Chapter 89
After the appointment ceremony, there were two big changes.
One of the changes was that I now had a nickname. People called me Sun-Woo the Kind. [1]... But I didn’t really like it. The name just didn’t sound right. Especially because Legba laughed when I first heard it, I disliked it even more.
"Alright, the next question... How about letting the Holy Name bearer Sun-Woo do it this time?"
"Let’s have Sun-Woo, who was late for the appointment ceremony, solve this question~"
"Now, when these two substances combine, what phenomenon occurs? Let’s leave this question for our proud latecomer, Sun-Woo—"
The other change was that the teachers started calling my name a lot more. Not only had I been late for the first appointment ceremony, but I was also late for the second appointment ceremony as well. This had become famous among the teachers. Perhaps the only fortunate thing about all this was that after it was revealed that I had saved the citizens during the Basar Market Fire, the teachers’ perception of me became very positive.
"Oh, isn’t it Sun-Woo? Where are you going?"
"Oh, I'm going to eat."
"I see. How is the cafeteria food? Is it edible?"
"Yes, it's delicious."
In particular, I became close enough to have short conversations whenever I met Florence Academy’s chairman, Kim Chang-Won. Although Chang-Won was known for being kind, he didn't respond well to greetings from students, so probably only Jin-Seo and I could have a natural conversation with him.
"...This is the first time I've seen the chairman smile," In-Ah said with a look of disbelief on her face. She was currently heading to the cafeteria with me. She kept glancing between the departing Chang-Won and me. Her head was rotating so vigorously that it was making whooshing sounds. Her hair shook, and the scent of shampoo lingered in the air. It smelled like a refreshing floral scent.
"The chairman helped me out a lot when I was hospitalized."
"Really? ...Oh right, you were hospitalized! Y-you. I told you to contact me, but you didn't after getting discharged. I reminded you so many times as well."
“It’s because I haven’t bought a phone yet.”
“No excuses. A-and you also didn’t tell me that you saved those people in Basar Market. Why don’t you tell me anything at all? It’s frustrating,” In-Ah said while pouting her lips.
"Your shampoo smells good. What do you use?"
"Don't change the subject! After the appointment ceremony, you’ve become quite sly. You sly fox."
"Why are you mad? I asked because I really like the scent."
"I’m not going to tell you anything. And what are you going to do when you find out? It’s not like you're going to buy it?”
We headed towards the restaurant while bickering. Jun-Hyuk was still at the hospital in order to take care of his mother, so in the end, only In-Ah and I were having lunch together.
While eating, In-Ah occasionally looked up and glared at me. Every time that happened, I smiled back at her. I smiled in order to hide my true expression.
Whenever I saw In-Ah, I always thought of her younger sister, Yoon-Ah. After the Ritual of Succession, I had been attempting treatment every day by using my enhanced voodoo magic and spells. She no longer screamed whenever she saw someone, but the fact remained that she was still in a zombie state.
[I’m sure you’ll discover a way soon...]
I slightly nodded my head in response to Legba's words of consolation and placed my cutlery down on the table. It was because my appetite suddenly disappeared.
I roughly tidied up the plate that still had around half of the food left and watched In-Ah, who was still eating. It was always amusing to see her eat. She always ate slowly and steadily while enjoying her meal.
"Don't stare at me like that."
"There are so many things that you tell me not to do...."
"If I tell you not to do something, don't do it. Other students keep coming up with weird stories because of you!"
In-Ah shouted out something that was utterly incomprehensible. I raised an eyebrow.
"What stories?"
"Curious, are you? You must be so curious that it's driving you crazy. But I won't tell you."
"Whatever suits you."
"...Geez."
In-Ah bit her lip, drooped her head, and silently finished her meal. As someone who had been absent from school for ten days, I had no way of knowing what sort of stories the students had come up with. However, judging from In-Ah's tone, it didn't seem like they were particularly bad stories.
* * *
After finishing my meal and heading toward class, I coincidentally met her.
"Must have finished lunch just now," Jin-Seo said.
Despite her slightly flushed face, her tone of voice was very calm. Her breathing was a bit rough, probably because she had just finished exercising. A few strands of her hair were stuck together with sweat. Her appearance after exercising was sharper and more polished than usual.
"Are you coming back after exercising?"
"Yup, I just did a few laps around the field," she said while glancing briefly at In-Ah. I also followed her gaze and looked at In-Ah. For some reason, In-Ah’s body seemed a bit stiff.
Jin-Seo continued to stare at In-Ah with narrowed eyes. She eventually shifted her gaze to me and asked, "...Are you two dating?"
"Huh. No?"
I couldn't understand why she would have such a misunderstanding. Jin-Seo chuckled softly after hearing my answer. It was a clear and clean smile, just like the one she showed me when I was in the hospital.
"Well yeah, of course you’d say that."
Of course I would say that? I had no idea what she was trying to say. Jin-Seo jerked her chin and continued, "By the way, there is a meeting tomorrow morning. Come to the student council room at seven o'clock.”
"...Do we have to have a meeting so early in the morning?" I asked.
"I guess that girl has a lot to talk about," Jin-Seo said.
‘That girl’ was obviously a way of referring to Min-Seo. She didn't mention Min-Seo's name often. It was probably because it was a name that she didn't want to say out loud. Considering their relationship, I could understand her feelings.
With a smile on her face, she looked at In-Ah and me and added, "And I'm sorry I suddenly left last time."
"Last time?" I unnecessarily repeated Jin-Seo's words.
I felt a strange sense of uneasiness from the words 'last time.' I couldn't fully grasp the true nature of this uneasiness. Anyway, 'last time' probably referred to what happened after I was discharged from the hospital. We were about to go home together, but her driver suddenly drove away, and as a result, we couldn't even say goodbye properly.
I smiled to show it was okay and said, “It’s fine. It wasn't like it was intentional."
"Let's go together next time."
"Oh? Sure."
I had no idea when ‘next time’ was supposed to be, but for now, I agreed. There was a moment of silence. Neither I, Jin-Seo, nor In-Ah said a word. The silence was bizarre.
Eventually, Jin-Seo said she was leaving as she waved her hand and left. She was heading toward the direction of the school gym. It seemed like she was going back to exercise again after completing her previous exercise session.
"You're working hard," I murmured as I watched her back as she left.
Jin-Seo had been exercising a lot before, but recently she was exercising even more. If anyone asked what she was doing, nine times out of ten, she was either exercising or studying. Come to think of it, I hadn't exercised even once since being discharged from the hospital. It was probably a good idea to start exercising again soon. By building stamina, I could reduce the drawbacks of using the Loa's power, and I could also increase my Voodoo magic capacity, albeit slightly.
"She’s exercising really hard these days. She’s, like, exercising really aggressively ever since she was discharged from the hospital," In-Ah said as if she suddenly remembered.
"Impressive," I said.
"W-well, I study hard too. Really hard."
"So?"
"You're intentionally doing that, aren't you?"
I shook my head to indicate that I didn't understand anything that she was saying. Although I was pretending not to, the truth was that I was intentionally teasing her. Because In-Ah's reactions were so exaggerated, it was always entertaining to tease her. One could say teasing her was good value for money.
In-Ah had been staring at me for a while when she asked, "...But, what did she mean by last time?"
"Last time? I wonder..."
"Don't play dumb. What did she mean by last time? Wha-what did you two do?"
"I'm not going to tell you."
In an instant, In-Ah looked at me with a dumbfounded expression on her face as if she was flabbergasted. Eventually, she pouted her lips and lowered her gaze as if she felt angry and betrayed. Her tightly clenched fists were trembling. I suddenly realized I might get hit if I made the wrong move.
“You...!”
My fears became reality, and she moved her leg in an attempt to kick my shin. I lifted my leg and dodged the attack. She unleashed multiple follow-up attacks in quick succession, but I was able to dodge them all. It was easier to avoid than I thought.
After I successfully dodged several kicks, tears started to well up in In-Ah's eyes.
"Why, why are you not getting hit...?"
"Ah, no, hey. What’s wrong all of a sudden? Is this something to cry about?"
"It's unfair. And I didn't cry."
In-Ah wiped a tear off her face. It was so sudden that I was unable to hide my surprise, and I ended up hastily consoling her. Her mood often swung quickly, so even if she felt bad, her mood would often quickly improve, and vice versa. Her personality was convenient at times, but sometimes it was difficult to deal with. For example, like the situation that I was facing at the moment.
I teased her again since it seemed like she had calmed down a bit.
"You’re suddenly squeezing out tears..."
"I said I didn't cry!" In-Ah shouted out loud.
I was startled and took a step back.
"Ah, alright."
"You're unnecessarily fast. I had a one hundred percent accuracy rate when I hit Jun-Hyuk, you know? You always tease me, and you never even apologize."
"Sorry, sorry. I won’t tease you in the future. So stop crying...”
I consoled her in a fluster. She just happened to cry in the middle of the sports field, so I could feel the cold stares from the people around me. I never imagined she would cry like this after teasing her a little. If I had known this would happen, I would have tanked at least one of her kicks.
Come to think of it, Jun-Hyuk always got hit by all of In-Ah's kicks. I suddenly became curious. With Jun-Hyuk's physical ability, he could have easily avoided her kicks, and In-Ah's kicks were especially simple, so they would have been easy to dodge.
“...”
Did he purposely let her hit him?
"I suddenly want to eat ice cream. Buy me some."
"Okay, after school."
"Yeah." In-Ah smiled and nodded.
Before I knew it, her mood had once again gotten better all of a sudden, and she was now smiling brightly.
* * *
That evening, I was in the middle of experimenting with the power of the 'Blessing of Superhuman Strength' that I received on the day of the Holy Name appointment. Florence Academy had sent me a book labeled <The Pope’s Spear: The Blessing of Superhuman Strength>, which explained how to use the blessing, as well as various other pieces of information pertaining to the blessing. To roughly summarize the book, it was like this:
While experimenting with the Blessing of Superhuman Strength, what surprised me the most was this 'power transfer.’
Crash!
"Oh..."
The shattered pieces of a brick dropped onto the ground. I had just shattered these bricks with just the strength of my right-hand grip. I hadn’t even used Bossou's power. I simply utilized the Blessing of Superhuman Strength.
Besides lifting my arm and clenching my fist, I directed all my strength into my grip. Strength left my legs, and I couldn’t stand up anymore. Strength had also left my neck, and my head kept shaking. But because I had directed all the strength that normally supports my legs and my head to my right-hand grip, I was able to smash with brick with my grip strength alone.
However, I wasn’t sure this blessing would be useful in actual combat. Until I became proficient, it seemed difficult to use it even in daily life, let alone in battle. Perhaps I should call Sung-Hyun, the previous Holy Name of Charity, and ask for his advice...?
It was a passing thought, but it didn't seem right. I shook my head and banished the idea.
[It's mysteriously similar to Bossou's power, although the performance is not comparable.]
"Come to think of it, it's somewhat similar."
When using Bossou's power, I was able to gain tremendous strength, and I was also able to gain perfect control over my body. In terms of being a ‘power that controls strength,’ the Blessing of Superhuman Strength was similar to Bossou's power. In the first place, the Blessing of Superhuman Strength was a fragment of the Pope’s power, while Bossou’s power was fully intact.
In <The Pope’s Spear: The Blessing of Superhuman Strength>, it also mentioned the various benefits that the Holy Name of Charity had access to.
"Can borrow holy artifacts for an unlimited period of time. If you’re a boarding student, then you can freely leave..."
In addition, the school cafeteria and cafe were completely free, I was able to freely practice in the sacred training ground, and I had the option to choose a minor specialization, and so on. There were all sorts of miscellaneous benefits like this. Because the Holy Name of Charity donated a lot of money to the Florence Foundation, they received more benefits compared to the other six Holy Names.
Among them, there was one benefit that caught my attention the most.
".... Access to the Florence Central Library."
The Florence Central Library was typically only accessible to the Elder Council and the teachers. It was commonly referred to as the ‘Central Library' and was considered a legendary place among students. There were rumors that the study notes for all the exams for all the schools, including Florence Academy, were displayed in the library, and there were rumors that there was a six-thousand paged tome that contained the entire history of Florence Academy and the Romanican Church.
The rumor that intrigued me the most was the one that stated that there were highly confidential documents that contained the purpose of Florence Academy’s establishment and its secrets hidden inside the library. By searching through the Central Library, it seemed like it would be possible to learn about the mysterious box that was buried in Eiden Hill.
"These are just complete hacks."
[I feel like I’ve wasted half my life.]
Among the seven Holy Names, the benefits that the Holy Name of Charity received were so good that they were practically hacks. I was somewhat able to slightly understand why Sung-Hyun had drowned in his elitist mindset while looking down on the students as if they were peasants. I still couldn’t comprehend why he had bullied other students, though.
Thump.
I closed the book and stood up from my seat. As an experiment, I drew a Voodoo spell array and engraved it into the book. I imprinted a spell into the book such that when the book was opened, the spell array would be activated. It was the same principle that my father used to imprint spells onto the ring and the box.
[Technically, it’s not the same principle.]
“Give me a break.”
Legba picked apart my spell. A bitter smile appeared on my face.
The truth was, it was not the same principle. My spell was nothing more than a mediocre imitation of my father’s spell. If my father made a spell that permeated into an object, in my case, I was engraving a spell array on the object so that when certain conditions were met, the spell would activate. After the Ritual of Succession, it was a skill I acquired through practice.
In any case, just being able to engrave a spell into an object was a great advancement for me. I still didn't know how to reach the state of Acquirement or whatever it was though.
I cast a spell on my father's ring that I was wearing and left the room. The empty underground chapel felt desolate. I felt a strange sense of unease while inside it.
"..."
Thud.
There was a faint sound coming from somewhere. It was a sharp and dry sound, like metal colliding. I had goosebumps, and every hair in my body stood on end. I lowered my posture and listened carefully to the sound.
Rustle, rustle.
Click.
Creeeeak.
A sharp and ominous sound pierced through the silence of the underground chapel and reached my ears. I was able to identify the source of the sound—it was the sound of a door being unlocked. The rustling sound was the sound of something like a metal clip fumbling through a keyhole.
[Is it Jin-Sung?] Legba said.
I shook my head. My uncle had the key. Even if he lost the key, all he had to do was contact me and ask me to open the door. There was no reason for my uncle to forcefully pick the lock on the door.
Tap, tap, tap.
Soon after, I heard footsteps. It was a cautious sound, as if someone was walking on their tiptoes.
[...Jin-Sung is definitely not the one. It's an intruder. They're targeting you.]
After hearing what Legba had to say, I felt a chill. I nodded cautiously so as not to make any sound. Whether it was the Holy Army or an assassin, someone was clearly after my life.
Tap, tap, tap...
All the while, the sound of the footsteps increased in frequency. My heartbeats became faster.
Tap, tap...
While maintaining my composure, I focused on the sound. I measured the distance of each step and estimated the number of enemies.
Tap...
At most, there were two enemies. There was at least one person, but it was probably just one person. The distance of each step was not very close.
Clunk!
The door opened, and I looked beyond the door. I couldn’t see signs of anyone. Only pitch-black darkness filled the space.
[Crouch!]
At that moment, Legba's shout echoed loudly in my head. Something pierced through the darkness and fiercely flew toward me. It was a dagger.
Whoosh!
The dagger flew in a round arc and instantly plunged into my shoulder.
The pain started in my shoulder and spread all the way down to my toes.
Tap, tap...
The sound of boots hitting the floor echoed and broke the silence of the underground chapel. A man with a black mask covering his face was approaching me with half-closed eyes.
There was just one enemy. As expected, there was only one enemy. I tightly gripped the handle of the dagger that was embedded in my shoulder, and then I pulled it out.
“...!”
It was so painful that I couldn’t even scream. Yet, for some weird reason, I couldn’t help but laugh. It was because a single sentence kept floating in my head.
‘There’s just one enemy.‘
I strongly felt it was an opportunity instead of a crisis.
1. The ‘Sun’ (?) in Sun-Woo’s can mean kind. If we add Ja in front of that, it becomes Jasun (??), which means Charity. The actual nickname he got is Ja Sun-Woo since Sun-Woo is now the Holy Name of Charity. The literal translation for the nickname would be Charity-Woo. ?
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