Chapter 114
Do-Jin blinked and expressed his confusion.
"Taxidermied creature...?"
His mind, which had been filled with thoughts of stopping Sun-Woo and even potentially killing him, suddenly went blank.
Clatter.
The sword he had been holding fell to the ground. Do-Jin had been staring into space with a bewildered look in his eyes before he belatedly looked around to assess the situation. Sung-Hyun's heart, which had been pulled out, scattered into bits of cotton as it exploded. Sung-Hyun's lifeless body was now limp and shriveled like a deflated balloon. From his open chest, chunks of flesh and cotton-like material stuck out.
Sun-Woo was right. That was a taxidermied creature. It was undoubtedly the work of the Satanist who had caused the Tower of Corpses incident in Incheon two years ago.
"Then, what was I..."
Do-Jin slumped down onto the field.
"What on earth was I trying to do...?"
The taxidermied creature could also explode according to Satanist’s will. If Sun-Woo had not acted quickly, the taxidermied creature might have exploded, causing significant damage to the students. Sun-Woo had disposed of the taxidermied creature in order to save the students.
And Do-Jin had almost killed Sun-Woo. If he had completely lost control of his sanity, Sun-Woo's head would have fallen off and rolled on the field floor. Giving in to emotions and not making rational judgments at times was one of Do-Jin's long-standing weaknesses. Do-Jin had committed sins because of this weakness in the past. Today, he had almost committed the same sin against Sun-Woo. Do-Jin felt tormented by the overwhelming guilt.
"...Ah."
Thud.
At that moment, a female student sat down next to Do-Jin. No, she didn’t sit down next to him. She actually fainted. The unconscious student was none other than In-Ah. Jun-Hyuk rushed desperately toward her.
"Hey, wake up! Ah, damn it...!"
In-Ah didn’t wake even after Jun-Hyuk tried shaking and slapping her cheeks, so he tried lifting her up instead.
"Ugh, why is she so heavy?"
And then he put her back down.
***
I went to the nurse's office to receive treatment. Bandages were wrapped around my injured palms and neck. The bleeding had stopped with one layer of bandages on my neck, but my palms required two or three layers of bandages. It wasn't painful, but perhaps due to the blood loss, I felt a little cold.
In-Ah was lying in the hospital room while sleeping. According to the school nurse, she had only temporarily lost consciousness due to shock, and fortunately, there were no significant injuries. I was sitting on a chair and resting while watching In-Ah sleep when Jun-Hyuk approached me.
"Ye-Jin said to come to the counseling room immediately."
"Ah, okay."
Jun-Hyuk's tone seemed somewhat tense. His expression also seemed a bit unsettled. Perhaps he had received a scolding in the counseling room.
I went to the counseling room. When I opened the door, I first saw Ye-Jin, and next to her, I saw Do-Jin. He had his head bowed with his hands covering his face
"Hello," I greeted as I sat down.
After seeing me, Ye-Jin smiled, and Do-Jin kept his gaze on the floor. There was a brief moment of silence.
Do-Jin abruptly raised his head while wiping his face and said, "So, um..."
"So you’re saying that thing was not Sung-Hyun but a taxidermied creature made by a Satanist?"
"Yes."
"And you took care of it before it could do anything strange."
As I nodded, Do-Jin's face froze. Then, with tired, hazy eyes, he quietly stared at me. However, judging from his gaze, he didn't seem to be interrogating or reprimanding me. There was a bit of fear in his eyes.
"I have one question."
"Sure."
"How did you know? At that time... No, even now, that thing seemed like a person, not a taxidermied creature. It definitely didn't look like a taxidermied creature at all. It just looked like a person..."
It seemed like Do-Jin was about to ask me a question, but he started rambling with a trembling voice as if he was confused.
When Ye-Jin tapped his shoulder, he finally regained his composure and continued to speak while looking down at the floor.
"...How did you distinguish it?"
At Do-Jin's question, I was momentarily lost in thought. The moment I became convinced that Sung-Hyun, who appeared at Florence Academy, was a taxidermied creature was right after I had called his father, Bae Jung-Hwan. When asked if his son was doing well, Bae Jung-Hwan answered without any hesitation, saying that he was. When I asked where his son was, he said he was sleeping in his room. In other words, the real Sung-Hyun was at home.
Above all, Sung-Hyun should have feared me because of the Voodoo spell I had cast on him. However, the Sung-Hyun who had appeared at Florence Academy casually shook hands with me and even seemed to be threatening me. There was no way that Sung-Hyun had the mental strength or willpower to break through my spell, and it also definitely wasn’t possible for a Romanican Church priest to dispel it. That’s why I believed that the Sung-Hyun that was in front of me was fake.
Thus, the actual reason why I had first suspected that Sung-Hyun was a taxidermied creature was that I had confidence in my Voodoo sorcery.
"His body temperature was different."
But I couldn’t tell them the truth. To explain the real reason why I thought Sung-Hyun was a taxidermied creature, I had to mention that I knew how to use Voodoo spells, and I would also have to reveal that I was the leader of the Voodoo Cult.
Thus, I decided to make up a plausible reason.
Upon hearing my words, Do-Jin raised his eyebrows.
"Body temperature?"
"When we shook hands, the temperature of his hand felt different from other people's. It was as cold as ice."
"Just because of that flimsy reason..."
"It was so cold that I was convinced he wasn't human. It wouldn't make sense unless he was a corpse or a reptilian humanoid."
Do-Jin fell silent at my firm words.
However, saying that I distinguished him based on body temperature was a lie. When we shook hands, Bae Sung-Hyun’s hands were lukewarm, just like anyone else's. I had never felt any significant temperature anomalies, such as his hand being too cold or too hot.
Within the silence, Ye-Jin glared at Do-Jin with narrowed eyes.
"You messed him up like this. When are you going to apologize?"
"I was planning to do it now."
Do-Jin lowered his head deeply. He let out a heavy, deep sigh. His tired eyes were filled with fatigue as well as guilt.
"I hadn’t imagined it would be a taxidermied creature. I just thought that a murder had occurred at school... I'm sorry..."
"It’s a mistake that anyone could have made. After all, it looks almost exactly like a human."
"Yeah, thank you for understanding..."
"But why did you cry earlier?" I asked while habitually pressing on my palm wound, which was covered by bandages.
I honestly wasn't really curious about why Do-Jin attacked me. At first glance, it would have looked like I was murdering Sung-Hyun by pulling out his heart. Thus, it seemed natural for Do-Jin, as a teacher, to try and stop me, even if it meant he had to attack me.
However, I had no idea why he had shed tears.
Had he watched a sad movie or something? Do-Jin seemed like he wouldn’t shed a drop of blood even if he were stabbed. If a movie could make Do-Jin cry, it must have been a masterpiece. I found myself wanting to watch the movie too.
"...Are you making fun of me?"
With his hand on the sword, Do-Jin glared at me sharply. I was slightly taken aback because his reaction differed from what I had expected.
"No, I was just wondering if you had watched a sad movie or something. You cried in a really miserable manner."
"If you say another word, I'll kill you."
"But you said that people shouldn't kill each other."
"...Ah... Fuck, I want to die," Do-Jin swore while sighing.
In response, Ye-Jin scolded him. "Hey! That's a bad word!"
Do-Jin bowed his head. His face seemed to be twisted in agony due to the overwhelming confusion and self-loathing that he was feeling.
Ye-Jin looked at him with pity before turning her gaze towards me.
"You can go back now. I originally just wanted to let you rest, but I forced you to come because he wanted to apologize... Anyway, you did well."
"Ah, yes."
"Oh! By the way, you're going to get a commendation certificate," Ye-Jin hurriedly said to Sun-Woo as if she suddenly remembered.
A commendation certificate... I remembered that Han Dae-Ho had promised to give me a commendation certificate as a token of gratitude last time. It seemed like it had already arrived.
Ye-Jin smiled brightly and said, "Sun-Woo is secretly doing many great things. Should I give it in front of the kids? Or is it more convenient to give it to you separately?"
"Um... I think it would be better to give it to me separately."
"Really? It would be nice to have something to be proud of in front of the kids. Anyway, I understand," Ye-Jin said while nodding her head with a kind smile.
Leaving Ye-Jin behind, I left the counseling room. The more commendation certificates I received, the better. The more awards and achievements I had, the more impressive my portfolio would be, and the greater the chances of me joining the Central Paladin Order.
However, strangely enough, I didn’t feel extremely happy. Honestly, that was because Ha-Yeon's contribution was greater than mine at that time. I was the one who stopped the clergymen, but she was the one who dismantled the Pentagram and solved the case.
[It's true that without Ha-Yeon, we wouldn't have been able to resolve that incident, but without you, that child wouldn't have been able to dismantle the Pentagram either,] Legba said as if comforting me.
[Back then, you handled the situation calmly. It was actually Ha-Yeon who lost her composure and acted recklessly. She seems to resemble her father a lot.]
"What?"
She resembled her father?
Ha-Yeon's father was Sung Yu-Da. Was there ever a situation where Sung Yu-Da had shown signs of losing his composure or had acted recklessly? Even if I searched through all the articles and videos on the internet, Sung Yu-Da was always calm. No, he was not just calm. He was cold and indifferent, like a machine. The Sung Yu-Da I saw was always like that.
[...Well, everyone has their moments. Forget about it.]
Legba quickly changed the subject. He was extremely reluctant to mention anything about my father, mother, and Sung Yu-Da. I had no idea why. He wouldn't even tell me the reason. Since he obviously wouldn't answer even if asked, I decided to just let it go.
When we arrived in front of the classroom, Legba asked, [Did you figure out anything from this incident?]
I sat down, took out a book, and prepared for the next class while thinking about the fake Sung-Hyun. In other words, the taxidermied creature that appeared in Florence Academy. At first glance, that taxidermied creature was hardly any different from a human. His appearance, voice, body temperature, and even his personality and way of speaking were all similar to a human's.
If I hadn't cast a spell on Sung-Hyun, and if Bae Jung-Hwan wasn't a believer from the Voodoo Cult, I wouldn't have noticed that he was a taxidermied creature. That's how sophisticated and cleverly made this taxidermied creature was.
~
The sentence I saw at the Central Library came to mind:
[They obsessively pursue the perfect taxidermied creature.]
The perfect taxidermied creature. Was that a perfect taxidermied creature, or was that just a defective product to them...? I wasn’t sure.
The only thing I could say for certain was that the Satanist was growing at an alarming rate.
***
Right after the consultation, Ye-Jin went up to her classroom because she had a class that she had to teach, while Do-Jin stayed in the counseling room and tried to calm his mind. In front of his eyes, there was Sung-Hyun, who lay dead after getting his heart pierced through... No, it was the figure of the taxidermied creature disguised as Sung-Hyun.
"Taxidermied creature..."
As he thought of the taxidermied creature, the Tower of Corpses incident came to mind. Under the influence of black magic, the animals had turned into demonic beasts, and the citizens had turned into demons. To Do-Jin, the Tower of Corpses incident was something he desperately wanted to forget but couldn't. That’s how horrific of an event it was.
Knock knock.
Do-Jin had his forehead pressed against the desk while lost in thought, and he looked up. Along with a knocking sound, the door opened up, and Bok-Dong entered.
His approaching footsteps were as loud as his bulky figure.
Thump, thump, thump, thump...
Do-Jin couldn't tell if it was the loud sound of Bok-Dong's footsteps or his pounding heart.
"I heard you almost killed Sun-Woo. Is that true?"
"...Where did you hear that?"
"Ye-Jin told me. She said you caused a massive accident and asked me to give you a scolding. Judging by your reaction, it's true that you almost killed Sun-Woo."
Bok-Dong stretched as if trying to loosen his bulging muscles and sat beside Do-Jin.
It looks like Ye-Jin babbled nonsense here and there, as usual. I wonder how far the rumors will spread this time...
Do-Jin shook his head and suddenly pushed away the image of Ye-Jin's face that came to mind.
"What about your classes? You said that you were fully booked with classes in the afternoon," Do-Jin asked while staring blankly at the blood-red stain stuck to his blade. The blood was Sun-Woo's. If guilt was a person, then it was raising its head and staring at Do-Jin.
"I gave them self-study time."
"Is it fine to do that?"
"It's almost exam season. The kids seem to prefer studying over physical activities. I simply gave them self-study time, just like they wanted," Bok-Dong said nonchalantly.
Do-Jin felt burdened by Bok-Dong's visit, but at the same time, he was grateful.
Suddenly, he remembered the taxidermied creature disguised as Sung-Hyun he saw today. From the outside, it looked just like a human.
"Hey, if you and I were to fight, who do you think would win?"
"What kind of question is that at your age... Are you going through puberty late or something?"
Do-Jin looked at Bok-Dong. If a taxidermied creature that looked exactly like Bok-Dong or Ye-Jin were to appear, would he be able to kill it without hesitation, just like Sun-Woo?
"...Yeah, no."
He shook his head and cleared his stray thoughts. He still wasn’t sure if he would be able to do it.
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