The Heretic of Cleric Academy-Chapter 77

After finishing my daily schedule, I came to the chapel. The first thing I saw upon entering was Uncle.

Uncle was sitting at the dining table with a calculator, earnestly calculating something. Without needing to ask, I guessed it was related to money, and I passed by Uncle to open my room door.

"Oh, what? When did you come? I was so busy with something that I didn’t even notice you came in."

"I just got here."

"Really? Ah, that’s right. Seon-woo."

Uncle put down the calculator he had been tapping on the dining table and called me.

"That, what was it. Title? Holy Name? That appointment ceremony is tomorrow, right?"

"Ah, yeah. It’s tomorrow."

"Why such a reaction? You used to make such a fuss saying you absolutely had to get it. Did you not do well on the exam?"

"Just... so-so."

"When I was young, whenever my sister asked about grades, I always said so-so. I guess you didn’t do well."

Uncle said teasingly. I let out a bitter smile. Uncle tore open a stick to make instant coffee as he continued.

"Well anyway. If by any chance you get that, what was it, title? Holy Name? Tell me if you get it. You said you have to pay a donation, right?"

"Ah... Yeah. But don’t expect anything. It probably won’t happen anyway."

"I never expected it? I’m just saying to tell me if you need money."

Uncle said indifferently. Conversations with Uncle always concluded with the topic of money.

Sometimes I’m curious why Uncle so desperately collects money. The greed for money is something humans naturally have, but Uncle’s greed was too excessive. Uncle’s desire for money was closer to obsession than greed.

Well, there must be reasons for everything. Most of the money he so desperately earned was spent on me and Voodoo anyway.

Just as I was thinking of this as no big deal and was about to enter my room, I felt that the chapel seemed somehow empty.

"Uncle. Where did sister go?"

"Sister? Ah, Ji-ah? She seems busy these days. She’s been running around everywhere at night."

"...Why?"

"Who knows. I think she said she had something to investigate."

Uncle said casually and sat down. Then he started tapping the calculator again. The cheerful tones that rang out with each number pressed filled the chapel.

Since Kang Ji-ah, who always greeted me first whenever I entered the chapel, wasn’t there, the chapel somehow felt empty. I forcibly shook off the emptiness I couldn’t identify the cause of.

Come to think of it, Kang Ji-ah wasn’t something like a chapel housekeeper. She was an informant. It was perfectly natural for an informant to go outside for investigations.

Plop.

I lay down on the damp bed and blankly stared at the ceiling. It had already been four days since I took the Charity Holy Name re-election exam.

The discussion about who would become the Charity Holy Name had continued until now.

And finally tomorrow.

Tomorrow was both the day to announce the exam results and simultaneously the day of the Charity Holy Name appointment ceremony.

Tomorrow’s appointment ceremony would start at 1 PM, and since there were no classes until then, students only needed to come to school by 1 PM. Thanks to that, I had time in the morning. I could sleep more or hit the morning gym.

[You’ve been neglecting sorcery training lately. It would be good to do it diligently.]

Just as I was about to close my eyes for a brief nap, Legba’s voice woke me up. I wasn’t sleepy to begin with, but thanks to Legba, I would be even less sleepy. I had no choice but to get up and emit Voodoo magic power to draw spell circles.

"But no matter how much I do this, I don’t feel like I’m improving. Am I even doing this right?"

[Water drops can penetrate stone. It means that even small things, if done consistently, can achieve great goals.]

"So is this effort or not? If it’s not effort but futile work, then it’s ultimately meaningless."

[Have a little more faith in yourself.]

Though Legba spoke encouragingly, I still didn’t feel convinced.

For days, I had been drawing spell circles and flowing spell mist into my body to reach the ’level of mastery.’ During those days, there had been absolutely no results that could be called progress.

"The sorcery doesn’t work, so I don’t even know if anything is happening..."

[That’s because your resistance is too strong. If you keep trying, someday you’ll be able to cast sorcery on yourself, and furthermore, you might reach the ’level of mastery.’]

"Ah, yes."

Legba’s advice didn’t seem believable, but I decided to continue trying as I had been. Drawing spell circles, flowing mist into my body, drawing spell circles again in repetition.

How much time had passed? Before I knew it, the room was filled with purple mist.

"...Let’s stop here for today. I’m tired."

[Right. If you emit too much Voodoo magic power without getting adequate sleep, you’ll get dizzy. Go to sleep now. Managing your health is also a form of effort.]

"I’m touched that you’re even taking care of my health. I’ll keep it in mind."

[Don’t be sarcastic.]

I ignored Legba’s words and closed my eyes.

* * *

"Kill, you. Kill. Kill, please."

Someone walks toward me speaking. Steps that creak like a wooden doll. Fingers are broken and dangling, and arm skin is torn and spread like wings. A cruel and horrible appearance. I run away frantically in the opposite direction from the approaching monster.

Splash.

The monster chases me. Splash, there’s a squelching sound from its steps. I run through endless darkness without looking back.

Splash.

But I soon stop walking. There was nowhere left to run. A dead end.

Splash, splash.

The footsteps are close.

"Kill... Kill. Please... me, kill, please..."

The monster approaches me repeating the same words. I step backward.

Splash!

Soon, my foot catches on something like a stone and I fall. The ground is soaked with blood and flesh. The monster is still approaching me. The horrible appearance with skin spread like wings is slowly approaching me. Muttering incomprehensible words.

"Kill. Please, kill... se, please. Me, youuuu..."

The monster stops right in front of my nose. However, the monster doesn’t attack me. The monster kneels down and sits in that spot. After muttering incomprehensible words to itself with its head down for a while, the monster finally raises its head.

"Ah, uh, ahhh, ahhhhh!"

"Please, kill. Please, me..."

Seeing the monster’s face, I become even more terrified. Even when I try to scream, no scream comes out. What comes out is a metallic sound that couldn’t quite become a scream. A pathetic and miserable voice of despair.

The monster’s face is all too familiar to me.

"Cult Leader, please kill me."

Sister Kang Ji-ah.

"Huh, ahhhh...!"

I woke up screaming. My whole body was soaked in cold sweat. The horrible scene I had seen in the dream was still vivid before my eyes. I thought it was fortunate that it was just a dream, as that dream was giving me terrible fear.

I had occasionally experienced sleep paralysis, but this was the first time I had such a horrible, cruel, and vivid nightmare. My heart was beating wildly as if it would burst.

My startled heart showed no signs of calming down. No matter how much I regulated my breathing and took deep breaths, the agitation wouldn’t disappear.

"...Baron Samedi."

This purple mist fluttering around me right now was probably the cause, I dared to guess.

Soon the purple mist entered my head through my nose. Baron Samedi’s voice began echoing in my head.

[If it was scary, I’m sorry! But wasn’t it quite fun?]

"It wasn’t fun, so please don’t do things like this in the future. Absolutely not."

[Oh my!]

Baron Samedi continued in a tone tinged with gloominess. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

[Since I always deliver prophecies only through words, I thought it was getting quite boring. Today I tried it through dreams. If it wasn’t fun, I’ll refrain from it in the future.]

"Yes, in the future... what?"

I stopped what I was saying and bolted upright. The drowsiness I had been feeling instantly disappeared.

Since I always deliver prophecies only through words, it was getting quite boring. So today I tried it through dreams. What did he try through dreams? Prophecies? If so, that means the dream I just had was Baron Samedi’s prophecy.

The moment I realized this, my spine went cold. I got goosebumps. My hair stood on end.

"This is a prophecy?"

[Yes. Today’s prophecy is very direct. What you just saw is a future that will definitely happen.]

"Definitely, what do you mean. What is that."

[Depending on your choice, you might lose everything or you might lose only one thing. Today, you will stand at a crossroads of choice. The rest is up to you...]

The purple mist that had come out of my body... Baron Samedi left through the ventilation shaft. His voice grew distant along with the mist. Faint traces he left behind remained in the room.

I pondered Baron Samedi’s prophecy. A future that will definitely happen. Choice. You might lose everything or gain everything. A crossroads of choice.

Just recalling the words he spoke made me dizzy. My head was spinning. I felt like I might vomit.

I checked the time on my phone. 11:42 AM. The appointment ceremony was at 1 PM. It was time to start preparing and leave. I opened the door and came out of my room as if bursting out. Uncle was reading a book in the same place as yesterday, and Kang Ji-ah was absent.

Kang Ji-ah was absent.

"Where did sister go?"

"She went out earlier while you were sleeping."

Uncle said indifferently while keeping his eyes fixed on his book. Kang Ji-ah had gone out. Where had she gone? What was she doing where that would make her become a monster and beg me to kill her?

"Soon, I’ll find a method and contact you."

I suddenly remembered what Kang Ji-ah had said to me a few days ago. It wasn’t just these words. All the words Kang Ji-ah had said to me flashed through my mind and soon disappeared. The more this happened, the more anxious my heart became.

"Contact. Has there been any contact from sister?"

"No? ...Why are you like this? Is something wrong?"

Uncle stared at my face and asked. He had already closed the book he was reading. I shook my head. Nothing was wrong. To be precise, nothing had happened ’yet.’

"If by any chance sister contacts..."

Ding!

At that moment, a cheerful phone notification sound suddenly interrupted my words. I picked up my phone. There was a text from ’(Unknown).’

[Basarsomang-5]

I couldn’t understand the meaning. It seemed like some kind of code. The lack of spacing made it even harder to understand. My heart was making a strange dry sound. It was like the sound of a giant walking through a desert.

Before I had time to collect myself from the shock, a phone call immediately came. The call was coming from ’(Unknown)’ just like the text.

"...Hello?"

I answered the phone. I had no choice but to answer. Static and splashing sounds mixed together came through the receiver. Splash, splash. The same sound I had heard in my dream. I barely suppressed the urge to vomit.

- Can you hear me?

Soon, the static stopped and someone’s voice came through. Without needing to ask, it was Kang Ji-ah’s voice.

"Yes."

- That’s fortunate if you can hear me. Cult Leader, you said today is the Charity Holy Name appointment ceremony? What time do you need to go by?

Kang Ji-ah’s tone was calm. But her voice was trembling very slightly.

The fact that Kang Ji-ah’s voice, which rarely lost composure, was trembling meant that the situation she was in was definitely not ordinary.

A strange anxiety was rising from deep in my chest. Illusions kept flickering before my eyes.

"I need to go by 1 PM."

- It’s about time for you to start preparing and leave. First, I’m in a hurry right now, so I’ll just convey the main point... the main points.

Her voice was occasionally cut off by static. She seemed to be somewhere with poor signal reception. Deep in the mountains or underground.

"Where are you?"

- I’ve informed you by text of the location where the Satan worshippers’ hideout is. You can prepare and visit later. You must not come now. You must definitely come only after making full preparations.

"Where are you right now, sister?"

- Oh right, Yun-ah likes uncooked food. If you give her sashimi or raw meat, she’ll eat it well. When bathing her, it would be more convenient not to use shower towels.

Kang Ji-ah ignored my words and only said what she wanted to say. Ominousness gradually filled my heart like pouring ink on white paper and soon completely consumed it.

I heard splashing footsteps.

- Baal’s Maw is stored in the wardrobe on the right when you enter the storage room, in the third compartment.

"Where are you?"

- ...I think I’ve conveyed all the main points. Thank you. I’ll hang up now.

"Don’t hang up."

The phone hadn’t hung up yet. Kang Ji-ah’s breathing was coming through the receiver in thin streams. I put my father’s box from my room drawer into my bag. The school uniform took too long to put on. I quickly changed into comfortable clothes I could wear immediately. Kang Ji-ah spoke through the receiver along with static.

- Cult Leader, I’ll really hang up now...

"I’m asking. Where are you?"

- ...

Kang Ji-ah didn’t answer.

I left the chapel.