebrity among the teachers.

What was fortunate, if it could be called fortunate, was that when it was revealed that I was the one who had saved citizens during the Basar Shopping Center fire, the teachers’ perception of me improved greatly.

"Oh, Seon-woo. Where are you going?"

"Ah, I’m going to eat."

"I see, how’s the cafeteria food? Is it edible?"

"Yes, it’s delicious."

I had become close enough with Kim Chang-won, the Florence chairman, to have brief conversations whenever we met.

Among students who could have such natural conversations with Kim Chang-won, who was famous for being kind but not usually accepting students’ greetings well, there were probably only Kim Jin-seo and myself.

"...I’m seeing the chairman smile for the first time."

Jeong In-ah, who had been walking with me to the cafeteria, said with a puzzled expression. She vigorously turned her head so much it made noise, alternately looking at Kim Chang-won and me as he walked away. Her hair swayed and the scent of her shampoo wafted over. It was a fresh floral fragrance.

"The chairman helped me a lot when I was hospitalized."

"Really? ...Right, hospitalization! You, you. I told you to contact me, but you didn’t contact me after being discharged. I told you so many times."

"I haven’t bought a phone yet."

"Don’t make excuses. And, and you didn’t even tell me about rescuing people at the shopping center. You never tell me anything. It’s annoying."

Jeong In-ah said while pouting her lips.

"Your shampoo smells nice. What do you use?"

"Don’t change the subject! The kid has become sly after the appointment ceremony. You smooth talker."

"Why are you getting angry? I really asked because I liked it."

"...I won’t tell you. And what would you do even if you knew? It’s not like you’re going to buy it."

We bickered as we headed to the cafeteria. Gu Jun-hyeok was still at the hospital caring for his mother, so ultimately Jeong In-ah and I ate together.

Even while eating, Jeong In-ah would occasionally lift her head and glare at me. Each time, I would smile at her. It was a smile to hide my expression.

Whenever I saw Jeong In-ah, I always thought of her younger sister Jeong Yun-ah. After the succession ritual, I’ve been attempting treatment daily based on strengthened Voodoo magic power and sorcery. She no longer screams at the sight of people like before, but she still remained in a zombie-like state.

[A solution will come soon...]

I nodded appropriately at Legba’s consolation and put down my utensils. My appetite had suddenly disappeared.

I roughly cleared away my tray with food still half-remaining and looked at Jeong In-ah, who was still eating. She ate bit by bit but in a nice, neat way, and I always found it interesting to watch her eat.

"Don’t stare at me like that."

"There are so many things you tell me not to do..."

"If I say don’t do it, then don’t do it. The kids keep making up weird stories!"

Jeong In-ah said something incomprehensible. I tilted my head.

"What stories?"

"You’re curious, right? You’re dying of curiosity, right? But I won’t tell you."

"Suit yourself."

"...Geez."

Jeong In-ah bit her lip, then hung her head and quietly finished her meal. Having been absent for ten days, I couldn’t guess what stories were circulating around school. However, judging by Jeong In-ah’s tone, it didn’t seem like particularly bad stories.

* * *

It was by chance that I met her on the way back to the classroom after leaving the cafeteria.

"Coming out after eating, I see."

Kim Jin-seo said. Her face was slightly flushed, but her tone was very calm. Her breathing was a bit rough, so she had probably been exercising. A few strands of her hair were clumped together with sweat.

Her appearance after exercising looked sharper and more refined than usual.

"Did you come from exercising?"

"Just, ran around the playground a bit?"

She said this while glancing at Jeong In-ah. I also looked at Jeong In-ah following her gaze. For some reason, Jeong In-ah’s body had stiffened slightly.

Kim Jin-seo kept staring at Jeong In-ah with half-open eyes, then shifted her gaze to me and opened her mouth.

"...Are you two dating?"

"Huh? No?"

I couldn’t understand why she would have such a misunderstanding. Kim Jin-seo smiled slightly after hearing my answer. It was the same clear and clean smile she had shown me at the hospital when I was hospitalized.

"Right, of course."

Of course? I didn’t quite understand what she meant. Kim Jin-seo nodded and continued.

"Oh right, there’s a meeting tomorrow morning. Come to the student council room at 7."

"...You have meetings that early?"

"There’s apparently a lot to discuss. According to her."

The "her" Kim Jin-seo mentioned naturally referred to Yeo Min-seo. She rarely mentioned Yeo Min-seo’s name. It meant she didn’t even want to say the name. Considering their relationship, I could fully understand her feelings.

She looked back and forth between Jeong In-ah and me with a smile and continued.

"And I’m sorry about ’last time.’ For leaving suddenly."

"’Last time’?"

I echoed Kim Jin-seo’s words for no particular reason. I felt some kind of dissonance from the word ’last time.’ I couldn’t identify what exactly felt off.

Anyway, ’last time’ probably referred to after my discharge.

When we were about to go home together, but her driver suddenly started the car, so we parted without properly saying goodbye. I smiled to show it was okay and opened my mouth.

"What’s the big deal? It’s not like you did it on purpose."

"Next time, let’s go together."

"Oh? Okay."

I didn’t know when next time would be, but I agreed for now. A brief silence fell. Neither I, Kim Jin-seo, nor Jeong In-ah said anything. It was a strange silence.

Eventually, Kim Jin-seo left with a brief "I’ll go" and a small wave. She was heading toward the gym installed at school. It seemed she was going to exercise again after having already exercised.

"She’s working hard." I muttered quietly while watching her retreating figure. Kim Jin-seo had always exercised diligently before, but lately she had been even more diligent. When asked what she was doing, nine times out of ten she was exercising or studying.

Come to think of it, I hadn’t exercised even once since being discharged. I should probably start exercising again soon.

Building physical strength could reduce the side effects of using Loa powers, and could also slightly increase the total amount of Voodoo magic power. No matter how much I exercised, I couldn’t bridge the innate differences, but it was better than not doing it at all.

"I hear she’s been exercising really hard lately. Like, really combatively. Since after being discharged."

Jeong In-ah said as if she had just remembered.

"That’s impressive."

"But, but I study hard too. Really hard."

"So?"

"You’re doing this on purpose."

I tilted my head as if I didn’t know anything. I was pretending not to know, but I was actually teasing her on purpose. Jeong In-ah had big reactions when teased, so it was fun. In other words, it was cost-effective.

"...But when was ’last time’?"

Jeong In-ah, who had been glaring at me for a while, asked.

"Last time? Who knows."

"Don’t try to probe me. When was last time? What did you two do?"

"I won’t tell you either."

For a moment, Jeong In-ah stared at me with dumbfounded eyes as if she couldn’t believe it. Eventually, she looked down with pursed lips as if angry and wronged. Her clenched fists at her sides were trembling.

I thought I might actually get hit if I wasn’t careful.

"Geez...!"

Sure enough, she started kicking at my shins. I lifted my leg to dodge. Her attacks continued in succession, but I avoided them all. It was easier to dodge than I thought.

After avoiding all her kicks, tears began to well up in Jeong In-ah’s eyes.

"Why, why won’t you get hit..."

"Hey, no, wait. Why suddenly? Is this something to cry about?"

"It’s frustrating. And I’m not crying."

Jeong In-ah wiped away her tears. It was so sudden that I couldn’t even hide my flustered state and hurriedly tried to console her.

She had large mood swings - she could quickly become happy even when in a bad mood, and conversely could quickly become unhappy even when in a good mood. That personality trait was convenient sometimes, but occasionally it was troublesome. Like now.

"Suddenly squeezing out tears..."

"I said I’m not crying!"

When I teased her again thinking she had calmed down a bit, Jeong In-ah suddenly shouted. I was startled and stepped back.

"Ah, okay."

"You’re so unnecessarily fast. With Gu Jun-hyeok, ugh, I can hit him. And you always tease me. Then you don’t even apologize."

"Sorry, sorry. I won’t tease you anymore. So please stop crying..."

I floundered trying to console her. It was particularly troublesome because she had started crying right in the middle of the playground, and I could feel piercing gazes from around us. I never imagined she would cry over a little teasing. If I had known this would happen, I would have let her hit me once.

Come to think of it, Gu Jun-hyeok always took all of Jeong In-ah’s kicks. I suddenly became curious. With Gu Jun-hyeok’s physical abilities, he should have been able to dodge them, and Jeong In-ah’s kicks were particularly simple and easy to avoid.

"..."

Did he let her hit him on purpose?

"I suddenly want ice cream. Buy me some."

"Okay, but after school."

"Okay."

Jeong In-ah smiled and nodded. She had already cheered up and was giggling.

* * *

That evening, I was experimenting with the power of the ’Blessing of Superhuman Strength’ I had received on the day of the appointment ceremony. The Florence Council of Elders had compiled and sent a book called <The Pope’s Spear: Blessing of Superhuman Strength> with usage methods and explanations. Summarizing the key points:

- The Blessing of Superhuman Strength is a blessing that grants fluidity to strength.

- You can feel and move the currents of power flowing through your body. With mastery, it’s possible to interfere with others’ currents. The medium for interference is the ’wrist.’

- It’s impossible to steal others’ strength. However, it’s possible to forcibly take back strength you had lent to others.

What surprised me most while experimenting with the Blessing of Superhuman Strength was this ’movement of power.’

Crack!

"Oh..."

Pieces of shattered brick clattered to the floor. I had just crushed this brick with only my right hand grip strength. I hadn’t borrowed Bosu’s power. I had simply utilized the Blessing of Superhuman Strength.

I had invested all power except what was needed to lift my arm and clench my fist into grip strength. My legs had no strength left and I couldn’t stand up, and my neck had no strength so my head wobbled. However, by concentrating all the strength from my legs supporting my body and my neck supporting my head into my right arm’s grip strength, I was able to crush the brick with grip strength alone.

But I wasn’t sure if it would be useful in actual combat. Until I mastered it, it seemed difficult to utilize not just in battle, but even in daily life.

How about calling Bae Seong-hyeon, the former Holy Name of Charity, to ask for advice...?

It was a passing thought, but no matter what, this didn’t seem right. I shook my head to dismiss it.

[It’s mysteriously similar to Bosu’s power. Though the performance can’t compare.]

"Come to think of it, it is somewhat similar."

When using Bosu’s power, you gain superhuman strength and also gain perfect control over your body. In terms of being ’power that controls power,’ the Blessing of Superhuman Strength was similar to Bosu’s power.

Of course, in terms of performance, Bosu’s power was overwhelmingly better. The Blessing of Superhuman Strength was originally a fragment of the Pope’s power, while Bosu’s power was complete power in itself. It would be nonsensical if their performance were the same.

<The Pope’s Spear: Blessing of Superhuman Strength> also described various benefits that the Holy Name of Charity receives.

"Unlimited borrowing of holy items, freedom to go out if you’re a boarding student..."

There were also many other miscellaneous benefits like free use of the school cafeteria and cafe, free sparring in the divine training ground, ability to choose a minor, etc. The Holy Name of Charity seemed to receive more conveniences than the other six Holy Names, probably because there was donated money to the Florence Foundation.

Among these, the benefit that caught my attention the longest was one:

"...Access to the Central Library permitted."

The Florence Council of Elders and faculty-only Central Library. Shortened to just ’Florence Central Library’... A place regarded like a legendary location among students. There are theories that exam papers from all schools including Florence are displayed there, and theories that there’s a 6,000-page brick of a book that comprehensively covers the history of the Romanica Church and Florence.

Particularly interesting to me was the theory that top-secret documents containing Florence’s founding purpose and secrets about it were hidden there. Through Florence Central Library, I felt I could also learn about that mysterious box buried in the Garden of Eden. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"This is completely corrupt."

[You’ve been losing out on almost half your life.]

The benefits received by the Seven Holy Names, especially the Holy Name of Charity, were sufficient to be called corrupt. I could somewhat understand why Bae Seong-hyeon had been soaked in elitist consciousness, calling other kids ’regular students’ and looking down on them. Though I still couldn’t accept his bullying of other kids.

Thud.

I closed the book and got up. Then I tried engraving a spell circle into the book as an experiment. I was ’inscribing’ sorcery into the book so that the spell circle would activate when the book was opened. It was the same principle as when Father had inscribed sorcery into the ring and box.

[Strictly speaking, it’s not the same principle.]

"Let’s just move on."

Legba nitpicked. I showed a bitter smile.

It actually wasn’t the same principle. My technique was merely a crude imitation of Father’s. While Father had sorcery permeate into objects, in my case I inscribed spell circles into objects so that sorcery would activate when specific conditions were met. It was a technique I had learned through practice after the succession ritual.

Anyway, being able to contain sorcery in objects was significant progress for me. I still didn’t know how to achieve the ’level of mastery’ or whatever.

I finished putting sorcery into Father’s ring that I was wearing and left the room.

The empty chapel was desolate. I felt a strange sense of dissonance in it.

"..."

Click.

A faint sound was coming from somewhere. It was a hard, dry sound like metal hitting metal.

All the hair on my body stood on end. I lowered my posture and listened carefully to the sound.

Click, click...

Clack.

Creeeak...

A sharp and ominous sound pierced my ears through the chapel’s silence, and I identified what the sound was.

The sound of picking a lock.

The clicking sounds that had been continuously heard seemed to be the sound of fiddling with the keyhole using something metallic like a paperclip.

[Is it Jin-seong?]

Legba said. I shook my head. Uncle has keys. Even if he lost his keys, he could just contact me and ask me to open the door. There was no reason for Uncle to force his way in by picking the lock.

Tap, tap, tap.

Then I heard footsteps. Careful sounds as if walking on tiptoes.

[...It’s definitely not Jin-seong. An unwelcome guest. They’re targeting you.]

I felt a chill from Legba’s tone. I nodded carefully while being cautious not to make noise. Whether it was papal forces, an assassin, or whatever, it was clear that the opponent was after my life.

Tap, tap, tap...

Meanwhile, the footsteps were gradually getting closer. My heartbeat quickened.

Tap, tap...

Maintaining composure, I focused my consciousness on the sounds. I measured the intervals between steps and estimated the number of enemies.

Tap...

The number of enemies was at most two. At least one. Probably one. The intervals between steps weren’t very tight.

Clank!

The door opened. I directed my gaze beyond the door. There was no human figure. Only pitch-black darkness filled the space.

[Duck!]

Then, Legba’s shout rang thunderously in my head. Something was flying fiercely toward me through the darkness.

It was a dagger.

Thunk!

The dagger flew in a round arc and instantly pierced my shoulder. Pain that started from my shoulder flowed down to my toes.

Click, click...

The sound of heeled shoes echoed through the chapel’s silence. A man with his face covered by a black mask was approaching while glaring at me with narrow eyes.

One man.

As expected, there was only one enemy.

I gripped the handle of the dagger stuck in my shoulder tightly.

And pulled it out.

"...!"

The pain was so severe that not even a scream came out. Yet strangely, I felt like laughing. This was because one sentence kept floating around in my head.

There’s only one enemy.

I strongly felt that this wasn’t a crisis, but rather an opportunity.