The Heretic of Cleric Academy-Chapter 32

The two holy items received from Bae Jeong-hwan were as follows.

The first was ’Baal’s Maw.’

A storage-type holy item where an opening appears when divine power is injected, allowing various objects to be stored inside through the entrance.

Baal, the demon of gluttony, who with his nearly infinite appetite devours everything that touches his mouth.

True to its reputation, ’Baal’s Maw’ had storage space that was nearly infinite. I heard the internal space reached 100km³.

"This would be convenient when moving. Even a refrigerator would fit inside."

"Really? Then an elephant could fit too."

"Huh? Why would you put in an elephant?"

We had this frivolous conversation and just laughed. Perhaps because we were in good spirits thanks to the holy items, we found ourselves laughing at even trivial things.

"You could even carry people around in this."

Uncle, who had been looking at Baal’s Maw, said quietly. I nodded.

Baal’s Maw had infinite possibilities for use, just like its performance. As long as it wasn’t too big, you could put anything inside and carry it around. Objects, people, magical beasts. Really anything.

Of course, there were also disadvantages. Every time you put something in or take it out, some mysterious liquid resembling saliva would get all over your arms.

Since it was a holy item modeled after Baal’s literal ’maw,’ it seemed they had even implemented the saliva. The excessive detail was rather unpleasant.

Most of all, the design was disgusting. It was shaped like giant human lips. The color was black and murky, with hundreds of wrinkles covering it.

When divine power was injected, those lips would open wide with a creaking sound, creating such a terrifying sight that you couldn’t bear to watch with open eyes.

Still, considering the performance, these were all tolerable disadvantages.

"Next, here. This one."

Around the time we were getting tired of playing with Baal’s Maw, Uncle took out the next holy item.

It was a small trumpet about the size of a palm. It looked like a conch shell. I think they call this kind of thing a conch trumpet. Anyway.

This was called the ’Fourth Angel’s Trumpet.’

Similarly, when divine power is injected, the trumpet sounds. Those who hear the trumpet sound temporarily lose their sight and become trapped in darkness. For about 5 to 10 minutes.

"It looks interesting. Try using it once."

"Really? Would that be okay?"

"Huh? What wouldn’t be okay..."

Boooooo.

Before Uncle could finish speaking, I injected a small amount of divine power into the trumpet.

A trumpet sound so small that you had to concentrate to barely hear it echoed through the chapel.

"Huh? Huh?"

Uncle looked around in confusion. His eyes were open but there was no focus in his pupils. It seemed he had lost his sight after hearing the trumpet sound.

"Seon-woo. I can’t see."

"Ah. It’s okay. That’s normal."

"Normal? What is? No, I said I can’t see!"

"It’ll come back soon. Just wait about 5 minutes."

"Right? I’m not blind, right? It will come back soon, right?"

Only then did Uncle let out a sigh of relief.

The ’Fourth Angel’s Trumpet’ also had a wide range of applications. For example, when using sorcery. Until now, I had to use unconsciousness sorcery to eliminate witnesses, but with the trumpet, there would be no need for that.

I could take away the witnesses’ sight and quickly use sorcery in that gap.

The reason I passed over expensive holy items like ’Ark’s Gopher Wood’ or ’Nephilim’s Leg Bone’ and chose the Fourth Angel’s Trumpet was all for reasons like this.

[Wow, you have it all planned out, don’t you?]

"Of course."

I smiled lightly as if it were obvious.

And the most important thing was separate. The two holy items received from Bae Jeong-hwan, ’Baal’s Maw’ and the ’Fourth Angel’s Trumpet,’ had something in common.

They were expensive.

Incredibly expensive. So expensive it was hard to even speak of. If sold, you could easily buy a house on the outskirts of Seoul.

And it was all mine. Thinking that way made me feel secure and wealthy. Was this what money tasted like? I thought I understood why Uncle was so crazy about money.

Just because you don’t have money doesn’t necessarily mean you’re unhappy. Similarly, just because you have money doesn’t necessarily mean you’re happy.

But if you have money, at least you won’t be unhappy because you lack money.

"Ah, Uncle. But didn’t you say something about an altar before?"

After thinking about money for a while, I suddenly remembered. Uncle, who had embezzled Voodoo sect funds for stock investment and failed miserably, had left the chapel with confident steps to make up for those losses.

What did he say then?

"’I’ll be going to find the altar soon, so answer when I call’... Was that right?"

"Oh, right. Come to think of it, I was going to talk about that today too."

"Huh? What talk? You mean the altar?"

"Wait. Someone’s coming soon."

Uncle Lee Jin-seong said while groping the floor with his fingertips.

Coming soon? Who?

Before I could feel puzzled, I heard someone coming down the stairs. Soon, with a creaking sound, the door opened.

"Hello, Cult Leader."

With a stiff greeting, she walked confidently toward us.

"Huh?"

It was an unfamiliar face. My body tensed up.

I was currently wearing my school uniform and wasn’t even wearing a mask. Yet she immediately recognized that I was the cult leader.

Moreover, the chapel was a space that only Uncle and I could enter and exit. Except for regular worship days, we kept the entrance doors locked with double and triple locks.

Yet this woman had stepped into this place as if it were nothing. That alone was reason enough to be wary.

I immediately prepared to emit Voodoo magic power and draw a spell circle.

"Ah. That’s the kid I said was coming earlier."

"...Tell me quickly next time. You startled me."

Just before the sorcery activated, Uncle’s words made me withdraw the spell circle. It was close.

"No, I was going to explain when she came. Anyway, this is an informant I’m raising."

"I’m called Kang Ji-ah. I’m learning a lot from my teacher."

"Teacher, what teacher. How embarrassing."

Uncle said that, but he seemed pleased inside as the corners of his mouth were turned up.

I glanced at Kang Ji-ah once.

She was extremely short. Barely reaching 140cm. Her face also looked young. Just looking at her face, she seemed to be around elementary school age. Roughly 12-13 years old?

Despite her appearance, her way of speaking was very mature, but her voice clearly revealed her youth.

But Uncle said this kid was an informant he was raising. Honestly, it was hard to believe. An elementary school informant.

While I was puzzling over this with a tilted head, Uncle opened his mouth.

"Anyway, about 3 weeks ago I gave her the task of finding the altar’s location. But she actually found it, right?"

"Huh? Really? She, I mean this person did?"

I glanced at Kang Ji-ah in surprise.

She kept her head down with her mouth shut. Kang Ji-ah’s face had no expression to speak of. Just complete expressionlessness.

"She’s smart. She has talent for information gathering too. Teach her one thing and she figures out ten on her own."

"You flatter me."

"Flattery nothing. She’s a genius, a genius."

Uncle Lee Jin-seong said while slowly blinking. His sight seemed to be gradually returning.

Anyway, as Uncle said, Kang Ji-ah was a genius.

Uncle was also practically a professional in the field of information gathering. He was the one who created false identities so sophisticated they could even fool the Vatican.

Even such an uncle couldn’t find the altar’s location. But Kang Ji-ah found it. And in just 3 weeks. It was talent so brilliant that even calling her a genius wasn’t enough.

However, there was one thing that bothered me.

"But isn’t she too young?"

Kang Ji-ah was a genius. If she helped us, things would be much easier from now on. Kang Ji-ah’s talent was definitely needed for the Voodoo sect.

But still, employing an elementary school student was a bit much.

"Uncle, when you said you ’raised’ her, you don’t mean you brainwashed her from when she was little, right?"

"What are you talking about? Rather, she was the one following me around. Saying she wanted to become a capable informant and help the Voodoo sect and whatnot. And she’s not as young as you think."

"How old is she?"

Kang Ji-ah, who had been quietly listening to the conversation with her head down, suddenly raised her head and spoke.

"I’m 18 years old."

"Aha. Ah? What?"

"I’m one year older than the Cult Leader."

"Ah. Ah... You’re my senior."

A faint anger appeared on Kang Ji-ah’s expressionless face.

She looked completely like an elementary school student, so I naturally assumed she was younger than me, but she was actually a year older than me.

Cold sweat formed on my forehead from embarrassment.

"Ah! Because you look so young. I made a mistake..."

"..."

I tried to make excuses belatedly, but the result was disastrous. This time it wasn’t just faint anger.

Clear and definite anger and shame were distinctly visible on Kang Ji-ah’s face. She seemed to dislike being called "young-looking." It was a slip of the tongue.

"Well, let’s become friendly later. Let’s finish talking about the altar first."

Uncle broke the awkward atmosphere. Uncle had just regained his sight and seemed to have blurry vision, as he was pressing both eyes while continuing to talk.

"Kang Ji-ah found the altar’s location. So we’re going to go find it soon. You and I together."

"Why me? You could just go find it and bring it back."

"Hey, there are reasons for everything."

Uncle glanced at Kang Ji-ah and sent a signal. Receiving the signal, Kang Ji-ah took a step forward and spoke.

"Currently, the altar is located on the 5th basement floor of Lazaro Central Shopping Center. It’s the headquarters of a pseudo-religion. The religion’s name is ’Voodoo Revival Church.’ The public calls it ’Voodoo Church.’"

"Huh?"

For a moment I was so dumbfounded that I let out a hollow laugh.

"Yes. This religion is illegally using the name of Voodoo. Most of all, what they’re doing is outrageous. For convenience, I’ll refer to this religion as ’Fake Voodoo Church.’"

Fake Voodoo Church. What great naming sense.

Kang Ji-ah took a light breath and continued.

"First, the Fake Voodoo Church leader is gathering believers through stimulating performances using fire. Particularly, the ’human sacrifice ritual’ where humans are burned alive and their ashes offered as sacrifices is very popular. There are also stories that they kidnap passersby and forcibly convert them."

"Fire? Could you tell me a bit more in detail?"

"According to my investigation, they handle fire freely as if dominating it. It’s just speculation, but might they be using ’Loa’s power’?"

Kang Ji-ah asked cautiously. I nodded.

As Kang Ji-ah speculated, the Fake Voodoo Church leader was probably using Loa’s power. I had a rough idea about this.

[It must be that bastard.]

Legba’s eerie voice echoed in my head. Unlike usual, his tone seemed slightly angry. It was obvious who "that bastard" referred to.

During the Holy War, ’that person’ who refused to dwell in me and chose to flee. No, since he betrayed me, it would be better to call him ’that bastard’ now.

"And there were also stories that the Fake Voodoo Church leader handles sorcery using Voodoo magic power. This is also why I want to accompany the Cult Leader."

Kang Ji-ah added an explanation.

If the Fake Voodoo Church leader not only used Loa’s power but also sorcery, it would be difficult for Uncle alone to retrieve the altar.

Uncle was quick-witted and skilled at money matters, but he wasn’t good at handling sorcery. To retrieve the altar more safely and surely, it would be better for me to accompany him.

When I nodded to show my agreement, Kang Ji-ah continued.

"I plan to match the altar retrieval date to the Cult Leader’s schedule as much as possible. When would be most convenient for you?"

"I’m fine with any time."

"Yes. Then let’s go tomorrow."

Kang Ji-ah said without a moment’s hesitation.

"Tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow happens to be Fake Voodoo Church’s regular worship day. It’s also the weekend. You could say it’s a golden opportunity."

No matter what, tomorrow was too soon. I didn’t have any particular plans, but I wasn’t mentally prepared yet. I needed at least some time to steel my resolve.

"Tomorrow is a bit... How about going another day?"

"That’s fine. Then I’ll see you in two months."

"Ah. Two months later?"

"Yes. Fake Voodoo Church doesn’t hold regular worship services very often. If not tomorrow, we’d have no choice but to go two months later."

Then there were two choices. Go tomorrow, or go two months later.

But tomorrow was too soon, and two months later was too late. All the choices were extreme. I was briefly conflicted.

"Then let’s just go tomorrow."

The conflict wasn’t long. Too soon, or too late. If I had to choose one of the two, I’d rather choose too soon. At least that’s what I thought.

"Yes. Then I’ll see you again here tomorrow at 6 PM."

"Understood."

With those final words, Kang Ji-ah quickly went up the stairs and left the underground chapel.

Even her walking looked like an elementary school student. I absolutely couldn’t believe that this person was older than me.

After she left, Uncle spoke as if something had occurred to him.

"But tomorrow’s the weekend, isn’t it? Don’t you have any plans?"

"Plans? I don’t have any."

"Don’t you have friends?"

"I do, I do have them."

"If you have them, why don’t you have plans? You don’t have friends, do you?"

"No, what, do you have to have plans every weekend? My friends are all too busy studying to meet often."

"Right, you really don’t have friends."

Uncle teased me. Even knowing it was a joke, I felt annoyed for no reason.

Honestly, it was true that I didn’t have many friends. The friends I did have were just Gu Jun-hyeok and Jeong In-ah, right? Kim Jin-seo was a bit ambiguous to call a friend.

Beep!

Then, a cheerful notification echoed through the quiet chapel. It was a text notification sound.

My heart fluttered at the sound I hadn’t heard in a long time. It would probably be spam anyway, but I turned on my phone with some hope.

[I’m hanging out tomorrow, want to come? Gu Jun-hyeok says he’s coming]

It was a text from Jeong In-ah. While I was grateful it wasn’t spam, my heart felt heavy for no reason.

"Uncle, I just got plans."

"When? Tomorrow?"

"Yeah. I shouldn’t go, right?"

Tomorrow was the day to go raid a pseudo-religion’s headquarters to retrieve the altar. Retrieving the altar was more important than hanging out with Jeong In-ah. So it would be right to decline Jeong In-ah’s proposal.

But my heart kept leaning toward Jeong In-ah. I wanted to hang out with friends

, laugh and chat thoughtlessly, and clear my head.

Come to think of it, since enrolling at Florence, I had never properly had fun even once.

Reason and emotion waged war in my head.

"Why? Just go and come back. You can hang out and come here at 6."

"Ah. That would work."

Thanks to Uncle providing a wise answer, the war ended peacefully.