The Heretic of Cleric Academy-Chapter 49

I had just come out of Eden Hill, which was a "No Entry Zone." And someone had seen me.

I couldn’t tell who it was just from the voice. The only thing I could be certain of was that it was a woman’s voice.

It would be fortunate if it were a student, but the problem would be if it were a teacher.

I would be referred to the disciplinary committee for violating school rules and would receive punishment without leniency. Florence’s disciplinary committee was famous for having no flexibility.

No, what if it were Ha Ye-jin? Then it might be worth trying to negotiate. If I begged well, she might somehow let it slide.

In the worst case, it might not be Ha Ye-jin but Yeo Min-seo. Then my school life would become troublesome in some way or another going forward.

If things got bad, I’d just cast an unconsciousness spell and run away.

These were thoughts that flashed through my mind in just one second.

I resigned myself and turned my head to identify the owner of the voice.

"Oh."

However, fortunately, she was neither Ha Ye-jin nor Yeo Min-seo.

My stiffly tensed facial muscles relaxed smoothly and a smile naturally formed. I couldn’t have been happier to see her face.

"Ah, it’s... you."

Kim Jin-seo also looked at my face and said that as if relieved. Then she brought the cigarette on her finger to her mouth and took a deep drag of smoke.

That series of actions was carried out so naturally and matter-of-factly. I wasn’t exactly being righteous either, but no matter what, wasn’t that being too brazen?

"Now she doesn’t even put it out."

Kim Jin-seo glanced at me, then quickly turned her head away and continued smoking the cigarette she had been lighting.

I wasn’t certain, but somehow she seemed a bit angry. Since Kim Jin-seo was originally the type whose mood didn’t show on her face, it was hard to guess.

The smoke she exhaled scattered when it hit the wind. The smoke had a fragrant coffee smell.

Come to think of it, she always seemed to have a faint coffee scent about her.

I silently watched that smoking scene. When the cigarette had burned down to just the butt, I finally opened my mouth.

"Why are you here..."

Click.

Kim Jin-seo took out another cigarette, put it in her mouth, and flicked her lighter.

My intended words failed to reach their conclusion and floated in the air before scattering. She seemed to have no intention of listening to me at all.

I didn’t want to speak into the ear of someone who didn’t want to listen either. I just looked around needlessly to calm my mind.

There was a crackling sound of flying insects hitting the streetlight, and on the ground, ants were crawling around carrying something. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

This was a very secluded place even within Florence, so there was no one around.

Oh, but that...

"Isn’t that Teacher Ye-jin?"

"Cough! Ugh... What?"

Kim Jin-seo coughed hoarsely and quickly threw the cigarette she had been smoking into the sewer. It was a very swift movement.

Then she looked around. Her eyes, which had widened in surprise, soon narrowed.

"Where?"

"Over there. She’s coming."

"I don’t see her."

"Of course not. It’s a lie."

Kim Jin-seo stared at me blankly. Her face said she was dumbfounded.

"What are you doing?"

"Why do you keep doing something that’s not even good for you?"

I said this with the most good-natured smile I could manage.

In situations like this, it’s best to smile first. You can’t spit on a smiling face, after all.

"..."

As expected, she silently put the cigarette pack back in her pocket.

I would have liked to confiscate it completely if possible, but I had neither the justification nor the position to do so. I’m not a teacher, after all.

"Smoking on campus is grounds for expulsion."

Therefore, I brought up the school rules. Kim Jin-seo showed no sign of panic and immediately opened her mouth.

"Entering a no-entry zone is also grounds for expulsion."

"Really? I didn’t know that."

To think that just entering a no-entry zone would result in expulsion. I knew the school rules were strict, but I didn’t know they were this severe.

"Then let’s just let each other slide. But why are you here?"

I quickly changed the subject. There was no point in bringing up school rules any further since it would only hurt me.

No matter how inflexible Florence’s disciplinary committee was, they wouldn’t be inflexible toward Kim Jin-seo, the chairman’s daughter.

Kim Jin-seo cast her gaze toward the sewer where she had thrown the cigarette butt.

"I dropped my phone."

I glanced inside the sewer. It was too dark to see anything. Visually, I couldn’t tell whether there was a phone there or not.

This way, it would be difficult to lift the cover and retrieve the phone. I couldn’t see the phone in the first place, and I didn’t know how deep the sewer was.

"Is that why you were doing this here?"

"Yeah."

Kim Jin-seo nodded.

If her phone had fallen into the sewer, she could just go home and ask her dad to buy her a new one. Why was she sitting here smoking cigarettes?

Sometimes she does things that are really incomprehensible. It would be more accurate to call them foolish acts.

"So, could you lend me your phone?"

Kim Jin-seo extended her hand toward me as she spoke. I was surprised and pulled back a little.

"My phone? Why?"

"I need to call home. Right now."

"Right now?"

"Right now."

Her tone was firm. Her face was expressionless as always. However, she somehow seemed anxious. It seemed true that she needed to call home.

I readily handed her my phone. All information related to Voodoo was hidden and locked, so there was nothing to worry about.

Kim Jin-seo called someone using my phone.

Bzzzz!

Then a vibration sound came from somewhere. Kim Jin-seo calmly took out her own phone from her pocket. And she hung up the incoming call.

She had called her own phone using my phone.

Kim Jin-seo returned my phone to me.

"My number."

I was speechless.

"You... No, earlier. You said your phone fell in the sewer."

"That was a lie."

"You said you needed to call home."

"That was also a lie."

I reluctantly took the phone. Even then, I couldn’t speak properly for a while. The back of my head felt numb.

"Why do you tell so many lies?"

"You did it earlier too."

That wasn’t wrong.

I stared intently at her face. She was looking at me with transparent eyes that revealed no emotion, as always.

There was a slight coffee scent.

"So we can just let each other slide. Right?"

"Huh?"

Kim Jin-seo said this and then showed a clean smile like a clear sky.

This was the first time she had looked at me directly and smiled. I’m not sure if it was really the first time, but at least that’s how I felt... The sunset was setting, and her smile was gradually tinted by the sunset.

"Revenge."

She said. To me, it was a meaningless statement.

* * *

I went straight home.

I felt strangely odd. It was a mysterious feeling, as if my heart was floating.

[You got played.]

Legba spoke as if mocking me. His tone made me feel bad for some reason.

"Played? What do you mean?"

[Admit it. Do you have pride or something?]

"No, what exactly should I admit?"

[Oh ho, look at you getting angry.]

I ignored Legba’s words and emitted Voodoo magic power with my fingertips.

I was planning to draw any random spell circle to organize my thoughts, but somehow it wouldn’t draw well. It was because my head was dizzy with various thoughts.

Too many things had happened in just one day. It was no different from events that could have happened over several weeks occurring in a single day. It would be strange if I wasn’t tired.

I flopped down on the bed and closed my eyes, but sleep still wouldn’t come. I tossed and turned like that for several minutes.

[If you don’t like sleeping pills, how about sleep aids?]

Legba casually suggested. I shook my head. That was pretty much the same thing.

[Right. Sleep when you’re dead. Geez.]

Legba clicked his tongue. It’s not that I don’t want to sleep. I just don’t want to depend on medicine.

Then, a brilliant idea occurred to me.

Casting sorcery on myself.

Using unconsciousness sorcery on myself to faint for exactly 30 minutes and then wake up.

Then I wouldn’t have to suffer from sleep deprivation. Whenever I was tired, I could cast sorcery on myself like taking a nap.

"No, why didn’t I think of this before?"

[Because it’s a ridiculous idea. Fainting and sleeping are completely different concepts.]

"Really?"

I was slightly disappointed. I thought it was quite a brilliant idea.

[Separately from that, you can cast sorcery on yourself. Though it’s not very useful.]

While I was blankly having random thoughts, Legba’s voice seeped in. It was the first time I’d heard that you could cast sorcery on yourself.

It was also information I’d never had reason to be curious about. There was no reason to cast sorcery on myself in the first place.

[Right. That’s why I said it’s useless.]

"Then why did you mention it?"

[That teacher you saw during the day. So Do-jin, was it? The guy with dark circles who carries a sword.]

Legba muttered as if recalling memories.

The guy with dark circles who carries a sword could only be So Do-jin. I nodded.

"Yes. Why bring him up suddenly?"

[That guy seemed to use blessings without drawing blessing circles. Am I right?]

I searched my memory.

Come to think of it, I had never once seen So Do-jin draw blessing circles.

Nevertheless, he was always able to maintain excellent physical abilities. It was as if he was constantly using blessings.

"That’s right."

[Casting sorcery on yourself. If you learn that, you too can have sorcery constantly flowing through your body like So Do-jin. If you can understand it properly, you could even apply it to blessings.]

"...What?"

Legba spoke matter-of-factly. I asked back reluctantly. I couldn’t quite understand what he was saying.

After I tilted my head for a while, Legba opened his mouth first as if frustrated.

[I’m saying you could also use So Do-jin’s technique.]