The Heretic of Cleric Academy-Chapter 120

I opened my eyes.

"...Are you awake?"

A clear voice whispered softly. When I raised my head, Kim Jin-seo was there.

She was crouched beside my fallen form, looking down at me with a face clouded with dark worry. Her usually fierce eyes were slightly drooping downward.

"What is this... What about class?"

"Class ended long ago. You’ve been unconscious for about... an hour and a half, and just woke up now."

Kim Jin-seo silently bowed her head at my question, and So Do-jin answered instead.

I had been unconscious for an hour and a half?

I remembered that I was sparring with Kim Jin-seo just before losing consciousness. But I couldn’t properly remember why I lost consciousness. Strangely, my solar plexus area was throbbing with pain.

"...How did I faint?"

"Kim Jin-seo’s thrust attack hit your solar plexus precisely. It was fortunate it was a practice sword - if it had been a real blade, you would have died."

"Ah."

Only then did I remember.

Kim Jin-seo had taken an attacking stance, and I had planned to block the attack and then counterattack using Bosu’s power. However, before I could even call Bosu’s name, her attack struck my solar plexus. And I lost consciousness...

My face began to burn with heat.

I couldn’t tell if it was because of the medicine Kang Ji-ah gave me this morning, or simply from embarrassment. It was probably the latter. I wanted to turn into dust and disappear.

"You were at fault."

"...What did I do?"

"You, because you answered ambiguously. And..."

Kim Jin-seo glared at me with strange eyes as she spoke, then hung her head low.

Then, brushing the fallen hair up over her forehead, she opened her mouth in a voice barely above a whisper.

"Sorry..."

Her voice trailed off as she apologized, her gaze wandering across the floor. It was the reaction of someone who felt truly sorry and didn’t know what to do.

I thought there wasn’t really anything to apologize for.

It was also true that I had deliberately answered ambiguously to provoke her, and ultimately all this trouble occurred because I lacked the skill compared to her.

"There’s nothing to be sorry about."

So Do-jin spoke as if representing my feelings.

"You deliberately made large movements as if to swing, inducing a defensive stance, then predicted the gap that would appear and moved into a thrusting motion in advance. To do this requires changing the attack trajectory, and if you try to awkwardly control your strength, your stance would completely collapse."

At So Do-jin’s explanation, Kim Jin-seo rolled her eyes back and forth as if flustered.

"To succeed in the attack, you had no choice but to thrust with force. Whether the opponent fainted or not, it wasn’t a situation where you could consider that. Right?"

"...Yes."

Kim Jin-seo nodded and answered. Her expression seemed somewhat displeased. It appeared she hadn’t intended everything So Do-jin mentioned.

So Do-jin shifted his gaze from Kim Jin-seo to me.

"Do Seon-woo, you did well too. Just blocking the first attack was excellent. If it had been another student, they would have been defeated on the first attack. The second attack was almost impossible to avoid, so that’s an exception."

"...But I still lost in the end."

"The opponent was just too strong."

I silently agreed with those words.

Kim Jin-seo could probably subdue me holding a sword with her bare hands without much trouble. That’s how overwhelmingly I was defeated by her in this sparring match.

Even though I couldn’t use a Loa’s power, this was just an excuse. Kim Jin-seo’s ability to subdue me without allowing even the brief moment needed to use a Loa’s power was remarkable.

I stood up, barely shaking off the throbbing pain in my solar plexus. Kim Jin-seo kept her head bowed throughout, looking embarrassed.

"By the way, Kim Jin-seo. You didn’t use blessings in the sparring - is there a reason?"

So Do-jin asked while observing her quietly. Come to think of it, Kim Jin-seo hadn’t used blessings in her sparring with me either. She had overwhelmed me purely with her own physical abilities...

Thinking about it that way made me a bit more depressed. Kim Jin-seo finally raised her bowed head and opened her mouth while staring at So Do-jin with her usual sharp eyes.

"...I was preparing for situations where I can’t use blessings."

"Because of the sparring with Yeo Min-seo?"

"..."

Kim Jin-seo bit her lower lip instead of answering, as if hit right on target.

When sparring with Yeo Min-seo before, she couldn’t use blessings, and Kim Jin-seo had consistently lost to Yeo Min-seo because of that.

It seemed she was trying to practice sparring using only pure physical abilities without blessings in preparation for such times.

So Do-jin’s face hardened as if he found this somewhat disagreeable.

"It’s good to consider various situations, but in sparring, try your best whenever possible. Going easy on your opponent isn’t courtesy."

"...Yes."

Kim Jin-seo answered with an uncertain voice while glancing at me through her disheveled hair. Leaving behind that strange gaze, I looked around.

I could see several students who had lost consciousness and were sprawled on the floor. Fortunately, it seemed I wasn’t the only one who fainted during sparring.

While I felt somewhat relieved by that fact, I was ashamed of myself for being relieved by such a thing.

Fainting during sparring was shameful in itself, and I should have been indignant about losing the sparring match. I shouldn’t be complacent just because I wasn’t the only one who fainted.

"How will the evaluation work?"

I asked So Do-jin while rubbing my still-aching abdomen. He stopped checking the condition of other unconscious students.

"First-day sparring is excluded from evaluation. I’ll announce the days that count toward evaluation before class starts. I’ll also explain the evaluation criteria later."

"I see."

"Don’t you need to go to the infirmary? You looked like you were in pain earlier."

So Do-jin gestured toward my stomach with his chin. I silently shook my head.

Honestly, it hurt like hell, but I didn’t think I needed to go to the infirmary.

Compared to the pain from the side effects of overusing Granbwa’s power, this was nothing. That was excruciating pain as if a fireball was tearing through my stomach and melting my organs.

"Well, if you’re okay, there’s no need to-"

Kyaaaaaaah!

Then, a suddenly resounding scream cut off So Do-jin’s words. The scream contained a dry metallic sound, and the cry was desperate and tragic.

The sound seemed to come from the restroom attached to the Divine Training Ground, but I couldn’t tell exactly where it originated.

"..."

My body stiffened upon hearing the scream. My hair stood on end and I couldn’t breathe. My heart began to pound. It wasn’t just because the scream was eerily tragic.

It was because I suddenly remembered the prophecy I heard from Baron Samedi last night.

[Beware of screams and wails.]

Beware of screams and wails - that’s what he said. And he called them echoes of false pain.

Echoes of false pain. What does that mean? If echoes of false pain are screams, does that mean the screams themselves are false?

"Save me, please save me! Teacher, kyaaaaaaah!"

"...Class is over, so everyone go up to the classroom! Don’t worry about it, hurry!"

Urgent screams full of desperation continued to overflow from the restroom. So Do-jin’s voice resonated throughout the Divine Training Ground.

His voice, usually lethargic and listless from fatigue, was stiffer and more forceful than usual. The children who had been frozen in shock at the screams began to move with frightened faces, starting to leave the Divine Training Ground.

After confirming the students were leaving, So Do-jin turned his gaze to me and Kim Jin-seo, who were unsure what to do.

"Wake up the kids collapsed on the floor and take them to the infirmary. Please."

So Do-jin said this as if throwing the words out, then slowly walked toward the direction of the screams with his hand on his sword hilt. I could sense determination in his retreating figure.

He seemed accustomed to this situation, and it also seemed like he had predicted such an incident would occur.

"After that, you two should also go into the classroom. We don’t know what might happen-"

"Ah, haaaah! Kahaaaah...!"

The screaming sound cut off So Do-jin’s words. It was no longer a scream but just a metallic sound. Even so, a female student’s screams continued to ring out.

"Don’t space out, hurry-!"

So Do-jin shouted. Kim Jin-seo, who had been unable to collect herself, jumped in surprise and approached the fallen children.

One girl and one boy were still sprawled on the Divine Training Ground floor, unable to regain consciousness.

The screaming continued. Please save me... Teacher, please save me... Such desperate cries were driving away the silence that filled the Divine Training Ground. So Do-jin strode toward the restroom where the screams and pleas could be heard.

Echoes of false pain. Baron Samedi’s enigmatic voice was ringing in my head.

Beware of screams - what could that mean? Why should I beware of screams? I couldn’t understand.

"...You shouldn’t go."

I stopped his steps.

* * *

"Aaaaah! Please, please. Save me, just save me once..."

Even while such pitiful screams were heard right in front of him, So Do-jin stopped walking. This was because Do Seon-woo had stopped him with a very serious expression and tone.

"What’s the reason?" 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

If it had been another student, he would have lightly ignored them and continued on his way. However, Do Seon-woo’s words had different meaning. He sometimes said absurd things, but occasionally made decent deductions based on sharp intuition. His reasons were worth hearing.

"...The screaming has gone on too long."

"What?"

So Do-jin frowned. It was an enigmatic statement he couldn’t understand. Do Seon-woo covered his mouth with his hand as if organizing his thoughts, furrowing his brow as he continued.

"If it were magical beasts appearing, they would have died long ago and the screaming would have stopped. Magical beasts have no reason left, only the instinct to attack people."

"..."

"If it were demon species, there’s no reason they’d let someone scream like that. Since they have intelligence, they would have covered the mouth to stop the screaming, or cut the vocal cords. So..."

Do Seon-woo bit his lips as if unable to think of the next words. So Do-jin, who had been mulling over his words and reconsidering their meaning, slowly nodded.

"You’re saying it’s a lure?"

"...Yes, exactly. More precisely, it’s highly likely to be a trap."

Do Seon-woo nodded.

So Do-jin hadn’t failed to consider that possibility either.

Previously, while patrolling with Kim Bok-dong, there had been screaming from the direction of a public restroom. In the restroom was a severed ear, and the scream had come from a female student who was startled by seeing it. When they retrieved the severed ear and left the restroom, the female student had vanished without a trace.

And Bae Seong-hyeon had appeared at Florence. It was fake Bae Seong-hyeon, crafted by a Satan worshipper using taxidermy. So Do-jin had attacked Do Seon-woo that time and received disciplinary action.

That night, the forensic results came out. The ear placed in the restroom belonged to Bae Seong-hyeon.

He couldn’t understand why the Satan worshipper had done such a thing. The reason for sending fake Bae Seong-hyeon to Florence, and the reason for placing Bae Seong-hyeon’s ear in the restroom to show it to teachers. Nothing was comprehensible.

However, it was certain that the Satan worshipper had tried to lure teachers through screaming sounds.

"Ah, ah, ahhh... Tea, cher..."

As Do Seon-woo said, the screaming was excessively long. It might be screaming created by the Satan worshipper to lure him.

"What if it’s not a trap, but really a student’s scream?"

So Do-jin asked.

What if demon species or magical beasts had really appeared in the restroom, and a student who happened to be there was attacked and screamed? It might be false screaming created by the Satan worshipper to lure him, but conversely, it might be a student’s genuine scream asking for help.

"In that case, the student left class without permission..."

Do Seon-woo continued while keeping his gaze on the floor.

"It would be... their own fault."

"..."

Then, silence circled around So Do-jin’s ears. The pleading screams hadn’t been audible for some time.

"The screaming stopped. I have to go."

"You can’t. It’s a trap."

"No, as long as there’s even the slightest possibility it’s not a trap, I absolutely have to go."

So Do-jin drew his sword. Then he moved the light of blessing to his legs. So Do-jin, who had taken a leaping stance, stared intently at the restroom where the screaming had come from and continued.

"Your point about it possibly being a trap is also correct. I have a plan for that case. Don’t worry."

So Do-jin fingered the burning bush branch crumpled in his pants pocket. If it was a trap, he could contact other teachers for help.

Even if there was no need to ask for help because it was a crude trap, So Do-jin could break through the trap with his own power.

Thud!

So Do-jin roughly pushed off the floor and leaped toward the restroom.