The Cult Leader in the Clergy Academy

Chapter 244

I didn’t understand why Jin-Seo was here. I stopped for a moment and looked at her.

She also stopped and looked at me for a while before crossing her arms and tilting her head. She then approached me with exaggerated movements, and she frowned as if she was dissatisfied with something.

I didn’t have anything in particular that I wanted to say, so I said, “Long time no see.”

Jin-Seo didn't respond. Instead, she continued to approach me. After approaching, she stared at me deeply as if she was scrutinizing me.

Her large, clear eyes, which were gazing at me, contained indescribable emotions in them.

I could read her expression, but that didn’t mean I could understand the underlying emotions.

"Are you going to leave early?" she asked.

I nodded. I fidgeted with the early leave confirmation slip in my pocket.

Jin-Seo scanned me up and down, then stood next to me.

"Let's go."

"Where?"

"I'm leaving early too. Let's go together," Jin-Seo said as she pushed my back.

She and I naturally ended up walking together. Her hair got messy whenever the wind blew, and every time that happened, she swept her hair back to tidy it up. Her hair seemed to have grown longer since I last saw her.

However, it might just be my imagination, so I didn’t mention it.

Jin-Seo suddenly glanced in my direction and said, “I grew out my hair a little. Did you not notice?”

I nodded and said, "Yeah, it seemed like it. It suits you well."

“It seems like it, you say... You wouldn’t have known if I hadn’t mentioned it.”

Feeling a bit unjust, I retorted, “I actually did notice it before. I just didn't mention it because I wasn't sure.”

“Okay then," Jin-Seo said with a chuckle.

We walked to the school gate together and saw students arriving late. They were running frantically to avoid being marked late. In fact, they were running so frantically that we almost collided with one of them.

Just like that, Jin-Seo and I leisurely walked in the opposite direction that the students were rushing toward. As we tried to leave through the gate, the security guard came and stopped us.

I took out my early dismissal form and showed it to him.

Jin-Seo didn't have one, but the guard also let her pass without any trouble.

"Do you not need to show yours?"

"I often leave early due to my dad's hospital visits," Jin-Seo casually explained.

Her tone seemed to suggest that it wasn’t a big deal. I contemplated whether I should ask if her dad was still very sick, but I decided not to ask as it seemed like a pointless question.

It was surprising how Jin-Seo was naturally using the term ‘Dad.’ She had always used the term 'Father’ to refer to Chang-Won in the past. I thought that maybe she subconsciously felt some distance between him because he wasn't her biological father, but now even that distance seemed to have disappeared.

At that moment, Jin-Seo suddenly said, "I quit smoking."

"Good for you. Why did you quit all of a sudden?"

I had asked out of genuine curiosity. However, she just continued to glare at me without answering.

"..."

I had to withstand her sharp gaze without understanding what was going on at all. As if in disbelief, she chuckled and said, “You told me to quit, right? You said you’d grant me a wish if I quit.”

"...Oh, right, I remember."

The truth was, I didn’t remember. I simply pretended to belatedly remember in order to avoid being rebuked. Jin-Seo gave me a piercing look.

“Isn’t this too harsh? I quit because of you, you know?”

“...”

"I suffered for weeks because of the words you said. But to think that the person who said those words doesn’t even remember...” Jin-Seo grumbled.

She continued to mumble as if trying to express her resentment. Her sulky expression and murmuring were quite different from usual, so it felt strange.

I didn’t have anything to say, so I silently listened to her complain. It was true that I had advised her to quit smoking, and it was also true that I had forgotten about it.

"So, are you going to grant my wish?"

I had promised her, perhaps irresponsibly, that I would grant her wish if she succeeded in quitting smoking. Her quitting smoking wouldn’t even bring me a single benefit, and yet I had promised her such a thing. I tried to recall why I had made such a promise, but I couldn’t remember why.

Legba suddenly intervened and said, [It was because you were also addicted to the intoxication spell at that time.]

Right, that was the reason. Back when I made the promise, I had been addicted to the intoxication spell.

Whenever I felt even a slight amount of stress, I used the intoxication spell, and I also wouldn’t have been able to sleep unless I used the intoxication spell before going to bed. At the time, I had succumbed to the brief and intense pleasure of the intoxication spell because I had nothing else to rely on.

I saw my own weakness in Jin-Seo’s addiction to cigarettes. That was why I had made such a ridiculous promise.

I contemplated for a moment and then replied, "...Sure, I'll grant your wish. It can be anything."

I had to take responsibility for what I had said. As if satisfied with my answer, Jin-Seo grinned. There was a hint of ominousness within that grin. I felt anxious, wondering what kind of wish she had in store for me for her to have such an ominous grin. She stared at me for a while with a smile on her face. For some reason, she just continued to look at me without saying anything.

"What is it?"

“I was just wondering what sort of wish I should ask for.”

"Okay, tell me when you've decided."

Jin-Seo dropped her gaze and said, "I just did, but I don't want to say it now."

"Then when will you say it?"

"Later."

"You could just say it now. Why wait..."

“To make you wonder what it is,” Jin-Seo said bluntly.

I didn’t have the desire to persistently ask her, and it didn’t seem like she would tell me even if continued to ask her, so I just kept my mouth shut.

I wondered what kind of grand wish it was for her to drag it out so much. She glanced at me briefly and said, "Keep waiting while wondering what it is. Then I'll tell you someday."

"..."

"If you're too curious, contact me. Then, depending on your behavior, I might tell you what it is."

“I’m the one granting your wish, so why should I bend over for you?"

"Then you shouldn't have said that you were going to grant my wish in the first place.”

I was once again rendered speechless.

I walked while keeping my mouth shut. The silence was long. However, I didn't feel the need to break the silence.

No matter how many minutes I walked with Jin-Seo in silence, it didn’t feel uncomfortable. Perhaps it was because both of us were not talkative. We walked silently for a while and then reached a crossroads.

"I’ll go now," Jin-Seo said.

It was unexpected. I thought she would follow me until she saw me enter the hospital.

"What's the matter? You used to follow me all the way to the dormitory."

Jin-Seo chuckled in response.

"I need to leave around this point for it to be tantalizing," she said.

"..."

"Why? Are you disappointed because I didn’t accompany you to the end?" she asked nonchalantly.

I wasn't disappointed at all. When I shook my head, she smiled again. It was probably a smile without much meaning behind it, but it somehow felt like she was mocking me, so it hurt my pride. I gestured for her to leave quickly.

"Hurry up and leave."

"You suddenly seem upset. Did I hit a nerve?"

"What are you talking about... What is there to hit a nerve about?"

"Okay, got it. See you tomorrow then."

With that, Jin-Seo said goodbye and left. I briefly watched her retreating figure before heading toward the underground chapel.

When I arrived, Ji-Ah came to greet me. Soo-Yeong and my uncle were nowhere to be seen. Ji-Ah's eyes widened in surprise when she saw my face covered in bandages and bruises.

"It's nothing serious. Just got into a little scuffle," I said before she could worry further.

"You got into a scuffle...? Who hit you for you to end up like this?"

"Me."

"Huh...?" Ji-Ah said in a puzzled manner as if not understanding my words.

I decided to change the subject because it would get too long if I explained.

I looked around the room and searched for Soo-Yeong and my uncle. I couldn't see either of them. It didn’t seem like they were in the underground chapel.

"Where’s Uncle and Soo-Yeong?"

"Soo-Yeong went out with Teacher earlier."

"Why?"

"It seems like they just went out to have fun...."

Ji-Ah also seemed unsure of why they had left. I was a little worried when I heard that Soo-Yeong had left the underground chapel, but since Uncle went with her, I figured everything would be fine.

Even if something happened, Uncle would most likely take care of it appropriately.

I grabbed my staff and tried to enter the room where Yoon-Ah was.

"Cult Leader," Ji-Ah called out to me.

"Yes, what is it?"

"Did something good happen today?"

It was a question that came out of the blue.

I pondered over my day. I visited the dormitory in the morning, and the flowers that I had been growing had wilted. I heard that one of the crusaders I drove crazy with a spell was the father of a Florence Academy student.

Yu-Hyun picked a fight with me out of the blue, and I said something unnecessary to Ye-Jin. And then I met Jin-Seo. Nothing good in particular happened today.

"...I wonder. It doesn't seem like anything particularly good happened today."

"You came in smiling today for some reason."

"Did I?"

"Yes, even now..." Ji-Ah said.

I belatedly realized that I was smiling.

I hid my smile out of habit. Come to think of it, I didn't seem to pay much attention to managing my expression today. Maybe I had also shown an expression I shouldn't have to Jin-Seo as well.

"...I didn't know I was smiling. Nothing particularly good happened, though."

“Is the fact that you were unknowingly smiling enough of a good thing?” Ji-Ah said with a slight smile.

Instead of answering, I smiled.

I entered the room that Yoon-Ah was in and found her crouching on the floor. When I entered, Yoon-Ah widened her eyes and looked at me. The way she reacted made it seem like she had been waiting for me.

Whenever I saw Yoon-Ah, it reminded me of In-Ah. Come to think of it, I hadn’t been able to talk to In-Ah at school today. Maybe she had been waiting for me to talk to her, but I didn't dwell on it too much. After all, I was going to go to school tomorrow, and I would be able to talk to her then.

I approached Yoon-Ah with my staff and asked, "Were you waiting?"

It was a question that didn’t have much meaning behind it. Yoon-Ah probably wasn't waiting for me, and even if she were, she wouldn't be able to answer anyway.

After listening to what I said, Yoon-Ah nodded. Just as I was about to use Voodoo magic to activate the reverse spell technique using my staff, I belatedly realized that something was strange.

"..."

Yoon-Ah had listened to what I said and nodded.

* * *

"Did Sun-Woo say he's not coming today as well?" Han Dae-Ho asked, sitting at his desk with his shoulders slumped.

Oh Hee-Jin, who had come to report, nodded as he rummaged through the documents.

"That's right."

"He hasn’t been coming often these days... Is something going on?"

"Of course not. It's exam season right now, so he probably isn’t coming because he’s busy studying.”

"I see, that makes sense..." Han Dae-Ho muttered in a deflated tone.

He had successfully added Sun-Woo's name to the list of students for the Eastern Paladin Order’s dispatch training. However, Sun-Woo hadn't been coming to the Eastern Paladin Order very often.

Although he understood that Sun-Woo was busy studying during the exam period, he still felt disappointed. Han Dae-Ho wanted to create and assign some work to Sun-Woo.

It wasn’t that he wanted to toss his workload over to him. It was because if he accumulated achievements in dispatch training, it would be advantageous for Sun-Woo in the future when he took the entrance exam for the Central Paladin Order.

"He mentioned wanting to go to the Central Paladin Order, right?" Oh Hee-Jin asked.

Han Dae-Ho nodded and said, "Yeah. He has ambition, and he has skills, but unfortunately, there's nothing I can do to help right now."

"Don't worry too much. There aren’t many tasks to assign to him around this time anyway. The practical training period isn't short, so isn’t it fine to relax and take it easy?"

"That's true..." Han Dae-Ho slowly nodded in agreement with Oh Hee-Jin.

It was a very accurate statement.

In fact, even if Sun-Woo came to the Eastern Paladin Order, there wouldn't be much for him to do. Han Dae-Ho had already taken care of all the major tasks.

The remaining tasks were mundane, such as patrolling and searching for people who had been missing for a long time. Patrolling wasn't a significant task that could be recorded as an achievement, and above all, it was too trivial to assign to Sun-Woo.

Searching for people who had been missing for a long time could be recorded as an achievement. However, the problem was that finding missing people was extremely difficult.

If they went out to search and did not find the missing person, not only would they not gain any achievements, but they would also end up wasting a lot of time.

Knock knock.

Someone knocked on the office door. Oh Hee-Jin and Han Dae-Ho both turned their heads toward the door simultaneously.

Oh Hee-Jin opened the door, and Han Dae-Ho's eyes widened in surprise. It was because someone they had never even imagined would come to the office had arrived.

"Sun-Woo? You said you weren't coming today..."

"Director," Sun-Woo interrupted Han Dae-Ho as he entered the room.

Han Dae-Ho was so shocked that he was unable to complete his sentence. It was because he sensed a determination in Sun-Woo’s gaze that was sharper than anything he had seen before.

Judging by Sun-Woo’s heavy breathing, it seemed like he had run all the way here to the Eastern Paladin Order.

Sun-Woo collected his breath and said, "I want to participate in a long-term missing person search mission."