Chapter 160
"...I usually can't use it, but strangely, I could use divine power well when I was fighting with the Satanist."
I had hastily blurted out those words in an attempt to break the silence before Joseph's suspicions deepened. Since it was a feeble excuse, I didn’t expect Joseph to believe my words easily. However, to my surprise, Joseph slowly nodded and acted as if he agreed with me.
"I see. Are you the type who thrives in a crisis?"
"W-Well... something like that."
"I suppose you’re something like a hero who shines in troubled times. Anyway, I understand. Well, then..."
Joseph looked around the sacred training ground. Eventually, his gaze landed on a single point, which was the armory. Dusty training weapons protruded out from the half-opened door. Joseph pointed to the weapons with his chin.
“You can use a weapon. I won’t use one. That should be enough to even the playing field.”
“...Actually, I don’t have many weapons that I can wield properly.”
“That’s alright. You can learn while sparring. Just follow me, and I'll choose a weapon for you."
Joseph led me toward the armory. Ancient weapons such as swords, spears, and bows were piled up in the corner and covered in dust. Joseph carefully examined the weapons, almost as if he were shopping, before suddenly remembering something.
“By the way, do you know what people who have been dragged to court for manslaughter say the most?"
"I’m not sure..."
“‘I didn’t know that they would die’ and ‘I just wanted to scare them a little.’ They all say the same thing as if they are reading from a script. So, what kind of weapon do you think they had in their hands when they committed manslaughter?"
I kept my mouth shut. The immediate answer that came to mind was a blade, but that didn't seem like the right answer.
Joseph took out an iron mace from the pile of weapons. After brushing off the dust, he said, "Usually, it's this kind of round-ended and heavy blunt weapon. It could be a hammer, a chair, or even a brick that might have fallen off the wall. It’s more or less something like this."
"..."
"Now, if you piece together everything I’ve said, what conclusion do you reach?”
Joseph handed me the mace. The mace was much heavier and colder than I thought. Before I could even respond, he said, “The conclusion is that holding a blunt weapon gives the wielder courage. No matter how virtuous or cowardly a person is, once they wield a blunt weapon, they gain the courage to commit murder!”
“Is it truly right to interpret it that way?”
“Whether it's the right interpretation or the wrong interpretation, what does it matter? As long as it sounds good, then that's all that matters.”
With his finger, Joseph pointed to the iron mace in my hand and continued, "In Genesis, it is said that the first murder weapon was also a blunt object. Cain probably didn't want to kill his own brother. Perhaps he just hit him with a stone and accidentally ended up killing him.”
"What?"
"I’m kidding. Forget about what I said just now."
Joseph laughed, and with his hands clasped behind his back, he walked briskly toward the sparring area in the middle of the sacred training ground. I followed behind him.
Perhaps the training ground hadn't been used in a while, but the floor of the sparring area was covered in thick dust. It was a bit slippery.
"I think we should clean up first if we want to spar," I said while brushing away the dust with my toes.
Joseph shook his head.
“Let’s just spar like this. After all, the more variables there are, the more entertaining the fight becomes. Shouldn’t you practice fighting in slippery places too?”
"Ah... understood."
I didn’t know how often I would end up fighting on slippery terrain, but I decided to agree for now. Joseph wasn’t the type of person to listen, even if I disagreed.
I exerted strength on my toes so as not to slip. With steps that were no different from usual, Joseph confidently walked to the corner of the sparring area. He didn’t seem to mind the dust at all.
When I reached the opposite corner of the sparring area, Joseph said, "Tell me when you're ready. I’ll start when you say so."
Joseph took his stance. It was a stance I had never seen before. It appeared as if his defenses and attacks would be weak. There were openings everywhere. As far as I knew, there were no martial arts or combat sports that had such a strange starting posture. All martial arts were based on efficiency, so there was no reason to adopt such an inefficient posture.
Was it a special kind of martial art that only inquisitors used?
I decided to dismiss it as something that wasn’t particularly important, and I also entered a posture, albeit a bit sloppy. Since I wouldn’t be able to win, I decided to just show Joseph a performance that wouldn't disappoint him.
"I’m ready—"
[Bossou’s body is itching all over right now.]
Just as I was about to say, “I'm ready,” Bossou interrupted me. Bossou spoke in a voice devoid of any enthusiasm.
[It would be great if the Prophet could call Bossou.]
"..."
[Unlike Sobo, Bossou is not flashy... Is that why the Prophet dislikes me? This is truly sad...]
"..."
[Without Bossou, you won’t be able to defeat that person. I instinctively know that. Are you really going to lose like this? The Prophet lacks the desire to win. You’re stuck with a loser’s mentality at the moment...]
He was specifically saying things to trigger me. It was fairly obvious that I wouldn’t be able to defeat Joseph even if I wielded a mace. It would still be insufficient even with the help of various blessings, such as the Blessing of Superhuman Strength.
I might not even be given the opportunity to utilize blessings.
"Take your time."
I briefly glanced at Joseph, who was staring at me with his bizarre posture. Joseph was overestimating my abilities. The reason why he was maintaining intimacy and conducting surveillance on me was because he had the misconception that I was skilled. Thus, if I fell short of Joseph's expectations during this duel, then his intimacy would disappear, leaving only his suspicions and his surveillance. He might even try to interrogate me about the battle with the Satanist.
...Yeah, if that was the case, then it was better to just use it.
I clasped my hands together in front of my chest. Joseph was waiting while maintaining his posture, and he tilted his head as if he was puzzled.
"What are you doing?"
"I usually pray before a duel. It's kind of like a... routine."
"That’s a very commendable routine. Feel free to continue. Let me know when you're ready."
I closed my eyes and mumbled nonsense as I pretended to pray. It was something that I improvised in order to call Bossou naturally. During my prayer, I subtly called out Bossou’s name, and he cheerfully responded.
[It’s been a while! Bossou responds to the Prophet's call!]
Soon, the immense strength from using Bossou's power began to surge through my body. The sound of my heartbeat and breathing began to echo rhythmically and distinctly in my ears drums. My vision began to flicker, and I saw strands that resembled blood vessels pulsating within my field of vision.
However, as I calmed my breathing, the flickering that obscured my vision began to fade away. I didn’t feel a significant burden. Perhaps it was thanks to the fact that I had continued to offer sacrifices without using Bossou’s power.
[It's all because the Prophet's container has expanded!] Bossou said.
However, I couldn't tell whether what he said was true. I let out a deep breath and sensed the heat and intensity of the power that Bossou's had infused into me. A sense of enlightenment and confidence rippled throughout my body. In my current state, I felt like I could defeat Joseph right now.
"Okay, let's go."
"Sure, come at me when you’re comfortable."
With Joseph's response, the spar began. However, he didn't move a single step from his position. He continued to stare at me with an expressionless face while remaining in his bizarre posture. At first glance, Joseph's posture seemed to have no foundation. Yet, for some reason, I couldn't muster the courage to approach him recklessly.
I instinctively felt that it was a bad idea to narrow the distance. Before narrowing the distance, first, it seemed necessary to disrupt Joseph's bizarre posture.
"..."
In the current situation, there was only one method to disrupt his posture without narrowing the distance. I raised the iron mace in my right hand and aimed it at Joseph's head.
I distributed the power evenly to my right shoulder, back, arms, and chest with the Blessing of Superhuman Strength. I lowered my posture, shifted my weight to my upper body, and then directed my strength into the iron mace before throwing it. Throwing was Bossou’s specialty, and if I added in the Blessing of Superhuman Strength, it would end up becoming an attack that he would have to avoid no matter what.
"Oh!"
Clang—!
Joseph leaned back exaggeratedly and dodged the attack. I could feel genuine surprise from the exclamation that he let out. The mace collided with the cage that encircled the sparring area and made a loud noise.
Joseph looked between the dent on the cage and my face before flashing an innocent, childish smile.
"That was dangerous! If I got hit, I would have died!"
His voice was trembling, not out of fear but genuine excitement. I didn’t have the leisure to respond. I seized the momentary opening in his posture and closed the distance between us.
*
Do-Jin was limping with his injured ankle. His body felt too restless to just lay down and wait to recover all day, so he escaped from the nurse’s office and headed toward the sacred training ground. He would get scolded if Bok-Dong or Ye-Jin caught him, but he believed that it would be fine as long as he didn’t get caught.
He observed the various buildings in Florence Academy. He started with the newly reconstructed training center, then the cafeteria, and then finally the main building. The cross located on the top of the spire located on top of the main building was slightly rusty.
He had always run around, but now that he was walking around like this, he noticed things he didn’t usually notice. He always lived an exceedingly busy life, but now he thought it might not be all that bad to live a leisurely life like this. When he passed the barn that had closed down due to all the animals turning into demonic beasts, a familiar smell attacked his nose.
"..."
It was the same sharp and bitter smell he encountered when he met the chairman at the hospital. In other words, it was the smell of cigarettes. With slow steps, Do-Jin traced the origin of the smell. He wanted to increase his pace, but his ankles wouldn’t listen, so he had no choice but to walk slowly.
He encountered a certain student when he reached the road that stretched out from the barn toward Eiden Hill. As soon as their eyes met, the student put out the cigarette they were smoking and tried to run away in the opposite direction.
"Hey, hey! Where are you running off to? Just stay there."
Do-Jin stopped her from escaping. Jin-Seo paused for a moment, and then she took a few steps back as if she was on guard and said, "Aren’t you going to scold me?"
"If I scold you, will you quit smoking?"
"Hmm."
Jin-Seo nodded as if she agreed with his logic. In the first place, Do-Jin had no intention of scolding her. After all, he also snuck out of the nurse's office without permission. He wasn’t exactly innocent either, so he figured he didn’t have the right to criticize others.
He was about to limp away to his original destination when he suddenly felt curious about something and decided to lift his head instead.
“Why are you here? Shouldn't you be in the classroom?"
"...I was secretly..."
"Secretly, what?"
"Exercising and then decided to... for just a moment...yeah," Jin-Seo said.
She was stretching out her sentences and answering vaguely. It seemed like she was roughly saying, “I was secretly exercising and then decided to smoke for just a moment.”
Do-Jin slowly nodded.
"Exercising, huh? Getting ready for the practical exam?"
"Yes, well..."
"But smoking? During the practical exam period?"
"..."
Since the practical exam was coming up soon, scolding her for doing extra exercise or training sessions was not something he could do. It was something that he had to encourage her to do. However, smoking before the practical exam was clearly a mistake, so he needed to say a thing or two about that.
Jin-Seo was just staring at the floor with her mouth shut. It was because she had nothing to say to defend herself.
"I'm not trying to scold you... No, never mind. Where are you going right now?"
"...The classroom?"
"If you have nothing to do right now, come with me," Do-Jin said.
He then limped somewhere. His steps were very slow due to his injured leg. Jin-Seo tilted her head in confusion and followed his steps.
"Where are you going?"
"The sacred training ground. It's been too long since I last held a sword. You should come and have a training session too," Do-Jin said before beckoning toward her.
His flimsy wrists made strange noises as his hands moved. His ankle looked visibly bad, and his once well-built muscles seemed to have become much thinner.
"Even though my body is like this... I can probably still teach you some swordsmanship."
"Ah, yes..."
When Jin-Seo saw his flimsy wrist, she suddenly remembered the incident from before and felt guilty. Back when she was fighting with Do-Jin over the medicine that could either save Sun-Woo or the elder, she lost her composure and tried to overpower Do-Jin by force. That was how Do-Jin injured his wrist.
Although Do-Jin realized how Jin-Seo was feeling, he didn’t pay it any mind. If he found himself in the same situation where he had to choose between saving his friend or an elder that he wasn’t familiar with, he would have chosen to have his friend as well.
While walking, Do-Jin said in a cautious tone, "It would be better for you to quit smoking."
"...Yes."
"Or at least quit during the practical examination period. Do you think you can beat guys like Dae-Man and Min-Seo while smoking like that?"
"Yes," Jin-Seo answered confidently.
Do-Jin was so bewildered that he couldn’t help but laugh. He wondered where her confidence came from.
"Arrogant, aren't you?"
"It's not arrogance... I can really win," Jin-Seo said as if she was stating the obvious.
Do-Jin had to admit that she did indeed have the skills to back up her confidence. Due to Min-Seo’s injury, her skills would have greatly diminished. As for Dae-Man, he only had brute strength. In terms of the technical aspects of battle, he was greatly lacking compared to Jin-Seo.
Now that he thought about it, no one could compete with Jin-Seo. If he excluded Yu-Hyun and Su-Ryeon’s unique styles, and if he also excluded Ha-Yeon...
That would only leave one person.
"What about Sun-Woo?"
In response to Do-Jin’s words, Jin-Seo trembled.
"Wh-what about him?"
"What I mean is, can you win against him?"
"I can win."
"Are you sure?"
"Not really... But why do you keep asking?" she snapped back, feeling agitated.
Although she had won against Sun-Woo in a sword duel, it was a victory that was only a victory in swordsmanship. If the conditions were different, she might have lost. No, perhaps Sun-Woo intentionally let her win the sword duel.
"I'm asking because I really don't know. I'm curious who would win if you two fought each other. So, are you sure you would win?" Do-Jin asked again.
Jin-Seo looked into the distance as if contemplating, then shook her head.
"I don't know either."
She truly didn't know. There was nothing she could confidently say about him. She thought she knew a lot about him, but upon reflection, she realized she didn’t know anything at all. He didn’t tell her anything about himself, nor did he easily reveal any information.
He consistently maintained a withdrawn attitude toward everyone, but the fact that everyone also included her felt frustrating and upsetting. That was why she responded curtly when Do-Jin asked her about Sun-Woo.
"Yeah... I’m sure you’ll be fine on your own anyway,” Do-Jin said while steadily walking.
He wasn't particularly curious about who would win. After all, it was impossible to evaluate a clergyman’s skills solely based on their sparring skills. The reason for this was because the current objective that crusaders and paladins had was to exterminate all demons and demonic beasts off the face of the earth. Unlike sparring, however, live combat situations involved various variables.
Nevertheless, the reason why Do-Jin structured his lessons around sparring was because the ultimate goal of clergymen was to exterminate all cultists. Unlike demons or demonic beasts, cultists took on the appearance of humans. What happened with Jun-Hyuk was an example of this.
Before they knew it, they arrived in front of the sacred training ground.
Do-Jin looked up at the birds peering down at the world while perched on the exterior walls and the roof of the worn-out building and said, "Long time no see."
Suddenly, he remembered how he had been trapped inside this building while facing dozens of demons and hundreds of demonic beasts. After recalling that incident, the memories quickly expanded and filled his mind. His heart raced. The reason why he had come to the sacred training ground was precisely because of this.
He wanted to hold a sword again, but above all, he wanted to confront those memories once more. He thought it would be okay, but now that he was here, that wasn’t quite the case. It was always like that.
Clang—!
It was then that a dull sound echoed from inside the training ground. The birds perched on the roof were startled and quickly fluttered away. The sound of something collapsing and crumpling repeated itself. Do-Jin reflexively placed his hand on his waist, but no sword was there.
"In the nurse's office..."
He had left the sword behind in the nurse’s office. His fingertips trembled in the air. Fear overwhelmed Do-Jin at the thought that Jun-Hyuk's colleague or a taxidermied creature that he created might have come to attack Florence Academy again. With his current physical condition, he couldn't protect the students from the demons.
"What’s wrong?" Jin-Seo asked while looking at the trembling Do-Jin in confusion.
She didn't know what Do-Jin had experienced at the sacred training ground. Do-Jin wiped the cold sweat off his forehead and casually nodded as if nothing was wrong.
"No, it's nothing... It’s probably not a big deal..."
‘It must not be a big deal.’
While thinking that, Do-Jin stepped onto the training ground, and Jin-Seo followed him. Their gazes converged at one point. The two men battling on top of the sparring area mesmerized them.
Sun-Woo effortlessly swung a massive mace that looked heavy. He not only swung it, but he also threw it, and he would occasionally stab with it. He continued to attack the opponent in unconventional ways. His movements were rough and rugged, like a beast's, but there were no unnecessary movements.
On the other hand, Joseph responded to Sun-Woo’s attacks with a relaxed smile, as if he was playing around with him. When Sun-Woo threw the mace, he dodged and returned to his stance. While in that stance, if Sun-Woo were to swing the iron mace, Joseph would casually evade the attack and grab Sun-Woo's arm before slamming it into the ground.
With each step they took, dust and dirt swirled out clamorously. Some of their movements were so fast and bizarre that they couldn’t be seen. Only the sound of the cage crumpling and the mace hitting the ground could be heard.
"Nazirite arts."
Do-Jin's gaze was fixed on Joseph.
Jin-Seo stood beside him and silently stared at Sun-Woo. More precisely, she was following his movements with her eyes.
"..."
Although it was difficult to follow with her eyes, each movement had strength and precise calculations in both attack and defense. Unlike when they sparred, there currently were no flaws in his movements. His eyes that were staring at the opponent were sharp and piercing.
This was the first time she had seen Sun-Woo take a sparring session so seriously.
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