Chapter 125
“A plan?”
Min-Seo raised her eyebrows. After the explosion at the training center, she and Yu-Hyun went around the school to assess the situation and organize the gathered information. Min-Seo had been brainstorming solutions to mitigate the situation up until the moment she entered the principal's office. However, no plan had come to mind.
After pondering for a while, Min-Seo finally gave up on coming up with a plan. Too many accidents had arisen, and as a student, each situation was too difficult to resolve. Min-Seo just couldn't come up with a solution that could put a stop to the situation.
"...Alright then, lay it on me."
Sun-Woo said that he had come up with a plan when she had just relayed the specifics of the circumstances they were facing. She didn't want to believe it. If anyone else had blurted out those words, she would have dismissed it as nonsense and not listened. However, since it was Sun-Woo speaking, she thought it was worth listening to.
Sun-Woo gently patted the shoulder he popped back in place and looked up at the chairman.
"First, Mr. Chairman, we need you to drive out the mercenaries camping at the school gate. Vice-Principal, please issue an evacuation order to the students through the PA system."
"...And I was wondering what you had to say. Hey, do you think that if we ask nicely, the mercenaries would be like, ‘Oh, my sincerest apologies,’ and just leave? I’m telling you, there’s no point in issuing an evacuation order."
As Min-Seo interrupted him, Sun-Woo glared at her fiercely. He said with a cold and stern tone, "Shut up and listen."
Min-Seo momentarily felt overwhelmed and lowered her gaze to the ground, then raised her head up again. Although it was only for a moment, she felt discomfort at the fact that she had chickened out in front of Sun-Woo.
"...Ah, yes. Please continue."
“Mr. Chairman, how much time do you think it’ll take to take care of the mercenaries?”
Sun-Woo continued asking the chairman without acknowledging Min-Seo’s comment. Chang-Won looked slightly downward and swallowed as if he were in deep thought.
"...Depends on the situation. If combat is inevitable, I think it would take at least thirty minutes."
"Shall we say an hour just to be safe? Vice-Principal, can you replace the bell signaling the start of afternoon classes with an evacuation announcement?"
"Um... It should be possible."
"Alright, then the evacuation announcement will sound throughout the school in approximately one hour. Until then, Mr.Chairman, please ensure the evacuation route is secured by driving out the mercenaries. Next..."
"Shouldn't we secure the evacuation route first and then have the vice-principal make the announcement? Is it really necessary to complicate things?" Yu-Hyun asked.
Sun-Woo shook his head.
"They could take control of the broadcasting room and prevent the announcement. It's better to do this beforehand."
"Do you think the Satanists would think that far ahead?"
"The Satanists cut off all communication with the outside world before they started to wreak havoc. In the worst-case scenario, they might have already taken over the broadcasting room."
"Hmm... okay!"
Yu-Hyun nodded, seemingly convinced by Sun-Woo's words.
Sun-Woo continue, "Yu-Hyun and Min-Seo go search for the missing people as a team just like you did earlier."
"Do we really have to go together?"
Min-Seo had already planned to stick with Yu-Hyun anyway, as it was the logical and safer choice. However, she didn't like the idea of blindly following Sun-Woo's words. So, she had raised a question about it.
Sun-Woo looked into the empty space with unfocused eyes.
"If you go with Yu-Hyun, you can immediately tell who the taxidermied creatures are. It’d be disastrous if someone you rescued turned out to be a taxidermied creature," he said, almost murmuring his words.
"...That's true."
Min-Seo reluctantly nodded. Although Sun-Woo’s plan wasn’t perfect, this was their best option. The fact that this was the case once again took a toll on Min-Seo's self-esteem.
Sun-Woo stopped speaking and closed his mouth for a moment. A moment of silence hung in the principal's office as he remained silent.
"...Did you say you came from the training center?"
Min-Seo reflexively replied, "Huh? Uh, yes."
Before she knew it, she was being swept along by Sun-Woo's flow.
"Did you see In-Ah at the training center?"
"Who's that?" Yu-Hyun asked, a foolish expression on his face as if saying it was his first time hearing the name. Min-Seo furrowed her brows as if trying to recall.
Sun-Woo pointed to his own hair.
"Brown hair, a bit short, and an overall cozy impression..."
"Ah! I think I know. She's pretty, right? I tried talking to her the other day, but she completely ignored me."
"I don’t care. Anyway, did you see where she went?"
"She was one of the first to escape when the training center exploded. Her shoes weren’t even on properly."
"That was... probably a taxidermied creature."
Yu-Hyun shrugged his shoulders and said, "Really? Then I don't know where she went."
Sun-Woo lowered his head and nervously rubbed his face with his hands. The corners of his lips were trembling slightly. Taking a deep breath, Sun-Woo finally lifted his head, revealing his calm face.
"Okay... And lastly, I will find and kill the Satanist by myself."
"What? The first part of your plan sounded somewhat reasonable, but it slowly devolved into a pile of nonsense. How are you going to find them, and how are you going to kill them?" Min-Seo asked sharply.
Sun-Woo rested his gaze on Min-Seo, his eyes still unfocused.
"Why should I tell you? There's no guarantee that you're not a Satanist," he replied.
"You’re insane. If that's the case, what about you? What will we do if you're a Satanist?"
"You better keep your mouth shut. You keep saying things that won’t happen," Sun-Woo said coldly.
Min-Seo scowled.
"You bastard... You fucker, you need to explain the last and most important part of the plan. How can we trust and follow you if you don't?"
"Hey, hey. Mr. Chairman is here as well. Don’t swear like that.”
Yu-Hyun tried to stop Min-Seo from spouting curses, but Min-Seo had already lost her temper.
"Even I can say bullshit like 'I will find and kill the Satanist by myself.’ It doesn’t make sense for him to say that’s part of the plan–"
Sun-Woo interrupted Min-Seo.
"For this plan to be successful, only I need to know about the details."
"Oh, really? How amazing does this plan have to be for it to only work if you know it? I'm so fucking curious," Min-Seo replied sarcastically.
"Then stay curious," Sun-Woo said as he stood up from his seat.
Min-Seo let out a bitter laugh. She was just about to subconsciously swear again due to Sun-Woo’s audacious attitude, but she shut her mouth when she saw that Sun-Woo was menacingly striding toward her.
Min-Seo forcefully prevented her gaze from shifting downward and lifted her chin up. Sun-Woo’s cold and distant eyes were fixated on her.
"You don't have to trust me if you don't want to. There's no reason for you to follow my instructions."
"..."
"But still, believe me and do as I say."
Sun-Woo's tone was firm and assertive, unlike his usual self. It was to the point where it felt oppressive. His eyes were filled with confidence, and his face was expressionless.
"If that’s settled, I will find and kill the Satanist."
Whether it was a statement to voice his ambitions or commitment, there was no solid evidence to support his claim. After all, he hadn't even explained how he would find the Satanists or how he would kill them.
Yet, Sun-Woo's words had a strange air of persuasiveness. His expression and tone carried a strong conviction. He definitely had a plan. However, no one could guess what his plan was.
What on earth was Sun-Woo thinking... Everyone in the principal's office was curious, but no one dared to ask. A deep silence filled the room as everyone quietly stared at Sun-Woo.
***
Let me get this straight.
There was no such thing as a ‘plan that would only be successful if only I knew about it.’ I hadn't even identified who the Satanist was, nor did I even have a plan on how to kill them.
All I knew for sure was that I needed spells and the power of Loa to track down and kill the Satanist. However, I couldn't use spells and the power of Loa while Min-Seo, Yu-Hyun, and Chang-Won, along with the vice-principal, were around. So, I created the vague excuse of having a plan and saying that we would only reap the fruits of it if I were the only one who knew about its details.
[Your lying has improved,] Legba said with a fake laugh.
I wanted to say that it'd be strange if my lying skills didn’t improve when I was doing it every day, but the situation didn’t permit it. It was because Min-Seo and Yu-Hyun were next to me.
"Where is the chairman's office?" Yu-Hyun asked.
"Right upstairs," Min-Seo replied curtly.
"There's a protective mask in my office. You can use it to get over the walls. No, that won't work. We don’t know what the ingredients of the black magic are... But keep it, just in case."
Chang-Won also told us as he had left the principal's office to head toward the school gate. Since there was a big difference between having some immunity versus no immunity to black magic, we decided to grab the protective mask before executing our plan as soon as we heard his words.
Finally, we arrived at the chairman's office. As soon as we entered, Yu-Hyun looked around and asked, "Where did he say it was?"
"He said it's in the first drawer... So it's here."
Drrrk!
Min-Seo roughly opened the drawer and searched inside. She rummaged through the drawer with nimble movements and raised her eyebrows with a puzzled expression.
"What? It’s not here."
"It's not?"
Yu-Hyun approached Min-Seo.
"Yeah, look, it's not here."
Min-Seo pointed inside the drawer. Yu-Hyun rummaged through the drawer as well and, like Min-Seo, furrowed his brows with a puzzled expression.
"It's really not here? Was the chairman lying?"
"Yeah. What if the chairman was the one pulling the strings?"
"The Satanist probably took it. What are you guys even saying..." I couldn't help but say in disbelief as I listened to Yu-Hyun and Min-Seo making their unreasonable deductions.
Min-Seo and Yu-Hyun continued to rummage through the drawers without even acknowledging me, but they eventually gave up, came out of the chairman's office, and made it out to the hallway.
"Sun-Woo’s right. Maybe the Satanist stole it? They’re more cunning than I thought."
"From the way he blocked the entrance, it seems like he's read the Art of War [1]">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_War[/ref]. And look at the way he used the taxidermied creatures to distract us."
"...What's the Art of War?"
"Ah, you guys don't know...? It's nothing special, don’t worry about it."
Yu-Hyun glossed over his words.
Min-Seo glared at Yu-Hyun with a puzzled expression. I also couldn't understand what Yu-Hyun was saying at all.
Yu-Hyun narrowed his already narrow eyes even further and chuckled.
"...Art of War, Song of War, what does it matter? Anyway, we need to go out and find Gabriel and the principal, right? And you’ll take care of the Satanist yourself."
"Yes."
"How do you plan on killing them?" Yu-Hyun asked, but I didn't answer.
I hadn't really thought deeply about how I would go about killing the Satanist. For now, I planned to focus solely on finding the Satanist. Coming up with a way to kill them could come later.
Besides, the weather and the terrain greatly influenced the Loa's powers, so planning ahead would be meaningless. Above all, today was the day of the full moon.
Thump.
While I was going down the stairs with my mouth shut, Min-Seo tapped my shoulder.
"Hey, I have a question I want to ask as well."
Before I could answer, she immediately continued, "You'll find and kill the Satanists yourself. That's fine. But do you even know who the Satanist is?”
"I have a few people I’m suspicious about. I’m going to narrow them down to one."
"Really? Who is the most likely?"
"You."
As I responded with the truth, Min-Seo looked at me with a bewildered expression.
"What's the basis? Aren't you making deductions based on personal feelings?"
"No personal feelings were involved. I’m also skeptical about Jun-Hyuk as well."
"Jun-Hyuk? ...Wait, can we really trust this guy?"
Min-Seo narrowed her eyebrows and glared at me. She seemed to doubt why I suspected Jun-Hyuk.
"Is there a problem?"
"Both of Jun-Hyuk's parents are Prelates. Oh, I guess his mother was a former Prelate."
"..."
I didn't know this. I only vaguely knew that Jun-Hyuk's mother had some kind of mental health issue. Come to think of it, I didn't know anything about what Jun-Hyuk's father did. I just wasn't interested.
But how did Min-Seo know something that even I didn't? Before I could question it, she spoke again.
"He hasn't changed his address recently, and there's nothing particularly suspicious about him..."
"But how do you know all that?" I asked, and Min-Seo quickly turned her head.
Her body language showed that she was trying to hide her surprise. She knew everything from Jun-Hyuk's family background to where he lived. How did Min-Seo, who wasn't even close to Jun-Hyuk, have this information? If she had found this out through private investigations, this increased the possibility of her being the Satanist. Ordinary students wouldn't have a reason or the methods to conduct private investigations themselves.
Min-Seo thought of an excuse and said, "...It’s an unavoidable breach of privacy for the greater good... Or something like that..."
“For the greater good? What bullshit─"
Boom, boooom...
At that moment, gunshots rang out. The sound of the gunshots echoed out into the distance and invoked an ominous atmosphere. We froze in our steps, a chilling silence flowing between us.
"...What was that?" Min-Seo said while glaring out the window with a serious face.
I couldn’t breathe. A cold and eerie sensation ran down my spine. My throat felt dry, and I got a throbbing headache.
"Are the paladins here? I haven't heard that sound in a long time," Yu-Hyun said while laughing as if it wasn’t a big deal.
His nonchalance sent shivers down my spine.
That wasn't the sound of live ammunition. It was the heavy and rough sound of rubber bullets or tear gas being fired.
When the Holy War broke out, the paladins used rubber bullets or tear gas to suppress the Voodoo Cultists as a measure to avoid unnecessary casualties. However, more Voodoo Cultists died from rubber bullets than live ammunition because the barrels were aimed at their heads.
As a child, I had crouched in my closet, listening to the muffled gunshots and the screams of the Voodoo Cultists coming in through the window. I heard my father and mother calling for me, but I didn't go out. It felt like the barrels of the paladins' guns would be pointed at me if I opened the door. I wanted to disappear like the mist, fading away into the darkness of the closet.
"Hey, what’s happening to you? Why are you sweating so much?"
Ironically, it was Yu-Hyun who pulled me out from the entanglement of gunshots and screams in my head. I felt disgusted by Yu-Hyun, who was gazing at me and pretending to be concerned, when he was in fact the culprit who had led the Levi Order and killed innocent Voodoo Cultists. However, I couldn't reveal my disgust.
"...It's a bit hot."
“But the temperature isn’t very high though?” Min-Seo said as if she was puzzled.
She was right. It wasn't actually very hot at the moment. I wiped the sweat off my palm.
"I’m prone to heat," I said, casually.
"Oh! Hey, me too. It's been getting hotter lately," Yu-Hyun replied cheerfully.
It did not feel good.
At that moment, Min-Seo lowered her body and checked the stairway behind the railing.
"...Hey, be quiet," she whispered.
"Why? What's going on?"
Yu-Hyun leaned in next to Min-Seo, his eyes filled with curiosity.
"Just be quiet, you idiot..."
Min-Seo expressed her annoyance and muttered rough curses in a low voice.
Yu-Hyun finally closed his mouth. In the sudden silence, Min-Seo quietly stared beyond the railing, like a predator stalking its prey.
Thump, thump, thump...
"They’re coming up."
Yu-Hyun wiped away the smile that was on his lips.
From downstairs, a suspicious pair of footsteps slowly approached us.
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