The Heretic of Cleric Academy-Chapter 113

Standing at the center of the gang was Bae Seong-hyeon. No matter how I rubbed my eyes and looked again, nothing changed. What was in front of me was definitely Bae Seong-hyeon. He even had a scar on his left ear. No doubt about it.

Why had he come to Florence? No, ’how’ had he gotten in? Having been expelled, he was in principle unable to enter Florence.

Had he snuck in secretly wearing a school uniform and pretending to be a current student? No, that couldn’t be it. These were the days when Satan worshipper detection operations were in full swing.

They said that even if someone suspected of being an outsider just loitered around the school gate, security would rush over and drive them away. There was no way security would just let Bae Seong-hyeon, who had been charged with Satan worship conspiracy, enter.

I briefly thought he might have paid bribes to the foundation for readmission, but this also didn’t make sense.

Kim Jin-seo was also involved in the incident Bae Seong-hyeon had caused. There was no way Kim Chang-won, who cherished Kim Jin-seo so much, would have given Bae Seong-hyeon readmission approval just for money.

"Oh, hey! Isn’t that Do Seon-woo? Good to see you!"

While I was briefly lost in thought, Bae Seong-hyeon casually offered a handshake. I inadvertently accepted the handshake. His grip was strong enough to feel threatening. After the handshake, red finger marks remained on my palm. I looked up and glared at Bae Seong-hyeon’s face. He was grinning.

"So, is the Holy Name of Charity manageable? Fucking tiring, right? Lots of things to do too."

"I’m a bit tired today. But are you close with me?"

"Hahaha, do we have to be close to ask after each other? Is that all you have to say after seeing me for the first time in a while?"

Bae Seong-hyeon laughed while staring at me. Clear hostility in his gaze pierced into my eyes. I stared back at him without averting my eyes. Bae Seong-hyeon let out a hollow laugh as if finding it ridiculous and turned his gaze toward his gang.

"His temper seems to have gotten more vicious. Don’t you think so?"

"Uh, well. I, um..."

"Ha, haha..."

Bae Seong-hyeon threw out the question while scanning his gang as if seeking agreement, but the gang members all avoided his gaze and just mumbled evasively.

Those who had once been Bae Seong-hyeon’s gang were currently leading quiet school lives, focusing on their studies due to the negative attention they received after Bae Seong-hyeon had caused a major incident and been expelled.

When he didn’t get the reaction he wanted, Bae Seong-hyeon’s face crumpled. But then he instantly changed his facial expression as if nothing had happened and smiled.

"The atmosphere has changed a bit while I was gone."

I glared at Bae Seong-hyeon as he looked around and spoke as if embarrassed. He was being excessively nonchalant.

Even with me in front of him, he offered a handshake without batting an eye, and even glared at me with both eyes wide. This was somehow strange.

I had previously cast sorcery on Bae Seong-hyeon. Nightmares, memory destruction, and... various other things. The effect that sorcery had on Bae Seong-hyeon was ’suggestion.’

Just recalling memories about Voodoo would make Bae Seong-hyeon feel terror, and then memory destruction would make him forget the memories about Voodoo. The memories would disappear, but the fear would remain. But it didn’t make sense that he could be so nonchalant upon seeing me, the Voodoo cult leader.

The sorcery’s effectiveness couldn’t have run out, nor could he have overcome the sorcery with mental strength. My sorcery wasn’t weak enough to be overcome by Bae Seong-hyeon’s mental strength.

Then... what exactly was ’that’?

"Oh, Jeong In-ah is here too. You seem to have gotten prettier? Did you lose weight..."

"Hey."

It was Gu Jun-hyeok who cut off Bae Seong-hyeon’s words. He was staring at Bae Seong-hyeon with lifeless eyes. No, it looked like he was staring at something beyond Bae Seong-hyeon. That’s how unfocused Gu Jun-hyeok’s eyes were.

"What are you crawling back here for?"

Gu Jun-hyeok’s cold voice froze the atmosphere. Bae Seong-hyeon stepped back as if flustered. It was an atmosphere where a fight could break out at any moment.

The gang members frantically tried to get between Bae Seong-hyeon and Gu Jun-hyeok, but Gu Jun-hyeok roughly pushed them aside and approached Bae Seong-hyeon.

Grab.

Gu Jun-hyeok grabbed Bae Seong-hyeon’s collar. Bae Seong-hyeon looked down at Gu Jun-hyeok with a calm face while being grabbed by the collar.

"Going straight for the collar... Is this the Florence average?"

"After getting expelled, you came back with only your mouth alive. Why did you come?"

"Hahaha... I don’t know why you’re so angry. Let go of this."

Bae Seong-hyeon forcibly pried off Gu Jun-hyeok’s hand and adjusted his shirt collar and tie. Gu Jun-hyeok’s eyes were still staring at Bae Seong-hyeon.

Jeong In-ah, who was looking back and forth between the two men, was on the verge of tears from confusion. Her eyes were already welling up with tears.

"Wait a moment."

There were more than one or two strange points. I took out my phone to call someone and tried to leave the scene. Or rather, I tried to.

"Uh, where. Where are you going..."

Jeong In-ah was clinging to my wrist. There was no need to shake her off. Her grip was so weak that I had only just realized she was holding my wrist.

When I applied moderate force, Jeong In-ah gradually released her strength and let me go. Then she looked at me as if confused and at a loss.

I smiled at her.

"I’ll be right back."

I planned to do a quick check and return immediately.

I waited for the other party to answer while keeping my distance. Click, the other party answered. I opened my mouth with a lowered voice.

"Believer, how is your son doing?"

* * *

"Having coffee makes me feel a bit better. Without this, I would have committed suicide long ago."

"Didn’t you sleep well yesterday either?"

Ha Ye-jin spoke reproachfully to So Do-jin, who had downed an americano in one shot and picked up his second cup.

"How can you keep not sleeping like that? That’s why I told you to retire several times."

"Retirement... I’d like to, but looking at the incoming money, it’s a bit difficult to retire."

"Being money-minded is also a sin. For someone who’s supposed to be clergy."

Ha Ye-jin said playfully with a chuckle. So Do-jin forced his eyes, which had dark circles under them, to squint and laughed along.

"There are mountains of kids to feed. Wouldn’t it be a bigger sin to not earn money and let the kids starve?"

"...Well, that’s true."

"I even took a day off today, so I should sleep well and come back tomorrow. Since I’m sleep-deprived, this quality of life seems to keep going down..."

So Do-jin, who was speaking like that, trailed off and stopped. Ha Ye-jin tilted her head puzzledly and looked at So Do-jin.

His gaze was directed toward the middle of the playground. At the center of the crowd surrounding the playground, two male students were confronting each other. So Do-jin moved the light of blessing flowing through his body to his eyes.

"...Those bastards."

The ones confronting each other were Gu Jun-hyeok and Bae Seong-hyeon. While Gu Jun-hyeok was a student well-known among faculty for causing many incidents, what kind of shamelessness did expelled Bae Seong-hyeon have to come here?

Not only had Florence’s honor been greatly damaged because of that bastard, but Ha Ye-jin, who was the homeroom teacher of the Charity class, had almost received disciplinary action. For that reason, So Do-jin really hated Bae Seong-hyeon to death.

So Do-jin crossed the playground and approached them. He planned to reason with them moderately, and if they didn’t listen, he would beat them and drive them out of school.

"What’s happening? My eyesight is bad so I can’t tell what’s going on..."

"Looks like a fight broke out, and one of them is Bae Seong-hyeon."

"What? Why is he here?"

Ha Ye-jin, who was following So Do-jin, spoke as if incredulous. So Do-jin glared alternately at Gu Jun-hyeok and Bae Seong-hyeon with a hardened face without answering.

He was angry at Bae Seong-hyeon for shamelessly entering Florence after being expelled, but he also planned to give Gu Jun-hyeok an appropriate warning.

"Hey! Everyone there, disperse...!"

So Do-jin shouted at the gang members surrounding the fight. The gang members just looked around hesitantly without dispersing. This was because Gu Jun-hyeok and Bae Seong-hyeon’s fight had become more heated.

They were glaring at each other with venomous eyes while touching foreheads. It was such a precarious atmosphere that if one person threw a punch, it would immediately lead to a fistfight.

"You guys...!"

So Do-jin, who was shouting while quickening his pace, trailed off because of Do Seon-woo pushing through the crowd.

He slowly inserted himself between them, staring at Bae Seong-hyeon with a face clearly showing anger, but with extremely cold and chilly eyes.

Thud.

He first separated the two by pushing Gu Jun-hyeok away with his arm. It seemed he was trying to stop the fight.

Only then did So Do-jin relax and slow his pace a little. Do Seon-woo was far superior in ability compared to Gu Jun-hyeok and Bae Seong-hyeon. If he wanted to stop the fight, he would be able to stop it easily.

Then, Do Seon-woo’s arm began to shine. It was the light emitted by the Blessing of Superhuman Strength he had received along with his appointment as the Holy Name of Charity. Next, Do Seon-woo drew a blessing circle.

"Huh? That’s muscle enhancement..."

Ha Ye-jin, who was following So Do-jin and watching the situation, muttered to herself. What Do Seon-woo used was the blessing of muscle enhancement. Intermediate, no, was it basic level? It was impossible to determine accurately from a distance.

Was he planning to stop the fight by force using blessings?

Before So Do-jin could even have doubts, Do Seon-woo concentrated all those blessings on his right arm.

Thud.

And he extended his arm. Do Seon-woo’s hand pierced through Bae Seong-hyeon’s chest.

In Do Seon-woo’s hand, pulled from Bae Seong-hyeon’s chest, something was held. It was a heart. Bae Seong-hyeon’s heart.

With just his right arm, Do Seon-woo had pierced through Bae Seong-hyeon’s skin, broken his ribs, and pulled out his heart. The heart, covered with blood vessels, was still beating while held in Do Seon-woo’s hand.

"...Uh, uh..."

Ha Ye-jin made strange sounds as if she absolutely didn’t want to believe this was reality. Eventually, she began dry heaving with a face that had turned pale.

Bae Seong-hyeon, with a hole in his heart, died just like that. His corpse sprawled in the middle of the playground. So Do-jin, who was watching the scene, unconsciously clenched his fists tightly.

It was murder.

While Bae Seong-hyeon was suspected of having connections with Satan worship, he was at least human. No matter how wicked his deeds, he was still human. Being human meant he wasn’t something that could be killed carelessly like demon species or magical beasts.

So Do-jin moved the light of blessing to his legs.

Thump!

With his hand on his sword, he leaped toward Do Seon-woo. He reached Do Seon-woo so quickly it was hard to follow with eyes and drew his sword.

Whoosh!

And he swung it. It was a strike that incorporated the propulsion from his leap and his body weight.

However, the blade wasn’t directed at Do Seon-woo. So Do-jin planned to knock Do Seon-woo unconscious by hitting his neck with the flat of the blade. The responsibility and reason for killing Bae Seong-hyeon... he planned to ask about that afterward.

Thud.

However, Do Seon-woo didn’t lose consciousness. He caught So Do-jin’s blade as if it was nothing, then stared at So Do-jin with cold eyes.

Could that be an expression someone could make right after killing a person...

Feeling creeped out, So Do-jin tried to pull his sword from Do Seon-woo’s hand.

"..."

But it wouldn’t come out. This was because Do Seon-woo’s grip strength holding the blade was too strong.

It wasn’t strength obtained through the Blessing of Superhuman Strength. He had known from before that he was strong, but didn’t know it was to this extent. So Do-jin opened his mouth while hiding his confusion.

"Let go. Before I cut off all your fingers."

"Let’s hear the story first."

"I listen to stories after subduing."

Scrape!

So Do-jin roughly pulled out his sword. Blood from Do Seon-woo’s palm splattered on the playground floor. So Do-jin continued his attack.

Slash...

This time it wasn’t the flat of the blade. So Do-jin’s attack, which continued in an instant, reached Do Seon-woo’s neck, and immediately after, So Do-jin stopped moving.

Dark red blood was dripping from Do Seon-woo’s neck where the blade had touched. So Do-jin stared at Do Seon-woo with somewhat mad eyes and opened his mouth.

"You... What on earth were you thinking, doing such..."

"..."

"Clergy shouldn’t kill people. No, people shouldn’t kill people. That’s obvious, but..."

Tears welled up in So Do-jin’s eyes as he spoke. So Do-jin’s words were directed at Do Seon-woo, but at the same time, directed at himself.

So Do-jin’s hand holding the sword trembled. Blood on the blade was dripping one drop, two drops onto the playground floor along the sword.

"...Teacher."

Then, Do Seon-woo held up the heart in his hand. The heart had stopped its activity and hardened coldly.

Squish... Do Seon-woo clenched his fist and mercilessly burst that heart. So Do-jin squeezed his eyes shut. It was a sound he didn’t want to hear. This Do Seon-woo bastard was completely insane.

Rather than subduing him, it might be right to kill him right now... Thinking this, So Do-jin opened his eyes.

And an unbelievable scene unfolded.

Thud thud.

From the burst heart, not blood but sawdust was flowing out. No, there was some blood, but most of it was sawdust and cotton. Bae Seong-hyeon’s heart was filled with sawdust and cotton. So Do-jin looked at it with a blank face and sheathed his sword.

"What I killed wasn’t a person but ’taxidermy.’"

Do Seon-woo said nonchalantly while brushing off the blood on his palm.