Chapter 122
"...Why have you come, Elder Gabriel?"
Chang-Won greeted Gabriel as he entered the chairman's office by slightly bowing toward him. Gabriel acknowledged the greeting with a slight nod.
The two sat facing each other at the table in the center of the office. Without any formalities, Gabriel immediately brought up the main topic.
"I've come to discuss... the disciplinary action against Teacher Do-Jin."
"..."
"Among the elders, there have been discussions...about whether the disciplinary measures were too severe. Therefore, we are considering...lowering the level of punishment."
"Are you saying this is being discussed among the elders?" Chang-Won asked.
The elders, known for their inflexibility and bossiness, had never once reversed a disciplinary decision against a teacher. Once he heard they were considering lowering the level of punishment, Chang-Won began to doubt his own ears.
"Is there a reason why the elders suddenly made such a decision?" Chang-Won asked.
“Of course, we won’t be able to unconditionally...reduce his level of punishment. We will reduce his punishment from a suspension...to a reduction in pay, but in exchange...”
He was saying that in exchange for lowering Do-Jin’s punishment from a suspension to a reduction in pay, they would have him guard the elders during the Satanist Identification Project.
Chang-Won finally understood and nodded while clenching his teeth. He wondered why Gabriel suddenly said things that made sense, but as expected... His clenched teeth trembled at the elders' selfishness.
"...Is that a suggestion or an order?"
"Of course, it's a suggestion. Not an order," Gabriel said.
Then Gabriel looked around the room as if searching for something.
"Speaking of which... Where is the secretary?"
"Well, she said she had some work at home and would be back soon, but there has been no contact since. It seemed quite urgent..."
"Oh dear... I hope it’s not a big deal. The world these days...is so unpredictable...” Gabriel said and then clicked his tongue.
"Anyway, take some time to think...about the proposal. I'll go to the bathroom...for a bit."
With a brief struggle, Gabriel managed to get up from his seat and slowly walked to the bathroom. Once Gabriel arrived at the bathroom, he washed his hands and absentmindedly touched his hair while looking at the mirror.
He hadn’t come to the bathroom to relieve himself in the first place. He went to the bathroom to give Chang-Won some time alone to think things through. While he was doing this, the door of the farthest stall in the bathroom opened by itself.
Squeak...
Gabriel stopped touching his hair and held his breath.
The windows in the faculty members' bathroom were always closed, and they were all still closed. The wind couldn’t have opened the door. Feeling a chill run down his spine, Gabriel slowly walked toward the stall.
"...Who's there?"
There was no response. Eventually, he relentlessly moved his feet toward the corner stall without stopping. Finally, he saw something in the corner stall.
No, more precisely, he saw something hanging in the corner stall.
It was the chairman’s secretary. The secretary's stomach was split in half, and it was empty inside. The secretary's neck was wrapped with her intestines, and her body was hanging in the air, almost like someone who had hung themselves with a rope.
Thud.
Gabriel's phone fell to the ground from his hand. It hit the bathroom tile floor, and the screen cracked.
Gabriel picked up the broken phone with a pale face. Even though a broken piece of the screen was stuck in his fingertip and blood was flowing out, he moved his finger without hesitation.
—This is the Seoul Paladin Order Eastern Branch. What...
"In Florence Academy...a Satanist. A Satanist, ugh...!"
—What? What are you...
"Ugh, guuuuuh...! Cough...!"
The elder couldn't hold back his nausea, and he started vomiting on the bathroom floor. The paladin’s bewildered voice kept coming through the receiver.
***
"Another swordsmanship class? I don’t even know how many students have been knocked unconscious at this point... Alright, good job. Quickly, go back to class and rest."
After moving the two unconscious students to the nurse's office, I left while listening to the school nurse’s grumblings. Then, I immediately headed to the sacred training ground. Baron Samedi's prophecy to beware of screams kept echoing in my ears, and my steps were born out of concern for what might have happened to Do-Jin, who was captivated by the screams.
No? I wasn't really worried about Do-Jin. I just wanted to confirm if I had interpreted Baron Samedi's prophecy correctly.
"...Do you not have to go to the nurse's office?" Jin-Seo asked while following me.
"Me? Why would I need to go to the nurse’s office?"
"Does it not hurt?"
She raised her lowered gaze and briefly examined my expression. Usually arched, her eyebrows were now furrowed as she looked at me with a wary expression..
I shook my head. My abdomen still tingled a bit, but it wasn't bad enough to go to the nurse's office.
"I'm fine."
"You always say you're fine."
"Then should I say I'm not fine?"
"...That's not what I meant!" Jin-Seo exclaimed while abruptly raising her head.
Her eyebrows briefly shot up, and then as if surprised by her own voice, they flinched back down. I gave her a small smile.
"You suddenly got angry. How scary... I’m so scared."
"I'm not angry," Jin-Seo replied in a soft voice with her head bowed.
That's when I noticed the sword in her hand. It was the training sword we used at the sacred training ground.
"Why did you bring the sword?"
"Sword...? Oh? This... "
She looked at the sword in her hand and widened her eyes as if she were surprised. Due to the urgent situation, she hadn't thought of putting it down and had brought it along with her. The foam wrapped around the blade for training purposes had already been peeled off. However, it didn't look very threatening because the blade was too dull. It was the same as a toy blade.
"Why did I bring this?" Jin-Seo asked herself.
"If I get stabbed again, it won't end with just me fainting since there is no foam this time."
"...I won't stab you."
"I’m going to be careful, just in case."
"I said I won't stab you. You don't have to be careful..."
Normally, she would have retorted back with a relaxed smile, but this time she shifted her gaze around the room as if she was unsure of what to do. It seemed like she was genuinely sorry for knocking me out during the spar. It was somewhat amusing to see her react differently than usual.
She was lowering her head in a depressed manner when she seemingly remembered something and suddenly asked, "...But where are you going?"
"The sacred training ground. What about you?"
"I was following you."
"Why were you following me?"
"Am I not allowed to follow you?"
"There's no reason you can't, but..."
"Then let's go together."
It was an unexpected proposal. She blatantly stared at me while pushing a strand of hair back on her head.
"Why are you going to the sacred training ground?"
“I’m going to check out what happened there.”
“The teacher told us to stay in the classroom.”
"Since when did you start listening so obediently to the teachers?" I said jokingly.
In response, Jin-Seo glared at me with narrowed eyes.
"I listen to what they say, you know...?"
"Yeah, since you listen so well to the teachers, go to the classroom."
"You're really...!"
She looked at me with eyes filled with betrayal. Then, she furrowed her eyebrows slightly and scoffed, "I won't talk to you."
"Really?"
"...No."
Her gaze dropped to the ground. Then, she walked beside me with weak, unstable steps.
Tap, tap.
Occasionally, her head lightly tapped against my shoulder. She covered her face with her hair by bowing her head and said, "You were really mean...."
"What did I do?"
"..."
I playfully teased her by playing dumb, and before we realized it, we arrived in front of the sacred training ground. The atmosphere was strangely bleak, and the air around us felt heavy. As if nervous, Jin-Seo held on to her sword with a tense expression on her face as we tried to enter the sacred training ground.
Clank.
"...It's locked."
However, we couldn't enter. The door was firmly locked from the inside. I glanced through the window to check what was happening inside. All the lights were off, and the training swords previously scattered on the floor could no longer be seen. It was perfectly cleaned up as if there had never been any sword training classes in the first place.
"Why? Is there something wrong?"
Jin-Seo pushed her head in next to mine and tried to look through the window. She had approached so suddenly that I was startled, and I instinctively pulled my head back.
"There's nothing."
"Yeah, but why are you avoiding me?"
"...Let's go back."
Without answering Jin-Seo's question, I turned toward the classroom and started walking.
I had no idea what happened to Do-Jin after he headed toward the bathroom following the scream. However, seeing the immaculately organized sacred training ground devoid of any signs of battle, it seemed like it had been taken care of.
If the origin of the scream really had been a Florence Academy student, then Do-Jin would have taken them to the hospital. Even if it was a trap, Do-Jin would have taken care of it and come out. For now, this scenario seemed to be more plausible.
"So why did you avoid me earlier? Is it because you were embarrassed?" Jin-Seo asked persistently as she followed me back to the classroom. She had a small smile on her face, and her voice was filled with mischief.
"That’s a good question...but are you going to keep holding onto that sword?"
"For now, since there's nowhere else to put it... Why are you changing the subject again?" she asked as she looked at me with slightly narrowed eyes.
"..."
I just kept my mouth shut. I felt like if I answered unnecessarily, I would get caught up with her pace.
Even though I tried to subtly change the subject, it didn't work on Jin-Seo. For a moment, I felt a sense of comfort in the ensuing silence, but she once again tapped her head against my shoulder and asked, "You're not going to answer?"
"Think about it as you wish."
"Is that fine?"
"What exactly are you going to think about, to be asking for permission?"
"...True."
We continued walking while exchanging trivial conversations.
Flutter—!
Birds flew up from Eiden Hill. It wasn't just one or two birds. Dozens of birds lined up in a fan shape and flew off into the horizon. It slowly started to feel like the ground was trembling below my feet.
The school was enveloped by a heavy silence.
The faint smile that was on Jin-Seo's face completely disappeared. She stared at the birds flying away with her sharp, narrowed eyes.
Rumble rumble...
Then, with a loud explosion, a rumbling sound echoed and reverberated throughout the area. Following that, a strange sound that seemed like the cries of birds could be heard.
Kyaaa, kyaaak...
As the sounds got closer, I realized that it wasn't the sounds of birds crying. It was the sounds of countless screams tangling and intertwining into a cacophony.
Screams were resounding once again.
An echo of false pain.
"..."
Following the screams coming out from the sacred training ground, there were sounds of explosions and then more screams. It was too systematic and sequential to be called a coincidence. Something was clearly happening. It was a situation that required calm and rational judgment, but the situation did not give me the chance to do so.
Tap, tap, tap, tap...
From far away, someone with fluttering brown hair was running toward me. As she got closer, her face became clearer.
With furrowed brows, she tried to hold back her tears, but they still flowed uncontrollably as she wiped them away with her sleeve and desperately ran towards me.
It was In-Ah.
"What’s going—"
Thump.
Before I could even speak, she rushed toward me and hugged me tightly. Her tear-stained face pressed against my clothes before she swiftly lifted her head.
Her big, round eyes with brown irises that were shining like stars stared at me intensely.
"Sun-Woo..."
Tears welled up in her eyes as she called my name. Her familiar scent, which I had grown accustomed to while being together, felt strange. Her fragrance was so strong that it made me momentarily dizzy. I could feel my heart pounding and my face heating up. Her cold hand rested on my cheek.
“I had a class in the training center when suddenly, the building collapsed. Sob, sniff..."
“..."
"Sniff, the kids... The kids were trapped under the pillar. Sob. Help, Sun-Woo, help..."
The Department of Priests had a class in the training center. Now that I thought about it, the explosion sounds seemed to have come from the direction of the training center. Judging from In-Ah's words, the training center collapsed, and as a result, students were trapped under a pillar. Since no one could lift the pillar up, she wandered around to seek assistance when she spotted me.
In-Ah looked up at me with tears streaming down her face.
"What are you doing? Hurry, let's go to the training center—"
Slice.
At that moment, her words were cut off. Simultaneously, her throat was sliced off. In-Ah's severed head detached from her body and rolled on the floor.
Thud.
Her body collapsed onto the ground. Instead of blood, sawdust and cotton poured out from the severed section of her neck.
"Who do you think you’re messing with...?"
Jin-Seo held her sword and looked down at In-Ah's body, or rather, the taxidermied creature's corpse, with a cold and chilly gaze.
Sssss...
Black noxious smoke rose up from the corpse that the blunt sword had severed. The corpse lost its elasticity and became gooey, eventually transforming into smoke and dispersing into the sky.
In the place where the corpse had scattered, In-Ah's school uniform, sweatshirt, and a long, thin thread-like object remained.
"Hair...?"
It was a strand of hair. A long, thin, brown strand of hair.
Wee woo wee woo!
I didn’t even have time to comprehend the situation, let alone have time to be startled. Sirens blared from speakers installed throughout the school.
With a sharp sound of adjusting the audio, the teacher's voice began to flow through the entire school.
Ah, ah. Student Do... immediately... come to the... office. Failure to comply will be considered an act of rebellion... against the Romanican Church. I repeat... student... Woo, please immediately come to the principal's...
The teacher's voice was mixed with white noise, making it difficult to understand. A wave of anxiety washed over me.
Crackle, crackle...
The constant white noise gradually faded and eventually disappeared completely. And once again, the teacher's voice could be heard.
Student Do Sun-Woo, immediately come to the principal's office. Failure to comply will be considered an act of rebellion against the Romanican church. I repeat, Student Do Sun-Woo...
The voice was calling out to me.
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