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Chapter 280

I closed my eyes tightly. When I reopened them, I looked around.

Many people were either dead or injured. Oh Hee-Jin, who had succumbed to the woman’s black magic and become her minion, died after a hole was punched through his chest. Right next to him was Han Dae-Ho. He had lost an arm and was pressing his thick hand on his wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

Sung Yu-Da closed his eyes and hugged Ha-Yeon while she blankly stared into space with wide eyes.

Joseph let out a bitter laugh and walked off before collapsing onto the ground. Jin-Seo silently sobbed as she looked at the unconscious Chang-Won.

Baron Samedi was present amid all this carnage. Inside this place which was filled with the scent of death, Baron Samedi casually gazed at the faces of the deceased with a cigar in his mouth.

Before I knew it, Baron Samedi\'s red gaze was focused on me.

[Are you sad?] Baron Samedi asked, his voice piercing my ears.

I belatedly realized that he was asking me a question.

Despite realizing this fact, I was unable to easily answer his question. I just looked at my surroundings without nodding or shaking my head.

Han Dae-Ho\'s severed arm could be reattached using an advanced restoration spell. Chang-Won appeared to be dead, but he could be revived with Legba’s help and the power of the poteau mitan, the Staff of Reversal.

Besides Chang-Won, I could save many others who were about to face death.

"..."

If I did so, then my identity as the leader of the Voodoo Cult would be exposed to everyone present. If that happened, my goal of reuniting with my mother would also drift away. No, perhaps I would never be able to reunite with my mother until the day I died.

Nevertheless, I...

[You are free to do whatever you wish,] Legba said.

[Kid. If you make that decision, then what did you come all this way for?] Damballa asked.

The words of the two Loa were embedded deeply into my mind. The voices of Baron Samedi, Legba, and Damballa blended together inside my head. And it was then that I was belatedly able to answer Baron Samedi\'s question.

I was indeed sad.

I was sad for those who were injured or had lost their lives in the battle against the Satanist here in this cathedral. And I was sad about my own inability to save them despite having the power to do so.

Just as the Romanican Church was my enemy, I was an enemy of the Romanican Church. Even if I saved the people here, I would not hear any words of gratitude.

Instead, my identity would be exposed, and I would get hunted down. Forget about being hailed as the hero who had saved everyone, I would end up being labeled as a fraud who had hidden his identity and deceived them.

If the Romanican Church and the Voodoo Cult were not in a hostile relationship, would the situation have been different? Could all these people have avoided death?

“...”

It was a meaningless thought.

***

Not long after the incident, a woman\'s body was found in a secluded forest near the cathedral. A passerby had noticed the woman\'s head floating in a frozen river located in a valley.

With this, Satanist Executive Lust was dead. The credit for defeating the Satanist Executive was given to all the clergymen present in the cathedral, including me.

Shortly after it was announced that Satanist Executive Lust had been suppressed, a memorial service was held at the cathedral affiliated with the Central Priesthood where the incident took place.

The funeral ended earlier today. We collectively mourned those who had died in battle.

I wore the paladin robe I had received during dispatch training at the Eastern Paladin Order and went to the cathedral affiliated with the Central Priesthood. Photos of the clergy members\' faces were placed on top of flowers.

Among them was Oh Hee-Jin\'s face.

"You’re here," Han Dae-Ho said.

He was among the long procession of people who were mourning the deceased clergy members.

One of his arms was missing because it had been cut off. He usually seemed like a massive mountain, but he now appeared somewhat smaller.

I bowed my head toward him and asked, "Is your arm okay?"

"My right elbow would always hurt whenever I exercised, but now it doesn\'t hurt, so that\'s good. I even sleep better now," Han Dae-Ho said with a chuckle.

Since his right arm had been completely severed, it was impossible for his missing elbow to feel pain. It sounded like a joke, but I didn\'t know how to respond, so I remained silent.

Han Dae-Ho cleared his throat awkwardly. Then he glanced up and down at the clothes I was wearing.

He asked, "Was that the outfit that the Eastern Paladin Order gave you?"

"Yes."

"Looks like you won\'t have a chance to wear that again in the future since the dispatch training period is over," Han Dae-Ho said regretfully.

The dispatch training period ended not long after the incident. Now, I was no longer an apprentice paladin affiliated with the Eastern Paladin Order, but an unaffiliated apprentice paladin.

Being unaffiliated meant that I could potentially be affiliated with any organization. After the end of the dispatch training, I could apply to join the Paladin Order of my choice. Once accepted, I would become a full-fledged paladin instead of just an apprentice.

"Are you thinking of applying to join the Central Order?"

"Yes. I\'ll have to take the test and prepare for a lot of different things, but I plan to do my best to prepare."

I nodded in response to Han Dae-Ho\'s question. Under normal circumstances, it would be unthinkable for a Florence Academy student who had only recently completed dispatch training to apply for admission to the Central Paladin Order.

However, considering the achievements I had accumulated so far and with Sung Yu-Da\'s help as well as the recommendation letters from several other clergymen, it would not be impossible for me to get admitted.

Sung Yu-Da had said that if I achieved high scores on the admission test, I certainly had a chance of getting accepted into the Central Paladin Order. Moreover, once I got in, it wouldn\'t be difficult for me to access the underground prison.

Han Dae-Ho said, "Alright... It’s a shame. Keep in touch even after you leave. Don\'t pretend like you don\'t know me once you enter Central, kid. You know you owe me if you get admitted into Central, right?"

I nodded with a smile. "Got it."

The line of people waiting in front of us to pay their respects to the deceased clergymen slowly decreased. Before long, our turn arrived, and I mourned Oh Hee-Jin’s death using the Romanican ritual. When I was done, I walked away.

Inside the cathedral, some people wailed mournfully for the deceased clergymen, but I did not have the energy to do so.

"Where are you going now?" Han Dae-Ho asked as we exited the cathedral.

He stretched his body and looked up at the sky.

I instinctively raised my head to look at the sky too. It was strangely clear and bright today. The blue light of the sky poured in all at once, making my eyes hurt a little.

"I think I need to go back."

"To the dormitory?"

"Home... My family is worried."

"Well, that makes sense. I understand," Han Dae-Ho said with a nod.

With that, we parted ways. Han Dae-Ho seemed to want to talk a little more with me, but I didn’t want to speak, so I used my family as an excuse.

Nevertheless, it wasn\'t a lie that they were worried. Ji-Ah, Uncle, and Soo-Yeong were quite worried about me. Of course, that didn\'t mean I actually planned to go to the underground chapel to see Ji-Ah, Uncle, and Soo-Yeong. That was simply an excuse.

I didn’t want to talk to Han Dae-Ho. To be more precise, I could not talk to him. Facing him made me feel embarrassed and disgusted with myself.

"Dan Wedo."

Pitter, patter...

I called out to Dan Wedo and summoned some rain. Clouds covered the clear sky, and raindrops hit my head.

I believed that rain suited a day like this. Rain was supposed to fall after someone died. It was always like that in movies and books.

However, there wasn’t much rain. The weather was cold, so it was half rain and half snow. I walked while getting hit by the cold rain and snow.

I had no particular destination. I just continued to move my legs which had grown heavy due to getting soaked by the rain. I didn’t want to go to the memorial service for the other clergymen, and I didn’t want to return to the underground chapel. I just walked through the gloomy and desolate streets.

It was then that my phone rang. I picked it up without even checking the caller.

—Where are you?

It was a familiar voice. However, the tone of the voice felt unfamiliar. It was a cold and distant tone that lacked strength.

I didn’t respond to Jin-Seo’s question for a long while. Instead, I stopped walking and stood still. I looked around me and saw unfamiliar faces rushing through unfamiliar streets and alleys.

"I wonder," I casually replied.

Beep.

Jin-Seo abruptly hung up the call.

***

Jin-Seo went to the student\'s funeral. Many civilians and clergymen, including prelates, had died the day Satanist Executive Lust appeared.

Not many people attended the funeral of the child who had died in vain without achieving anything, but Jin-Seo knew the student’s name. To Jin-Seo, that student was not just one of the many people who had died that day. She knew the student’s face, her name, her personality, and many other things. The student had been someone special to her.

After sincerely mourning the student’s death, Jin-Seo exchanged greetings with the student’s parents and then returned to Kim Chang-Won\'s funeral.

Kim Chang-Won, who had been suffering from health problems, had ultimately lost his life in battle the day that Satanist Executive Lust appeared. It had not been a futile death. The battle had been difficult, and it wouldn’t have been strange for everyone in the cathedral to have perished. It was not an exaggeration to say that it was thanks to Kim Chang-Won’s miracle-replication spell that the casualties were not worse.

Yet, Jin-Seo was unable to figure out why his death seemed so meaningless to her. With a blank expression, she continuously greeted the mourners who came over.

There were many mourners, including people who had been colleagues with Kim Chang-Won when he was a priest, prelates who had connections with him, and teachers. Most of the mourners had no personal connection with Jin-Seo, but they still greeted her and offered formal words of comfort.

However, behind her back, they said things such as “It’s such a tragedy that she has lost both her parents at such a young age. He wasn’t her biological parent, so it shouldn’t be too bad, right?” and “I feel so sorry for Kim Chang-Won.”

Crash!

The inside of the dining hall hadn’t exactly been quiet, but there hadn’t been any commotion so far. However, at that moment, a sharp noise resounded through the hall. Jin-Seo, half lost in thought, was startled and turned her head.

Among the mourners eating there, Min-Seo was pointing a broken bottle at someone.

“You yap too much. If you have so much to say to the chairman, how about you go and ask him yourself? I can send you straight to him. Ah, I suppose there is no guarantee that you will end up in the same place as him?”

“You, what are you—?!”

The threatened elderly clergyman steadied his breathing as his hands trembled. Min-Seo looked at the clergyman with eyes filled with disdain.

Su-Ryeon hastily tried to intervene but was unable to stop Min-Seo, who was already out of control.

Jin-Seo had been staring blankly in that direction, and when she finally realized what was going on, she approached Min-Seo.

"What are you doing?" Jin-Seo said, grabbing Min-Seo\'s shoulder firmly.

Min-Seo had lost her composure and had been going on a rampage. When Jin-Seo reprimanded her, Min-Seo managed to regain her senses.

She violently threw the bottle she held to the ground and clicked her tongue. "Tsk... I\'ll let it slide this time. If you talk like that again, I\'ll really send you to Adonai."

“...”

After saying that, Min-Seo and Su-Ryeon left the dining hall. Jin-Seo took care of the aftermath of Min-Seo\'s rampage and then also left the dining hall.

Min-Seo and Su-Ryeon were having a conversation somewhere nearby.

When Jin-Seo approached, Su-Ryeon jumped in surprise and shrank back.

Then, as if not knowing what to do, she looked back and forth between Jin-Seo and Min-Seo and said, "Oh, hey there! Sorry, Jin-Seo. Min-Seo is a bit... How should I say this? No matter how nicely you put it, she’s a lunatic, right? So that’s why that happened...”

"The real lunatics are those bastards who are sitting in front of a dead person and babbling nonsense. Didn’t I show restraint by not killing them on the spot?” Min-Seo said defiantly.

Clearly, she still had not fully calmed down.

Then, Min-Seo faced Jin-Seo, who had been staring blankly at her. "Well, do you have something to say?"

Jin-Seo shook her head and replied, "No, I’m just thankful."

There was no hint of sarcasm in her tone.

Upon hearing her words, Min-Seo and Su-Ryeon looked at her with surprise.

Min-Seo soon let out a snicker and said, "I wasn\'t mad because of you. It was because of the chairman."

"I know. But still, I\'m grateful."

"Oh, come on. What the heck... Why are you saying crap that you usually wouldn’t say... Ah, whatever. I’m leaving,” Min-Seo retorted bluntly and then started walking away with Su-Ryeon in tow.

Suddenly, Min-Seo turned back to look at Jin-Seo and said, "I won\'t offer any comfort. It’s not something that will get better through words of comfort.”

After saying that, Min-Seo left. Jin-Seo remained silent and watched the two women walk away. What Min-Seo said was better than half-hearted consolation. At least, that was what Jin-Seo thought.

Once Kim Chang-Won\'s funeral and the memorial service for the deceased clergymen ended, Jin-Seo dragged herself back home.

There was no one at home. It was eerily quiet. She had heard Kim Chang-Won sobbing in grief back when her foster mother passed away. But now, there were no sounds at all.

Jin-Seo randomly called someone on her phone, and the person happened to be Sun-Woo.

She asked, "Where are you?"

—I wonder.

Puzzled by Sun-Woo’s reply, Jin-Seo remained silent for a moment before hanging up the call.

"..."

She took out a cigarette and brought it to her lips to smoke. It had been a few months since she last did this.

Jin-Seo tried to light it, but she couldn\'t bring herself to. More accurately, she didn\'t feel like it. She wasn\'t sure if smoking would soothe this empty feeling. She wasn\'t confident that she could find even a small amount of comfort from smoking.

In that case, how would she be able to find comfort? She didn\'t want to eat anything delicious. She didn\'t even have an appetite. It didn’t feel like her mood would improve even if she went out to get some fresh air because the air was too cold.

The refreshingly clear sky turned gloomy after being covered by dark clouds. Only then did her mood start to feel a little better. A mixture of rain and snow began to fall slowly from the sky.

"..."

She recalled Sun-Woo\'s response earlier and the sound of his voice when he responded. Jin-Seo vaguely understood the meaning behind his words. She, too, didn\'t know where she was at the moment.

Jin-Seo crushed her cigarette and returned to her room. She lay on her bed and closed her eyes tightly.

Her chest felt tight, but tears didn\'t emerge from her eyes.

Ding—!

At that moment, a clear sound echoed in her room, abruptly disturbing the deep silence.

Jin-Seo was startled. She belatedly realized that it was the sound of the doorbell, but she wasn’t expecting anyone.

Nevertheless, Jin-Seo went to the front door and opened it.

In front of her was Sun-Woo, drenched in rain and looking like a complete mess.

He looked at Jin-Seo and smiled faintly. "There you are."