Chapter 112
"Hmm...." Sung Yu-Da murmured as he savored the strong scent of the tea called Witch's Blood.
He was watching the black box recording of the situation he had received from the Eastern Paladin Order. The video was dark, and the quality was poor, making it difficult to distinguish the human figures, but he could roughly grasp the situation. A man and a woman were under the influence of black magic and slapping each other's cheeks. They were foolish paladins and priests who approached the scene without wearing any anti-magic masks, only to be ensnared by black magic themselves. As time passed, the fight became more intense. As the demonic energy flowing out from the pentagram grew thicker, so did the clergymen's hatred toward each other.
In the center of this entire crisis stood a kid named Sun-Woo, and he calmly assessed the situation. He confirmed the consciousness of the woman who became the medium for black magic. He searched for a method to remedy the situation, but there was no method. That was when Ha-Yeon appeared. Sun-Woo explained his strategy for getting out of the situation to Ha-Yeon and then broke a glass bottle.
The clergymen’s anger was focused on Sun-Woo and Ha-Yeon. Sun-Woo had shown excessive calmness for his age, but he was taken aback at this. Eventually, he regained his composure and began to draw the holy cross.
—!
Miracle replication.
The wind blew, causing the waves to gather and creating a whirlpool. The whirlwind created by the consecutive gusts engulfed the clergymen. Eventually, Sun-Woo was swept away by the storm.
Ha-Yeon had been hesitating, but she seemed to have made up her mind after witnessing this. She created a wound on her palm. She completed the blessing of purification and dismantled the Pentagram. As a result, the situation came to an end.
Sung Yu-Da reviewed the footage several times before he turned off the screen and nodded with a smile.
"Excellent."
Ha-Yeon sat across from him. She widened her eyes in surprise. "...What?"
What was excellent? Was it Sun-Woo's miracle replication, or was it the blessing of purification that she had drawn...? A small expectation blossomed in her heart.
"The boy's name was... Sun-Woo?"
"...Yes."
"He seems to have skills beyond his age. It's an amazing talent."
Ha-Yeon bowed her head. As she thought, her father didn’t have any intention of praising her... She clenched her fist and covered the scar on her palm.
Meanwhile, Sung Yu-Da was recalling the miracle that Sun-Woo had replicated. Although he couldn't control it in the end and was swept away by the storm himself, the fact that he could replicate such a tremendous miracle was an incredible talent. He was partially on par with the active-duty clergymen who were all talk and no show. No, in terms of skill alone, he had already surpassed the level of the active-duty clergymen.
"What happened to the proposal for him to join the Theological Association?" Sung Yu-Da asked with a low voice.
Ha-Yeon had been absentmindedly curling her toes and daydreaming, when she suddenly snapped out of it and looked up.
"I got rejected..."
"Why?" Sung Yu-Da asked as if he was surprised. N0v3lTr0ve served as the original host for this chapter's release on N0v3l--B1n.
Ha-Yeon had a pretty good idea why. It was probably because of her past actions. According to her friends, whenever she got bored, she would verbally attack Sun-Woo for no reason other than because she didn’t like the look in his eyes. But Ha-Yeon failed to even remember that, and without apologizing, she boldly suggested he join the Theological Association.
It was only natural for her to be rejected. How repulsive must have she appeared to Sun-Woo? Just the thought made Ha-Yeon feel sick to her stomach.
"He didn’t tell me the reason, so I don’t know..." she mumbled with her head lowered.
Sung Yu-Da slightly tilted his head. There were often kids who were like that. They would become obsessed with testing and proving their own abilities, and as a result, they would reject any help from others. They were children who held the strange principle of wanting to become clergymen solely through their own abilities instead of relying on organizations like the Theological Association.
It was not easy to convince those with such principles. There was a time when Sung Yu-Da followed someone who had a stronger conviction than anyone else. They never followed others but rather had a unique charm that made others follow them.
However, there was never a good ending for them. Yes, never.
Sung Yu-Da shook his head as if chasing away the memories of the past. Leaving his teacup on the table, he abruptly stood up.
"It looks like it’d be best to create an opportunity to directly meet him soon. And..."
[It's complicated. How about thinking about it more simply?]
"Is it even possible to think of it in a simpler way than this?"
[Well, it depends on how you think.]
Legba's ambiguous words added to my confusion. He didn't give me a clear conclusion when it came to deducing the Satanist’s identity. It was not like he was joking around or something. Did he catch the Baron Samedi disease...?
I sighed and returned to the classroom.
***
After refining the revised proposal little by little during the morning break, I emailed it to Min-Seo just before lunchtime. Later on, I walked together with In-Ah and Jun-Hyuk along the mountain trail.
"There will be no end if we assume things like that. Shouldn't we only discuss things based on the given information?"
"Hey, considering the topic, shouldn’t we account for the worst-case scenario?"
"Sigh... It’s impossible to talk to you," Jun-Hyuk said.
In-Ah and Jun-Hyuk had been engaged in a heated debate since before lunch, and the argument had continued up until now. The topic of the debate was 'What weapon should we carry in case of a zombie outbreak?'
In-Ah argued that a baseball bat was the best, while Jun-Hyuk insisted that a bamboo spear was better. It was truly a practical, productive, and mature argument.
"Hey, imagine if the zombie outbreak ended. With a baseball bat, you can play baseball."
"No, the assumption that the outbreak will end is absurd, isn't it?"
"What's so absurd about it?" In-Ah challenged, and Jun-Hyuk sighed.
"Let’s set that aside for now. If there was a zombie outbreak, then what about food? Can you get food with a baseball bat?"
"Then what about a bamboo spear? Can you get food with a bamboo spear?"
"If you're hungry, you can tear off bits of the spear and eat them. You try eating the baseball bat, then."
"Are you a panda? What kind of nonsense is that?"
The argument continued, and as time passed, their voices grew louder. I had no choice but to distance myself from them as we walked. I didn't want to be mistaken for being involved in their childish argument. Although I kept my distance, I carefully listened to Jun-Hyuk and In-Ah's conversation. It was a combination of observation and surveillance. I still hadn't dismissed the suspicion that Jun-Hyuk might be a Satanist.
"And the spear has a longer range."
"How are you going to pull it out once it gets stuck inside a zombie? You might get bitten by a zombie and turn into one while pulling it out."
"Just stab the next zombie without pulling it out. It’s like a zombie kebab—"
"—Hey! Is it fine for you to come to school?!"
The childish conversation between In-Ah and Jun-Hyuk was interrupted by a shout coming from the field. A male student expressed his frustrations by loudly shouting in an irritating pre-pubescent voice.
"What's going on?" In-Ah expressed her confusion, and Jun-Hyuk shrugged his shoulders as if he didn't know either.
Curious, they walked across the field and toward the center of the commotion. I followed them as well. From up close, I could see that the ones causing the disturbance were none other than our former classmates, Bae Sung-Hyun, and his gang.
"Wow, it's been a long time. You didn’t contact me at all. What have you been up to?"
"Bastard, your skin seems to have gotten paler. It looks like you’ve been eating well?"
The gang members surrounded someone, asking about their well-being or playfully insulting them. Their reactions were varied, but the joy that appeared on their faces was the same. The male student standing in the center of the gang scratched his head awkwardly and gave a shy smile. In-Ah looked at the male student's face and opened her mouth with a stern expression.
"...Bae Sung-Hyun?"
Sung-Hyun had been expelled, but he was dressed neatly in his school uniform while standing shamelessly on Florence Academy grounds.