Chapter 68
After returning to the underground chapel from the Paladin Order, I immersed myself in practicing spells and blessings. Other than eating and going to the bathroom, I stayed locked in my room. In the most literal sense, I was doing seclusion training. The purpose, of course, was to achieve this state of “Acquirement,” or whatever it was.
Of course, I made no progress. I briefly lay down during training and fell asleep, only to wake up in the morning. I hurriedly got ready and headed to school, and spent the rest of the day, as usual, in training.
And finally, it was Wednesday.
[You seem to be in great condition today.] Legba suddenly spoke as I was putting on my school uniform.
His tone was slightly different from usual. His voice was louder, and his pronunciation seemed more muffled.
"Sleeping a lot yesterday really helped," I casually replied.
The change in his voice wasn't significant enough to concern me. I started packing my bag, putting in my textbooks, Holy Book, and the holy artifact.
[Right. It's good to get plenty of sleep. But don't sleep too much, not too much!]
"...Huh? You always nag me to sleep more."
[Oh, did I... Did I say that? Hmm, I don't remember.]
Just as I finished my preparations and was about to leave for the underground chapel, I sensed something odd about Legba's voice.
No, to be precise, this wasn't Legba. It was the voice of another Loa imitating him. There was only one Loa who would do such a thing—a Loa who could imitate Legba, openly mock him, and suffer no repercussions.
"Baron Samedi. When did you arrive?"
[Hmm! Legba's voice is unnecessarily deep, which makes it hard to imitate.] Finally, Baron Samedi revealed his own voice.
It seemed like he intended to surprise me with an imitation, but a bad one ?of Legba.
"So, what's the matter?" I asked as I put on my shoes.
[What's the matter? Didn't you tell me to come once every five days? You didn't forget about our agreement, did you?]
"Oh... Of course, I remember! Thank you for coming."
Honestly, it had completely slipped my mind.
Baron Samedi spat out a displeased sigh. [Well, let's get straight to the point. Today will be an eventful day.]
"Eventful?"
[A lot of things will happen, but none are too major. It'll be better to see today as an ordinary day.]
An ordinary day. Hearing those words made me feel slightly better. I had been longing for an ordinary day for so long. I smiled faintly and nodded, and Baron Samedi continued speaking.
[My advice is to not be alone and always have someone with you at all times. Also, be careful of your back. Well then, I'm off!]
"My back? What do you mean all of a... Ah, he's gone."
With those words, Baron Samedi left. A purple mist swiftly flowed away from me as if fleeing from me...
Don't go alone. Be careful of your back.
I couldn't tell if he meant to literally watch my back or be cautious of betrayal. I couldn't even begin to fathom the meaning of ‘Don't go alone.’
Although I couldn’t understand the meaning behind his words at the moment, it wouldn't hurt to remember it.
Don't walk alone, be careful of your back, don't walk alone, be careful...
I engraved Baron Samedi's prophecy into my mind and stepped outside. It was early morning, and there were many students with sleepy eyes walking to school and employees heading to work. The weather looked to be slightly cloudy.
Paak!
As I walked through the alley, slowly making my way to school, someone pushed me from behind.
Was it a Satanist? This early? I turned my head, assuming a combative stance.
Fortunately, it wasn't a Satanist. In-Ah was looking back at me with a bright smile, her face filled to the brim with mischievous intent.
"You're up early."
"...Uh, yeah my body naturally woke up early today."
"That’s rare. Anyway, let's go."
The tension in my body seemed to melt away after seeing her cheerful smile and hearing her words. I let out a sigh of relief and walked with In-Ah. She seemed exceptionally happy today.
"Today is the re-election test, right? Did you say you applied as well?" In-Ah asked.
I nodded my head.
"Yeah. Jun-Hyuk said he applied as well. What about you?"
"I... I didn't apply. I wasn't confident that I’d do well anyway. I want to focus on studying for the upcoming test." In-Ah let out a laugh of disappointment and shifted her gaze to the notebook she was holding. It was a notebook holding organized concepts from 'Romanica Sacred Science,' a subject that required a lot of memorization. She seemed to use her commute time to study. Her concentration was impressive.
Come to think of it, I hadn’t studied for the test at all. I may be able to manage to get at least fifty percent of humanitarian subjects like Romanica Sacred Science or Understanding the Holy Books with my pre-existing knowledge, but natural science subjects like Sacred Dynamics or Sacred Material Science were going to be a problem.
I couldn’t rely on Legba like I did during evaluations. Legba may be an encyclopedia for humanities, but when it came to natural sciences, he was like a blank sheet of paper.
"Oh? Isn't that Jun-Hyuk?" In-Ah opened her eyes wide and asked just as I made up my mind to start studying tomorrow.
I followed her gaze and looked across the street. Jun-Hyuk was there. He was looking at his reflection in the shop's glass window and fixing his hair.
"You’re right. It is Jun-Hyuk."
"Right? Hey, Jun-Hyuk!" In-Ah shouted without any trace of embarrassment.
Jun-Hyuk had been busy fixing his hair, when he seemed rattled and looked in our direction. He wore a perplexed expression.
After the traffic light turned green, we crossed the pedestrian crossing and approached Jun-Hyuk. He took a few steps back in confusion, then smirked. "Hey now, why are you coming together?"
“We bumped into each other on the way. What are you doing here?” In-Ah asked.
Jun-Hyuk stared at his own reflection in the window the whole time he walked. After a while of obsessively fixing his hair, he said, "The wind messed up my hair... Ah, don't you have a comb? I can't fix it with my hands."
"A comb? I don't have one." In-Ah casually replied.
Jun-Hyuk glanced at her bag. There, sticking out from the side of In-Ah's bag, was a tail comb. Jun-Hyuk grinned and took out the comb from her bag.
"...Huh? Are you crazy? What do you think you’re doing? That's my comb for my bangs!"
"Hair in front of the face, hair on the back of the head, it’s all the same to me~ It's a comb, so I'll take it!" Jun-Hyuk teased while grooming his hair with the comb.
In-Ah reached out her hands multiple times, trying to snatch the comb from Jun-Hyuk. He twisted and turned, evading In-Ah's attempts. They bickered for a while and then started arguing about who was in the right and wrong, nitpicking every little detail. It was a scene that I had seen too many times.
"Hmm." I nodded as I watched their interaction.
The Satanists had infiltrated F.A., and they were most likely in the Class of Charity. In other words, they were someone in our class. Baron Samedi had warned me to be cautious around people close to us, so it was very likely that Jun-Hyuk and In-Ah could be Satanists.
But could Jun-Hyuk and In-Ah be the Satanists? I couldn't help but hope that they weren't, but when I thought about it, there was no guarantee that they weren't.
"..."
I looked at them with a suspicious gaze. In-Ah and Jun-Hyuk continued to playfully exchange jokes with innocent faces. There seemed to be an invisible wall between us—a tall and sturdy wall that couldn't be crossed or broken.
I cleared my mind and walked toward the school.
*
Knock, knock.
Upon hearing the knocking sound, Su-Ryeon abruptly sat up. She had put together three chairs in the student council room, forming a makeshift bed, and had been napping on top of it.
When she got up and opened the door, Min-Seo stormed into the student council room.
"What's up?" Su-Ryeon asked, rubbing her sleepy eyes.
Min-Seo didn't answer. She sat down and laid two documents on the desk. Then she quickly scanned through the papers with an intense gaze. Su-Ryeon approached Min-Seo's side curiously and started reading the documents. As she read, Su-Ryeon's eyes widened in surprise.
"Why did you... No, how did you get these?"
"I have my ways."
The documents that Min-Seo had brought were none other than Jun-Hyuk and Sun-Woo’s academic transcripts. The documents listed their evaluation and the practical training scores recorded since the beginning of the year. After reading the documents, Min-Seo pressed her temples as if trying to relieve a headache.
"...Su-Ryeon."
"Hmm?"
"You notice anything strange about these two?" Min-Seo handed the two documents to Su-Ryeon.
Su-Ryeon examined the documents with a troubled expression. It seemed that she was bothered by the fact that she was peeking into someone else's grades without permission. At first, Su-Ryeon's face had been filled with guilt, but a look of curiosity soon emerged. Forgetting about her guilt, she focused on the documents with a face full of confusion.
"Why are Sun-Woo's grades like this? Is it an error?"
"It's a bit strange, isn't it?"
Su-Ryeon tilted her head, clearly puzzled. While Jun-Hyuk's grades remained consistently around moderately high levels, Sun-Woo's grades fluctuated greatly.
He had gotten first place during evaluations and eradicating demon practice but twelfth in the physical test. Then, he had gotten first place in fusion blessing presentation practice but almost last in healing practical training.
"He lacks consistency," Su-Ryeon murmured.
Sun-Woo's grades were inconsistent. If a student got first place in eradicating demon practice, then they should also receive high scores on the physical test. But that wasn’t the case. If a student got first place during evaluations, then they should also get high scores in fusion blessing presentation practice or healing practical training. But that wasn’t the case either...Sun Woo’s grades for practical training were all over the place as if they had each been completed by different people.
“And why did he go 3-0 during a practical sparring match?” Su-Ryeon muttered to herself while skimming through the documents.
Min-Seo's body stiffened slightly in response. Su-Ryeon immediately sensed the subtle change.
"Did you say you had two wins and one loss in the practical sparring match?"
"..."
"Is that one loss against Sun-Woo?" Su-Ryeon's lips twitched as if she was about to burst into laughter.
Min-Seo scrunched up her face in silence.
Judging from the reaction, ?Sun-Woo was indeed the one who left a blemish of one loss on Min-Seo's otherwise perfect record.
"Really? Did you lose to Sun-Woo? Seriously, you lost?"
“...Shut up.”
“Woah, look at Mrs. Scary over here~ But did you really lose? Can you go into detail? Pretty please?” Su-Ryeon said, digging into Min-Seo’s hide and making fun of her.
Min-Seo's face had frozen in place, and she sent death stares at Su-Ryeon. It was only then that Su-Ryeon stopped teasing her. However, she still couldn't hide her twitching lips from subduing her smile.
For a second, Min-Seo felt a strong urge to punch Su-Ryeon in the face but quickly suppressed it. Su-Ryeon, after teasing Min-Seo for a while, finally forced her smile down and plopped down in her seat. Then she looked over the document listing Sun-Woo's grades once again.
"Well... it doesn't seem so strange when I look at it again," Su-Ryeon said with a smirk.
Min-Seo tilted her head. "What makes you say that?"
"Well, maybe he's just the type with inconsistent performances. For example, he might not have been in the best condition during the physical test, but was in good condition during eradicating demon practice, you know?"
"Hey, no matter how inconsistent he is that—"
"Or maybe he's just not interested in grades?" Su-Ryeon said nonchalantly.
Min-Seo hung her head down for a moment. She seemed to be contemplating.
He didn't seem like the type who wasn’t interested in grades. No, he didn't seem like that type at all. In fact, Sun-Woo seemed to be the type who was too passionate, someone who would try his best and give it his all in everything... However, if that were the case, why did he attempt to forfeit during the practical sparring match?
"No, well, sigh, I don’t know," Min-Seo mumbled, shaking her head.
Although she had lost by disqualification, she had lost to Sun-Woo in their duel. She had even received disciplinary action of fifteen days of volunteer service within the school. The punishment was relatively light compared to her offense, but the fact that she was being disciplined remained unchanged.
Just recalling that memory made Min-Seo feel uncomfortable. It felt as if her insides were twisting up.
"Maybe he just got lucky. Sun-Woo is famous among the students, right? Maybe he's just a bubble," Su-Ryeon suggested.[1]
"Bullshit. They call him unbelieva’bubble."
Sun-Woo's name had become known when the evaluation results were announced. He had surpassed Ha-Yeon, who had entered F.A. as the top scorer and ranked first. Furthermore, in a recent practical sparring match, Sun-Woo accomplished the astonishing feat of beating Min-Seo, claiming a 3-0 score with no losses.
This became an opportunity for Sun-Woo to further improve his already renowned reputation. There were even rumors circulating that he was second only to Jin-Seo in terms of skill.
"Well, that's all just a joke. More people think he’s just a bubble."
Of course, praise and criticism went hand in hand. Many people considered all the rumors about Sun-Woo to be a mere exaggeration, and they attributed his good practical training scores to sheer luck.
"I don't give two shits about what the people have to say behind their backs. What do you think?"
"What do I think? You mean whether I think he’s a bubble or not?"
Min-Seo nodded her head. Su-Ryeon stroked her chin and pretended to contemplate. She glanced at her watch before speaking. "Well... The rumors may have inflated his true abilities a bit. But I hadn't really thought deeply about it, and I see no point in doing so."
"True."
"If it's all just a bluff, he'll fall off eventually by himself."
Min-Seo nodded slowly in response to Su-Ryeon's words. She had a valid point. Regardless of the rumors, what mattered was Sun-Woo’s real ability. However, Min-Seo herself wasn’t confident in assessing Sun-Woo's ‘true ability.’ Based on their sparring session, she could tell that he had better physical coordination than most. If they were to compare physical coordination alone, he would be on par with Dae-Man.
However, before the match had been settled, it had ended due to her impulsive action, and as a result, she suffered a disqualification loss. Therefore, she couldn't determine Sun-Woo's true ability or uncover the cards he had left unshown.
"Should we go soon? It seems like it's about to start." Su-Ryeon called out to Min-Seo.
Min-Seo, stranded in her sea of thoughts, finally came to her senses and looked at her watch. Lunch break was almost over, and afternoon classes were about to begin. Today, the Holy Name of Charity re-election test replaced the afternoon classes. Non-participating students could leave, but the candidates were supposed to gather at the Great Auditorium.
"Ah, let's go." Min-Seo got up from her seat and headed towards the Great Auditorium. She was also an exam participant for the re-election test, but it wasn't because she wanted to be elected as the new Holy Name of Charity. It was solely to help Jun-Hyuk and Sun-Woo as nominees.
‘Plus, I need to confirm a few things...’
Additionally, she wanted to see Sun-Woo's true abilities with her own eyes. He had struck down the flying demonic beasts and showcased his exceptional physical coordination during sparring. However, his grades were always unpredictable, and similarly, the evaluations from others varied greatly. This guy was a total enigma. She needed to see Sun-woo’s capability with her own eyes. Not that she needed to, of course, but she wanted to.
Of course, this Holy Name of Charity re-election test allowed the use of holy artifacts and would make it an extremely unfair fight for Sun-Woo, who lacked resources. It would be the equivalent of starting a hundred-meter race three seconds later than all the other contestants.
How would Sun-Woo make a fuss and turn the situation around? The thought made her laugh.
"Min-Seo, um, try not to laugh too much. People have told me it makes them feel uncomfortable."
"...Who cares if someone feels uncomfortable? And who said that? If they have a problem, they should say it to my face."
"Well, actually, I feel uncomfortable. That's why I am telling you myself." Su-Ryeon laughed brazenly, and Min-Seo stared at her with a bewildered expression.
They walked silently until they finally arrived in front of the Great Auditorium.
The auditorium was packed full of people, from the test-takers, friends who had come to support them, and teachers assigned to manage the crowd. Roughly two hundred people had gathered together.
"Oh, there they are.” At that moment, Su-Ryeon pointed with her finger beyond the crowd.
On the other side were Sun-Woo and Jun-Hyuk, the two soon-to-be competitors, engaged in a friendly conversation. Observing their interaction, Min-Seo felt an indescribable sense of unease.
1. Bubble is a metaphor used to show that something might look elevated and puffed up at first but will end up bursting and leaving nothing behind because it has no substance. ?
Follow current novℯls on f(r)eewebnov𝒆l