Chapter 48
“Sit there.” Ye-Jin pointed to an empty seat with her chin.
Sun-Woo bowed his head and silently sat down. He was much more respectful and polite than Min-Seo. A smile formed on Ye-Jin's face. Perhaps it was because it was right after meeting Min-Seo, but even insignificant actions gave her a favorable impression. The first question was, of course, about the cause of death of the demonic beasts. Sun-Woo listened to the question and tilted his head for a long time. His reaction was similar to Jun-Hyuk’s.
"I do not know. I was so out of my mind at the time.”
"Is that so... Did you notice anything different before the lightning strike? For example, did you see any divine power?”
It was a rather frank question. Sun-Woo tilted his head and closed his eyes tightly. It was as if he was trying to recall memories of that time. Then he opened his eyes and exclaimed, "Ah! I think I remember briefly seeing divine power around Jin-Seo. Or maybe not? I’m not sure.”
“Even if it’s not necessarily divine power, it could be something like light flickering. Did you see anything like that?”
“Oh, yes. I think I saw something like that,” Sun-Woo said with his brows furrowed. It seemed like his memory was not clear.
Since it was a situation where life and death were on the line, it was unreasonable to expect him to remember every detail. All he could do was forcefully pull out vague memories.
Ye-Jin gave a small nod and moved on to the next question. “Yes, then what do you think this is—”
"Wait a minute. I have one more question for you.”
Ye-Jin's hand, which was about to take out the machine and place it on the table, stopped. It was because Bok-Dong had interrupted her sentence. Bok-Dong stared at Sun-Woo with a frown. He hardened his face, trying to make it look more rugged than usual.
“Two demonic beasts with piercing wounds to the heart were found at the scene. Min-Seo said you did it?”
"Really? Hmm...”
Sun-Woo placed his hand on his temple as if he was searching his memory.
“Yes, I was the one who did that.”
“It looked like penetrating wounds as a result of using firearms. Am I right?"
"Hm? Firearms? How would I be able to obtain firearms?”
Sun-Woo widened his eyes as if this was the first time he had thought of such a thing. He wasn't lying or acting.
Bok-Dong tilted his head. If he didn’t use firearms to defeat the demonic beasts, what on earth did he use?
“No, wait. This is...”
Come to think of it, it was hard to say that it was a penetrating wound from a firearm because the first-years hadn’t received firearm training yet. The firearm training session was a training session that started in the second semester of the first year, and it was only for those who were aiming to apply for the Department of Crusaders. Furthermore, even after years of training, crusaders could not accurately hit the hearts of a flying target.
Therefore, there was no way that a first-year who had not taken a training session could have done that. And it wasn’t a flying target—it was an actual demonic beast at that. Thinking about it a little further, he had already concluded from the beginning that the wound was due to a firearm. Everything was based on this assumption. Bok-Dong suddenly thought of the term ‘confirmation bias.’
“Then how did you do it?”
Eventually, he modified the question. Sun-Woo seemed to think for a moment, but then he immediately answered, “I threw stones. Um... yeah."
As if he were embarrassed to say more, Sun-Woo trailed off.
Bok-Dong let out a dumbfounded laugh. He was saying that he did something that was difficult, even with firearms, by only throwing stones.
Do-Jin had the same reaction. He stared at Sun-Woo with tired eyes and said, “...Does that make sense to you? Even King David[1] would not be able to do that.”
“Huh? How many times do I have to tell you to be careful with your words!” Ye-Jin said. She slapped Do-Jin’s mouth. It wasn't blasphemy, but it was a dangerous statement.
Do-Jin bowed his head and apologized to the other teachers and elders. It wasn't a particularly apologetic look.
Bok-Dong remained silent for a long time. Then, after organizing his confused mind, he said, “Let’s move on to the next question.”
He had a puzzled expression on his face. As if she had been waiting, Ye-Jin took out a machine and placed it on the table.
“What do you think this might be?”
“I don’t know... Perhaps a camera?"
“Uh, um.”
Did he plan something with Jun-Hyuk? Ye-Jin was a little taken aback.
“Yes, you can go. You can go home right away.”
“Oh, I left my book in the classroom. Can I get my book before I go home?”
“Yes, yes, of course,” Ye-Jin said with a bright smile.
Sun-Woo did a lot of pleasant things at times. She liked him even more because he didn't do it on purpose to look good but because it felt as if his actions were sincere out of habit. Even when he left, he bowed his head several times toward the teachers and before leaving the conference room. Indeed, he really was polite.
“By throwing stones... Haha," Bok-Dong muttered to himself and laughed as if he had lost his mind.
It wasn't just Bok-Dong. Everyone in the conference room was laughing at Sun-Woo's remarks. Only Gabriel did not laugh. He looked like he was thinking hard about something.
It was 4:20 pm when Jin-Seo arrived at the conference room. Ye-Jin didn't hesitate and immediately asked her a question. “Are you sure you’re the one who caused the lightning strike with the miracle replication spell?”
A lot had already been confirmed by the testimonies of the previous three people. In particular, thanks to Sun-Woo's remark, it was almost an established fact that Jin-Seo had caused a lightning strike by replicating a miracle. As long as Jin-Seo herself admitted it, all the credit for defeating the demonic beasts would go to her.
Jin-Seo pursed her lips for a long time as if disapproving of something and finally said, “...Who said that?”
A deadpan expression. It was a face that was no different from usual, but it was a little chillier and colder than usual.
Ye-Jin fiddled with her hair in puzzlement.
“As well as student Sun-Woo.... We put together the opinions of several students.”
"Ah, yes."
Jin-Seo dropped her bleary gaze to the floor. Somehow, she seemed a little angry.
* * *
[Are you pretending to be stupid on purpose?]
Immediately after leaving the conference room, Legba asked me if I was feigning ignorance. I nodded and continued to walk forward silently. Sometimes it was convenient to play dumb as if I didn’t know anything. Rather than an overly smart student trying to always climb up, a submissive student always trying to learn would be better to see from the teacher's point of view.
[It seems like they believe that it was the child named Jin-Seo who caused the lightning strike.]
"Yes."
[But in reality, you were the one behind the lightning strike. To be more precise, it was Sobo.]
“...”
[I thought you wanted to become a prelate?] Legba fired off an onslaught of rebuttals. I was the one behind the lightning strike and eliminated the demonic beasts, so Legba was wondering why I was passing on the credit to someone else.
Of course, if I said that I cast a miracle replication spell and caused a thunderbolt, and I got rid of a demonic beast, I would become famous right away. I might be labeled as a genius and get the title of ‘first-year who cast a miracle replication spell.’ I would be able to hear so many compliments that I would get sick of them, just like Jin-Seo did.
Of course, I wanted that to happen too, but I couldn't.
“Min-Seo was looking at me.”
In a situation where it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that everyone was right at the doorstep of their death, Min-Seo had been staring at me with her ferocious eyes. She must also know that this lightning strike did not occur through miracle replication. If I said that I caused the lightning strike, I might gain a little bit of fame, but it was unclear how Min-Seo would react.
She might leverage this information to blackmail me, or she might try to investigate my background. If it was anyone else, it might have been fine, but Min-Seo definitely had the capability to do so. That's why, if nothing else, I couldn't say that I caused the lightning strike. I felt sorry for Jin-Seo, but for now, it was best to give her the credit.
[Best? Wouldn't it be better to say that you don’t know at all or that it’s a natural lightning strike?]
“It’s too unnatural to call it a natural lightning strike. Before they dig any deeper, it’s much better if they conclude that Jin-Seo caused the lightning strike.”
[You think too much. I don’t really think that it’s necessary to consider those things.]
“There is nothing wrong with considering those things, after all.”
[I wonder... I wonder if what you did was correct.] Legba disappeared after leaving words filled with profound meaning.
I walked toward my destination with my mouth shut. The entrance to Eiden Hill was blocked by a tape that said ‘no entry.’
I turned my head and looked around. All the students had gone home, and all the teachers were in the conference room, so there were no witnesses. CCTVs were also not installed on this street corner.
Holding my breath, I crossed the tape and strode into Eiden Hill. It was not yet sunset, but it was still dark on Eiden Hill. It was because of the demonic energy that was floating around. The demonic energy became a mist that was pushed by the wind and was slowly swallowing Eiden Hill.
“Granbwa.”
I bowed my head and summoned Granbwa. With my fingertips on the ground, I used her power. Soon, my eyes darkened. It was a deep darkness where not even the slightest light could penetrate. It was like curtains were covering the world.
Eventually, the curtains lifted, and a new view opened up in front of me. It was literally a 'new' view that was invisible to the human eye. It was the world that only plants could see. I was now sharing my senses with the many plants on Eiden Hill.
[Don't do it for too long because it will be a big burden.] Granbwa warned. It was natural that the burden would be high because I wasn’t just using the power—I was utilizing it.
However, I was prepared to take this level of risk. I grasped the situation in Eiden Hill by shifting my vision from the grass to flowers and from the flowers to trees. Roughly half of Eiden Hill seemed to have been consumed by demonic energy. The situation was more serious than I expected.
I shifted my sights underground, and I saw something shining underneath. It was a mysterious box buried deep underground in Eiden Hill. It was a huge box that could easily fit five people. Concentrating my consciousness, I inspected the box's appearance. There was a lot of something like glowing oil which was smeared on the surface of the box....
“Cough, ah. Oh my."
At that moment, my consciousness was interrupted, and pain as if my intestines were entangled overwhelmed me.
[I told you not to do it for a long time!]
“No, it hasn't been that long...” I replied, discouraged.
The drawbacks did not come from excessive use of power. For an unknown reason, the power had been forcibly cut off. The cause was probably the shiny oil smeared around the box. To be honest, it happened so suddenly that I don't know exactly what caused it. The throbbing pain still lingered in my lower abdomen.
[What did you see?] Legba asked. I collected my breath and forced the pain down. I sat down and collected my breath for what felt like several minutes.
When the pain subsided, I replied, “Something strange was buried under the hill.”
[How am I supposed to know what it is if you just refer to it as something strange?]
“A box. I don't know what it was exactly. I almost died, sigh.”
[Is that the Satanist's objective?]
“I don’t know that either. It almost seems like that, but...”
Until now, whenever a Satanist did something, I was busy belatedly fixing it.
However, from now on, I plan to prepare by predicting the Satanists’ actions. There have been no casualties so far, but there was no guarantee that this would happen in the future.
Most of the Satanist incidents took place near Eiden Hill. I judged that the target was in Eiden Hill, or at least related to Eiden Hill. The reason I lied to Ye-Jin and came to Eiden Hill was to figure out their purpose. It was not too difficult to predict their future behavior once their goals were identified.
“But it wasn’t as easy as I thought.”
[Indeed, that’s often the case for everything.]
I found out that there was a box buried deep within Eiden Hill. But other than that, I couldn't find anything. It was unknown what was inside the box. The oil smeared on the surface of the box was also unknown. It was even unknown whether the box was the Satanist’s objective. In fact, it was safe to say that I had found out nothing. In the end, I couldn't uncover the Satanist’s objective, and the information I discovered was all unclear.
[This is still the first step. If it was so easy to find out, we would have found out a long time ago.]
“I guess so.”
[Let’s get out of here. No matter how small the amount is, demonic energy is not good for your health.]
I got up from my seat, brushed off the dust, and walked down the hill. The sun was slowly disappearing over the mountain peaks. The sky, which had been bright before, was now quite dark.
I left the hill the same way I entered.
My steps felt very heavy, perhaps because I had vomited blood earlier. It felt like my feet were sinking. My hands and feet felt cold, I had no energy, and my body felt freezing cold as well. I wanted to quickly go home and rest. Possibly get some sleep if possible.
“...Huh?"
At that moment, someone's voice was heard.
1. Refers to David from the Bible, who slayed Goliath by flinging a stone using a sling. ?
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