Chapter 24
Wee woo wee woo!
The ambulance sounded the siren. Residents passing by the road flocked to the park because of the disturbance.
“What about your legs? Can you get up?”
“Yes.”
I pulled Kim Jin-Seo's hand up. Her legs were shaking a little, and she was struggling to get up. Still, she didn't seem to have a problem standing or walking. Her recuperative abilities were good.
"I'll go first."
While Jin-Seo was dusting off her clothes, I prepared to leave.
"Go? Where?"
"I'm going home. I have to go to school tomorrow."
"What about the hospital? Paladins will come soon to investigate."
As she said, paladins would soon arrive to investigate the case. The appearance of a demon in the middle of the city was never a small event. That was why I was thinking of leaving here.
"I don’t need to go to the hospital because I'm not hurt. Also, I don't want to be investigated."
"Ah..."
Jin-Seo sighed and looked at the ash powder scattered all over the place.
"Let's just say that you killed the demon by yourself."
"You want me to lie?”
"Please just explain it like that. Technically, it’s not incorrect."
Jin-Seo used a miracle to burn the flesh of a demon. It wasn't wrong to say that she had killed a demon. There was only one reason to do this. I didn't want to be investigated by paladins. There was nothing good about getting involved with them. Furthermore, as a voodoo cult leader, it was even more important for me to avoid paladins.
"Please. I'll trust you. Thank you."
Wee woo wee woo!
The siren gradually approached. After leaving those words to Jin-Seo, I left the park in a hurry. There was no time to spare, so the greeting was as short and concise as possible.
I walked through the crowd and looked around the park. Paladins were pouring out of the ambulance that arrived, asking Jin-Seo this and that. Jin-Seo answered diligently, even though she was disorientated.
I walked so quickly that I might as well have been running. Eventually, I was able to leave the park completely. The night breeze felt cold. I remembered the advice of Baron Samedi there.
"Beware of fire."
Jin-Seo used a 'miracle' to recreate the pillar of fire. The pillar of fire burned the flesh that stuck to me and turned it into ashes.
The pillar of fire only burned the flesh of the demon and did no harm to me.
Nevertheless, I felt a burning pain in the flames. It was because my father, who was burned at the stake seven years ago, suddenly came to mind. Then I sat down and cried and resented the ashes that were scattering away and disappearing.
Even though seven years had passed, the memory of my father's death was still vivid. Whenever I saw fire, I remembered that time and felt sad and painful. The emotions didn't disappear and continued to boil inside me endlessly.
[Go home and get some rest today. You look tired.]
"Yes. I'm tired."
[Yes. Trauma is something you can't overcome easily. By the way, you did a great job avoiding the investigation. You’ve done a wise thing for once.]
"You could’ve just said it without the ‘for once’ part"
[You usually do so many silly things. It's rare to see you do something clever.]
I went back home while having a meaningless conversation with Legba. I had a lot of thoughts. Jun-Min died as a demon. Why did a Satanist turn him into a demon? As soon as Jin-Seo saw the demon, she was terrified and lost her fighting spirit. Why was she so afraid?
[You seem to have a lot of interest in Jin-Seo.] Legba spoke as if he was teasing me.
"I'm just curious. Not interested."
[Isn't that the same thing? Well, seventeen is when you should be very interested in women. It's best not to get close to that child named Jin-Seo though.]
"Why?"
It’s best not to get close to her? I couldn't understand what Legba was saying. Jin-Seo was the daughter of the chairman of Florence Academy. If anyone discarded their personal feelings and looked at the situation rationally, there was clearly no harm in getting close to her.
[I'll explain when you get home.]
"Oh, can't you just tell me now?"
[No. There are people nearby at the moment.]
Legba was adamant. Someone was walking from across the street. I quickly passed by him and headed home. Due to my curiosity, I had no choice but to walk faster.
***
"All the CCTVs in the area were smashed, so we had no choice but to rely on witness testimony. I am so sorry to keep you up this late."
"No, it’s alright. Is the investigation over?"
"Yes, you can go back now. Thank you very much for your sincere response."
Jin-Seo left the paladin after giving her statement. She didn't have any energy left.
A student named Jun-Min, who was a Florence Academy classmate, became a demon. While meeting and having a conversation with him because she had something to say to him privately, Jun-Min suddenly transformed into a demon. During the battle, a 'miracle' was used to summon the pillar of fire, and with it, the demon was destroyed. Jin-Seo told the paladin about the series of events.
However, she did not talk about Do Sun-Woo at all. She didn't want to lie to the paladin. But that didn't mean that she could ignore Sun-Woo’s request.
"I'll trust you."
Sun-Woo's voice fluttered in her ears. That was why Jin-Seo listened to Sun-Woo's request and went as far as lying to the paladin.
‘Why did he say that?’
Jin-Seo grumbled inwardly. She had been put in such a difficult position because of those words, and Sun-Woo would probably never know that. It bothered her, but she didn't quite dislike it either. She was just curious about why he needed to say that.
‘Is he afraid of paladins?"’
Sun-Woo seemed to be afraid of paladins. There was no reason to be afraid of paladins unless one was a criminal. Then, why was Sun-Woo afraid of the paladins? Was he a criminal or an ex-convict? The chances were low because ex-convicts couldn't enter Florence Academy.
Questions continued to stack up. Jin-Seo arrived home in no time. It was a big, wide, luxurious house, almost like a palace. Even though she had lived in it for years, she still couldn't get used to it.
"I'm here."
When Jin-Seo awkwardly made her entrance, Kim Chang-Won, her father and Florence Academy's chairman, ran out.
"You're here! Are you feeling alright? Did you get hurt?
"No, I’m all right."
"I was really shocked... after I received a phone call. I thought something had happened to you. Are you sure you're alright?"
Chang-Won wiped away tears. He was a tender and warm-hearted man.
"I’m really alright. It wasn't a big deal.”
"I'm glad to hear that... Ah, right, you must have been in shock, so get some rest in your room. I'm sorry, it seems that I'm getting tearier as I get older."
"No, it’s fine." Jin-Seo smiled.
Jin-Seo downplayed everything that happened—how Jun-Min had stalked and secretly took pictures of her, and how he had tried to kill her after turning into a demon. She knew how to act like she was okay even when she wasn't.
Kim Jin-Seo suddenly stopped before entering the room.
"Um, Fa...ther."
It was still awkward to call him Dad. She didn't know how long it would take for her to get used to it.
"What?"
"You know the one who received the award with me? I think his name was Do Sun-Woo."
Jin-Seo pretended to be unsure even though she clearly remembered the three characters of Do Sun-Woo’s name.
"I was wondering if there was anything unusual when he entered the school."
In practice, he couldn't even perform lesser healing properly, but at that time, he easily reattached her finger. Even after absorbing the pain of thirty people, he never showed any pain. He even defeated the demonized Jun-Min while she was unconscious.
There were so many strange things about Sun-Woo. It seemed as if he was hiding his real skills. She couldn't understand what his true intentions were.
"Do Sun-Woo. Do Sun-Woo."
Chang-Won rubbed his chin, lost in thought. It looked like he was struggling to recall something. Finally, he opened his eyes wide.
"Ah! That student. He entered with special admission."
"Special admission?"
"He is a student who received special admission for the children of clergymen who died. I heard that his mother died during the holy war."
"Ah..." Jin-Seo exclaimed. She felt like she had been hit in the head with a hammer.
"I was worried a lot because his entrance examination scores were poor. I was worried that he might be discouraged. But now that he’s received an award this time, I feel somewhat relieved."
Jin-Seo nodded quietly.
"Why are you asking about that student all of a sudden? Did he do anything to you?"
"No, it’s nothing. I'm really just curious."
"If you have any other questions, you can ask me more. Even the trivial things."
Chang-Won seemed to want to talk more.
"That's all right. I'm going in now."
However, Jin-Seo entered her room after ending the conversation. Her mind was complicated, and above all, she felt awkward. She was still not used to talking to her father.
Jin-Seo lay on the bed as if throwing herself and suddenly looked at the bracelet wrapped around her left wrist. The crude bracelet, woven with light yellow straps, seemed as though it could snap and unravel at any moment. It was a gift from her birth mother, whose face she couldn't remember anymore.
'So that’s why.'
Sun-Woo's mother died during the holy war. She could now understand why Sun-Woo was so afraid of the paladins. She began to think that the reason why he was hiding his real skills in the academy was because of similar reasons.
"You're living a hard life, too,” she said to herself vaguely. No one was listening.
* * *
[That was twelve years ago. The article next to it is a related article from five years ago. These days, information comes out easily just by moving your fingers. It sure is convenient.]
Returning home, Legba showed me two articles. Each one said that Chang-Won and his wife adopted a girl twelve years ago and that a housewife died five years ago to a demon.
[Jin-Seo is the child that the Chang-Won couple adopted twelve years ago. Jin-Seo's mother was a housewife who was killed by a demon. She wasn’t her biological mother though.]
It was a rather shocking story. "When did you find out about this?"
[Baron Samedi told me. He even collects useless information.]
"Why does he keep investigating others?”
[I don't know. I don't understand him either. He’s a shady, gloomy fellow.]
Legba spoke ill of Baron Samedi. The two seemed to be on good terms but were not actually on good terms.
"So that’s that, but what do you suggest I do?"
Two pieces of information could be obtained by combining the contents of the article and Legba's words. Jin-Seo grew up in an orphanage, and a demon killed her stepmother.
It was understandable why Jin-Seo was afraid of the demon. However, no matter how much I thought about it, there was no reason not to get close to Jin-Seo.
"Don’t tell me you don’t want me to get close to her because she is an orphan, right?"
[That's part of the reason. However, that’s not the only reason.]
"I'm afraid to say this, but I'm an orphan, too."
[That’s why I told you that's not the only reason.]
"Yes, then please tell me."
Legba coughed for a moment and opened his mouth as if he was upset.
[Right below, look at the article from six years ago.]
I looked at the article as Legba instructed. It was an article about a year before Jin-Seo's stepmother died in an accident. It was about an eleven-year-old elementary school student who killed a demon beast by creating a miracle’ Everyone praised the child for her talent and courage. The child's name was Kim Jin-Seo.
[Then, a year later, a Satanist, fearing the child's talent, attacked the child's house. But the child wasn't home. In the end, the foster mother died in place of the child.]
That was how Jin-Seo's stepmother died.
"She’s a genius. Using 'miracle' at the age of eleven."
[It's an amazing talent.]
‘Miracle’ was the most difficult usage of divine power. Some people used ‘miracles’ for the first time at thirty, and some people were unable to replicate ‘miracles’ their entire lives.
Jin-Seo used it when she was eleven. Her talent was so great that it could not be described with words. Simply put, she had God-given talent.
[However, in the end, that talent ended up becoming poison.]
Jin-Seo's stepmother died because of her talent. If it had not been for talent, Satanists would not have looked at Jin-Seo, and her stepmother would not have died. However, when I thought about it, there were more than one or two things that felt out of place.
"...Why didn't she use a miracle at that time?"
When she was eleven, she used a miracle to kill a demon beast. That meant that she knew how to use miracles even now. She may have improved more than then.
When every dog in the barn had turned into a demon, she didn't use a miracle. If she had used a miracle to take care of the situation quickly, I wouldn't have fainted after using Granbwa’s powers.
[That's why I told you not to get close to her. Jin-Seo seems to be hiding her real skills.]
"Real skills? Why?"
[She must have thought that her family would be in danger if her talent became known to the public.]
"Ah."
Jin-Seo used a miracle at the age of eleven to drive out the demon beast. Now that she was seventeen, she once again used a miracle to kill a demon. She truly had overwhelming talent.
If Satanists heard about this, they would bring in a bunch of demons to try to kill Jin-Seo again.
Jin-Seo's talent was brilliant enough to threaten all the Satanists in the future.
If that happened, not only Jin-Seo but also her stepfather, Chang-Won, would also be in danger. That seemed to be the reason why Jin-Seo hid her true skills.
[Jin-Seo has so many things to hide. Even if you get close, she'll only try to hide, hide, and deceive. She'll never show you her true self.]
"So, that’s why you told me not to get close to her?"
[Yes. Don't get involved at all.] Legba said firmly. Legba didn’t even want me to get involved.
"It doesn’t need to be like that."
[There's no need to get close. If you go around with someone with a bad background, you will inevitably get caught up in trouble.]
"But I don't think I should avoid her."
Jin-Seo would never show her true skills. Even if I got close to her, she would hide her inner feelings. To protect herself and her family, she might even try to deceive me.
However, I also hide many things about myself. I also hide the fact that I am the leader of a Voodoo cult and that I know how to wield Voodoo magic.
[There's no turning back once you get close to her. Don't get close to her in the first place, and don't even get involved. That’s for the best.]
"Well, still..."
[Why are you ignoring my advice and helping her? Is it simply because she is pretty? Don't be captivated by appearances. It's foolish.]
Legba continued to rant without taking a break. It was true that Kim Jin-Seo was pretty, but that didn't mean I was obsessed with her appearance. I was not the type of person to help others for such a simple reason.
"It's not because of her appearance."
[Then?]
"It's just... She seemed to be living a hard life too."
Sympathy? Should I say compassion? It was a complicated and vague emotion, so it was difficult to express it accurately.
[It's more like a sense of kinship.]
"Oh, that sounds like it."
[Do whatever you want. It's not me who's getting bothered, it's you.]
Legba's tone was curt. He seemed a little upset.
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